So yeah, this is my last week here in the MTC. Last week, we got our flight plans! Well, everyone but Lazaro長老 got theirs. But after a quick discussion with the travel office, he got some too. It seems like everyone is going to be able to leave. Everyone leaves on the 11th, except for the six of us going to the Kobe Mission. That's me, Yoshida長老, King長老, two nihonjin Onizuka長老 and Uryu Shimai, and one sister from the advance track who came in here only a few weeks ago. I leave the MTC at 5 am on the 12th, and I leave the Salt Lake City Airport at 8:30. I'll be in Seattle for around two hours sometime around 10 and 11 MST (9:45-11:45 in PST). After that, it's a flight right to Osaka, which I should arrive at at 4:30 PM on the 13th. :P So it should be fun! I'm excited to leave. I'll probably call you while I'm in Seattle. Don't worry about sending a disposable phone or anything. There will be phones for us to use.
So it sounds like you had a pretty crazy week! That's cool that all my friends were there for a bit. I miss them a lot. Guess we'll all just have to party and play monopoly in two years. Also, if I can call them out on it, I wrote all of them last P day and haven't received a letter from any of them yet. :P I wrote like 12 letters last week. It was a new personal record for me. Actually, I forgive Andrew, because I can just talk to him tomorrow. Speaking of which, my district was asked to be hosts tomorrow! So there's a chance that I could be Andrew's host! So Andrew, if you're reading this, you better be looking for me tomorrow. I'll be the one in the suit with the black name badge on.
Yeah, I'm way excited to go to Japan! :D Too bad I don't have my Japanese name tag yet! Yesterday, all of the missionaries that are leaving to Japan next week had a meeting thing with Brother Mills, the director of international relations here at the MTC. He went to Nagoya on his mission and was the mission president for the Fukuoka mission, so he likes to give all the Japanese missionaries a talk before they leave. He talked about how we can't set any expectations for ourselves about what Japan is going to be like on a mission. Some people say that it's a hard mission, but if we get into that mind set, it will be. So we just need to follow the Lord's expectations. He also told us about when Heber J Grant dedicate Japan for missionary work. He said that Japan would become one of the most successful missions in the world, and that temples and church buildings would cover all the land. He said that the work would be slow at first, but it would soon grow to astonish the world. So I plan on going and just working as hard as I can, with none of the limits or expectations others have put on my mission.
So, really fast, I want to write a little to Andrew who's coming into the MTC tomorrow, and all my other friends who are coming in soon. The MTC is an interesting place. You'll have spiritual experiences pretty much every day. Your companion and district will become your good friends. But it's still hard here. Focus can be hard, especially when you are in the same room for like nine hours out of the day. And if you're learning a new language, it can be a humbling experience. The first day, probably even the first week, your teachers will only speak the mission language to you. Its an awesome opportunity to learn and grow, but don't let yourself become discouraged. I know that over the past ten weeks, I've felt really bad sometimes at my ability to speak the language. But on Saturday, Webber 長老 and I taught 3 Nihonjin, instead of any of our normal investigators. Each one of them said that we just need to stop worrying. If we are worrying, we will become less effective, less in tune with the Spirit, and will stop paying attention. Its not really about what we say, but about us showing our love for the gospel and bring a feeling of love and the Spirit to the lessons. We taught a sister from Tokyo who was here for TRC (No skype, woohoo!), and she was a convert to the church. One of the missionaries that taught here was a new missionary who could barely speak Japanese. She didn't understand a lot from lessons, but it wasn't the missionaries that did the real teaching or conversion. She felt the Spirit during the lessons, and was able to be baptized. So don't ever worry about the language. The main thing I've learned here in the MTC, above Japanese, above effective scripture study, was that I just need to trust in the Lord. If I just do what I can and start walking, talking, whatever, God will guide my path, He will give me what to say. And maybe its not giving me what to say, but it could be helping the investigator feel the Spirit.
Anyway, out of time today. I'll be able to call you from the airport and email you after I get there to let you know I arrived. Meanwhile, check my mission blog for pictures of me arriving in Japan next week! And Andrew, I'll see you soon! :D
PS :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)
No comments:
Post a Comment