March

Konnichi wa

 

Yes, I became dstrict leader. You probably got a letter in the mail or will get one soon from the mission. It isnt too bad being district leader. Especially since our district is only 4 elders. 2 Areas: Ise and Tsu. I get to go to Nagoya tomorrow for 3 days which I am pretty excited about. Its a training for all of the Zone leaders, district leaders, trainers, and some sister missionaries. I will go up there tomorrow morning with Elder Freeman(a zone leader in Ise) then have a 7-8 hour training! I'll be companions with Elder Howells and we will stay in a nearby area,sleep, then go back and get more training the next day! Its going to be long and tiring, but I'm pretty excited! in two weeks we will then have ANOTHER training anddo the same thing. Its going to be crazy. I think our mission is starting a bunch of new things and the work here is going to explode soon! After Elder Holland came, he emailed our mission President along with a few of the area leaders and said that Japanwill be the light of all of Asia. There is a new era for missionary work in Asia starting. He said its all going to start in the Japan Nagoya mission! That is a pretty cool prophecy. Lots of miracles are about to unfold!

  In our mission,we have about 86 missionaries: 11-12 sisters, 2 couples, and the rest elders(about 70). I have only been in 2 districts so far! My last district had 3 areas, 6 elders. the one before that was the same as it is now.  There is one senior couple in the mission home and one in Hamamatsu who are in charge of a single adult program.  Our mission is pretty small. Nearly half the amount of missionaries that tokyo has. Kobe has a lot too. the funny thing is that our mission has had the most baptisms the past couple of years. Probably due to the fact that there are a lot of foreigners here: Brazilian, Chinese, Korean, Philippino, Peruvian; and there are a little bit more open to new idea than Japanese people are.

 On sunday we went with a Philippino in the Branch named Ken to visit some less active members. First we met Joseph. He and his wife have been to church when they can, but since their yasumi is on Sunday, they dont have any other day to shop and rest besides that day. After that we tried to visit his brother Wilfredo and his wife Leah. they live in the same apartment as Joseph, a few doors down. We knocked, but nobody was home. As we were driving away, we saw them walking towards the apartment so we stopped and got out. They, being Philippino, invited us into their home.(prior to that, we had only briefly met Leah, but never Wilfredo. Japanese people NEVER let you into their house unless they know you well. Even then, they sometimes just talk in the doorway. You know how that is). Wilfredo was baptized, but only really had a testimony because his 5 brothers had them. Leah is not a member though. We had the opportunity to teach them in English and Cebuano(a dialect in the Philippines. We didnt speak it, just Ken). It was a way good lesson. We just briefly went over what the BOM was and read from the introduction then testified a lot and challenged them to read it and pray about it. I felt like They both really felt the spirit AND Ken is going to pick them up on Sunday to come to church! After their lesson we went to the Salino family. They are a Philippino couple who have the cutest 2yr old daughter ever. She speaks almost 4 languages! They also have troubles coming to church because of their work schedule. their only dayoff is on Sunday so they have to shop and stuff. Plus all of the Philippinos live in Matsusaka city, which is 30~45 minutes away from the church. After them we visited another one of Josephs brothers, Nards. He was way cool and has astrong testimony and loves church/missionaries. He invited us to havedinner with he and his wife in a few weeks! the Philippino members here really take care of us. For the last part of the night we went to Kens parents house for dinner. We had really good food. His mom showed us this calender whereon every saturday "buy groceries for the elders!" is written. they really do love us. They told us that because people took care of their kids while they were on missions, they want to take care of other peoples kids. I am in good hands! It was a way good sunday. Probably one of the best of my mission.

   Well this was a good week. this coming week will be full of trainings,but I will try to keep my next email interesting...

I think my english skills are getting a lot worse! I have definitely lost creativity in writing and talking and when I get home I will talk like a 10 year old, but thats okay I guess.

Love you. Please forward this to everyone.

Church is true! Choose the right, always.

Love Elder Carr