Well, today's story starts back on last p day when we got lost in kyoto. (You always meet the best people when you get lost.) We didn't know which train station we needed to go to to get where we wanted, so we asked the girl that was sitting next to us. She helped us out and then we gave her an English class flyer. That Wednesday she called me (because our phone number is on the flyer) and asked about the class, and then came. Her name is yuna. It was pretty cool.
On Saturday, I went through the phone and texted a kid named Yuya kun(one of our investigators) and invited him to church. He was way nice and said that he would be there. We were so excited to have him come, so on Sunday we waited at the door of the church for him to get there. While we were waiting for him, Yuna (the girl that came to English class) walked into the church. We were all really surprised that she came because none of us had invited her to church. It was a cool miracle.
Soon after she got there, sacrament meeting started so we went in. But yuya kun had yet to show up. We were a bit disappointed. The other elders had a lesson with Yuna after sacrament meeting and they asked her why she came. She said "well you guys texted me and invited me so I decided, why not!" The other elders were really confused because they hadn't texted her, and they didn't even have her number. After further investigation we found out that when I texted who I thought was YUYA, it was actually YUNA! When Yuna called about English class last week, I saved her number in my phone, but I spelled it Yuya. Whoops! But Yuna absolutely loved church and wants to come every week. It's funny how miracles work sometimes.
Other than that, this week was good! We had zone conference in Shimogamo, and interviews right after. We were able to find more investigators this week, and we are excited to get working with them. Otsu is great! I love you all! Hope you have a great week!
Like I said last time I transferred, when I transfer, I transfer far. I'm back on the other side of the mission again in an area called Otsu. It's absolutely beautiful! My companion just got here from the MTC and he is an absolute stud. His name is elder soares and he is straight from Brazil! We live here in otsu with two other elders, one of which is American and the other is also from Brazil. Our district up here includes 8 elders, 5 of which are from Brazil, and 3 of us Americans. I guess I better start learning some Portuguese!
This week has been a rollercoaster. Lots of goodbyes to friends in Okayama, and lots of hellos to knew faces here in otsu. It was hard saying goodbye to all the people that I grew so attached to in Okayama, but I am also so excited for what's to come here in this new area. My companion and I got into the area late Thursday evening. We went straight to the church and had a game night. The next day, we went and got my companion his bike and a couple things he needed to stay warm because it was snowing like crazy. Then we got out to work and my companion had his first experience with housing and streeting. Since we both don't know the area, it's a perfect opportunity to get lost everyday and meet lots of cool people. When we left to go to an appointment after housing a for a while, my companion rode next to me and said "Evans choro, I love being a missionary and I love my mission." It was straight out of no where. After just getting hundreds of doors slammed in our faces, I was feeling a little down because I wanted to give him the perfect finding experience, but this was the response of Elder Soares. - I didn't even know how to respond to him. That experience taught me a very valuable lesson.
Another cool experience this week was when we were having companionship study in a little cafe. With the new schedule, we do our study whenever the time works best throughout the day. As we were sitting there talking, a 23 year old guy that was sitting next to us leaned over and said, in perfect English "hey are you guys missionaries? I have been to church before and I want to know more." I almost laughed because I was so surprised. We had a great talk with him and Soares choro gave out his first Book of Mormon! The guys name is Toshi and he is coming to church next week, so we are super excited for that. That same day, us and the other otsu elders decided to work together to house an 11 floor apartment building. As we knocked on the first door, i asked (through their intercom) if we could share a message with them in their doorway. The guy said "yeah I'll be right there!" We ended up finding out that this man has met with missionaries in the past and wants to keep learning. It was another fun miracle.
I am so excited for this transfer and for the miracles that we will see here. Soares choro is the man, and is already leading some of our contacts. I'm so excited to work with him in this new area. I love you all! Have a good week!
Yesterday in church, Hiroyuki passed the sacrament for the first time and it was one of the coolest experiences that I have had on my mission. He also was able to go to the Fukuoka temple with the young men for the first time on Friday. THE GOSPEL IS SO AWESOME!! Jessica was super jealous that she couldn't go with him because she had work. But they are both working together to be able to be sealed in the temple. I love them so much.
This last week we went up to Yonago again to do splits with the zone leaders. I worked with elder Tanaka and had a great time. Tanaka choro actually got hit by a car a month or so ago and broke his collar bone, so for splits we were walking the whole time. It was kind of hard to go to appointments without bikes, but it gave us a good opportunity to find new investigators throughout the day.
I've absolutely loved working here in Okayama. The members and the investigators that I have been able to work with have changed my life. It's been amazing to see all of us grow so much through using the atonement and repentance. I know that repentance isn't just something we do when we do something wrong, but we can use it daily to strengthen ourselves and become more like Christ. It's been a blessing to watch the atonement in action here in Okayama.
I love you all more than Wilkinson choro loves Pizza!
Elder Evans Japan Understands! Zone training meeting in Okayama Mount Daisen up in Yonago. A few pictures from last week (he only sent pictures, no letter last week)
