What did I do this week? I'm glad you asked!

What did I do this week? I am glad you asked! I believe the more appropriate question is what I didn`t do this week! So many random things happened this week. Starting with people leaving in the middle of lessons, because they decided then and there that they didn`t want to hear our message anymore. We had people who were begging to learn how to pray and we hope to be able to put on the fast track to baptism. We had many people talk to us, and we had many people that as soon as they saw our badge took off running. We had bike problems, and got lost a couple of times. We even jammed out to a little, “Country Road”. But all in all, the Lord`s hand was in the work and we had a great week.

 

Bike problems - it was Thursday night, after a good weekly planning session at the church and I was turning my key to unlock my bike, when all of the sudden, "SNAP!"  The key broke inside the lock! We attempted to remove the lock with a pair of hedge clippers (my companion`s idea), of course that didn`t work. Haha, so we talked to the member who was in the building, practicing his singing. And he told us that it would be about a 20 minute walk to get to a place that would have the tools we would need. Well we didn`t exactly understand his Japanese too well, but we thought we got the idea of where we needed to go. I picked the bike up, set it on my shoulder and we made the 10 minute walk home, where I parked my bike and we continued to walk to the store. On our adventure, we had a blast talking about friends on missions, and my companion told stories of what he has done so far. After a while we found that the instructions he was gave us were leading us to a pretty sketchy place. So after a little prayer was said, we decided to head back and see if we had possibly passed it or if we could find something else. First we found McDonalds, and then we found a bike store that we were able to go to the next day to get the lock removed.

  

 

 
 

Jammin’ out to a little "Country Road" - There is a restaurant here that is all about cowboys, and we went in the other day to visit with a less active member who is from America. This guy is a liaison, so he is very good with people. There was a little trio concert at the front of this small restaurant, and all of the sudden they start singing in English. The member recognized the song and chimed in. Soon enough he was dancing around the room with the microphone, singing American songs. Apparently the drummer and the guitarist were also familiar with English songs. Then the crowd (all Japanese) wanted to sing “CountryRoad”. And they all know the lyrics!! The member starts singing and everyone is singing along. Of course we feel as awkward as can be, because they want us to sing too since we are American. And the member comes up and sticks the microphone in our faces. First of all I don`t know the lyrics and second of all I hadn`t practiced so my vocal cords were a little off. He told me the words to say and my voice totally cracked sending the entire crowd into a riot, but it was okay because my companion`s voice cracked as well. My companion and I had a blast though, and that will definitely be a night that I will never forget from my mission.

 

Thank you all for the wonderful support, I appreciate the letters that I have received and I was able to write back to most of you, so hopefully your received my letters. I know this church is true! I know that Thomas S. Monson leads it, under the direction of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I support and sustain all church authorities, and I know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God. The Book of Mormon, isn`t just a book we have been commanded to read, it is a book of answers to some of life`s most difficult challenges and questions. I love it and read it every chance I get! Please do the same and read it as much as possible.

 

Love y`all,

Elder Wilcox

A member gave us some early Halloween candy

 

Colonel Sanders Accepts a Book of Mormon

A lot happened this week, including a lot of travel. Last preparation day, we were all over the place just trying to find a bank that would allow us to exchange our American money for Japanese money. It was madness. The next day, I went to Himejii, which is the best finding place in the mission. I went to Himejii because my trainer is the district leader. The missionary that I was paired up with is from my same group that came to Japan from the MTC. We are both trainees. It was soo fun, going around, we had a goal to talk to 100 people, and set up five lessons. Through that experience I realized how much of the language I actually knew. I was talking to these people for 5 to 10 minutes. Needless to say, Heavenly Father needs his work to move forward so he was not going to let the language get in the way. We were able to talk to exactly 100 people before our trainers came back. And we set up 4 lessons for Himejii, and we met someone that lives in Kakogawa and set up a lesson with him as well. Later that week, I got to go on an exchange with our zone leader, so that he could interview one of our investigators for baptism. Our zone leader, was my zone leader in my last area, and he is a crazy Nihongin that loves missionary work. We did a lot of contacting, and I was able to receive some valuable advice from him.

 

We went to stake conference this week, and it was so amazing to see all the missionaries there, and the youth of the stake. The youth sang some songs, and being able to sing with the Japanese, is extremely special and dear to my heart. Their songs are a little different than ours, instead of saying a word for each note, you say a character of the word, so several notes create a word. It is really pretty and very powerful. All in all, the work is continuing to move forward, I`m healthy.  Even if our rice was infested with bugs, it still tasted good with a little mamadofu sauce poured on top.

 

 I love you all, and always remember to fight on the Lord`s side, because in the end, He is the one who will be victorious.

- Elder Wilcox

  

I thought that the KFC guy could use a Book of Mormon, he was a little quiet, but when I asked him to be baptized, his smile was enough confirmation. And yes, there are cowboys in Japan!!!

Typhoons and Fried Brains

Here is the story of my week:

 

It was a fantastic week!  Like every week out in the mission, we study in the morning at the church, head back to the apartment have a quick lunch and then get out to go to work, from 1 till about 9. We try to talk to as many people as we possibly can. Our techniques include:  slamming the brakes on our bikes, waving people down, sometimes I use my size to get in a person’s way just so that they will look up from their phone for a minute so we can share our message. We get a lot of people waving us off, many saying it doesn`t relate to them, or businessmen who says they’re too busy. Do we let this ruin our day?!? NO WAY!!! We instead look for some high school kid to go talk to, because they are always way genki (enthusiastic) and want to say the three things they know in English. So basically our week was a lot of rejection and contacting. However we were able to have a lesson with a lady at her genkan (front porch) and she said that she would like to hear more, so we will be hopefully finding some time to visit her again in this coming week.

  

With this nonstop contacting, my language is improving really quickly. But, because the word order in Japanese is a little different than English, it takes a ton of brain power. For example; Jesus Christ died for our sins on the Cross. In Japanese would be Jesus Christ cross on our sins for died. Muzukashii ne? Pretty difficult, don`t you think? After 4 hours or so, my brain is just fried. To heal our fried brains we love to go to a convenie (convenient store) and grab my favorite waffle chocolate ice cream. And then get right back out into the trenches. I honestly love it, just like every other missionary! The best part, is when an investigator who has taken all the lessons for years and won`t come to church, finally comes to church. The feeling that you have is indescribable. We have an investigator that we plan to have baptized in the next two weeks, who has been taking lessons for years, and he finally came to church again yesterday. So exciting!! 

 

The wards are amazing!! They work so hard to make sure that everything is getting done. Because they all live so far from each other, the members will usually be at the church for another 3 to 4 hours after church for home teaching, and other meetings. They clean the church and take care of it really well. They have great lessons, and they have wonderful members.   I had to give another talk in church yesterday. I spoke for 10 minutes.  I had no idea what I was saying, but I was pronouncing everything very well, it was flowing off my tongue and I didn`t put anyone to sleep this time.

 

What is my language study like? I read a lot!!! I made the challenge with Fudge that I would read the Book of Mormon in Japanese while he reads through the standard works, and we'd see who finished first.  I read the Book of Mormon out loud everyday. It takes me about 10 minutes to read a page. however my reading skills are increasing, but I don`t always understand what I am reading.

 

Anyway, everything is going splendid out here in Japan. Saw a lot of rain this past week, and that is why I am sending the picture of what happens to two missionaries when they don`t wear their rain suits. 

 

Love you all,

Elder Wilcox

P.S.   Thank you to those who have taken the time to write to me.  I love the letters and hope that at some point my preparation day will lighten up, so I have time to write everyone back!

Our kitchen - yes, I know we have dishes to do!

  

 



 

Head Bumps and the Power of the Ocean

 

 

I have arrived in my new area and things feel completely different than my first area. Everything seems so much smaller. My companion is about 5 foot 4 and our apartment is about half the size of my last apartment. The doorways are only 6 feet tall, so I keep smashing my head. When I was younger, I always thought it would be way cool to be able to reach the top of the door frame with your head. Yeah, I really don`t feel that way anymore, especially when you wake up at the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and in a half daze you make your way to bathroom, just to be smacked across the forehead by a two by four. I am slowly getting used to it, and can`t help but laugh every time that it has happened. Our church building on the other hand is really large, it has two floors.  We have a great ward that I hope, through the Lord`s help, I will be able to make even bigger.

 

Last week, because we knew our area was being whitewashed, we wanted to teach everyone one more time before we left. We biked from 8 in the morning till 9 at night. We had to skip study twice, just so that we could make sure the area was ready for the next  set of missionaries. We woke up at 4am the day of transfers and wrote down everyone`s information and anything else that the new missionaries could possibly need. We also left them with a sparkling clean apartment and a ton of food. The new missionaries are a trainer and a brand new trainee from the MTC, so I hope that they both felt very comfortable. I remember my first few days out in the mission, I was terrified. So I hope that seeing that he is taken care of, will help him realize that even though this work is hard, it can be very rewarding and you gain a lot of experiences from it.

 

 

We got the opportunity to go to the ocean the other day, and my goodness, was that a treat.  The power of the ocean and the calming crash of the waves deepened my understanding of what it means to be a missionary. I thought of how Heavenly Father created the ocean, and how the ocean has a ton of power. Heavenly Father also created everything else in the world, he knows each and everyone of us individually. He is all powerful and all knowing, so why couldn`t he gather all the people that wanted to hear our message right outside our apartment. He could definitely do that! However he needs us as missionaries to be willing to go out and do the hard work, take the constant rejection, day after day, so that we can grow to appreciate Him and his message more. Always remember that Heavenly Father can do all things, however he only does things according to his will. But if we ask, we can receive of his help. It may not be the way you expect it, but he is always helping. For example, I was a little uneasy about moving into a new area and I asked Heavenly Father to help me. I wasn`t exactly sure how he would help me, but later that day my companion made an unexpected decision and we ended up at the ocean. I needed that peace and comfort and I think I got the right angle and I waved at home. Always remember that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ wait right outside the door to help, and as soon as you ask and open the door for them to come in, they will quickly enter your lives and bless you in ways you would never have expected.

 

Keep it up, talk to you next week,

Elder Wilcox