Don't Worry, I Got to See the Fireworks

Konnichiwa!

This week we got two new investigators! It's exciting but also stressful. Hill Shimai and I were scheduled to teach 8 times this week, for 3 different investigators. That means a lot of lesson planning!

Our first investigator is Shimada-San and she is actually our new teacher, Taylor Shimai. Taylor Shimai is Nihongen (Japanese) and lived in Japan during high school so she speaks like a real Nihongen. After our first lesson with her I felt like I was back in my first week because I barely understood her at all. She used so many new words and talks really quietly, but it's good practice for Japan. We had another lesson yesterday and it was so much better. We better understood her needs and we were able to feel the Spirit. Yay!

Our other investigator is Miura-San and we've only taught her once. First lessons are always hard because you can't really plan them. Most of the time we try to get to know them and their needs so that future lessons can be better planned to suit their needs. This really stresses me out since I like having a plan.

We were preparing for our lessons
and then decided to become the emoji monkeys.

Good news though? Our lessons were all pretty good and we have plans for all three investigators, which almost never happens for us. Usually we won't have any idea what we want to plan until closer to the time we are teaching.

Now, I've had a special request to tell you a little bit about exercise time. So I get 1 hour of exercise time every day except Tuesday's (we set up for devotional instead of exercise time) and Sunday. My district loves volleyball and we've gotten the Kohai into it too. I am actually terrible at volleyball, but after 5 weeks of playing it almost every day, I am slowly getting better. Atkinson Shimai, Hill Shimai, and Akagi Choro are like my personal cheerleaders. Anytime I hit the ball they all cheer for me :) Lately it's been pretty nice outside (not to hot) so we will play on the sand and it is so fun! Those of you who took PE with me in high school know that I end up on the ground a lot when I play sports, well it's no different here. The other day I landed on the sand probably 10 times. Also, I scream a lot and the Kohai think it's hilarious.

My district with Stratford Sensei
on his last day with us

Besides volleyball, I'll also sometimes run on the track that's on the second level of the gym. This week, I was running and there was an Elder who would high five me after every lap. I'm not the best runner, but I came up with a plan for myself. There are 4 corners to the track (10 laps equals a mile). So the Kohai were in 1 corner, the Elder who was giving me high fives was in the next corner and the other two were free. So, I decided I would run from the Kohai, past the high five giver, and all the way to the next corner then I could walk the rest of the way. The main point of all this was that I ran a lot more than I normally would because of that Elder, so I was glad he was there. :)

On Saturday, they canceled exercise time without telling us, so McFarlane Shimai and I went on an adventure. We walked around the MTC for our exercise and explored building 4M. For anyone coming to the MTC, take the time to go look in that building. It is so nice and they have the prettiest pictures! We went to all 4 floors and talked to some missionaries as we went. It was really nice.
Now the reason they closed the gym on Saturday was because we had a special International Celebration of Freedom devotional for the 4th of July. It was super nice! They had missionaries parade flags around the gym and Japan and Thailand were right next to each other. The devotional was really nice, they talked about freedom of religion and freedom of choice. The real highlight of the night though was that we got to go into the parking lot and watch fireworks AND STAY UP PAST OUR BEDTIME!!!!! Normally, lights out is at 10:30, but we got to watch fireworks until they ended at about 11:15. I didn't get to bed until past midnight, but it was so worth it. The fireworks were great, and our zone sang a bunch of songs (hymns of course). I don't know when I'll see fireworks again, since I'll be in Japan next 4th of July, so it was nice to see some this week. However, the next day (Fast Sunday) I was dying. I went to bed at midnight, and still had to be up at 6:30 and then we had personal study for 2 hours. I was so tired throughout the whole morning. It was bad. We were all dying.

Akagi Choro and his new favorite socks

Funny story of the week: So some of our Elders don't have the right socks. Socks are supposed to be dark, conservative, and match their slacks, but they have some patterned and green ones, so the Shimaitachi decided to help them out. Some of the sisters bought the Elders some black socks from the MTC store to help them be obedient, and they left the socks on the Elders' desks with anonymous notes. Well, apparently the Elders were going around trying to match the handwriting on the notes to the handwriting in our journals to find out who was giving them socks. For some reason this led to a secret sock exchange. Us, Sisters, decided to mess with the Chorotachi by randomly having different sisters give socks to different people. On Day 1, Hill Shimai put socks on Atkinson Shimai's desk and Atkinson Shimai pretended to get all mad. Akagi Choro was so confused and he started saying that he wanted socks, so he was our next victim. Erickson Shimai gave him a pair of women's shoe liners that are pink and yellow and it was so funny because he actually loves them. He put them on and started dancing around the room. It was hilarious! We have to keep ourselves entertained somehow here. I don't know who
will be the next person who gets socks. Really, this sounds a little silly, now that I'm reading it again, but it's all good.

One of my greatest accomplishments this week was when I started watching the "Because of Him" video (my favorite) in Japanese and I could actually pick out Hiragana that I could read. There is a lot of Kangi in the video that I can't read, but just the fact that I can pick out bits and pieces of the Hiragana is huge for me.

Another accomplishment? I memorized the First Vision in Japanese. The version I memorized was JSH 1:16-17 and in Nihongo it is really long and has a lot of words I don't know. It was the best feeling to sit in a lesson, teaching about the Restoration, and being able to tell that amazing experience to my investigator from memory.

These are all great accomplishments, but they only came because I never gave up. The first weekend I was here at the MTC, I was about ready to give up because Japanese was too hard. If I had given up then, I wouldn't be here right now. I wouldn't be able to speak or understand as much as I can right now. I didn't give up though. I pushed forward, one step at a time, and here I am. I have come so far and grown so much, it's amazing.

As I passed my halfway point here at the MTC this week, I realized 2 things. 1. Japan gets closer and closer every day and I need to be ready. It's scary, but also exciting. 2. I have come such a long way since Day 1. You really just have to take it one step at a time, one hour at a time, one lesson at a time. Improvement takes time, but if you keep climbing, you will never fall.

You are all amazing and I am so glad that you have helped me improve and grow throughout my life. Thank you so much!

Black Shimai