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.
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- 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
He looks so happy! It's fun catching a glimpse into the MTC. I think this is the most pictures I've ever seen of what missionaries are doing in there :)
Posted by: Katie Morgan | 08/27/2019 at 12:08 PM