One week, three days left

Hey!

The missionary kids left this morning. I really enjoyed having them here. They were like a breath of fresh air for me and my teammates. I liked talking to them and finding out all their stories. Like I said before, they are from East Asia so they know what it's like to live in spiritually dark places. They are all either homeschooled or attend international boarding schools so they don't have to really face what their parents fight against, but still, they know what it's like to struggle to spread Jesus. After I took them to the temple, many said they didn't feel the darkness quite as much there as they do in their home countries. That amazed me. I was blown away by the darkness the first time I was in that temple and here they are telling me for them, it was nothing! They enjoyed praying over the temple though, so they didn't think it was a waste or was pointless; which is good. Another thing they mentioned was how modern Tokyo was. They said it's basically like America, only with Japanese twist. That kind of shocked me too, because when I got here I thought, "this is so different!". I don't think I really had culture shock, but I had to get used to alot of things. For these kids, it was like going back to America. They really enjoyed it. I think their favorite part was the vending machines full of Dr. Pepper. :) I think we stopped at every vending machine in Tokyo. haha
They were really mature for their age though. Some were strange or immature at times, but that's to be expected when they are only 14-16 years old. Still, I would say there are alot more mature than 14 year olds in America. Which they sort of have to be living in a different culture. They all were very sensitive to Japanese culture and picked up on the customes really fast. Many of them learned a few Japanese phrases in less than a week! It took me like a month to finally get down how to say Thank you and your welcome! :D
They didn't lead anyone to Christ and they didn't have any Japanese come to their friendship party, but that's ok. They planted many seeds and they prayed alot for the people here. Their hearts were definitely in the right place and that's what matters. If any is learned this summer, it's that God honors our good hearts.
I was sort of sad to see the team go, I wish they could have stayed longer, but this just means I'm that much closer to going home! This Thursday night/Friday morning we'll be climbing Mt. Fuji and then next Thursday I'll be on a plane to go back home!