November in Pictures and Brighter Days

We're happy to see that Skyler isn't missing out on too many of his favorite things!

 To start off I would like to respond to mom`s question about my emails seeming happier. The answer... the first few months of being out in the field are hard. You have nothing behind you, you honestly feel like this will last forever and you can`t say too much, because the language is extremely difficult. Nobody really wants to talk to you because they see your badge, which in big bold letters says Jesus Christ and for some reason that seems to scare everybody away. Because I could say little to nothing, my mind would wander, and I focused on things like what it’s going to be like to see everyone at the airport when I get home? How much longer is today going to last? Instead of focusing on questions like, how can I be best prepared to answer questions? Or what`s the best way to get somebody`s attention and be able to keep their attention? So the first three months were difficult, struggling with home sickness, missing my freedoms of when I was not a missionary, etc. But now as I do have a little ground to work with, I have experiences behind me that testify that this work is true, I have seen miracles, I have seen really hard days and even hard weeks. I have been rejected many times, but I have learned how to deal with it. I have learned that only through my faith in Heavenly Father can I get through all and anything.  Now, that does not mean that I don`t still have hard experiences but I am learning how to deal with them in better ways. For example, my companion and I got pretty sick this past week (we ate some bad food), but nevertheless we continued to work. We put our faith in the Lord, put smiles on our face and walked around the train stations and neighborhoods for hours trying to make the best of things and do what we are supposed to do as missionaries. Not only were we sick, but a majority of our lessons fell through. We have been merely contacting for the days we were sick. Some may get angry at God for putting them in such a difficult situation. I have grown to know that Heavenly Father gives us hard trials because he loves us.  And there is a difference in believing that and experiencing it. My prayers in the morning and at night have become more meaningful. I pray to Heavenly Father and thank him for these trials. Because through those trials the bright days are so much brighter. We didn`t find any new investigators all week, but we did grow and we talked to a lot of people. There are many things that happen out here that simply cannot be put into words - thoughts and experiences that are personal and cannot be shared. But now that I have a little bit of a footing, and can see what I truly can do, and how simple my task is, I am much happier!!!

I got to go on a kokan this friday to Akashi!! Best day of my life. This is the longest suspension bridge in the world!!! I also got to hang out with all my buddies one last time!!! I love this work!

Transfers are coming...

I taught the employees at my favorite restaurant "hook 'em horns".  I am really going to miss this area!

New Area

The new branch that we are working in has about 13 members, one of which is American!  Because he is from America, we got to have Thanksgiving and I was in charge of cutting the turkeys.  Talk about a blast! There was two of them and I took the first bit and then the American and the branch president also took a turn to finish it all off. We also got to make the piñatas.   I destroyed the last one.  There were so many little kids there and this was their first experience with a piñata.  It was awesome.

 
 

The ward members brought me a costume for the Halloween party.  It was a little on the small side.



So much has happened this week!!! Interviews with president, an investigator`s baptism, and running into Brazilians, Colombians, and many other people from South America, who are ready to hear the gospel, and then a fun Halloween party with the ward.

 



Halloween Party

The weather is getting cold, and we are bundling up. We are living in a constant typhoon.  There has been almost one a week for the past month.  The typhoons haven`t directly hit our area, but we get nailed with a ton of rain!!! That means I got to bust out my super sweet trench coat, which makes me look so much bigger than I actually am, so I can stop almost anybody on the street. 

 



My companion and I also wanted to see if we could live off of $10 each for this entire week, and I am proud to say that we did it!! It was just a lot of rice and some gyoza. Gyoza is a Chinese food similar to pot stickers, but better!!

 

Halloween Party

My Japanese skills took a nice leap and I feel like I am getting closer to where I would like to be. We had a baptism this week, and that was an amazing experience. My favorite part was that even though we explained to our investigator what was going to happen, he wasn`t at all ready to be fully immersed into the water. My companion, who baptized him, basically had to slam him down under the water. We definitely had a fun time teaching him, and it`s a little sad that now we have to step back and let the ward take over. I caught a little glimpse of what it is like for parents to see their kids go off and start their own lives. I felt like my investigator was my kid and now he has grown up and I have to step back and let him figure things out. Even though we still get to be friends, we have to focus our efforts more on bringing many more unto this amazing church.

 



My bike is back!

I had a thought this week that I’d like to share. Here in Japan, the position of a teacher is a very well and highly respected position. The Japanese show the utmost respect to their teacher. While teaching my English class, there would be moments when a lively discussion would be going on, but as soon as I opened my mouth, the room would become quiet as I answered the question. Many followers did the same with Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ answered the questions of life, many would stop discussion among themselves to hear this great teacher speak. This got me thinking about prayer. We teach that prayer is a two-way communication with our Father in Heaven. More often than not, I believe we put most of our focus on what we need to say and fail to take the time to hear what HE would teach us. I do not have to raise my voice for my English students to listen, and neither did Jesus Christ when he taught. Heavenly Father speaks to us in a still, small voice. We all know that Heavenly Father wants to help us succeed and return to live with him in Heaven. Then why not take the time to listen when we say our prayers. "Ask and ye shall receive". This gospel is truly so simple. It brings peace to my heart to know that Heavenly Father, the greatest being that exists, listens to my simple prayer and will take the time to answer me. I challenge whoever is reading this to listen when you finish your prayer, and be ready for the answers to come. 

 I love this work, I love the opportunity to wear the badge. I love you all.

  
 
 
 
 
 
 

Elder Skyler Wilcox

 

What to do when the pedaling gets tough.

Note:  Sorry for the wonky appearance of this week's blog.  The formatting came across in Skyler's email and I can't seem to get rid of it.

Hi,

I loved conference and the reminder that it all comes down to the question, "how much am I willing to sacrifice of myself and go to work?  As Elder Dube said in his talk, "in the sight of the Lord, it is not so much what we have done or where we have been, but much more, where are we willing to go."  I have found this to be true.  And this conference had so many underlying truths that were shared to me.  First, did you notice how diverse the speakers were?  Did you notice that in every talk they mentioned that Heavenly Father loves us?  Heavenly Father wants this work to progress and he needs us missionaries, members, leaders, etc. to share the load of the yoke and move forward.  I too, loved President Uchtdorf's talk, and we actually shared it with an investigator for the lesson, about two hours ago.  It was in Spanish, but it had the same message.  The Lord doesn't care what the tongue, race or nation is.  Everyone needs to hear the gospel and that is what I must do!

 

I have this goal to keep track of one pen for a long time and be able to use up all of its ink. Before my mission I was always losing things and hopefully this will help me become more responsible.

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I hope you enjoy my story:

So for the past two weeks, I have really been struggling with riding my bike. It never seems to pick up momentum and it requires me to do lots of pedaling, just to go a short distance. It looked like my back (disc) brakes were rubbing, so I thought that I could just loosen the brakes a little more and be fine. Well, I did it and it helped a little, but it was not the solution.

 

On Thursday we had about an hour bike ride to an appointment, and it was raining.  Being determined to come off my mission with gigantic leg muscles, I kept my gear at the hardest setting and pedaled as hard as I could. Because it was raining I had my rain suit on, which, by the way, doesn`t breathe at all, which results in me being more wet than if I didn`t have my rain suit on. It was so hot, and I was putting in so much effort to keep the bike moving, but we were late and I couldn`t slow down. Of course the entire bike ride I was praying, asking from help, asking that I would receive the strength that I needed to get to where we needed to go. There was many times that I wanted to decrease the gears to an easier setting, but I didn`t want to be a wimp so I kept going. There was no extra strength given, no beam of light shown down to fill me with Heaven`s energy. And once we arrived at the appointment she said that she couldn`t meet today. Ugghhhh!!! I had biked so hard to get to this ladies house, I didn`t receive the strength I had asked for, and I was drenched in sweat, to the point that you could see through my white shirt! And we still had the entire day ahead of us. We decided to grab some lunch at a nearby McDonalds before we started proselyting in the surrounding neighborhoods. I prayed again for what I should do for my bike, the thought came into my mind, that maybe I shouldn`t try to be so tough and be responsible and get it fixed. My companion who can speak Japanese way better than I can, asked the cashier were the nearest bike shop was and after getting directions we started on our way. I don`t think he really understood the directions because 30 minutes later we were lost and I was drenched in sweat again, with crazy cramps in my legs from pedaling so hard. I decided that I was just going to ask someone myself, so after pulling over a gas station, and was told in broken English that my bike doesn`t need fuel, and that gas stations are only for cars (I’m sure he was thinking, “stupid Americans”). I explained my problem, and after talking to his boss he finally gave me the directions to the nearby bike shop (to which we promptly went after biking,  20 minutes back in the direction we had just come from.) After we arrived at the bike shop and had a quick inspection, they came to the conclusion, which I had already figured,  that my bearings were shot, and that my brakes are gone. They need the bike for two weeks or so, so I get a genuine Nihon bike for two weeks. I have attached a picture. Some might ask what have I learned from this experience and I can answer - write things in your journal, because you will always have trials and mistakes in life, when you think the rough times will never end. And it may not be funny in the moment, but once you look back with an open perspective you are able to get a laugh out of most of your trials and mistakes. And oh how I look forward to the next funny story.

 

Skyler