Another week has come and gone here in the Land of the rising run. Today was probably the first day that I've actually seen the sky go from dark to light. Normally by the time I wake up at 0530, the sun is already up and everything is light. However, today was a little bit different. We got up at 0400 in order to be ready by 0530 to take a train into Tokyo so we could go to the Temple. We wanted to skip the packed morning trains and got to Tokyo pretty early. The differences between downtown Tokyo and Tokorozawa are crazy. Tokyo is a whole of of fun but I'm glad that I'm not a missionary there. I'm grateful to be in beautiful Tokorozawa.
This week surely was quite the adventure. Firstly, a lot of the members of my zone have been super sick. My companion, Elder Connell was super sick early on in the week and so we stayed inside for pretty much the whole day. He slept while I studied and did other productive things. He really wanted to sleep and get over his sickness mainly due to the fact that later in the week our schedule was supposed to get pretty hectic. I've been taking a lot of Vitamin C supplements and hydrating like none other so I think I'll be good. But from the reports that I've been getting from all the other members in the zone, a lot of other missionaries are becoming bed-ridden.
I had the chance to spend a day in Kichijoji receiving training from Elder Call one of the APs. We worked together really well and had a blast proselyting in the evening. AP life is extremely busy, I don't think that I would ever want to be AP mostly because it's all run here run there and they don't get as much time to proselyte as do the other missionaries. I think Zone Leader is an appropriate position for me. Not too much paperwork, some. But,mi still get a lot of time to go out and help people. Seeing a lot of the behind-the-scenes of the Tokyo South mission really helped me learn to appreciate how much work goose into making sure that things around the mission go smoothly.
A really good defining moment of the week was Saturday. For several weeks, actually for most of the transfer Elder Connell and I have been working on putting together a singing group comprised of our zone for the mission talent show that was held on Saturday in Machida. We sent a good portion of the day talking to people and traveling to the church where we the. Participated in the two hour program that consisted of missionaries, members, and non members demonstrating their talents for all to see. The acts ranged from a New Zealander Elder doing the Haka to a missionary improvising songs from the children's song book (which by the way was phenomenal). We sang a song called "I marvel at the Miracle" if sang correctly it would certainly bring the spirit into the room. However I'm a fraud that we accomplished quite the opposite at the talent show. Good thing they put us towards the middle so it turned out okay.
On Sunday and on Monday, all six of us missionaries had a meeting with brother Kurita, our Ward Mission Leader. He talked a lot about his vision for missionary work in the area as well as how we can work with the Ward to accomplish their goals. He is a very interesting man. He's a kendo instructor by profession and very disciplined. I think that he and I will get along very well. I believe that as we use him as the valuable asset that he is, we will be able to better serve the members living in Tokorozawa. We established a plan for this week and are going to work our absolute hardest to ensure that we can get done as much as we possibly can!
It's been a great week. Hectic at times. But in all,mi think that I've learned a whole lot this week that'll not only make me a better missionary but also a better leader in the future.
Very Respectfully,
Elder J. Alan Farr
The district, we helped some Australians!, same ad on the train everywhere!, us at the temple!
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