Konnichi wa mina san!
A third way through my MTC experience! Can you believe it? I certainly can not. And each day really does keep getting better an better!
I suppose I will begin with last Saturday: A few of the girls in my district and I checked out some music and I checked out a violin! It felt GREAT to be able to play the violin! We ran through some of the music and then just played hymns. Ahh I did not realize how much I loved music until I got here. In fact, every day I wake up with the most random songs in my head. One day it was the really intense orchestra part in Phantom of the Opera. Yesterday it was that song from Father of the Bride that's something like "I'm going to a chapel and I'm gonna get maarrriied!" I don't know where this music is coming from because I don't ever listen to music. The times I've gotten the most emotional here at the MTC though have been during musical numbers. Perhaps it is because I start thinking about home and I get a little sad, but it may be also because music is just very very powerful.
Saturday night was our first TRC experience. We taught a woman who lives here in Utah and has a few kids and she is pregnant. She was from somewhere in Japan and she went on her misison to Kobe. When she found out that's where we are going, she got so excited and talked and talked all about Kobe! Before I realized what was happening we were in a full-on English conversation. Oops. It got me excited hearing all about the raw octopus and raw horse and raw egg that they eat! Haha blah. But she did say that they have really good desserts. (I asked.) And she told us that we should be excited because it is a VERY FASHIONABLE place! She was going on and on about the fashion. When we realized we had less than 5 minutes lesson, we hurried and shared a quick lesson (in Japanese) and closed with Japanglish testimonies. It was actually a lot of fun! Tonight we teach again and it will probably be in all Japanese this time, which is fine by me.
At the devotional on Sunday, the musical number was a saxophone duet! It was actually the "I know that My Redeemer Lives" duet that Sarah and I play. Ray Smith and a saxophonist who soloed with our symphony at BYU played it. It was actually really good! Sunday night we watched "The Testaments" in Japanese. WOW it was GOOD! I've seen that movie a gazillion times, but I don't think it has ever been so good. Grandpa was wrong when he said the Spirit is the same in every language. I'm pretty sure the Spirit is stronger in Japanese. Also I was able to pick out like 5 words haha. I was sitting behind the Japanese missionaries (as in the ones from Japan), and they were very touched by the video. I may just be stereotyping all Japanese people, but I could tell they really loved Christ and it got me excited to go help other Japanese people come unto Christ!
All the daisenpai left early on Monday morning. Nearly 80 Japanese missonaries left us! It was pretty sad saying goodbye. The sisters in my district sang "God Be with You til we Meet Again" in Japanese and a lot of the sisters were crying. We had some new Japanese missionaries come in this week! Only 4 new sisters in our zone. It's crazy to think that that was me 3 weeks ago. It's also crazy to think that in 6 weeks, that'll be me getting on the plane.
I was in sort of a photo shoot on Tuesday! Not really but after the devotional they took a big picture of everybody there. Apparently they've only ever taken two other pictures of all the missionaries at the MTC. This time obviously there were a lot more missionaries than ever!
On Wednesday or Thursday (I seriously can't remember) we had a lesson with Shibatta san. We decided to make the lesson pretty simple and short, so we just wanted to go in there and converse with him for a while and then share a short message about the gift of the Holy Ghost, which he will be receiving in a couple weeks when he gets baptized. At the end of the lesson, he switched out of his character. (Shibatta san is actually our sensei Andersen sensei). He said that Shibatta san needed a lesson like that at that time. He said that sometimes it is good to go in and just talk instead of having a really deep spiritual lesson. (Which in a way made me wonder if I was doing things wrong because I thought it was a spiritual lesson.) Anyway, he said in Japan a lot of times investigators continue inviting missionaries over because they enjoy having somebody to talk to, not necessarily because they want to learn a whole bunch of doctrine. So he said he appreciated our not so spiritual lesson. We taught Watabe san Yesterday and attempted to do the same thing.
Yesterday is the day I've really been looking forward to tell you all about. It was "Reggo my Eigo" day! Our district decided that we wanted to do an English fast, which means we do not speak English all day! English is "Eigo" in Japanese, so we decided to call it "Leggo my Eigo" but then it turned into "Reggo my Eigo" (because we're speaking Japanese.) (Speaking of that, we sang "All Creatures of Our God and King" in class one day and alelujia is "areruya"! Hahaha funny. It's like scooby doo.) (Speaking of singing in class, Eddy shimai's family got me a mini Japanese hymn book! Isn't that SO NICE??!) Okay back to Reggo my Eigo. I was really looking forward to it all week. We started it off with a prayer on Thursday night. Right away as I walked out of the classroom, I saw people I wanted to talk to, but as I attempted to communicate with them, I realized they didn't understand what I was saying and I didn't really know what I was saying so I just had to walk away haha. During the day on Friday, we had MANY people come up to talk to us and we just had to smile and nod and attempt to communicate with them. We actually got one Elder to think we didn't speak any English. It was really funny when he saw my English scriptures and realized that I understood what he had been saying all along. Overall, it was a pretty exhausting day. I had to use a lot of charades and I had to deal with a lot of confused looks. I realized that there is a lot of Japanese I still need to know. But I actually was surprised at how much Japanese I do know! I was able to get by a whole day with speaking Japanese! And I was surprised at how willing the Lord is to help me when I try hard! Sometimes I just started saying things I didn't even know I knew how to say!
Chichi: I'm glad to hear you're a normal man again. How was adventure camp or whatever it is you were doing this week? Thanks for sending me your letters. Do you like living on Mason street again?
Haha: You asked if I'm handling the heat. Are you kidding? I LOVE the heat! I spend at least 8 hours of my day in the classroom, usually a lot more, but I try to escape outside as much as possible and catch some sun.
Jason and Becca: A BOY???!!!
Peach and Jana: THANK YOU for the peaches! I seriously do not believe I have ever had a better peach. Right after I got them, my companion and I went outside onto a bench and devoured them. They were SO DELICIOUS!
Tyler: I haven't met anybody going to Hermosillo yet. How's the heat?
Sarah: Did you just love camp??? Congrats on being in the front of the violas. Did you meet anybody? haha. I hope you tell me all about it. I'm glad you enjoyed girls camp. I see Elder Duke all the time. Also I told all the elders in Elder Cook's district that he was in love with my sister.
Danny: I would much rather sleep with somebody who has poison Ivy. The 400 pound man would kill me! Would you rather only drink liquid and never eat food for the rest of your life or never drink liquid and only eat food?
Joseph: Hi! Do you love the new house? Do you like your new neighbors? Do you like your new school?
Carl: Thanks again for the letters! No I am not fat. I am exactly the same as when I got here, except probably more muscular.
Love you all!
Crofts shimai
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