Week 44- Burdens made light + I became a Dad!
Aloha 皆さん、
Wazzap everybody. Not gonna lie I was NOT expecting this one like at all. I don't know what President was thinking but transfers went crazyyyy.
So Tuesday we had transfer announcements. My comp Elder Trail went to Miyazaki. It was sad to see him go. Bro was an OYM (streeting) beast and had so much missionary fire. I know he's gonna do good in Miyazaki. But it was also expected that he was going to transfer. What wasn't expected was President asking him if I was also there so he could talk to me. At first I was just like oh maybe I'm getting transferred somewhere else and they are gonna whitewash Kure (put two new missionaries in an area). Basically the conversation went like this:
“Hey Elder Ellis”
“Heyyyyyyy President, what's up?”
“We wanted to ask you if you would continue to serve the lord as a District Leader?”
“:0 uhhh yeah sure”
“Wait, that's not all, we also wanted to ask if you would become a trainer as well?”
“:0”
“The double whammie, so you'll be a district leader trainer, you got that?”
“Uhhhhhh… yeah”
Needless to say I was shell shocked. Definitely was getting used to being a regular senior companion and just focusing on the work. Now I get to try and figure out how to help my district members and motivate them all while training!
So yeah I'm a father now. I officially have mission posterity. My Bean-chan is another stud from Utah (3rd companion in a row straight from Utah #blessed) and is a pretty chill dude. It's definitely gonna be hard as I try to figure out how to help my district grow and become better while helping Theurer 長老 (pronounced like Tyre) become an awesome missionary and get better at Japanese.
On Saturday I saw how hard it was going to be. I had honestly forgotten how hard Japanese really was straight out of the MTC. After a bit of companion study we went streeting in Kure. Trying to get Theurer 長老 some practice talking to Japanese people I went out with super high hopes. We tried really hard to talk to some people but just as Theurer 長老 would start trying to talk to them, they'd respond in English to him that they were busy, or Buddhist, or just not interested. Big fat reality check to the face.
“I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing”
Is what I thought. I have no idea how to train bro, and furthermore I felt like I barely was starting to figure out missionary work in Japan, much less an Inaka place like Kure. We finished the day off (I felt so bad) and I was struggling to think about how I would be able to adequately help this new missionary become the best missionary he can be. During my studies I came across Mosiah 24. (I LOVE mosiah 24. But a certain set of scriptures spoke to me and it was insanely clear.
Mosiah 24:13-15
13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.
14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.
15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.
I love this scripture so much because the people are going through this insane trial. They pray to God and ask him for help, and he responds! But he responds in a way that I think most of us wouldn't necessarily want. In verse 15 it says the lord strengthened them so that they could bear up their burdens with ease. Furthermore the people submitted cheerfully and with patience to the will of the Lord. Their burdens didn't go away, which is probably what most of us would want. And I'm sure it didn't come instantly. But the people of Alma were patient. Through the Lord's help they were made stronger so that their burdens SEEMED light. The burdens didn't go away or even get easier. They were made stronger.
Anyways, I thought I'd share that with y'all. Life definitely gets hard but when we trust in the Lord and cheerfully and patiently abide by his will he will make us stronger so that our burdens seem light. I know that it'll still be hard but me and Theurer 長老 will grind this transfer
Highlights:
-Seiya-kun back on date
-Transfers
-Missionary work back in Fukuoka
-Mission tour soon
Seiya-kun back on date:
LETS GOOOOOOO! So after Seiya-kun and his family got sick we had to postpone the baptism. We didn't know really when but this past week they set it for this next Sunday! We also saw them at Stake conference too and they said they weren't sick anymore which I'm super stoked about! Everyone keep their family in your prayers! They are so awesome and have so much faith I can't wait to see seiya-kun enter the waters Fr!
Transfers!
Bro Transfers were so fun. Since I'm training I got to go all the way back to Fukuoka and see a lot of old faces. Also I miss Fukuoka so much! But got to see the old Fukuoka district as well as Hirotaka! Bros basically a missionary at this point it's so awesome. Chilled at Hakata station catching up with missionaries then the next day we got to meet all the beans and take em back to our areas. Regardless it was a fun two days.
Missionary work back in Fukuoka:
So on Transfer day the trainers don't have much to do since we don't get our new missionaries the next day so they gave us some boom of Mormons and challenged us to pass them out in Fukuoka. It was super awesome I went with Schellenbirg長老 who I was in fukuoka for a little bit which was pretty unfair since we knew all the busiest spots. Talked to a bunch of super cool people and gave some really cool guys BoMs. Ended up giving away our books in like an hour and a half so we met the other Trainers at Jyotis (THE BEST INDO CURRY PLACE BY FAR I MISS IT SO MUCHHH). After that we switched companions and I went with Furuya 長老 to go card shop finding! Went to my favorite card store in Fukuoka and it was packed. We ended up talking to this group of 3 and played with them. Eventually we had to leave so we invited them to come to one of our churches activities and they said their friend plays with missionaries from our church too! GO FIGURE, their friend was one of the guys I used to play with back when I was in Fukuoka. Once we made that connection it was smooth sailing! They said they would definitely check it out because they only hear good things from their friend! I was soooo happy become we got to see such an awesome miracle and help more people make a fun connection with our church! Just being back and doing missionary work in fujuoka was such a blast I miss it soo much.
Mission tour soon:
So we have a mission tour tomorrow, basically it means after going to Fukuoka and coming back to Lure we get to go all the way back to Fukuoka and then back again haha. Nah but I'm excited to see everyone again and hear from a general authority! Hopefully I learn a lot :)
Kay Das all for this week, this one was lowkey long sorry not sorry
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SHOOTS!
愛してるよ
エリス長老
TheRisingSon
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