More and More Japanese

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

This is our second to last P-Day at the MTC! Also, we get our travel plans tomorrow! It doesn't feel real at all, it's so weird.

Spiritual Stuff:

In choir on Sunday we sang the song "Consider the Lilies," which was absolutely beautiful, so I stole it for this week's "spiritual stuff" lol. I highly recommend actually going and listening to it, though.

Consider the lilies of the field,
How they grow, how they grow.
Consider the birds in the sky,
How they fly, how they fly.

He clothes the lilies of the field.
He feeds the birds in the sky.
And He will feed those who trust Him,
And guide them with His eye.

Consider the sheep of His fold,
How they follow where He leads.
Though the path may wind across the mountains,
He knows the meadows where they feed.

He clothes the lilies of the field.
He feeds the birds in the sky,
And He will feed those who trust Him,
And guide them with His eye.

Consider the sweet, tender children
Who must suffer on this earth.
The pains of all of them He carried
From the day of His birth.

He clothes the lilies of the field,
He feeds the lambs in His fold,
And He will heal those who trust Him,
And make their hearts as gold.

He clothes the lilies of the field,
He feeds the lambs in His fold,
And He will heal those who trust Him,
And make their hearts as gold.

Daily Life/Fun Stories:

Our new 同僚 (douryou= companion), Yamashita姉妹 is amazing and also doesn't speak English! Well, she knows a couple words, but that's it. It's been super helpful because now we have to speak in Japanese instead of automatically going to English all the time. She'll be going to the Sapporo mission, but we're glad to have her while we can! Also, this group of 日本人 (nihonjin= japanese people) is the one we fly to 日本 (nihon= japan).

Last Wednesday, Olson姉妹 and I did our first skype TRC, which means we skyped a member of the church who is Japanese and lives in Japan. Our person ended up being a 21 year old who is friends with a sister currently serving in Gilbert, who Olson姉妹 is friends with, and she also goes to the same ward that my Japanese professor's parents live in! She said that he had actually just left Japan after visiting. So many connections within the Japanese church world, it's crazy and so much fun. Also, because she lives where she lives, she's in the Tokyo South mission! She goes on her own mission in October, but she hopes we get transferred to her area before then so we can meet her in person! We can't wait.

We're getting into the summer rush here at the MTC and on Sunday was told that there are currently 2100 missionaries here. That's more than a 700 person increase from the 1300 when we got here because we've had a lot of people leave over the past 7-ish weeks. Thankfully, the 640 missionary intake is 2 days after we leave so we don't have to deal with the craziness that will bring in.

The 長老たち (chouroutachi= elders) have started to try and translate English sayings directly into Japanese, which has led to many teachers shaking their heads at us and many days full of hunched-over-unable-to-breathe laughter. For example, you know that part in Star Wars where Darth Sidious says, "Do it!" in that really creepy voice of his? Well, they started imitating that for some reason and then out of nowhere Walkenhorst長老, in the best Darth Sidious voice I've ever heard, says "します!" None of us could breathe for about 2 full minutes we were laughing so hard. It literally just means to do/do/will do, but for some reason it was the funniest thing ever. Probably because the voice was spot on.

All of the teachers have some crazy stories. For example, one taught a lady who had 9 dogs. In Tokyo. And another almost got chased by a wild boar. And there's more to each of those stories, but this email is already way too long lol, so let me know if you want to know some details.

Something our district has started doing on Saturdays after zone games is a little something called "the hot seat." It basically means that for 15 minutes one person is on "the hot seat" and we can ask them any question we want. It's both great for getting to know people as people and also knowing some pretty hilarious stuff about them. For example, one 長老's worst date ever involved him spending 30 minutes in the bathroom while at a restaurant, her then getting impatient, and then after they leave him throwing up in the middle of the street. Yeah.

Every Sunday after the evening devotional we all go see "Sunday Films," and this week we decided to see the movie "Testaments." Except, we decided to watch it in 日本語 (nihongo= japanese). Best decision ever. It was a blast, and even though we didn't understand everything they were saying, it was enough that the bad people's voices 100% sounded like anime villains.

About the Pictures:

• Our new 同僚! (douryou= companion)
• Some of our district with the new 日本人長老たち (nihonjin chouroutachi= Japanese elders). If anyone remembers Elder Kawamura who served in Rochester, his younger brother is in the middle on the left.
• A little taste of home I found in the MTC store! Though I have to admit, my first thought was, "where's the root beer?!"
• Ice cream party!
• We love studying outside when the sun isn't slowly roasting us.