Logan - the toilet seats have a
built in heater that you can turn on when you are going to the bathroom, it is
kind of like the navigator`s front seat heaters. I don`t really use them yet,
because it is so hot here. And my companion and I are on separate bikes. I wish
we had a big bike though.
Speaking of bikes, there are really
no sidewalks in Japan, mostly just a lot of mounds of asphalt. We were in a rush the other day and while going
down a hill and my bike took to one of these mounds with great speed. I am
pretty sure me and my companion, who also was hit the mound at top speed got
about 2 to 3 feet of air. It was awesome and luckily our bikes are fine. Also, all of this time on a bike has taught
me a very valuable lesson. The other day we were on our way home. It had been a long day and I was exhausted.
On the way home we had many hills and going up those hills was absolutely excruciating. We were a little late and wanted to be on
time so we were giving it everything we had, flying up and down these hills.
And I, like every missionary, tried to tie my "hill trail" back to
the gospel. Heavenly Father is going to give us big trials and small trials,
big hills and small hills, and from those hills we can become stronger. If we
are trying to be 100% obedient and are giving it everything we have, we will be
able to see more blessings and faster improvements, for example our legs
becoming stronger, or our faith strengthening. However if we go slowly, not
giving it our all, we may not be panting as hard but we’re probably not growing
as much. On the way down the hill, we may feel the
intensity lighten, in actuality it`s another blessing from our Heavenly Father
giving us a boost, as we pedal as fast as we can to get a head start on the approaching hill. Today,
I think we hit about 50 mph coming down, the wind was literally screaming in my
ear. Always see hills as blessings and look for the blessings that come with
the hills.
Zone conference was crazy!! I saw
several kids from my MTC group and they all look sooo much older. Recently I
found that if I don`t shave for three days which I did once, because I kept
forgetting, I can grow a pretty nice shadow of a beard. Seriously, this work
matures a person quickly and you can tell from the attitudes and personalities
of everyone I was with at the MTC. At zone conference we talked a lot about how
missionaries in the past were able to figure things out in 5 to 7 transfers.
The mission president looked at us and said I am giving you 2 transfers, now go
to work. And we are definitely working. Every day we push for excellence and we
follow the mission training plan and it is bringing so much success. My
companion and I found 5 new investigators last week because we really started
to focus and role-play a lot more. I love this work.
After Zone conference I got the
opportunity to go on splits with our District Leader who is native Japanese and
barely knows English. Talk about the best experience of my life. I could only speak
in Japanese and it was awesome to see how much I knew and how much harder I
need to work. I decided that it is a good idea to continue to wake up at 5 am
so that I can learn as quickly as possible. While on this transfer we taught a
lesson and I got to do the baptismal invite, our investigator is a little
unsure but that`s okay because I know that he will eventually come through.
After I got back my companion informed me that the bishop had called making sure that I remembered I had a talk on Sunday. It was Saturday and I had no idea. Supposedly someone had come up to me the week before, said a few things to me in Japanese which I thought meant "Elder Wilcox, you are so cool" so of course, I nodded my head It turns out what they really meant was, "Elder Wilcox, will you give a talk next week? " I wrote my 10 minute talk in English and spent two hours translating and got up early the next morning to practice. And I must say that it was a success. I talked about my role as a missionary and my goals. And then I proceeded to say that every member is a missionary and that I needed their help. It was awesome!!
Goof ups of the week:
1. Trying to be cool like my
companion: my companion can ride his bike with no hands and I thought I could
too. Bad idea, I went careening into the rail guard on the side of the road and
got my pants covered in white paint that I was luckily able to get out by
instantly washing them when we got home.
2. Which sauce to choose?: I love to
make curry because it is quick and easy and isn`t too bad on the digestive
system. However, when I made it for myself the other day, my companion who
usually picks the curry wasn`t hungry so it was up to me to find the curry bag.
Well, I grabbed the bag that looked like the curry bag (remember everything is
in Nihongo) heated it up and poured it on my rice. The smell gave it away
instantly. I had just substituted tomato
sauce as my curry sauce. I was devastated! Nevertheless I didn`t want to waste
food so I made the most of it and scarfed it down because we had a lesson to
teach.
3. If you don`t have time or money
for a haircut... do it yourself! : This one isn`t really a goof up because it
actually turned out okay. But I gave myself a haircut. Cool right!!! We take a folding
chair, fit ourselves into the hole at the back of the chair, put a guard on the
buzzers and go to town on our heads. It`s quick, efficient and free. I will
send pictures of this experience as well.
I love you all, the work is moving
forward here and I always keep you in my prayers.
愛しています
ウィルコックス長老
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