Area: Hirosaki
Companions: Canepari Choro and Larsen Choro
Hello everyone!! How are all of you guys doing? It sounds like you all had a great week. That Japanese festival looked pretty fun, but wasn't too authentic from what I could tell! Looked fun though!
My week was pretty awesome. The Hirosaki Cherry Blossom festival was in full force this week and the city was crawling with tourists from all around to come see one of the best Sakura festivals in Japan. I had the opportunity to go there three times last week. It was way pretty. Japan is such a beautiful country!
So first things first, we got transfer calls on Saturday morning and it looks like I'll be leaving Hirosaki. I'm being transferred down south to a small town called Furukawa in Miyagi Ken. I don't know much about it, but I'm sure it will be fun. I'm sad to leave Hirosaki though. I've had a lot of good and a lot of hard times here. It will always have a special place in my heart, being my first area. I'm excited though to move on and see what the future holds!
Tuesday was pretty uneventful. We had a mogi with Nakabayashi Shimai (wow that name is a mouthful). She was so funny; by far the funniest mogi I have ever done. I asked her how she had been recently. She put her face in her hands like she always does and told us she had accidentally watched You tube videos for five hours! We laughed so hard. It was a good practice lesson.
My week was pretty awesome. The Hirosaki Cherry Blossom festival was in full force this week and the city was crawling with tourists from all around to come see one of the best Sakura festivals in Japan. I had the opportunity to go there three times last week. It was way pretty. Japan is such a beautiful country!
So first things first, we got transfer calls on Saturday morning and it looks like I'll be leaving Hirosaki. I'm being transferred down south to a small town called Furukawa in Miyagi Ken. I don't know much about it, but I'm sure it will be fun. I'm sad to leave Hirosaki though. I've had a lot of good and a lot of hard times here. It will always have a special place in my heart, being my first area. I'm excited though to move on and see what the future holds!
Tuesday was pretty uneventful. We had a mogi with Nakabayashi Shimai (wow that name is a mouthful). She was so funny; by far the funniest mogi I have ever done. I asked her how she had been recently. She put her face in her hands like she always does and told us she had accidentally watched You tube videos for five hours! We laughed so hard. It was a good practice lesson.
After that, we went to visit some investigators, but the same thing happened as they have this entire transfer. They are either busy or not home. We have this one investigator. He straight up told us he wasn't that interested, but he likes to talk to us anyway, so we keep visiting him. In Japan, you take what you can get. But, for the last three times, as we are standing in his Genkan after ringing the doorbell, he and his wife come driving into their driveway, just coming home. Its super awkward when that happens. It happened again on Tuesday. I swear, every time we ring his doorbell, they are coming home at the exact same time. Some sort of sorcery is at work right there.
Thursday, we went to Odate for District meeting and for splits. District meeting was way good. We talked about how dendo can change us and how Christ can help us change our desires and works to align our will with God's will. There were some really good trainings. After, the meeting, Elder Wheelwright and I headed back to Hirosaki for splits. I learned a lot from Elder Wheelwright from this split. He is from Morgan, Utah and goes home in July, so he's pretty experienced. He is just way good at talking to people and that is something I really need to improve on. I was able to learn a lot from his example.
I had made a plan to go with Akimotto San to the Sakura festival, so when we got back, we waited at the church for him to pick us up. The park was absolutely beautiful! The trees were filled with blossoms and the water had flower petals floating on it. It was the most Japanese postcard scenery I have ever seen. It was kind of a bummer though, every time we were talking to someone, Akimotto San would come take us away, saying we had to hurry.
Later that night, we had an over the phone mogi with a member. It was a pretty intense lesson. I asked her how she was and she just went off on how her dad yells at her, how she feels worthless in this life, and how she feels she can't talk to God. So we spent about an hour and a half teaching about God's love for us and prayer. It was pretty crazy.
Saturday night, we went to the Festival again to try to talk to people. It was absolutely ridiculous how many people were there. It was the most crowded place I have ever been. Why are there so many people in this country? It was kind of hard to approach and talk to people because everyone was in such a big hurry and in huge groups. We tried though. The park was beautiful though with everything lit up. It was a good time.
Sunday was pretty good. An hour before sacrament meeting, Fujita Kyoudai asked me if I would get up in Sacrament meeting and speak for five minutes or so. I was way scared, but when I got up and started speaking, it wasn't scary at all. It was a way cool experience. For the first time in my mission, words were just flowing out of my mouth. I talked about how even though I couldn't understand a thing my first couple months or so, that I could still feel the Christ like love the members showed me and how special their branch really is. Then I shared a scripture and said some other stuff. It was way cool though. After church, some of the members came and told me how much they enjoyed my testimony and that my Japanese had gotten a ton better. it was a pretty cool experience. My comps told me that they didn't hear me make one mistake either! It was cool. Before I got up to speak, I was praying really hard for Heavenly Father to help me and calm my fears, and it ended up being okay. The gift of tongues is real I guess!
Today, for my last pday, Takaya Kyoudai took us to this way cool Jinja in the middle of the countryside. After walking around there for a while, we went to this cool waterfall and then went to lunch and had Curry with Tonkatsu in it! It was way delicious. A good way to end my time here in Hirosaki.
Yep, that is about my week! I'm going to miss Hirosaki, but I'm excited for the next phase of my mission! I can't believe I'm already in my fourth transfer. That transfer absolutely flew by! I love you guys! Have an awesome week!
Saturday night, we went to the Festival again to try to talk to people. It was absolutely ridiculous how many people were there. It was the most crowded place I have ever been. Why are there so many people in this country? It was kind of hard to approach and talk to people because everyone was in such a big hurry and in huge groups. We tried though. The park was beautiful though with everything lit up. It was a good time.
Sunday was pretty good. An hour before sacrament meeting, Fujita Kyoudai asked me if I would get up in Sacrament meeting and speak for five minutes or so. I was way scared, but when I got up and started speaking, it wasn't scary at all. It was a way cool experience. For the first time in my mission, words were just flowing out of my mouth. I talked about how even though I couldn't understand a thing my first couple months or so, that I could still feel the Christ like love the members showed me and how special their branch really is. Then I shared a scripture and said some other stuff. It was way cool though. After church, some of the members came and told me how much they enjoyed my testimony and that my Japanese had gotten a ton better. it was a pretty cool experience. My comps told me that they didn't hear me make one mistake either! It was cool. Before I got up to speak, I was praying really hard for Heavenly Father to help me and calm my fears, and it ended up being okay. The gift of tongues is real I guess!
Today, for my last pday, Takaya Kyoudai took us to this way cool Jinja in the middle of the countryside. After walking around there for a while, we went to this cool waterfall and then went to lunch and had Curry with Tonkatsu in it! It was way delicious. A good way to end my time here in Hirosaki.
Yep, that is about my week! I'm going to miss Hirosaki, but I'm excited for the next phase of my mission! I can't believe I'm already in my fourth transfer. That transfer absolutely flew by! I love you guys! Have an awesome week!
Love,
Elder Nathan Didericksen
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| Night lights |
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| Sakura in Hirosaki...So beautiful!! |
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| More Sakura |
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| Popcorn Popping |
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| Cool Jinja |
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| Waterfall...I love this guy! (Elder Larsen) |
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| My last p day in Hirosaki |
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| Fish sticks? |
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