I've gotten pretty used to Japan, but today as I was riding on a huge bridge over a half-a-mile river, exchanging water for wind with the ocean, (I noticed... this verb applies to the previous stated sentence... like Japanese) -- the skies in Japan are beautiful. So clean.... I can write English well- but just believe me, it was beautiful.
We've just gotta take some time, and hold a wonder in our heart for the world, as well everything around us.
Japanese makes a ton of sense.
We met a ton of foreigners this week-
We went to a park to talk with people, and we met a man from Taiwan. We had no idea he wasn't Japanese, so we just started rattling off to him, and he had a way confused face on. He did his best to respond in Japanese, and I began to wonder if he had a mental impairment-, then he said in English- "Ya, I'm sorry. I don't really speak Japanese. I'm from Taiwan."
So that was pretty great. I told him one of my friends went to Taiwan doing what we were doing- and I invited him to check it out. He seemed scared of us.
We were later talking with an old woman, who's husband was out-cold on a bench. And then I felt someone tug at my sleeve.
I turned around and there were two little 10 year old Japanese girls-
"Hey... We need your help getting something at the playground... Will you come?"
I let Jones Choro take the lady, and I ran to help the two. A zip-line was stuck in the middle.
Instantly we were friends. Apparently one of the girls had actually come to the church last year for an activity.
Just then, a...gaijin walked up out of nowhere and started talking to me in accented English.
It was a fifty-sixty year old woman from Australia, and her husband showed up a few seconds later.
It was so different... Not only having to try and do missionary work in English, but the culture, and the whole style of teaching is totally different. Instead of tackling the general Japanese disbelief in God, who in the world Christ is, or why we're even in Japan, they straight up ask- "How's the good word being received in Japan?"
"It's moving along; though for some reason, Japanese people seem to have a general disinterest in God. Many have never pondered the questions we consider common place in the Western world: what happens after death, who is God, etc. But there are some people that miraculously show up and it feels as if they were born Christian, accepting Christ in an instant. But other than the members actually in the church, I've only met one quite like that."
The man had some good ideas. "Well, you know, I was recently reading a book about Japanese religion, and I'd read that 90% of them are Shinto, and 70% are Buddhist. Which obviously explains quite a bit of the overlap. They think of religion as veggies as a supper market. They pick and choose their favorites. They're born Shinto, they get married Christian, and they die Buddhist."
Of course, it was a zentaitekina (general) hanashi (talk).... I guess we'd say: Of course we were talking on a very general level, because they are always exceptions-
We've been playing past general conferences and something that Elder Cook said in (in effect) the 2012 conference- that if you don't think you're sick then you won't listen to a doctor.
The Japanese people are a deeply spiritual people- many of whom feel a deep connection with God and with their ancestors- but they don't know what they're missing. It like that one time I made the stupid decision to read a book instead of going to a Jazz game with Dad.
I'm content with the book- I didn't know Dad and little brothers were in the Box pigging out on unlimited ice cream and pizza- having the time of their lives.
The Japanese people don't know- and with the example right before me, it makes the statement in the D&C all the more powerful: It is impossible to be saved in ignorance.
Nazekatoiuto, (lit. if you say 'why?') the gospel flows perfectly from a simple desire to faith, to action, do convents- but the root of the desire- knowledge, the opposite of ignorance, is necessary in order for that desire to exist.
We went to Aomori and back twice this week, once in a train, once in a car.
The train was sweet- not the fact that it was a train, but that it was a perfect opportunity to talk with people.
They can run.... :)
So we went George Albert Smith (daikancho) style and jumped around from person to person.
They were all pretty normal contacts, but two funny ones stuck out to me:
I was talking with one senior high school girl (from Misawa), who seemed as unafraid as ever- but as we'd talk she kept looking down the train randomly. I laughed when she asked:
"That guy, down there." She said pointing to a Japanese Missionary from Okinawa. "Is he with you guys?"
"Yep."
"Is he gaijin?"
"No, he's from Okinawa. He's 100% Japanese."
"He's way attractive."
I cracked up, and gave her hope by telling her he was only 19, and he actually was working in Misawa, where she lived- also that we had a free weekly English Class there were he would be there every week. She eagerly took the flyer.
There's a saying that some missionary use jokingly "Flirt to convert".
(Of course I talked to her about the gospel)
Number two:
I was talking to a girl next to me, and then a girl on the other side of her reached behind the other girl's back, with a handful of chips held out to me.
I was a little confused but slightly happy at the same time- for I was a little hungry.
The girl next to me and I continued our conversation for a little when the second girl reached behind the first again, but this time with a grape flavored candy.
The girl next to me eventually got off the train, and the other one, just reached out with the whole bag of chips and told me to take it- I told her I was good, but she put it on the seat and slid it to me... then gave me another handful of candies....
I later came to realize that she was probably insane... She started humming and singing to herself and skipping around at the front of the train (she was like 16 or 17). Yep. ... Back to my discussion about how we keep getting food from people.
It happened like two other times besides the before mentioned event, and it's always random people... .There's a scripture about how all missionaries are prophets and how if you feed a prophet you get blessed... Maybe they feel deep in their Spirit the natural truth of that...?
But I mean that's cool. Getting chips from random people on the rain, and chocolate and rice crackers from others on the street.
I actually speak this language... weird... The little girl's at the park came up to me and the two Australian people with a deck of cards, and asked the man:
"Hey! Can I show you a magic trick?"
I looked at him waiting him to answer her question, when he said in English.
"Oh would you look at that, you've got a deck of cards!"
They didn't understand anything.
I explained, and started translating between both of them. It was pretty insane...
Jones Choro and I are speaking really weird English. We were trying to figure out who gave the talk we listened to today- and we were staring at a picture of Elder Oaks, wondering if it was him.
Then we both started saying.
"Different," "Different" over and over again..... which when I realized cracked me up. They do that in Japanese, it means like "It's not that" or in this particular situation: "oh that wasn't him."
I'd end with something interesting-
In the bible the Lord says that if we lose ourselves we'll find ourselves. Japanese people use the work suteru to describe losing yourself- which is the same verb as "to throw away" or "to dump" in the sense of a girlfriend- in order to lose more of ourselves to the Lord, we just need to dump away the thoughts of our self; throw away selfishness- forget ourselves so fully that we think no more on us than we do about that banana peal we chucked from breakfast this morning.
Though, obviously it's necessary to work out our salvation and life, but we need to focus on others as well.
Anywho- that's it for my poor thought for this week.
Elder Wheelwright
No comments:
Post a Comment