Elder O'Reilly in Kobe, Japan: I went for a nice ride through the air (bike accident)

So this week was filled with a ton of stuff. I can hardly believe it was only a week. I guess I`ll start from the beginning though. Just remember that whatever happened in the past, I am currently doing well and feeling great. ^o^

So my adventures start with the lesson I had last monday. Or rather the journey to said lesson. Whilst I was traveling to the church to teach 二口兄弟(Brother futaguchi), I was cut off by a young kid on a bike, and so naturally I pulled hard on both my brakes. Unfortunatley, I had not yet adjusted the brakes, and the front brakes were perhaps a touch too tight. Meaning that when I pulled the brake my front tire stopped instantly and I went for a nice ride through the air, landing gracefully on my face. Luckily, i was covering my face with my hands. Honestly I don`t really remember that part though. From what I remember I picked myself off the ground and was shocked to see my hands covered in blood. and my shirt pocket ripped off. and my left arm not quite moving like it was supposed to. We had a lesson to teach though, so we proceeded to the church. I enjoyed a good amount of pain on the way. ^o^ 二口兄弟 was a little shocked to see me all poorly bandaged up (there was a first aid kit at the church) but we told him we would go to the hospital after we taught him. Since my arm probably should be able to move more than 80 ish degrees. So we taught him the lesson, and it was a really amazing experience. It was my first time describing the first vision in Japanese to someone. Afterwards, we asked him if he believed our message. He turned in the gospel restoration pamphlet to the first vision, pointed to the picture, and said, I believe this. We have met with him 3 times since then, and he is progressing very quickly! He is a chef, and insists on cooking us dinner as well, which is pretty much awesome. He came to church on sunday, but he was a little late because he was hit by a car. We forgave him. He`s pretty hurt, but for the most part OK. It wrecked his motor bike though. He lives 5 minutes from the church by bike, which is super convenient.

So after the lesson on Monday, we went to the hospital. A member drove us. Turns out I was OK, the muscles in my arm had just swollen around the bone or something like that. The trip exhausted all my emergency funds, but I should be reimbursed in about 2 weeks. (Could I have $300 on my card instead of $100 at all times just in case something like this happens again? When I get my money from the reimbursement I`ll probably buy the electronic dictionary.)

So basically this week we taught him and looked for more people (usually we look around train stations, where there are a lot of people). On Wednesday, we had a district meeting, which was really cool. We took a train up to fushimi, and met with 4 other elders, discussing all kinds of things about our district and how to improve. it was pretty great. Then we went to a 食べ放題, (a buffet). Pretty great food.

We taught English class to 4 people on wednesday, which was actually quite fun. We do that every wednesday. We also taught another investigator on Sunday, and we`ll be teaching him again on Friday. The other teaching appointments fell through, but they will take place in the near future.

I really enjoy describing/handing out the book of mormon. It is an amazing converting tool.

I already am feeling confident in saying most gospel related things in Japanese! in fact last night I completed a contact by myself where I described the nature of God, Christ and his earthly ministry and atonement, and the restoration of the church. The guy I talked to did not have any reason to doubt my Japanese speaking ability, which is always a good feeling. I was able to answer his questions and comments, and tried to set up a time to meet. He didn`t have his schedule with him though (everyone is so busy here!) but he said that he absolutely wants to talk with us and he will give us a call. Pretty awesome contact.

We had to spend half a day fixing a flat my bike had. We couldn`t fix it, so we had to take it to a bike shop that was really far away (we had to take a train and then walk 40 minutes), but now my bike is doing great. ^^

Alright, I`m running out of time. Today we`re planing to go to fushimi inari, a really cool place it sounds like. I suppose you`ll hear about it in next week`s adventures!

Oh, by the way, my arm is practically back to normal now. touching my left shoulder with my left hand is still impossible, and it aches a little, but its getting better quickly. ^^ I`d appreciate some prayers though! Thanks ^^

じゃあ、またね！
オライリ長老より