A Pretty Good Week

This week has gone by pretty fast now that I think about it.  The first four days are definitely the hardest, but now that they're over it's not so bad anymore.  This week some pretty cool things have happened to me and my district.

First off, On Tuesday, we had a Devotional and we got to hear from Elder Holland.  Yeah, Elder Holland.  It was just the coolest thing ever.  I mean, how many missionaries get to say that the first devotional they went to at the MTC was having an Apostle speak.  Not many can, but we're some of the lucky ones who get to.  As with all of his talks, Elder Holland gave us some advice, told us things he thought we should know, and pounded on the pulpit while using a really loud voice so that the message would get across.  I'm so thankful that we are able to hear from Prophets and Apostles so that we know what our Heavenly Father wants us to know.

As far as our Japanese learning goes, the language is hard and obnoxious, but I love it.  Sometimes I feel like my head is going to literally explode from how much Black Sensei is teaching us.  But after practicing and working hard we are getting it down bit by bit.  Class sometimes seems to take forever, but sometimes it goes by so fast that we wish we could just stay and learn more about the language.  We we're also introduced to this really neat program called TALL, (Technology Assisted Language Learning) which is super helpful because it has things on it that help with every part of the language.  It is also super helpful in teaching about the Gospel, because you can learn phrases and key words that relate to the lessons in Preach My Gospel.  We also got a new teacher that teaches on Wednesday mornings.  His name is Andrus Sensei and he is also a really good teacher.

My district is the best district in the MTC.  I just know it.  We've only known each other for nine days, but we're pretty much a family considering how much time we spend together and how well we all get along.  I'm so lucky to be a part of this group and I know that we're just going to keep growing and learning together here and just love each other more and more.  It's amazing to see how well all the Elders and Sisters, that had no Japanese experience before coming, just excel at this really difficult language.  It gives me hope that we will be able to have a reasonable understanding of the language before we leave so that we might not be totally and completely lost when we get there.

Best wishes to everyone back home or wherever you are.  Hope that everything goes well for you guys in the coming week.

Love, Elder Wixom.