This has been another really amazing
week. I don't have a lot of time, so I would just like to tell you one
really cool story from this last week.
So first thing I have to say, is that I am really scared to come home. I have lost the ability to talk with any sort of confidence in English to people that don't know Japanese. These last 2 phone calls home that I had I felt it as well, but especially this week with lots of Gaijin (foreigners) being around, it was crazy. When I see a white guy, I immediately start praying that he won't talk to me. Then he does, and my heart immediately starts pounding like crazy, and I sweat, and it is sooooo scary. So basically I'm scared of Gaijin, and I am a Gaijin #missionaryproblems
Anyway so on Wednesday, we were working
in the morning, and this white couple walks in. The English tour guide,
Hamano Saya chan who had just gotten back from her mission like 4 days
ago, goes up and starts talking to them, and gets them over in a video
room. I kind of sighed on the inside knowing I wouldn't have to do
anything. Then President Nakatsuka asks us to go join them. So we do. Well
this couple were not members of the church, and were rather hostile
towards it. A member had actually met them that morning, and despite not being
able to do English very well, she asked them why they were in Hokkaido.
When they said they were just tourists, she asked them if they had been to
the Sapporo Temple. She then took them in her car and brought them.
When they found out it was the
Mormon church they just kind of started to roll their eyes. Saya chan
really helped. She as extremely positive, and got to be friends
with them super quick. But they were still weary to the church. Me and my
Companion were just following, just in case the English got hard. My heart
was pounding like crazy. As we walked into the Baptism Font, Saya
chan asked them if they had seen the church in Holland before (yes they
were from Holland) and the guy said that Mormon practices wouldn't be
allowed in Holland. He then turns to my companion and says "How many
women do you have?" I was in a mood of "I don't like these kind
of people. Why do they have to be like this. This is just going to turn
into an angry argument in the temple" and I was also super scared to
say anything. But then I had the thought, that I needed to have Charity. I
needed to love these people. They were also Gods children. They also
needed these blessings we were telling them about. I became very humble,
and offered a silent prayer asking God to forgive me, and to help me to
love these people.
We were able to explain several
things about the church, and by the end of the tour we were best buddies.
He even turned to someone on his way out and said "I like these
guys." Long story short, they aren't getting baptized or
anything, but they do have a much better image of the church. It was very
hard to talk in English with them, and I kept accidentally saying
things in Japanese, but I pushed through it, and grew to love them. They
were way cool, and I would love to get to meet them again sometime.
Well that is my time for this week.
Have a wonderful week.
I love you
Elder Eliot
