week 3

Konnichiwa Mina San!!!!

I cant believe this will be my third week here at the MTC! time is flying by! it feels like just yesterday i was dropped off at the curb! What another wonderful week this has been! I am the luckiest Shimia ever! Everything is just so good! I dont even know where to begin! Seriously everyday here is just so great! Even the bad ones! Last sunday was awesome! It was sad celebrating father's day without my amazing dad but it was such a sweet day getting to think about how great my dad is while being filled with the spirit! Our meetings talked a lot about celebrating our Heavenly father as well and how much we have to be grateful for! I felt very loved by both of my fathers that day :) Sunday night we watched The Testament in Nehongo! Even though i still didnt understand more then 15% of what was said, the message was the still the same and in my heart i knew that it was true. I know there is a savior and i know he loves us all!!

We now have two investigators that we teach three times a week! Shohei, and Komeda-San! Moss Shimai and I are getting better at not using our notes as much when we teach lessons but it is still sooooooooooo hard! When our lessons go well, we are the happiest two people on the earth! When they don't go as well as we hoped, we both get very discouraged. Its crazy how up and down our days go. I always have a lesson plan written out, and i have all the words in japanese that i need. I stress out too much and think that i need everything right in front of me. But our best lessons have been the ones where the lesson doesnt go according to plan and somehow the words just come! We probably aren't speaking with correct grammar or really even making sense but we open our mouths and we speak! its the neatest thing! Our investigators seem to understand and its the best feeling ever! The gift of tongues is real! i wish that these experiences happened more, but it just makes me that much more grateful when they do!

I am absolutely in love with my district! The Shimai-tachi in our disctrict have become my best friends and family! Obviously no one could ever replace my real family and all my amazing friends but i am so grateful that I have these amazing sisters to share this difficult yet amazing experience with!

Thursday was by far the best day I've had here so far! For Nehongo class, Tingey Sensei took us to a different classroom and we were taught by another Sensei. He talked to us about the Plan of Salvation. Looking back now, he really didnt teach much. But boy did i learn a lot! He had us really think about the message of the plan of happiness and how it applies to our life. That room was filled to the very ceiling with the greatest most overwhelming feelings of love that i have ever experienced. Me being me.. cried like a baby for the duration of the class! In that hour, I felt so very loved by my Heavenly Father. he wanted me to know that he loves me and cares about me and has a purpose for me in this life. He told me through the strongest feelings I have ever felt. Our Sensei asked us to roleplay as if he were the investigator. He looked at me and asked if the Savior was standing next to me what would i say to him? All i could do was whisper, that the Savior is standing next to him as well. The Savior is always by our side bearing us up! I feel his loving arms around me often! I am so very grateful to know who i am, my purpose in life, that i am not here by accident, and that there is a loving Heavenly father who loves all of his children. I also learned that knowing your purpose as a missionary is the key to having success. My purpose is to invite others to come unto Chirst! In the language of the spirit! nehongo is secondary to the spirit and i forget that a lot. I allow myself to get so caught up in the language that it takes over every thought i have. But when I rmember my purpose and when i remember others and not my self, the Lord helps me, and guides me, and helps my understanding of this crazy confusing but beautiful language!

Today we are doing our first TRC which is where we teach an actual investigator! I am soooooooooo insanely nervous! We've been teaching our teachers who are so nice and there's not as much pressure. Today i am feeling very overwhelmed and nervous! I just dont know what to expect! But i have faith that we will do our best and God will deliever the rest! Luckily we're about to go to the temple which i know will help calm my nerves!

Well I love you all so much and pray for everyone daily! Thank you all for the love, support, prayers, and letters!!! I have been blessed with the greatest people in my life! thank you! Iesu Kirisuto ga sukuinishi da to shitte imasu. Iesu Kirisuto ga mina san o ai suru. Kyokai wa Shinjitsu desu! Ai shitte masu!!!! I I LOVE YOU!!!!

Christensen Shimai <3