Week 96
Mission Log
I`m having a
great time here in Otsu, Japan. It`s a very beautiful place. Lake Biwa
is just a massive body of water. It feels like we`re close to the
ocean, but really it`s just a lake. On Saturday we went to a Barbeque
that was way off in the mountains. It was at a camping place that was
about an hour and a half drive away. We went on a hike and saw some
beautiful waterfalls in the mountains. It was very nice.
Elder Taggart is doing a great job. He wasn`t in the
MTC for very long, but he studied Japanese in high school quite a bit,
and he is very good. He`s working hard and pushing himself to do new
things he may not be used to. I'm glad that I am able to be his
companion.
I`m excited for the Mother`s Day phone call. You are
supposed to call on your Mother`s Day. It will be the day after for
me. I should get the phone call on Monday morning around 9:30 am my
time, if that is possible with your schedule. That should be Sunday
afternoon for you, I think. The phone call is to be no longer than 59
minutes according to the mission president. I`m excited to talk with you.
Thank you for the letter that you sent. I hadn`t
gotten mail in a while and it was very uplifting. I didn`t get to see
the really big moon. It was cloudy here.
Last
preparation day, I met Elder Gardner and his family. We ate some ramen
together and then went to go see Kinkakuji (the golden pavilion) and
Ryoanji. It was my first time seeing Ryoanji. It was a beautiful rock
garden. It`s a field of raked pebbles with fifteen large stones
artistically placed in it. I heard that because of how they were
placed, you can`t see all fifteen of the stones at the same time, and
according to legend, if you find how to see all fifteen of them at the
same time, you will reach enlightenment. I thought it would be
difficult at first, but I soon discovered how to view all the stone
simultaneously and I have now unlocked the secret of enlightenment.
It`s pretty nice.
Yesterday, we had a zone conference. We have them once
every three months. Everyone sang happy birthday to me and I was
presented with a package of Tim Tams. I was pretty happy. During the
training parts, I translated for the Japanese people. It`s a lot more
difficult for me to really absorb all of the things being taught or
receive personal revelation when I`m translating. It`s also really
difficult to take notes. The training basically goes in my ears in
English, comes out my mouth in Japanese, and then it`s gone. After the
training, the missionaries that will be going home soon, stand in front
and are able give a final testimony and goodbye message to everyone.
Since this was my last zone conference, I got to bear my testimony and
give a final message to everyone. A lot of missionaries get emotional
and cry while saying things like, "I don`t want to go home yet!"
Instead of doing that, I just tried to teach everyone what I thought was
something important for them all to learn, and was one of the biggest
things that I learned on my mission. I think it went really well.
I love you. Talk to you next week. Bye.
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