MTC - Week 8

It’s a countdown now! My district received our travel plans last Friday…we leave the MTC at 4:30pm this Monday, November 2nd. Our flight leave SLC Airport at 8:20pm, we have a 3-hour layover in San Francisco, and about a 2 ½ -hour layover in Taiwan. We arrive in Indonesia on Wednesday the 4th, two whole days later! So this will be my last Preparation day at the MTC…I gotta think of all the good news to tell you ‘cause now’s my only chance! :P So last Thursday night we had our first Zone Conference. It was bomb! I now know why missionaries always raved about them! Three districts from our Zone met together (Mongols, Malaysians, and us Indo’s) and four different teachers spoke to us. Brother Maynes (teacher in the Malaysian District) spoke about what it means to be a missionary. My favorite quote from his talk was “you don’t let your light shine to draw attention to yourself, you let it shine to glorify God.” Brother Rasolo (teacher in a Malaghasy District; he’s from Madagascar). Spoke about how to fulfill our purpose at the MTC. Brother Leo (our teacher) spoke about how to invite others to come unto Christ. The last teacher, Brother Cannon (teacher in Mongolian District), spoke on how we can recognize the spirit. It was such a spiritual boost, I absolutely loved it! I can’t wait to have more Zone Conferences in the field!!!
> The TRC this week was a good learning experience…it showed me that I need to have patience and faith. We taught Andrew again, but the scenario this week was that he was a Muslim living in Jakarta, he knew a little about the church from meeting with previous missionaries, his wife passed away, and his 4-year-old son lived in Solo with the grandma. He asked a ton of questions…which Sister Hewlett and I understood maybe 15%. It was very frustrating not knowing what he was asking. I thought about how hard it will be in the field if I was teaching someone who was sincerely interested in learning about the gospel, wanting to know what he needed to do in this life to see his wife again, and not knowing what he was asking or how to answer. At the end of the lesson I was having a hard time ‘cause I wanted to be fluent in Indonesian just with the snap of my fingers…but I know it doesn’t work that way. The language will come, little by little, as I remain faithful and study diligently. I have definitely learned (as I have said before) that I cannot do this without the help of my Heavenly Father, I truly rely on Him—for I know that with His help, I can do ANYTHING…even learn Indonesian.
> On Sunday we heard from Sister Vicki Matsumori from the Primary Presidency. Yay for fellow Japanese! :) She talked to us about how important it is to involve children in our lessons when we teach, and how to make them feel loved. The fireside that night was by Brother and Sister Thomas (a branch President and his wife from the MTC). They did a musical fireside and ALL of their children and grandchildren came to sing! It was the coolest thing! After Sister Thomas spoke, the 5 Thomas children got up to sing an a capella number. It was beautiful! Then after Brother Thomas spoke, all of their children and grandchildren got up and sang “My Kindness Shall Not Depart from Thee”. That made me think of my family. :)
> Guess who came to speak at our devotional on Tuesday??? Elder L. Tom Perry! And did you know that he is super tall in real life?? He’s a giant! He talked about the requirements for teaching. One thing he said that stood out to me was that the first step in becoming a great teacher is becoming a great student. We must learn from the scriptures, through prayer, and by the spirit to ‘obtain’ the word before we can ‘preach’ the word. It was so neat to hear from another apostle of the Lord…I’m so grateful that we get to hear from such amazing and inspired people!
> Wednesday we got to host again, so fun! I hosted two sisters—one was Melissa Roseberry! I knew her from institute but had no idea she even had a mission call! It was so cool to see a familiar face.
> This gospel IS the true gospel of Jesus Christ that He once established on the earth. I know that through Joseph Smith, the gospel was restored in its fullness. I know that he translated the Book of Mormon, and that those that wrote the Book of Mormon truly saw our day. They knew the challenges we would face in this last dispensation of time, and so wrote verses of scripture that would help us battle against the adversary and protect ourselves from his ‘fiery darts’. I know that by reading the Book of Mormon with a sincere heart and real intent, we will grow closer to Our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ. I know that from experience. God loves each of us individually and he knows us so personally, every detail of our lives! He lives today and is mindful of our every thought and action.
> I hope you all are well! I love you and want you to know that I am happy and so grateful for the privilege of being called as a servant of God…His work is progressing! I am so excited to meet the people of Indonesia and help bring them back into the fold!
> Thank you for all the love, support, and prayers, I really do appreciate them!
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> Dengan kasih,
> Sister Okamoto