Ola Pessoal!

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!

Elder Evans