Friday, December 12, 2008

December Begins with Interviews and Praying for a White and Wet Christmas

We have been busy interviewing and meeting with the missionaries in their district meetings since the beginning of this month. We have interviewed all the missionaries except those in Wakayama, which we will do next week. We travelled to Kyoto, Osaka a couple of times (Ibaraki and Abeno), Fukuchiyama and Nara. I think we interviewed about 80 missionaries in the last 10 days.Here are the Nara district missionaries. Elders Fruean, Honda, Varjao, Burton, Openshaw and Capener. After interviews and district meeting, we all had lunch together nearby and then enjoyed a donut from my favorite Mister Donuts shop.Here is a better view of the Nara church building.

On Sunday the 7th, we visited the Nishinomiya Ward for the first time. Above is a picture of the building. It is a good size building in a very nice residential area and near a major university. We had the chance to meet the father of Sister Yamashita, one of our missionaries from Tokyo as he happened to be visiting the area. We also met with the Takagi family. Brother Takagi co-authored a book on the history of the church in Japan with me which was published about 12 years ago. I have not seen him in a several years as he had been living overseas. He is a university professor and we enjoyed attending his Sunday School class.

We have several baptisms scheduled in the mission this month. Some are set for Christmas day and several the Sunday before. We are all dreaming of a dressed in white and getting wet Christmas. While some of those we teach may need more time to make and keep their commitments, we are hoping this will be one of our best months for seeing people repent and come unto Christ this year. Here at the mission home we have been helping to teach and fellowship a wonderful lady and her daughter. Last Sunday evening we had the chance to invite her to be baptized on Christmas day and she was very excited to accept the invitation. She is working on giving up her coffee, but told us not to worry. So we are expecting a white and wet Christmas here in Kobe. We will keep praying that it will come to pass!

3 comments:

Frank Kuta said...

I had the wonderful experience of serving in Nishinomiya from February to August of 1977. It was a great Ward and they called upon me to play the Organ. Can't forget the mosquitoes that filled our apartment behind the Chapel...I wonder if the water still seeps from the hill. Is the cannery still there? We had a great experience when the neighbors took over our parking lot and held their obon dance there. Thanks again for you service, and this blog. It brings back memories and strengthens my Testimony.

Frank Kuta
Savage, Minnesota

Anonymous said...

Hi McIntyres! Did you know that Mike served in the Kobe mission? So now I will get to see his mission field thru your pics!!! He still keeps in touch with people in Himeji.

Kay Walther said...

Hi, I am Curtis Walther's mom (Curtis is at BYU) and i was a member at the Nishinomiya Ward during my college years. Seeing the picture of the Nishinomiya building brought back many happy memories including when I was a Stake Missionary there. Also I believe I knew Brother Takagi whom you mentioned. We wish you continued success in your missionary efforts and feel free to say Hi from me to any of the members who may remember me next time you visit Nishinomiya. (My maiden name was Kazue Mori.)