December 10th, 2015: Four More Days!!!!!

So, four more days in the MTC... Dang, I never thought I would say

this, but I really am gonna miss this place. But not the food. I will

NEVER miss the food. The MTC has really grown on me. Also, I will send out an email later in the day with my mailing address in Japan. I won't be able to receive any more letters here in time, so I will just send that out later today. :)

What has happened in my last week at the MTC? Have I said that the

time here flies? Probably not. ;) haha, but it really has gone by so

fast. Yesterday we had our last Skype TRC, and I went into it a tad

worried. If you remember my story from last week, I did not have a

very positive experience with Skype TRC. But oh how it was different!

The volunteer that we talked to was a middle aged mother who lives in

the Kobe area of Japan. Her name is Yoko Ikegami, and she is an angel.

Lately, my Japanese has skyrocketed. I feel like I have become

conversational, and all of the grammar and vocabulary I hear has been

staying in my head! That is the effect that faith has. I pray always

for my Japanese to improve, and lately it has been! It is an amazing

feeling! But yeah, back to our lesson. We all really connected with

Yoko, and it was a very fun lesson. I even made her laugh! It was at

that point that I loosened up. This was the first lesson I have had

where I haven't worried at all about the language. I let out a breath,

sat back, and felt as if I were just talking to a friend. My

comprehension of Japanese is probably 90-95% with my teachers, and

80-90% with the Japanese people (excluding my last Skype TRC lesson

where it was at a solid 5%). It is all just sort of "clicking", if

that makes any sense. I love learning this language, even though it is

hard. It is such a gratifying feeling to have. It is like chopping

wood. Have you ever felt physically gratified after chopping wood? If

not, then let me just say it is a good feeling. That's how I feel

right now, but with my mind! WEIRD EH?!

So my favorite scripture for this week is one that I actually heard

last night. It is Ether 7: 1-12;

1 And now I, Moroni, proceed to give the record of Jared and his brother.

2 For it came to pass after the Lord had prepared the stones which the

brother of Jared had carried up into the mount, the brother of Jared

came down out of the mount, and he did put forth the stones into the

vessels which were prepared, one in each end thereof; and behold, they

did give light unto the vessels.

3 And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light

unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great

waters in darkness.

4 And it came to pass that when they had prepared all manner of food,

that thereby they might subsist upon the water, and also food for

their flocks and herds, and whatsoever beast or animal or fowl that

they should carry with them--and it came to pass that when they had

done all these things they got aboard of their vessels or barges, and

set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God.

5 And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a

furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised

land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the

wind.

6 And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths

of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and

also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the

fierceness of the wind.

7 And it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was

no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a

dish, and also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah; therefore

when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the

Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters.

8 And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards

the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were

driven forth before the wind.

9 And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared

did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord

all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to

praise the Lord.

10 And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could

break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light

continually, whether it was above the water or under the water.

11 And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four

days upon the water.

12 And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. And when

they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they

bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble

themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord,

because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them

I'd like you all to look at the symbolism of light and darkness in

this section of scriptures. I know, I know, this is like high school

all over again... But, if you look, even more amazing things start to

emerge from the scriptures. My favorite is in verse 3. It stuck out to

me as I was reading it that we, as missionaries, are the stones that

the Lord caused to shine in the darkness; and, it is our

responsibility to share this light with everyone so that they don't

cross the great waters of life in darkness and alone. I will let you

see the symbolism in the rest of it! :)

I have been lamenting lately on the fact that I am go into have to

leave my family here at the MTC, and it is killing me. I have grown so

close to my district and my teachers and now I don't want to leave.

You gain a very special connection with people when you're stuck in a

tiny room with them all day every day for 9 weeks. My district is my

family, and it is going to kill me to leave them. I think that the

hardest part about my mission will probably be leaving all of the

amazing people that I will become friends with! I am heartbroken right

now! My teachers are all my best friends. Their names are Carlile

Shimai, Babcock Shimai, and Norawong Kyodai. I love all of them so

much. You gain a special connection with people who are teaching you,

and I am so grateful for them. Nora Kyodai is my favorite (but I can't

really pick a favorite...)! We have this joke where whenever I see him

I run up to him and grab his tie and say, "Nikutai ga suki desu!"

Which translates into, "I like your body!" Instead of saying, "Nekutai

ga suki desu!" Which means, "I like your tie!" ....... Does that make

any sense? The two words sound so close together that it is easy to

mix them up, so I do it on purpose. It's funny alright?! ;) HAHAHAHAHAHA

I love all of you guys and miss you so much, and as Christmas is

coming up, remember the real reason behind this celebration! Jesus

Christ loves us and atoned for all of our sins, and through him we can

all find peace and joy in this life, no matter our trials. Turn to

him. He will always let you in. :)

Have a good week everyone!

愛しています！

パシー 長老

December 3rd, 2015: Is it Already December?

Is it already December?! What....

Wow, time is going by so fast! Tomorrow we should get our flight

plans, and then the Monday after next Monday we take off to Japan! I

am so incredibly excited! And so nervous.

So yesterday was a very unique day. It was the hardest day I've had

yet in the MTC. I know I keep saying that I am having hard days, but

this one tops them all. It started out in the morning when I woke up

feeling sick. It sucked. The main part of the day was normal, but that

evening we had Skype TRC. That is when we get on Skype and teach an

actual Japanese person a short "home evening" type of lesson. Our

first one was last week, and wasn't too bad! It was cool to actually

see and talk to a Japanese person. But this one was terrible. We had

to teach a probably 150 year old Japanese woman named Kyoko (she

wasn't that old... But it felt like it). So in Japan, the old people

speak almost a completely different Japanese than what we have been

learning. And on top of that, Kyoko wouldn't participate in the

lesson. She wouldn't answer our questions, and we felt like we had no

real connection with her. At times, it felt like she was trying to

drive the lesson which definitely didn't invite the spirit. So yeah,

it was pretty much horrible. Later as I was brooding over the lesson,

I decided to look at it as a sign that I needed to prepare more. I do

not want to ever find myself in that same situation again. So I guess

there is a bright side to everything! :)

I miss all of you guys, and am so grateful for you all! How was

everyone's Thanksgivings?! Did you all eat some stuffing for me? I

hope so! What are you all the most grateful for? I'd love to hear

about it! :)

My favorite scripture of the week has been Ether 12:27, and has long

been my fallback scripture. Every time I read it, it always seems to

apply to me personally. What's your favorite scripture of the week and

why?

Take care you guys!

Love,

Elder Passey

November 19th: Just Another Day in Paradise!

It's just another day in paradise! The country song by Phil Vassar has

been going through my head the past couple of days. If you haven't

ever heard it, go and listen to it. Yes, I understand that it is

country. No, I don't understand why you wouldn't go and listen to it.

Hahaha but in the song the artist talks about all of the difficult and

stressful things going on in his life throughout the day, and then

about how despite all of those things, he is living "Just another day

in paradise".  That's how I feel right now.

The life of a missionary is hard, stressful, complicated, physically

and mentally demanding, and on top of all that you have a intensely

strict set of guidelines that you have to follow. To be honest,

sometimes it really sucks. Some of the rules we have seem to be

absolutely pointless. For instance, in our classroom, I sit by a shelf

that is fastened to the wall. Naturally, I organized and placed all of

my books and materials in this previously unused shelf. The day before

yesterday I got chastised for using the shelf to store all of my

materials. Apparently, it was a rule to not use the shelf. So, being

the obedient missionary that I am, I very grudgingly (very very

grudgingly hahaha) moved all of my stuff into a tiny box and shoved it

under my desk. Now, I get to look at an empty shelf right next to me

that I am not allowed to use. I don't understand the logic. Not in the

slightest. But, what I do understand is that for some reason, the rule

is there. And while the logic doesn't make sense at all, I have faith

that the rule is there for a reason. So, instead, I stare at an empty

shelf. And that is the ideology I have had for all of the mission

rules. Sometimes rules are hard to follow, but you just have to have

faith that they're there for a reason. Trust me, it will make it

easier. :)

Now, although it's difficult here, I see paradise underneath all of

the chaos. Every happy moment where you testify with the spirit

overshadows all of the hard times. It is a feeling that I haven't ever

felt before, and it's amazing! I am so grateful for this opportunity I

have to serve the Lord.

Oh what a wonderful time of year! It is so great to see snow again! It

is super fun to see all of the missionaries enjoying it here. One of

my favorite experiences here at the MTC is hosting all of the new

missionaries on Wednesday. Most of the Japanese missionaries do, since

we're all here forever, which makes it extra fun. It's also kind of

sad. Most of them are all crying... Hahahaha, I'm pretty sure my

parents wanted to get rid of me when they dropped me off. The person

who I got hosted by was actually an older Japanese missionary in my

zone, and we later became really good friends. He later told me that

my family was probably the happiest family he's ever seen drop someone

off at the MTC. I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing. ;)

As we get closer to thanksgiving, I am trying to visualize all of the

blessings that I have, and I think it's impossible. We are all blessed

so much. Don't forget about the real meaning of thanksgiving.

Literally, give thanks. As much as you can. To God, family, friends,

neighbors, strangers, and anyone else that you can. Be happy and turn

outward, because we are truly blessed. And enjoy the food, because we

won't... Hahaha so here at the MTC, we do things a little differently.

On thanksgiving, almost our whole day is devoted to service. It is

kinda rough because it's on a Thursday, so we kinda miss out on a

P-Day, but they say we will get to do everything later... But we get

to assemble 320,000 meals that get distributed to people in the Utah

valley area who otherwise wouldn't be eating or enjoying thanksgiving.

I am so excited! While we all can't physically make 320,000 meals, we

all can give back. Each in our own unique way. Reach outward, and be

thankful of everything that God has given us. He loves us so much. :)

I am so grateful for all of you that hopefully actually read to the

end of this email. ;) hahaha, but in all honesty, your roles and

examples have chiseled me into who I am today. This masterpiece that

is Elder Luke Passey is far from being finished, but because of all

you I am a little closer. So thank you. I love all of you guys. :)

あいしています！

Passey ちょうろう