A lot of knocking on doors

Helloooooooooo everyone!!!

if only Elder Ch had tried the octopus

Mostly good week! Except unfortunately though, my bro Elder Ch seems to have gotten sick.  Zannen (bummer). Despite us being stuck in the apartment for a couple days (miraculously I didn`t get sick), we were still able to see some great things.

On Wednesday we went to visit a wonderful family in our branch, the A family. They live right next to the ocean, so naturally this visit also included a very necessary look at one of God`s most majestic creations, the Pacific Ocean. As always, it was great to see it again.

On Friday, I spent the day in Shizuoka. While there I met a cool guy who used to be in the Japanese Coast Guard as a helicopter pilot!! Way cool, right?? Now he flies helicopters for the fire department. He was surprised but delighted when I told him that I was in the U.S. Coast Guard back in the day, and we had a great conversation. Made me way natsukashii (nostalgic). I miss my CG friends so much.

missing old friends, no one here has any fun

On Sunday Elder Ch and I went nuts knocking on doors in the evening and found three new people to teach. They were all super prepared, it seems. One was an older lady who had learned about Jesus Christ when she was really young but forgot everything and wanted to learn more from us. Another was a Brazilian guy (yes, ANOTHER Brazilian) whose wife attends another Christian church close by. And yet another was a middle-aged woman who believes in God and wants more direction in her life. 

Through the course of knocking on doors we met lots of other people, including one guy who Elder Ch was convinced is a member of the Yakuza, or the "Japanese Mafia". I will admit, there was something sketchy about the guy....we knocked on his door around 8:00 at night, and he was wearing all black, had a shaved head, and had a not-normal look in his eye, haha. As we were walking away from the house, I turned back and saw him staring at us mysteriously out the second-story window, haha. (I tell this story because I thought it was funny, not scary....I don`t think he was actually a member of the mafia). 

This week I also had the opportunity to play guitar at an assisted living center on Saturday. They were all so nice and seemed to really enjoy it. It was priceless seeing the smile on their faces. Though they all spoke in very old and sometimes garbled Japanese that was hard for me to understand, the universal language of love shown brightly on their faces as Elder Ch and I went around and shook everyone`s hands and basked in their smiles and expressions of love. I always love volunteering there.

Though this past week seemed short, I felt like I grew a lot. I am grateful for the love that God has for each of us. I have felt it very powerfully in my life and seen it manifest in the lives of others. I am so grateful to be here.

I love and miss you all! Thank you for everything!!

Peace and love,

Elder Naylor

ネイラー長老

Shizuoka