Reassignment

 Ok I put off writing this weeks email until super late because I made the mistake of just writing out each email last week instead of making a group, so I had to do that again tonight haha. Anyyyyway, こんにちは！ This week was pretty good I guess, just the same old study and class for the most part, which is always fun.

The most exciting thing was Wednesday when everyone suddenly started finally getting their reassignments. A couple Elders got theirs way earlier because something got messed up with their MTC stuff (It'll take too long to explain) But everyone else started getting theirs on Wednesday. By the time class came, me and Iwaasa Chourou were the only ones who didn't have one, but then Iwaasa Chourou got his. So it was just me who had no idea where I was going.

Mine didn't come until Friday night, so it was fun to be the only one for a couple days haha. Turns out I'm going to Lubbock, Texas. We'll see how that goes, I'm definitely not super excited, but I don't want to complain; it'll be an important experience I'm sure. The coolest part is that Iwaasa Chourou (A super cool Elder that I want to get to know more) and Burton Chourou (One of my companions that has cracked us all up with his ability to prank the teachers with the Zoom backgrounds) are both going there as well. Yeah that'll be way fun.

This week I'd like to share a story about faith from the saints of Japan which has really stuck out to me recently. During WWII as you might know, the church had to leave Japan due to the major conflicts between America and Japan. There was a long period of time that Japan and it's saints were left without missionaries and many other valuable church resources. My brother shared a Hymn with me that the saints sing often, especially during that time. It's called "Waiting for the Reapers" this is a reference to those that gather Israel. The saints waited with faith for the missionaries and the church to return to their land, in order for the gathering to continue in Japan. They knew that this was the most important work going on in the world, and because of their faith they desired that it could continue among those they love. There are many in the world, including those close to us that are eagerly waiting for the gospel to come to them, whether they know this church is the one they are looking for or not. I hope we can each take part in this great work!

Oh boy, it's a long one again... I don't mean to write this much, I know for a fact that I wouldn't be reading this if I didn't have to haha.

Anyway, hope you have a good week, thanks for all  your emails!

My first 3 weeks of MTC

 こんにちはみなさん！(Holy cow sorry for this monster of an email, I doubt any of my emails will be this long while I'm still in the MTC. You definitely don't have to read this, I know I hardly read super long missionary emails like this haha) I haven't been emailing these last few weeks, mostly because I forgot, but also because I didn't exactly know what to talk about haha. It's been a great experience and I have grown so much these past few weeks.

The days are all fairly similar, but each day is so edifying! Every night my mom asks me what I learned, and I always respond with "I don't know" or "nothing much." She hates it, but honestly I just don't even know where to start with what I've learned haha.

 The first half of my day is typically spent studying, mostly alone, but also one hour with my companions, Burton choro and Helms choro. They are both very interesting guys and I've enjoyed getting to know them. Anyway, the second half of my day is spent in my classes until 8 PM. My teachers, Weir shimai and Blackley kyoudai, as well as the other elders in my district are all way cool, and very fun to hang out with.

We've been going very fast on Japanese, and it's starting to get a little bit crazy, but it feels so cool to teach people in the language (Just my district and teachers, not real people yet haha) 

I know the world has been going crazy recently, but as we build our faith in Christ, we can recieve comfort and peace. God desires that we have peace and Joy as we strive to be more like Christ. Elder Anderson said in a talk last conference, "As the world speaks less of Jesus Christ, let us speak more of him." Through Christ all things are possible, We can show our discipleship to The Lord by mentioning him often, and focusing on him rather than the chaos that is all around us, trying to take our attention away from Him.

I ask that each of you keep Christ in your minds as you hear about new developments in the world, I promise that as we each strive to remember him and be like him, we will feel love for those around us and peace in the knowledge that even as this world seems to spiral out of control, that God is in control. God has a plan for us, and his goal for us is to have joy in this life, and eternal life in the next.

I hope you all have a great week, thanks for reading this far haha