Monday, February 13, 2017

Week 28 : Feb 12, 2017 - Ended Up In...Omuta

Hey everyone,

Sorry, this week is going to be a really short email. We only have a
little time, because the Kumamoto stake had a temple trip this
morning, and the missionaries were invited. It was awesome! That, and
I am now in the city of Omuta, on Kyushu! I've moved from the four man
apartment in Yamaguchi to the two man of Omuta, and it's just me and
Elder Erickson running the city. I'll send more on everything next
week (a week from Monday), just wanted to say I was alive!

Love you all,
Elder Woodhouse




Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Week 27: February 7, 2017 - Goodbye Yamaguchi...

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the late email, I forgot to mention that this week is
transfer week. It should be moving back to a regular schedule next
week, with one Tuesday transfer pday every six weeks, but the
schedules got messed up with Christmas, so this kinda just popped up.
The big news from transfers is that Elder Osborne is going to be
training, which means I'm leaving Yamaguchi! Sadly, we haven't got
transfer calls yet, so I don't know where I'll end up, but it's almost
certain that I'll be moving. I'm sad to be leaving, but if Elder
Osborne was a good companion for me, he'll be a great trainer, and
I'll just have to find someone else!

In terms of other news from this past week, we've been up to a few fun
things. Elder Reed from Hofu is finishing his mission on Thursday, so
for his next to last p-day he and Elder Serville came up to stay with
us until district meeting the next day. It was fun just to have more
elders around, and we spent most the day playing board games and
talking in the ashiyu's. The highlight of that would have either been
eating birthday pie Monday night, or going to MK on Tuesday. MK is a
type of restaurant called shabu-shabu, which means all you can eat
meat, cooked on you table in boiling sauce. Between the four elders at
my table, we are about 4 pounds of beef, pork, and chicken, so as a 19
year old man, I obviously enjoyed it. But being serious, it's sad to
have another person I knew going home. Between Elder West, Welch, and
now Reed, that's one a transfer so far! They were all great examples,
and I loved working with them.

The second big thing was that Hugo Imai got baptized Saturday morning.
He is the branch president’s last son, so it's a member baptism, but as
missionaries, we got invited to help out and feel the spirit. It was
actually amazing, because we confirmed him as well, and to have the
chance to help someone else feel the Spirit, to have it with him
forever, was really cool. Hugo is the cutest little kid, and it just
reminds me of when Brad was younger. In the picture, he is in the
black shirt (we may have helped with the party afterwards as well).

Our last bit of news is mainly a logistical thing, because the
Yamaguchi district had District Conference this week in Ube. As things
worked out, George was in Ube as well, and not only came over to
conference, but also invited us to his house for lunch. It's one of my
favorite things to have this relationship with him, and I can't wait
to build the same relationships with different people all around
Japan. As we center our lives on the gospel, we just become happier
and friendlier, and George is a prime example of it to me.


That's all for this week, love everyone lots!

Goodbye for the final time from Yamaguchi!

Elder Mitchell Woodhouse