Monday, September 2, 2013

Hey Everyone!

   How's it going? Is it finally starting to cool off a bit over there in AZ? It's still pretty hot over here, but I've been hearing rumors that the temperature should start dropping in a couple weeks. We'll see. It's strange to think that I"m already almost done with my second summer in Japan.

   So on Tuesday we had transfer calls. I was actually a little surprised to find out that Elder Fernelius was transferring out already. I thought he would stay for at least one more transfer. And my streak of one transfer per companion continues. We'll see how long that continues. It's been going since January when I became companions with Elder Christensen again. Anyway, I'm still here in Fuchu. My new companion is Elder Otsuka, from Sapporo, up in northern Japan. He's a pretty interesting guy. Boxes, likes cooking, knows some missionaries I went to the MTC with... yeah. Cool stuff. I'm pretty sure that we'll be companions for at least two transfers, but we'll have to wait and see. If that is the case, that would mean that I had Japanese companions for both of my birthdays on my mission. That would be kinda cool, right?

   There isn't really all that much to write about this week... Tuesday we had transfer calls, Wednesday Elder Fernelius packed and we had English class, then Thursday was transfer day. Saturday there was a summer Matsuri over in the Kichijoji ward, and one of our investigators decided to go to that, so we went too. We showed up, and to my surprise, we saw the Brother and Sister Harrison there! They're the senior couple I worked with in Yamato, and then they ended up working in the mission office. I never got a chance to say goodbye or take a picture with them before the mission split, so this was a perfect chance! It was great to catch up with them a little and say hi.

   Yesterday ended up being the best day of the week by far. Church was great, and afterward we had our typical meetings followed up with Shuwa (Japanese sign language) class with Sister Matsunaga, a deaf lady in the ward. That's always fun. When that was all finished up, we went over to the Shinomoto's house, and we had a lesson and they fed us dinner. They are very open to the gospel, and love having us come over. I love working with the Shinomoto family! They are so cool, and their kids are just hilarious! The Bishop is really excited about this family too. I'm excited to see how the gospel will change this family's life. Later that same evening, we went to have a lesson with Edna and Hendrix. They're the ones from New Zealand, and Hendrix is a pro rugby player. We rang the door bell, and Hendrix came to the door. He had the most surprised and bewildered look on his face I have ever seen. Apparently Edna forgot to tell him we were coming over. oops. Haha! It ended up being good though. We had just wanted to drop in and share a quick message, and this gave us extra incentive to be quick about it.

   Well, that's about it for now. This upcoming week should be a good one, so next week I should have some good stuff to share. Hopefully... Take care everyone! Write you more next week!

Elder Blake