I made it through one full week of being a missionary! Subarashii (Awesome)!
The very first day I only had 10 min to write to you, so I'll start out by telling you what happened on the first day.
When I arrived at the MTC, they just start shuffling you around the campus to get your books, drop off your luggage, and arrive in your classroom. Since I'm learning Japanese, the moment I entered the classroom the teachers were speaking only Japanese and it was terrifying. My teachers are Stratford Kyoudai (Brother Stratford) and Haderlie Shimai (Sister Haderlie) and they are amazing!
That first class we just introduced ourselves in Japanese and looked at each other in confusion, which was great. We got to take a break for dinner where they had BYU ice cream, a nice surprise after all the insanity we'd been through in the morning. After dinner, all the new missionaries (there were 500 of us) split up into rooms where, in groups of 100 or so, we got to teach an "investigator." I'm so glad they had us do that on the first day, in English because it got me so excited for my mission. I felt so much love for these people that I barely knew and I just wanted to share the gospel with them so badly! I try to keep that feeling in mind whenever I struggle with Japanese.
Now, for my companion and district. My companion is Hill Shimai (Sister Hill) from Sandy, Utah. She is the best! When I first saw her name on our dorm door I got so excited! We met once when a bunch of the sisters going to Tokyo had lunch at BYU back in April, so I already knew her a bit. She has such a strong testimony and she is really good about reminding me that I need to take breaks sometimes. In our room, we have 6 beds, but there are only 2 of us so the first day I thought "Oh the top bunk will be so fun!" Well, the next morning, the ladder was so shaky that I was afraid to get off the bed. I am now sleeping on the bottom bunk, where the only danger I face is constantly hitting my head on the top bunk. I swear, I have gotten more clumsy here at the MTC.
In my district we have 4 elders (2 Tokyo, 2 Sendai) and 6 sisters (all going to Tokyo). Erickson Shimai (Sister Erickson) is from Kent, WA so we talk about WA a lot. Pierre Shimai is from Brazil so she is learning both English and Japanese right now, and she is doing so well. Atkinson and Barton Shimai are the other companionship and they are so funny. Our Elders though, they are hilarious. They make jokes all the time and it makes class so much more interesting. Just yesterday, they spent 2 hours of our 4 hour study time creating an acapella barber shop quartet version of "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy" and it was amazing. All the sisters didn't really believe them when they said they were going to form that quartet, but it's honestly so good. They even learned the 3rd verse in Japanese and are trying to audition to be in a devotional next week.
Honda Shimai (Sister Honda) is not in my district, but she is across the hall so I see her all the time. I knew Honda Shimai 10 years ago when we both lived in Minnesota. The funny thing is, 5 seconds after I arrived at the MTC, I was telling my host my name (Sister Black) and this guy comes running up to me. Turns out it was Riley Preator, another of Honda Shimai and I's friends from Minnesota. I couldn't believe that he remembered me! We are trying to get a picture together before he leaves in 2 weeks for Lyon, France.
After the first day, we started learning Japanese for 3 hours a day, not including personal study time. Many of the elders and sisters in my district already know some Japanese, but Hill Shimai and I didn't so we really struggled over the first few days. We were getting so discouraged, so we talked to two of the older missionaries (Oka and Jones Shimai) and they just kept reminding us to not compare ourselves to others. Over the last two days, we have really tried to focus on our own Japanese and as a result, our ability to speak has increased dramatically.
My other problem with Japanese is that every time I try to think of a word or sentence I don't know in Japanese, I think of it in Spanish and it is so bad! I keep thinking in Spanish which is not the language I need to be focusing on. Oh goodness...
Along with all the language learning and district bonding, on Friday (just our 3rd day in the MTC) we had to teach our first investigator a lesson...IN JAPANESE. It was so hard, and we were just reading from our Japanese Preach My Gospel books and our Ninjas (Japanese phrase books). Since then we have taught our investigator (her name is Kuwahara-san) two more times and we have another lesson tonight. With each lesson, our understanding and ability to speak increases and that gives me a lot of hope for the next 8 weeks.
Each day at the MTC is packed with classes and study time, so you don't get much time to just relax. We end up sitting at desks for most of the day, but we do have about an hour of exercise time a day and my district plays some intense volleyball. We are obsessed with it. On Monday we even started playing continuous volleyball (no serving) and I was so out of breath. It was so much fun though!
Also, family, I met an Elder from Japan who is going to the Seattle Washington Mission so keep an eye out for Elder Fukuoka (or Fukuoda, I can't remember how to spell it exactly). He is so awesome and every time we see him, we get to practice our Japanese with a native speaker.
Lastly, last night we had a special speaker at our Tuesday Devotional. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the 12 came and not only gave an amazing talk, he also premiered his new song "One by One" and I was a part of the choir that sang it. Elder Bednar talked about how Christ knows each of us one by one and it was an amazing talk. I would encourage all of you to read Luke 15 and think about Christ's example and how he cares for each of us individually. One of the impressions I had during the meeting was that God loves me individually and he makes time for me. I have done a lot of praying over the last week to overcome my weaknesses and be able to feel the Spirit. Because of my struggles with Japanese, I have often felt more discouraged than spiritual and I want it to be the other way around. Since Sunday, I have definitely felt a change come over me as I focus on not comparing myself to others and I know that Heavenly Father is answering my prayers.
I just want you all to know that I love it here at the MTC. I'm excited to see the new missionaries today, with their orange dots, and tell them "Welcome to the MTC." It truly is a spiritual place and I am learning so much. It's hard, but my companion and district are so supportive and I am so glad that we were all called at this time to be with each other here in the MTC.
Please send me notes through Dear Elder (the information is on my blog)! We get mail every night and Dear Elder prints out your messages and I get them at night. It would be so nice to get some mail from all of you at the end of a long day.
Until next week!
(Also, sorry for all the Japanese, just know that Shimai=sister and Choro=elder and it is really hard for me to remember to say Sister Hill or Elder Nathan instead of Hill Shimai and Nathan Choro)
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