A Whole New World

Well, this week is a bit hard to put in words.  I don't think quite
many people understand what a transfer feels like unless you have
actually gone through one.  Just imagine having less than three days
to pack all of your belongings, say good-bye to everyone you know in
your city, and then you change the person you have been living with
24/7 for three months or so and go to a completely foreign place where
you don't even know how to return to the apartment.  That is basically
what happened this Thursday.  Everyone I knew in Numazu, all the plans
I had, and all the inside jokes had to be tossed aside for my move.
That would be enough but on top of that, I suddenly have more than
twenty missionaries under my belt and have to get used to again living
with someone who leads me around and showing me around.  It has been a
bit of a shock to the system going from trainer to Kohai Zone Leader.
I feel like I'm adjusting a little bit now though and things are
smoothing out, even if I still don't quite know the area.

Luckily for me, there is a lot to know over here in Fukutoku.  Many
investigators, a HUGE ward filled with various people, and a lot of
missionaries in the zone I haven't met yet.  The first order of
business as zone leader was to help keep a companionship safe from a
crazy less active we wanted to shoot them and later to make sure an
elder was safe after some crazy guy accidentally hit him with his car
(shout out to Elder Yamada and Elder Laumatia in Gifu).  As far as the
ward goes, we got free pizza and some pretty good sandwiches and
various other foods my first Sunday there but I don't know if that is
because of me being a new arrival or just because everyone had to eat
something before ward council started.  Also there was a Hall family
that had recently moved away from the Fukutoku Ward a few months
before I got here and all the ward thinks I am related to them because
the Dad is Canadian.  The building here is HUGE and basically is a
normal American stake center without the second best part, the
basketball court (first is the chapel guys...).  The city wasn't close
to being as busy and crowded as I thought it was.  Yeah, I don't
really have to worry about finding people on the street but I do all
the same stuff as I would in my previous banished areas.

We had a meeting with all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training
Leaders in the mission and we all got together and talked about some
things we could do to help the mission.  To start it off we had a
really experienced teacher at the MTC and former Fukuoka Mission
President teach us how to start the conversion process while teaching
Japanese, non-Christian background people.  He told us (as PMG says)
that the conversion process is the same regardless where you are in
the world or regardless of who you are.  The only difference here in
Japan is not that they need to do more to progress and become
converted, but they just start a little bit behind.  A normal American
will at least understand who Christ is and the basics of him dying for
us and preaching the gospel.  In Japan, we often have to teach this
part and establish with them a emotional connection to Christ (a.k.a.
the Spirit).  So we talked about how to introduce the gospel to them
so they could more simply understand what we do.  The church even made
new pamphlets for us missionaries to use that talk about "Who is God?"
"Who is Jesus Christ?" and "What to Expect when meeting the
missionaries?"  I am excited to use them and I think that they will
really help new investigators open up and be in the right mindset to
understand better what we teach and to feel the Spirit.

Along the lines of conversion being the same for everyone, I was also
thinking about the differences between me now and before I
transferred.  I always get into the rut of thinking about quick fixes.
Earlier in my mission I thought, "If I just went senior, then all my
big problems would go away."  Then when I got to that point, I thought
"Maybe if I go zone leader and be the junior again, all my problems
would be a lot better."  Allow me to let you in on a secret folks,
when it comes to ourselves, there is no quick fix, no easy way out.
No move, no position, and no man-made program can truly change us and
help us successfully get over our problems once and for all.  Being
called as Zone Leader didn't all of a sudden elevate my teaching
skills, it didn't all of a sudden make me 110% obedient, it didn't
make me this spiritual giant with thousands of baptisms.  It doesn't
work that way, no matter how much I might have thought it would
earlier.  God is about processes, especially repentance and grace
improving our everyday lives.  Alma the Younger didn't just get zapped
by an angel into a baptizing-machine prophet.  He still had to repent
and suffer for a long period of time before he changed.  He had to do
all he could to mend the broken fences, to call back those he lead
astray.  We too can't move forward unless we choose to.  It takes
work, it takes time, it takes sacrifice.  But just as when we bust our
butt to climb a mountain and get to see, at the top, a beautiful vista
of the surrounding area, we will soon one day look back and see
just how much we have changed and the person we have become.  So let
our spiritual diet start today and not tomorrow.  Anything that
travails you or burdens you can be taken away through faith and
repentance through Jesus Christ.  All we have to do is to start our
change and continue forward in order for Christ to bless us with his
grace and love.  I pray that we all may do that this upcoming week and
for the rest of their lives.

I hope everyone enjoys conference this upcoming week and don't forget
to email me after the last session on Sunday!  I love you all!