Hey everybody, I hope that your Christmas plans are
coming along nicely! Mine sure are, so I'm pretty pleased! :) Here's the weekly
rundown!
Mon: Well today was P-day, but we had music practice at
the Honbu so that took most of our time today... I did however get to go to
this big Buddist Shrine temple thing in Sapporo that was pretty cool! That was
the big cool stuff for today though...
Tues: So today was our first DTM this transfer as well
as the first Eikaiwa. For DTM, we just have the ZL's double as our DL cause we
don't actually have one... DTM went super well and I enjoyed it and learned a
lot! We also went to lunch with the ZL's cause technically they're in our
district now...
Wed: Today we had this really cool experience with this
Free Family English Program. The family wanted to learn English and said that
listening to a message would be worth it. So after the English lesson, we
taught about God and how he can help us through prayer. And all of them seemed
super interested and so I'm pretty excited to see where that goes...
Thurs: Today we had a lesson where we went expecting to
just find out what they know, and do some How to Begin Teaching (PMG ch.10),
but we ended up getting invited in, teaching basically all of lesson 1 and 2 as
well as the Word of Wisdom, and they fed us dinner! It was super, super cool!
That was basically our day...
Fri: Today I was thinking a lot about goals, and as
missionaries we really try to bring people into the Church, which means
Baptism. but I think our main focus should not be preparing people for baptism,
but to go to the temple, and stay active in the Church. Cause if that's what we
prepare them to do, then they’ll be baptized. It is just a step, not the finish
line or goal. PMG doesn't put it first or last, so neither should we! :)
Sat: Today I got my Christmas phone call! It was a great
early Christmas present, and I enjoyed talking to you all! We also went to a
member's house for dinner tonight and we shared the spiritual message which I
thought was pretty cool. So in John 21:5-6,11 it talks about Jesus telling the
disciples where to throw the nets and then talking to them on the shore. But in
it, it says the number of fish they caught. That means they counted how many
there were. Now it's Christmas time and there are a ton of things to be
thankful for, but sometimes we lose sight of that. Now the thing is, why would
they put the exact number of fish that Jesus helped them catch? Cause they
realized that it was a blessing, and they wanted to be grateful. Now the
number of fish they caught was 153. Why 153? It seems kinda random, but in
the Japanese hymn book, and Japanese only I assume, the hymn numbered 153
is Count Your Blessings. I just thought that was pretty cool! ;)
Sun: Today it snowed like crazy! But church went well, I
taught a recent convert the After Baptism lessons, we got a bunch of Christmas
presents from the ward and just had a good time! We decided to wait to open the
presents until Christmas though... ;) I had the weekly Messiah
practice and I assume we're sounding good, cause it's this Saturday...
Pray that I'll do ok... I've been doing the same the whole time...
;)
It was a fun week, and with Christmas this coming week,
I can't see how it could be bad! Remember to feel the spirit of Christmas this
year, and remember Christ's birth. I love you all and hope things are going
great!
Love,
Elder Bickel
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