06 February 2012

Email from Matlock 6 February 2012


 Dear 家族、

     Well its February.
    Took a nap last p-day, which turned out to be a mistake. I was more exhausted after the nap than before. I learned my lesson. Received a three hour professional cleaning service coupon from our ward mission leader. Think he's trying to give us a hint or something. Had transfers and a Japanese Sister came in place of an American. Her bike had a few problems so I taught myself how to fix a derailer. Now that I've got it figured out I'm thinking about taking a look at my own gears... I haven't been able to use the highest gear for over a year now but I never worried about it cause since leaving Togane with that massive hill I haven't had a need to use that gear. Speaking of Togane, I miss that place! I'm slowly coming to the realization that the promised land of Kichijoji is more like your modern day Babylon. We spent a whole day stopping people on the streets and preaching the word with very little to show for it! There were some cool things that happened however.
     On Wednesday after some long hours of getting rejected on the street we started heading back to eat and get ready for English class when we ran into a Brother from the ward. He was heading out to eat at a Chinese restaurant that I had thought about going to before so we just went along with him. Now I think the closer you get to China the more authentic the Chinese food gets, cause its nothing like the places you find in America. I hear it’s still not quite like real Chinese food though. I'll have to get my hands on some of the real McKoy someday. Anyways, after we finished eating the waiter (Chinese) came up to me and said he saw that we were Christian and he was interested in Christianity. He then asked if he could have a card or something. In my experience as a missionary I've had more luck with the Chinese people than the Japanese so this may be a good sign. Another day we were all passing out English fliers at the station but I was pretty tired of that so I tried to tell people about the Book of Mormon and pass out Book of Mormon pass along cards. The only people who would talk to me were two girls from China. My patience is running thin with the Japanese people!
      English class was pretty interesting this week. Two native English speakers+ two Japanese speakers/ 3 English classes= 1 slight problem. One of the Sister missionaries taught the beginners class and I took over intermediate. I have now taught every single class here at Kichijoji. Intermediate is... fun. Unfortunately we didn't have any new students and as far as I can tell we've gotten no new people from the tissues. What a shame.
     Every companionship in the district got changed and after our first district meeting I'm starting to really miss the old district! I got a new companion and the other companionship in the apartment got a new companion. I haven't met him before but I do know he's on transfer 11. He is pretty interesting. He made a big deal about how he was on transfer 11 and how he was already an old missionary and he just couldn't believe it. He's trunkier than I am. I didn't have the heart to break it to him that he still has 7 months left. He also regaled us several times about how he gained a testimony of kanji study because thanks to kanji study he knew how to say the word cell in Japanese and use it to testify to someone on the street. We're all proud of him.
     Speaking of interesting people we were invited out to lunch by an English class student. I took that as a sign that he wanted to be convinced to believe in God. Apparently that’s not exactly what he had in mind. He said if there was a God how come so many bad things happened, surely he would stop such things? Fair question, except I have yet to meet someone out here who will accept the answer. We explained the fall of Adam how we are living in an imperfect state and this is so we can know good from evil and gain experience, learn and grow. Shared from the scriptures the need for opposition in all things and the whole time he just shook his head in exasperation as if he expected us to say, "oh good point there, I guess there is no God!" No, I will debate this with you all day my friend because God being there is the only logical answer, and once you realize that your life will be happier and have more meaning. In the end I assigned him 2nd Nephi chapter 2 and told him this would answer all his questions about why there are wars, famines, 9/11's, sicknesses, and accidents. You think he would read it right? We'll find out when we see him next English class.

                        Love you all!
                         Elder Wyman


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