Elder Watkins Japan Nagoya Mission: I get knocked out, but I get up Again

Me and my boy Elder Nakamoto on the kokan.

Go Go`s Curry!!!

Me and the cat at the apartment.

Hello! This morning I tried making cinnamon toast. Then I found out, I made paprika toast. Bleh. haha

Well turns out our yakusokusha didn't get to the water after all. He called on Wednesday and said he had become to busy with his preparations to return to his home next week. He was even too busy to attend church. He also moved from his apartment to a different place so we couldn't even drop in for a visit. He said he was very sorry and would like to try again when he comes back later in the year.

We were so disappointed, he was so close! We and he couldn't control this obviously, but he was so close. We hope that he will get baptized in the future, but we are sad that we couldn't be here to see it. I thought I would finally get a baptism, but not yet I guess.

But we don't give up! And we don't set limits. We had an amazing lesson last week in which we were permitted to the first time to enter our investigator's home and given hot chocolate by his mother, who'd previously been against us. We also got a tachiai in the form of a recently returned missionary from the Kobe mission. He still has very much of the dendo spirit and taught and testified with power. We extended the invitation to be baptized and our investigator agreed to pray about it. His mother had questions about the message too, and lo and behold, she became an investigator! Miracles still never cease.

And yesterday after church we found 3 new investigators! That's like a record for my whole mission so far! And another guy came to church!

I also went on a kokan with my District Leader, Elder Nakamoto, yep, the one I knew when he was a young missionary back in the Nonami District. He taught us his first DTM, it was way good. Weird to think tho that I am the oldest missionary in the District. I knew most of the others when they were beans. Yikes!

Even though dendo has disappointing moments, and sometimes your work seems like it was for nothing, the Lord knows the way, He went through it all Himself. "Having set our hands to the plow, we will never look back, until this work is finished"(Jeffery R. Holland) and if we do this, though there be failures, we will yet see miracles. I have found time and again on my mission, in my life, and this week that this is true.

Well just gonna keep bumpin to that base line! This week is our last Zone Conference with the Yamashitas, that will be quite the day I think. Love you all to the moon and beyond!

Love,
Elder "Watdawg" Watkins