Elder Holland at the MTC!

Konnichiwa!

Thanks for the Dear Elders and letters--yep dad, I got both of the Dear Elders! I am so excited that I have another nephew!!! Congratulations Nate and Birgit! I think I'm definitely one of the proudest aunts alive right now! I even figured out how to say "I have a new nephew" in Japanese so that I could tell everyone in my district (we're doing SYL--speak your language in Nihongo all the time now and so I couldn't tell them in English)! I'm sure Henry is so precious--please give him a hug and a kiss for me!

Becca--I've been writing you every week, but I guess I had the wrong address because two of the letters I sent you came back to me yesterday! I'll be sending them along with another letter tomorrow to the new address you gave me. I love you!!!

It's been another wonderful week. I can't believe how fast time goes by--a few days ago I realized that I'll be leaving for Japan a month from now! I'm so excited to go to Japan and teach the people!!

Last Tuesday's devotional, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland came and spoke to the missionaries at the MTC. It was so amazing! He loves missionaries and is so concerned about us living up to our callings--he talked about how he thinks about his mission every day of his life--he said, "It's affected every good thing that's come to me!" He encouraged us to get everything out of our missions that we could--embrace it--he said that this is not a "dress rehearsal!" The work that we, that I am doing is of eternal importance, and I realize how important it is for me to do everything I can to serve the Lord! Elder Holland talked about how we shouldn't just serve the Lord on our missions, and then return to "real life"--he said that we should come home ready to live it forever!

His talk reminded me again of why I'm here and how important the work is that I'm doing! I thought it was neat that he talked about how we shouldn't just live this way, serving others, etc. on our missions--but it should continue after our missions, and forever! The things we do a lot of as missionaries--studying the scriptures, serving, learning to follow the Spirit--are all things that all of us should do, not just on our missions! Truly our time on life here is precious and we have so much we can do to help the Lord's work!

Elder Holland also talked about scriptures, about the power of its words. He quoted Jeremiah about how well we should know God's words, or the scriptures: (the word)..."will be in your heart like a burning fire shut up in your bones." The more I study the scriptures, the more I understand how this works! Each day as I study and ponder their words, the Spirit teaches me something new and I am able to apply them to my life--this is the power of the word! The word, the scriptures--testify of Christ, and how we can come unto Him to overcome our weaknesses and trials. Through my study of the scriptures I have learned so much of Christ, and the power that comes in following Him and putting trust in Him. The stripling warriors in the Book of Mormon put their trust in Him--and they were ALWAYS delivered from the enemy! This is the power that comes through Christ--because of His atonement and suffering for our sakes!

I love my Savior with all my heart! This is His true church! I know that as we put our trust in Him he will help fight our battles for us!I love all of you and am praying for your welfare.

Love,
Swain Shimai