Elan here. I was unable to blog last week so this week I'll combine highlights from the past two emails. I'm also posting some older pictures from Emily's time in Chosei with her companion, Yamashiro Shimai.
12-08-09
Last Tuesday we streeted a lady from Colombia who spoke Spanish and Japanese. She went to church sports activities with her friend in Colombia and even knew who Joseph Smith was, but didn't have any interest. I was happy to hear Spanish because it reminded me of home!
On Wednesday we rode our bikes over to Ueno Park, about an hour away. It is very famous in Japan. Lo and behold it is the home of a science museum, zoo, and... an Fine Arts and Music College! It is very hard to get into. There is a young woman in our ward who attends the fine arts part of it. I was in heaven, but sadly the college did not give tours. The park reminded me of Central Park, France, and Japan, all at the same time. Some of the buildings looked European. The leaves were all changing colors. It was beautiful!
We visited 3 less actives on Wednesday and that sparked a conversation between my companion and I about why people go inactive. There are 20 pages of members, but only about 80 are active in our ward. My companion told me about how life is so convenient that people gradually fall away from going to church. For example, on every corner there is a convenient store, people have cell phones to communicate, and you don't need a car to get anywhere. I remembered how we hear from the Prophets about the quickness of this day and age, sometimes forgetting where true happiness comes from.
Speaking of less actives, we made a goal to visit every single one. Our area is relatively small and we can get everywhere by bike no problem. There are 4 "ku's" A Ku is like a county, I think. In Japan there is -Ken, which means prefecture. That can be likened to a state. Then there is ku. After that there are cities, with different suffixes, usually relating to how big or small it is. Well, enough about the lay-out of Japan... back to our project!
Like my companion Sister Perkins did when we had all of Yamanashi KEN as our area, its ward being called Kofu and located in Kofu city, we copied the ward list. Next we cut all the names into strips and arranged them by ku (county) and next by city. Since I have a Japanese companion, that part went way faster than if I did it alone because she can recognize the kanji quicker than I can. My job was to write out the name in English and paste the strips of those living there under that name.
Next I went and wrote how old everyone was. This was somewhat tricky because the birthdays were on a separate list all together. I got the hang of it and soon finished quickly. Knowing the ages helps a lot. For example there was an 80 year old woman who was inactive. She might have passed away or she might be in a hospital.
Well, at any rate, having the list this way will really help in effective missionary work. We can go to a certain city and visit everyone there within an hour. And by the way, when I say city, it is not as big as Carlsbad city, for example. A city, or town, is a number of blocks and takes about 10 minutes by bike to get through all of it.
BIG NEWS! The Ito family (Mom, dad, and the two brothers Dan and Tatsunari in the wheelchairs) will move to Utah around March or April in order for the boys to go to BYU Provo. I will be able to go visit them while I am up at school! I couldn't help but remember how I felt prompted to go to BYU Provo after the mission. I think I will be able to have some good experiences while I am there, whether the Itos move there or not. If they do, then I will have reason to be 100 percent excited! You can even come and meet them!
12-15-09
Friday it rained ALL day and was so cold you could see your breath in the air. At the end of the day at our apartment my companion showed me a blue spot on her foot. I think she was starting to get frostbite. She was wearing summer shoes with just nylons.
We had three appointments on that Friday. The first was with Kai Shimai, a 21 (I think) year old convert of three years. She doesn't come to church every Sunday . Her dad is also less-active, of many years, but at the end of our meet he came in the room to answer a phone call and said he wanted to get his faith stronger. My companion was surprised at his comment and invited him to the ward Christmas party. The daughter did homestay in America and speaks good English. According to my companion she is thinking about serving a mission.
Next we we to the Ito's for a lesson with Tanizawa (21) and Asano (19). We rode our bikes along the river because there are no lights. It was an hour bike ride through the rain. My socks got wet even though I was wearing my Merrill water resistant boots. I was very cold. At the beginning of the lesson my companion asked Dan who we wanted to say the opening prayer. He said "Chiba-kun!" My comp. and I were confused because Chiba kun was not there (I have talked about him before. He hangs out with the missionaries a lot, but for some reason can't serve a mission until next year)... but then Chiba slid open the door leading into the next room and popped out! That was pretty fun. It was the first time I met Tanizawa-san. He was Tatsunari kyoudai's helper. He doesn't have too much interest in the message and thinks a lot so sometimes he is kinda in his own world. I think he is thinking about what we are talking about though.
Lastly on Friday we met with Aoi-chan. I have talked about her before. We read from the Children's Book of Mormon reader.
Saturday was stake Conference. We went to Nakano (the honbu) for that. Before we left we went housing in our area a bit. On the top floor of an apartment we housed into a chubby, cute 12 year old boy who could pass for 18 by his maturity level. His mom passed away (not sure how long ago). He said she read the Bible and even brought it out to show how she marked it up. He has interest in Christianity. We gave him a Book of Mormon and told how it also testified of Christ but was about the people of Ancient America. He said he would tell his dad bout it, but wasn't sure his dad would have interest. We gave the boy a copy of the Book of Mormon. Then we housed on floor down until a lady in the hall (it was an outside apartment) said we could do what we were doing because there was a sign downstairs that said "no posting." We had come in a side entrance so we hadn't seen it. We stopped. Luckily we met that cute boy and gave him a Book of Mormon.
Sunday again was stake conference, but in Koiwa, the area over where our District leader lives. A primary choir sang. So cute. In Japan, kids LOVE singing and they all sing very on pitch and reverently. I remember at home how some kids don't like to sing or they sing too loud cause the leader said to not be so quiet. Anyways. Cute.
Photo above: Emily's Chosei apartment by the beach
We housed into a grandpa who was investigating the Jehovah's Witness church so couldn't listen to what we had to say. He said we were "otsukaresama" for going out in the rain. That basically meant he thought we were hard workers and/or respected us for respecting what we do. He said "just a minute" and came back out with two vegetable juice juice boxes. Nice guy.
This last one might have been last week... My companion said through the speaker box that we were teaching about the purpose of life. The grandma from within said "Mo sukoshi shinu kara irenai desu" which means "I am gonna die soon so I don't need to know." My companion laughed as we went to the next door. She seemed like a pretty perky and funny lady to me.
As for yesterday, Monday, we had district meeting. My companion and I had to leave a bit early cause we had a lesson at the Ito's (which required a 50 min train ride back and then a 50 minute bike ride to the appointment). I know you sent the poppyseed bread for me and my companion but I wanted to share it with the district. I cut it into 8 pieces and left it for them as I left. Elder Renfroe, the DL's companion, said "Hey, the church IS true" as I mentioned how my mom had made and sent it. I guess you had to be there, but coming from a 19 year old boy and with the tone of voice he said, it was really funny.
Sister McMahan along the beach at ChoseiWell, that is how things went last week. I am looking forward to talking to you on the phone on Christmas Day. 10am here is fine. I will have a hard time concentrating on study :) I did last time when I called home.
I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sister McMahan
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