Week One!

Surprise! My P-day is on Saturday. Thank you SO much for all the letters and the package. It made my entire day receiving them. What a crazy long week...or four days...it has been. It feels like a lifetime ago that you dropped me off at the MTC curb. These past few days have been some of the longest days of my life, but everyone says that if you can survive the first week, the rest of the MTC goes by fast. Here's to hoping it's all downhill from here!

Even though it's been long, I'm really enjoying the MTC. M Shimai is my companion!!! I'm so blessed to have her as my companion. She is so great, down to earth, funny and super spiritual. We get along really well together, and she pushes me to be the best missionary I can be. We are the only two in our room, so that's nice. We have 8 chorotachi (elders) in our district, and they are phenomenal. I swear they've all had Nihongo (Japanese) practice before, because they all seem fluent. My companion I are the only shimaitachi (sisters) in our district. We spend about 6+ hours in the classroom a day. We've learned a lot the past couple of days, but the more I learn Nihongo, the more I remember French. It's super inconvenient haha. Our sensei is really great, but he speaks 98% Japanese. The first day I was totally lost, but It's gotten better! All the girls in my branch are great, and we workout together everyday (which I'm still trying to get used to). By the way, I was named senior companion for the first four weeks! It was exciting. We taught our first lesson in Nihongo yesterday! We didn't understand what he said back to us, but I could totally feel of the Savior's love for him. It was a really cool experience! He invited us to come back and teach tonight.

It's been a long, hard week, but I love being a missionary! I've definitely caught myself having thoughts of home, but it's gotten better. I love putting my nametag on every morning! I love the challenge of learning Japanese! It pushes my beyond belief. I miss you all, and I hope you're doing well! I love you all so much, and I'll talk to you soon! The Church is true!

-Dansie Shimai