Dear Mom and everyone!
Sorry it took so long to get a letter to you. The email thing didn't like me this week. So things are good here, still learning a ton. It's crazy how much we learned in a month and a half. I never thought I could speak to someone for 30 minutes in Japanese and have them understand all of the sentences that I said. I can't understand other people outside of our district very well because they know different vocabulary and grammatical patterns though.
I hope you and Rick try learning a little Japanese so I can practice writing it more and then maybe you could talk to Jon's mom for practice too! :)
We are supposed to get 28 Nihonjin on Wednesday, May 4th, which means we only have 3 weeks left till we go to Japan!! :-D
We got some pretty cool "greenies" in our room, they like sports and work really hard. It is like a boost of motivation to get better and practice more and look good for them. Their names are Elder Davis and Elder Maughn. I asked him if he is related to Bryan Maughn, but I don't think they are closely related at all.
That's crazy to hear that Zac and Mirian are getting married, it seems like he just got back from his mission. And, I'm bummed to hear that boys Volleyball isn't doing too well :( I hope it gets better for them. I try to play some here but it just isn't the same level of play or have the same spirit about it. Sort of just jungle ball all the time and gets a little boring but it's still good to get some touches on the ball.
How are Jon, Adam and Spencer? Did Jon ever get the letter I sent him? I hope I didn't send it to the wrong address.
We didn't do anything too special for Easter here. But the last two devotionals the last two Tuesdays we have had an apostle speak. The first time we had Richard G. Scott who talked about how to use the spirit effectively and not to hesitate to do what it says. That is something they always try to emphasis here so that we can teach to the investigators needs and have the spirit to touch their hearts. He also used his apostle powers to give us the Gift of Tongues which really gave me a lot of relief to not be as stressed about it but I still have to work hard. The other apostle we heard from was Dallin H. Oaks who I really could feel the spirit right when he walked in the room. It was awesome, I really feel the spirit so much here. Anyways, he spoke about 7 ways missionaries can be better. They are really effective. 1. Physical Health 2. Be an Insurgent in the Lords hands 3. Prepare yourself to act in his service 4. Remember who you are and the work you are involved in 5. Work to establish the Church 6. Teach and testify 7. Nurture - truly care for the investigators. Those seven things can really be applied to missionaries like me now and for the rest of my mission. Those two talks were just plain awesome!!
It's crazy how time flies in here but can also go by so slow at times. We just all want to leave so bad and to do some real work. Our teachers tell us all these cool stories to motivate all of us but we sort of feel useless just sitting in here learning. We all want to share this message but we have to just be patient until it is time for the Lord to use us. Just hoping we don't get delayed like the people before us.
Here are a couple pictures for you so you can see what I've been up to and who i've been around. Hope you enjoy them. :) Love you all. Keep the letters coming!
Love,
Elder McKinney
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