Week 4

Previously on Empty-Sea Week 4 (Start week 5 tomorrow)

HOLY TAKO!!! Tako is octopus in Japanese. One of my favorite words. I can't believe I have been here for a month. That is insane! I feel like I have been here forever, but at the same time I feel like I just barely got here. The language is coming along pretty great. I am starting to understand the bunpo (grammar) and the tango (vocabulary) I am working on. I am doing pretty well at understanding what others are saying. It is starting to turn into Spanish class. In High School I could understand what my teachers were saying to me in Spanish, but I would just sit and stare because I wouldn't know how to respond. It is always an adventure. So here has what has happened this last week.

On Wednesday my companion and I taught our best lesson ever. We taught Nishimura Shimai. She is the 95 year old investigator that we have. We started off by asking her if she had any questions about our last lessons.  She said that she is still confused about the atonement of Jesus Christ, and wants to understand how it will help her.  We began to tell her what we know about it.  We taught her from our hearts, rather than what was on the paper.  We used zero notes, and my companion even gave an analogy.  Roopinia Choro (my Companion) said that God is the bank and we are the debtors. We owe God money, but we don't have it.  Christ is our mediator and saves us from our debts.  It was a simple analogy describing how Christ saved us from our debts so that we can return to live with the banker (God), but it was what our investigator understood and needed to hear.  She loved it and even though our teachers are not supposed to break character and tell us how our lessons go, (if you are confused it is because our progessing investigators are actually our teachers pretending to be somebody they actually know and taught) but our sensei Sister Sandberg, told us that it was the best lesson she has ever heard from any missionaries who have been in the MTC for 3-4 weeks.  That was such a great confidence booster and helped me to know how important it is to teach with the spirit.  It was so great to have the spirit with us and I was amazed by how much we taught through the spirit.  Trusting in the Lord was really hard, because we went in with no notes and just left if up to the spirit to teach the lesson.  It worked out so much better that way and we all could feel it.  Thursday was another thursday of studying and learning.  We do a lot of Mogi's (role plays) in English to help us understand how to be better teachers.  We did that on Thursday and Friday and it was amazing to see how words come to your mouth without you even thinking about it.  When I got over being nervous about what to say next, or how to really connect with the investigator, the sprit really kicks in and brings the words to my mouth so that the spirit can teach the investigator.  This is how I am going to learn the language.  Not by thinking about myself and how it would be great if I could teach, but if I focus on my investigators and work my hardest so that the spirit can teach the investigators.  That is the biggest lesson I learned this last week. 

Saturday and Sunday was General Conference.  It was so amazing in the MTC.  Missionaries get very excited about everything and this was a big excitement.  I knew about the Rio temple, but hearing that Cedar City is getting a temple was very cool.  There were a lot of Utahns that gasped when they heard that.  Saturday was great because I was able to understand how I can feel peace.  I learned a lot about how to create and find peace when life becomes stressful in the empty-sea.  I recieved a lot of Keiji. (revelation) Keiji is the greatest.  There are so many talks that were my favorite.  I don't think it is possible to pick one.  One that I really did like on Saturday though was President Deiter F. Uchtdorf's talk at Preisthood session.  It was exactly what I needed to hear.  He taught about not mistaking others personalities for sins.  We are all individuals and all different.  It is important to remember that being different is essential to God's plan.  I learned to not compare myself to other missionaries and try to become a missionary that I am not.  I was told a few times this last week that I am immature, but I was totally fine with it.  I know that I am and that is fine with me.  I know that there is a time and a place for everything and I need to make sure that I act accordingly.  That is what I learned this last week.  I was called immature because I needed somebody to Mogi (roleplay) with so I drew a face on my water bottle and named her Mizu. (Mizu means water in Japanese) Some people thought I was being immature, but hey I was learning and it helped me have the best lesson ever! Sunday was super funny because we were all wanting to hear Elder Holland speak. The second we heard the words, "We will now be pleased to hear from Elder Holland" everyone was so happy.  I think I heard people clapping, either way most of the missionaries were cheering.  It was such a great talk to.  I loved how he talked about believing in yourself.  It is extremely important to remember this.  Faith is a very hard thing to develop and continue to use.  It is essential for building a testimony, but requires a lot of trust and effort.  I know that if we have the desire to believe, we will develop the faith we need to strengthen our testimonies so that we can say, "I know!" That was very great.

Later that night Vocalpoint came and sang to us for our sunday devotional.  That was pretty cool. It was the closest thing I will get to going to a concert for the next 23 months! They sang a few of their favorite hymns and then had us sing with them on a few of their songs.  Every single member of Vocal Point is a return missionary.  They shared a lot of their expereinces while they were on their missions and how music has blessed their lives.  I know how much music has blessed my life, and it is amazing to see how much it impacts me while I am on my mission.  I want to listed to music SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad. It hurts. Litterally hurts.  I sing so much it annoys me. But it is the only way I can "listen" to music.  I am developing a even stronger love for Hymns through not being able to listen music.  It is amazing how much music influences our lives, and can invite the spirit in such strong ways.  That is what I learned this Sunday.

Monday is service day. I hate/love service.  It is way fun and I love serving, but it means that I get 45 less minutes of sleep because I have to wake up to go do service.  It was fun though. I had the great opportunity to sweep the bathroom floors and clean some classrooms.  It was very great.  Monday was also my first "off" day while in the MTC. It was the first day where I let all the stress get to me and really distract me from what I should be doing.  I did not listen very well during the lessons and my mind was off in other places.  I learned how easy it is to have the spirit leave when I am not focusing on what I should be doing.  That night I learned how important it is to focus on my mission and like my stake president said, "to not look back" It was a great last week in the MTC. A lot of learning and a lot of growing.  Everything I will constantly be doing while on my mission.  Missions are great. I love it.  I love this Church. I love you all. I love toast.

-Mecham Choro.