As my Japanese gets better (slowly but surely) I have
discovered that there are quite a lot of words that sound incredibly similar to
each other, even if they don't look like
it. For example: yasashii and
osoroshii. I am pretty sure an elder
meant to tell Clark Shimai that she was kind, instead of terrifying. But switching a few letters makes a big
difference. The Japanese grammar
structure is also incredibly backwards...so I keep telling our investigators
that "If you feel the spirit, in order to read the Book of Mormon before
next week?" Instead of: "In order to feel the spirit, will you
read the Book of Mormon before next week?"
I also accidentally told one of
our investigators that Christ was a lamb...and then I corrected myself and told
her that Christ was both a lamb and a person. So teaching false doctrine all over the
place...but, at least I know what my mistakes are now! I have also found that my ability to speak in
correct English is slowly deteriorating. As well as my ability to write well...which
isn't saying much since I only have twenty minutes or so to write these emails
each week...but I'd imagine that my English will continue to get worse and
worse, which is both exciting and frustrating all at once.
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| Grundvig Shimai's District |
This past Sunday I was
called on to give a talk in church! I
hadn't expected it to be that hard, because I can usually come up with the
things I want to say in lessons...but coming up with a talk on the fly is a
little bit different. I had written out
a partial talk, but that only lasted about a minute, so the last three or so
minutes of my talk I had to come up with at the pulpit. I was speaking on Faith in Christ. I
shared the scripture in Alma 57:21 about the stripling warriors - who were
faithful AND obedient, and through their faith and obedience, miracles were
wrought. I related this to us as
missionaries and talked about how we can have miracles if we are faithful,
continue to strengthen our faith AND are obedient. The message was very straightforward and simple,
and in partially correct Japanese...but I felt so good as I struggled to speak!
Sometimes I have to come up with
creative ways to say things, but as I struggle to speak in Nihongo, I can feel
the spirit working through me. After the
talk, one of the Elders from my district came up to me and said: "So, I was way excited when you got
called on because I thought I would be able to understand the talk this
week...but I still didn't understand it, which means that you did a good
job." The older group of Elders all
told me that I did well too, but I'm pretty sure even if I had only spoken
jumbled Japanese for five minutes, everyone would have said that anyway. Regardless, it still boosted my confidence
after speaking (because really - it was far more terrifying than I had ever
imagined), and now I probably don't have to speak again for the rest of my time
at the MTC! I was the first one in my district to speak, which means the next
few weeks I am sure the rest of them will be called on. This will be a lot of fun for me to watch :)
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| Coolest Orthodontist office ever! |
On Monday, Daniels Shimai, Violette Shimai and I spoke in
only Nihongo. This was hard, somewhat
frustrating, and turned into a lot of charades. We know a lot...but we also don't know a lot. Speaking in only Nihongo helps us to figure
out what it is that we need to work on...and I think it prepares us for when we
go to Japan and ALL DAYYY EVVERRY day we are speaking only Japanese. So...a bit frustrating, a lot of fun, and
definitely good practice.
Tuesday we had one of the best devotionals. I loved it! Lynn G. Robbins http://www.lds.org/church/leader/lynn-g-robbins, of the Quorum of the 70, came
and spoke about opening our mouths, and how the Lord will put people in our
paths that we are supposed to teach. Even
if we don't know the language, we have to find them! And we can find them....with or without the
language. Miracles happen EVERY DAY in
the life of a missionary, and so who am I to think that this wouldn't happen to
me? Sometimes, "success is moving
from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm." A mission is supposed to be humbling and hard.
The Savior's life was difficult,
salvation is not cheap. So why would the
work of salvation be an easy one?? (Elder Holland). It wouldn't be. It shouldn't be, and it is not. I am working and living on the Lord's time.
These 18 months are the Lord’s...and so when I don't focus, it is not my time
that I am wasting...it is the Lord's. After the devotional we had an incredible
testimony meeting with our district. Lake
Choro shared a powerful thought: 'Our Nihongo might not be the best, but our
feelings should be." We should
always have the spirit with us. We
should always love the people. That is
the part of missionary work that really matters! I bore my testimony about a quote from the
devotional: "This battle is not
mine - it is the Lord's." I am on the Lord's side of the battle, and I
know that His side will win - but just as this time is not mine, this battle is
not mine either. Just as I am spending
my time for the Lord, He will spend His time for me. He will help in this battle because it is His!
He will strengthen me, and He will help me find those that I need to teach - or
He will help them to find me.
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| With Taylor Shimai and companions |
Kokoro Kara
Aishite Imasu!
Grundvig Shimai
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