July 6th:

 What???? THis upcoming wednesday I will be halfway over my MTC time. Isn't that crazy (especially since we Japanese speakers have one of the longest times....ha we need it tho!). Well... who wants to hear an update about this week? Cuz I sure want to type it (ha it's quite a marathon fitting everything in in the time I have).. But here we go!

 

Sunday. Ok so Sunday's are the next best thing to BYU ice cream around here. They Rock. First of all because we get to sleep in. SLEEP IN until 6;30 (never thought I'd be saying that) haha. But it's true. We have to wake up at 6 most of the week to be ready and to breakfast on time (we have the earliest meal time....lucky me). Ha but then we have some study time/ get interviewed by Branch presidency members- and they are all way cool. So I don't mind that and my district usually ends up watching Mormon Messages- which I absolutely LOVE..... they're the best (and there may or may  not be a few tears shed- and don't exclude the elders) ha I think it's actually a really good thing that we're becoming familiar with them because they can invite the spirit really well and may be very hand to use in lessons in the most technologically oriented city in the world :) anywho. That's the best. THEN all the sisters get to go to "music and the spoken word" and since music isn't allowed here at the MTC (have I told you that yet??? NO playing music.....I think my soul is slowly dying. ha) but anyways that makes music and the spoken word even better because it's the only real music we hear all week. Then we have a BIG sister missionary relief society (and always sing Sisters in Zion which is always pretty powerful) and we always have a speaker. This last week was Sheri Dew :) she was incredible. She talked a bit about a young girl she knows who is having a major trial of faith because of popular worldly views that seem intelligent and enticing but turn away from the gospel. She touched on how IMPORTANT it is for us all to learn how to receive revelation and through that revelation to come to a divine witness of who we really are- a spirit and a body joined that has an infinite history and an infinite potential, and also how we should really dive in to the scriptures and learn the doctrine of Christ because as we learn more about who He really is and what He really did our faith will begin to become unshaken. Anywho- super good and motivating, she's awesome. Then we go back to our room (more Mormon messages haha) and then sacrament (mostly in Japanese....we can finally sing the hymns pretty well!!- all Japanese characters)......then more time :) man I love Sundays. Then devo (always good) then church movie time!! This time it was an address by Elder Holland- "for such a time as this." incredible . I was bawling--- why am I so lucky to live in a time where the gospel is destined to finally work. To finally touch hearts and change lives and consume the whole earth. and to be able to be a part of it in the convenient, comfortable, modern world. I am definitely blessed more than I deserve.

 

HOSTING. woo hoo! My first week of hosting. :) it was interesting but super fun. I can't believe it was my turn to be the HOST and not the HOSTEE. Watching people get dropped off at the curb was SO interesting. Ok I'm a people watcher anyways (haha creeper I know) but watching people on such an emotional day was fascinating. There were alot more elders than sisters getting dropped off this past week (I chalk it up to high school graduation ha) so I literally stood on the curb for an hour until a car with a girl came to my spot. But that's ok I was entertained between watching families say goodbye and talking to other hosts. It was just neat to see the variety of people that came. Different cultures, different sizes of families, different classes- it's "neat" how the gospel really is applicable to Anyone. No matter where they come from, how much many they have, or what their interests are. They just have to be willing to give their desires to God's will and God will make more of their life (and give them more truth) than they could ever make or find for themselves. It's beautiful. Anywho- me and ky tangents. I FINALLY got a baby missionary. I was so excited...ha it's nervewracking to be the one pulling a child away from their parents ha you're always nervous you're going to say the wrong thing. But her name was Sister Little :) she was a cutie going to Baltimore, Maryland and her fam was super cute too! She seemed excited to finally be here and ran into like 6 of her good friends. I wasn't worried about her. ha Then I got my Second baby- Sister Vazquez. She had a very cute (quite sad) Latino family. Grandma and all.... ha they were all so cute. She's from California heading to Texas and is the first to serve in her family. I could tell she was really nervous. I tried to reassure her that the MTC was really fun and she's get used to everything and that being a missionary is great. (ha but trying to do that while sweating like mad woman and hauling her luggage up three flights of stairs is a bit of a challenge. AND it's always embarrassing when you can't find their rooms ha. O well). But I hope she is doing ok! But hosting was a fun experience! Ill probably do it again (PS ran into Kristen Crofts and Kristen Barrett quite a few times, such cute fun girls!)

 

Fourth of July. A Holiday in the MTC?? ha basically a normal day but they tricked us a bit at the end. the Fourth was awesome! We all wore red, white, and blue (well except for Elder Cottle who insisted he doesn't get to wear his purple tie enough) ha but it was cool to see the rest of us (and the rest of the MTC) all reppin for America. Normal schedule (studying, lessons, class, and meals). But our second class was a little different. Often they "demonstrate teaching" for us. Which is where our sensai teaches one of us a lessons but this day our girl teacher (Tingy) had us do a class demonstration. Where she was herself and we needed to teach her something about the Gospel. Recently I've been praying to be able to tell when the spirit is really prompting/ guiding me (super important for a missionary). And in that lesson I felt prompted. Often. And I could definitely tell that it wasn't my own ideas but inspiration. We did it in Jap-glish ha (half and half). But I felt inspired to ask what her number on trial in life is right now and she expressed some issues with family members falling away and all had some really good things to say. Many felt the spirit strong enough to shed tears (including myself). And both teacher and students were "edified together." Sometimes I was a little hesitant to say things that I was prompted to say and then was always really glad when I did and could tell that it meant something to her personally. I love the spirit! and I have taken it for granted- really trying to watch for it. BUT>>>> we got out of class early and went to a mini patriotic devo (sang songs and listened to a speaker/ musical number for a bit). Then we got to watch a MOVIE :) another one of my favorite things I have been missing a bit. We got to watch 17 miracles. ah....SO good. But makes me CRY every time! So much. And wonder why me? why was i privileged to not have to endure SUCH back breaking/ heart breaking trials. How grateful I am to those that did. That movie also makes me realize how weak my faith can be sometime. Some people have sacrificed ALL to do what God has asked them to do and sometimes I don't do even the simplest things because "i don't want to." A quote that I liked and that stuck out to me was something like this: " The fight that ALL of us must fight between fear and faith," Choosing faith can sometimes be scary (and often risky) but in the end it is ALWAYS the safest thing to do- no matter what it is we are asked to do/ sacrifice. THEN>>>>>> we got to watch fireworks!!!!!!! ha reminded me of good ol' Idaho Falls. SO fun to live there during fourth of July. And we got Magnum ice cream bars (yum) and my district took a bunch of fun pictures) AND we didn't have to go to bed until like 11:30. It was a pretty crazy day. Living it up here at the MTC (or so i thought until I still had to wake up at 6:30 the next morning). ha Oh well. Still worth it.

 

Ok a couple more things. I'm part of a musical number for our branch- singing an arrangement of a poor, wayfaring man of grief with another elder. Pretty excited I got asked to do that. It is getting HOT here. Woo....(break out the cotton garments :) haha. AND the ponytails. The temple is now closed for cleaning. SO  it looks like my P days just got a lot longer (and less holy). Ha you win some you lose some. But I am quite looking forward to the extra time for the next few weeks. Also. My district is still the funniest in the MTC. Boys never grow up (and girls secretly don't either). Ha we have plenty of fun (prob too much) and lots of inside jokes! I love it. It's my fam away from home. Glad to be a missionary for another week and many more to come!!!!

 

Love you all.

 

Sister Haderlie.