The travel plans are in!‏ Last week in the MTC!!!!

This seems so unreal to me. I have been here at the MTC for like ever but really time has just flown by. I honestly am surprised that I am leaving sosososos soon. I am very excited to go. The gospel is taking off in Japan and I cant believe that I was chosen by the Lord to do his wonderful work!! Its truly amazing. I am so humbled by this opportunity. I am scared out of my mind though.  But I need to have faith in my Lord and I know that I will be able to do the Lords work and be able to do the tasks and feed his sheep and bring them back home to him. Like I can't explain to you what I am feeling. I hardly can speak any Japanese. But I am not feeling nervous about that. I feel nervous about other things. This is the best thing that I could be doing with my life. I need not to worry about things. I need to keep a clear mind and know that I am doing what the Lord wants me to do and that HE is going to be by my side the entire time! He is watching over me, He will lead me to do the things that he wants done in his church. He knows the master plan that I don't know. I don't know but even with how hard this is going to be and how much this is going to stretch me and push my limits I have never been more excited in my life!!

Well here is what everyone has been waiting for!! The Travel plans:  Monday morning at 5:30 we are meeting at the travel office and leaving and driving to the airport! I am going to make my doryo get there at 5:15. Like this will be the only time that I will nag her about being on time. You would be so proud of me. I am pretty much late to everything because she has ZERO sense of time and I dont want to be a jerk and nag her alllllllll the time.... Its been really hard for me.  ANYWAY so leaving at 5:30am monday morning

We are flying from SLC to LAX. We are flying on DELTA flight #1813 to LAX. Our flight takes off at 9:48am and we land in LAX at 10:51.  From LAX we fly straight to Japan the airport is NRT (Tokyo Narita, Japan) We are flying on DELTA flight #283. It takes off at 1:00pm and we land at 4:55pm October 29!!!  Is Kirk Pace going to be working!!?? Tell him to look for me! I would love to see him!! :) I love Kirk and Paula! 

Its so crazy!! I am so excited. I can't even explain it. I am so nervous but at the same time I have such a calm feeling. Its amazing. This week we also get our new name tags. So like sister brown won't be in English any more its going to say　ｂロｗンシマイ  My name will be something along those lines. Which is crazy. Good thing I know how to read hiragan and katakana!! and a little romanji!!

Well this past week has been a really awesome week! Last Tuesday night Dallin H. Oaks came to the Tuesday night devotional! He did such a great job. I love the way he talks he is like brilliant!! He talked a lot about the other churches in the world and they made complete sense. That they all have some truths to them and they do good things, ours is just the best out of all of them. It was a very interesting talk but it was very very good at the same time. 

So the other day during lunch this elder came up to me holding a newspaper. I was a little confused and then he pointed to a picture and then asked me if that was me in the picture. Sure enough it was the church news with the choir singing in it and it was me. He then continued to say that him and the elders have been watching me the past days just really wondering if it was me in the picture or not and then one elder was like well why don't we just go ask her. So he did, and then he asked me if i would sign it for him haha it was so classic and so weird hah I loved it!! 

WELL good news I have had like the same 6 zits on the side of my head for the past 8 weeks cool and i am getting knew ones that are moving in and moving out all the time. Its pretty much a great landing spot. I don't know.. I guess its just a great vacation spots for zits or something haha.

Last Wednesday I was also a host for the new missionaries. It was pretty fun!! Like its weird being the one that has been here the longest. In less than a week that will change and I will be the little bean chilling in Tokyo so fresh having no idea what is going on!

Thank you for the package! it was pretty much everything I needed. I will be sending home a package in a couple of days of stuff that I don't really need!! AHHH I love you so much and I cant wait to talk to you on monday :) I miss you so much! Its going to rule!! 

XOXO 

Sister Brown

Temple walk on a rainy Sunday

yay the nihongi are here

last Temple trip of the MTC

Sister Ellis she is so cool!! we love all the same tv shows

MTC Week #7

This week was the bomb!! It was probably the most eventful week I have had since coming to the MTC.. well besides singing in conference. So last Wednesday we did this thing call TRC. We do it every week and it's where you have lessons with members. Well this week we did a skype TRC and we skyped with members from Japan!! It was so awesome!  But it was really hard haha I just realized over and over again how bad my Japanese really is... Oh well. I think I was able to get my point across for the most part. So at the start I was introducing myself. I told the lady I was skyping with that I had 10  older brothers... whoops. She laughed and was like well that's okay to have 10 older brothers because we are Mormon.  When I told her I was sister Brown she laughed and said Chairo Brown funny funny... not really...I guess I better start getting use to that joke now. Well then she asked me what I liked to do I told her that I love to play soccer!! and she looked at me and said what are you like a man or something??! hahah. OH man that was terrible.. And then I tried to pray with her and she asked me if I had memorized that prayer... and of course I had to tell her the truth and said yeah... awkward. It was all fun and games talking with skype. I shared a scripture with her and I talked to her about repentance. It was really good. I can't wait to do it again!! 

So this whole week I had been feeling like I was going to get called on to speak on Sunday. So when we go to Sacrament meeting everyone has to prepare a talk on the theme that we are speaking on. And then after the Sacrament that's when they call on people so you have no idea if you are speaking or not... Well on Saturday night the people in charge of getting people to say prayers asked me if I would pray and I said yes. So I was thinking okay perfect I am saying the prayer I won't get called on to talk... but then again all week I had been feeling like I was going to be giving a talk. So I had no idea what was going on. Well sure enough after the Sacrament they announce the speakers and I am the very name that they say.. and then he finishes announcing the rest of the program and was like we will also have a closing prayer by Brown shimai. All I have to say is that is was the Brown show in Sacrament meeting. I also made a fool of myself too haha because everything is in Japanese. I only had to say one verb right the whole time and everything would be okay but I messed that up. So at the end of my talk when you are saying in the name of Jesus Christ amen, it's a little different than in English. I said O-inori ( and that's what you say in a prayer) when you are saying a talk or like testifying you say Akashi. haha ughh  I messed that up so bad.. It was too classic. 

Well now me and Jake Brown have class right next to each other. They made us all switch class rooms last night. All of west campus is going to be Spanish speaking. So its just a huge mess over here.  So we had to move out of our building and move to a different one. It totally sucks because we used to have the top floor of a building and it was just us in it.. it was amazing and now we are on a floor with all the other Japanese speakers which is probably a really nice thing, but its packed and super loud and it smells funny so that's annoying.  At least it will only be for a few mores days because I am leaving SOON!!! AHHHH 

GO UTES!! I am so proud of them for winning!! I bet it would have been an awesome game to  be at!! And lame the picture of Josh on ESPN didn't work it was like an email of just a huge link and yeah.. which sucks hah I am just happy they won!! Sarah Bell emailed me and she sent me a picture of her and Kamille at the game! It looked so fun!

Only one more Pday here before I go to Japan. I am so excited!!  We should hopefully be getting our travel plans on friday :) weird!!!! I can't believe that its actually time for me to go!!! 

The church is true and there is no other place that I rather be at than here serving the Lord!  I cant wait to share the gospel with the people living in Japan. 

XOXO

Brown Shimai

MTC Week # 6

Another wonderful week at the MTC!! Its crazy I only have two more pdays left!! WHAT THE HECK!! Soon enough I will actually be living in Japan, That is blowing my mind!!

This week was hard. Like maybe it was the fact that it was conference and that made me a little home sick or maybe it was the fact that I am realizing that I am gong to be in Japan really soon and I don't know if I feel very well prepared to be there. Like I am feeling pretty confident in my gospel vocabulary. I still need to learn some notes, I am doing good but like I have  no idea what people ever say to me and if it's not about the gospel then I just am so lost. Like the other day when we were teaching our investigator he said that he hated it when it was freezing cold and raining. And I had no idea what he said so I just said yea, I love it. haha What the heck?! No one in their right mind likes when it is freezing cold and raining. And I just find myself nodding my head and said yes or no trying to not look to confused. Even when people say a statement or ask me a question that obviously needs more than a yes or no answer. So in Japanese to say that you don't understand you wakarimasen. Well this is what I find myself doing. I nod my head like I know whats going on and like I am understanding but then I also say wakarimasen. Its pretty funny. Well its funnier in person I guess and its probably funnier when you actually speak Japanese.  I guess that my sleep talking has gotten out of control. I am talking all night long, but I do have some help in learning Japanese, I am sleep talking in Japanese... haha so thats always a good thing.

So conference. Lets see. I actually watched every single session and I didn't fall asleep once. So that was really cool. I am really glad that I was able to watch it here. Like this conference was really amazing. The whole time I felt like it was talking to me directly!! I am so excited to be doing the Lords work. My favorite talk was by Richard G. Scott. I liked how he talked about you can't let satan get to you. He tries and will bring back memories of past sin and past guilt. That is something that can be so hard for you and something that can make the mission seem almost impossible. It just makes you feel inadequate and I have been feeling that a lot lately.The over all message that I got from conference is that I need to come unto Christ. Not just when I need help or when I am struggling or when I need to repent, just come to him like he is there in person with you and you can talk to him about anything. I have really been having a hard time doing that, I have all this pride in me and it's been my biggest struggle letting go of it and going to Christ, but I can  say that I am improving with that every day!   Day by day I am getting better so that is really great. I can feel Gods love for me and that's a great feeling.  I am go grateful to have had conference at the time it was, I really needed it and really has changed and helped me out so much in the past couple of days, I am very excited for the future and what can happen now.

I am sorry that the flowers are freezing, they kind of start looking crappy at this time of the year anyways. I love fall, that's something that I am missing for sure. Like I just love it.  My district has come up with this awesome musical number though... hahaha we sing I am trying to be like Jesus to the tune of Harry Potter. It's pretty much the coolest thing in the whole world. haha The things we do to stay entertained in the mtc

Thanks for sending my pic and address to James and Vivian. I love them!  They are so cute and I miss them!  Every time I meet an elder or a sister who is going to Brazil I think about them. I am so excited for Katie, hopefully she has a girl! That would be so cute!!! :) I remember her and I were making jokes about her getting pregnant like when she moved hahah awkward.. So I finally figured out Kate's email and I emailed her last week, and she wrote me this week! OH what a cutie!! I told her we are basically going to be neighbors in about three weeks.

I love you so much and thank you so much for all of your support and everything you do for me!! I love you lots.

XOXO 

Sister Brown.

Brown bag lunch with the district

My district in front of the Temple on Sunday.. what a bunch of keepers

Me and Elder Redd!! or known as Mormon. He was in my youthlinc group and we went to Mexico together so it was fun having him in my branch.  We always talked and such, it was great!!

The two nihongi, they are so cute and they left on Monday!! They told me they love the way my voice sounds... haha awkward because I sound like a man..

Weekends at the mtc are pretty slow so I have resigned to taking pictures of myself hahaha

I couldn't find that mtc sign so I took this picture  instead.

MTC WEEK 5

This last week was amazing!! Choir was amazing! It was a once in a life time opportunity and I am so glad that I was able to participate it in. It was great fun! We left the MTC around 12:30 and didn't get home until  about 9:30! It was a full day gone from the mtc haha I was loving it. But it was actually kind of weird being out in the real world and not being in the mtc or the mile radius of the mtc haha. We got there and we sang sang sang. We had really good food and then sang some more and then it was time for the meeting to start!!  The two songs we sang are awesome and they were just such a reassurance to the fact that I am exactly where I am suppose to be serving the Lord :)

It made my day seeing you the other night :) gosh it was so great!! Like I don't even know how to explain it. I cried just a little bit the first time we waved at each other. Pretty sure I just stared at you the whole meeting!! It was great.  It was weird though because even though I miss you and I was so happy to see you, like I wanted to come home with you but at the same time I didn't at all!! I love being on my mission. Its amazing. Even though I am only in the MTC, I just love it here.  I got to give Sister Burton and her two counselors hugs so that was nice. It was so amazing. The conference center is huge!!! Like all the back stage areas. So crazy. It was just overall such an amazing experience and opportunity. So my companion was in the choir actually. But she was in a different part than me and like leaving the conference center was crazy back stage so I just left and was hoping I would see her on the bus. One brother told me to just go to the buses. That's the most important part was to make it to the bus and that your companion would find you somewhere haha So I went to the bus!! So it was fun. All of the sisters that are in my district were in the choir. 

Well another week down!! It is crazy how fast time is going. I am not sure if I like it or not. Its just weird. I am officially well, my district is officially the oldest now.  Its so crazy, I still feel like I can hardly say anything that isn't written down on paper.. My memorization skills aren't very good, they really need some work. I feel like I just learn so much in one day that it is impossible to remember it all. But I can officially read and write in hiragana  that's such a great feeling I am really slow at it, but it's coming along and I am making some major progress.  On Sunday we had a really great fireside about going to the Temple! I am really excited about going because of the fireside and because of this questions I have been thinking about lately. I was reading the scriptures and the question or statement "Dare to be consecrated" has been in my mind the past week. It's something that I have been studying a ton about so yeah. I am really excited to go to the Temple today because of that!! 

 

Things in the mtc are good I think I am gettting fat haha I eat so much!!  However I have been feeling really sick the past couple of days.. Its  been terrible. I have like an awful cold. A headache that won't go away and sore throat, my ears kill and that awkward chest pain haha my body is so sore too. I am tired of being sick. It makes it impossible to pay attention in class when you are feeling like this. Hopefully it gets better soon.

 

I love you so much and I know that this church is true. Try not to miss me too much!! I love ya 

XOXO 

Sister Brown 

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