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!