MTC - Week 5

Tell Henry I got his letter, and the cursive was WAY good! :) Fistbump through the computer!

ALSO

ACTION ITEM

Could Dad send me the Vegemite? Like a jar or two? We have two Australian Elders in the Zone, one of whom seems fine, but the other one (Elder Neilsen's companion) is dying for Vegemite. I told him I'd try to get some for him, and he was way excited. And we don't eat ours anyway. :)

This week was pretty fun. On Tuesday, we got to LEAVE THE MTC and go to a devotional at BYU. WITH REAL PEOPLE ATTENDING. It was way fun, though I didn't actually get to talk to anyone new. The speaker used to be a mission president from Nagoya, Japan, so it felt pretty personal. He shared lots of stories from his Japan Mission.

We got on of the 70 on Tuesday - Elder Golden. Amazing talk, though I'm still hoping for an Apostle to pop up. You think I'd catch a few with the 5 weeks I've already been at the MTC.

Halloween was way fun! Okay, it was pretty much normal, but I dumped out all the candy into a box and shared it with everyone in our zone, and the teachers, and our investigator. Also, me and my Doryou switched outfits, nametags, and desks as way of costume. I should've snapped a picture. :)

WE GOT IPADS ON MONDAY.

We've been using this flashcard app, and it's been really helping us study. And being able to reference general conference talks and have an electronic dictionary is also really nice. I'm not sure if they're helping enough to be worth the cost of the I-Pad to the MTC. Pretty cool though - we're the only district pretty much in the MTC to get them.

Way cool experience I'd like to share. I didn't have enough time last week.

For the first 3 weeks of my MTC experience, I was having horrible trouble sleeping. I kept waking up with super chapped lips and a dry throat, 4-5 times a night. I was feeling way tired all day, and whenever I decided to stop by the health clinic, it was closed for some reason or another. I got a blessing from my Mission President, but it didn't really seem to be helping. One night, I was feeling super desperate, and so I did something I've never done before - I prayed and asked to be healed. I haven't had a problem with a dry throat since. God listens to prayers, and he's willing to give us blessings that we need, but we need to 1. Ask in sincere prayer, and 2. Have faith that the prayer will be granted.

And a thought to end off with.

My missionary purpose is to invite others to Christ and to use Christ's Atonement, through

Faith in Jesus Christ,

Repentance,

Baptism,

Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost,

and Enduring to the End.

These concepts may seem simple, but they are deep and pervasive. This sums up Christ's Doctrine and the steps we need to gain eternal life. Every teaching in the Book of Mormon and the bible, if you understand them well enough, will center in this Doctrine, and ultimately in the atonement. I challenge all of you back at home to, whenever you read a chapter, relate the concepts back to these principles. I promise you will gain greater understanding of the gospel, and ultimately greater trust and faith in Jesus Christ by doing this. I know I have.

I love you all back at home!

Williamson Shiamai

All the missionaries leaving to the real world for a devo!!!!!

Seriously, the first time I left the MTC (minus temple trips) in a month.

It deserves a picture.

Our teacher Black Shimai

And then My Doryou, me, Crandall Kyoudai and Taylor Kyoudai (Taylor is our coach, so I spend a lot of time with him. It's 30-60 mins with just us and him. They are both FANTASTIC teachers, I love them so much)