Hey Everyone!
It's scary how fast time has passed so far. Everyone that I talk to
says that Things only speed up after you finish training, so I'm a bit
worried about where the time will go. At this rate, I'll wake up one
day, know Japanese, and be on a plane out of the country. But for now,
I'm trying to ignore it, and live in the moment.
As some of you mentioned, this week was the first week of transfers
since I have been in the mission. I didn't get any surprising news,
because I will be with Elder Welch to finish training for the next
transfer. Our apartment also lost Elder West, who is going home to
Tokyo on Thursday. In his place we are getting Elder Rowe, who I don't
know, but you will probably hear a lot about him in the near future.
Our other big news is that Elder Gatherum became District
Leader, so we now don't have to travel to Hofu for splits. Sad news,
especially seeing how our last attempt left us stranded on a mountain
at night. But, that's the big news from today, and transfers will
happen again in 4 weeks, to send missionaries home right before
Christmas.
From a people perspective, the past week has been up and down. One of
our investigators, Sei dropped us because she didn't really have any
more interest. It stings, but it's better that she leaves than we
all waste each other's time. There were a few more people that did
that to us at return appointments, which stunk, especially in the rain
that's been falling the past couple days. But, there is always a
bright side, as long as you keep working. For starters, I ran into
some extremely generous people this last week. On two separate
occasions we knocked into people, and the expressed a lack of
interest, which they have every right to do. But before we left, they
had us wait, and brought out chocolate or apples. From their
perspective, we were sharing the joy we full heartedly believe in, and
even though they don't have interest, they can still support us with
food and kind words. More than anything else I've loved how polite,
encouraging, and nice even the people that don't have interest are. It
really makes our day to receive these unexpected gifts.
Also from the past week we met an amazing guy named Oui. This also
came at the end of a hard day, as we were heading home. We had been
planning and praying for lessons, but most people had turned us down
or Kekko'd us. But Oui stopped on the street, and was way down to
listen. And at the end he asked for our phone number (a real
blessing). I can promise that no matter how hard it's been, there is
always light when you do what is right and what you've committed to
do.
Now, for the part you've all been waiting for, the food! Mainly
because I'm still getting used to taking pictures, this is all I have
this week. From Hofu, we went to a place that served Gyudon, or rice
and beef. It's a type of Japanese fast food, and it's normally
reasonably portioned. But, missionaries have discovered the King Size
Challenge! Take a dinner plate, make it a bowl, and fill it, then eat
everything in one sitting. Elder Burgener and I loved it. Elders Hill
and Gatherum, not as much. But, fun times were had!
The weather here is really getting crazy. Days with freezing rain
followed by nice sunny breezes followed by weather too hot for suits.
Can't wait to get to winter, and see the snow over the beautiful
mountains. I'll make sure to get a picture of that once it happens.
Love you all, and I look forward to hearing from everyone's updates as
time goes by. Keep safe and enjoy!
With love from Yamaguchi,
Elder Mitchell Woodhouse
It's scary how fast time has passed so far. Everyone that I talk to
says that Things only speed up after you finish training, so I'm a bit
worried about where the time will go. At this rate, I'll wake up one
day, know Japanese, and be on a plane out of the country. But for now,
I'm trying to ignore it, and live in the moment.
As some of you mentioned, this week was the first week of transfers
since I have been in the mission. I didn't get any surprising news,
because I will be with Elder Welch to finish training for the next
transfer. Our apartment also lost Elder West, who is going home to
Tokyo on Thursday. In his place we are getting Elder Rowe, who I don't
know, but you will probably hear a lot about him in the near future.
Our other big news is that Elder Gatherum became District
Leader, so we now don't have to travel to Hofu for splits. Sad news,
especially seeing how our last attempt left us stranded on a mountain
at night. But, that's the big news from today, and transfers will
happen again in 4 weeks, to send missionaries home right before
Christmas.
From a people perspective, the past week has been up and down. One of
our investigators, Sei dropped us because she didn't really have any
more interest. It stings, but it's better that she leaves than we
all waste each other's time. There were a few more people that did
that to us at return appointments, which stunk, especially in the rain
that's been falling the past couple days. But, there is always a
bright side, as long as you keep working. For starters, I ran into
some extremely generous people this last week. On two separate
occasions we knocked into people, and the expressed a lack of
interest, which they have every right to do. But before we left, they
had us wait, and brought out chocolate or apples. From their
perspective, we were sharing the joy we full heartedly believe in, and
even though they don't have interest, they can still support us with
food and kind words. More than anything else I've loved how polite,
encouraging, and nice even the people that don't have interest are. It
really makes our day to receive these unexpected gifts.
Also from the past week we met an amazing guy named Oui. This also
came at the end of a hard day, as we were heading home. We had been
planning and praying for lessons, but most people had turned us down
or Kekko'd us. But Oui stopped on the street, and was way down to
listen. And at the end he asked for our phone number (a real
blessing). I can promise that no matter how hard it's been, there is
always light when you do what is right and what you've committed to
do.
Now, for the part you've all been waiting for, the food! Mainly
because I'm still getting used to taking pictures, this is all I have
this week. From Hofu, we went to a place that served Gyudon, or rice
and beef. It's a type of Japanese fast food, and it's normally
reasonably portioned. But, missionaries have discovered the King Size
Challenge! Take a dinner plate, make it a bowl, and fill it, then eat
everything in one sitting. Elder Burgener and I loved it. Elders Hill
and Gatherum, not as much. But, fun times were had!
The weather here is really getting crazy. Days with freezing rain
followed by nice sunny breezes followed by weather too hot for suits.
Can't wait to get to winter, and see the snow over the beautiful
mountains. I'll make sure to get a picture of that once it happens.
Love you all, and I look forward to hearing from everyone's updates as
time goes by. Keep safe and enjoy!
With love from Yamaguchi,
Elder Mitchell Woodhouse
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