Happy Spring! The weather isn't quite sure if it's ready to change from winter to spring yet, but we've been getting more rain than snow lately and the sun has decided to make a few brief but very impressionable appearances. Some of the trees have started blooming as well, leading to a lot of fun dendou (missionary work)!
In fact, one particular experience was directly related to a tree blooming. For those of you who may not be aware, I LOVE flower blossoms. I think a tree in bloom is one of the most gorgeous things, and it can only be triumphed by the loud and proud colors of Autumn. There are times when I just have to stop and marvel. That happened today, when we were biking to a member's house to drop by and say hi. There in the front yard of one of the most amazing Japanese gardens I've ever seen was a plum tree in full bloom. I hit the brakes and just stared. I turned to my companion and said, 'Kirei!' (Pretty!) I then turned back around and noticed that the owner of the house was outside sweeping. I nodded to her, 'Konnichiwa.' (Hello)
She yelled. At first I was startled that I had upset her, but then I realized she was saying 'O-kotoba JOUZU!', which is basically saying 'Your Japanese is so amazing!'
...A big reaction for a hello, but hey. 'Arigatou gozaimasu,' I responded. (Thank you)
She screamed with joy again. It started a rather interesting conversation. She had little interest in the Gospel, but she really loved our appreciation for her garden. She gave us some flowers freshly picked to take home with us. She offered us to come inside and have a cup of tea as well, and we certainly would have if we didn't have an appointment in the next 15 minutes. We agreed to stop by again later. It was a very welcome change of pace, and just goes to show that just saying 'hi' on the street can sometimes lead places.
Actually, later that same day (about 5 minutes later, in fact) we came across a man walking a dog in the park. I had met this gentleman before, so he recognized me and came up to say hullo again. He had investigated our church for 6 months but came to the conclusion that all churches taught of God and therefore were true. He therefore would go to the Protestant church because it was closest to his house. He told us that if we did not reach this same conclusion we weren't reading the Bible.
Which is ironic, since the Bible is what I am studying in Personal Study right now. It was very hard not to Bible bash. My trigger finger itched to whip out my Japanese set a few times. I suffered to only say that I was enjoying the Bible right now.
Ah, but it's not enough just to read it for the sake of having said you've read it, he responded. You have to search for the truth, and God's words.
That's true. I can't agree with anything else he said, but I will admit that's absolutely true.
Well, he's agreed to grace us with his presence at Eikaiwa (English Class) so yeah, the Elders will have fun.
Lately my companion and I have both discovered that we enjoy Housing, so whenever we have free time that is mainly what we do. There are a lot of massive apartment buildings in this area -- danchi are big apartment buildings that are about 11 stories high and have about 10-20 rooms on each floor. This area is COVERED in them. We have taken up starting at the top floor and working our way down. My last companion would not do this because apparently one time while housing in a danchi a man came to the door with a rifle and threatened to shoot them.
This has not yet happened to us.
We are now in charge of two areas, Matsudo and Abiko, and this week we went to Abiko to greet everyone at church. We had very good timing; they had two baptisms that day, one before Sacrament meeting and one after church. It was a very good day to be a missionary, although we felt bad that some of the members seemed to be giving us Sisters credit for the Elders' hard work. We tried to correct it as much as possible without painting the picture that we were terribly and lazy, but I feel I should apologize to all once and future Elders here. Sorry, Elders! We don't do it on purpose!
That's about all the news I have time for. Love y'all, having a blast, see you again later!
Oh, and P.S., if you haven't recieved a letter from me lately and feel like you are being left out, drop me a line either by letter or e-mail. I am trying to write to 2-3 people each week, so hopefully you will hear from me soon.
