Smile Only

 こにちは！

Well, this week I hit my one month mark.  On my "One-Month Day" I wore this new shirt that my mom sent me. And let me tell you something, getting new clothes on your mission is like Christmas. It's really so very exciting. You only have so much stuff to wear, and getting something new to offset the routine is truly great! Thanks, Mom! 

But seriously. How has it already been a month! How crazy is that, am I right? I can't believe I've been a missionary for that long! I've talked about this before, but time WARPS on a mission! Like, it doesn't make any sense at all. It feels like I've been here FOREVER, and yet, just yesterday I was at home watching Phineas and Ferb for two hours straight. Hard to think that priorities can change that fast, huh? That's what a mission can do for you, though! It will change you completely! I love this work so much and I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for the opportunity to serve Him. Remember - this is His work and His glory, but it is also mine. It is ours. We have been sent here to the Earth at this time for reason, and I would like to suggest that maybe that reason is missionary work. This does not mean, necessarily, that you have to go on a mission. No. just by living righteously, we are being a missionary. We are being an example to others and showing them the way to Christ.

Sister Weigl and her MTC Companion

This week, we had a very special devotional. It was for all the missionaries going to Japan to serve. It was truly great to see all the せんきょし(missionaries) bound for Japan all in one room. There had to be at least a hundred. We are apparently one of the biggest groups of missionaries on campus, minus English speaking. Just thinking about that makes me tingle with joy! Think of all the people in Japan whose lives will be changed because of our united efforts! It really is a testimony to me that God knows each of his children. He knows all His people. He is not a respecter of persons. The speaker talked about something very similar to this -- that our expectations will effect our progress and our productivity. I don't know if anybody has ever heard anything like this, but oftentimes people can be sort of negative about the missionary work in Japan. It has a reputation for being a non-baptizing mission. If we set our expectations to what people say, then we won't be able to fulfill our purpose as missionaries. We are not supposed to be negative, but be hopeful. If we have a wider vision of what can happen and have our expectations aligned with the Lord's, then miracles can and will happen! A sister in my district said this, and it really impressed me: "This is the Lord's work. Let Him set the expectations."

White Handbook

On Thursday it was the birthday of a sister in our district - Sister Griffin. She turned 20! We must have sang Happy Birthday to her at least 5 or 6 times, and ate dinner on special Happy Birthday paper plates the Elders found. Her parents sent Sister Griffin a big care package full of birthday treats and even new clothes (refer back to what I said about new clothes in the first paragraph). She wore a special birthday outfit with new clothes. We all sang Happy Birthday at every meal in Japanese and one of our leaders sang to her in German. We found out later that we weren't supposed to sing in the cafeteria...oops! In our defense, we were never told of this rule so we didn't even know that we were being disobedient. I guess that's why we've been counseled to read the White Handbook daily, so that we really internalize the rules in it and know all of them. That way, we cannot say that we didn't know about a rule when we break it. To those of you who are preparing to go on a mission, get a copy of that handbook! Read it daily! Read it as part of your scriptures. Start to live the rules that are contained in its pages as much as possible. It is a book of inspired revelation. It is the combination of more than 100 years of missionary knowledge! This is His work, so we must do it His way, and His way is the White Handbook.

Sister Missionaries in my District
Provo MTC

So, we taught Yajima-san this week for the first time since our little....debacle we cleared up. Hehe...yeahhh...but it went so well! We taught him about the Book of Mormon and he even said the opening prayer when we extended that invitation! The best part, though, is that we were really able to reestablish a relationship based on trust. We tried really hard to just shower him with love. We asked if there was anything we could help him with. We told him we wanted to help him understand what we were teaching, along with anything else he might be in need of. We listened intently when we asked questions. We told him we loved him. The thing that I found that changed my perspective the most, was just smiling, which is sort of the theme for this week, it would seem. 

My mom sent me this wonderful little story about smiling, along with some smile stickers to help me to remember to smile. By just sincerely smiling at Yajima-san and showing him that we were excited to be there to teach him, well, it really made all the difference. For both his attitude, and mine. I find it a bit difficult, personally, to be so open and "outgoing" in a sense with people that I don't know. It's really not so much a part of my personality. Innately, I am a more shy person until I really get to know them. However, God has helped me feel love for His children. He has helped show me that they are not strangers, not really. I know them all. They are my brothers and sisters, and I should act that way when I teach them. I'm most likely not meeting them for the first time, for we all lived together in the pre-mortal life. I am bringing them a message they already know and that they have already accepted once before. It's just a matter of helping them to remember it. I should look at meeting new people as a sort of reunion, and treat them with love immediately. I once heard a saying that goes like this, "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." That was really relevant with Yajima-san. By the end of this lesson, his whole countenance had changed towards us. He was smiling when we left.

I also came to realize something about the eternal principle of planning this week. It might sound sort of, well, obvious, and I guess that it is. But you know how it goes. You can hear people tell you something your whole life, but until you actually learn for yourself, it doesn't really have any personal significance. We have this little Missionary Planner that we are supposed to be using everyday, and although I have been using it, I haven't really been using it effectively. I would just copy a general outline of our activities for the day, and then put away the Planner until the next day. However, this week I decided to really start utilizing this planner. I would schedule and plan out every part of my TALL (Technological Assisted Language Learning) time, Language Study time, and my Personal Study time. I would write what I would do for each of these and for how long. It was really helpful! I was able to learn more and be more effective during these periods of time, than I ever have before because I had a specific purpose and a plan in mind. So thus, when you effectively plan, you effectively work. You effectively learn. How relevant is that to life? Oftentimes, I would waste my time away, because I hadn't been setting any goals for myself. Without goals, there was nothing for me to work towards or be focused on. The more I follow the rules of missionary life, the more I realize how divinely inspired they are. Not only that, but I also realized that I was focused on learning Japanese for the wrong reasons. I was learning Japanese so that I wouldn't look silly when I got to Japan. I was learning for myself. However, that is NOT why I am learning this language. I'm learning this language as an outward expression of my love for the Japanese people. So that I can communicate my love, and God's love, to them in their native language. I'm learning how to speak this language for a people I have yet to meet, but whom I already love. If I keep this perspective in mind, it is harder to become frustrated with the language, and with myself. It is easier to be dedicated.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
"Missions Are Forever"

On Sunday, I saw a replay of an AMAZING talk by Elder Holland called, "Missions Are Forever." He kind of shook my world, but then again, all of Elder Holland's talks do that. In the talk, he asked us why we thought missionary work was hard? Why is it hard when we are doing the Lord's work? Shouldn't people be lining up outside our doors from morning to night? Shouldn't the only trouble of a mission be the fear of pneumonia because we are in the font all day long? If only that were so. His answer to this question was that missionary work is not easy because it wasn't easy for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If it wasn't easy for Him, why should it be easy for us? He told us that the road to Salvation goes through Gethsemane. It has a cross that must be carried to Calvary.

From,

Sister Weigl

Sister Weigl and MTC Companion
(near the Provo, Utah Temple )

Week Four, The "Sin" Mishap

Konichiwa!

Another week has passed, which means that I am now on week four of eight! What is this madness! It's truly surprising how fast time flies here! I guess it's like that old saying.

Well, the most interesting thing that has happened this week is also extremely hilarious. It's one of those horror stories that you can't actually believe happened. I should probably just get to the point now that I've peaked your interest -- it began last week when teaching one of our "fake" investigators, Yajima-san. We were teaching him about eternal families since he is about to get married, and it seemed to be a really relevant topic to him. It was all going great until he asked about what sin was, a question we were unprepared to answer. We struggled to explain it, and the best way we could describe it was that it was doing bad things, such as killing or stealing. Yajima-san's countenance changed at this, and I had this feeling that we had done something very wrong, but I couldn't figure out what. Even after the lesson was over, I felt this very sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I assumed it was just me being me. Me fussing over the fact that we didn't have a "perfect" lesson. However, we came to realize at the end of our next lesson, that we had told Yajima-san accidentally that he must sin and kill people to have an eternal family! OH MY GOSH, WE WERE SO EMBARRASSED! We emphatically told him, that no, that was NOT something he should be doing and that it was, in fact, a sin to do either of those things. We apologized over and over again, and explained that our Japanese is really not very good. All I can say is, thank goodness that he wasn't a real investigator, or he would've ran out of there thinking we were some kind of cult!

We later talked to our teacher, Beezer-Sensei, who is the man who roleplays as our investigator, Yajima-san. He told us a bit more about our mistake, so we could more fully understand what happened and where we went wrong. We misinterpreted something Yajima-san said, and that was where it went sour. We ended up teaching a 15 minute lesson about how we needed to kill and steal, all because we thought we understood what he had said! In addition, the next lesson we asked Yajima-san about his day, and he told us that he had stole something, just like we had taught him. And we, again not understanding, were like, "Oh, awesome!" ... AHHHHH! Beezer-Sensei taught us a valuable lesson -- that we should not assume we understand what is being said to us. Just because we understand one word of a sentence, does not mean we can infer the meaning. If we don't understand, then we should ask the investigator to repeat it again, slower. Use our dictionaries more to look up words we don't know, and although that may take time away from the lesson, it will signal to the investigator that we care enough about what he is saying to understand him. It's a very good lesson to learn, and I am glad that it happened in a hypothetical situation and not in real life. But honestly, can we just take a moment to truly appreciate how funny that situation is! You just got to love the mistakes you make when learning a new language! It is better to laugh and learn, rather than to become completely despondent and put out because of it!

In addition to that....interesting...experience, my district has become a fester-bed of germs. It seems that at least one missionary from each companionship is feeling a bit under the weather! It all started with my companion, Asto-Shimai. She got really sick on Thursday, so much so that we had to go to see a doctor. At first, she was determined not to miss any class, but after she accidentally fell asleep at breakfast, I knew that she had to rest. So, we went to the doctors, then headed back to the Residence Hall so that she could sleep. She slept for 5 hours straight! During that time, I read my scriptures, studied the Ensign, read some more scriptures, studied Preach My Gospel...I had a lot of time on my hands to say the least. I had so much time, I even drew little pictures of each Sister in my district to put on the door of our Residence Hall room. Yeah...it felt sort of strange to be in the room for that long. I have become so used to being constantly busy, constantly out and about, studying and learning and growing and teaching...and I've come to realize that I like it that way. I like being that insanely busy. It makes every day more meaningful, and makes it harder to waste any time. It makes me reflect on how I spent my time before my mission, and how I could have been more productive. Oh well! I figure that is one of the biggest and best side-effects of a mission -- to become better than you were before.


Anyways, once Asto-Shimai woke up, she was feeling slightly better. We had to go pick up some of her medication, but we couldn't pick it up from the Health Center on the MTC campus, we had to go get it from the BYU Health Center that was just down the road. So, you know what that means....*drum roll please*... WE GOT TO GO OFF-CAMPUS! This is a pretty big deal, since the only time we ever get to go anywhere outside of the MTC gates is on our Sunday walks, where we cross a street and walk a couple hundred feet to the temple and back. Now, don't misinterpret what I'm saying here. I LOVE the MTC. It’s truly magic, like Hogwarts or something. Everyday is another adventure and a new experience! But, it is sort of it's own bubble away from non-missionary life. Walking to the Health Clinic, we saw people who were, you guessed it, NOT MISSIONARIES! GASP! They were people doing ordinary things, like walking to work or driving their car with the radio on and the window down. Funny how those kind of things are amazing to me now! It made me that much more excited to go to Japan! As we walked, I realized that it was EXACTLY the kind of thing we would be doing every day in Japan, (plus a bike). I was really able to feel the love of God for each of His children as we walked. Not only that, but I remembered walking to the same place, the BYU Health Center, months before to get my mission check-up done for my papers. I was so close to my old life, to the dorm I lived in for two semesters, and yet...it felt so far away. It hadn't moved, but I had. It was a surreal experience.

Elder David A. Bednar
"The Character of Christ"
BYUI - 25 January 2003

On Sunday, something else really big happened. Asto-Shimai was asked to give the closing prayer at the Sunday evening devotional! That means that every person at the MTC, every missionary, would hear her and see her. It was even being filmed, so that it could be broadcasted on the west-campus. For some silly reason, she was frightened by that. (Haha, that was sarcasm). We had to sit on the stand behind the speaker and everybody was looking at us...funny though, I wasn't really stressed out. I guess that was because I wasn't going to have to do anything but sit there. Needless to say, Asto-Shimai said a wonderful prayer, and all her fretting and worrying wasn't needed. Isn't that how life usually is? We spend so much time worrying and worrying over little things that work themselves out.

Okay, last thing! We saw this old MTC devotional given by Elder Bednar called, “The Character of Christ.” I don't know if you can find it, but if you can, READ IT THIS MINUTE. It is life changing. Everyone at the MTC had been telling us that it was amazing, and they were absolutely right! Elder Bednar talked about Christ and how He always looks outwards to the needs of others instead of selfishly inward to his desires or wants. In the same way, our mission isn't about us. Who cares about what we want? It's about looking outwards to others and serving them with our all our hearts, mind, and strength.

Our lives aren't about us. It's about becoming like Christ and looking outward to the needs of others.

From,

Sister Weigl

A Great Hello to One and All!

A great hello to one and all!

This week has been sooooo great, but then again, every week as a missionary is great! I just am loving every moment I'm out serving the Lord. It has truly helped me to put my life into greater perspective: the things I thought were important before my mission really aren't all that vital to my existence. TV, movies, video games, and all of that -- yeah it's nice, but is it important? Is that how I want to spend ALL of my time here on this mortal life? When I go before Christ to be judged, do I want to tell Him that instead of doing good and serving His children, that I spent my days watching every single episode of Doctor Who in a week? Okay, maybe that's an extreme example, but I think you get the idea. All that stuff isn't inherently bad, but just like with everything else, MODERATION is KEY.

So, in my room, there was this little magnet stuck onto my desk when I first arrived. It says, "Everyday is possible -- Believe it." That has sort of become my motto here at the Provo MTC. I see that magnet every morning as I wake up, and that's probably the time I most need it! Mornings can be a bit of a hardship for me, because I feel like I never get the amount of sleep that I would like. But it's okay! That just shows that I am working hard to serve the Lord. If I wasn't tired, I would be worried that I wasn't working hard enough! At times, life here can be a bit challenging. I want to have complete fluency in the language even though I've only been here for three weeks. I want to be the perfect missionary NOW. And sometimes the rigorous schedule can seem a bit daunting. But that one phrase- "Everyday is possible -- Believe it" helps remind me that I can do it. I can make it. I have the Lord and His angels on my side, so how could I fail?

MTC District Elders - Provo, Utah
(Kobe, Japan - Missionaries)

We had this thing called TRC for the first time this week. TRC stands for Training Resource Center, which is when volunteers come in and we (missionaries) teach them. They are real people! They aren't teachers pretending to be other people so that we can practice teaching. They are people who have stories, and backgrounds, and families, and it was such a real experience for me and my companion! We were a bit nervous going in - we would have to be teaching native Japanese speakers...HOW could we possibly do that with only three weeks of Japanese training under our belts? Somehow, we were able to teach our volunteer about eternal families and the beauty of the temple. The lesson flowed so well, and this all came all from our own memories! WE didn't have anything prepared before hand or anything! We were able to just communicate with her and get to know this sweet volunteer. It was such a great experience. Both my companion and I came away edified with faith renewed that we can, in fact, learn the language.

On Sunday, My companion and I decided to try out the choir. The MTC choir practices on Sundays and on Tuesdays, so we are going to be going to the second practice today at around 5:00pm. It might even be broadcasted, so that would be cool! I don't know if it will be on the BYU channel or anything; it might just be broadcasted to the other MTCs around the word, but still! The MTC choir invites everyone to join, even those who aren't good at singing (like me). We got there, and when the music was passed out, we found out that we were going to be singing, "Nearer My God to Thee," which has long been one of my favorite hymns. The choir conductor was so funny and energetic - it was clear that he was so happy to be there with us! He told us that never has the MTC choir been as big as it is now! NEVER in his 11 years as the MTC choir director. How wonderful is that? Anyways, the arrangement for the hymn is beautiful, but somehow I think I got placed in the wrong section. I'm singing soprano, which is what I usually sing, but this arrangement requires me to hit REALLLLLLY high notes. Like, really high. I'm glad that I am singing with a lot of other sisters who are more talented than I, because I know that I sound like a screeching cow or something. But I don't think it matters so much what I sound like, as much as it matters about how I am feeling. The song, when all of the missionaries in the choir sings it, brings chills to my soul. Here are some of the words:

         "Nearer, my God, to thee,
          Nearer to thee!
          E'en though it be a cross
          That raiseth me.
          Still all my song shall be
          Nearer, my God, to thee,
          Nearer, my God, to thee,
          Nearer to thee!"

I've song this song a thousand times throughout my life, but I've never really thought about the line, "Even though it be a cross that raiseth me." I realized as we practiced singing this song that a "cross" in this context, was not actually a literal cross, such as the one Jesus was crucified on, but was symbolic of a burden or trial. So really, what these lyrics are saying is that we will become nearer to God, we will be raised up, through our burdens and our trials. How cool is that? I really feel power in that lyric, and I know it to be true. It is when I have been experiencing the worst times in my life that I have become closest to God. As Avatar Aang told Korra, "It is in our weakest moments that we are most open to change." I testify of this truth with all my heart. If you are experiencing pain or afflictions in your life, it is not because God has forgotten you. No. It is because He trusts you and wants you to become stronger than you currently are. Without change, we would forever be the same person. never learning or growing. And honestly, who wants that? Who would want to be an immortal version of your 13-year-old self? I know I don't. I've grown and changed too much since then to want to go back. And who was with me every step of those changes? God was. Of this I know.

This week, we started teaching two new fake"investigators" -- Yajima-san and Saito-San. Yajima-san is a 28 year old man who is about to get married to his girlfriend (who is a less-active member. Saito-san is around 60 years old and he works at a preschool. I love both of these dear brothers so much! I have only taught them about twice each, but I know that they are both sons of God. He loves them and wants them to have the gospel. We taught Yajima-san about eternal families, which was not one of the most successful lessons. We got really off topic when Yajima-san asked what sin was, and we really struggled to answer his question properly. I think he came away with more questions than answers. However, I don't look at that as a failure. There is no failure here. Just learning experiences. We learned from our less effective teaching methods and are eager to go back and teach him again tomorrow! Hopefully we will be able to better answer his question this time and to re-establish his trust in us.

We taught Saito-san just yesterday, and it was a refining moment for both my companion and I. We were really able to get to know him personally, which follows after the Preach My Gospel motto, "Teach People, not Lessons." We talked about his job and I shared a bit about my own brother, Andy. I find that when we open up to out investigators, they are more willing to open up to us. We need that mutual trust before we can really teach them effectively. We even invited him to come to see the Primary Program at church this week, since he loves children so much. He seemed really interested and agreed that he would try to come!

The crowning moment, though, was when Astro-Shimai shared an experience she had when she felt the Spirit. Although the Japanese was a bit broken and not perfect, it was the most spiritually-charged part of the lesson. As we testify of our own experiences and how the gospel has helped us PERSONALLY, we immediately invite the Spirit into the lesson. I would challenge any of you reading this to share your testimony of God and Jesus Christ with a friend this week. Tell them how much you love God and Christ. It will leave a lasting impact if the words spoken are from the heart. This I promise.

From Sister Weigl

P.S. Here are some pictures of the people in my district! I included some pictures from last week's July 4th celebration! 

July 4th Celebration!
(Notice all the Shimai (sisters) are wearing
red, white, and blue)

My District Elder Missionaries

4th of July Fireworks

Happy Late Fourth of July

A big hello to one and all!

Happy late Forth of July!

My Forth of July was most likely very different from any of yours. First off, I'm at the MTC and that is kind of in a world of its own. Plus, I am not able to go do fireworks with my family or attend a church barbecue, as you probably were. HOWEVER, I am not bitter. In fact, I would have to say my fourth here was most likely the best day I have had so far.

To start off, the 4th of July was the first day I've been sick here at the MTC. I know my mom is probably having a panic attack at this, so let me explain before she gets too worried. During the day, I just started to get really dizzy. I don't really know how to put it into words, but the best I can explain is that the room started spinning around and around like a pinwheel, and it just wouldn't stop. Every time I moved, I felt like I was going to throw-up. I kept hoping the dizziness would go away, but it didn't. Finally, my companion took me to the health center and they called a doctor for me. He gave me some nausea pills that tasted like candy and dissolved under my tongue. Most of what happened after that is a blur to me, and all I really remember  is waking up in bed at the Residence Halls feeling completely better. The dizziness came on fast, and left just as quickly.

Now, I know what you're thinking.... you're thinking, "I thought you said The 4th of July was the best day you had at the MTC so far! It sounds like you had a terrible day!" Well, first off, there is no such thing as a terrible day on my mission. Not to me. There may be harder days, but not terrible ones. No time spent serving my Lord and the Savior Jesus Christ can be considered terrible. The reason why I say it was my best day so far is that the Elders in my District offered to give me a Priesthood Blessing. (A Priesthood Blessing is basically a blessing from God to offer comfort, peace, guidance, or healing given by men who hold God's authority).

I was feeling better by that afternoon, so I initially told the willing Elders that I didn't think a blessing would be needed. They nodded their heads slowly, and the District Leader mentioned something about how most of the Elders there had never given a blessing before. They had never been given the opportunity. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, I kept thinking that I should talk to the District Leader again and ask for a blessing anyways. The words, "Give the Elders a chance to exercise their priesthood" kept coming into my head. So, at dinner I talked to the District Leader to ask if it was still alright to get one and right after we got back to the classroom, I was able to receive a blessing from some of the elders in my District. They put their hands upon my head and stood in a circle around me, and in that moment, I could feel God's power around me. When they placed their hands upon my head, when they worthily exercised God's power, I felt chills go up and down my body. I am so thankful for that experience because I was able to gain a greater testimony of the Priesthood. I know that the blessing those Elders gave me was from God and that it has a definite power. God has given His power to His worthy sons. Think about that for a second. Really think about that. Isn't it a immense demonstration of not only God's love, but also His trust?

So, after the blessing, all the missionaries at the MTC got out of class early. We went to building 19M (all the buildings here are called stuff like that....2M is where the Bookstore is, 3M is where I live, 9M is where my classroom is, etc.) to participate in a 4th of July celebratory program. There was a wonderful musical ensemble where a Sister and an Elder played a medley of patriotic hymns on the flute and on the piano. Music has become such a special thing to me, because I have so little access to it here. Besides the hymns that we sing ourselves, we only get to hear music when talented Elders and Sisters preform it at devotionals or at Church meetings on Sundays. So, this patriotic medley was an infinite blessing to one who has had limited access to the gift of music. After they finished preforming, there was a short speaker, and then we watched a church movie called, 17 Miracles, which chronicles some of the miracles experienced by the early Mormon Pioneers as they traveled across the country to Utah. That movie, so beautiful and inspiring, always makes me cry like a little baby. If you haven't seen it yet, I would highly recommend it. The movie was a great treat for us missionaries, and for good reason! But the best treat of all, were the fireworks!

The MTC President provided ice-cream bars for all the missionaries at the MTC, which is easily over 3,000 people. We all crowded the lawn outside of 19M, where we were able to witness the fireworks that were being set off in the BYU Stadium, I assume. They were some of the most beautiful fireworks I have ever seen! They had ones that exploded into the shape of hearts and ones that reminded me of Saturn's rings. All the Sisters in my district dressed up in red, white, and blue (except for my companion, since she's from Peru and one other Elder who's Canadian).

Due to the fireworks, the MTC President allowed all of us to go to bed at a later hour than normal, which is a pretty big deal. We're supposed to be in bed at 10:30pm EXACTLY every SINGLE night, so the fact that we were able to stay out late is a very, very big exception to the rule.

All in all, I am loving it here. I am feeling great and love serving the Lord. Thanks to all who have sent letters and emails, they mean so much to me!

From the ever grateful,

Sister Weigl

P.S. - I tried to attach some pictures, but it won't let me, so be expecting A WHOLE BUNCH next week!

Finally, I'm "Sister Weigl"

Dear all,

The first week at the MTC has been busy! I've been working so hard everyday to do the work! Days are long, and the week, short. 

After being set apart as a missionary, it hadn't really hit me that I was just that -- a full-time missionary for Jesus Christ. I mean, it felt more like a dream than real, but as soon as I set foot onto the MTC campus, it just sort of hit me. Like, this huge, wonderfully warm Spirit just sort of crashed down on me. Everyone here is so happy and excited to do the work! However, something even better than that was when I got my name tag. The words, "Sister Weigl" on that famous black tag almost made me cry from joy. As soon as it was pinned on my chest,  it was almost as if I could see God smiling at me. I know this is exactly where I'm meant to be right now, even if it's a bit overwhelming (okay, a lot overwhelming) and sometimes difficult.

Sister Weigl and her MTC Companion

One of the things I love about the MTC is the mish-mash of Elders and Sisters (or Choryo and Shimai, if you want to say it in Japanese) of varied backgrounds and nationalities. I've seen sisters from China,Elders from Tonga, there's even an Elder in my district from Canada, which I guess isn't really the most exotic of places, but still. And not to mention all the different languages people are speaking! Just walking to dinner, you can hear people speaking Japanese, Spanish, Russian, the list goes on and on. Think of a language, and there are probably Sisters and Elders learning that language here. My companion, Sister A*** (Or in Japanese, A*** Shimai), came all the way from Peru! English isn't even her native language, but you wouldn't even know from hearing her. She is so fluent, I'm amazed constantly at her ability to communicate. Her native language is Spanish, then she learned English in high school, and also knows some Chinese and Korean! Her Japanese pronunciation is amazing, definitely much better than mine was when I first started to learn it. Not to mention, she's the first Peruvian to serve in an Asian country! How great is my companion?

On the second day I was here, A***-Shimai and I experienced a miracle. Wow, that was fast, right? What happened was that she lost her MTC card, which is basically one of the most important things here-- it allows you to get into all the buildings and to get meals. Without it, you can't do anything, really, accept stand outside. We were looking all over our room for it (which we share with four other Shimai), but we weren't having any luck finding it. I suggested saying a prayer, and so we got down on our knees right next to our bunk bed. A***-Shimai offered it, and we hadn't even got up off our knees before a Sister from the room next to us, Sister S****, came in with A***-Shimai's MTC card. She had apparently left it in the shower that morning! Isn't that such an amazing experience? I don't think I've EVER had a prayer answered so fast! Just goes to show that God truly listens and loves His missionaries, and He WILL answer their prayers. He will answer your prayers too, if you ask in faith. I've come to understand in this past week that the key to succeeding in the mission field is complete and utter faith in God. Do not doubt that you cannot learn the language or be an effective teacher. If we have pure and true faith, anything is possible. My mom sent a wonderful scripture to me in a letter, which was Luke 18:27, I think. I absolutely love that scripture, thanks Mom! It says something to the effect of, "Nothing is impossible with God," and I know that to be true!

Sister Weigl's Bed at the MTC
(Top Bunk)

Thursday was the first full day at the MTC, and boy, was it rough. Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved every minute of it, but it was a REALLY long day. Every single moment of my time was utilized and I was learning and teaching and studying from the moment I woke up (6:00 am) until I crashed into my bed (10:30 pm). I was struggling to feel accepted, but I decided at the end of the day that my feelings, such as acceptance or even I guess you could say, "popularity," is COMPLETELY irrelevant. My time here is not about me. It is not about impressing people. It's about God's Children. It's about serving them. It's about forgetting myself completely and doing selfless service. I am trying to forget myself and focus only on what I can do for those around me. It's a bit difficult to think this way, especially since the world has taught us to only care about one's self. But that's not how it's supposed to be.

We've already started to teach lessons in Japanese! How crazy is that? Our first "investigator" (okay, so he's not a real investigator, just someone who pretends to be one, but my companion and I have decided to not even think about that) is named Ishikido-san. And let me tell you, he is such an amazing investigator! He soaks up everything we say and just loves hearing about the gospel! He is so patient with us as we struggle to teach him about God and Jesus Christ in Japanese. Our first lesson was about God and that He is our Father. We had to play a bit of charades with Ishikido-san for him to understand everything we were trying to teach, but he was totally willing to accommodate our needs! We taught him to pray and challenged him to pray about our message, and when we came back the next day, he told us that he believed it to be true! How awesome is that? All I can say is that such miracles are not of my doing. My weak attempts at Japanese are definitely NOT what enabled Ishikido-san to be able to feel the Spirit and learn for himself that God is our loving Father in Heaven. Tomorrow is our last lesson with Ishikido-san, which I have feel mixed feelings about. I have really grown to love Ishikido-san as A***-Shimai have struggled to teach him. We think about him all the time; thinking about what his needs are and how we can better teach him. He is in our prayers and we just want him to be the happiest he can be. So it will be sad to see him go. On the other hand, we will get the chance to meet and teach a new investigator on Thursday! Whooo! I made a goal for myself to stop relying so much on my notes during the lessons. Up till now, A***-Shimai and I have planned out every moment of our lessons in Japanese on paper, and as such, we rely on our notes too much. We aren't able to have as much eye-contact with Ishikido-san when we teach, which detracts from our effectiveness as missionaries and also makes it harder to feel the Spirit. Next lesson, we plan to try using less notes and not planning out every, single sentence we are going to say. Instead, we are going to write down a few vocabulary words, and practice them throughout the day. Hopefully, by preparing this way, not only will we be more effective teaching the lessons (though significantly less fluid in our sentences), we will also be able to get a better handle on the Japanese language!

Sister Weigl's Room at the MTC
(Six Sisters)

So, I really love the MTC so far! I'm excited to be able to spend NINE WEEKS here! Yes, you read that right, NINE WEEKS. I'll probably be leaving sometime around August 27. The MTC has such an amazing Spirit about it, and I love to see all the smiling faces of the Elders and Sisters who are anxious and excited to do the work. This is truly a sacred place and I am blessed to be able to be here.

Love and miss you all,

Sister Weigl

(Wow, I got a bit of a chill writing my name as that)

P.S. I attached some pictures of my room and my companion!

First Letter from the MTC in Provo, Utah

From Sister Weigl's first letter home:

"...Well, I just finished my first day at the MTC! It's been a pretty long day, but I've just loved it! My companion is from Peru! Really cool, right!

....so yes I am doing perfectly alright. We are going to start classes today and I can hardly wait to get going. The work is so beautiful and everyone is so excited to be here! I love this gospel and the opportunity I have to serve God's children!

Love you all, Sister Weigl"

Sister Weigl - 25 June 2013
(The Day Before She Enter's the MTC in Provo, Utah)