Tuesday, November 17, 2015

November 12th, 2015: Time Flies!

Time flies. I never understood that term until I got here in the MTC.
It has officially been four weeks since I arrived, and I can't
remember where it has all gone. One of my teachers said, "You'll get
home from your mission and question whether or not it was all a
dream." It goes by that fast. In that same sense, so is life. We get
so caught up in the routine of things that we miss out on life in
general. The science behind it is actually pretty cool. Our brains,
When experiencing new things, try to build pathways in our neural
network so when that same thing is experienced again, it draws on that
pathway to mitigate the amount of effort used when processing this
said stimuli. This goes on and on until our brains need little to no
effort to process the stimuli. So take driving for example. Have you
ever been driving and gotten to your destination and realized that you
remembered no real details of the entire drive? That is your brain
being as lazy as possible. It is making habits. Yup. Thanks brain.
Don't let that drive be your life. Don't reach the end of the road and
look back and realize that you remember nothing of this incredible
journey called mortality! The only way you can combat your brain in
this endeavor is to keep experiencing new things. DON'T. EVER. STOP.
Get outside of your comfort zone! Break out your protective shell!
Shatter the habits of daily life, and experience this gift that God
has given us. Because that is what is. A gift.  So go learn a new
language (Japanese! ;)). Do some yoga. Learn how to play the piano.
Serve as a volunteer in a soup kitchen. Ride an elephant. Climb a
mountain. It doesn't really matter what you do, as long as you do
something! Make your life a story worth sharing!

Yesterday we committed our second investigator to be baptized! Wow.
What an incredible feeling. We were in our lesson teaching about
repentance, and my companion asked the question, "Do you have faith in
Jesus Christ?". She said she had a very small amount of faith. We
looked up and shared the scripture Matthew 17:20. It was weird. I
introduced baptism, and after we discussed what is was, I asked the
question. She said she wanted to, but she felt that she didn't have
enough faith. I testified that even the smallest amount of faith was
enough. I have never spoken with as much conviction, and never felt
the spirit so strongly while testifying. It was almost shocking! It
was a PHYSICAL wave of the spirit, and of course I started to tear up.
Even writing it now, I feel the truth of what I testified. Our
investigator/teacher came up to us after and told us just how much she
felt the spirit, and apparently it was just as much as I had while
testifying. It was really cool.

In one of our devotionals that we had recently, the idea of smiling
whenever possible was stressed. It is the easiest way for us, as
missionaries, to share the light of Christ within us. And it's fun!
Our brain is pretty cool. When we smile, even if we are totally down
in the dumps, our brains release some chemicals in response to our
smiling which in turn LITERALLY makes us happier. How cool is that?
And once we are happier, we want to smile more! And so the cycle
continues until we are jubilated! But you have to make the decision to
smile. Whenever I am struggling, or when I feel like I can't learn
this crazy language, I put a smile on. God made our rad brains that
way for a reason, I think. So that when we are sad, if we can smile,
we can feel joy and happiness.

Speaking of this crazy language... I love Japanese! It is quite a
gratifying feeling to be learning a new language. It is almost like a
game. And there is no better place than the MTC to do it. Every day I
feel like I am expanding my comprehension and grasp of Japanese. In
the lessons, we now aren't allowed to bring in any notes to help us,
and it is fabulous to be able to speak from the heart in a foreign
language. I still have a LONG ways to go... But I am very happy right
now. They say to become fluent in Japanese you have to make over
50,000 mistakes... I doubt I've made that many, but I sure have made
some funny ones! Hahaha, life is great.

I'm sure you're all getting sick of hearing it, but I really do love
the MTC. There is no better environment for a young adult to be in.
You feel the spirit so strongly here, as well as a fun and nurturing
environment. We have some serious fun here. I have actually gotten mad
volleyball skills. All of you that play volleyball would be so proud
of me! I have had some mad stuffs and spikes! Haha, but the best is
zone volleyball on P-Day. Our zone is so cool because everyone loves
to participate. Even if we're not good, we still have a blast playing.

Other quick stories;
A kid in my district almost knocked his teeth out after slamming his
head into my desk while playing an intense game of limbo! (Yes, there
are teeth marks on my desk now...)
Thanks to my mom, and the racquet balls that she sent me, my zone
created a new game to play when we're bored. We call it batsu ball.
The whole purpose of the game is to hit some other elder with a
racquetball from across the hall. The person who gets hit is out and
it continues until there is only one person remaining. It was crazy!
It is so scary, too. You do not want to get drilled with a racquetball
by someone who is throwing it as hard as they can... That is no fun.
It also snowed here a little bit!!!

....not a whole lot of exciting things happen here in the MTC....

Oh well! Maybe by next week!

I love you guys and am so grateful for you!

あいしています!


Passey ちょうろう


Monday, November 9, 2015

November 5th, 2015: THOUGHTS

日本語 ほんとう 難しい です。Japanese is really difficult.

Our teachers told us early on that learning a language comes in
several different steps that repeat themselves over time. The first is
a sharp incline as your comprehension skyrockets when you learn
something new. Next, you level off as you struggle to apply what
you've learned. Then, you actually begin to decline as comprehension
decreases. There, in that little dip, is where I am residing right
now. But, after that little dip, the process repeats itself as you
learn more and your understanding grows again. At least, that's what
our teachers tell us. So I am holding on! :)
The MTC is still fantastic! The food is getting pretty difficult,
although. I am honestly not sure how I am going to last 6 more weeks
eating it... Haha, I would kill for some of my mom's cooking right
now. Or Thai food. I am constantly craving Thai food. I think I was
addicted, and am now going through withdrawals. Hahahaha
The days are already flying by. I cannot believe that it has already
been three weeks! I know that doesn't seem very long, but to put it in
perspective, we have already been here twice as long as all of the
English speaking missionaries. And we still have 6 more weeks to go!

God loves us, and wants us to spread his gospel. I know this is true.
I have seen it first hand. It's actually pretty comical to see just
how much my testimony has changed over the past couple of weeks. But I
love where I am now, and am so grateful that I am here. So my
companion and I teach just about every single day. Including P-Day. It
is really difficult, but immensely rewarding as well. I remember one
of the happiest and most excited moments that I have had so far in the
MTC was when our first investigator accepted our invitation to be
baptized. When we walked out of that room, I am pretty sure I was
literally beaming. Maybe not literally, but I am sure I looked pretty
odd as I boasted a cheesy grin. I know the investigator wasn't real,
but that didn't change how I felt. I want to share that feeling with
every single person in Japan.
We had another experience like that yesterday. We got the amazing
opportunity to host all of the new incoming missionaries, which was
soooo fun! I got a serious workout hauling a bunch of new missionary's
luggage up huge flights of stairs. It's a good thing I'm on a mission,
because if not, I doubt the ladies could keep themselves away! ;)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Just kidding. But because we hosted, we didn't
have any time to prepare for the lesson that we had later that day.
And of course, we taught first. Outside of the classroom, Sherrill
Choro and I pleaded to God to guide and direct our lesson, even though
we didn't have anything prepared. And then we knocked. It was a scary
feeling walking into a lesson with ABSOLUTELY nothing prepared. We
didn't know where to take it. We went and sat down, and started
talking. It was awkward at first, as we quickly ran out of greeting
questions. I was praying in my heart the whole time. And then it hit
me. This investigator has a daughter named Angel who is 4 years old. I
asked her if she loved her. If she really really loved her. Of course,
she answered yes. I then asked her if she would want to be with her
forever, and she answered yes. This was the outlet into the plan of
salvation. I then knew where we needed to take the lesson for her. In
broken Japanese, I surged forward and explained to her the basics of
the plan of salvation. My companion was nervous, because it was hard
doctrine to understand, but it worked. I testified of Christ's
atonement, and I felt it sink in to both me and her. I even found and
shared a scripture in a Japanese B of M, which is no easy task. The
scripture was Alma 7:11-13. Our investigator, who is also our teacher,
later pulled us aside and praised us for the amazing and inspiring
lesson that we gave. She was shocked when we told her that we walked
in with absolutely nothing prepared. That was a good feeling. :)

This gospel is true. I know that now, and to be honest, I haven't
always known it. I spent a large portion of my life doubting and
questioning. If any of you are doubting and/or questioning your faith,
I plead that you find out for yourself. God doesn't care about who we
were, but about who we are and who we want to become. The past is
gone, and we can't change it. The only thing it is good for is
learning from it. Just try it, and you will get your answer. I
promise. :)

So Halloween was a blast here at the MTC. One of the sisters in our
district got fake mustaches in a package, so we all used them as our
costumes. My companion and I were masquerading as dumb cops. It was
pretty hilarious. I'll forward the pictures for y'all. Hopefully you
think it's as funny as I do, because I think it's hilarious.

Love you guys!

あいしています!


Passey ちょうろう




Sunday, November 1, 2015

October 29th, 2015: I am surviving the MTC!

I am surviving the MTC!

I can see why people say that a mission is one of the most difficult
thing that you will do in your life. After only 2 weeks in the MTC,
You begin to notice some psychological effects on yourself and others.
Homesickness seems to be the new plague. People lay awake at night
dreaming of their lives back home. Some miss family. Others miss
Significant others. We all miss something. It doesn't help that the
mission life is tasking. You are deprived both mentally and
physically. I sit in class and struggle to keep my eyes open as words
that I don't know fly over my head. The language seems to jumble
together more and more the later in the day it is. On top of that, you
have to prepare lessons for investigators in a language that you can
barely speak. It is difficult.
BUT, for every struggle, trial, tribulation and hardship that you go
through, you receive countless blessings for your efforts. I have seen
it first hand. "Only in the darkness can you see the stars." - Martin
Luther King Jr.. Blessings start appearing when life gets difficult.
As long as you keep trying. Whoever wrote the famous line that says,
"There ain't no rest for the wicked." Had it all wrong. He should have
said, "There ain't no rest for the missionaries." But I love it. Every
second of it.
We had the opportunity to listen to an apostle on Tuesday, which was
absolutely amazing. Neil L. Anderson came and spoke to us on a host of
different topics. The spirit was phenomenal. I attached some notes from
the talk:

Teaching is both difficult and frustrating. Our teachers tell us to
speak from the heart, but my heart doesn't know very many Japanese
words... Our lessons are shared in fragmented Japanese, and yet the
investigators seem to understand the meaning behind our words! Only
the spirit can allow that to happen. The gift of tongues is real.
Bearing your testimony in another language is an amazing experience.
God's gospel is not bound by language, but rather received through
feelings. I love Japanese so much already, and I can't wait to learn
more.
I'd like to end with the scripture that started it all. James 1: 5-6 says,

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all
men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is
like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Find out for yourself. If you are struggling with anything, find out
for yourself. It took me ages to, but I am. Don't rely on anyone
else's beliefs but your own. You can do It!
I love you guys and am so grateful for all of you. Thanks for helping
me get to where I am now.

Also, I have an iPad now, so I can treat emails like letters. I can
read them whenever I get them! So feel free to send emails all
throughout the week!

I will send out some pictures today as well! :)

Love y'all!

あいしています! <3


Passey ちょうろう