Hello all! I hope everything is well at home.
This week has been just as busy as last week. Japanese is
coming at me faster and faster, and I just have to try my hardest to keep up.
I'm almost done learning the two phonetic alphabets. Sometimes when we have
lots of extra "study time" we'll come up with little word games to
keep us busy, like one person saying a word in English and us having to write
the translation on the chalkboard in Hiragana, fastest person wins. It gets a
little heated sometimes. Our district has also started to meet together at gym
time too, to play volleyball or basketball or soccer. All of the Shimaitachi
(girls) played soccer outside yesterday and it was so much fun! We try to use
what little Japanese we know to come up with team cheers and battle cries.
Usually whenever anyone scores I just yell "Chikara!" for
"power", but we've started saying "chick-ara" (girl power).
It's fun having so many more girls than boys in our district because whenever
we vote to make decisions we always get our way. Who has to go first giving
Japanese lessons? Never us.
One cool thing that happened this week was the arrival of a
district full of Nihonjin (native Japanese missionaries). Their English is
about as good as our Japanese, so communication is a little difficult, but I
love saying Konnichiwa to them as we pass in the halls. I love them all even
though they talk too fast. The first day we met them, last Sunday, we had a
little get-to-know-you session in our classroom and they all bore their
testimonies and said why they wanted to be missionaries. It really hit me then
- that this is why I'm here. All of these Japanese missionaries' families had
at some point been converted by someone like me, and now they're all so happy
to share what they know with others in their home country. There was so much
love in that little room that night. Even though I could only understand every
tenth word, I couldn't stop the tears from falling down my cheeks. The Nihonjin
leave in a week, since obviously they don't need as much time as we do to learn
the language, and I'll miss them a lot.
One exciting announcement: this Sunday, the 23rd, the entire
First Presidency of the church and all twelve apostles are coming here for a
special broadcast that we get to be a part of! I'll be singing in the choir
(and you all know how little vocal talent I have... the things I do to see the
prophet) and the whole thing will be broadcast worldwide! There are all kinds
of rumors about a "big announcement" that they'll be making, but I
have no idea what it will be or if there even is one. Some theories I've heard
are, 1) sister missionaries can now serve for two years, 2) they're opening
China, and 3) all missionaries get iPads. Actually, a lot of people are
convinced it's the iPad one. Crossing my fingers!
It's been very hectic trying to fit choir practice into our
already-packed schedule. I'm thinking I might become a dropout once the big
broadcast is over. Last Sunday night we only had fifteen minutes for dinner
before we had to be at rehearsal, and the lines in the cafeteria were miles
long. It never seems overly crowded here except on Sundays. I think mealtimes
are shorter because they try not to have as many people work, so there are
twice as many missionaries in the cafeteria during mealtimes. We picked the
shortest lines we could and I ended up with a bowl of rice, some cottage cheese
and one of those gross, sour green apples that are always around because no one
wants them. The food is USUALLY okay though. Although I think I'm losing
weight. But that's probably because I don't have unlimited access to the
kitchen pantry full of snacks whenever I'm bored.
Our "investigator" from last week, Shuma, is now
our second Sensei. We have Brinley Sensei for three hours in the mornings and
now Willard Sensei for three hours in the evenings. Although I keep
accidentally calling him Shuma-san and I'm not sure I'll be able to stop.
That's just what his name is in my brain. Fun fact: both of our Senseis married
half-Japanese women and either have jobs or will have jobs related to speaking Japanese.
They are both on the short side... I wonder if smaller men really like going to
Japan because they feel so tall compared to everyone there? Their wives are
tiny too. One of them is having a baby boy in about a month!
Also, I saw Tori and Jacob this week! Jacob was at the other
campus, so I only saw him once, but I've run into Tori a few times. She said
she's staying for the whole nine weeks so I'll have lots of time to see her.
Overheard at the MTC this week: "Oh holy mother of
pearl"
Love you all!
Anna
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| Anna and roommates studying diligently |
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| MacArthur Shimai and Dunne Shimai |
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