Konnichiwa! Well, week three has officially begun, and I'm now Senpai! All of our Dai-Senpai, including my host, left yesterday for Tokyo, and my District is now officially MTC Hardened. Haha, this week has been pretty amazing! I just want to start off saying thanks to everyone for sending me the packages, they seriously helped so much this week. :) Especially Mom's! It was so amazing, and totally brightened my day. Thank you so much for the shoes!!! It feels good to be wearing vans right now, and I really appreciate how fast you got them to me! Okay, so how about that Training Broadcast right? It was so incredible to be so close to all of those wonderful servants of God, and to hear their counsel. Missionary work really is changing, and I feel so blessed to be apart of this great era of missionary work.
I hope everything's going great at home! Okay! Also, in the broadcast, which is now on LDS.org, if you go to 3:06, they do a big wideshot of the missionaries, and you can see me in the top right corner, and a couple rows down! After the meeting, my whole district went back and we all found ourselves at least once. it was so cool!
The Japanese is coming along pretty well, I did have kind of a rough patch this week though. There was this HORRIBLE virus going around the MTC, and I straight up got it twice. That's one downside of the MTC, when someone on your floor gets sick... Everyone gets sick. So I was out of class all day yesterday, but I used that time to review a lot of past material! Oh! Another quick sidenote about the broadcast. So when the Apostles all came in and everyone stood up, Elder L. Tom Perry literally jumped up the steps to get to the stand! It was the coolest thing ever, and it made so happy to see how caring and happy those men are.
This Gospel message is truly such an amazing message of happiness. It brings so much comfort and joy, and I feel so honored to be out here devoting my life to share it. Although I was pretty homesick yesterday when I was laying in bed sick as a dog, I know this is where the Lord wants me right now. It's so much fun to start seeing little things that happen everyday that just strengthen your testimony so much. Kono Kyokai wa shinjitsu da to shitte masu! Inori ni yotte heian o kanjumasu koto ga deki masu. Senkyoshi toshite Iesu Kirisuto ni tsuite o-oshieshimasu. Boom. Japanesed. ;) Nah, but seriously this place is truly amazing, and the Spirit is so strong here. I'm way glad also that you all got to see the photo Kate and I took together! I hate to say this... But you may have to wait just one more week for photos. Since the missionary presidents have taken over our main building, we have to use our classroom computers, and they block cameras for whatever reason... I'm way sorry! I've got some great photos though, and I can't wait for you all to see them.
We had a really incredible Spiritual moment in class this week when someone in our district asked why bad things seemed to only happen to good people, and we all came up with some answers. For me personally, I feel that Heavenly Father gives us all difficult challenges to keep us focused on Him. Sometimes in our everyday life we just lose that vision that Heavenly Father is so personally involved in all that we do, and difficult trials help us to turn our hearts back to Him. I'm sure that Brother Whitman can feel of Heavenly Father's love for him and his family. Honestly... Those first few days here at the MTC were so hard, and as a district there was a lot of discouragement. But through Heavenly Father's love and help for us, we've begun to exceed our own expectations, and really feel of the Spirit on such a deeper level. That's what I have loved the most about being a missionary. It helps you stay so focused on Gospel principles, and things that are eternal. At first it was hard being away from all of my old comforts, but I have found so much joy in pursuing the things that are more important. I know that I couldn't be here without the love and support you all have shown me though. Please know I appreciate so much all the kind words, packages, and little notes of encouragement, I love them all so much. :)
So, a little bit of sad news actually. So about a week ago my Doryo (Companion) hurt his knee pretty bad, and he was convinced something was wrong. So, we had to go get an MRI, and we found out today that his miniscus is torn. He's going to have to get surgery... And he's planning on going home to do it. He's going to call his parents today and settle everything out, but he's pretty confident he's going home for a time period. Pretty sad! He's been a pretty great comp, and I'll be sad to see him go. I just pray that he will hurry back and not focus too much on staying home. So, I'll get to be in a companionship of three with some Chorotachi in my district!
Well anyways, I better get going and study, just know that I love you all so much, and appreciate all that you do. This Gospel is true. Yesterday while I was sick, I decided I wanted to set some goals to get done throughout the day, one of which was reading Alma 26 in Japanese. And I did it! It was pretty dang hard, but I could feel the Spirit so strongly as I read over those words, in a language I don't fully understand. It's incredible how the Gospel works that way. All my love you guys! have an awesome week!!!
Love, Justesen Choro
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