Full week!

Our awesome district!

Wow this week has been full! There is so much to do (study the language, speak the language as much as possible, study the scriptures, exercise, serve, district leader responsibilities, lesson planning, eat, sleep, PRAY) and so little time to do it! There are so many things that I think are of the utmost importance, I have to study the scriptures, I have to study the grammar, I have to study vocab. It gets really overwhelming and can be a little bit stressful. I can certainly see the stress in my district. We all needed a p day, a day to take care of the little things, a day to attend the temple and feel the peace and comfort that comes from that, and a day to play some district volleyball! Last Saturday my district played against another district in our zone and, of course, we won--haha! I felt really bad because when I was serving I pegged two of the shimai-tachi (sisters) in the face! I felt awful! To be fair they were pretty light serves and it was their own fault for not watching. How is that for meekness and humility?

Here in the MTC we get investigator actors, or investigator scenarios created by some of the people that work here. This is what Michael does!  We will get two new investigators by the end of the week. Right now we only have one. His name is Hasegawa-san and he is being acted by one of my teachers. When the teachers act out investigators they are actually recreating an investigator they had during their mission. So it is a really neat experience for them because they are emotionally invested in it. Kind of makes me want to do everything I can to make our lessons amazing! Yesterday we taught about God and the plan of salvation. It was a really good lesson and I was really happy with how little my companion and I used our notes! We are getting better every day, and we owe it all to the Lord. Without his help wee wouldn't be near where we are today. Dad mentioned the spread that NPR did on the MTC. It is true that the Spirit is what makes this place so effective. The teaching method is great and has been honed over years of experience, but without the Spirit, it is just a teaching method. With it, it is the gift of tongues and infinitely more effective. I have gained a testimony of that over these past two weeks.

Something else that I have gained a testimony of is scripture study. I wish I had studied them far more than I did! The words of God and instructions for our return to him are contained in them. Same thing with prayer. Prayer is huge when teaching. We forgot to pray in the beginning of one of our lessons and we could really notice the lack of the Spirit. Something was just missing. It took awhile to get there, whereas if we had prayed we would have had it there immediately and the whole time. Something truly amazing is hearing an "investigator" or a teacher pray in perfect Japanese. It gives me hope, a light at the end of this intimidating and foreboding Japanese tunnel.:)

Tyler's baptism!

I am so glad to hear that Tyler got baptized! He has taken a huge step and begun his journey down the path of the Gospel. It is going to be difficult, and, like all of us, he will mess up a lot. But the beauty of the infinite atonement is that we can mess up an infinite amount of times and Christ will still be there beckoning us back, pleading for us to come back. That is why the sacrament is so important. It gives us the chance to renew those covenants with God that we have broken and realign ourselves with God. My favorite message of hope in the Atonement is in 2 Nephi 4 starting at around verse 16 (I think?) It is the psalm of Nephi. In it he expresses frustration at his propensity for sin. He is so distraught that he knows what is right, knows the importance of obedience, and despite that he continues to sin. I love how speaks of his frustration but also his faith that he will be redeemed. He ends by saying

 35 Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.

I pray that I may have the faith of Nephi and that this will be my response when I mess up, and when I get discouraged or feel that my task is too heavy. Alone, our task is too heavy, but if we have the Lord on our side and we use the incredible gift that is the Atonement we will be able to overcome any obstacle that may hedge up our way.

Love,

Siebach Choro

P.S. I would love some more pictures of the family. I don't know if Ms. L is getting these emails but I know she would like to! Will you please get them to her and get my contact information to her? Same thing with Landen? I don't have his email and I would like to talk with him! I love you guys so much and miss you so much too!