皆さんこんにちは！
How was everyone's first few days of February? I hope it was great! I can't believe it is February already! We got our transfer emails on Saturday.....I am staying in 川崎(Kawasaki)! It's kind of nice because I've been transferring every 4 weeks; packing is not fun haha. My companion, Bradford長老 and 紺野(Konno)長老 are staying as well; Davis 長老 and Schreiber 長老 are transferring! Davis 長老 is going to my first area, Shonan! Schreiber 長老 is going to Hibarigaoka. This is 紺野長老's last transfer and my companion will be district leader! I look forward to this transfer!
We met with an 英会話 student, Shuson Kasai, on Wednesday. Ricard 兄弟 was our 同席. She brought a friend from her church, which wasn't part of the plan. Kasai-san has met with some missionaries before but she has been busy lately. She took us to a small restaurant and we started talking. It took a while to get started because the restaurant was a bit distracting and she introduced her friend to us. But we went over some HTBT(How to Begin Teaching) points and asked her what she wanted to get out of meeting with us. She has a strong belief in Christ and said she trusts that what we say is right. She said she'd like to meet again but will let us know when because she busy with work and her kids.
Before 英会話、we usually go to Katsuya, a tonkatsu restaurant. But this week, we went to a burger place called BALG, I think lol. I got an amazing bacon avocado burger! They had American music and the burgers were pretty authentic. If someone told me I was in America, I could have believed it!
So district leaders are supposed to go on splits with the other missionaries in the district each transfer. 紺野長老 waited until the end of the transfer; he had to fit them all in this week. From Thursday night to Friday night, I went on splits with Davis 長老。It was interesting because we are both transfer 2! 同期(douki-came to Japan at the same time as me)力(chikara-power)！We went to 武蔵小杉(Musashikosugi) and tried to do some streeting; no success. After 2 hours or so, Davis長老 realized that he forgot the phone so we headed back home. We had district meeting, kubari'ed, and did the 12 week program together.
From Friday night to Saturday night, I had splits with 紺野長老, the district leader. He is 日本人 but his English is pretty good. We had Indo curry before opening transfer calls. We then did some contacting and housed around 登戸(Noborito) and 武蔵新城(Musashishinjou). It was pretty good but no one wanted to hear a message. But it was great having a 日本人 companion; it made me speak in Japanese more. Also we didn't eat dinner because we started our fast after lunch.
So as a companionship, we had a lot of lessons this week. But I wasn't there for a lot of them because I was on splits for two days in a row. One of the lessons we had set up didn't really turn out to be a lesson. He CALLED US a week before to set it up. When my companion met him, the guy was actually an insurance salesman and was trying to get us to buy. Another investigator, Junpei, showed up drunk for the lesson! He has been taught a lot in the past; but he wants to make his life better and stop drinking. Very interesting lessons this week.
February 3 is 節分(setsubun)。Basically, it marks the end of winter in the old Japanese calendar. People throw soybeans at each other and eat 恵方巻(Ehomaki- a long sushi roll eaten during 節分). When you eat 恵方巻、you have to eat with one end facing North North West, make a wish, and eat without talking. So we did that as a district after district meeting. It was interesting!
We are starting the new missionary schedule today. Basically we have more time on P-day and more flexibility on regular days. The purpose is to have us exercise our agency more by allowing us to choose the times we do things instead of a concrete schedule everyday. Anyway, it was another great week. Remember to spread some love this week! またね！
-Elder Chab
チャブ長老 or 茶武長老
愛しています^_^
BALG!!
