Konichiwa Minasan! First email! So this is the first of around 104 emails for the next 2 years! Anyway I'm excited to report that online training does work and feels just like what you would expect from the in-person MTC. (And sorry for the long email, they should get slightly shorter as in the future I won't need to explain schedules and such, but enjoy it this time
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So what the schedule looks like is that I wake up at 7:00am, I get ready, eat breakfast, shower and dress till 8:30am. From 8:30-9:30 I have personal study time when I study lessons, the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and Preach My Gospel (is going to be referred to as PMG in future emails
). Once I'm done studying I have an hour to either study Japanese (which I usually do for this hour), get random things done around my room, or practice some piano. Then I have Companionship Study with my companion, Elder Rahm, from 10:30-11:30. He's from Alpharetta, Georgia which is cool because the rest of my district is all from the Midwest and West. There's nothing wrong with that, but I thought it was telling that my companion is from the East Coast as well. Then during Comp. study we study together and usually prepare a lesson for our Helping Hands (Helping Hands is where we teach an actor and they record us so that we can get feedback on our lessons). Then from 11:30am-2:00pm I don't have any structured activity or plan so I usually practice more Japanese, help my mom around the house (or Dad), eat lunch, and maybe play a board game with the parents. Then at 2:00pm I have a workshop where we might talk about Missionary Standards, Gospel topics, or the Gift of Tongues. That ends at 3:00 and at 3:30 I have my first class of the day. Since the Online MTC is based out of Provo, UT, they are two hours behind. Which means my classes are later, but they are still amazing! So from 3:30-6:30 I have my 1st class. Then from 6:30-8:00 I have a break and that's when I eat dinner with the family. Then from 8:00-11:00pm I have my last class of the day
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). Once I'm done studying I have an hour to either study Japanese (which I usually do for this hour), get random things done around my room, or practice some piano. Then I have Companionship Study with my companion, Elder Rahm, from 10:30-11:30. He's from Alpharetta, Georgia which is cool because the rest of my district is all from the Midwest and West. There's nothing wrong with that, but I thought it was telling that my companion is from the East Coast as well. Then during Comp. study we study together and usually prepare a lesson for our Helping Hands (Helping Hands is where we teach an actor and they record us so that we can get feedback on our lessons). Then from 11:30am-2:00pm I don't have any structured activity or plan so I usually practice more Japanese, help my mom around the house (or Dad), eat lunch, and maybe play a board game with the parents. Then at 2:00pm I have a workshop where we might talk about Missionary Standards, Gospel topics, or the Gift of Tongues. That ends at 3:00 and at 3:30 I have my first class of the day. Since the Online MTC is based out of Provo, UT, they are two hours behind. Which means my classes are later, but they are still amazing! So from 3:30-6:30 I have my 1st class. Then from 6:30-8:00 I have a break and that's when I eat dinner with the family. Then from 8:00-11:00pm I have my last class of the day. I've just completed my 1st out of nine weeks of training. The first 3 weeks will be focused on Gospel study, doctrine, teaching skills, and is more on how to be a missionary and a representative of Christ. The last 6 weeks will be purely language study. The catch is that once they start teaching us Japanese, they'll be speaking in only Japanese. So it seems hard, but immersion is key. That's the reason I'm practicing Japanese right now so that when they start Week 3, I can kind of understand (as in barely understand
). My language study has been pretty good so far. I have memorized Hiragana and now I'm moving onto Katakana. Basically in Japanese they have 3 writing systems, Hiragana and Katakana (both phonetic). Then they use Kanji (literally means Chinese letter I think and is non-phonetic). Hiragana and Katakana are basically the same but they use Katakana characters for foriegn words. My name in Japanese is ใฏใฉใผใฏ ใญใใผใใฝใณ。Those characters I typed are in Katakana because my name is foriegn. In Hiragana it would be ใใใ ใใฐใจใใ (This is wrong for many reasons, but hopefully the point comes across). In romaji it is Kuraku Robatoson (missing some long vowels I think). Again I'm not explaining this the best so if you're interested, I would suggest you research it yourself to completely understand it.
). My language study has been pretty good so far. I have memorized Hiragana and now I'm moving onto Katakana. Basically in Japanese they have 3 writing systems, Hiragana and Katakana (both phonetic). Then they use Kanji (literally means Chinese letter I think and is non-phonetic). Hiragana and Katakana are basically the same but they use Katakana characters for foriegn words. My name in Japanese is ใฏใฉใผใฏ ใญใใผใใฝใณ。Those characters I typed are in Katakana because my name is foriegn. In Hiragana it would be ใใใ ใใฐใจใใ (This is wrong for many reasons, but hopefully the point comes across). In romaji it is Kuraku Robatoson (missing some long vowels I think). Again I'm not explaining this the best so if you're interested, I would suggest you research it yourself to completely understand it. Language aside, spiritually its been amazing! Other than the temple, I feel the holy Ghost often and strongly. The stories and experiences I hear are amazing and it's a great experience to be able to share my testimony so often and to hear others also. I have loved studying with Elder Rahm. As with the nature of two people, we see things in different ways. When we both read the same scripture I have the benefit of hearing his thoughts about the same scripture. Same meaning, different insights.
A big thing I've realized this past week was that I was trying to be unrealistically good or perfect. I got angry at myself when I couldn't do more, when I was already doing my best. And I knew I couldn't keep going like that because that attitude just eats you up. And that's because I can't be perfect, so why get upset at messing up. So I prayed to forget myself and my concerns and go to work for the Lord. That doesn't mean I don't try or that I don't take care of myself. Just that it means I need to focus more on giving my all to the Lord, even when I still mess up. When we give our all, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are happy with us and make up that difference to make us the disciples they want us to be.
Mosiah 2:21 says, "I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is bpreserving you from day to day, by lending you cbreath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants."
Here's another good scripture about this topic in the Bible
Luke 17:10 says, "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do."
Again sorry for the long email, but I'm sure you all will just love them ;). Have a great week and Sayonara Minasan! Love you guys!
ใญใใผใใฝใณ้ท่
