Hello!

Hello Family and Friends!!

Updates!  My Harry Potter scratch has scarred!!  UGH!!  It's horrible!  It goes right down my forehead!  The senpai (senior missionaries) and the nihonjin (Japanese natives) left yesterday.  :(  It's eerily quiet at the residence hall now, and the laundry room is pretty empty today.  We're next!!

Funny Moment: Yesterday in class we tried to sing hymn number 130 Be Thou Humble and we failed three times in a row.  We couldn't get the second line right because the wonderful Elder Duarte (who always sings loud) kept getting it wrong.  It threw me off (everyone always relies on me for melody) and then we just couldn't get it right.  It was hilarious because Elder Duarte is just the most loveable Elder ever.  We just stood there laughing because we kept failing to sing it right.  We ended up skipping the song and moving on to More Holiness Give Me (we got that one right).  Good times.  :D

Cultural:  Japanese is so cool!  Japanese has something that English doesn't, called honorifics.  In prayer, we use archaic words to honorify God.  In Japanese you can use archaic words but you can also change the verbs into their "honorific form."  There are three ways to "honorify," you can: humblify yourself, honorify someone else, and we haven't learned the third way because it's too hard.  Just by conjugating the verb differently you can really express the seriousness of God and His gospel just with honorifics!  It's so cool!!  Japanese is totally my language!  :D

Ah-ha: I re-read and listened to President Utchdorf's talk from Priesthood session on pride.  I love the line in it: "Humility isn't thinking less of yourself; it's thinking less about yourself."  That helped a lot.  Confidence is key to humility.  I really needed to hear that this week.

Spiritual:  Elder Nelson was the speaker in our last devotional, and it was incredible!  Every single line was inspiring!  It was great!!  The best part was the devotional review afterward.  We always have a testimony meeting after the devotionals, and it was incredibly spiritual.  I promise it's in my journal; for real.  I have an awesome district.

Sister Beeson is this bubbly old lady here with insane musical talent.  She served in the MoTab for five years and she is in charge of music at the MTC.  I auditioned to her last week for a musical number in a fireside.  It was SOOOOO much better than singing in sacrament meeting.  Sister Beeson made me feel so comfortable and I sang so natural and relaxed!  It WAS GREAT!!  I will let you know what comes of it!

I love you all!!  Thank you for the prayers!!  Don't hesitate to send Cliff Bars and Mint Water!!  :D

Forward, pressing forward,

Elder Preston Jenkins