Last Week's Email

Lis: Sorry I got behind on the email updates! This is what Abe sent last week. Enjoy!

Hey how is everyone doing?! So the first week of my second transfer was pretty good I would have to say, especially considering I got to celebrate Shogatsu in Japan, but I will talk about that in a little bit.  On Tuesday we went to the mission home to have a mission conference, which is called trainers' training, and it was really good.  A fun time and I got to see everyone from my doki (people who came here from the MTC with me) so that was really nice.  I enjoyed it a lot.  I found out that one of the Elders who was on the 2 week MTC program because he was already fluent in Japanese will be training after this transfer, which is crazy fast, but then again a lot of sisters have to do that because of how many are coming in to the field compared to how many are here.  We spent a lot of time on the train that day, and I loved it because I have told you before that train dendou (missionary work) is my favorite.  I realized also that my Japanese is beginning to get pretty decent because I was able to carry on conversations with those people on the train the whole ride-some of them were a half an hour and some 40 minutes. But I just love talking to people in Japanese because it is so fun.  I actually met a  kid  who is really into tennis like myself, and we're going to invite his  family to the next church event we have.  I can't really play tennis with him yet because he is only 15 and his parents don't know me and I am a 19 year-old gaijin :D That night we spent New Year's Eve at a member's family, which was really really awesome.  The Members in Inuyama are just the best.  Whenever we get an investigator to come to church, everyone greets them and are just  super friendly.  We don't have to ask any one person to be a fellow shipper.  Then New Year's Day, we spent with ward members because we're not really suppose to proselyte, and even if we could it would be really ineffective.  So these past couple of days have been a little slower, but we did get a new investigator named Daisuke.  He is fourteen I think and really awesome.  I am super excited to work with him.  Oh yeah, I have been using some Spanish from the book my sister gave me.  In our gospel principles class at church yesterday, we had to have a translator go from Japanese to Spanish for some of the people in the class, and the translator didn't know the word for Spirit World, and randomly I'm just like "Oh its el mundo de los espiritus."  My companion was like you have the gift of tongues.  We laughed about it for a while afterwards, but anyways before I go I want to share I scripture I read recently. Mosiah 2:41 It talks about the happy state of those who keep the commandments, and towards the end it talks about what we can have if we endure to the end.  "Never-ending happiness."  Through Christ we have the opportunity to partake of some of that never-ending happiness every day.  The are many ways we can feel that happiness and all of them come from good: sports, music, friends, food, but one of my favorites is that we get to have ETERNAL FAMILIES.  What a special blessing that is. Speaking of families, I love you guys so much and I hope you are well.  Happy New years!

Me at a Shrine. Don't I look look such a missionary ninja ;D

愛しています。

Elder  Bedard

ベダード 長老

The entrance to the shrine a couple days after new years. That line of cars went back forever-every Japanese person has to get in their shrine visit before shogatsu ends. Some things they might do is burn last year's good luck charm and buy a new one, or cleanse themselves with holy water from a fountain. It was a really unique and cool place.