Week 74

Things are good. The new companion is good. We've been doing alright. I feel like I'm working really hard though... Not necessarily harder than him but like he is still pretty young in the mission and I'm the senior comp and the district leader so he kinda takes the back seat sometimes and lets/makes me do most of everything. It's mostly because he is pretty shy but... I also don't like it when conversations get awkward so if he doesn't say something I just start talking and he never says anything so I have to keep talking! Ha. I do little experiments with him sometimes though... Like after we knock a door I see how long it takes him before he takes the initiative to walk to the next house without me doing it first. We've stood at a couple houses for over a minute and a half before I FINALLY have to step off the front of their house and walk to the next one. I also waited for him to decide where we should go the next day one time and just stayed quiet for 10 minutes and then once I thought enough time had passed I just threw together a plan and set our goals in 30 seconds and was on my knees ready to pray! I don't think he has a problem with that cause he is terrible at making decisions. We are pretty decent friends but we've got some teaching skills to work on together and although being shy and not a leader is just fine, he has to work on some of that stuff! Just wondering how to do that without ruining a relationship...

That's what's up there! Ha. Mission life isn't perfect but it is all learning experiences!

Okinawa would be cool but I don't want to go there right now, it's the middle of summer and probably as bad as St George but with humidity so... I'm alright being on the northern part of the mission right now.

My time in Yanai has been interesting. But it's been great. I feel
like the lord has placed me in areas where there are things that I
specifically need to in the time while I am here that others maybe
wouldn't do. This ranges from small things like cleaning out the
shower drain which smelled like the dump and looked way worse then
some of the Japanese food that I've had and throwing away spices that
expired four years ago to big things like changing the moral in the
ward from "missionaries find investigators and then members help" to
"members find investigators and then missionaries help." I've been
putting a lot of work into this area and doing my best because I truly
do love them. These members here are wonderful people and they are
truly my friends. It's weird how much more human people seem when you
can speak their language and understand them. Not saying that I'm
perfect (super far from it) but I've been blessed to know what I know
now and I can become friends with them because of the opportunity I've
had to come to this country and learn Japanese. "Love is all you
need."

Brower chourou