So here it is, the hump! One year ago I was a scared-to-death, white boy entering the MTC and a year from now I will be a slightly fatter white boy with more desires to eat raw fish and share the gospel who will be sitting on the couch feeling terrible that he is not dendoing as he watches the NBA Finals. I am sure most people don`t care about that so I`ll get back to the present Elder Hall on the computer over here in Numazu.
Not much has happened this past week except for a crazy day adventure to a city called Gotemba which is an hour away by train. We packed our bikes and carried them with us so we could hunt down some less actives that didn`t know we still existed and then cap the night off with a fun Brazilian dinner. We had some trouble finding a couple of the addresses because Japan isn`t as easy as 800 West and 200 South and stuff like that in Utah but we talked to some cool people along the way. One was an older man around 60 who told us he had recently started studying different religions. That was quite a shock to hear from a Japanese man. So we switched phone numbers and gave a free gift called `The Restoration` pamphlet and went to go to the half Brazilian family for some dinner. When we got to their HUGE apartment building of hundreds of rooms, our phone died so we had to stop a group of about six businessmen and women returning from work, who were all in their early 20`s, to borrow their phone in order to call the senior couple in the area so we could get what room they lived in. We hit it off really well with a couple of the group members and were joking around with them and actually really fluidly switched to the gospel. We gave them a Mormon.org after they helped us out since they lived aways away but I`m sure their interest was peaked. Then we spoke way more English than I have in a long time as we ate dinner and talked with a random American couple who were super heavy awesome Christians that are going back to America in a couple weeks. The rice and beans were delicious and we were treated by the youth age kids playing Coldplay on the piano. Other than that this week was pretty normal.
For the year mark on Thursday we did eat out at an all you can eat place so while it wasn`t healthy in the slightest, it was tasty none the less. I can`t believe that I have been out a year. Sometimes it feels like I`ve been out for a week and sometimes it feels like I have been out for a decade. Mission life is weird for sure but it is definitely worth it in the long run. I always thought I would be a much better missionary and person this far out in the mission so it has been kind of disappointing this past week to not see as much progress as I would like and not have done as much as I wanted to by this point when I was in the MTC. Sometimes that is because I get complacent and am happy where I am but other times it is just a part of life. I`ve realized speaking Japanese will always be hard, older people will always occasionally ignore our existence as we try to talk to them on the street, and certain things will always be the same. Waking up won`t get any easier, the pressures of missionary work will stay the same. In this, I am reminding of a quote that goes something like this `It isn`t that the things you do get any easier, it is just that you get stronger and better at doing them.` That is pretty true as a missionary. It is only through Christ`s enabling power of the Atonement that we can be strong enough to overcome life`s trials with our eyes set in an eternal perspective.
So being out for a year, I have come to know a lot of things. The gospel is a lot more personal now it feels even though I might not be able to share it with people as much as i would like to sometimes. I`ve come to learn how to be more humble as I try to give it over to the Lord because I can`t do anything most times. I`ve learned how difficult it can be to watch others not take the neccesary steps to true happiness and I know a little more how God feels when we continually mess up. I`ve learned that our words don`t matter as much as our actions. People are driven a lot more by emotions and feelings instead of thoughts; and if we have the Spirit, it becomes much easier for us to help people come unto Christ. I`ve learned of how close God and Christ truly are to us and that all we have to do is call out to them and be willing to receive their help and do the things they ask of us to do in the scriptures. It hasn`t been easy but it has been worth, and will continue to be worth it no matter what challenges are continuously thrown at me. It is all downhill from here so I`ll be able to run a little bit faster than before.
I love you all and see you all in a year!
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