Oh We're Halfway There, Oh Living on a Prayer

Konnichiwa!

This upcoming week will be my halfway point here at the MTC. I'm so excited! Also, we get to watch the fireworks this Saturday for the 4th of July and that is going to be awesome.

What happened this week? Well 28 new Kohai showed up and it has been chaos. 700 missionaries reported last Wednesday as well as 171 mission presidents, who were coming for the New Mission President seminar. Due to the Seminar, all of 1M (the building with the cafeteria and the administrative stuff) was closed and everything was shuffled around. Therefore, the whole MTC was slightly chaotic as the huge wave of new missionaries came in and all of us "old" missionaries had their schedules moved around. It's all good though, we are back to normal. Now we just have to handle 28 Kohai. It's kind of fun having them here because I get to give them advice and help them navigate the MTC. They are going through the same ups and downs that I went through when I first got here.

Other benefits of having Kohai: 1. More people to play volleyball with 2. More people to talk to at meals 3. More people to sing in sacrament meeting

4 of the new sisters moved into Hill Shimai and I's room this week. They are the sweetest! Sisters Pratt (Redmond, WA), McFarlane (Colorado), Perkins (Marysville, WA), and Freed (Salt Lake City) are the best and they are not afraid to ask us questions whenever they have them. While I miss the quiet room we had before, I am so glad that we got these four amazing sisters. They are all so excited and their excitement rubs off on me a bit.

Also, surprise, I got to go into the outside world! For Sunday lunch, all the missionaries got to walk to the Morris Center at BYU for lunch. It was so fun to walk outside. Lots of people honked at us as we walked and that was pretty funny too. They gave us steak and potatoes which were okay, but the salad bar was to die for. I wanted to go back for more, but the line was so long. It was so nice to be back on campus though, even if it was just for a few hours. I love BYU and I can't wait to go back there after my mission.

Japanese update: I now know all of Hiragana including combinations, ten tens, and the little circles. I've also started memorizing the First Vision in Japanese and it is tough. There are a lot of words I don't know yet, but I'm learning them as I go. One word is kagayaite (super fun to say) and it means to shine or to sparkle.

Also, Stratford Sensei's last day was yesterday so we took a picture with him. He was one of my favorite teachers and I will miss him! He made learning Japanese so much fun. He also told us a lot of stories about his mission and his family. Last week, on the way to the temple we actually got to meet his wife and his son, Carter. They were so cute!

Last little funny story. There is an Elder going to the Tokyo South mission who is in the classroom down the hall. His name is Elder Silva, he's from Brazil, and he is so funny. Well, during the New Mission President Seminar, we were told not to approach any of the General Authorities, but if they approached us we could shake their hand. Elder Silva doesn't understand much English so I don't think he realized that. On Friday, Elder Oaks walked past Elder Silva and was shaking hands with some of the other missionaries. Elder Silva didn't realize it was one of the Quorum of the 12, so he gave him a fist bump. I almost died when I heard that! He gave an apostle a fist bump!

I never saw any apostles, sadly, but there was a difference here at the MTC due to their presence. Despite how many confused people there were, there was also a calm over the whole MTC. It really was an honor to have them here.

Hill Shimai and I have had a goal this week to bring the Spirit to every lesson we taught (and we taught a lot this week).

We started out with TRC where one of the members we taught was from Redmond. He told us he could feel the Spirit when we shared some experiences about serving others, even though he didn't really know what we were saying. :)

In almost every one of the lessons we taught to our investigators we felt the Spirit. It was so great! We would go in with a plan and a word bank of Japanese words we thought we would use and then the Spirit would guide us away from the plan, to say exactly what the investigator needed. I want every one of my lessons to feel like that, where the Spirit guides me to understand the investigator's needs and help them.

We also taught Relief Society on Sunday. The topic was Recognizing the Holy Ghost and once again the Spirit led us to ask questions and call on people and share thoughts that made the Spirit so strong. We didn't want the lesson to end! As a missionary, the Spirit is your best friend. I know that I always want him there to help guide me in everything I do. We've had lessons this week where we weren't able to feel the spirit and they were not nearly as good. Hopefully this week we will be able to bring the Spirit to every lesson.

Lastly, this week we had some amazing devotionals. We had Mervyn B. Arnold of the Quorum of the 70 come yesterday and one thing that really stood out to be was when he said that God knew each of us personally before we came here. In fact, he knew us so well that he was able to pick the exact time and place to send us that would help us grow the most. It's comforting to me to know that He knew me that well, to send me to this time, this place, this family, because he knew it would be what was best for me.

This week has been amazing (every week has). I feel like I've learned so much. Honestly, the number one thing I've learned is that the church doesn't create robot missionaries. They don't tell you how to teach, or how to convince people to be baptized. Missionaries are people. The MTC is a place were we get to figure our how we will be missionaries. We are all unique and we each bring our own experiences and knowledge to missionary work. So, be nice to your missionaries!!! They are real people!

You are all amazing! Thank you for reading my email and for emailing me too!

Have a great week!

Sister Black