We got on the bus last Monday afternoon and headed for Sendai. Unusual for Japan, it was quite an exciting ride; maybe for all the wrong reasons haha. I could tell we it was gonna be an adventure right from the start as the dude sitting next to me offered one of his 3 `tall boy` cans of beer ha. He was a nice young guy, but talked with a loud, disturbing voice. (People in Japan usually keep pretty quiet while traveling). We were having a nice conversation about why we were here in Japan from America. He was intrigued, but it didn`t get much farther. The bus driver pulled the bus over, walked to the back, and told us to be quiet. He especially made sure the louder man heard and walked away with a glaring eye at him. But we were quieter from there! As a matter of fact, there weren`t many words even said! The man didn`t seem to happy about things though because not too long later the man walked to the front of the bus and took out a few words with the bus driver. It lasted a good 45 minutes... so much for the peace and quiet huh?! haha. The funny part is- it had everything to do with the 4 foriegners. Thankfully we were in no wrong. Quite the ride though!
We went to Ishinomaki for service the next day. It was good to get back with Elder Tillemann-Dick and catch up with him. We were able to take a family pic, minus Shinno Choro and the grandson. I will be meeting up with them this week though ;) We picked up a lot of rubble, and wrote a kanji on somebody`s buoys. It was a lot of fun! We made it back into Sendai a little late so we ended up staying another night. After talking with the people in charge of the services, it sounds like we may not have anything else going on throughout the winter! :( I`m not certain on anything but will definitley be sad if that was it.
We made it back to Nagaoka Wednesday afternoon. We had English Class that evening in which we were blessed to have 3 new students attend!!! I was so happy. English Class is something I really enjoy and want to improve here.
Thursday morning we got on the train and made our way down to my firstborn Elder Juchau`s area, Joetsu :). It`s a small area and I believe even has the smallest branch in all of Japan consisting of 3 active members. It`s a wonderful place though and it was a beautiful train ride right along the ocean, or sea of Japan. It rained hard with a brutal wind both days we were there making things a little miserable, but our Thanksgiving feast made up for everything!!! We threw down!! Ha. Thanks to Elder Saunders` mom, Elder Juchau`s mom, and my mamma ;)
We were on our horses getting to the Joetsu Station on time, and not too long after we arrived in Nagaoka we got right back on another one and visited a recent convert. We enjoyed time at her parents cake shop, and ate well too. But when we finally made it out of there, we realized that we only had about 15 minutes to make it to the station at least a mile and a half away!! Haha we were out of breath once again but did make the train :)
Saturday evening we attended an activity called `Hippo`. It is an opportunity to learn 7 languages as people from all over the place gather together. We played lots of fun games and made some new friends. Most of the attendees are Japanese, and we hope to use this new activity as a means for us to find people to teach. Even though it was our first time there, we picked a good night as it was `pot luck` time! We brought some of our extra Thanksgiving food. Everybody seemed to enjoy it as there wasn`t much we came home with!! haha.
I love my mission. I love it. I love Japan. I love Nagaoka. I love these people. I love the Lord. He is blessing us so much right now. Even when we`re lost and don`t know where we`re going haha. Last night we had no idea where we were so I asked somebody in their car stopped at the light. It was a nice young girl and to make a long story short, she led us in her as we were on our bikes to the place we needed to go. After talking with her some more, we exhanged info and I think we`ll be able to meet with her again. The mission is full of miracles!! :) I love it. I know when we have faith in our Savior Jesus Christ, He will help us and guide us. I know that His way is the way to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. Thank you all for everything. Take Care.
Elder Ovard
Our Thanksgiving feast sent with Love from our mothers in America!
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