"Konichiwa...........can you say I am a veteran of the MTC ha cuz it wouldn't be lie. We know where the least crowded bathrooms are, what food's where in the cafeteria, what order to do what on P day, where nearly Everything is. I could run this place ;) haha just kidding. But you know what's even crazier than me being a veteran here at the good ol' Provo MTC? that I am soon going to once again become a baby in the TOKYO JAPAN mission field. What?? I'm going to Japan....for 8 months I've been told I'm going to Japan and now it's actually going to happen. So.....on that note-
1). WE GOT TRAVEL PLANS. People actually leave the MTC. People actually fly on airplanes. People actually teach real investigators (in a foreign language!) ha so "kokoba" (crazy). We receieved them yesterday (friday) afternoon. That was an exciting moment.
2) I would like to tell you a little about one of the hardest days I had at the MTC that I failed to mention earlier.....so someone around here at the MTC (probably the same person who invented calculus or created Japanese) started this trend of "english fasts" AKA an "ego danjiki" ....and my district decided to give it a go......So, Ivory and I decided- let's do a regular fast too and get twice the blessings. hahaha. We were so naive ;) talk about a long rough day and the best dinner I've ever had. ha I think Ivory Shimai and I saw another side of one another that day (and we were total cheaters!) ha how are you supposed to plan a lesson in a foreign language when neither of us speak it very well?? So even though we cheated it was still a rough day. on That note.....
3) I'm sure glad Sister Ivory is my companion. ha she has the funniest comments sometimes, and everyone will go silent and then we all just bust up ha cuz it was something kind of random or that we don't expect from her, it's quite cute. It's been really fun being Sister Training Leaders together too. She just is a really good example to me of being patient with others (me) when she has to forego something she wants to do to adjust to my weakneses. She also is just really sweet to everyone around her. Not to mention....she's an alto :) ha and we sing a LOT. here so.....in other words, my companion rocks, she's super patient, and we like singing hymns.
4) Another thing I'd like to mention that I haven't before. On sunday we have these things called District Meetings and on Tuesday we have District Devotional reviews. These are some of THE best highlights of the week. On sunday, a companionship is given a topic and they all teach us. It's always super fun to see the "missionary teacher" side of everyone and they are always very uplifting and motivating. Then on Tuesdays, after the devotional, everyone meets in their districts and discusses what they liked/ learned from the devotional. It's always an eye opening experience and I love how I get to see a different side of the people that I spend so much time with. Whenever I find myself focusing more on the "potential for bad" side of people rather than the "potential for good" side of people I always remind myself, "each person has much more depth than you know.... expect the good and let them surprise you." Those times in the week is one of the times when I start to see that depth- a glimpse of all the experiences that person has had to make them who they are today. Everyone's had rough days. Everyone's had tough experiences. Everyone has weakneses. Everyone has wishes and dreams. I think we are all much more similar than we think we are when you get down to it. Every person has worth. And I am really trying to learn just how much and how to never forget that. Those meetings help to remind me :) to not be quick to judge.
5) Ok so next thing, this past thursday (a few days ago) we had a "departure meeting!" ......it was SUPER duper cool. The speaker was someone who's involved in foreign MTC's and who served his mission in Japan. His topic was expectations. He showed us this picture of a runner.....and then told us that it captured the moment that this pro runner (i dont remember his name :/ .....curse this Horkley Gneiting brain of mine haha) ran the mile in under 4 minutes. Something that doctors had speculated was impossible and would literally stop one's heart. And he did it. And then 6 WEEKS later someone beat his time, and it's been getting faster and faster since. So his question was, how should we look at our challenges/ goals? what kind of expectations should we have for ourselves? and his point was.... if we look at things with a "can do" attitude the tasks do not actually become easier but we naturally work harder. he then went on to talk about how we all had preconcieved notions about Japan in a missionary sense (for example that the people are not receptive or that we will not baptize many) ... and that we needed to GET RID of them. No one knows but God what your mission is going to be like. So how do we come to know what expectations to have? he gave us 4 very good steps to take. In order to know what expectations we should have we need to know what kind of expectations God has for us. This is how we're supposed to do it. 1, pray. Pray sincerely and ask specifically for him to show what his particular expecation for me personally is (what he would have me do, say, etc). 2, study the scriptures. with Japan in mind (specifically Jacob 5). 3, learn more about the atonement and how it applies to everyone in a very real, everyday way 4, use priesthood leaders! especially those who are entitled to revelation for us (mission president, bishop, stake president) and give them opportunities to "turn their keys" ask what would you have me do? ......And he ended with quotes from Heber J. Grant (who was sent in 1901) to open the "key" in Japan. They were INCREDIBLE quotes. One of them said that Japan would be one of the most successful missions ever opened and that the people would be receptive to our message. Someone who accompanied Heber J. Grant when he said the prayer (to open the mission) said that he could literally feel angels accompanying them. Later, Heber J. Grant told one of his children (as a prophet) that that was the best prayer he ever offered. Heavenly Father is really increasing the missionaries to Japan (there are LOTS here).....and I am SO priviledged to be called there. I am going to let go of all of my preconcieved notions and I can't wait to be part of the best mission in the world. It was super inspiring and made me not care if I don't know the language very well. I'm going and I'm going to do my best!
6) G- night hugs. As sister training leaders, one of our responsibilities to go check in on every girl EVERY night. Does anyone else know how long it takes me to do stuff? We are given one hour each night to be able to shower, get ready for bed, (prepare what I'm going to wear for the next day), to write in our journals and say personal and companionship prayers. "holy hannah." How am I supposed to do that?? ha at least that's what I thought. I LOVE giving all of the sisters good night hugs. and I really LOVE all of the sisters. They are all so incredible. When you have a calling where you are to look over/ love others Heavenly Father really blesses you with a view of how HE looks at them if you want it. I prayed for it and I definitely got it. Today is our last day being Sister Training Leaders (and last night of giving good night hugs)... I am going to miss it!!!!
7) " Jodan Deshita" ha number one was a joke mom. ha you think that's all I'm going to tell you about my travel plans!??....so....not this monday but the next (August 5th) we check out of the MTC at 1 pm :) woo hoo!!!! then we fly out of salt lake, have a one hour layover in Los Angeles, and then fly all the way to Tokyo!!... we get in Tokyo on their Tuesday at 11 pm. And we fly in to THE sweetest airport right off the coast and we are going to fly in AT NIGHT......so we get to see the city at night. I'm stoked it couldn't get any better. We don't have to wake up in the middle of the night, and we get a great view at night. It's super duper awesome. I'm stoked. With the time difference I'm not really sure how long our big flight actually is....but I copied my travel itinerary and am going to send it home so that you have all the details. And I will let you know for sure next saturday when I will be calling home :) (most likely on Monday).
Well that's it for this week. Love you all so very much!! One more email before you'll be recieving one from Japan :)
Sister Haderlie/ Haderlie Shimai
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