Thanks for everything that you guys sent for my birthday. It was really nice to get more food, but even better to get the letters that you all packed into the box. The only downside was that our room is getting to the point where we can't eat all of our food, even though we still have six weeks left. The camera will also be really nice, and I will try to keep it on me to get some pictures of the temple or other crazy things that happen. Thanks a lot!
In class everyone is really starting to get pounded by Japanese, which is funny, because our two teachers have actually been speaking more in English to help us understand. We're starting to work on more complex sentences, such as "I am thankful for being able to receive the gift of tongues," rather than just "I am thankful for the gift of tongues" or "Through reading the Book of Mormon you can endeavor to feel peace." They may not seem like much, but I never realized how complex, for lack of a better term, my English sentences were until I had to break them up into multiple Japanese ones, just because I don't know how to translate it. It's a fun job that we have, but its getting to the point that its also one that we need all nine hours for, and more.
Personnel-wise, half of our Branch left for Japan Monday morning. We lost about 30 people, and we currently only have 3 districts left in our new-to-Japanese Branch. I didn't expect missing them horribly, as we only knew them for three weeks, but their presence is dearly missed, be it in how to get around the MTC, simple conversations, or Japanese facts. As of today, when we get 1 new Japanese district, we are going to be the experienced students, and I know for a fact that we don't know near enough Japanese for that responsibility. But, on the bright side, they don't know that we don't know, and that will give us just enough time to stay ahead of them.
One thing I think I mentioned last week that was coming up was TRC, where we taught lessons to Japanese members as another way of practicing our Japanese. We teach two lessons every Wednesday night, so it happened last week after I emailed home. Being fully honest, I loved the experience. We didn't know much Japanese, but it was great for me to be able to go into a lesson where the person knew roughly about the gospel, and maybe only had a few questions or just wanted to talk. One of the things I've found, which has frusturated a couple of lessons Elder Nukaya and I have taught, is that in Japanese I have absolutely no idea how to get to know people, or transition, or generally start a lesson. But when we get to talk to someone who knows our message, I get to skip that part! It will be a double edged sword, because that is definitely something I'll need to learn in Japan, but I get to practice that with our actual 'invesitgators', so for now, I'm not complaing.
The rest of the stuff we've been doing here has been pretty uneventful, at least for the MTC. Last night we had a member of the 70 come, Elder Juan Ucera, and he gave a great devotional on his personal conversion and the testimony that it has brought him. We're still spoiled, because after Elder Anderson the first week we really want another apostle, but it was a good talk, and testified of the importance of bearing testimony. Sundays devotional was a bit odd, as it was the Nashville Tribute Band, and they led the devotional through Mormon Country Song. It was something I've never heard before, and while I don't know if I would do it again, it was great to hear the strength of their testimony through song.
That's really pretty much it for this week, just Japanese lessons, Investigator lessons, and personal study. If you have any questions, just send them and I'll work on answering them for next week. Thanks again for all the birthday gifts!
Love,
Elder Woodhouse
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| Mitch's First Japanese Branch in MTC before the senpai (senior group) left for Japan |
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