Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Tuesday, January 15, 2013 - Week One

Hey Mom and Dad!

The MTC is awesome!  I'm absolutely loving it!  The food is all right (my stomach has been a tad on the fritz adjusting to it, but I'm all right) and very plentiful!

My companion is Elder Hapi, and he is also going to Kobe.  He is from Australia, but he's of native New Zealand descent.  He is an amazing guy and we get along great.  He's funny and he laughs a lot.  There is another companionship in our room.  Elder Oliveira (from Brazil) and Elder Jensen (from North Carolina).  They are also going to Kobe and they are so much fun to be around.  It has been a bit strange adjusting to having a companion, but it's a good kind of strange.  Like I said, Elder Hapi and I get along great and we're basically like brothers.

The Ni Hon go is coming along wonderfully!  The gift of tongues is real and the Lord truly blesses those he calls to learn a new language.  I have been learning Japanese so much more quickly than I ever have before.  Beyond that, 2 Elders (Moretti and Oliveira) in my district are from Brazil so they are learning Japanese (completely new to both of them) from an English speaking teacher.  It has been absolutely incredible to see how amazingly quickly they've progressed and how they've been blessed.  My sensei is an amazingly loving guy and is so supportive of me and the rest of the district.

It's really cool that they have us teaching lessons to investigators already.  The first appointment we had with a kyudosha was last Friday, and it was all in Japanese.  My companion and I struggled a bit, but it's really amazing how the Spirit works through you and you can feel it's presence and feel it testifying to you and your investigator of the truth of what you're saying, even when you don't entirely understand what you're saying.

Sunday was amazing.  In sacrament meeting they blessed the bread and water in Ni Hon go.  The talks were in Japanese and we sang the hymns in Japanese.  It was super cool!

Jolly Choro and I have been able to see each other quite frequently.  Beyond seeing him around classes and just walking him around, I normally walk or run with him during gym time.  It's so nice to have a friend to talk to and share my thoughts with.  Though I'm making many friends I really love being able to have a close friend around.

Justin is going to Pennsylvania?!  That's so awesome!  Tell him congratulations for me.  He's going to be an incredible missionary.

By the way, please keep using DearElder.com.  They send me a hard copy of the letter you send the same day, whereas with e-mail I have to wait until P-day to read it.  It's nice to have letters earlier so that I can read them and start to think about what to reply to you throughout the week, rather than having to read and reply on P-day. 

I'll try and send you some pictures soon!  I love you and miss you all so much.

Elder Hutchings