Elder Watkins Japan Nagoya Mission: Can ye tell?

Glasses,(Elder Wheeler's fake ones) how do I look?

Hello all! Hope things are going well, actually I know things are going pretty good over there. So many blessings! My family at home has grown by 1 member and this month another one is coming. And of course my family here in Japan is pretty big too.

It's nostalgic being in September now already. I remember 1 year ago I had just begun my job at the cabinet shop owned by Bishop Brock, and a year before that I had started school at Coastal Carolina University. Now I'm in Seto! I couldn't have imagined the experiences I would have or even that I would become best friends with people named "TuAkoi" or "Yamada" and so on. It is indeed like Ammon says to his brethren in Alma chapter 26, 2nd verse, "And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?"

Crazy right? Granted, I have had a bad cough the past couple of days, and it is raining now (again) so there are what I will call "counter-blessings" too. But those ones just make us try harder. Because I understand now how hard a mission really is. No one has any idea until they have served themselves. No one could have told me just how hard it would be. (and I'm doing it in Japanese!) But as I've said before, I worked with the South Carolina missionaries a lot, and while the changed my life back then, my respect for them now is through the roof. Those Elders and Sisters, whose names I can never forget, are my heroes.

So, missionary or not, I would invite you to impose the aforementioned question of Ammon to yourselves. We all have rough times, and if we look, we all have blessings too. Can ye tell?

Well, this week is... yep, you guessed it; transfer calls! Please pray for another great transfer for me and my comrades. I will pray for a good transfer for you all too!

Love y'all,
Elder Watokinzu

Happy Birthday this week to Aunt Mandy, Mischa, and my doryo Elder Jackson!