This week has been amazing!! I love the MTC and it is unreal that I've been here less than a week! I guess I'll just go day by day, but I hope you'll forgive me for leaving out any details :)
Wed: Tammi found me at the airport luckily and I took a 2 hour nap at her house... I guess I was tired! She then took me to Cafe Rio for lunch for my last meal outside of the MTC. There was probably 5 other families there with their missionaries so I guess that's the thing to do. She dropped me off at the MTC and Sister Johnson was my host. It was such a relief to have a familiar face!! She showed me to my room and helped me find my classroom. Once I got to class, the Sensei was only speaking Nihongo!! I almost started crying I was so overwhelmed. I was introduced to my doryo Lopez Ruano Shimai, who is actually the girl who I met on facebook!!! Honestly, she is amazing. I love her so much, and she is so patient with me! It occurred to me that having a companion is kind of like having a spouse. And it's hard!! But it really is so rewarding. To quote Enchanted: She is my one coquette, the answer to my heart's duet! We met our district and they are just so amazing! We are all gonig to the Tokyo South mission, and I really love them all already!
Our investigator: We have taught 3 lessons to Hayashi San! He is so amazing, and every time we teach him the spirit is so strong and we can really feel Kamisama's love for him. We can hardly understand what he's saying, but we just continue to testify what we know is true, and the spirit does the rest of the work. Our Sunday speaker was saying that most converts say that being taught by the missionaries is the most bizarre experience of their lives. Young kids talking about gold bibles, heavenly figures, and they can hardly even speak the language! However, the converts continue to invite us back because of the spirit that we bring with us. Hayashi San told us that when we are with him, he feels different, and he wants that to continue to have that peaceful feeling in his heart 100% of the time. He already has a testimony of the gospel, and his faith is so encouraging!
Nihongo: Learning the language is so hard!!! I regret not working on the alphabet more this summer, because now I feel like the village idiot who can't read anything! The Lord is definitely punishing me a little for my laziness, but I know that if I put the effort into learning it, he will reciprocate the blessings ten-fold. Tell Mr. Horning that my French is coming back, which is both exciting, and the worst thing ever. I can think of the word in French but not Nihongo! Sunday night, I dreamt in Nihongo! It wasn't like I could understand anything, but I'm really glad the language is stuck in my head. Also, our investigator in that dream was Golumn from LOTR, and my whole struggle was that I couldn't feel the Lord's love for him so I wasn't teaching effectively :)
MTC lifestyle: I have never worked so hard in my entire life. We are on the Lord's time, and so my doryo and I strive to not waste it. We plan our days by the minutes, and even have plans within our plans!! It is so hard, but I know that by working hard, I will be blessed! The food here is great but I usually eat 1/2 servings because there is just so much food! I am the worst at remember that my name is now Feist Shimai and I am now conscious of how often I refer to myself in the third person! Exercise is fun, and it really helps me fall right asleep at night. The other day we played sand volleyball with the elders and our team totes won, even though technically we didn't keep score because things aren't supposed to get too competitive.
I crazy miss you guys, but I have to go and do laundry and get some breakfast, but I will be back in a few minutes with more funny stories and information (and requests for stuff, I love stuff)
PPS: I love you all so freaking much!!
Love always,
Feist Shimai
So I have a few more things that I would like to tell you but forgot earlier,
1) I can pray in Japanese now!!! And bear my testimony :)
2) W. Sensei is our teacher and he is pure comedy! He met his wife 6 months ago, got married 3 months ago, and his wife is now pregnant!! I was #dying when he told us that!!
3) Our district is literally the best. The only time that I remember that they are all like 18 year old boys, is when they slurp jello and talk about bowel movements at lunch. The rest of the time they astound me with their spirituality.
4) We watched a video called Character of Christ by Elder Bednar. I really reccommend watching it, it changed how I viewed conversion to the church. Also, Bednar's sense of humor remeinded me of Dad and really made me homesick.
5) We are working on being 100% obedient which is seriously the hardest thing in the world. It includes being exactly on time, using every minute wisely, and NO TOUCHING!!
6) Speaking of NO TOUCHING (10 points to whoever gets that reference), Elder Calley and I have had the same meal times so we really enjoy seeing each other. I insisted upon getting a pic with him and he accidentally put his arm around me. Our companions practically died.
7) Our district leader Elder R. is 6'8" and seeing his long legs sticking out of the desk never ceases to make me giggle. Seriously, he's so tall and skinny it kills me!
8) Sister Cobb had the 4th ward mia maids put together a care package for me and it seriously just made my life! It had cookies and letters and a scripture marker! Letters and packages kind of define how popular you are, so ;)
9) I got your Dear Elder letter!! You should post on my Facebook that people can write me through that! :) (Mom note: go to DearElder.com
I miss you guys so much. I got really homesick on Sunday, but having a P day is the best thing ever. Pray for me! I pray for you, my kazoku, every night.