So just for the record, I don't even know how to spell any of
the Japanese words I know because they're in characters, not roman letters and
I'm finishing up learning that alphabet. Anywho, sorry about that tangent.
But... this week has been great! I'm sure I'm going to be saying that same
thing in basically every letter because this really is the most amazing
experience of my life. I have read letters from missionaries so many times,
over and over but I never truly understood until now how hard it is to explain
exactly what I am experiencing. There is no way to explain! It's crazy!! (in a
good way, of course). So Sundays are just about the best things of my life
here. There is such a wonderful feeling, church is awesome, and we watched a life
changing talk last Sunday night during the movie time called Character of
Christ by Elder Bednar and it blew my mind. Incredible. I also feel like I
understand a lot more now when people say that at the MTC "the days are
long but the weeks go by fast." I can't believe it's already P-day; this
week has flown by. I'll be in Japan in no time (which is a slightly terrifying
thought. Although a great one). We ended up teaching about 4 more lessons to
Shibatason (our progressing investigator) and I learned SO MUCH from each of
those lessons. It was incredible to see how he was progressing and how we were
progressing as we taught. Amazing.
In answer to your queries: Yes, I have seen plenty of
Snowflake-ites. I see Kevin Johnson and Joe Bonham all the time. I think we
have the same lunch schedule or something. I also see a bunch of random people
I know a lot which is fun. And there are 3 bunk beds in our room, and some
people on our floor have 6 to a room but we got lucky and only have 4 shimai.
It is lovely. Heaton shimai is awesome, and the other two in our room are
Willis and Davidson Shimai, who are going to Fukuoka as well. We have good
times. :) Heaton Shimai -- the best companion I could ask for! We get along
really well and our personalities gel. We entertain ourselves. Sometimes I feel
really bad for Taylor Sensei because he'll say something that just starts us
laughing really hard. I might have already told you this, but on the first full
day of class he essentially told us to turn to "ichi pagi," (pronounced
ee-chee paygee), or page one, and for some reason I just about died
laughing because it sounded so funny. Don't worry, I'm getting better. Kind of.
But yeah! Our district is awesome -- our only problem is sometimes we get
distracted and lose focus by the end of the day because we've spent 10+ hours
in the same classroom. We're getting better with that :) So our teachers are
Taylor Sensei and Anderson Sensei -- to tell you the truth they have changed my
life. I have learned so many incredible things about Japanese and the gospel. I
am growing leaps and bounds every day in many ways. Oooh and another fun fact
-- we have about a bajillion books to help us learn Japanese - practice books,
grammar books, dictionaries, etc. Fun thing is, they're all named after Japanese things.
Like one is our Squirtle, one is our Pikachu, one is the ninja, one is a
samurai, one is a sumo... The list goes on but I'm sure you get the point :)
Missionaries going to Japan come in to the MTC every 3 weeks. It
rotates between the southern and northern missions of Japan. Those that had
been here for 6 weeks when we arrived our called our dai senpai, whereas those
who'd been here 3 are our senpai. The disenpai are total favorites. They're the
best. They are all really nice and so great to us. Our zone leaders are an
Australian elder and a Finnish elder and they're hilarious. The Australian, is
a tall, happy redhead and a great example. The Finnish elder is a short
blond soul -- super intense (he was in the Finnish army for a few years)
and rarely smiles but he's a softie. And we got him to laugh at lunch yesterday so that was exciting.
Gym time is a party. It's great to be able to release all the
pent up energy I have from sitting in the classroom all day. The thing we've
done the most is combine with another Japanese district and play kickball. It
gets pretty crazy (in a good, missionary kind of way, of course) and we have a
great time.
I am so sorry I'm not answering everything but my computer is
kicking me off. Have an awesome week, thanks for the letters and I love you
all!!!! I'll do better with the email next week, I promise. Love you!!!!
Flake Shimai
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