May 25, 2013

On May 25, 2013 Sister Johnson wrote:

THE PLAGUE HAS STRUCK!

Ohayo gozaimasu, mina san!

So you might be wondering about the title of this blog post, "The Plague has Struck!" My entire district is really sick! It's so sad! We had one Elder in the ER last weekend, because he got really bad bronchitis, and then two Shimaitachi got nasty colds with coughing, then two more Shimaitachi got the stomach flu and have been in bed for three days, and then one other Elder has a cold! Holy cow! It is so bad! It's kind of hilarious though; I'm surprised they haven't quarantined us all. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

Good news though; this last Wednesday marked the EXACT half-way point of being in the MTC! WOOHOO!!!! I seriously can't even say how excited I am. Four weeks to go! Tuikolovatu Shimai is now the senior companion, and we are about to the point where ALL of our classes are in Japanese. It is insane. I can't believe how much Nihongo I can understand, even if I can't speak it very well yet. The hardest part, I think, is the everyday Japanese part. I know a ton of churchy vocab and such, but not very much about seikatsu (every-day life). I can talk about food, but that's about it. But! It's coming along. :)

This last Sunday's devotional was my absolute favorite so far! A woman named Mary Ellen Edmunds came to speak to us. She was one of the first 17 sisters to serve in the Phillipines, and there are now 21 missions there! Her legacy is incredible, and she was such an inspiration to me. She spoke about being a "happy fire." What a wonderful phrase! I have really tried to apply that in my life this week. What does it mean to be a "happy fire?" Well, it means that you press forward with a loving optimism, and steadfast faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ! Heavenly Father has blessed me with light and with optimism, and it was this last week that I learned that light is called my happy fire. I will always strive to be a happy fire. I encourage you to do the same. :)

Also this week, I have started to read the Book of Mormon in Nihongo! Talk about crazy! It's all in hiragana and katakana (Japanese characters). I can't understand everything that I am reading, but when I read aloud, it really helps with my pronunciation and fluidity. I am reading in Alma chapter 7 right now, and I can only do about five verses in half an hour, but it is going well and it is improving my ability to speak! The Lord has blessed me so much.

On Monday, Tui Shimai and I were teaching Harukawa-San, one of our investigators. We were talking about the Restoration of the Gospel and Joseph Smith, and in that moment, I felt prompted to invite Harukawa to be baptised. In halted speech, I quietly said, "Harukawa-San wa, Iesu Kirisuto no mohan ni shittagatte, Kami no shinken no kenno o motsu hito kara, baputesuma o ukete itadakemasu ka?" which translated means, "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptised by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?" He paused, and then said, "Hai." Yes! We have a baptism!!!!! In that moment, my heart was flooded and overwhelmed with Heavenly Father's love for his precious son, Harukawa-San. Wow! What an incredible thing. Tui Shimai and I are so excited. You may have guessed that Harukawa-San isn't an actual investigator, but he is who we are teaching here in the MTC for practice. He is a wonderful person, and I am so grateful for the oppurtunity I have to teach him.

On Wednesday, Tui Shimai had out-patient surgery! What really happened was she got her in-grown toenail cut off. Gross! But it allowed her and I to take a field trip off the MTC campus to the BYU health center to pick up her prescription! It wasn't very far, and I was a little disappointed there wasn't a 7-11 close by (I wanted to get a REAL Diet Coke, haha), but it was so nice to leave jail for half an hour! haha. It's not a jail here, but there sure are some days when it feels like one. Tui Shimai is doing very well, and her toe is healing quickly.

Perhaps one of the best hours of this week was Thursday gym time. It was about 80 degrees that day, with a nice cool breeze, so we decided to go outside. I layed down on the grass in the sunshine for 40 whole minutes!! Yes, I did get a sunburn, but it was SO worth it. I have been in good mood since that day. Yesterday though, I got a little bit of the stomach bug that's going around the district, so I took a nap yesterday, and then went to bed early last night, and now I feel good again!

Overall, this was a pretty good week. It's funny though; time here is so strange. Days drag on, but weeks fly by. I definitely have my ups and downs, but I am determined to always be a happy fire! The Lord is my Light. He leads me along, and guides me every day. He wraps his arms around me when I'm feeling low, and rejoices with me in my successes. I love Jesus Christ. He is ALL the reason.

I love you all. Thank you so much for the love. Keep it coming. :)
Ai shite imasu! Iesu Kirisuto wa Sukuinushi da to akashi shimasu! :)
-Johnson Shimai