Hello everyone!!!
This week was FANTASTIC!!! I don't have a lot of time, so I will start with the exciting part and go from there.
On Friday night, President Nagano was asked by a member to help out with their school video. So... he sent us out there. The member has helped a lot with providing materials for the mission school, and is a GREAT member missionary, so he thought he would give her something in return.
We didn't really know what kind of video it would be, but it turns out we were extras who were running from zombies. I mean, all we were really doing was running and they were taping, so I guess that was chill, but it was definitely the most interesting thing I've done as a missionary! They wanted to emphasize the fact that their school was international, so they put us four in a good part of the video. Truth is, their department only has one foreigner, and they are from Egypt, but now their video features four Americans. I even got a line that they wanted to have said in English. It was pretty interesting! Haha.
Anyways... as we were just extras, we mostly just ate dinner with and talked with the students. Everyone was asking us who we were, and why we came. Plus the member was introducing us to everyone. EVERYONE there was interested in English, and we set up the expectation to teach a group of students English, and found a family that was looking for a mission school because they like how it helps people be better people. I think we can help them!
So, participating in a zombie apocalypse is probably not the most conventional way to do missionary work, but it was certainly effective!
Anyways... my favorite part of my week was going up to Niigata again for Zone Conference. I got to see some members and BROTHER O!!!!! Yep. Made. My. Life. He is SOOOO converted to the Gospel. He talks about the Gospel with random people he meets, studies the Gospel daily, and is just progressing wonderfully. Made me happy. :) That was probably my favorite miracle this week.
Before we went to Niigata, we went to a Zone Conference in Urawa on Tuesday (I got to see a ward leader that I knew from that time as well! I was surprised they remembered me!), and went from there straight to Niigata to drop off the Watabe's (a couple missionary set that does trainings at Zone Conferences. They are called to work on building up the mission School, so they gave a training on teaching quality English Classes). We had the most delicious sushi of my life with a member there before going down to Nagaoka for splits the next day.
I've never been in Nagaoka before. It is country side, so not too many people out on the streets. A focus of the mission is creative missionary work, so we ate lunch with our new potential investigator that we found by eating lunch in a restaurant by a college. He wanted to learn English, so it was easy to strike up a conversation!
Then, we found some events that we were allowed to go to on campus (such as an event for foreigners to get together and speak English, etc), and at community centers around campus. These kind of activities seem to have higher effectiveness than our normal approaches. And, of course, we talk to people on the way! We have been finding some good students for mission school this way, and we hope it will gain us some good investigators.
Well... sometimes the direction I receive from priesthood leaders has surprised me, and sometimes it takes me some time before I really catch the vision. However, the more I work with President Nagano and the more I follow his direction, the more I strengthen my testimony of Priesthood keys, and come to really see how God directs His church! It's brought great success, and working with the President closely has taught me a lot about revelation, charity, and hard work. I know that God directs this church to the blessing of all those who follow it!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly
This week was FANTASTIC!!! I don't have a lot of time, so I will start with the exciting part and go from there.
On Friday night, President Nagano was asked by a member to help out with their school video. So... he sent us out there. The member has helped a lot with providing materials for the mission school, and is a GREAT member missionary, so he thought he would give her something in return.
We didn't really know what kind of video it would be, but it turns out we were extras who were running from zombies. I mean, all we were really doing was running and they were taping, so I guess that was chill, but it was definitely the most interesting thing I've done as a missionary! They wanted to emphasize the fact that their school was international, so they put us four in a good part of the video. Truth is, their department only has one foreigner, and they are from Egypt, but now their video features four Americans. I even got a line that they wanted to have said in English. It was pretty interesting! Haha.
Anyways... as we were just extras, we mostly just ate dinner with and talked with the students. Everyone was asking us who we were, and why we came. Plus the member was introducing us to everyone. EVERYONE there was interested in English, and we set up the expectation to teach a group of students English, and found a family that was looking for a mission school because they like how it helps people be better people. I think we can help them!
So, participating in a zombie apocalypse is probably not the most conventional way to do missionary work, but it was certainly effective!
Anyways... my favorite part of my week was going up to Niigata again for Zone Conference. I got to see some members and BROTHER O!!!!! Yep. Made. My. Life. He is SOOOO converted to the Gospel. He talks about the Gospel with random people he meets, studies the Gospel daily, and is just progressing wonderfully. Made me happy. :) That was probably my favorite miracle this week.
Before we went to Niigata, we went to a Zone Conference in Urawa on Tuesday (I got to see a ward leader that I knew from that time as well! I was surprised they remembered me!), and went from there straight to Niigata to drop off the Watabe's (a couple missionary set that does trainings at Zone Conferences. They are called to work on building up the mission School, so they gave a training on teaching quality English Classes). We had the most delicious sushi of my life with a member there before going down to Nagaoka for splits the next day.
I've never been in Nagaoka before. It is country side, so not too many people out on the streets. A focus of the mission is creative missionary work, so we ate lunch with our new potential investigator that we found by eating lunch in a restaurant by a college. He wanted to learn English, so it was easy to strike up a conversation!
Then, we found some events that we were allowed to go to on campus (such as an event for foreigners to get together and speak English, etc), and at community centers around campus. These kind of activities seem to have higher effectiveness than our normal approaches. And, of course, we talk to people on the way! We have been finding some good students for mission school this way, and we hope it will gain us some good investigators.
Well... sometimes the direction I receive from priesthood leaders has surprised me, and sometimes it takes me some time before I really catch the vision. However, the more I work with President Nagano and the more I follow his direction, the more I strengthen my testimony of Priesthood keys, and come to really see how God directs His church! It's brought great success, and working with the President closely has taught me a lot about revelation, charity, and hard work. I know that God directs this church to the blessing of all those who follow it!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly
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| Dinner at the mission president's home |
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| With his new companion, Elder Clark (from Alpine, UT) |
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| Mission Leader Conference March 2017 |
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| This tunnel was 10 km (6.2 miles) long, straight through the center of a mountain! |
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| Sis. Watabe (Elder O'Reilly in the background listening) |
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| Zone Conference Lunch |
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| Niigata Zone Conference |
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| Role playing |
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| Role Playing with Elder Clark |
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| Saitama Zone Conference |
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| In Niigata! |
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