FAMILY!
Hey hey hey! I have some BIG news for you guys!
Oh my goodness, you guys won`t believe how much the mission has changed for me now. This last transfer call has completely blown my mind! Completely! So many things have turned around and changed. I never in a million years would`ve guessed something like this would happen.
Okay, is everyone ready? So my new area is now...TAKAMATSU! AAAHHHH Shikoku baby! I`ve been sent out to the island! I seriously can`t believe it and I know Richard is probably happy now! Can you believe that I`m serving in the same area he did two years ago AND its Momma Christensen`s hometown too?! Can you say miracle? I have no doubt that President McIntrye is an inspired man for sending me here. BIKURI! Well...there`s so many things that I need to explain...but I`m far too lazy to type everything that happened so I`ll give you the daitai 411.
So, I shall begin.
The first part of the week: Iwade
So, I was almost 99.888754% sure that I was going to stay in Iwade so I made myself nice and comfortable, until Tuesday that is. We got our transfer call in the morning from President and the first missionary he talked to was Elder Niven. Elder Niven was a stay in Iwade so I thought I had another transfer in Iwade with him...but then President punched me through the phone by telling me that I was going to be transferred to Takamatsu and be trained by a zone leader! I couldn`t believe it. But shoot, I`m not going to lie, I was bummed/excited by the transfer call. It was kind of a bittersweet feeling because I was so excited for Takamatsu but at the same time...yeah. I mean, I had to leave an awesome branch, amazing investigators and the fact we had a baptism planned for the next week just got to me. So I sat wondering why I would be transferred after working so hard and being so close to a baptism. It really bothered me. But, after a lot of thinking and a some solid prayers, I started realizing that I must have done what the Lord needed me to do in Iwade and now He needs me in Takamatsu. I know that the Lord understands my circumstances and that He has a responsiblilty for me in each area. Understanding that made me feel better and I started getting pumped up for dendo in Takamatsu.
It was sad saying bye to my investigators in Iwade though. I thought I was going to stay so I had no kokoronojunbi to say bye to them. Really, it was heartbreaking. One of my investigators, who`s an ojichan, was pretty sad that I was leaving. He such an awesome guy! His names Iwabuchi and he`s a 70 year old Japanese guy who pretty much lived his whole life in Brazil. He has a desire to find the true church and he feels that he can trust us when we say that this is the true restored chruch of Jesus Christ. Man, he`s such a amazing investigator! It was so sad though, at the end of the lesson I prayed for him because it was my last time, and he started to cry during the prayer. Ah, it was so sad! But no worries, I have no doubt that he`ll be baptized and become a general authority or something. Then after saying bye to all of our investigators, I had my last lesson with our yakusokusha, Fukunaga, before transfers. He`s looking pretty good I would have to say! We went out to eat ramen with him after our lesson...twas a good experience.
The second part of the week: Transfers/Takamatsu
So, after saying goodbye to everyone in Iwade, I set off to transfer. By this time I was super excited to go to Takamatsu and meet my new companion. By the way, my new companion`s name is Elder Sphor. He is a stud! He`s a half Japanese/American from Tokyo who`s ped at both English and Japanese. He`s really a great missionary and zone leader! I love that guy! We get along really well because he`s just like me and loves guitar too. A good amount of down time consists of us talking about guitars. bahaha we should probably dendo harder though. Nah, nevermind we do work hard!
Anyways, Takamatsu area is amazing! I love it so much! Its right by the ocean and its pretty darn city so dendo is good. There`s a huge shotengai that we dendo almost every night. I swear that thing is probably a mile long and its golden for finding! The branch is awesome too! Our brach president, Akamatsu Kaicho is a stud! We already have two fishing trips set up with him this transfer! Don`t worry, these fishing trips are for dendo purposes. (One of our investigators is a blind lady who lives on a island miles away so we`re planning to do some ocean fishing whlie we wait for the ferry) Its so dope that I have connections to Takamatsu! I mean, Richard`s mom`s from Takamatsu and Richard served here two years ago! How awesome is that?! One of the memebers here, Tabakodani Kyodai, was so surprised to hear that I was related to the Christensens. He busted out an old record of missionaries who used to serve in the branch and lo and behold, Richard`s profile was in it! hahah and so was his wedding pictures! Who would`ve known that my picture would be in the church even before I came?
As you can tell, I love Takamatsu. The Lord has blessed me so much by sending me here! There are so many miracles that are unfolding right before my eyes! Whats amazing is that we have a baptism going through this next Sunday! His name is Kondo Kyodai, he`s an amazing investigator with a really, REALLY interesting story! Which unfortunately, I don`t have time sharing. But I will...someday...someday.... Anyways, I love this guy from the bottom of my heart. He passed the baptismal interview with flying colors this Sunday too! Now its time to just help him prepare for baptism. Please pray for him!
Ah, there`s so much I want to tell you guys...but there`s just too much! I`m sorry I took up this whole email just talking about myself! How are you guys? I`m so happy to hear from you guys every week! Its such a booster! Well, I hope you guys are doing amazing as usual. Mom and Dad, I love you guys! Selena and Richard....well I guess I love you guys too. (I kid, I kid) Have an amazing week! BYE!
Mucho Amor,
Elder Saito
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