Got some sad news this week that the grandpa I'm named after, Grandpa Merrill , passed away. Surprising because he sounded like he was doing really well. I owe a lot to his example and the way he raised his family. I'm not that upset though because I know he's in a great place. I'm thankful for the knowledge and peace we can have with Christ's teachings when things like this happen. Love ya Gramps.
So we lost contact with Shintaro for a week. Then he called us and we had a lesson. We got the bishop over there and he went HARD on him. We told him he probably can't get baptized because we lost contact. When we asked him how his week was he said he went to jail because he got really drunk and fell on the platform on the tracks in the subway. We're like WHAT?! Bishop tells him that's a sign he needs to stop drinking. We start on the lesson. He tells us he is doesn't believe in the resurrection. We show him a video and testify pretty hard, then I look up, he's got tears in his eyes and is definitely feeling the Spirit & truth of what we are saying. We also taught him the word of wisdom (no coffee, alcohol, drugs, etc.). He tried comprising with us for about thirty minutes on what he was going to stop and what he wasn't until he agreed to stop everything. Talked about a bunch of other stuff but we walked out of that lesson in shock at how well it went. We didn't see that coming with him at all. Then the next morning he calls me and says he isn't going to church, I thought he meant for our next meeting, then he says that he is never going to go to the church again then said bye and hung up. I was really surprised to hear that after the lesson we had but to be honest a little relieved we don't have to make the decision of whether we should keep teaching him or not, because he made it. Sad it must have scared him how much he felt the truth though, plus the idea of keeping the word of wisdom seems really hard for people sometimes.
Ken is doing ok... We are still in contact but very limited. We usually meet once a week but not lately. He is just busy and has so much trouble understanding things. So we will have to cancel his baptism next week :( I'm confident he will get baptized someday though. He wants it so bad. Love that kid. We have also started meeting with this older man named Kato, he brought a friend last lesson and we talked about the Book of Mormon. He is awesome but just kinda hard to teach & communicate with. You should be hearing more about him soon.
Alright last thing! So let me just say I love black people! Haha. It's a rare opportunity to talk to any but this week we sent out a mass text to a bunch of the contacts we don't know on our phone, one of which is a Gina. She called us, and we later called her back. She was way weirded out & standoffish. Once I said my name and talked a little she turned into the sweetest lady. She is African-American, in her 60's, moved here from NY about 20 years ago and talks A LOT. Not trying to diss on Jehovah's Witness, this is just what she said. We had an hour long conversation and the bulk of it was about how she joined the J dubs but realized it wasn't the truth and is in a really hard situation because if anyone figures out she isn't a believer they will have to shun her, but most of her friends are J Dub. I guess she used to meet with missionaries and study the bible. We really seem to get along, great lady. Some things came up there about how she believes that we shouldn't follow blindly as j dubs have taught, but that we should make sure with God. She prays. She asked what we believe about the cap on the number of people that can be saved that j dubs believe in. So I talked about how God wants us all to be saved. She said yes when I asked if she is searching for the truth, but said that she sadly doesn't think it's the Mormon church. I asked if she believes God has one true church, she said not right now. She asked if I feel like the church is true. I testified way hard. She asked about the golden plates. So I gave her a quick rundown of the Joseph Smith story & restoration. After that she asked if we could meet again, but without the badges, so others don't know she is meeting with Mormons. Good stuff.
Then get this, last night I'm out with Boody for splits, knocking on doors. A black guy walks by and we manage to stop him. He's a young father from Uganda named Mark. Straight up sickest dude. Just kept telling us how good it is we are serving missions. He is Christian and teaching his 6 year old how to pray. We had a great convo but he eemed like he was in a hurry. He said goodbye but last second I said, hey can we share a message with you? Sooo glad I did! He turned around and came back. The convo went to another level! Said he sees missionaries in Africa too and always wondered what our message was. He loves what we do and wants his kids to serve missions when they grow up and wants them baptized. He said he wants to hear our message like 10 times before the convo was over. When I asked if we could get his number, he looked at me like I'm crazy and said "of course!" Too make it even better Mark said he is actually moving close to the church & where we live the next day (today). Too perfect.
Then just recently I get a call from a guy named Alex who knows Kengo Adachi who is in the Tokyo mission that I met back at USU. He was given our number by Kengo because he is moving here and wants to meet up for dinner tonight! He is Chinese but also speaks Japanese, English & Korean. Sounds like he used to be their investigator or something. Stoked for that.
Anyways! Things are still crazy up here in Yokohama! Hope you guys are doing well. Love you.
Got to see some of Shibuya due to the emergency at the station today.
Place is crazy.
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