Wednesday, Oct 2nd: Zone games were great. We played capture the flag and kickball. Afterwards, they did a bean shower. They sat me on a rock, then showered me with all sorts of treats. It was so nice! I'll add a pic of the treats.
One of the Mission APs, Elder Dawdy, Elder Brown
**Bean shower: Apparently this is a tradition in the mission used for welcoming the new missionaries, a.k.a. "Green Beans". Hence the name, "Bean Shower". As Conner described, the unsuspecting Green Bean is seated on a chair (or a rock in this case), while the other Elders & Sisters surprise him with a shower of treats, food, and snacks that they drop into his lap.
Thursday, Oct 3rd: Zone conference itself was good. I'm kinda with you both, mom and dad. The joy they focus on in these conferences is great and a nice break from routine, especially in a tough mission like this one. However, this energy is very temporal. The real joy and motivation that lasts the longest is through work. Like that one talk from general conference mom shared, joy is doing our best and knowing the lord accepts our efforts.
**Conner's comment stems from a video that we saw posted to the mission facebook page. All of the missionaries were standing up, singing a peppy/cute song called "I've Got Joy in my Heart" with playful hand motions. We have noticed that they use fun, joyful music a lot in the mission to encourage & motivate the missionaries. Here is the comment that I sent him that he is referencing: I just love that President & Sister McClure infuse so much JOY into missionary work. I also think there should be much happiness & joy in serving the Lord. That's why He sent us here right? Men are that they might have joy. And when YOU are joyful, that will radiate through your countenance and touch the people that you come in contact with. They will want to know where your joy comes from. The gospel & missionary work is not a drudgery ..... it is joyful. We teach & preach that there is a plan of happiness, right? But there is also plenty of hard work and maybe that joy isn't always felt as glee & excitement -- it's a feeling deep in your heart that comes from knowing you are serving the Lord and giving your all. In general conference today there was a quote along these lines . . . "joy is enduring, and knowing that your efforts are accepted by the Lord." I love that -- we do so much in keeping the commandments, serving others, holding to the rod & staying on the covenant path and it requires a lot of endurance. Sometimes, we may wonder if our quiet efforts are being noticed. But I love that we can KNOW that the Lord sees our efforts, He accepts our offering, and we can have peace & joy in knowing we are doing our part.
Performing another joyful song - "Dendo Makes Me Happy." Dendo is the Japanese word for missionary work.
And one more "bean shower" -- a little bit smaller than the first one.
Friday: weekly planning session. visited with a member named 新田兄弟 (Nitta Kyoudai). Fun discussion/lesson. Went tracting around in the rain for a while. Other than that, not much happened.
Saturday: another rainy day. The APs passed over a woman named やまもとしまい(yamamoto shimai). We gave her a brief tour of the church building. Introduced her to some members. She's very interested in eikaiwa and wants to come to church sometime, but she has work (usual problem).
Sunday: downloaded some General Conference, went to church. After church, helped the ward pass out flyers for the Halloween party. After that, went with the ward mission leader to edit some eikaiwa posters. After that, walked forty minutes (because companion's bike brake is still broken) to a member's apartment because the ward missionary was worried about him. Found that nobody lives there. Weird. Especially since the ward missionary visited him literally that week and confirmed the correct address with us. Anyway, walked forty minutes back, tracting as many people as we found. Did some housing and scheduled an appointment with a guy for this next week. Should be fun.
Monday: made some french toast for breakfast with some bacon a member gave us last week. Super nice! Made our own syrup-like stuff with random stuff we found in the apartment: milk, honey, margarine, vanilla extract. Runny, but delicious. Then went and stocked up on food for the next two weeks.
That's about it, for now.
愛しています
ブラウン長老
We won't hear from Conner again for about 10 days as his typical Monday P-day is being moved back a couple days so they can attend the temple in Sapporo next week. The temple is only open Wednesday - Saturday.
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