"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." -Alma 26:12

Monday, April 25, 2016

4/24/2016 Kurashiki!!

Minnasan konnichiwa!

Sorry that I missed you all last week, but last week was transfers and we had a bit of a crazy day/week! On Monday morning we decided to try and get Elder Madruga's bike fixed, and we had an investigator that offered to do it for free, so we headed over to his place. On the way, though, we received a call from our Mission President, President Welch. (Just to let everyone know, we only ever get transfer calls from Welch kaicho if a missionary becomes a district leader, zone leader, or trainer, so we were pretty scared). It turns out that my companion would be transferring to a nearby area to be the new zone leader! Way to go Madruga! After that news I figured I would stay, but boy, was I wrong. The next day I got a call from the zone leaders saying that I was transferring too. I will be staying in the same zone, but my new area is Kurashiki. The best part is that my companion is... Elder Tanaka! He was in the same zone as me when I first came into the mission, and yes, 100% Japanese. He is from Sendai (Northern Japan) loves to dance, and does so every chance he gets. Literally, every chance- in between knocking on doors while housing, in the morning before study, at night before bed, during mealtimes, you name it. Maybe he'll teach me how to dance, but I don't think I have much hope. We'll see. I'll also get to speak a lot of Japanese this transfer, and I'm hoping to improve a ton with his help.

Anyways, it was way hard to leave Izumo, especially since we weren't able to say goodbye to hardly any of our investigators or members. I love that area so much, and I know that it is going to continue to grow and progress. Oh, I almost forgot the biggest news of all. Elder Madruga was supposed to transfer to a new area, which meant that both of us would be leaving and there would be no Brazilian coming in to replace him, so we were worried that all of our Brazilian investigators would drop. But at the last minute before transfers on Wednesday, we received a call from the Assistants to the President saying that Madruga would not transfer, and that the Zone Leader area would move to Izumo! Way big news, especially since Izumo is still a branch, not even a ward yet. Did I mention I love Izumo! The members there are so awesome, and we have worked really hard to build up our teaching pool, so I think some big things are coming to Izumo soon.

I haven't had much time in my new area yet because we had our Stake Conference this past Saturday and Sunday, so I don't know very many of the members or investigators yet, but I am way excited for the opportunity to work in a new area with new people. I know that I'm going to have to rely on the Lord more than ever this transfer, so that I can communicate with my companion, and so that I can teach and work more effectively. While it is important to study the language and be able to communicate effectively, I am constantly reminded of the fact that as long as I do what I can to speak the things that are put into my heart, the Lord will magnify my words. It seems that those times when I have absolutely no idea how to say what I want to say and still try anyways, those are the times that the Spirit is present the most. I am truly thankful to know that because of the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ, we don't have to be perfect. We are meant to do all that we can do, and then He will make up all the rest. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Winegar長老より
Stake Conference- met up with a recent convert from Kouchi, my first area!


No comments: