Week 57

Mon

We went to the bird park again, but this time as a district. Elder Ottesen got pooped on. I went into the emu pen this time and fed them. They are so big and powerful that it's kind of scary but if you don't have food they kind of ignore you so it's fine. They are very coarse, not smooth like geese or ducks. We also fed pelicans this time. They are big birds. Then we visited some members. We tried to do a role play with them, but the grandma didn't seem to get the purpose of the role play so it was funny. We were trying to get them to practice using church words wherever you go. The situation was at the grocery store and the clerk asks you why you are buying that brand of herbal tea (hopefully you answer something along the lines of the Word of Wisdom) but the grandma only said "because I like it." 

Tue

We had a member present lesson which went pretty well. We taught a recent convert using PMG. She pulled out her copy and it was covered in notes. I was so impressed with her. We dropped by the Relief Society President's house to say thank you and we met her non-member daughter. She is very funny. We talked for a long time with her about gospel things so I think that she will become an investigator soon. 

Wed

We had planned some people to visit, but the weather was so nice that we changed our plans so that we would go visit some people far away so that we could ride our bikes in the sunshine for a longer time. They weren't home, but it was still a nice ride. Then we had a game night. it went spectacularly well. Over 15 of the neighborhood kids, 1 investigator, 3 PI's and 1 member came. Two of those PI's became investigators that night! YAY! We hope that as time goes on, more people come and more investigators are made. 

Thu

Companion exchange with Aoki shimai, my granddaughter. I had planned to work with her in Hamamatsu, but last minute I changed my mind and asked if the two of us could work in Fukuroi. She agreed and we rode around in the rain to member's houses and got sushi and hayashi rice and cookies and clam chowder and nori and hot chocolate and spinach. Then we went to Eikaiwa. One of the ladies was packing up her stuff and was going out a little later than the others when Elder Chiba said that as missionaries we teach Eikaiwa but we also teach about God. We taught about half of the first lesson right there. I shared the first vision. She accepted a Book of Mormon. I think that she is someone prepared by God for us. 

Fri

We had another spectacular DTM and then we went to another member present lesson. We taught about the Word of Wisdom. She said that she would try but she couldn't make promises. I hope she does. We went from there to another member's house and thanked him for his efforts in the branch. Then we went to a member's home for dinner, but we had the spiritual message first, so we only had about 10 minutes to eat before we had to leave. We made it 15 minutes because she brought out birthday cake, but then we had to book it back to Fukuroi because we had an appointment with the two girls that became investigators on Wednesday. They brought their friend with them. According to Oda shimai, they were talking to each other with their eyes the whole time. I didn't notice anything. Just as we were about to leave, one of them said that she wanted me to go with her to a seminar in Nagoya. But it costs $950. I said that I'm not made of that kind of money plus I can't leave my area. But they did agree to listen to the lessons. I'm at a complete loss as to what kind of seminar it was. It could be some debutant pageant. It could be a religious fair. It could be giant speed dating. It could be some sinister cult where they sacrifice pure and innocent sister missionaries. Who knows.

Sat

No one came to kid's eikaiwa. AGAIN. So we packed up and went home, planned for the week, and then went out to visit some less actives. Didn't find any of them, but we did find a family of investigators so it's all good. We knocked on their door and said we teach about God. Is it ok if we come back? And they said yeah, come back on Saturday. Can we have your number? Here's our number. We are looking forward to meeting them again. But no dinner.

Sun

Our investigator couldn't come to church because her husband was hung over and couldn't drive. She doesn't have a licence so she can't drive herself. Boo. The ward council decided to have a talent show. We are trying to scrounge up people to perform in it. Visited lots of PI's, no one home. Housed, no bites. But I did get to go to bed a little early.

Love you lots!

Leah