Oh man, what a funny time Randy has been having in the MTC. As you will note in the letter he sent this week, strange things have happened to him. Maybe Randy will one day be a Comedian because of all the strange and funny things that have happened to him and around him. He is still loving life in the MTC, but is seriously wondering if the MTC is truly a safe place to be.
Today, I had to rush and get another pair of glasses for him to send out. Luckily we had ordered a second pair but I kept forgetting to pick them up, I had to pick them up and mail them off today so they could get to him by tomorrow. He is always having difficulties with his glasses.
I'm sure you will all appreciate this letter and the silly stuff that has happened, but he does bear his wonderful testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. He has grown quite a bit while being there and I am anxious for his letters once he reaches Japan. Speaking of which, In his letter he says he only has one more week left, but he really meant to say he has one more month left in the MTC.
Dear Mother, Family, and Friends
Life at the MTC is.... well interesting to say the least. It goes by pretty quickly and I can't believe that I've already been gone for 6 weeks and that I only have 1 more week to go. Food is good and bad, you really just get tired of it quickly and I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to the Japanese food.
So, I do have a few comical scenarios that have happened this week. I'll start by saying the MTC doesn't like me. First I lose my luggage for the first day and had to run around looking for it, then I got depressed for a bit, then I sprained my ankle, then I caught bronchitis. This week I broke my watch (Apparently they didn't fix it all the way, I was lightly swinging my arm and my watch flew off, I'll send it back) then I almost got taken out by ceiling tile while playing volleyball. By the way that ceiling tile fell about 80 feet and crashed about 3 feet away from me, where I had been standing before I ran away. O by the way, I need my other pair of glasses, this pair is now broken, NOT MY FAULT! I went to close them for the night and one of the ear pieces on the frame just popped off, so now I have scotch tape glasses.
Anyway, it's quite funny when they tell me that serving a mission is the safest thing a person can do. Since I've been here I've sprained my ankle, almost gotten taken out by a ceiling tile, caught bronchitis, tripped countless times and seen at least 6 other people with sprained ankles, one of which sprained BOTH his ankles at the same time, how he managed that I have no idea, Someone broke their kneecap playing 4 square, which by the way is a very intense sport. Yep I'm totally safe here at the MTC(sarcasm). Things'll probably be safer out in the field, but for now I'm just going to blame the food.
So I got to teach the entire 1st lesson in Japanese, and yes -I- got to teach it. My companion choked and couldn't remember anything in Japanese, my poor doryo. So I taught the 1st lesson on my own in Japanese, it was quite fun but very scary. I'll probably make a video on my camera of my speaking Japanese. If you could I would like my other SD card back and then i can send this one in a few weeks.
O yea I saw Tia Johnson the other day. She was volunteering here at the MTC for some reason or another and is a friend of my Teacher. I have a picture of me and her. It was funny because I was talking to my teacher about the TRC(Teaching Resource Center where we practice the lessons) and he was like "You have a friend waiting for you." I was like "What? who?" and then I went and found that it was Tia who I hadn't seen since I was like 9. Anyway it was fun to see someone from the outside world.
Lol, so another funny story. We were practicing the 1st lesson during class and me and Elder Cannon were teaching the two sisters in our district Sister Blyle(Who is from Olympia, WA BTW) and sister Muir. Well I told Elder Cannon "Teach as much as you can and I'll do the rest." So he started teaching. About 10 min into the lesson I suddenly hear him say "Ebu to Adamu wa.." the teacher suddenly said "It's Eba" (Don't ask it's Japanese for Eve and Adam) I turned to my companion and asked him "Where are we?" He looked back at me and said "The fall of Adam and Eve?" I then asked "What lesson are you teaching?" he replied "Lesson 1.... wait.... oops..." The fall of adam and Eve is in Lesson 2 and so he was teaching all of lesson 1 and 2 on his own while I sat back and tried not to laugh. It was quite amazing to see him teach though, because I got to wa tch his confidence grow as he realized that he really did know what to say in Japanese.
Well I'm out of stories to tell and I only have 9 min. left to type so I'll just say a few more things before I send this.
I'd like to bear my testimony about this work. I've asked myself many times before and after I've come to the MTC: "Why? Why have I chosen to take away 2 years of my life when I could be going to school, getting a job, moving on with life? Why when by the time I am done serving my mission I'll have spent 10% of my current life teaching?" It's actually a very simple answer. I was called to this work, I was asked to serve the lord. Before I left I thought, "O this will help me grow and make me a better person." I was wrong. I'm not here for me, I'm not here to learn or grow, I'm here to teach. I'm here to spread the good news to the world. To tell them that God lives! That our savior Jesus Christ Lives! That this is the true church! That Thomas S. Monson is a living Prophet! That a 14 year old boy in the far off woods of New York in 1820 really did see God and Joseph Smith. It's true! If it wasn't true I wouldn't be here. If it wasn't true I wouldn't teach about it. But it is and I have felt that witness, that assurance that it is. I felt the power of God in my heart and I know that he loves me. I felt his love so deeply and there is nothing greater. Through God I know I can do all things. I know that this church is true and I no longer have any doubts about it. I wish I had more time to say more, but I'm out of time. I'd just like to end by saying: I know it, and I know that God loves me and every one of his children. I say these things in the name of my Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
God bless all of you.
Your Son, Friend, and Brother
Elder Randall K.K. Tateishi
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