It's been a crazy week! First off, I apologize for the post last week. I had a great post written out; I had every day in detail. The computers here at the MTC are tough to use; there is no file browser to upload the pictures so even getting them onto the post was difficult. When I uploaded the pictures, it deleted my post that I was writing. I also had no idea that you wouldn't be able to see the pictures. Hopefully I get it right this time. As for the pictures from last week, I deleted them off my camera so they are only online; I might have to wait until I get to a regular computer to upload them cause I can't download them here.
Last week, I mentioned that we taught our investigator, Ohira-san. Turns out that she isn't a real investigator! The day after our last lesson, she came into our class and told us she was our new teacher, Sister Waddell! That sure was a shock! Cuff Choro said he felt betrayed lol So now we have 3 teachers: Strauss Kyodai, Waddell Shimai, and Chau Shimai. I love them all, especially Strauss Kyodai. He's super funny. Although they only speak Japanese to us, we have a great bond! We got two new "investigators" this week. Aoi-san and Oto-san. Cuff Choro and I taught Aoi-san yesterday. It was rough, just like our first lesson with Ohira-san. But we won't give up.
After class on Thursday, it rained! Everyone scrambled to get to their residence halls. I love rain, especially cause we don't get much of it back in California. It rained all of Friday and half of Saturday. I got to wear my coats; I love winter wear. We don't have a true winter in California. It's pretty much two seasons: summer and a little bit colder summer lol. On Saturday, we learned Japanese verb bases. It's easier than conjugations in Spanish but it's still difficult. At the beginning of the afternoon class, Strauss Kyodai made us run around the building. Little did I know that my tag fell off while running. Luckily, a good samaritan found it and took it to the lost and found, where I got it back later. Anyway, Strauss Kyodai talked about stress management. That helped us out a lot along with the volleyball game that we played after.
Every Sunday morning, there is a branch presidency meeting; the branch presidency, zone leaders, and district leaders attend. We just discuss how our districts are doing and any improvements we can make. Dai-senpai are the missionaries that have been here for at least 6 weeks. Senpai are those that have been here for 3. Kouhai are those that are under 3, including me. This past Sunday was the dai-senpais' last regular sunday before they leave to Japan; they leave on Monday, Oct 3. Since this coming sunday is general conference (which I'm excited for), the farewell meeting was moved to this past sunday. We went to the temple to take a branch/zone picture. Sacrament meeting was super spiritual. The branch presidency thanked the dai-senpai for their service here. There were 4 special music performance. A couple missionaries from my district -Bill Shimai and Davis Choro- performed in a few. At the end, the dai-senpai sung "I'll Find You My Friend" in Japanese. It was beautiful! During all of the performances, the spirit was felt so strongly. For those that know me, you know that I am not much of a crier. I didn't cry during graduation or when I flew out to the MTC. However, during that sacrament meeting, I couldn't help tearing up a lot. Us kouhai haven't know the dai-senpai for long but the bond that we have with them is amazing. We love them so much and we'll miss them.Huber Choro, Queiroz Choro, Short Shimai, and Conejo Shimai are our zone leaders; its hard to believe that they are leaving already. I'll also miss Kamae Choro, Nielson Choro, McDonald Choro, Ford Shimai, Paige Shimai, and Morris Shimai. I know they will do great in Japan and I wish them the best! Our branch is going to shrink a lot; we are losing 23 missionaries and only gaining 3 this week. I'll be a senpai next week...its crazy to think I've been here for almost 3 weeks!
I should explain the whole "DESU" thing for the title. After the first few days of our arrival, my district was pretty worn out. We decided to speak "fake Japanese". We would say a sentence in English and add "desu"-which means is/are and is usually placed at the end of a Japanese sentence- at the end. We laughed so much whenever someone did that. Strauss Kyodai showed us a serious video; at the end of the video, it was quiet. Then he just says "desu". We burst into laughter and he was confused. We explained it to him after. Little things like that are more reasons for me to love my mission and the people around me.
I'll have to talk about the members in my district in another post as I don't want to spend all of my P-day talking writing about how wonderful they are. I love them so much! Every night, before we go to bed, our zone has a devotional. Someone gives a spiritual thought and then we have a prayer. After that, we hug each other and say "ai shite imasu", which means "I love you". The love in our branch is amazing. I love my mission so much! Anyway I hope all of you have a great week! I'll write more next week! Ai shite imasu!
District 5B! From Top: Davis Choro, Crippen Choro, Me, Jones Choro, Cuff Choro, and Sadler Choro
Bottom: Epling Shimai, Lockett Shimai, Snow Shimai, and Bills Shimai
Cuff Choro and I at the Provo temple after doing endowments!
Kamae Choro and Ballard Choro!
So takosan means octopus..but we thought they said taco-san..No need to explain.Our new mascot!
First rainy day!
My English tag! My name will be in Katakana when I get my new tags!
The view from the entrance gate at the MTC
Branch 5 of the Japanese missionaries!
Zone leaders Queiroz Choro and Huber Choro
District 5B's Chorotachis! Jones Choro,Davis Choro, Crippen Choro, Sadler Choro,Me, Cuff Choro
Zone leaders and I!
McDonald Choro and I
Reppin' Japan
District 5B Shimaitachi: Lockett Shimai, Epling Shimai, Bills Shimai, Snow Shimai
Last week's Pday!
The best ChÅrotachi ever!
P-day fun!
