Japan Tokyo South Mission: Pork Chop

I can not believe how much can happen in a week! Time is still moving quicker and quicker the closer I get to the end though. President Wada is now gone and President Warnick is here. We actually got to meet him and his wife this last week. They came and visited the Machida Stake missionaries here in Hachioji and they are soo great. I felt the Spirit through the entire meeting. I especially felt it as I saw the picture of when he was set apart to be a mission president, I really felt that he has been called by God to be the mission president at this time.

This week we went on splits with the Takao Elders. I started off with a new Japanese missionary Elder Ota. He is a total boss, way bold. We had an awesome day. We didn't talk to a ton of people but still managed to get 4 peoples contact info. Originally though it was only 3. We came around a corner by the station and saw some middle aged American passing out fliers. That's a big thing here in Japan, at the train station they pass out flyers and advertisements, we do it sometimes with English class fliers. Anyways his name was Mark from DC. He moved here ten years ago and ended up telling me a lot about his life and the peace he has found through Christ and forgiveness. I asked if he lives alone and that turned into a conversation about his dating life which I probably should have avoided haha. He told me his choice of girls was used to be pretty bad, "just imagine a dog walking down the street who notices a pork chop laying on the road. This pork chop has been baking in the sun for days and there's maggots crawling all over it. Any reasonable person would avoid it but I was just over there like [starts looking around panting like a dog]." Hahaha I just busted up laughing, Elder Ota is pretty good at English but got so lost in all that.. I can tell Mark has changed a lot from who he used to be. I got the chance to tell him about my change in life as well and taught him the restoration. The conversation was going great until he realized how late he was. Before he left I stopped him and gave him a hug. No homo but it was a special moment after the hug as I saw his face soften, I know he felt the love and that's a great feeling. Then he left... I was so disappointed that I didn't get a chance to invite him to church/learn more or get his contact info. The next day I went to the station with Elder Coleman. As we waited for AJ a new investigator to show up, through the crowd I saw a white guy and it was Mark! I chased him down and expressed my regret that we didn't exchange info. He said he too was really sad we didn't. He gave me his name for Facebook. After looking through hundreds of people with the same name and adding 3 of them he messaged me! Gotta get him a Book of Mormon.

Sorry that was so long but that was definitely guided by God. I want you all to know how easy it really is to share the joy of this gospel. Don't make it harder than it is. God wants you to share it and wants them to hear it. You want them to hear it and I do too. They may not know it but so do they! We have so much working in our favor, will you invite your friends and even those you don't know to learn more about this church from the source? (Church/Book of Mormon/meeting with missionaries)

So we fasted and prayed for Shintaro (the kid that came to church last week and we set a date for baptism) to follow through and get baptized at the end of the month, he didn't show up to church though... As much of a bummer that is he called us right before church and told us it's because he is sick. The reason that's a good thing is because up to that point he had never answered a text, email or phone call from us for the three weeks that we have known him. After that we emailed him and since then he is answering our emails! That is HUGE. Without consistent contact it is really hard for us to help people progress towards baptism.

We also figured out how to use some of the $100 we received a few weeks ago. We took a homeless friend out for a meal, really nice hair cut, clean and shave. He looked so much better. He didn't appreciate it as much as we hoped but if felt really good to do that. He came to church the next day as well :)

Last thing! We turn the lights off at 10:30 but I was still brushing my teeth. I started to get in bed but remembered I didn't check by bed for bugs as I usually do. It's pretty weird but I do that most nights even though there isn't ever a bug on my bed. I just had to check though. I turned on the light to check real quick... There was a decent sized cockroach looking bug just chillin on my bed! Haha Lolz

Love you guys so much

1. President Warnick and our zone!

2. A picture from last week that I forgot to send. The Yamaokas had us over for dinner and we invited our friend Keisuke that we met on the train a while back. He doesn't live near us so we don't talk a lot but he is a way cool kid.

3. Every missionary that ever comes through Hachioji knows Bro. Misu (next to me in the pic). We see him about every day and he is so great. Buys us food, drives us around and gives me back rubs. Anyways! He took us over to his friends the Nakajimas' house for dinner. They made an amazing meal and were so nice. The opportunity to meet with nonmember families is so rare here so that was a big blessing.

4. At dinner last night with the Kitahara's.....

5. This group pic is a little more normal but the old man on the left is a recent convert and the lady next to him is Filipino and this was her first time meeting everyone. At one point I looked over and saw the old man massaging the bottom of her bare foot, and her making noises because he was digging in hard with his knuckles. I don't know how they got to that point because she doesn't really speak English or Japanese... Pretty bizarre lol