Dear Family and Friends,
We have been in Japan for three months! Time flies when you’re having fun! The language continues to befuddle us big time but we are managing somehow. The people here are amazingly patient and forgiving of our blunders. We have transfers facing us this coming week. It will be a busy week. One of our office elders, Elder Ahn, from Korea goes home this week along with two other elders and 7 new missionaries arrive, 1 sister and 6 elders. We will miss Elder Ahn whom we have come to love like a grandson. Elder Watanabe has arrived to take his place and we already love him. Elder Oba, Sister Beus’, personal mentor, is being transferred and will surely be missed but will be awesome in his new assignment. We are assured that Elder Everett will fill the vacancy Elder Oba leaves very well. Hopefully I, (Pat), have learned enough to carry on without too much coaching. We are also losing a couple of terrific missionaries from our district to new assignments and will miss them, but I’m sure we will come to love the newcomers. It’s amazing the feelings of love and unity that develop in these relationships. They become like our family. We are learning more than ever that we truly are all brothers and sisters. (I’m fighting back tears as I type this) How will I ever be able to leave if I am this attached in only 3 months?!
I am driving the car a little in familiar places. Sister Gustafson (Our lovely Mission Mom) and I went shopping this past week (I drove) and we found a 100 yen shop (like a dollar store-very fun), a K-mart type store, and a recycle (thrift) shop. At the thrift shop we were looking at kimonos and Japanese dolls etc. and a lady came up to us very excitedly and pointing to our name tags said in very broken English that her husband loves “mormonen” and speaks very good English. She sort of stole Sister G. away and they left the store. I hurriedly checked out and followed them (it was raining like crazy) and found sister G. in this lady’s car talking to the lady’s husband on the phone. The lady proceeded to load us up with beautiful kimonos and lovely Japanese things she had brought to the recycle store to donate. Sister G. ended up getting their phone number and an invitation for her and the Pres. to visit their home. It was quite an exciting “missionary” experience for a couple of novices.
We have the opportunity to open our little apt. for missionary discussions from time to time and for end of the month dinners for our district missionaries and their investigators. (the missionaries typically end up with too much month at the end of their money) so this is our way of trying to help them out. This week we are serving chicken tetrezini, watermelon, and Costco cookies. Drop in if you are in the area! We are having amazing cultural and spiritual experiences, learning a lot, working with wonderful people, and having a lot of fun working and serving together. We serve in the temple twice a month, teach an English class together one evening a week, teach an English Sunday School class together each Sunday, try to spend a day with our Son and family one day a week, and work at the office 5 days a week so we keep busy. We are so grateful for this opportunity. We love The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the opportunity to share it. We love our family, we love Japan, we love and miss our home and wonderful friends and family and America. We are so glad we have the health and strength to be able to do this. We are very very blessed. We wish you all the best and pray for your good health and happiness and hope for the opportunity to spend time with each of you again someday. Thank you for your love and friendship and how you have blessed and continue to bless our lives. We love hearing from you. May God bless you all.
With Love and Gratitude, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Pat and Steve
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