HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII. 4 days. I can count that on one hand. WOAH. I started packing today! YAY. It's getting really real, but I still can't imagine being in Japan. I do not know Japanese... I've learned a lot, but oh my... native speakers will be impossible to understand! Anyway, leaving Monday morning... I'll have a 4 hour layover in Seattle, so I'll call home!
This week was fast sunday
again! I had the opportunity to bear my testimony... and I think it
made a little more sense than last time, so that's good :) Fast Sundays
are my favorite at the MTC.
We've had a lot of "lasts" this week. Tuesday
was our last service day. We LOVE the girl who leads our assignment.
She is the girl who cleans our building, so we help out once a week. She
is super cute, return missionary, BYU student and just so fun. She
always leaves us super nice notes and candy when she does our bedroom
cleaning checks. Anyway, we are going to miss her, but service was
definitely fun.
Today was our last trip to the temple. Our district
ate breakfast in the cafeteria after the session and it was so nice to
eat food that seemed more real than the food at the MTC. A delicious
omelet for 2 bucks... :) I'm excited to visit the temple in Tokyo...
I've heard that we get to go every transfer!
Tuesday
devotional was great! Elder David Evans came again... he talked about
addressing the importance of families and how the world's view of the
family is changing. Wonderful message.
I am singing in a musical number in Sacrament meeting on Sunday.
We are now going to have a couple elders with us... singing I am a
Child of God in Japanese! Crazy that it'll be our last Sunday at the
MTC. I have loved my branch and our branch presidency and their wives.
It sounds sort of crazy, but I'm going to miss the MTC. It has been a
wonderful experience. I have learned so much and grown a lot, too. Our
teachers like to say that the MTC stands for "my time with Christ"...
and it really is. It's a perfect setting for studying the gospel and
learning how to be a better representative of Jesus Christ.
Our skype with the nihonjin has been fun... I don't
really ever understand much of what they are saying, but they are very
nice. Last night we talked to an old man who doesn't know english at
all... he was super happy and friendly. He would just laugh when we were
struggling. We told him that we know we aren't very skilled. We have
only studied for 8 weeks. We know God will help us and we know that the
Spirit is skilled in Japanese :) He thought that was funny, but it's
true!
My companion and I had a couple really amazing experiences this week with feeling the Spirit:
1.
Our teachers leave the decision of how we spend class time up to us... I
suggested a concern that I had that I wanted to teach with the Spirit
and be able to help the investigators feel it... and have a spiritual
experience together. I knew that just saying the doctrine wasn't going
to bring any change... it needed to be more powerful than that. Our
sensei said, "I don't think you know who you are." It is hard to really
recognize that I am a missionary... called by a prophet of God... called
to be a representative of Jesus Christ and His church. As a missionary,
it is my calling to share with people the things that Jesus would
share/say/do/etc if he were there. And I have the authority to do that.
Woah. He had Maloy Shimai and I try it out... he sat with the two of us
and told us that we would teach each other just as each other (maloy
shimai and reeves shimai). We both know the gospel but we can both be
invited to come closer to Christ. If Christ were there... what would he
want us to know? The catch was... we could only ask questions. Maloy
Shimai was the "missionary" first. She asked me some deep questions and
really got me thinking about my faith and the desires of my heart. One
of the responses I gave her left her wondering what she would say next.
She turned to the sensei and he told her that she didn't have to ask
questions anymore but she could just say what Jesus would say... He said
it was okay if she was silent for awhile. We just sat there crying...
she started sharing with me how Heavenly Father feels about me and it
was exactly what I needed to here. Then... it was my turn. I was so
nervous. I didn't know if my thoughts were my own or not. The teacher
told me to just open my mouth and the words would come. We did the same
thing... questions first and then just words of God's love for Maloy
Shimai. It was amazing to feel his love for my companion. He loves ALL
his children. With a perfect love. It was an exhausting experience but
incredible. We wanted the same thing for our investigators.
2. Ogura Kyodai is doing awesome. Preparing for
baptism this weekend. We have one more visit with him tonight to just go
over a couple commandments and get him ready for the interview. Toshi
Kyodai has been a difficult kyudosha to work with. He doesn't understand
how the gospel can help him and we have had a hard time helping him to
understand. Another sensei met with us and told us to go into our next
visit and only do the following things: pray, share testimony, share
scriptures, share experiences, express love, and ask questions. We
couldn't teach a prepared lesson. We were pretty nervous, but we prayed
really hard and went into the lesson. We were prompted to ask the right
questions that opened up more insight into his concerns. We asked why he
thinks this gospel message might be important. He didn't know... We
asked why He thinks it's important to learn about Jesus Christ (because
he said that is why he meets with us). He didn't know... I shared that
God was pleased with him. It is a wonderful thing that Toshi has the
desire to learn of Christ. We shared testimony of what it means that we
have a Savior. We spoke of repentance and forgiveness. We asked if he
wanted forgiveness and healing. He said yes, everyone wants those
things, but he shared that he doesn't think he can have those things. He
says that he things the missionaries and church members can, though. We
expressed that we don't understand his life perfectly, but Jesus does
and we know that this gospel can help anyone's problems, but
specifically his. We asked if he thought he was deserving of or worthy
of these blessings that we say he can receive through the gospel. He
expressed that he didn't want to talk about it specifically, but he has
done a lot of bad things and he isn't that good of a person. We
explained that we all sin and God understands. That's why he sent a
Savior. So he could overcome sin and we could return to live with God.
As my companion shared her testimony... I was searching for a scripture.
and I came across the perfect verse. Mosiah 26:22
For behold, athis is my bchurch; whosoever is cbaptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whomsoever ye receive shalldbelieve in my name; and him will I freely eforgive.
I had him read the verse out loud. It was silent for a bit and
then I asked him how he felt. After asking that question... it was
literally silent for 5 minutes. Tears were forming in our eyes and my
companion and I just kept praying in our hearts. After 5 minutes he
handed the book back to me and said thank you. I bore my testimony and
asked him if he wanted to receive baptism. He said yes. We explained
that it is a wonderful goal and we are here to help. This is why we are
missionaries!! We love him!! It was an amazing experience. I learned a
wonderful lesson about the Spirit... we can receive revelation in the
hour (planning) and the minute(the lesson)! and we need to not be afraid
of leaving our agenda and plan aside when prompted to take the
discussion in another direction.
Anyway, I love you all! Keep Smiling. Life is awesome.
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