MTC Letter #5 Full to the brim!!!

Hello to my SWEET KAZOKU!!!! (yasashii!!)

How much I love all of you! I have been overwhelmed at the love and notes I've received each day here at the MTC. How I love you and your sweet inspiration!!! You truly fill my life with joy. I don't think that there has been a day when I haven't had more than one letter. Thank you to my wonderful friends as well... I love hearing from all of you!

What an amazing family I have. Sometimes I think of you and get OVERWHELMED with my blessings! I love you so much, thank you for your support. I know Heavenly Father loves me for sending me to SUCH a wonderful family! I never tell you thank you enough. Thank you. :)

Time FLIES at the MTC (em-tea-shi... Nihongo pronounciation). My English is getting worse and I hope my Japanese if getting better! I had a few requests to share what our days are like... so I have a few things for you this week!

One of our investigators has been a little tough (our teacher!). We had a lesson that didn't go very well, and we were having a super hard time holding his attention. SO! I testify that prayer works, even more than we think. Heavenly Father is so anxious to bless us! The Bible Dictionary says something to the effect that prayer "is a form of work... to bring the highest of blessings that God is willing to bestow but are made conditional on our asking for them." So! With a lot of prayer, we took a different approach from a few inspirational sources. We made a maze out of paper (maybe I was an Aspen Grove and EFY counselor for too long!) out of lined paper. We made a little "Yoshi San" (our investigator) figurine, with a hole atop. The maze didn't have a straight way through, so we had him try it and he got stuck (he is funny and tried to cheat, but we told him it wasn't allowed). Then, we had string and offered it to him (he is "hypothetically" having a hard time with wanting to pray), and we told him that this was like prayer and reading your scriptures. When we face problems, Heavenly Father gives us those tools we need to get to "eien no inochi" (eternal life.... the end of the maze). The Spirit was so strong! I am so grateful that the Lord teaches us through both hard and very sweet experiences. We are working on strengthening his relationship with Heavenly Father like the Bible Dictionary encourages... our whole class is teaching him at different times, it is so fun to be gaining insight from the scriptures and learning how to teach. I love the Gospel and praying for our investigators (even if many of them are our teachers!) It is amazing that love Heavenly Father gifts us as we earnestly seek.

My comp and I were in our classroom for language study, and everyone else was gone... and we were writing on the board in Hiragana. I thought I wrote: "I speak Japanese. I write Japanese. I AM JAPANESE!" I'd written before on the board, "totemo jodan" for something else.... which is like, really, JOKE... but we realized later it had said, "I speak Japanese. I hear in Japanese. I AM JAPAN! Joke." ha ha. There are so many fun times and moments at the MTC!

Two weeks ago we had senkyoshi (missionaries) from JAPAN arrive for their three weeks at the MTC! We have really bonded with the sisters and it has been SO FUN. The other night they came into our room, these sweet, tiny, so polite sister missionaries, to thank us for our friendship, kindness, and for taking the Gospel to their country. They were crying with gratitude. My eyes tear up just remembering it. They gave us gifts of Japanese candy and origami... and this is when they had only known us for a little bit! We asked them their favorite candy (it is so fun to talk to them, but sometimes both sides have no idea what the other side is thinking)... and we found out that they like chocolate! We doorbell ditched their door with chocolate and a note in Japanese. The other morning we awoke to a "heart attacked" door with a chocolate bar taped on it. They are SO FUN. We have had so many experiences laughing together, crying together, and just sharing that we love each other... even when it is hard to find words to get anything else across! It is amazing how the Spirit speaks so strongly and overpoweringly to the heart that we can be such wonderful friends. We will miss them when they return to Japan!

So... they are leaving next week with the missionaries who are finsihing their 12 weeks, and then it is almost our half-way mark! OUR kohai come so soon, and then we will be the next group to leave with the Japanese missionaries that come!

One of the other districts has not been bonding as well as ours, and to help them the other day we made little sacks of M & M's I'd found in the giveaway bin that day.... an almost full bag of new M&M's, it was like a tender mercy for the purpose of this! We made little bags of M&M's and peppermints (thanks Mom!), tied with dental floss, and left a short loving sentence on the board before they got to class the other day. I love doing secret service, and all kinds of service, and anything that brings us closer to the Lord!  I guess that explains why I have been told several times from Elders in my district that I will make a wonderful grandma. On occasion they call me grandma. Its a compliment to me because I love all my grandmas and want to be like them!!! I was also informed that I would make an excellent pioneer woman (this was in reference to positivity....) from two of our Elders last night. The other night, I tried to dry my roommates socks with my blow dryer and we ended up just laughing for 10 minutes while I was having sock drying races and having far too much fun. This is really entertaining if anyone needs ideas.... you know you are at the MTC when your entertainment for the week is drying socks with a blow dryer and your high social point of the week is hanging out in the laundry room on Pday! ;)  

Time is short, and now I have to just share pieces of my heart! The MTC is amazing. The Lord is SO aware of us and so with us, it fills my eyes with tears.

Our days: we teach 5-7 lessons a week typically (including the TRC, which is really fun... we get to teach them as themselves and seek to help them grow from wherever they are!), we prepare a talk in Japanese each week and two missionaries are called by inspiration to bear their testimonies each week, WE LOVE THE TEMPLE! I went this morning and had such incredible feelings, I truly know that the Temple is a sacred place. What beautiful experiences and love Heavenly Father has to offer all of His children! I love being a missionary and being in this place, preparing to share HIS Gospel and His love (the most important thing to establish!) with His children that He loves so much. It is so exciting! We have a lot of class time, eating time, study time, planning time... we love our Sensei's.... one especially is SO GOOD and is really helping us grow, I think my comprehension is growing!  And truly, our district has been blessed. I love it! They are all great.

My brother would consider me officially a good sister missionay, because... I cut my hair today!!He used to say that good sister missionaries don't spend time on high maintenance hair. :) It just bruches my tag with a few layers, just longer than shoulder length. I've arrived! ;)

TIME IS OUT but oh how I love you. I am truly learning to depend on the Lord and Jesus Christ's atonement. I am filled with wonder when I think of His sweet sacrfice and His love. I feel the enabling power of His grace daily, all day, every moment. I thank my Heavenly Father for each moment of supreme joy. It is a privilege to live and experience such a wonderful thing: THE GOSPEL!

Love you forever! God is watching over you and so aware of you, I promise as you turn to Him He will make more of your life than you could ever dream of. :)

Love you Forever!!!!!!! 


Love,
(a full to the brim!) Anderson Shimai  

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Letter #4: Sweet is the work!!!

My Sweet Kazoku!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW what a week! Some weeks I will try to keep a running post it note of everything I want to tell you... I know I'll never have time but I want you to know that the work is WONDERFUL!

Thank you so much for all of your support and letters friends and fam! Wow, I feel so blessed of the Lord to have been given such wonderful friends and family. You are all SO SWEET, thank you for writing! I may not be able to write everyone back individually (as we can only write on Pdays and they are sooooooo busy!)... but KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU and you are so appreciated in my life!

This week was so amazing. I got a little bit down in the middle of the week. I think the Lord gives us hard things and really wonderful things, and I am so very grateful that we have both! The past few days have just been WONDERFUL for me personally--I know why I am on a mission, and who I represent. Things have just changed for me now. The Lord is helping and honing my character flaws. He is shaping me into something miraculous... how grateful I am for His work on me! He truly helped heal my soul this week. I have never known dependence like this. I know through experience that the Lord helps us in EVERY way: physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially--and we are dependent on Him for it all. Heavenly Father truly loves us! I have never felt the depth of emotions I have felt at the MTC. I know with assurity that the Lord is with me and watching over me. I wish I could give you a window into my heart, that I could just show you how much He is there for me. He is there, always. I am amazed at Heavenly Father's love and consistency. I am so very grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. How I love Him! He is the message of our Gospel--that through Him, we can return home to our Father in Heaven. Its GLORIOUS!!!!

Last night we taught a class discussion to one of our teachers (a sub). It was so interesting! The Spirit was definitely there even though it was a little scattered with 6 companionships in our district! We picked up a new investigator to practice with this week (another one of our teachers!), and it is so fun. The language is flowing so much more smoothly. We stopped taking in our books to class this week. Ahhhhhh! Sometimes we bring a few notes and sometimes we don't. The Spirit truly works with us as we pray before each lesson to have charity and to discern the needs of our "investigators." It is so wonderful to feel these feelings for those we teach.  It is different when we walk in and see our teachers there to have us teach them. The Lord loves His children, and He is anxious to edify all of them. This work is inspired! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!

I love the MTC!!!!! I feel like I used to worry so much about the future, about the present, even the past--and I testify that the Savior's Atonement can help little thing we ever worry about. I loved finding the scripture again this week in 3 Nephi 17:7... Our Savior and Redeemer is so anxious to heal "any manner of afflictions." I feel peace in a way I never have before! I know that the Lord will care for my tomorrows, and I get to rejoice in THIS day. It is such a privilege to be a missionary.

We had Elder Kevin R. Duncan and his wife speak to us this week, it was so humbling and so good for me!! He talked about JOY and the privilege of being a missionary. They talked about how missions change missionaries, and about charity... and trusting in the Lord! I know that we cannot learn this language without Him, and I am continually amazed that if I dedicate my specified Gospel study as suggested, I do not fall behind. The spirit quickens us, and Heavenly Father is so anxious for us to suceed! I think this week may have changed my whole mission, I truly can answer with Nephi of old, "I know in whom I have trusted."

What a joy this work is! What a privilege! There are people, millions, everywhere searching for the word of God. I am so grateful that I get to take His word to His children in Japan. I know that there are people HUNGRY for the Gospel there! I know in whom I have trusted, and I have no doubt that we can do it with Him. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" "They that be with us are more than they that be with them!" Oh how I rejoice in my God and King! I know my life never would have been the same without this mission experience. I know for assurity that this is His church and His work! I love the Plan of Salvation! How amazing is this work? I used to feel like it was true and I was watching it, but know I KNOW it is true--for I feel like I am IN it. I felt that this week, it is so hard to describe. But I can testify with assurity of God's love and His influence in our lives. If you are wondering if He is there, if you wonder why you face something--I testify to you that God loves you. He is watching over you and wants you to succeed. That we get to proclaim His gospel fills the pools of my heart with deep gratitude and joy!!

In other news... I sing in the shower, in the bathroom, sometimes (actually all of the time) I make very happy sounds when I read the scriptures - I CAN'T HELP IT!!! I love my district, we get FED from the Word of God with a devotional every week that is so uplifting... Elder Russell M. Nelson came last week, and it was so incredible when he walked in--we couldn't see him but the power of the priesthood fell over the audience and we all stood in a hush. Even before I saw him, I knew that there was power in that room. I testify he is a man of God! He spoke on the gathering of Israel and the Abrahamic Covenant, it was so wonderful and now I see things everywhere that point to them. Wow!

Mom and Dad, every once in a while I think about you coming to the MTC... the gym is great and they have healthy food options! (in the weight room gym you can even watch conference... Dad will feel right at home!) [we do weights once a week] I think about you frequently being here and getting ready for YOUR mission, I am so excited for you two!! I love telling people that you are getting ready to go. Thank you so much for raising me in the Gospel, I can't wait to see you again but I know that this is where I am supposed to be. I know that God called me to be here, and that He has a plan. Oh, isn't the Gospel wonderful? I think like Alma, it sometimes exceeds my strength or fills me so much with joy that I just scream a little bit. (maybe squeal is a better word. I just am so happy!) Don't worry, my companion and my district can still hear ... 

  

The Church is true! I love this work! I pray you will be strengthened and that we all can treasure the gift of this work we have been given. Sweet is the work!

With Love,

Anderson Shimai (loving Japanese!)

Elder Kevin R. Duncan was sustained a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 3, 2010, at age 49. At the time of his call, he had been serving as a member of the Fifth Quorum of the Seventy in the Utah South Area.

Elder Duncan received a bachelor of science degree in accounting, a master's in taxation, and a juris doctorate in law from Brigham Young University in 1991. He began his career as an associate attorney. In 1996 he founded CaseData Corporation, from which he retired in 2005.

Elder Duncan has served in numerous Church callings, including full-time missionary in Chile, temple ordinance worker, Church-service missionary as Associate International Legal Counsel in South America, president of the Chile Santiago North Mission, and Area Seventy.

Kevin Read Duncan was born in Ogden, Utah on October 6, 1960. He married Nancy Elizabeth Smart in August, 1986. They are the parents of five children and have one grandchild.

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