June 1, 2013

Konnichiwa, mina san!

Wow, it is June 1st today! That is so wonderful and crazy! I can hardly believe how fast time is going by here, but at the same time, it is taking FOREVER! Haha, that is the time-warp of the MTC, I guess. I hope that you all are doing well and are in good health. :)

Well, this week was an especially hard one for me, but I have made it to Saturday. It's incredible how blessed I am, and how much the Lord is aware of me. I don't think I could adequately express my love for the Savior, Jesus Christ. He has carried me through, and I know that He will continue to do so for the rest of eternity. For this knowledge, I am eternally grateful.

Earlier this week, I decided to go see the crazy doctor here! That was one of the best desicions I have made thus far at the MTC! Haha, that sounds weird, but it's totally true! The "Mormon Culture" here is really hard to cope with sometimes, so I decided to go and see the counsellor, and talk about the things that were stressing me out. We talked a lot about how hard it is to be, quite literally, one in three thousand. I think pretty differently than most of my LDS peers; but, that does not mean I am any less loved by my Heavenly Parents. In fact, I am supposed to be exactly me because Heavenly Father has a very special mission for me here, one that only I can do, because I am ME! I am so grateful to have the knowledge that I have that I am loved because I am 100 percent, completely and totally Sister Johnson.

So here at the MTC, we have this thing called the Teacher Resource Center. I don't really know why it's called that because we go there and teach, not to be taught, and we aren't actual "teachers" in the true sense of the word... So yeah, I don't get it. But anyways, we go and we teach volunteers from the community who come in! More often than not, they are members who speak Japanese, and we get to teach them. It's really fun, and this last Wednesday evening, Tui Shimai and I got to teach a member girl via Skype who was actually in Tokyo!! How awesome is that?! She was so cute! I can't remember what her name was, but we talked about the importance of going to church and she was so cute and happy. She also liked to laugh at our poor Japanese skills, but it was a great experience. I seriously cannot wait to go to Japan and meet other people just like her! :D

Also this week, we were priviliged to hear from President Mills, the president of all the International MTCs! He came to see us because he served his mission in Japan, and has also been a mission president there. It was such a wonderful meeting. We discussed the power of expectations, and self-fulfilling prophesy. That means that if you go to Japan expecting the work to be hard and unsuccessful, it will be hard and you will be unsuccessful! However, if you go to Japan expecting to find joy and meet incredible people and have wonderful success, that that will be true! He encouraged us to really think about going to Japan and the kind of missionaries that we are going to be. I am going to be a "happy fire" missionary. I am going to have joy. I am going to teach people the Good News of Jesus Christ and I will find joy! But, it won't be my work, or my glory. It will be the Lord's joy, and His harvest. I will just be the instrument in His hands. One of my special unique missions is to share my very personal and intimate testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ, so that is what I am going to do. To all who will lend an ear, let them hear the joy and feel the light of Jesus Christ! What a happy thing.

You may be wondering why this week was so hard for me. For those of you who don't know, one of my very favorite people passed away yesterday, and so it is with great love and graitude that I dedicate this blog post to Fred Harold Gilmore, my incredible uncle.
There are so many things I love about Fred. He is so happy. He is so optimistic. He is so full of love. He is so full of light and is an advocate for peace. Fred has always been a huge part of my life, from the time that I was born, all the way up to where I am now. He has ALWAYS, without fail, supported me in all of my endeavors through life. When I was little, Fred and I would lay in the grass and look at all the beautiful stars in the sky. He would tell me all about space and time and the infinity of the universe. One day, he said, "You know, little Shakira, you can go there! You can go into space and see all those stars! You could go into space and be the first woman to land on Mars!" It was from that day forth that I wanted to be an astronaut! Fred was the one who first planted a seed in me that said I could be whomever I wanted to be and that I could do whatever I wanted to do. He taught me that nothing is impossible, if you only believe. Even though I no longer am pursuing a course in aeronautical engineering, like I had planned, Fred still is a constant fire of encouragement and love. He loves to hear and see me play my cello and he rejoices in my love for the arts and for music. He wants me to be the absolute best I can be, and so that is exactly what I am going to do. Fred isn't gone. I can feel him, right here beside me. He is lifting me up, and he will always be a ministering angel, helping me to become who my Heavenly Father wants me to be.
I love you, Fred. Peace, hope, love, and light be to you, my dear, sweet friend.

Love and peace and light to you all. You are in my thoughts and prayers. 2 Nephi 1:15. Ai shitte imasu! :)
-Sister Johnson