Dear Mom & Everybody -
How are things? Time's flying here! I can't believe it's already the 20th - we just had New Years! This has been a really good week for me. My faith has grown a lot.
Last Thursday we went as a zone to the Sunshine 60 - the tallest skyscraper in Japan. It was too cloudy and smoggy to see much that day, but the elevator ride was cool - really fast - with glowing,
florescent sea-life images on the ceiling and walls, with cool music. There were some neat shops at the top, too.
Then we went to Amlux - the 7 story Toyota car show building - REALLY cool architecture. They had an indoor waterfall from about the 6th to the 2nd floor, clear elevators so you could see underneath them and how they worked. They also had a movie we watched that you could smell. It was also in English! (W/subtitles) The plot and acting and stuff were pretty bad, but you could smell the popcorn and the flowers and the cars.
After the movie we toured some cars - most came equipped with an MD player and positioning system (map that shows you where you are, roads you can take, etc. - in your car - all computer). It was a pretty fun day. We have a great zone.
That night we taught Eikaiwa - it went well. I did some of the things I'd thought up for Eikaiwa in my last area. They're a fun class.
Most of the rest of the week was spent making chirashis for Taikai. But on Monday night I jointed with Tano and Beckstead choro, and we went to visit an investigator. A widow (her children are 23ish) in a very nice apartment who's fluent in Japanese, English and French. She's really nice. I got to bear my testimony about the Book of Mormon to her. It felt good. It was also nice to just get to come and talk with her - visiting.
I also got to hand out a Book of Mormon this week on my Senior Day with the only ½ hour of housing that we had. It was nice. I've been listening to great talks on tape recently (Elder J. Pinegar, President Kimball) and I've been praying a lot lately for more faith and desire and just when I felt it was starting to pick up, we had a great Taikai in which that topic, coupled with our "Think Big" theme was discussed. My faith and desire are increasing and I know we can see that one baptism per companionship per month that the Dendobucho has asked us to accomplish. There is nothing we can't do with the Lord's help.
We're often very busy in the office, but the Lord can help us, too, to achieve that goal. In December, a man just called up out of nowhere and was baptized three weeks later (Tamoi Kyodai - really cool) and we get lots of great referrals. I'm excited to be here and to be able to work for the Lord. I'm grateful for the wonderful people I get to work with.
Oh - also - my bike broke this week! (The cord that changes gears, the back tire is bare and my brakes don't work well). Today I had the broken wire replaced and bought new brake pads, but am going to need to fix more soon. My money's short, but this is at least cheaper than a new bike, and I get to learn how to fix them in the process!
Well, thank you for your love, prayers, letters and faith! I love you!
Have a good one!
Elder Pearce
