Week 49

Mon

We had a district activity where we went to the Nagoya Science Museum. It was much like the children's museum, but in Japanese so not quite as interesting. They had a static discharge room with two giant tesla coils by which they made "lightning." Very loud. We wanted to get into the planetarium, but unfortunately the tickets were all sold out. On the way home we stopped by a convini and bought ice cream. I bought something that I hadn't ever seen before. It turned out to be tirimisu flavored. Oops. It did taste good though. Then we went to a family home evening with some members. Remarkably, the whole family was there for one point. It was only for about 3 min however. We made potstickers from scratch! Tasty.

Tue

We had a companion exchange planned with the Yokkaichi sisters, but both of our schedules changed last minute so there was some hasty planning and power walking to the train station to make it to our appointments. Thankfully it all worked out. I was with Sister Omine, a Japanese missionary from Okinawa who just got here three weeks ago. She is doing great for how long she has been out. We visited a former investigator. I think that investigator only likes Japanese missionaries because when I went with Hansen shimai it was a completely different reaction. We finally met this one Less Active! After four and a half months being here we finally went to her house at a time when she was home. She was glad to see us and said that she would like to meet with us again, but three of her kids are taking big tests (along the lines of the SAT or ACT) so once those were over she would have more time to talk. She is a girl scout troop leader and she wants to hear lots about what girl scouts is like in the States and what we did when we were girl scouts.

Wed

No one we visited was home. Met with a lot of refusals at doors. But, on the up side, the bishop brought us Pizza Hut pizza for dinner! There was only one beginner student at Eikaiwa, but that's ok.

Thu

We brought cards to some members who had birthdays this week. (Thanks for the stationary, it really helps!) Whenever we brought cards, they gave us something in return, like cookies or fruit or something. It suprised me because I usually just keep everything on my birthday. They are very generous. We had about 30 min extra time at the end of the day, so we decided to go to the train station and talk to people around there. We went at the time where no one was out, so we just sort of waited by the exit till another train pulled up. I was looking at the map of the street when people started coming out. I guess it must have looked like I was confused or lost or something, because this one girl stopped and asked where we were going and if we didn't know she would take us there. So I said that we were going to the library (which wasn't true, but she was willing to walk and talk with us so I picked someplace). She spent a year in New Zeland as an exchange student and went to church there. She learned a lot and really liked how she felt there. She said that when she came back to Japan she wanted to find a church but she never got around to it. So we said, hey, there's a church right there and we go to it and you should come. She is a college student and this is mid-term season for Japanese schools, so she said that she would go with us once midterms were over. We are praying that she does and that we can meet with her again before that.

Fri

We had District Meeting. It is much more fun with 8 people than with 4 people, but it is also easier to get off track. We went to curry with the elders before we headed back to our own area. We visited one sister who recently returned from visiting Iran. She said that the food was great and the weather even better. Her house was in this area with lots of tiny windy streets. It was fun to ride our bikes through there.

Sat

We had a good group of kids for Kid's Eikaiwa. If each week was like that, I would look forward to teaching it each week. But, I can't control who comes. It was a warm day, but at the end of the day some rain blew in. Thankfully we didn't get caught in it. It did ice over the streets at night, though.

Sun

The ward mission leader didn't show up for the weekly mission council. Hmm. We talked about temples and family history work in Gospel Principles. Thankfully some members were also there with the less actives and recent converts to help explain and provide experiences. If the same group comes next week, I think we should drop in on the family history class so they can learn how to do it themselves. We went over to a returning member's house to make a cake after church which turned into several hours of listening to her life. I was happy that she is friendly enough with us to invite us over and talk about things, but another part of me thinks about what else we could have done with that time, but another part of me thinks that if those things were really pressing, we would have left earlier. Ho hum. It was an enjoyable visit nonetheless. And the cake was good.

 

Love,

Leah