Letter from Elder Wyman – 17 August 2010

Dear (Family in Japanese characters),
This week the district leader did splits with us. I went out to Okegawa and the district leader’s companion came to Sakado. These splits were the funnest thing I’ve done in a long time! Right as we got off the train we met this guy from Nigeria. He was so cool! That was the first time in my life probably I’ve heard someone on the street say “Man, I love Jesus! These Japanese people need to hear about him – It’s a good thing your doing out here.” He was awesome. The Elder C. from that area is actually getting in touch with him again. Oh, wait a minute, back up to before all of this – on the train on the way to splits we met another guy. He was extremely extroverted and friendly and probably a little drunk. He kept saying “I…speak…Japanese very well!” He also kept singing songs, such as old Japanese and American folk songs. We exchanged phone numbers and he wanted to take a picture with us once we were in the station. He was hilarious! He actually called us a few days after and came all the way to Sakado to talk with us. He printed off the pictures he took with us and had sent them to the church address which was on the flyer we gave him. He wasn’t drunk this time but he was still singing. He knew songs in German, English, Spanish, Italian, French, and maybe more I don’t know.
Well – back to splits – Elder C. also loves ping-pong so we went and played it at the church in the morning for exercise. Oh and dad – just to let you know – I’m going to destroy you in ping-pong when I get back. The Japanese play ping-pong more than football I think.
That day we went and met up with the sister missionaries so that we could plan the lesson we would be teaching. We were going to a member’s house to teach their friend with two pairs of missionaries. This would be the first contact she had with missionaries and it was guaranteed to be spectacular. We had lunch together (delicious by the way) and then we established the expectations for our meetings and the guidelines so she would know what to expect from us. Then we taught about God and a few other principles. The lesson flowed smoother than warm butter down a slip and slide. It went exactly as planned, and after she said she had a warm feeling. I think I can take a stab at what that was!
Then. When we were in the train station Elder C. showed me this American import store and I found Deep River Snacks! Those are the chips that I ate all the time at work. The company is based in Old Lyme, CT! How on earth did they end up in a small pharmacy shop in Japan?! Either way they were delicious!
I don’t know if you remember the musical couple we gave the Book of Mormon to – they came back from their 3 week trip to Kobe! They had us over and taught us how to make takoyaki! It was great – we brought some hymnbooks because that’s what they wanted to do. She plays the piano, so she was going to play the hymns. I was worried that she wouldn’t be able to play the hymns without any practice but she opened up a hymn book and started singing the tune! She can sight read perfectly! It was fantastic!
It’s funny that you should mention Ramune (a Japanese soda his sister is hooked on) - the same week you asked about it I tried it for the first time. Ever since then it seems like it’s shown up everywhere!
Elder B. had a language confusion that I thought was very amusing. Someone called us and said he wanted to meet today. Kyo (with a line over the o) is today and Kai is meeting. But he thought he was saying we wanted to see the church or KyoKai.
Love to you all,
Elder Wyman