Splits, Schedules, Baptism, and Miracles! (1/15/17)
It's weird to think that this week is the half a year
mark since I have been a missionary. Time truly does fly! Ok too much has
happened this week but I will do my best. :S
Mon: Ok last Monday I didn't have time to explain, but
now I might. So in the morning for P-day we had a Mochitsuki as a ward.
Basically a mochi (pounded rice) party which a few investigators came to and it
was super fun. I even got to pound some mochi. Then we had a zone activity
which was a snowball fight. Also really fun! Though my team lost all of our
games....;(
Tue: ZTM! (Zone Training Meeting). Crazy things are about to go down! We had an
awesome ZTM where (since my companion is the District Leader for our area)
Elder Isobe and I got to mogi (role play) with the Kotoni (another Ward in
Japan) Bishop. We also had 3 seconds to prepare a lesson on prayer that had to
be completely done in 5 minutes. Stressful to say the least. BUT, more
importantly OUR SCHEDULE IS CHANGING! It looks super strict and honestly,
almost impossible to follow. I'm pretty sure our schedule isn't the only thing
changing though, *cough cough*
Wed: We had planned to dendo with a kind of less active
member this day but he was a no show. ;( Instead it turned into just a DKK
(Doryo (companion) Keikaku (plan(ing)) Kai (meeting)). And then we had to head
over to Kotoni to start some splits! I stayed in Moiwa but with our Japanese
Zone Leader. He used to be (or still is?) the best swimmer in Japan. This night
we also learned why he came to Moiwa. As soon as we all got into bed the fire
alarm went off. As we surveyed the building we noticed there was no actual fire
and we found where the box was. Elder
Akamatsu instantly figured out how to turn off the alarm (which none of the
residents knew how to do) and took control of the situation. It turned out this
problem has happened a few times before here so he settled everything down, we
went outside and checked all the windows finding nothing, and then returned to
bed.
Thur: This was a really fun but really slow day. The only
people Elder Akamatsu and I met was a member family who haven't been coming to
church recently. We spent an hour or so just talking with the mother and being
her friend. At the end we shared a spiritual message and went on our way. We
then walked all over the city and up a hill over to grandmothers house we went.
But still no cookies waiting for us at the end. We did however get to slide
down a steep staircase that turned into a sledding hill. We had a lot of fun
talking about random things. It turns out his favorite Japanese band is also my
favorite Japanese band. I was the first gaijin (foreigner) he met that knew
this band too. Then we ate and went back
from splits.
Fri: Another day of splits! This time I was not in my
area. Instead I was with Elder Murdock in his area. We went up this huge hill
where at the top of it is a famous ski resort. Just below it however are all
these houses we housed. We spent the entire day housing but with no luck. To
treat ourselves after this long day we went to get SUSHI! We decided to get a
few of the expensive plates and split them. I got to try a bunch of new foods
such as, fatty tuna, Ikura (fish eggs), uni (sea urchin), and kujira (whale).
Of course we ate more than just this but these were the noteworthy ones :3
Sat: So the Sisters’ investigator got BAPTIZED! And also
she wanted me to do it! Weird thing about Baptisms in Japan is that the first
part is held in the chapel and the person being baptized with the person
baptizing sit on the stand. Also when the person isn't in the chapel everyone
just sings random hymns until they come back. Also it was really weird trying
to explain exactly how one is baptized such as hold onto my left wrist and you
need to be completely immersed, in Japanese. Her hand didn't go under the first
time but I did it right the second time.
Sun: She got confirmed as a member! Also a member's heart
stopped beating after sacrament meeting. Everything was in a blur but I just
remember I was holding his legs and he came back to life. He then was picked up
by an ambulance. It was honestly a miracle he was at church and some one
noticed otherwise he would have died. Ambulances in Japan suck and they move
really slowly down the road. We also met a former investigator at the eki
(train station), passed an investigator to the sisters, got dropped by an
investigator, and a potential investigator became a real investigator and we
got his phone number!
All in all this week has been WAY CRAZY! Love you all and
I hope you all see miracles!
Love,
Elder Harvey
P.S. Also the "cough cough" (on the Tuesday summary) was about how there will most likely be a
new PMG (Preach My Gospel) coming out. BE EXCITED! They will probably announce
it around the 21st or something. We have a mission conference on the 24/25
depending on where you are in this mission so it will be announced around then
if it's happening! Look forward to next week’s email SPLITS
AI SHITERU (love ya/I love you)
The legit frozen of the chosen
Baptism
Zone picture
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