One week down!

Konnichiwa! 

I did it! I made it a week! Haha, everyone says that things should get easier from here on out, so I'm looking forward to that. It's been a crazy busy week and I have lots to say, but not a lot of time to say it. So here we go!

Here's what my days generally include:

5:45 AM: Wake-up and get dressed

6:00-6:30 AM: Aerobics classes (for the sisters only, optional but my companion really likes going, different class everyday. Mon: Step Class. Tues: Toning. Wed: Weird Zumba. Thurs: Yoga. Fri: Kick Boxing. Sat: Toning or Yoga or Pilates.)

6:30-7:15: Get ready for the day (showering is not what I thought it would be. It's not hard to get a shower, it's just that there's only one good shower in the bathroom we use and it's a race to see who gets it, haha. Also I've been wearing makup everyday except for today, cause P-day is my no makeup day I've decided)

7:15-7:45: Breakfast (So it's cafeteria style food. There's generally 2 main meal options and a salad bar everyday for every meal. They range from surprisingly good to quite terrible. But it's fun cause all the missionaries going to japan sit together and chat)

7:45-8:45: Exercise Time. (This is the time that our entire zone goes to the gym and does random stuff. I've played Speed, 4 Square, Run around the track, Volleyball. It's fun and a bit more chill than the morning aerobics workout)

8:45-9:15: Change into church clothes 

9:15-9:45: Plan out our schedule for the day

Then we'll do an hour of personal study, an hour of companion study, and an hour of language study. We kinda just fit them in whenever we have free time during the day. And any extra time goes towards Langauge Study.

12:15-12:55: Lunch

1:30-4:00: Class Time. (This is ALL in japanese. We cover both the language and the gospel, but the teachers only speak in Japanese and we all kinda just struggle to understand what they're saying. It's probably the most discouraging part of the day since you realize there's SO MUCH you don't know yet. But then I think about what I have learned so far and I feel a bit better)

5:30-6:15: Dinner

6:30-9:00: Class Time (More of the same thing. We have different teachers for the two classes though, so it mixes it up a little bit. Still, by the end of the day my brain is so tired of Japanese)

9:00-9:30: Prepare for Bed

9:30-10:30: Quiet time (write in journal, relax, etc.)

And then lights are out at 10:30. It generally doesn't take me too long to fall asleep cause the days are SO exhausting. Then we wake up and do it all over again. (Except P-days, they're WAY different, but I'll talk about that next week).

Okay, so now for my actual thoughts and feelings, haha. Missionary life is NOT what I thought it would be. I knew it would be hard, but I didn't realize just how cram-packed your days are. We barely have time to breath, and even then we better be breathing in Japanese. Haha, they have this principle here called "Speak Your Language" (or SYL for short) where if we know a word or phrase in Japanese, we should say it. We all sound ridiculous mixing the two languages, but it IS helping. I'm trying to stay positive and focus on what I HAVE learned instead of what I still need to learn. Japanese is TOUGH and I'm still trying to get a grasp on it. But I still have 8 weeks left to learn, so I have time. I do miss alone time and down time, and I know the only reason I haven't broken down yet is because of the Lord. 

So, people I spend time with. First there's my companion. Porter Shimai is 19 and from Draper, Utah. She's a dedicated worker and we get along well. While she has struggles just like any other missionary, she works hard to get through them and focus on her purpose. She took 2 years of Japanese in high school, so she has a base understanding of the language, which is helpful in preparing. We still have a little ways to go until we are fully in sync, but I feel blessed that we are getting along as well as we are.

Next, there's my district. My district is the people I attend classes with and they will be here the same amount of time as me. We're not all going to the same missions in Japan, but are all learning the langauge. In my district there is:

Sisters: Porter Shimai and Me

Elders: Pook Choro (From England, 25 Years Old, Recent Convert)

Namoa Choro (From Australia, 19 Years Old, Born in New Zealand, District Leader, Companion is Pook Choro)

Christensen Choro (From Utah, 18 Years Old, Pretty Classic Utah Guy)

Bennet Choro (From Washington, 19 Years Old, Knows WAY more Japanese than the rest of us)

McKinzie Choro (From California, 19 Years Old, The Class Clown, Heritage is from New Zealand, in a tri-companionship with Christensen and Bennet)

And that's it. We all get along well and are ready to learn the langauge. I'm excited to get to know them better as the weeks progress.

Then, there's our zone. It's a larger group of missionaries going to Japan. So it's our district plus one other which includes (I know less information about these people):

Sisters:

Edwards Shimai (from New Zealand, amazing and kind, so funny) 

and her companion, Shumway Shimai (quiet and shy, but kind)

Then there's Bartholomew Shimai (from our stake actually, haha)

and her companion, Morris Shimai (So funny, we joke around a lot)

And finally (our roommates) Lundahl Shimai (a stickler for the rules, but really helpful and supportive)

and her companion Pacis Shimai (from the Phillipines, so small, very nice)

Elders:

Emerson Choro (was really good friends with Porter Shimai, kinda a jock)

and his comapinion Dayley Choro (very nice, kinda nerdy)

Sanderson Choro (Knows TONS of japanese...like, whoa, definitely an...interesting person)

and his companion Thomsen Choro (Asian descent, fun and chill guy)

And that's the zone! They're an interesting bunch, but I'm excited to get to know them (until they leave for Japan in 3 weeks, haha...)

Okay, what else, what else...

We sleep on bunkbeds. I'm on the top bunk, so it's almost like sleeping at home. Especially since I brought my own pillow and blanket. May be the only reason I sleep okay. That and the exhaustion. I wake up a few times during the night, but nothing too terrible. I'm hoping my body will adjust over time. 

We've already taught an investigator 3 times and will be teaching him again tonight. His name is Kensho and he only speaks Japanese, so our lessons are VERY simple. We're trying hard to slowly rely more on the gift of tongues, but for now we tend to read from a script.

Alright, other people to email, so to finish up: the MTC is different, but not bad. Japanese is very hard to learn. Time is an illusion and I feel like I've been here for months.

Love you lots! Enjoy the photos!

-Armour Shimai