Apostle Number 3!

May 24, 2017

Apostle Number 3!

This week has really flown by and I can't believe I've already been at the MTC for 6 weeks. Less than 3 weeks until I leave for Japan!

So, to get the exciting news out of the way first, last night we heard from yet another apostle! Elder Renlund and his wife spoke to us at the devotional last night on the importance of the Doctrine of Christ and how through following Christ we can all be better people and become happy. This is the 3rd apostle I heave heard from since coming to the MTC, which is so amazing. It's been such a privilege to hear from so many apostles of the Lord in person. And this time we actually all got to shake his hand afterwards! So amazing, and an experience I will surely never forget.

Another fun thing that happened this week is that Porter Shimai and I have been invited to participate on the "Match the Message" panel this Sunday. Which essentially means that we will sit on the stage when they talk to all the new sisters about dress and grooming standards and answer questions. This is super ironic because Porter Shimai and I have both been dress coded in the past, haha. We both laughed when we received the invitation and found it further proof that God really does have a sense of humor. I'll give more info next week on how it goes, but I'm already expecting it to be an adventure.

On Monday we said goodbye to even more missionaries. The other zones--including Wihongi Shimai, Seastrand Shimai, Ashcroft Choro, Thornock Choro, and all the Nihonjin--have headed off to Japan. As always, it was bittersweet to see them go. But I know we'll stay in contact and that they're off serving the Lord, so it's for the best. And I'm excited because the next time I have to say goodbye will be when I am going to Japan! Whoot!

Fun adventure that happened on Sunday: Porter Shimai and I are the music coordinators for our zone, which means we have to set up the musical numbers for church every Sunday. However, we weren't aware we needed one every week until Sunday about 2 hours before sacrament meeting when our branch president asked us who was singing. We told him no one. He said, "Oh, well, they ask that we have one every week." We then responded, "I guess we'll sing then." And sing we did. Haha, Porter Shimai and I threw together a musical number last minute and sang "How Great Thou Art" during sacrament meeting. I think it went well? It was all a blur, haha. But we have already planned for someone else to sing this week, so it won't happen again!

On Monday, my district decided to try doing an "English Fast", which means we go from the time we wake up until dinner not speaking any English. Just Japanese. We knew it would be challenging, but we wanted to give it a try. And we did it, but it was tough. I both learned that I know quite a bit of Japanese--I said more that day than I thought I could--but I also learned that I do NOT know enough Japanese to go throughout my day only speaking Japanese. By the time dinner came around I was so thankful for English and the fact that I can communicate my thoughts clearly day to day. I'm really hoping when I get to Japan I'll get to teach English classes so I can at least speak English sometimes, haha.

Last funny story: Christensen Choro has been feeling sick this week and while teaching our "investigators" wanted to let them know he was sick. However, he could not remember the word for "sick". So, in one lesson he used the phrase "Watashi wa chyoto hen desu." Which translates to "I'm a little weird." And in the other he said "Watashi wa boko desu." Which means "I am an assault." Haha, the teachers died laughing when they heard and we all found it very entertaining. (This is another story that may only be funny to us missionaries, haha)

We're all looking forward to getting kohai today and us Shimaitachi are especially excited to not be the only shimai here. We are getting 6 more and it should make the residency hall a lot more entertaining. This coming week should be an adventure for sure, so the email next week will most likely be a lot longer.

Thanks to everyone who has sent me letters/packages/emails, know that they are super appreciated!

--Armour Shimai