Busy Week

じゃあ hello everyone! This week was filled with lots of stuff, so please forgive me if this email is all over the place haha. I'll just start from the beginning of the week.

Last week we had a pretty normal p-day, although to be honest they are starting to get a little boring since there is nothing to do for fun in this little town other than go out to a restaurant. After that it was a pretty normal beginning of the week with Eikaiwa and some dendo. Then Thursday came and that is when it all picked up really fast. We had a Zone Meeting in Fukuoka at 10am so we had to leave Nakatsu at 6am to make sure we made it there on time. After a couple long train rides we made it to Fukuoka and we got to meet our new zone! It was fun to see and get to know everyone. The training we received was really good and I'll share more about that in a later part of my email.

After the Zone Meeting our original plans changed a little bit and instead of going down to where our District Leader was (Chikushino) we ended up needing to stay in Fukuoka the whole day and spent the night with the Zone Leaders. The reason our plans changed though were
because I needed to go see a doctor early the next morning. Recently, I had been noticing the whites of my eyes starting to get a little yellow and me being me I figured it was nothing and ignored it. Then a few weeks go by and eventually a month or two go by and my eyes still
seemed a bit yellow and almost seemed to be getting darker. I was still ignoring it until my companion pointed it out and told me I should probably call the Mission Presidents wife last week. So I did and she set me up with an appointment early Friday morning. I went to the hospital in Fukuoka (which was probably the nicest hospital I have ever been to in my life, it looked like a 5 star hotel when I walked in) and long story short nothing is wrong with me. Well I guess nothing really serious that is haha, they did some blood work and found out I have a disease called Jaundice. They said it can lead to serious things but the kind I have is harmless and that as a result the whites of my eyes will sometimes get yellow. The doctor said usually they come for a few months and then leave and come back again at random times, and usually gets more prevalent the more stressed a person is. Other than that though they said it was nothing to worry about.

The rest of the week I got to do lots of dendo with some different elders. The night I spent in Fukuoka I went out with elder Johnson and we found some really nice people and even found a guy that took a Book of Mormon and was willing to meet again! Then in Chikushino that next
day I went out with Elder Murdock and we found a few people but the highlight of the Junkai was this lady we taught the restoration to. They had only met her once before and elder Murdock and I were following up to have the first lesson with her. We visited her home and she had read the whole pamphlet they gave and then asked about the Book of Mormon because she wanted to study it! We of course explained it to her and gave her one as we taught the restoration. After we
taught baptism she made a comment about us missionaries growing up in the church and learning it all from our parents so it was easy for us. Before I had a chance to say anything elder Murdock responded to her and then after he was finished I told her that I had just been baptized 2 years ago. As I told her about that and my experience I could sense she was a little surprised but even more surprised than her was Elder Murdock haha. He didn't know I was a convert yet so he
was a little taken back as well.

That next day we had the chance to help a member in their ward move into a different apartment. It was so nice to be able to do service! As any missionary in Japan knows, service activities are very few and far in between so when we get the chance we always jump at them. After that we headed back home with just enough time to have a couple hours to dendo in our own area. That was about it as far as the whole week goes, it seemed like a lot happened during the week but now as a type it out it doesn't seem like very much haha.

To finish up though I'd like to share a little bit of my studies throughout the week. This transfer as a mission we are all studying patience and so I decided to read more about it in PMG and do the personal study activities it offered. It led me to some really good scriptures about the Sons of Mosiah exercising patience, if you have a chance please give Alma 26 a read! During ZTM as they talked about patience, one thing they said that really stuck with me is, "Patience without faith, isn't real patience". They explained how sometimes in life or on the mission that we take trials as they come and instead of working through them cheerfully we just wait for them to be over with. If we come at problems with a I just have to wait a few hours, days, or weeks for it to go away, then we aren't practicing real patience. In PMG it says, "Patience is the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious. I feel like sometimes I definitely have that attitude. Just a couple more hours of this then the days over, rather than cheerfully accepting my trials and realizing how they are helping me grow. I
still have so much to learn about patience and I know I need to apply it each and every day, but as I do so I know the Savior will make up for where I fall short and continue to help me. Lately in my area with not seeing much success it has really made me exercise a lot of patience, I hope I can continue to do so and see success soon. I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Sherrill