Week 10 in Japan

Konnichiwa!

This week was a super quick one! I want to share a quick experience
that we had his week. On Saturday, my companion and I were heading
over to an area that we hadn't been to so we didn't know how to get
there. We ended up stopping a guy on the street and asking him if he
could tell us how to get there. He was super nice and told us to
follow him and he would take us there. He took us all the way to the
place we needed, about 20-25 minutes away. We stopped in the middle of
a shoutengai (a big shopping street) and we thanked him for doing that
for us, and just started talking to him. While we were talking to him,
some Japanese guy walked up to me, and said in broken English "Are you
from the Mormon church?" I said yes, and moved over to talk to him. So
my companion was talking to one guy, and I was talking to the other.
The guy I was talking was named Takenaka. I found out that he was from
Tokyo and he was homeless. (He did not look homeless at all) His
business failed in Tokyo, and he lost his work, and his home. So he
moved down to Osaka because it's a little cheaper than Tokyo. He works
in the Shoutengai selling magazines and he sleeps behind the library.
I asked him what he knew about the church, and he said that he lived
by the Tokyo temple. Then he asked me if he came to our church, could
he learn about the bible and about Jesus Christ. I told him that
that's what we do as missionaries so if he could come to the church we
would love to teach him.
That night we were having a dinner activity with the other
missionaries and a couple of the people in the ward at 6. I told him
about the activity and invited him to come. He asked me if we could
pick him up at the train station at 6 that night, and I told him we
would be there. We taught him a little bit about how God was our
Heavenly Father while we were in the shoutengai. (at this point my
companion was helping me talk to Takenaka) At 6 o'clock, we went to
the train station and he was there waiting for us, with his suitcase
he was living out of and everything! We all ate some delicious
mabudofu that a member cooked for everyone. And then Takenaka asked if
he could learn about the bible and church. So we took him into another
room to teach him. He told us about his life, and losing his daughter
and all the struggles he is having. It almost brought us to tears. We
were able to teach him about what he wanted to know, and he wants to
meet regularly. He is a very nice guy, and just wants to make his
daughter, who passed away proud. Through meeting with him, I was so
grateful for what I have and what I have been given in my life. I want
to thank everyone for all that you have done for me in my life, and
for motivating me on my mission. I wouldn't be here today with out
every one of you. I'm super blessed.
Another interesting experience we had last night was talking to one of
our investigators who was wasted drunk. He called us to ask about our
appointment we were having later this week. But he was wasted and
couldn't get words out. On missions you see a lot of things. I see
something new every day. I'm loving my area, and the people in the
area. It's challenging not being able to speak the language, but the
language will come through working everyday to become better. Thank
you for all that you do! I love you all!
Evans Choro