Hello family
Greetings from Nabari! My new area is awesome! The change was like going from downtown Salt Lake to Heber! Its crazy how different it is here. I`m loving the country though!
My new companion is pretty great. He`s a lot more easy going than My trainer was so it`s a nice change.
We`re opening up this area, there where two Elders here before and they just made it a four Elder area so we`re pretty much starting from scratch! It`s been pretty crazy because really all we can do is go out finding because we have absolutely 0 investigators! It`s alright though, the elect number in Nabari is 3 and we have a goal to find and baptize all 3 this transfer!
The area itself is very pretty. Its nice to be up in the mountains but its wayyy cold! Our apartment situation is pretty crazy right now. The apartment is fairly new but it was definitely built for two people! Right now I eat, sleep, and study in the kitchen! It`s hilarious! The church is on the fourth floor of an office building and I think I can count on two hands the amount of members that came to church yesterday. Its way different than Akashi, we don`t get food from the members very much but they are still awesome and I`m so grateful for how strong they are! The first day we got here one of the members had us over for lunch at his house with him and his wife. It was nice of them and the husband even spoke a little bit of english! Our second day another couple from the ward had us over for dinner to introduce themselves to us. It was fantastic. I love Nabari!
I can`t believe what a change it has been from being trained to just being a regular missionary right now. I feel like my entire mindset has changed. I`m a lot more excited about the work and a lot more motivated to find the elect in this area! We`ve been biking all over this area like crazy the last few days. It was tough to say goodbye to Juliet... oh well. She`ll be a great story for another poor new missionary I guess!
I wish I had some cool crazy experience to share this week but it`s pretty much just been a ton of housing and streeting! I can`t believe how much my confidence has gone up with my Japanese. I`m really starting to improve a lot, I can almost understand everything people say but my speaking is still pretty rough. I just keep reminding myself that the Lord will provide a way for what he has commanded us to do. I love Japanese. It`s the most beautiful language in the world and I feel so blessed for the opportunity to learn it. I can`t help but think that the Lord wants me to be quite fluent or he wouldn`t have put me with two Japanese companions in a row. I`ve talked to a lot of older missionaries who never even had a native companion on their mission, how crazy is that? I`m being blessed so much! My new companion's style is very similar to mine so I believe we can be quite effective this transfer! Its funny, we`re both Tokai (city) Missionaries who got exiled out to the far reaches of Osaka. It`s awesome!
I think the most difficult thing I`ve done so far was saying goodbye to the man I baptized two transfers ago. On my last day in Akashi, S Choro and I went to visit him to tell him that I was being transferred. We had a great last lesson and I shared with him the scripture from the Book of Mormon Mosiah 2:21-22 and told him how much I want him to stay faithful so we can meet again someday. He actually teared up when we had to say goodbye and so did I. I know that I`ll see him again someday. It might not be in this life, but what a blessing to be a part of his eternal progression. Ah, I love this church! I can`t believe how much we take it for granted sometimes. We are so blessed to be a part of Gods church on the earth today.
My Zone Leaders called me yesterday and gave me an assignment to share my conversion story in Japanese at Zone Conference this week! I`m way nervous and I`ve been praying a lot that I just won`t sound like an idiot up there but I`m excited for the opportunity.
I hope you all had a great new years! I just went to bed at the normal time so I didn`t see the new year but its great to finally be in 2014. I`ll be 20 this year! I`m getting old... Can you believe I`ve been out for 5 months already? Its crazy! I love you fam! Have a great week! Godspeed!
Elder Giles
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