I realized as I was typing this that some of you might still be awake,
so enjoy the party! I can promise from the other side that 2018 is
great!
For the new year, I'll be honest, I still don't know what our
remaining plans are. Unlike last year, there aren't any really big or
famous shrines nearby, so I think we might actually take the time to
head over to a nearby island. Not many places in the world you can do
that! But as for things we have already done, we watched the sun rise!
I guess it might be an American tradition, I've always been asleep in
the morning on the first, but as a symbolic thing, and because it's
cool, a lot of Japanese people go with their families to watch the
first sunrise of the year. Wanting to make sure we got the best view
possible, I convinced Elder Watanabe to bike a 50 km round trip to a
view point one of our Eikaiwa students recommended. Cars are great if
you have them, but biking in the dark, racing the sun, it was worth
the experience right there! Thankfully the bike ride was fun, because
the sun ended up cheating, and rose behind thick cloud cover. There we
probably over 100 people gathered, and we all just waited as the sky
got lighter, and lighter, and lighter, and then everyone started
realizing what happened. However, it was still way pretty, and I'll
look forward to finding somewhere cool to try again next year!
Of course, missionary work is about more than just long bike rides,
and the central component with our Savior Jesus Christ. I've mentioned
a bit about Masako before, but as she has prayed for miracles and
divine intervention to allow herself to draw closer unto Him, it has
come, and the finalizing will be next Sunday at her baptism! It's
crazy to have watched her grow in just the four weeks I have been
here, but she is a living example of how the gospel will change you.
Radiating kindness, her faith keeps her moving, and its given her, as
I think it gives every one of us, a greater purpose in life. I'm so
excited for her!
And besides Masako, with New Years and the holiday season wrapping up,
Elder Arnold and I have a lot of other people we get to catch up with!
There isn't a single experience that pops out to me this week, but as
we have been able to rely on God, and show our faith, He has put his
children in our path. Whether it be the lady waiting for the
missionaries to knock on her door, and we come by Christmas Day, or
the guy who got a Book of Mormon and then lost track of the
missionaries, only to run into them on the street New Years Eve, or
any number of the young people we've run into in almost any possible
scenario, He has prepared them, and us as His servants. So that's my
goal for the new year, to keep trusting in Him, to remember as the
Savior taught the Nephites, that 'the morrow shall take thought for
the things of itself'. After all, that's how things work out.
Love you all, have a great new year!
Elder Woodhouse
P.S. Don't expect all these pictures every week, we actually did
things for the New Year.
P.P.S. As a side note, Elder Welch just got engaged, bringing the
number of my eight companions home that are engaged to three! It's
crazy!
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