Eric's Mission, Tokyo, Japan

Greetings everyone! And welcome to another addition of Eric's weekly mission update.  Guess what I have cooking in the oven right now...two pumpkin pies!  They smell so good and I am pretty excited to be able to eat them soon. Unfortunately, I don't get to eat them both by myself.  I am waiting for them to finish cooking with my companion, my dear friend Aaron and the sister missionaries in our district.  They sorta just showed up while I was cooking and I couldn't say no so I guess that means less pie for me but more blessings!  Everyone was just so impressed that an Elder could actually cook stuff.  First it was the mashed potatoes and now it's the pumpkin pie.  I guess I'm just full of surprises. Another thing that may seem surprising to many is that I've been practicing the piano and the violin a lot recently.  We have a big 2 zone conference coming up in a few weeks and I get to play a special musical number on the violin and ...

Crazy to say it, but it was starting to get cold this week.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised because it is November, but I had to break out the jacket and gloves this week.  Besides the increase of shivering, we had a great week. We taught the most number of lessons that this area has seen in 6 months which was really exciting. It was only 14 so we still have a while to go before we get up to standards but we are starting to see a pick up with all of the new investigators that we are finding while on the way to other appointments.  The Lord is definitely hastening his work so that we can see the Christmas miracles this year.  Before I go any farther, I would like to wish dad a very happy bday! I know it's not your bday yet in America, but in the future over here you are officially a year older! Lol. We had a zone conference call today and during the announcements part of the call I made sure to tell everyone in the zone that it was your bday...

Hey everyone! I'm glad to hear that everything is going well in Ohio!  It sounds like everyone is getting ready for Christmas and the winter season. The weather started getting a little cold last week, enough for me to start wearing a fleece jacket around but it still isn't too bad for me yet.  My companion is from California so he's already bundling up in his heavy winter clothes.  Everyone here tells me I'm crazy because up until recently, I was wearing nothing but short sleeve shirts.  I keep telling them that this weather is normal in Ohio and they never believe me.  I wonder what they must be thinking when they see a white guy with blond hair, wearing a short sleeve shirt while everyone around him is bundled up in jackets.  Just thinking about it makes me laugh.  Luckily, I am not as far north as I was last winter so hopefully I'll be able to survive all the winter months. Last week, I was able to go on splits with our recent conve...

Hey everyone! Guess what, we had another transfer call day yesterday.  And for the first time ever, I haven't transferred or received a new companion. I was so surprised when we got our call saying that we were staying together because it has never happened before.  I think the Mission President is doing it this way because we are right in the middle of the Christmas miracle focus and he doesn't want to switch things up in the leadership that much.  I'm just glad that I get to stay with my companion again.  He is really cool and we get along really well and have the same vision for the zone.  The weird thing about this transfer is that I am now officially old.  I didn't know this, but I was informed that as soon as you finish your 10th transfer and start your 11th transfer, you are considered old and experienced. So now I only have like 4 to 5 more transfers to go.  Crazy stuff! Sorry I couldn't email you yesterday.  Whe...