Last Letter from the MTC

Can you believe it?!?!?!?! I go to Japan in like 10 seconds!!

 

Ok so when I get to Japan I will be with my trainer for three months (same amount of time as the MTC) because they have a new program for the first 12 weeks of your mission where you get an extra hour of companion study and an extra hour of language study in the morning with your trainer. Cool huh?! I am really grateful for that I know it will help a lot. Anyways, I hope I get another BOMB companion because I will be with them for three months and then I will only have a YEAR left on my mission!! Isn't that insane?! Time flies here it really does.

 

This week has been filled with the usual and then all the lasts. Last gym, (don't doubt I sat there and did about one crunch every 3 minutes for good measure) anyways we had our last Relief Society (this week is Mission Conference) and Elaine S. Dalton came!!! It was so awesome!! So that makes 4 apostles, Relief Society AND Young Womens general president, and many members of the 70 for my mtc stay. Seriously I am so blessed.

 

OH for Halloween my companion and I dressed like eachother. She wore all of my clothes and I wore all of her clothes. It was kind of funny because we both have such distinct style and we were SO eachother. If that makes sense... Then we decided to try and eat so much candy that we would throw up. Much to my dismay, we did not throw up. Instead we just gained 3 pounds each. Yep. In one day.

 

On Wednesday, SHANNON CAME IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (that's actually Skalla shimai now...) but seriously I DIED upon seeing her. I got to be her host which is the missionary that takes the new missionary around right when they arrive and shows them around and takes them to their residence and classroom and stuff. COOL HUH?!?!?! It was seriously a gift from above I KNOW that. At first I wasn't going to be able to host because we had a departing meeting scheduled at that time but it got CHANGED!! Also, sisters have to wait by the residence for the elders to bring the new sisters to them to take them where they are supposed to go but I just so happened to be in the right place at the right time when Shan and Linny pulled up so of course I ran over!! (with quiet dignity of course) I just ran to Shannon and gave her a BIG hug and said, "You made it! You're here, you did it! Everything will be okay." as we are both crying... It was really cool and I know that the Lord was micromanaging the details of both of our lives at that moment. It seriously ROCKED to see Lindsey too! We said our goodbyes and I took Shannon into the MTC to get her settled in. It was a DREAM. Now we get to see eachother at every meal and at night we of course spend every second until quiet time together. It is so fun to have Shannon here. And don't worry every elder at the MTC is in love with her and she gets told she looks like Carrie Underwood at least 20 times a day.

 

On to other business... We had a little meeting with the Brother in charge of the International MTC's because he went to Japan and likes to give the Japan bound missionaries a little pep talk. He talked to us about how Japan is prophecied to be one of the most baptizing missions in the world someday and we have to believe that there are people there prepared by the Lord, waiting for their friends. We have to expect more our of ourselves so we can be as successful as the Lord wants us to be. It was a very sacred meeting and got me SO EXCITED to get to Japan.

 

Yesterday we had something called in field orientation all. day. long. It was really cool though and got me really excited to go on a mission too. It was all about knowing our purpose and how to use it in every little thing we do in the field and then about finding and using members in our work too.. (by the way if you didn't already know this, members are the MOST IMPORTANT SLASH EFFECTIVE TOOL IN MISSIONARY WORK) so I challenge all of you members to get to work and help out the missionaries in your ward. Also I decided yesterday that I think every member should go through the MTC. If every member understood the importance of missionary work a little better and had the desire and knowledge that full time missionaries do, the WORLD would explode with the joy of the gospel!! How much happier would we be?!?! Can you imagine? Anyways I'm done preaching I don't want to be annoying.

 

So something funny that happened... My companion and I were walking along, minding our own business when along comes this elder, by himself, (ummm.. excusemewhereisyourcomp) and he starts like jumping off of ten benches and then 20 walls just like parkour-ing all over the place.. we looked at each other and thought umm.. that was strange. and then all the sudden another elder (a little shorter and chubbier) comes running as fast as he can and is like, "Dang it!" because it was his comp that was running away... anyways i was like crying laughing

 

ALSO it is currently snowing outside and so cold I want to die.

 

This time next week I will finally be and Asian Harajuku LOVER!!!!! CANT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That is all I have, think of me on Monday I will be all the way in NIHON!!!!

 

I love you all so much!!

 

Family, TALK TO YOU MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I am seriously PEEING about that one)

 

Love love love,

xoxo,

harajuku gossip girl

October 28, 2011

Attention EVERYONE!

 

ニホン　似　息ます！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！I am going to Japan!!! I got my travel plans and my flight leaves from SLC on November 7th at 8:31am. I fly to LAX and have a layover from 9:30 to 11:30 and at that time I get to call my family!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait to hear all of your voices!! so be ready to be on the phone at that time family!! After LAX we leave at 11:25am on november 7th and get to Japan at 4:40pm on November 8th. Crazy huh!? (feel free to send me coloring books or a nice sedative...) haha jkjk but real about the coloring books.

 

okay so this week was great!! I taught one of the Japanese sisters to say "ballin" as she shoots the ball in basketball. That was hilarious to me. I love teaching them english slang it's hilarious. and you should see the reaction they give when i show them pictures of me working at Disneyland. they literally die. I feel like I was always meant to be amongst Japanese people. they accept me. hahaha

 

Nothing else to new going on.. same ol same ol... yesterday in a lesson we were asking our investigator if he has ever committed a serious crime (baptismal interview questions) and he said "nai to omoimasu" which means "no, i think" but we thought he said "hai, to omoimasu" which means YES. ahahaha so we were like ohhhhhh ummmmmmm what did you do? (this is all in japanese btw) and he was like, ummm what was your question again? hahhahaha it was so funny. In the same lesson my companion also asked him if he thought the word of wisdom was delicious on accident. hahaha needless to say my Japanese obvi is not perfect yet...

 

Well, I love you all! I know the church is true and it brings me such JOY!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I sent home my address for Japan so you can start sending letters there. CRAZYYYY!!!

 

xoxo,

soon to be in Japan gossip girl,

Sister Swainston

October 22, 2011

HELLO ALLLLLLL

 

Yep. I'm still at the MTC but next week we get travel plans which means there is a light at the end of the tunnel. not that i dont love the mtc because i seriously do. i am going to cry like a baby when i have to leave. but i have been here for 9 weeks!!!! I am SO ready to get out there and teach! (even though i dont know japanese at all)

 

Anyway, this week we got the missionaries from japan going to japan and i was able to take them around and show them what to do and stuff IN JAPANESE. i felt soo cool. but dont worry two seconds after i had a failure of a lesson in japanese where i felt like i knew nothing and couldnt understand anything my investigator was saying. needless to say i am humbled every single day, multiple times a day by this language.

 

On Tuesday, Richard G. Scott came and spoke to us!! what is that apostle #4? Anyway it was incredible as always. I sang in the choir for it and we sang this is the christ. It was incredible i could barely sing. It IS SO COOL when apostles come and speak. The power in the room is like nothing I can even begin to describe. Elder Scott is an ANGEL.

 

Funny Kim choro (elder Kim) story: so he is the Korean going to Japan and this week we learned how to say black person in Japanese so now he always calls me mama kokujin which means a little black. He is seriously hilarious. We love when he substitutes the j sound for the z sound so he says things like, "You are not JeJus!!! and I love Jone Readahs!!" he is so funny.

 

ALSO, a few days ago, president brown, the president of the MTC came and sat with our district at lunch time and talked to us for like 30 minutes. It was so cool. We talked about the scriptures and the purpose of the MTC and our families and a bunch of other stuff..

 

As always, my time has expired, but the good news is, this time next week I will be sending an email with my detailed flight plans and a little over a week from that point, I will be FLYING TO TOKYO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

love you all

minasan, ai shite imasu!!!!

 

xoxo,

Swainston Shimai

October 14, 2011

MTC happenings......

 

Currently there are a few elders behind me trying to figure out the last 3 of the 151 first edition pokemon. if you dont even know what that means, its cool. neither did I. Thus, I am in the MTC and its a huge nerd party constantly.

 

This week nbd I gave a talk in sacrament meeting.. IN JAPANESE nonetheless. It was so scary. Every week we have to prepare a talk and then at the beginning of sacrament meeting they announce who will be giving the talk. You should have seen my face when they said my name. Plus everyone turned around to look at me and my look of terror. one of the members of my branch presidency came up to me after and told me my Japanese was really good! It made me feel great about myself not gonna lie.

 

Julie B. Beck gave the devotional on Tuesday. I entered the devotional and was like, "JULIE BECK OH MY GOSH!!!!!! YESSSS!!" and all the elders around me proceeded to make fun of me slash mock me. happens a lot here don't worry. Also one elder asked me today, "did you do drama?" and I was like yes! how did you know?! and he was like, "you're very dramatic" im like, I know. (not the first time I have heard that one)

 

Last night we got an extra hour of sleep!!! It was amazing. Literally the highlight of my week. Just goes to show the little things that can make me happy up in hurrr... It was because they had a scheduled power outage so we got to return to our residence early and go to sleep early. I AM ALWAYS TIRED HERE. its ok though, comes with the territory.

 

Things I hear in the halls of the MTC,

 

Some elder talking about p-day, "dude, p-day is awesome, we get to chill, write letters, read letters, giggle....... alot...." You kind of had to hear his tone of voice but it was really funny I promise.

 

This week we get new Nihongin which means the missionaries from Japan going to Japan come in. That's my FAVORITE. They are all so cute and hilarious.

 

This week I gave Kim choro a manicure. It was hilarious because he is this cute little Korean kid in our district. He is going to Japan and only knows a little bit of English so he his hilarious. We always make him say english words with L's in them. Its a you-tube dream i swear.  and he LOVES American movies so he is always quoting Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter or the Office. SO FUNNY. such as, "Regoras, not no en nas" (from lord of the rings.) and he straight up looks like the little asian boy who meows on the Grudge. I told him that. I dont think he really understood because after i told him he just went on about how the Japanese bersion of the Grudge is scarier. (yes, bersion) anyways he is just a bundle of joy and constant entertainment.

 

Things are always the same here at the MTC.. not much new info... In a couple weeks we get travel plans which means we find out how much time we have to call our families at the airport. SO EXCITED! also did I tell you that Tokyo is the first mission that they are allowing the missionaries to have lap tops? Which means we get to SKYPE at Christmas!! Cool huh!? Everyone come over to the Swainstons to skype with me!!

 

 

anyways... I love you all! I love my Savior!

 

xoxo,

gossip gurl

October 7, 2011

IT SNOWED HERE YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! death. literally freezing i want to die. you can imagine how dramatic i was upon walking to the temple this morning.

 

So this week we had conference and it was amazing!!!! Seriously for two days all we did was watch conference, chill, eat then repeat. IT ROCKED. All of the talks were amazing and Elder Yamashita the one who came and visited our district spoke too! I felt like he was talking to me. Everytime anyone spoke about missions or missionaries, the spirit was soooo strong. Imagine like 2000 missionaries all assembled together watching conference at the same time. It was like a burst of quiet energy shot through the room every time they spoke about missionaries. Every day I understand more and more how lucky I am to be on a mission.

 

A couple funny stories, so the other sisters were at the temple the other day and they told this older gentleman that they were going to Japan and he was like, "Oh that's nice, the last time I was there I was dropping a bomb!" hahahahahaha so funny. He was like, "good thing you are going there for a much better reason."

 

Another, Yesterday we had service and we had the daunting task of cleaning the showers. Literally the most disgusting experience I have had to date. Picture 100000000000 girls all showering in the same showers and then having to clean it out. Needless to say my companion and I were heaving and screaming and yelling things like, IM GONNA DIE and NOOO NOOOO NOOOO!!!!!! THIS IS A JOKE I'M GONNA DIE! We were laughing so hard and literally crying. our glasses were fogging up and our gloves were HEINOUS. a few girls who just got to the MTC were in the hall getting oriented and they were probably terrified, (they could hear us). Then a couple of them came in and were like, are you ok?! I thought we heard someone throwing up! haha I was like oh no sorry I just have a bad gag reflex... best. service. ever.

 

so anywayzzzzzzzz...

 

Harvey choro says konnichiwa.

 

ok well I love you all! I will be in Japan in one month from today!!! CRAZYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

xoxo,

MTC gossip girl 2011

September 30, 2011

Ariel Hendrix tells me I have a whole 5 followers on my blog. #imsopopularithurts. Thank you fans.

 

sooooo this week.....

 

We had fast sunday this last sunday because tomorrow starts the Super Bowl for missionaries, yep. thats right, GENCONF. love it!! So excited it's not ok!!

So when we have fast sunday we have whats called mission conference and it is 2 hours of a million people giving talks. I love it though there was some great stuff!! This week I have really been trying to internalize slash understand how great of an opportunity I have by serving a mission. So many people in this world would give anything for the opportunity to leave everything behind and serve the Lord and I am one of the lucky ones who gets to. I am so grateful to be here I love the MTC. I can't wait to get to Japan!!!!!!

 

This week officially marks the halfway point for me at the MTC. I feel proud. Only 6 more weeks and I will finally be on a plane to meet all the crazy Azns I will adore. I already do adore them and I don't know them. haha Something Elder Clarke of the 70 told us this week at a Devotional: "Eternity will be changed by you". That hit me pretty hard. I have so many people's salvation on my hands. Every single day I have the chance to change eternity. That is not just because I am a missionary. Everyone has several chances to change eternity each day. We just have to take them and let the Lord help us and guide us.

 

Things I hear in the halls of the MTC:

 

ok so there is almost always a few elders outside of every bathroom waiting 20 years for their companion to come out.. so i was walking by one of the bathrooms and there is an elder just barely opening the bathroom door so he can talk to his companion that is in there and he says,

 

"Elder... Are you ok in there?!?! What's going on it's been like 10 minutes! Gimme some feedback!"  which just proves my last point, the MTC stinks.

 

In other news, this week Melissa sent my companion a wand. Luckily now we both don't have to make our beds anymore.

 

Also just a random story that popped into my mind... sometimes after gym when we go outside and play four square by the temple we like to parkour our way back to the MTC. So I was doing some siiiiiiiick parkour and i used one of the elders to push off of. I kind of just pushed him and then jumped (obvi im a beginner at parkour) (**** side note, who am i? what has this place done to me?! I DONT PARKOUR) anywayzzzzz..... so i jumped and the elder goes, "You can't treat me like an object. I am not some pole you can use to jump off of." he was dead serious. needless to say I was just like oops! then I ran away... ahhhh the things that entertain me at the MTC....

 

Anywayzzz sorry my email was lame this week.

 

 

I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

xoxo,

gossip girl

September 23, 2011

Hai everyone!!! (isn't it funny that i always say haiiiiiii and in Japanese hai means yes?) i found that amusing... anyway..

 

This week was seriously the bomb.com.byu/edu

 

Ok so at the beginning of the week all the Elders and Sisters at the MTC were given the OCTOBER ensign. Yep. thats right. a month early. it is a special edition ensign all about the Book of Mormon. So that was really cool! then we were told to read it and become familiar with it for the devotional on Tuesday. Of course everyone was whispering about the possibility of the prophet coming. (those are the kind of rumors that happen at the MTC.. haha so we get to the devotional after being reminded a hundred times to bring our ensign and scriptures and something to write with slash on and in walks ELDER RUSSEL M. NELSON! so that makes apostle number three. you could say i'm SO LUCKY! right?! Elder Nelson is sooooo cool! First his wife talked and i am obsessed with her. i want to be her. she was hilarious. she talked about obedience which is definitely and overlying theme here but i know that it is really important. then her husband got up and talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon and all about what was in the ensign and stuff. The spirit was so strong and even though I already have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, I felt the spirit testify to me multiple times in just that meeting that the Book of Mormon is true. I seriously love that book so much!!! We are so lucky to have this book with us and should treasure it above all of our posessions. So when the Ensign comes out for October, read it! You will love it!!!!

 

Ok so a few days ago our sensai told us to meet in our class room in our best missionary attire right after we went to the temple on pday. He wouldn't tell us why but we met there this morning and he just started teaching a normal class. a little bit into it we hear a knock on the door and in walks President Brown (president of the MTC), Brother Yamashita newly called member of the quorum of the 70 from japan and his wife, and President Mills (president of the international MTC program). Needless to say it was AMAZING. They all sat down and observed a little bit of our lesson (man was i trying soooo hard to be good at Japanese) and then they interrupted and introduced themselves and the 70 and his wife testified to us. Brother Yamashita told us how he was converted by the love that the missionaries felt and showed, not by their poor language skills. He said, " Don't worry because you have already accepted this sacred calling a long time ago." he kept saying dont worry dont worry in his cute japanese accent. then he said, "please love us Japanes people, please love us." I CAN'T wait to go there and love them SO SO SO MUCH! i already do! When they were all leaving President Brown came up to my comp and i and said, "you're gonna be a wonderful missionary. both of you. I am happy for you. Keep it up." It was so nice and such an amazing experience! the MTC is such a great place. No where else in the world would I be able to experience something like this.

 

anywayzzzzzzz

 

now for: Things I hear in the halls of the MTC:

 

some weird elder trying to sound ghetto (key word trying): "Oh, you be duck-tailin elder! You be duck-tailin hard core!" apparently there is some dumb term for just about every missionary cliche here in the mtc...

 

fun fact about the MTC:

 

the MTC stinks. no like it legitimately smells bad. It may be the fact that over 2,000 boyzzzz are roaming the halls and as my mother would say, "making smells". Nevertheless, I am constantly trying to refrain from gagging.

 

Sister Edstrom quote: after dinner one day, "We are just full with the spirit, there's no room for food." --- she's a character. LOVE HER.

 

anywayzzz thats all i have! If I have written you a letter, WRITE ME BACK DANG IT!!! (via dearelder). If i haven't, it is because i dont have your address. so write me anyway! :)

 

 

mina san, ai shite masu!!!!!

 

xoxo, gossip girl

 

swainston shimai

September 16, 2011

HIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

okay so japanese is so freaking hard i cant even know what to do with myself. the lord humbles me every single day with this language and the second i think i might be getting it he reminds me that i CANNOT do it without him. I love him! haha we got to do TRC this week which is when people who speak japanese come to the MTC and you teach them a lesson in Japanese and try to meet their needs as themself. It was really hard to get my point accross as it always is but i love how no matter how much of a train wreck a lesson ends up being, i can count on the fact that when i testify (even in horrible japanese), the spirit is always there and it doesnt matter what i am saying, the message gets accross. and that, my friends, is the secret to the gift of tongues. believe it.

 

sooo this week was really great! ELDER M. RUSSEL BALLARD CAME! seriously i have had two apostles of the Lord come and speak here at the MTC already. i am so so blessed. Elder Ballard is adorable i wanted to just run up and give him a hug. I wish all of you could experience when an apostle comes to the MTC. It is one very sacred experience. The spirit is so so strong testifying to meet every single one of the elders and sisters needs in the MTC. I marvel at how no matter what i am going through or struggling with every day, my prayers are answered through a talk or a lesson or even my companion or elders in my district.

 

anyway, this week one of the sisters was like, has anyone ever told you you remind them of Rachel Berry from Glee? I was like ummm noooo I never get that! (#yeahrightigetthateveryday)

 

I only have one quote from Edstrom Shimai this week.

Okay she loves loves loves Harry Potter. So this week when we were changing our sheets out slash making our beds she goes,

"uhhhh I dont wanna do this! I wish I brought my wand!" dead serious. hahah i love her.

 

Also, (this is for Adrianna) a few weeks ago in class my sensei used the word "tokidoki" for the first time. Remember that?

 

Also, for those of you who know me well this will be funny. So sometimes it is REALLY hard to stay awake at the MTC. Its a fact of life. So I was sitting in class and trying not to fall asleep and all the sudden I made that one noise that I sometimes make when I am falling asleep. Yep. true. totes embar. luckily it wasn't that loud. still totes embar.

 

What else.... ooh yeah on sunday we got to watch the special music and the spoken word about 9/11. If you didn't get to see it, go watch it right now please. They were showing videos of the heroes of 9/11 rushing to put others' lives before theirs. All i could think about is running to the people of Japan and putting my life and my cares behind me to rescue them from the sorrows and the pains of life. It is just as important as the firefighers running to pull people from the rubble. I NEED to get to them. I HAVE to save them. It is all I want to do right now and I am so so excited to get there and get to work.

 

Something funny about the MTC: on sunday nights, we get to watch movies. it is usually something like the testaments or the Joseph Smith movie. Last week we watched the testaments. as we are watching, the elders find any excuse to be immature. there is a part where Jacob is talking to the King's daughter and says something like "i know your name" (go watch it) and all the elders start cheering and whistling. i think they need a weekly hug allowance. its kinda sad. but funny.

 

anywayzzzz as always my time is running out. I love you all! please send me a DearElder shout out! I love those!

 

 

xoxo,

gossip girl

 

ai shite masu!

Ariel's First Letter from the MTC

 August 27, 2011

Mom and all my kazoku (family),  & friends!

It is my fourth day in the MTC and I feel like I have been here for 4 weeks. The food is bomb, the people are so nice, the language is impossible, and the Elders are unique. My companion's name is Sister Edstrom from Salem, UT. She is a very sweet girl and we get along very well. She is patient with me and my humor that she hasn't fully grasped which is good. My district has 9 Elders and my companion and I. It is a lot of fun getting to know them. We spend A LOT of time with our districts. It was wonderful getting all the mail from DearElder so thank everyone for that! Tell anyone who wants a letter from me to send me a DearElder and then I can write them back because I will have their address. My first Japanese class was a bit of a wake up call. Our teacher or sensai comes into class speaking only Japanese. None of us understand a word he is saying so sometimes it ends up our teacher literally acting things out and us trying to guess what he is saying. It is interesting to say the least. Even though I have only been here four days, we have learned how to greet, pray, and testify in Japanese. Yesterday my companion and I taught our first "investigator" in full on Japanese. It was hilarious we had no idea what we were doing or saying. The days are so long and exhausting here. We are working our hardest from the moment we wake up to the second our eyes close. I know I would not be awake most days if it weren't for the strength of the Lord and all of your prayers so thank you! Today is not our normal preparation day but since it is our first week we don't really get one. We get a few hours today to do laundry and write letters then it is back to work. Starting next week our preparation day will be on Fridays and we will get to go to the temple and then do whatever we need to do. So expect e-mails on Fridays! The spirit is so strong here at the MTC. It is filled with people with righteous desires to serve the Lord. Of course there is comedy everywhere I look which has kept me entertained. Elders are straight nerds. There is an Elder in my zone named Elder St Clair.. He is from St. George I believe and he told me that we are related. I have never seen him in my life. But he says his grandma told his mom and his mom told him to watch for me in the MTC. (maybe you can investigate this mom?) Anyway, I saw Elder Dillon Freeze here (a boy in my single's ward) it was good to see him. I think that is all I got for today. The computer is about to kick me off, we only get 30 minutes and there is a timer. Mom, please tell the rest of the fam to feel free to write me on DearElder or shoot me an e-mail! I want to hear about the first day of school and all the babies and everything. I love all of you so so so much!!!!

XOXO, gossip girl.

.............I mean Sister Swainston...

........I mean Swainston Shimai...

bai.