Elder Conner Brown

MTC Week 7

 

Flight plans this Friday! Man, I love the mtc, but I've been here for seven weeks. It's time to get out of here.

Wednesday: That night, a little before class, we got to our room early and found a note on the board that we had an online TRC at 6:15 (ten minutes from then about). We hurried over and made it on time, though we didn't really have anything prepared, so I had a mini panic attack when the person we were teaching asked what the lesson was on today. We ended up talking about the book of Mormon. On a funnier note, we asked her how her day was, and she replied that it was still morning. Lol, love the time zone change.

 

Thursday: Had our second Japanese person TRC (man it feels like forever ago). This one was much better than the first. Also, some new missionaries came into the zone the day prior, and with them some Japanese missionaries. It was fun talking to one of them about games and stuff. Overall, the new missionaries seem pretty cool.

 

Friday: Had two TRCs today because one of them couldn't come on Saturday and switched the appointment to today. Both felt pretty good. I also started reading the BoM in Japanese, and it makes much more sense than it used to. I'm skipping second Nephi when I come to it, though. Reading Isaiah in Japanese would be a waste of time.

 

Saturday: Tiring. I'm glad you sent me the Zion's Youth music. (I sent him the Lamb of God by Rob Gardner) It was great to listen to and tune out the Saturday evening irreverence. I was a little sad to not have a TRC that day. Can't wait until my life is one big TRC.

 

Sunday: Spoke in Sacrament meeting. In hindsight, I probably should have written it in english characters instead of hiragana. That probably would have been easier to read aloud. Elder Embley and Elder Williams performed "Savior Redeemer of My Soul," which was awesome. Today in choir, we practiced "Hope of Israel," which was also awesome. Brother Eggit, the conductor, told us about the tribes of Israel and our duty to bring them together. He's a great storyteller. Then, the devotional speaker spoke on the same subject, just not near as entertaining. Boy, it would be awesome if Brother Eggit talked at a devotional. The excitement would be pretty much the equivalent of an apostle being here.

 

Monday: Another good TRC. Another pretty basic day.

 

Tuesday: Sang "Hope of Israel" for the devotional. The speaker was the Presiding Bishop for the church (Elder Causse I think?) and he gave a great talk about being bold, yet humble. I mentioned in devotional review something along the lines of "We're missionaries, so if you are prideful, then humble yourself quickly, or you will be humbled." Also, we set up the gym today for devotional, which was quite an experience. Our Zone leader organized the districts to specific areas to set chairs in. And there were new missionaries. So, I got to direct about ten missionaries who had no idea what they were doing in an area that I barely understood myself. It all worked out, though. Just a little slower than usual. I'm kinda surprised we got to dinner.

MTC Week 6

Two thirds of the way through! Everybody says this is where the days start flying by, until the last week, which they say is unbearably slow. We'll see what happens.

Thursday: Had a great TRC today. My companion and I are still working a bit on understanding people, but our communicating is getting much better. Also got your Chip cookies! Still have some I haven't eaten yet. Thanks for the moral support!

Friday: trying to find a balance between study and social, because as important as the language is, I need to learn how to get to know people to connect the gospel to them. There's a fresh batch of missionaries coming Wednesday I can welcome.

Saturday: another normal Saturday, with weird study time in the afternoon. Bad idea to give MTC missionaries free time in the afternoon. You could tell some of the older missionaries getting ready to go next week were really restless. One moment when I'm studying, I hear a bunch of commotion coming from across the building. I look real quick to see what's up, and about fifteen people are surrounding a beat-boxing competition. Just about a minute after the group finally separates, Brother Dahle (one of the zone counselors) comes to visit and see how we were all doing. ("We were this close to greatness")

Sunday: played "Praise to the Man" today for sacrament meeting. It was alright, but I probably should have done more of my practicing on the keyboard so I would be used to the keys. In other news, the older missionaries, or daisenpai, had their last day with us today, because they leave at 2 the next morning. A couple sisters cried, elders exchanged hugs, I hung out with the daisenpai not doing those things, though I did get some good pictures with some of the departing missionaries. The next morning, all their food was piled up in the foyer for whoever wanted it. My companion and I got some nice spoils. 

New missionaries assigned to Japanese speaking missions enter the MTC in batches every 3 weeks.  They have terms for the 3 groups that are in the MTC at any given time.  Conner is excited because he just graduated to dainsenpai.

• • daisenpai - missionaries who have been in the MTC 6 weeks or more
  • senpai - missionaries who have been in the MTC 3 weeks
  • kouhai - brand new missionaries

Some of the daisenpai missionaries who left for Japan this week.  They don't have classes together, but they live on the same floor and eat meals together.

Monday: Had our first native TRC today. It was pretty terrible. Spent the first fifteen minutes trying to figure out what she needed, and the last ten minutes blundering what we wanted to say. It was a mess. 

Native TRC (Training Resource Center) is when the missionaries get connected with a Japanese speaking member of the church (probably from Japan) via Skype.  She pretends to be learning about the church and the missionaries teach her. This helps to test their ability to teach in the language & communicate with a native speaker.

Going forward, he will have native TRC's 4 times a week.

Tuesday: For the devotional tonight, we sang with the choir an arrangement of "Testimony" (I Know That My Redeemer Lives). Then Elder Bednar and his wife got up and spoke. He gave an epic talk. He told us to not be monotonous with the lessons we are repeating, and if we are, we should "stop it". He told us the spirit works the same way, no matter who we are. He told us like eight times to just be good girls and good boys, and you will succeed. Most important, he told us to keep walking even if we don't know what to do. Listen for the spirit, but don't park on the side of the straight and narrow path, waiting for the spirit to tell us exactly how to proceed. He shared the following scripture:

Doctrine & Covenants 80:3 -- "Wherefore, go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss."

The Lord has planned everything out and as long as we are doing what we should be doing, we will not fail.

Wednesday: went to the temple to do an endowment, then did laundry, then got a haircut. I'll send a picture after I call so you have the great unveiling effect. New kouhai coming today. Got to welcome the new troops.

aishiteimasu!
Elder Brown 

Laundry

Daily gym time

Cafeteria -- where the Japanese-speaking missionaries congregate

Classroom pic with his companion Elder Embley

Week 5

Over halfway through the MTC and the Temple is finally open! So glad we were able to go this morning, so glad my district got up at the butt-crack of dawn, and so happy that the laundry room is practically empty! Here's my report:

Thursday: another TRC today. Was able to understand the two people pretty well, and one of them went to Sapporo, so we were able to have a great conversation about it. Also, tried out a new method to learn Japanese. I've been writing a lot to practice the sentence structure. And while I'm writing, any new words I want to learn I put in quizlet for later.

Friday: Had a super fun time playing beach volleyball today. One girl got hit hard in the face and another elder kept hitting the ball back over the net with his head. Also had an awesome time practicing lesson teaching. My companion and I were able to connect to the person so well! It felt so awesome!

Saturday: wonky schedule as usual, but i was still able to be pretty productive. Not too much happened this day.

Sunday: today was kind of an aftershock from Saturday. The whole district was dog tired. My companion and I taught a pretty good lesson in district council today, though. Also, I volunteered to play piano next Sunday, and my companion is doing a musical number with another district member the Sunday after. The devotional was cool, mostly about ordinances since the temple opened up.

Monday: Pretty basic day of learning. Practiced piano during personal study. Ate 4 corndogs for lunch. Pretty basic. Language still coming along, though I'm gonna try and learn a few more words per day and start learning more grammar principles. The teachers can give us the minimum at least, but it's up to us how much we really get done.

Tuesday: taught another awesome lesson with my companion. We had only a little more than ten minutes to teach, but we still helped the person progress and invited him to church. The devotional speaker, Elder Nielson, gave a nice talk about the spirit. He compared it to water and we were fish, always breathing it but never noticing it. Later in devotional review, I made the comment that we should always keep the spirit even though it's hard to notice it, because the people we teach will notice it.

Wednesday: temple was open, so like I said, our district got up early and got there at the perfect time. You could tell it had been a while since I had been to the temple. The temple workers themselves were kind of rusty as well. Schedule today was kind of crammed because of it, but checked the mail, and Randy and Kate sent me literally three long boxes of Crumbl, about twelve cookies! Hope I can eat them all before I have to go. The clock is ticking.

Mom note: Conner will be swimming in cookies & everyone's best friend . . . a Chip cookie delivery from me should be arriving today or tomorrow as well!  :) No new pictures from Conner this week, so I'm including this screenshot I took during our conversation today.

Week 4

Hey guys! Almost halfway to getting into the field, so pressure's on to master this language. Here's the weekly report:

Thursday: Had another set of member TRCs. I thought they went way better than last week's. The language is definitely getting a little smoother. I just need to give myself more practice making sentences. Also had a Japanese quiz of sorts. It wasn't too bad. Mostly just answering questions in Japanese.

Friday: Had two epic lessons today! Our teachers pretending to be nonmembers is really helping us learn how to teach effectively with the Japanese we know and learn how to invite the spirit. Meals were legendary as well, though I don't know what happened to my iron stomach. Since when does two hamburgers and two sets of fries beat me? 

Saturday: Saturdays are weird. Class is in the morning and study time is in the afternoon, which is a problem. In the morning, we usually study and get focused before class, so I had a hard time focusing. And when study time is in the afternoon, everybody messes around. I tried to study a bit, but was not very productive. Overall, the day felt kind of wasted.

We talked to Conner today . . . . His typical daily schedule is:

• • 4 hrs Study Time comprised of 40 min Book of Mormon, 15 min Preach my Gospel, 5 min Missionary Handbook, followed by 1 hour language study, 1 hour companionship study (whatever they choose to study together), 1 hour Book of Mormon study
  • Lunch
  • Class
  • Dinner
  • Class

On Saturdays it is switched up:  Class - Lunch - Class - Dinner - Study time.

Sunday: First Fast Sunday in the MTC! It's kind of brutal if you aren't prepared, but I was prepared. First, I ate a little extra something before bed last night, when I started my fast. Second, thanks to you, I had plenty of extra gum. (Badum-crash) Third, I urged my district to go with me to choir fifteen minutes early. We got close to the best seats in the house, then went straight to dinner afterwards. Fourth, piled my plate high, because I knew I wasn't coming back. Sure enough, the line was longer than it ever had been after we got our food. 

Choir was awesome too. We sang the Mac Wilberg arrangement of Praise to the Man. The choir director shared some really cool stories about Joseph Smith. He's a great and funny guy.

Monday: Kind of a basic day. All except for the fact that uncle Denver and aunt Bree hooked me up with gummy bears, starbursts,  and smarties. Here in the residences, you quickly learn that the true authority and power here is represented by your food storage (lol). Whenever the oldest missionaries leave, they give all their stash to whoever they like the most. I'm pretty sure this stash has been growing and growing over time like the treasure trove in National Treasure.

Tuesday: sang Praise to the Man at the devotional. The speaker shared some really cool stories about the Book of Mormon converting people. Here's an example:

A companionship stopped at a small house on a hill, overlooking the sea. They met an old man and introduced the Book of Mormon to him. He said that tomorrow he would go fishing and read while he fished, then later they could talk about it. Somehow, they lost contact. Months later, when one of those missionaries was a zone leader, he remembered the old man and went to go check on him. The old man saw them and said, "You're back. Your book is true. Come in and let's talk about it."

I just love how matter-of-fact his response was. 

Proud of his General Conference talk viewing set-up -- Tablet + luggage straps