It's been one crazy week. Several members of my district got sick this week. Some very sick. I have given and assisted in two priesthood blessings this week. Last Saturday one of my Choro-tachi got so sick and weak he couldn't walk. He's from Brazil and barely 100 lbs and since the doc doesn't come to the MTC on weekends we had to go to the office off campus. Since his companion is also Brazilian and doesn't speak English I decided I go with him as District Leader. It took forever. His companion and I gave him a blessing with some of our zone leaders the day before and now Tsuru Choro is as right as rain and as happy as ever. The power of the priesthood is real. The next day one of my shimai-tachi asked for a blessing because she was sick. It was the first priesthood blessing blessing I have ever given and all the choro-tachi in the district stood in the blessing. It was a really neat district experience.
Being district leader is still a great experience, but frustrating some times. I often find myself getting mentally frustrated with them because they're not as high speed as I am or aren't willing to maintain a positive attitude. I am just used to people who want to do their best at all times, even when times get tough. For some of these folks it's like the world has ended if they didn't get mail that day. I do love them all, I really do, it's just different is all. I'm not bragging when I say I have more experience than most of the people at the MTC and from those experiences I know how to handle situations. I try to help them and coach them everyday and I hope I am helping them.
The language is getting better. We have two new investigators and it is both of our sensei-tachi. Klein Choro and I taught two lessons yesterday with polar opposite effects from each. Our first lesson was with our second lesson with a character who is 17 who learned about Christ through Christian rock and wants to know more. This was our second lesson with him and I managed to do the whole lesson on Jesus Christ and the Atonement with only a few notes in English. We felt the need to invite him to baptism at the end of the lesson and read the baptismal commitment out of the PMG and to our surprise he accepted (remember this is a sensei acting out one of his own actual investigators). It was a great lesson and I felt super confident. Later that evening we had another lesson with our sensei who was acting a 53 year old man who wife was a member and has met with the missionaries before and wants to rid himself of a smoking problem. We had prepared a lesson on the Word of Wisdom (church health code to those who don't know). When we knocked on the classroom door the sensei pretended he didn't know jack squat and destroyed us at the door. He eventually invited us in and at that moment I knew when had to change lessons. If he didn't know about Christ we couldn't teach the WoW. So I tried leading a discussion on Christ and it was a disaster. He didn't know a thing, didn't know about missionaries, and about the church even though his "wife" was a member. Most of the lesson was silence because we didn't have any idea of what to say. To make matters worse I used the word anko (sweet bean paste) instead of On-ko (honored son) in saying, "God sent his bean paste (instead of honored son), Jesus Christ, to atone for the sins of the world." I was so embarrassed I just wanted to escape and run away. I decided since I knew how to bear testimony and pray in Nihongo I would do both so we could escape. I have to admit I was super discouraged last night. We got absolutely DESTROYED. I thought I was better then that. This was a truly humbling experience.
On Monday, however, we taught a relatively good lesson on prayer to a member of the church from Nihongo in the Training Resource Center who was going to BYU learning English. We used a lot of English mixed in with Nihongo because we thought she knew English. She was like a really lovely Nihongiin Aunt and we loved teaching her. We didn't believe our sensei afterwards that she didn't speak English because she said she understood every word we said. We know now she really didn't know English because the review card made no sense. The Spirit must have been working because I don't know how else she would understood our message in broken Nihongo. I testify that the Holy Ghost is real. She felt it and could understand us and we I feel it I can understand my sensei-tachi and other Nihongo speakers.
I love you all and I wish you the best. Ai shite masu!
Supiido to Tenshi,
Hardcastle Choro
Pic 1- The Fantastic Four. From the left: Cowan Choro from New Zealand, Tallent Choro from Debuke, Iowa, Me and Klein Choro from Mesa
Pic 2-Our review card from Monday. We don't know what the intent was
Pic 3- I found these sweet shades in my dorm closet so I decided to change up the proselyting attire. JK
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