Dante Choro in Japan: They did fast and pray oft...

Well everyone this is it, the moment you've all been waiting for...That's right, my email for the week.

First I would like to start with a question: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Now with the email!

At the beginning of the week, it felt really slow (just like every week). But then at the end of the week, it felt like the beginning of the week was at least two weeks ago! So me telling these stories is
like just remembering them! So sometimes I might leave things out and I might change a few things on accident. So after that little disclaimer, let's begin!

At the beginning of the week, after we emailed on pday, we went shopping. It was awesome! And we both had a little hankering for ice cream and the shopping center that we normally go to had a Baskin Robbins on the bottom floor. So we got some ice cream, and when we were done shopping it was a sure good thing that we went when we did. On the way out, the line was wrapped all the way around the bottom floor and it just wasn't moving very quickly. That day, they were doing appreciation day and so from that 15:00 until 17:00 the regular cone was only 100 yen, which is about a dollar. So we were lucky with that. Unfortunately we we not able to get the discount because of the time and also we bought a double! Why would you buy just one scoop of ice cream?!?!?! Then we did some other stuff. Like housing! Yay!

Then on Tuesday, we visited with a lot of members. Or at least it felt like a lot. It was only 3 but still. We have been sharing the talk by M. Russell Ballard in October 1984 because he challenged us
all to go out and be member missionaries. I would recommend reading the talk, it was really good. And so we have been giving his challenge of praying about and setting a date to find someone for the
missionaries to teach. And that lesson pretty much describes our entire week, we have been sharing that talk and some scriptures and parts of PMG with members all week, and they have all committed that they will choose a date and work to it! Awesome! And we had talked about it on Monday and had decided to fast every other day this week because we were looking at our investigator pool and decided if we needed help ever, it was then. So we fasted on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Satruday. It was a really great experience. And we saw a lot of small miracles this week.

Then we went on Wednesday to the Uematsu family and it was. Awesome! We talked about the Ten Commandments and they already knew a lot of them! It was really fun and they are always so nice. And the rest of the day, we had our weekly planning and that's about it. But it was good to be able to plan for the week!

On Thursday, we had a koukan! And it was really fun, I got to be with the legendary Elder Tallent in Numazu! We had a good time and talked to a homeless guy that is Brazilian and his name is Georgie. He doesn't want to be in Japan anymore and can't find a job to go home. That really is too bad. And they keep extending his visa because he doesn't have enough money to be deported even. So he is in a really tough place. And we got to teach eikaiwa and it was really fun! But it was a little weird to teach a different area's eikaiwa class.

Then on Friday we had DTM taught by our lovely district leader: Elder Hansen! And it was a good one, but it was really hard because he asked me to translate the meeting for the Yuasa Couple and so I had to figure out how to say all sorts of words that we just don't use and I had to talk really fast. There were a couple times that I had to ask them to stop talking for a second. But that's ok I guess. Then we went over to a member's house for lunch and we shared a message about member missionary work with him. And it went great! He was really willing to try it and said that he has tried before but didn't really follow through with it so he will try again and that he will follow through this time. Then we went to a park and visited a family and their friends and I did a magic trick for them, because you know, I'm a magician. Hahahaha! And we shared a message with them and played red
light, green light with the kids! It was awesome! Then we had an appointment that fell through so we biked around talking to people for a little bit before our other appointment with some members. And we met a guy from England! He was super cool and his name was Graham. We talked to him for a little while and then he even accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon! Unfortunately he is going home to England next month so we won't get to be the ones to teach him, but we at least got to meet him! He is awesome! Then we went to the Baba's house for dinner and a family home evening! It was super fun. We talked to them for a while and we had sushi! Which we had to make... I'm definitely
not pro at that yet. But it was still great! And they also accepted the challenge to pick a date and to find someone. It was a really fun time and we did some magic and played some games with them and it was a great FHE.

Then on Saturday, we went to a Kendo meet. The Uematsu family invited us because Kokoro was competing! So we went and stayed for a little bit and it was really a cool thing to watch. Then we went home and did our regular studies! Yay!then we went out and tried to visit the person that we had an appointment with the day before, but he wasn't home. So we went housing and there were a few people that said that we could come back. And then we had dinner at McDonald's! It was good and
there were a ton of people there! Mostly high school students, but we didn't really get to talk to any of them. Then we visited with the Nonaka Fufu and Ooki Kyodai. We shared with them the message of member dendo and they all said they would try it too. So there are three more people who were added to our Army of Helaman.

Then on Sunday, we had a great Sacrament Meeting! And one of our New investigators came! He is called Mizusawa, but that's not his real name. I can't remember his real name because it is in Persian. He is from Iran and is super funny! He comes to eikaiwa and he told us that he wanted to learn about Christianity and so we have started lessons. He came and even wore a suit! He looked pretty spiffy. Then that night we went and visited the Nasu family and shared a message with the
sisters about Christlike attributes. It was really good, the one that I got (we drew them out of a bowl) was Knowledge. So I guess that's a sign that I have to study harder. Or just better.

But that's about it for this week! I hope you all had a good time and that you take advantage of the opportunities around you...but not the people!! Haha!

Have a great week!

Richerrun 長老