Walking in the empty streets of Okayama City with closed stores and everyone in their houses all waiting for the new year is exciting and at the same time frustrating for missionaries doing street contacting. Despite the ineffectiveness, we still went outside to find people interested to learn the gospel. The next morning we celebrated New Year in Japanese style! Together with our friends, we went to the mountains and watched the sunrise wearing our Kimonos! A lot of Japanese teenagers were also there but we’re the only one wearing their traditional clothing. People were also complimenting us for wearing Kimono in cold weather. After viewing the first sunrise of the year in the mountains, we 伝導 (proselyte) with our Kimonos and nametags. We also went to temples, shrines, and also to their new year festival. I had my first 甘酒 (amazake) which is a traditional Japanese sweet drink made out of fermented rice.
The following days, stores are still close and we had 交換 (exchanges) with an Elder from Okayama! We talked to a lot of people and got a lot of contacts! We also had Family Home Evening with the Filipino families in our ward and had games, lessons, and scriptural thought.
