Happy New Year! We did not stay up for that, though I'm sure some missionaries did. Last TOEIC, I tried to explain what we did last New Years with the Thanos snap* to the students. I think they understood what we did, but they obviously had no clue why. I don't think memes are a thing here. Shame.
*Last year on NYE, the boys pulled out Avengers: Infinity War and cued up the scene where Thanos snaps his fingers to play exactly when the clock struck midnight.
Monday, Dec 30: Went to that Samurai Village. Already talked about that in the last email. Went housing after calling home. One house, the doorphone was at the front gate. We pressed it and the second story window opened. A lady popped her head out and asked something like "What is it?". Nothing came from it, but it was a fun experience.
Tuesday, Dec 31: that wind mom was talking about yesterday hit us pretty hard. I've never really needed the thermal underwear since I've gone so many years with nothing but shorts, but this day, I was thinking about them. Also, met an Indian guy on the way back who tried to bash Christianity. Kinda funny, though, cause he never posed a question I couldn't answer if he cared to learn.
Wednesday, Jan 1: Happy New Year! Had breakfast with a member who said he'd have a less active there, but the less active never showed up. He also took us to see a rice smashing ceremony and a Japanese drum presentation, which was pretty fun. Had interviews afterward via Zoom chat. Then, went and visited a jinja (shrine) with lots of people. Couldn't proselyte, but good to be where the people are. Minegishi 長老 shared some super cool similarities between the shrine and Moses' time, like how the typical Japanese red-colored gate thing is in the exact shape as how the Israelites marked their doors with blood in Egypt to avoid the destroying angel. Also, there is a washing station like what priests would do before entering the tabernacle. Also, there was a rope and paper decoration thing above the door to the shrine which symbolized the clouds and lightning of Mount Sinai. Cool stuff.
Thursday, Jan 2: DKK in the morning. Not much that's noteworthy other than that.
Friday, Jan 3: Went and did normal dendo efforts. While we streeted, we saw a guy a little ways off smoking a cigarette. We got closer and Minegishi 長老 recognized him as a less active. He recognized us some time before that and the cigarette went behind his back, lol.
Saturday, Jan 4: nothing too noteworthy to report. Normal dendo. Met with Kamada-san. I don't understand him at all, but it feels like nothing happens with him.
Sunday, Jan 5: went to church. Afterwards, went to the bus station and figured out what bus routes we could take to cut our walking time. Did some housing later. Slipped on the ice for third time this mission. And this time, landed flat on my hydroflask. Ouch. On a lighter note, had a good conversation with the last person we housed. Went a little long, so we barely missed our bus back. As we walked down a street toward the main road, our bus passed right by. It was a fun opportunity to teach Minegishi 長老 the English word "taunt".
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New Year is the most important holiday in Japan, families spend time together, and most businesses shut down from January 1 to January 3. It is tradition to visit a shrine during the first few days of the year -- Hatsumode -- and it looks like Conner did just that on January 1st. Here is a little article about New Years traditions in Japan.
Because of the holiday and people being occupied with family & celebrations, President McClure suggested that the missionaries add to their daily schedule an hour of cleaning and an extra hour of study to fill the time.
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