Burrakku Thunder!!!!!

Konnichiwa!!!

Let me just start out by telling all of you how amazing the MTC is. I have learned so much Japanese here. Let me put it this way, in 7 weeks I learned what would have taken me at least a year in a Japanese class outside of the MTC. It is amazing!

This week on Sunday, my whole district decided to watch "The Testaments" in Japanese since they were offering it and the other movies we wanted to watch were all full. There were no subtitles (in Japanese or English), so I was pleasantly surprised by how many words I was able to pick out and how much of the storyline I could understand. It probably would have been helpful to watch "The Testaments" in English first so I would know what was going on, but it's all good. That was the first sign to me that I have learned a lot of Japanese.

Second, my district decided to do an Eigo (English) fast on Monday. We couldn't speak any English all day. It was rough, but also super good because it made me realize that I know a lot more Japanese than I think I do. I was able to express my thoughts and say almost everything I really wanted to say. There were some small comments that I had to keep to myself because I didn't know how to say them in Japanese, but overall it was a really cool experience. Also, when we spoke Japanese, it encouraged our Kohai to speak more Japanese too, so overall our whole Zone spoke a lot more Japanese than we usually do.

Hill Shimai and I with Silva Choro.  He is from Brazil.

This week's teaching started out rough. We taught Shimada-San on Friday and it was difficult. We were so frustrated with our Nihongo and how she wasn't progressing. However, this week we started Mogi-ing (role playing) our lessons before going to teach and it made all the difference. So far, out of the 2 lessons we have Mogi-ed both of them were so powerful. The first lesson was with Asaka-San and we were just trying to teach her how everything is connected because God loves us. After the lesson, Lewis Shimai (who plays Asaka-San) told us it was our best lesson. That means so much coming from her because we have been teaching her since day 1. The other lesson was yesterday with Shimada-San again. We taught about the Restoration and the Spirit was so strong! After the lesson she told us that our lesson had been super powerful. That meant a lot to us as well since our last lesson with Shimada-San went so badly. I think we needed that bad lesson though to help us understand what we needed to change to become better missionaries. It wasn't until that lesson that we started to seriously Mogi our lessons, and those role plays have made all the difference.

That was the major trial of the week, but a lot of super fun things happened this week as well!

First of all, it was Akagi Choro's birthday on Monday. The whole time that we have been here he has refused to tell any of us when his birthday was, but we found out. All the Shimaitachi made decorations for his desk and we woke up early to decorate it and surprise him. He was so excited when he got to class and we started singing to him. We even made him a little party hat! His family then sent a ton of treats to him including cookies and orange rolls and Japanese candy. We feasted and had a great time. Also, his family send him Black Thunder. The teachers have been raving to us about Black Thunder candy the whole time we've been here so we were so excited to finally get to try it and it is so good!!! It's almost like Oreos covered in chocolate. Akagi Choro gave our teachers some and they were so excited!

This leads me to probably the greatest thing that has happened all week! We got our Katakana name tags this week!!!!! These are the name tags we get to use in Japan and mine looks so cute! When we were figuring out how to write our name in Katakana 6 weeks ago, the Sister that was helping us told me that the my name would be really easy to remember for the Nihongen. I didn't understand why until Akagi Choro got his package of sweets. My name is spelled the same way as Black Thunder is. Hahahaha!

My Japanese name tag and the mission scripture

Besides that, I am actually so excited for my name tag. I was running all over the building showing the Kohai and basically anyone that I saw. I was so excited! I think mine looks so cute with all the swishes. Also, it has my favorite Katakana character (tsu=ツ) and it's smaller than the rest of the characters on my name tag because it indicates that the K in my name should be a harsher/longer k. So my name is spelled ブラック which in Romagi is Burakku. It is so cool! We got them on Friday (the same day that had been really rough for Hill Shimai and I) and it made the day 1000x better. I still love looking at my name tag.

Other fun things that happened this week...last Wednesday, we had our last in-person TRC. This week we get to do Skype TRC with a member in Japan. It's going to be insane! Anyways, last week we got to teach a Return Missionary named Spencer and he was hilarious. We had so much fun. At one point, we asked him to read a scripture about charity and so he did, and at one point he just stops and says "Shino? What kind of word is that?" Hill Shimai and I almost died. It was just so funny, especially since the TRC people aren't supposed to speak English! It was just so funny!

My name tag and Black Thunder.  Look they are twins.

This week in exercise time, we have been playing sand volleyball outside because the gym is closed (they are redoing the floors). Well, volleyball outside is a lot more fun than inside, and a lot more dangerous :) I scream a lot more outside and the Kohai thing it is hilarious. Also, on Monday, Hill Shimai and I almost collided into each other and I screamed so loud. Oh my goodness, it's a problem. If you all were there you would have laughed, the Kohai did. Anyways, I also jammed my thumb playing volleyball on Saturday, whoops! I told my brother I would be get fewer juries than he did on his mission...but who knows if that will happen now.

Also, just so you all know, everyone here is also obsessed with Pokemon Go, which is hilarious since none of us have phones/have ever played it before. I basically know nothing about what has been happening in the outside world for the last 7 weeks, but I know about Pokemon Go, so weird. It's because the teachers are all obsessed with it, so they tell us about it. Apparently the MTC, the Provo Temple, and the Provo City Center Temple are all Pokemon gyms, which is awesome because it's totally a missionary opportunity! Haha, yeah, I hope you all enjoy playing Pokemon Go, feel free to send me pictures of your Pokemon!

Last Wednesday, our district actually got to help clean the Provo Temple! It was so fun! We got to wear these white scrubs and help clean the President's dining room. I helped hang crystals back on the chandeliers and we cleaned the whole room. It was so fun because we were working with some Sisters learning Chinese and we shared stories about why we decided to serve and crazy language learning stories. It was so fun! I love the temple. It's been closed the last two weeks for cleaning, and I am so excited to go back this week! I recently found out that the Tokyo temple is going to be closed almost my entire mission, so I am really going to enjoy these last few weeks when I can go to the temple.

Last thing, yesterday's devotional was about gaining more powerful testimonies through our trials and he shared one of my favorite scriptures from D&C: "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;" (D&C 121:7).

The Japanese Hiragana alphabet.  I am now learning Katagana.

I can definitely testify that this is true. I don't always share everything in these emails, but know that I have gone through my fair share of trials, but they have all helped me grow. Trials aren't meant to be fun, but they are there to help us become better, learn, and gain experience to help us in the future. My trial this week was teaching Shimada-San and after going through that trial, I was refocused and I was willing to change to help her. That one change benefited all my investigators. In the long run, our trials are but a small moment, but they can have eternal impacts on us. I know that in the past I have gone through trials that changed me and helped me become the person I am today.

Thank you so much for all of your support! I've heard that many of you like reading my letters and that makes me so happy! Thank you for reading them. I will only be in America for 2.5 more weeks and then I get to go to Japan. It will be a new and exciting adventure, but it also is a little scary.

Thank you all for being amazing!

ブラック姉妹 Black Shimai