How is everyone doing?? It was so great to talk to you at Christmas. Ryan and Jack sound soooo different! Ryan`s going to be an absolute monster when I get home! I loved hearing your voices, I actually kind of forgot I had a fam back home to be honest it was way weird! It was super fun though. Only four more months till mothers day!
So this week we got transfer emails, and, like the subject says, I will be taking my talents to Nabari! I can`t wait to get over there! They just opened up the area so my new companion, Elder Yamaguchi and I will be starting off from scratch! I`m way excited!
It`s been a crazy week this week with Christmas and everything. On Christmas Day I was blessed with the gift of food poisoning along with three other missionaries in Akashi. It was way hard! On the bright side though I got to sleep pretty much all day so that was pretty nice!
The Akashi Ward treated us like Kings this Christmas. They showered us with so much food and other things, it was truly humbling. My time here in Akashi will always be viewed as a highlight in my life!
This week was a great week of my mission. I really feel like I`m coming into my own as a missionary and that was evident this week as we worked extremely hard. `Mission Shape` is a lot different than anything I`ve ever experienced. I don`t think anyone could have prepared me for the beating that my body has taken over the last three months. Its crazy! I feel like I`m doing product endorsement for some sort of work out supplement but I`m here to tell you that this stuff is awesome! Missionary work is so fun. Sometimes when it isn`t fun I picture myself in college right now stressing over finals and other things and then I realize the mission is really pretty nice!
This week we were taken to dinner by an investigator and his wife. When he came to pick us up he said he was also bringing his brother-in-law along and that he has lived in California for the last 30 years and speaks fluent english. I was so excited! They took us to this way nice Hotel that looked out over the bridge for a nice buffet of Japanese food. It was actually way nice! I got to talk to the Brother for pretty much the entire dinner, it was so nice to be able to speak english for a little while! He actually works for an insurance company in California so I was glad we had some common ground. We had an extremely nice conversation about Japan and the U.S., the culture, sports, food, and even some religion. He was very impressed with our diligent service and devotion to give up two years of our lives to be missionaries. He wasn`t a religious person but he expressed his desire for the people of Japan to gain some sort of belief. I was able to share a little bit about what we believe about God and he seemed to enjoy it a lot. He was absolutely shocked when I told him at the end of dinner that I was only 19. He thought I was at least a senior in college and was blown away when I told him I graduated High School just 7 months ago. It was an awesome time.
I have to tell you about the experience I had when you all called. About halfway through the phone call the call cut out and you could no longer hear me from my end but I could hear you. I can`t even explain what it was like to be there helplessly trying to tell you I was still there. Dad kept saying stuff like `Hello? Jeff, are you there? Hello` and I just kept responding, `Yes! Dad I`m right here! I`m here Dad, I can hear you!` It was so unsettling and I couldn`t help but think thats how Heavenly Father feels about us. He`s so close to us and he loves us so much, it must be agonizing not being able to be with us. I know that that was probably a dumb example but that was something I`ve thought about a lot this week!
I hope everyone has an awesome New Years! 2013 is coming to a close and I can hardly believe it. I can`t imagine how fast 2014 will go by. I love you all! がんばてください！愛しています！
Giles 長老
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