20 November 2007

Hello all people.

Last Tuesday, at the end of my Preparation Day (so I couldn't send any more letters) Elder Nelson came and spoke to us. It was really awesome. He and his wife gave good talks. Just the simplicity in his testimony, and the simple statements he made were strong. The part I liked most was when he said: "show them that you can help them. Be valuable to them." One way he talked about being valuable was through the family history program. Everyone has a last name and geneology, so this is one way us as missionaries can make ourselves useful. I kinda went "yes!" on the inside when he talked about that. I think I am one of the only missionaries in my district that has truly felt the spirit of Elijah. It really is spreading across the globe.

Also, I just started reading through the little pamphlets in Japanese this week. Guess what, all the pictures are of Japanese people! :-) Haha, I found that amusing. We have been teaching about the Plan of Salvation for the last couple weeks, and we have found that it has been a very humbling experience.

Sunday night, we were privileged to have Brother Bott and his wife come to speak to us. I took his Mission Prep class at BYU, and he is amazing! He just has the hilarious sense of humor you don't expect from a man that looks like he should be in the seventy. He talked about knowing when you know you have a testimony. He said that in order to check yourself, take a step back and imagine how your life would be if all the influence of the gospel had been taken from it. How different would we be??

This Sunday, me and my companion did a musical number for sacrament meeting. I played piano and he sang "Let Him Heal Your Heart" off of an EFY CD. It went pretty well considering I had only played through it 4 or 5 times. :-) For our Large Group Meeting this past Friday, we listened to "How Great Thou Art" as a female solo. Truthfully, I was sitting there thinking: "my little sister could totally sing better." Haha, be aware that I am always thinking about you all. But not too much. That would make things hard. :-) I hope you all are enjoying the blessings of me being here! Haha.

So I had a weird dream this past night. I received another mission call. It was to some weird place in California. And it was expected that I baptize at least 2 Russian people a year. And I was expected to learn Spanish and Russian. And no Japanese! Haha, funny the things we think up!

So for Thanksgiving, we have a couple extra firesides, and a couple extra service opportunities for a humanitarian project put on by Sister Boone. Get this, we get sack lunch dinners! Oh man. The joys of being in the MTC. At least I'm not staying for Christmas! One) The elders here don't get to call home. Two) All the elders here get all day is cereal. Oh boy. But we will have to see how Japan turns out, eh? I have less than three weeks before I go. That seems really short, but long at the same time. I want to be there now, but sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed with the language.

So I pretty much see Alan Potts every week. He is just finishing up work here when my district takes a lap around the MTC to memorize vocabulary or grammar. It is good seeing him.
Well, it hasn't even snowed here yet! We are starting to worry! Of course, we say that now, but in a week or two, we will start to regret our wishes. But truly, a white layer to the ground would really be awesome! I love the freshness of the air here. Its just a shame that I can't go outside a two block diameter. Haha, I'll get over it.

Well, TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!

~Elder Hogge