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!
