It all started on a cold wintery Tuesday in Fuchu.... It was the birthday for one of our investigators and we decided to make him a present. He was heading off to the U.S. the next day so we had to act quickly. As any thoughtful and caring friend would, we went straight to Daiso (the most amazing Japanese equivalent to a dollar store) and got some gag gifts for his trip. We put them in an emergency bag (also purchased at Daiso) and sent him on his way! It was pretty fun plus we got some solid contacts at the store. Hopefully we will be able to meet up with them this week. We then went out and tried to find people who wanted to hear our message.
Wednesday was the Christmas conference. The entire mission showed up and we had a great conference. We got to watch Meet the Mormons, which is an amazing movie and will be and probably already has been really good for missionary work (if you have any stories regarding that please send them to me!). We had a mission white elephant gift exchange and I got a really lame present. I gave a pretty good one with funny mixed with useful and I got a jump rope (purchased no doubt at Daiso) that broke within the hour. Wednesday night we had a game night at the church in Fuchu. A bunch of investigators and potential investigators and Eikaiwa students showed up. It was really great! They had a lot of fun and afterwards we sang some Christmas hymns and shared a Christmas message. There was a strong and wonderful Spirit there--a great night! We also gave away a bunch of Book of Mormons.
Thursday was alright. Certainly wasn't the best Christmas ever. It's a little bit harder here in Japan because nobody celebrates Christmas but the members, and they were all working. So we went around and caroled as a district. Elder W and I found some really cool guys from India who spoke perfect English. They were brothers. The younger brother was visiting his older brother who plays professional rugby here in Fuchu. We then went and taught a lesson to one of our progressing investigators--also really good. He got a call and suddenly in the middle of our lesson and had to leave, but we'll see him again this week. We ended the day as a district and went out to eat at a sushi-go-round place. It was delicious!
Friday I got to Skype with the family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so awesome! I love my family so much! Thank you for being there for me and supporting me! That Skype session made this the best Christmas ever! I was scheduled to go on splits with the zone leaders right after we hung up, but the trains were shut down for some reason so it was rescheduled for this week.
Saturday we went and cleaned the church with the members. We then went out and taught a few lessons on the street.
Sunday great! Church was awesome; I felt the Spirit a lot. We also all went to the bishop's house for dinner. It was delicious! We shared a nice message with the family and then left. While we were walking home we met some pretty cool people and set up a meal with one of them this coming week!
Well that was my week! It was pretty good considering my companion was feeling pretty under the weather all week!
In my scripture study this week I read a lot of talks. One of them talked about trials that we have in our lives. The part that struck me the most is the way we are supposed to cope. We cope with the hard times in our lives through service to others. It is that process of turning our attention outward that allows us to help the Spirit heal others and to help heal us too. I love that. It is so contrary to what seems natural. Usually it seems like if you are going through a really hard time you have an excuse to kind of forget about others and turn inwards and figure it out. The Lord shows us that the opposite is true.
I love you and pray for you always! I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and that you will have a great New Year as well!
-Siebach 長老
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