Week 2

 Family,

こにちわ！げんきですか？？

I've had a pretty good week so far. I had my ups and downs but overall I'm still loving it here. As you can see my Nihongo is still in the works but its coming along nicely! We do this thing called SYL (speak your language) where we say words we know in Nihongo as opposed to english. I can't say "yes" without thinking it now, I have to say "hai". Its crazy. I've been reading Our Heritage a lot during personal study time this week and its been amazing. I said to Donaldson Choro today, "This book has strengthened my testimony more than any other book I've read besides the Book of Mormon. Other than that it was a really typical week. One of the sisters in our district got sick on Monday or Tuesday and some Elders gave her a blessings and we all pitched in and wrote her a nice get well card and gave her a few cookies, she was better the following day! During gym time I've been playing a lot a basketball. My district doesn't really play ball so I play with the Elders going to the Fukuoka mission. They're great guys. I'm in the choir! I sang with the tenors at theTuesday night devotional and it was awesome!! I saw Elder Muir!! He was doing awesome and looked really in tune with the spirit. He's over on the west campus and it was so good to see him. Elder Richard G. Scott came and spoke to us at the devotional on Tuesday and it was incredible. He bestowed upon the missionaries learning a new language an Apostolic blessing that we would receive the gift of tongues. Pretty amazing right? He spoke to us about his mission, saying it has brought more blessings to his life than any other thing he's ever done. He spoke to us about being more sincere in our prayers and how we could better the quality of our discussions with our Heavenly Father. He got really emotional towards the end of his talk and it was because he could feel the presence of his late wife with us in the meeting. It brought tears to my eyes. One of the Elders in my room, Elder Moos, said when he said that he looked at all the empty seats on the other side of the Marriott Center and said he could see them filled. Incredible experience. Last night Elder Donaldson and I had just got back to our room and I was putting some of my valuables in my lock drawer, Elder Donaldson was changing his clothes over by the bed in my peripherals. He walked behind me to get something and I could still see someone standing by my bed. Guardian angels are real. I wasn't freaked out or afraid, but I was at peace. Someone is watching over me. I didn't know who it was, nor could I make them out, but I was filled with love and the spirit. This is where I'm supposed to be and it was confirmed from the other side of the vail. Crazy huh?? I know I seem like some spiritual weirdo but I promise I'm still the same Jeff. I don't know if you know an Elder Marshall Hawkes from Bountiful. He's going to Tokyo and I've gotten to be pretty good friends with him and his companion Elder Winegar. I hope you guys have a great week and I look forward to more letters in the days to come! わたしわあいしってます！！