Week 4- The Worth Of A Soul

Aloha Minasan!
Okay I know I said last week felt like the longest week ever but I changed my mind. It was most definitely this week. But like in the sense where throughout the week it felt long but as I write this email it felt very very short. 

Weekly thought:

The worth of a singular soul. Over the course of this week through personal study and by chance I've been seeing a lot about the importance of sharing the gospel and the worth of a soul. More specifically the worth of our own souls. Throughout my time at the MTC I have seen a lot of missionaries with bad attitudes or thoughts about this mission. Basically seemingly being on the mission for the wrong reasons. Although making that choice to go on a mission was a big decision to make. The reasons we go on missions are just as important. 

For example, during the Tuesday missionary devotional Emily Bell Freeman talked about the importance of one thing. For example when her family went to disneyland, what was the one ride they had to go on no matter what. When they went to do something, what was the one thing they wanted to gain from the experience? As I heard that I applied it to myself and being on a mission. What was the one thing that I wanted to do/gain from being a missionary? And I think that one thing is what many people with negative connotations about being on a mission misinterpret. Many think that the one thing that they need to do is baptize as many people as possible or have the highest numbers. Personally I disagree with that sentiment. As I reflected on that, the one thing I wanted to do while being on a mission is to be more Christ-like. 

Now that doesn't mean I only went on a mission to become more Christ-like, I most definitely could have worked on that in my own daily life. But if I gained nothing else from this journey except becoming more like Jesus I think that I would have found my time to be well spent. The worth of one soul is extremely important to Heavenly Father. That is what makes being a missionary and doing missionary work so special. We are able to become farmers of men. We plant the seed of the gospel for that one soul so that they one day may be able to come unto Heavenly Father again. But what is even more important than the souls of others is our own soul. As a missionary I first must prioritize my testimony, my faith, my understanding of the gospel before I am able to help others. As I naturally work towards becoming more and more Christ-like everyday and build a strong foundation of faith for my testimony, those around me will see that. People will see the genuine strength in my faith and hopefully be drawn to it. Now of course there is still work that has to be done and people to be interacted with but that work will start to become easier the more we focus on building our own testimonies and faith. For those who read and are somewhat able to understand my thoughts I urge and invite you to also find that one thing you want to do/work on/experience. Finding the things that are important to us makes life a lot simpler.

Highlights of the week!

-Being sick during conference

-What a small world

-tuesday devotional 

-I'm better? SIKEEEE

-Being sick all week (i'm still sick)

-Do I irritate my teachers? (I honestly don't know sometimes LOL) 

So I got to watch conference in the MTC and I can definitely say it was an experience. It was definitely the first time that I watched all three Saturday sessions on time. And it was the first time I watched conference in a full suit in a gym packed with other missionaries. Unfortunately the choir wasn't taken to conference (trust me I checked) so about 11 branches of missionaries were stuffed into the gym for conference. Although I didn't let that deter me from paying attention. I feel as though this was really an awesome conference and there was so much talked about. A lot of conference focused on becoming more Christ-like and battling adversity which was great and I absolutely loved it. Coincidentally I faced adversity the very next day.
 I woke up with a terrible headache and fever and absolutely could not get out of bed. One of my companions also felt terrible as well. We blame it on the Nutella cheesecake they served us on Saturday but regardless some guys had to come pick our companion up and I was able to ask for a blessing. I promise I tried so hard to stay awake for morning session but it just did not happen. I took some medicine and slept and when I woke up I felt good enough to go to the afternoon session. And I was so glad I did. Between John C. Pinegreen Jr. to J. Kimo Esplin and finally President Nelson all the talks were so meaningful and the rest of Sunday was an absolute blast.

WHAT A SMALL WORLD. I literally met soooo many people that I was somehow connected with here. First and foremost Elder McFadden. So I met Elder McFadden playing volleyball but we didn't realize until way later that he knew my cousin Hi'i and her husband Nick! He apparently knew Nick's family really well which was so sick I was so surprised. I even saw my spring roommate here (he works as a teacher) and an old SOAR buddy Elder Lundberg. What surprised me the most though was when I was buying some shampoo and conditioner in the store this guy just kept staring at me. It was so weird and I was kinda getting annoyed but he finally just showed me a picture of myself and was just like "this you?" I was so thrown off and I told him it was and he asked me if I knew Trish Morgan (one of my fav middle school teachers). I was so thrown off but he told me that he's her nephew and I was so stoked. Seriously crazy how many people you end up connecting with here. Kinda scary. 

I absolutely loved Tuesday's devotional as you may have already been able to tell. Both of the speakers were amazing and it felt like they were talking directly to me. They talked about a lot of topics that I had been concerned with recently. It was kinda scary. During the devotional Emily Bell Freeman started talking about Lahaina and how after the fire she visited and ended up talking with these boys. She had asked them what they wanted her to say in her prayers for them. A bunch asked for a place to stay, peace, and faith. But one boy asked for a temple. She said to him to hold onto that faith and hope for a temple and she will do everything she can to make it happen. During conference apparently the mom of the boy felt urged to record and when they announced the Maui temple he was overjoyed. It really hit me in the soul to hear that story and I conveyed that to my district during district review. I honestly thought it was the best devotional ever and a lot of my district agreed.

Yeah I was sickness free for a good whole two and a half days. I swear the MTC is a biohazard. It started off as a super irritating sore throat but it got worse and worse. I promise no amount if nyquil has helped me. I'm really hoping that I'm all good by tomorrow because that's when fast Sundays starts and if I have to fast sick I think that'll be the end of me. So please keep my health in your prayers!!!  

Sometimes I wonder if I irritate my teachers a little too much. Hi jones sensei :). Nah but for real though I absolutely love my teachers and they definitely make class so much more enjoyable then it probably should be. I'm grateful for them being so sincere and diligent in teaching us how to help others. Even if it's in another language. Just wanted to put that in here because one of them is on my email list now (jokes) but I seriously appreciate them so much!

Japanese word of the week:

This one is more of a phrase but whatevas

かのじょはほし/kanojo wa hoshi

Basically means I want a girlfriend. BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING I'M NOT THE ONE WHO SAYS IT. So we're roommates with these Spanish speaking elders and one of them is sooooo down bad. I swear almost every night without fail Elder Harding says these two exact phrases. "Bro I want a girlfriend soooo bad." And "I hope we all just get absolute 10s for wives." Almost without fail every night. We finally translated it into Japanese for him last night so maybe he'll start saying it in Japanese. Who knows. Shoutout Elder Harding, W roommate for real.

Shoots!

エリスちょうろう

TheRisingSon