October!

What a wonderful week to be at the Provo MTC! Actually, every week is a wonderful week here :) Also, HUGE SHOUTOUT to everyone who emailed and wrote me this past week. I got so many emails and letters from extended family and good friends, and it absolutely brightened my whole week :) You have no idea how much even a simple "hello" can mean so much to us missionaries :) We love you! And appreciate your constant support and love!

Last Thursday: Oh what a fantastic Pday! We played volleyball with the Koreans outside, in the blazing hot sun, and it was so hard to see the volleyball.

At one point, an elder going to Kobe looked at me and goes, "You have these magical things called hands that are meant to put the ball OVER the net...." Haha it was so embarrassing but so much fun :) Playing sports at the mtc is seriously like candy. For lunch, we ate with the Korean missionaries too, and we prayed in japanese and korean! It was way cool. The temple was amazing last thursday.

I was completely attentive and had a really good experience there. It is so nice to relax in the house of the Lord. Thursday night, we decided to read the Japanese Book Of Mormon, and man was it hard. It was a cool experience though. It is so hard to read things in japanese because they dont have spaces between their words, so in order to know where to pause, you have to already previously know the word. It was difficult, but it was nice to know that even though I was a slow reader, I could do it :)

 

Chapman Shimai fell asleep in class. Again.

Friday: I beat a huge group of elders and 2 gym teachers in a game of lightning/bump. It was so much fun haha the teachers were like joking around and bowing to me. it was pretty funny. Elder Houston, one of my favorite people here at the MTC, is a korean missionary and he slammed the volleyball straight into my face and knocked me on the ground... Flat like a pancake. It hurt so badly but was so funny. Everyone in the gym was dying laughing. Friday, I started teaching Chapman Shimai piano. She is so dedicated to learning how to play one song before she goes to Japan.

Here is one of our elders taking a picture of himself while Chapman Shimai and I were learning the piano.

 

She has never sat down at a piano before in her whole life! It was so amazing seeing her light up when I taught her how to play just a few notes :) she is a such a delight. Friday night, we decided to go outside and play Colors in the grass, but using gospel terms in japanese instead of colors. And let me tell ya, it was the funnest night EVER. we had so much fun :) it was nice to get our energy out too. afterwards, we had a testimony meeting as a class, and it was so awesome. everyone shared their favorite scripture, and mine was of course, Doctrine and Covenants 84:88. Afterwards, my teacher, Nitta Sensei, brought me aside and told me that he thinks we would be good friends. It was nice to hear that from him because i have so much respect for him. he is such an amazing teacher and has strengthened my japanese and my testimony so much. he has helped chapman shimai and i a TON. he always picks on me and makes fun of me, but he let me know that its just because he thinks we would be friends haha which was awesome to hear.

 

Saturday: We studied 3 Nephi chapter 17, which is the chapter where Jesus blesses the little children and heals the sick and the afflicted. I love reading about how loving the savior is and how caring and concerned he is for each one of us. Christ is incredible. The things he did for us all are incredible. Christ-like attributes are nothing short of amazing. His love is boundless, never-ending. He is so forgiving that we cannot even fathom it. I still don't fully understand how I am forgiven for all of my mistakes and shortcomings. Sometimes, I feel like I have made so many mistakes in my life and start to doubt. But whenever I think those thoughts about myself, I try to think of how Christ sees me, which is not the same as how the world sees me. I know that I can accomplish amazing things in my life, but only through Christ. I challenge you all to give that some thought throughout this week :)

 

Sunday: Chapman Shimai and I taught sunday school! Our lesson was on faith in jesus christ. We showed our class the video, "Mountains To Climb" and it brought the spirit so strongly into our lesson. If any of you havent seen it, please watch it! It is amazing and it made so well. Our lesson went so well. The spirit in the room was so strong, and hearing chapman shimai bear her testimony in english/french/japanese was so amazing. She is such a strong person! I look up to her so much, as does everyone else in my district. Sacrament meeting was hard... our senpai, the group going to japan before us and who became our closest friends, were leaving, so they sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again." Everyone was crying.... and I was no exception. It was so hard to say goodbye to them. Roney Shimai, one of the senpai, became like my sister at the mtc. i already miss her so much and cannot wait to travel the world with her after the mission. You're the best Roney! The devotional sunday night was really good. It was on Doctrine and Covenants section 4. Two things I really liked:

 

1. Just because we are set apart missionaries, it does not mean that the adversary will not try to get us down. If anything, it will try to impact us even more than it did before.

 

2. If we start self-doubting and thinking we are not worthy, follow Joseph Smith's example and immediately turn to the Lord.

 

After the devotional, we decided to go watch Legacy in japanese, and it was the strangest and most difficult thing ever hahaha the room was like empty and we did not understand anything. All of us japanese missionaries just looked at each other with huge eyes, terrified about going to japan haha because they spoke so fast that we could hardly understand the words that we did know, let alone the ones we had not learned yet. Haha it was a funny way to end the day.

 

Monday: I got a memory foam mattress from on of the senpai! I am so stoked! It is so comfy to sleep on. Lately I have been learning how to play the songs 'Abide with me tis eventide' and 'in christ alone.' I love both of those songs so much. If you have not heard the song, "In Christ Alone," please go listen to it. It is amazing :) We taught an investigator named Kojima Kyodai, and Chapman shimai and I had our first big mess up..... haha we meant to say that teaching him brings us happiness, but ended up saying, "we bring you happiness." haha and then I tried to tell him that I was proud of him, and instead told him that I thought he had a long nose....... It was an interesting lesson haha and I felt extremely dumb afterwards, but hey, its funny right?

 

Tuesday: So i have decided that a HUGE part of missionary work is your attitude. you have to stay positive and always have a smile on your face. after all, how could we not be happy when we are the Lord's servants? The gospel is so wonderful, how could we get frustrated? I understand that we are all human, and stress and frustration can motivate us, but I have seen many missionaries get frustrated with themselves, and then have their whole day effected by the fact that their lesson didnt go as planned, or that they forgot a word, or something like that. we cannot let that happen to us! Chapman Shimai is a wonderful example of this. she is constantly having a good attitude, yet she has had to learn TWO languages in the past 6 weeks. That is truly amazing if you ask me. Tuesday night's devotional was really great. In it, we sang, I feel my saviors love. I got another close up on the camera..... it's starting to get really embarrassing because now i am known as the choir girl. first the girl in a wheelchair, and now the girl who's always on the screen. haha just kidding. The devotional was given by a member of the 70, Elder Schwitzer and his wife. 3 things I really liked:

 

1. 2 Timothy 2:3. We must endure our hardships. I am a soldier for Jesus Christ :) Also, 2 Timothy 1:7 has become one of my favorite scriptures since being at the MTC.

 

2. "Pull yourself together. You can do this. Keep your head up and your shoulders back."

 

3. How will the world remove our values if they are engraved in our hearts?

 

Wednesday: We got to teach a 30 minute lesson to a church member in Japan through skype!!!! I am so excited to serve in japan! You have no idea. Chapman Shimai and I LOVED teaching this cute little older lady from japan. she was so sweet and just as smiley as you can be :) Chapman shimai and I are also really starting to feel the spirit in our lessons. we are connecting more with our investigators and it is so nice to truly feel like the missionary spirit is being carried with us. I cannot wait to go to japan and feel that spirit with our real investigators.

got my nametag in Japanese!

They were too big for us, so we compromised!

 

I love sharing the gospel. If any of you are ever struggling, turn to the Lord. He can remove all heartaches. All sadness. He is all-knowing, and cares for YOU so much. I have felt his love this past week. And at times when I am struggling, I can feel him and his angels holding me up to give me strength. D&C 84:88. I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week :)

 

Keep smiling :) Ai Shite Imasu,

 

Kasteler Shimai