Week 7
I got the pacakge yesterday, thank you for the stuff. I really like
the Ru Yi calendar. Also thank you for not sending food. I'm stuffed to
the gills as it is. We get our travel plans Feb 1. So excited! Mom,
should I buy a scripture case here or are you still working on one
there? The pronunciation for shimai is she-my. All a's in Japanese sound
like ah, as in father. All e's are ay's as in bait. All i's are ee like
in eat. All o's are oh's as in cheeri o's. All u's are oo as in oops. I
didn't see Uchtdorf's devotional but I hope to later this week. Tell
those elders they need to shape up! I want to go over there and show 'em
how it's done, but I don't think I'll be back in time. About the grape
juice/wine stuff, I have heard both. I've heard some people say that it
was grape juice, some people say that it was actually alcoholic, but
never anyone who says that it was hard liquor. If someone were to bring
up that subject in my lesson, I would say, "I don't know what it was
back then. I wasn't there. But I do know that Christ has asked us to do
this today. I know that Christ wouldn't ask us to do something that is
without reason. I know that the Lord provides a way for us to keep all
his commandments. In keeping this commandment, you are showing your
faith, a desire to repent, a desire to come closer to Christ, and your
willingness to obey.I know that it has blessed my life. I know that if I
(and you Brother/Sister ____) keep this commandment, we will be blessed
for our obedience, blessed in body, and blessed to feel the Spirit
stronger. Will you do this?" Also tell them that if they don't have
anything else to talk about, testify of Joseph Smith because that brings
the spirit and it leads to Christ and He will guide you from there.
They have a real life investigator, so don't squander this chance!
Tue
Devotional prayer. We had to eat dinner really fast
so that we would be on time. As we got back stage, a large, bald, rather
intimidating security guard came up to us and barks "What do you think
you're doing?" I said "Praying." He said, "Well, you do that then," and
walked away. The devotional was nice. We could read the teleprompters
from behind the speakers. He talked about taking the harder route
because the easiest path is what makes men and rivers crooked. Elder
Fallabella shook our hands afterward. The prayer went well, but I kept
having to remind myself not to say things in Japanese.
Wed
New kohai! 5 out of 8 expected sisters showed up. We
aren't sure why the other three didn't, but we're glad for the ones who
did. Their names are Watanabe shimai, Hansen shimai, Fish shimai, Owens
shimai, and Lyles shimai. The last two are 20 years old. They said that
they both turned in their papers a week after general conference. The
chorotachi are an interesting bunch. There are a group from Brazil, two
from Australia, and then the rest of the 20 or so are from the States.
At first they were loud and unfocused, but now they are settling in and
becoming more dedicated (I think because they have their "investigators"
now). I felt a little ill just before bed, but when I woke up it was
gone. Thankfully I didn't get the stomach flu like the rest of the MTC.
Thu
The new sisters (not the shimai, but the others) on
our floor are not observing quiet hour or lights out time. Grr. They
also start blow drying their hair at 6 in the morning. Grr. On Thursdays
we don't have gym in the gym, but we weren't sure if we could go to the
cardio room or not. Abraham Shimai was in a meeting with Mack Kaicho
and the kohai, so Miller shimai and I went to the cardio room. The
workers there were like "come here only when you have scheduled gym
time." We both just nodded and smiled. We won't go back now that we
know. It was a little strange going 3 hours without Abraham shimai. It
helped me know how much we have grown together. Our friends the
Cambodian elders have moved to another building. Now the German
missionaries are across the hall from us. It's WWII all over again! Ha
ha. King choro was talking about how mythical a popcorn ball was and all
of us looked at him a little funny and said, "Popcorn balls exist.
Haven't you ever seen one?" He got wide eyed to know that they do exist.
Fri
Finshed off all the candy from Christmas! The kohai
taught their first ever investigators. Todd sensei and Taylor sensei are
both investigators, so we get to see them often. Nishimura Shimai is
getting baptized on Saturday! Wohoo! Who is the Mary Russell series
written by and what are their titles? Sandberg Shimai likes Sherlock
Holmes so I thought she might like these. I can do about 10 min of
kneeling as of right now, but I need to get up to about 30 min. My legs
are asleep for like 5 minutes after I get up.
Sat
In the bathroom, a spontaneous rendition of Moulin
Rouge songs occurred. We no longer have workshops, so we're supposed to
use that time taking online assessments or watching devotionals online
or something like that. What they failed to take into account is that
there aren't enough computers for that to be effective. Essentially, it
was a flop. I instead spent that time memorizing the 1st Vision in
Japanese. Usually on Sat, we teach a member in Japanese. They're usually
RM's, sometimes native speakers, and on the rare occasion actuall
investigators. Usually it's in a tiny classroom in another building, but
we did it over skype using an iPad! I enjoyed using technology like
that.
Sun
The devotional was given by Brother Hemmingway who is
the advisor for all internet proselyting. He talked about how much of
the church members in the early days came not from traditional
door-to-door missionary work but from social networking. He said to get
members to friend investigators and have investigators post on facebook.
The weather has been freezing. We walked up to the temple and took
pictures. When I got back, my legs were as pink as my cheeks from the
cold. I got called to give a talk on the Atonement in sacrament meeting
and to lead the music. Thankfully I was prepared for the talk. Abraham
shimai accompanied some chorotachi in the musical number. We found out
that our Russian and Cambodian friends are leaving in about a week. Sad
day. We got to watch Music and the Spoken word. It was beautiful. I hope
we can go again next week. Relief Society was a testimony meeting. One
sister from Singapore said how when she came to the States, she thought
that she could go without rice. After about a week, she decided that she
really did need it. She related it to us and the gospel. How often do
we say that we can go without prayer or scripture study or whatever? We
truly do need the gospel. So you may think, how can I get more famous
than people recognizing me from plays? How can I get more famous than
people stopping me 3 weeks after Christmas to tell me that I did well in
the talent show? How can I get even more famous than giving the prayer
in devotional? I'll tell you how. Being in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. A man
came into our classroom after the devotional and said, "Your classroom
has been chosen by President Brown to show some photographers from
National Geographic what a typical classroom is like. So clean up
whatever exploded under your desks, get rid of these oragami ninja stars
and paper cranes, clean off the chalkboard and look presentable. See
you tomorrow." We all sat a bit dumbfounded and then exploded into
giggles and jumping around. And then we cleaned.
Mon
That morning we would all stare at the door everytime
someone passed by, hoping that it would be the photographers. So about
9:30 they showed up, and just kept coming and coming and coming. There
were about 10 people in our little room. The tour guide told them a
little about what the MTC does and how it works and what we do. Then one
of the ladies asked why we decided to go on missions. I said that I
prayed about it and talked to RM's and everything said that I should go.
I said that I couldn't imagine doing anything else with my life. Egbert
choro shared how seeing his older brothers changed when they went on
missions and how he hoped that he would become better too. The
photographers asked if we could read or understand yet and King choro
pulled out the Japanese Book of Mormon and read a part. One lady asked
how it was being paid for and the tour guide said that usually we pay
our own way or family & friends help, but if that isn't possible,
the church has a fund so that financial status does not bar someone from
going. President Brown then spoke up and said that not only is a
mission good for the people we will teach, but it is divinely appointed
for each individual missionary. The spirit was very strong in that room.
I hope that the NatGeo people felt it. They asked if they could take
our picture and we said of course. Keep you eyes peeled! I don't know if
the article will be published or if it is our picture will be in it,
but be on the look out. We have copies of the picture already, so
eventually you'll get to see it, unless I lose it.
Tue
We did sealings again. A woman came in and was a
proxy for her aunt. That was a special experience. Hansen shimai had a
wonderful spiritual time. I'm glad I got to share it with her. Keep up
the good work!
Love,
Leah
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