8th week at the MTC

I can't believe it is my last P-day here at the MTC!

Dear Family and Friends,

How is everyone doing! Only 4 days left at the MTC! I am so excited to write to you about this last week here at the MTC! It has been so amazing and full of many miracles! We finally got our flight plans to go to Japan (which I will include in a picture). At first we had plans that we were going to leave on Tuesday next week, and stop in Seattle for an hour or so. It was sad because some of the other missionaries in our zone were going to be leaving on Monday. Afterwards we found out that our plans had been switched so that we would be leaving on Monday morning instead of Tuesday. Everyone is so excited to go to Japan. We are flying straight from Salt Lake to Tokyo. Even though we only have a few days here at the MTC and we are so excited to go because the days are so short, it will be extremely hard to leave all these wonderful people. The MTC has been such an amazing experience for me. My testimony has grown so much stronger here than I ever could have imagined. When I look back at where I was before coming to the MTC I realize just how much stronger my testimony has become. I have learned so much more about the gospel in these past 2 months. It is crazy to think that before coming here I did not know one word of Japanese. Some days I got down on myself a little, but then I realized just how far I have come. My knowledge of the Japanese language has increased dramatically over the course of just 2 months. Through the power of the spirit I have been truly blessed with the gift of tongues. I am so very grateful for the teachers that I have here. I have had so many spiritual experiences and lessons that I will never forget. The MTC has been a life changing experience over all, and it will not be easy to leave. 

Yesterday my companion and I experienced the miracle of a lifetime! Both my companion and I have been struggling to find the needs of one specific investigator we had. His name is Watanabe kyodai. He had a problem with an addiction to narcotics, and we could not figure out how to help him. We had lesson after lesson about how are gospel could bless his life so much. We told him that God loves him no matter what, and that through prayer, reading the Book of Mormon, and attending church we could help him with his addiction. We promised him so many blessings, and all we wanted to do was to help him. Every lesson he would tell us he had been going to the protestant church for help. He said that he did not want to join our church because we had so many more rules, but the protestant church would still let him drink alcohol. My companion and I prayed for help on how to teach him so many times. We prayed for guidance and to be able to figure out exactly how to teach what he needed to hear. In our 2nd to last lesson he told us that he didn't want to hear from us anymore, and that he was going to attend the protestant church. After that lesson I felt completely torn in my heart. Realizing that one of God's children was not going to be able to receive the help that he needed, my heart sank to the point where I was in tears. I felt terrible, and that it was all my fault that he didn't want to join our church because I did not have the faith that was required to teach to his needs. The next day our teacher told us to meet up with the investigator anyway and teach with strong faith in Christ. He read to us 3 Nephi 7:16-18. Nephi taught with so much faith in Christ and so boldly, that it was not possible that they could disbelieve his words. Over the remainder of that day I pondered and prayed about how we could teach with boldness, and great faith just like Nephi did. I prayed with more faith in my heart than I ever have in my entire life. I asked for God's help to be able to teach to Watanabe kyodai, to the point that he could not disbelieve what we were teaching him. It came time to give our next lesson to Watanabe kyodai, and he said that he was willing to let us in to hear what we had to teach him. We taught Watanabe kyodai about baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Watanabe kyodai told us that he had made a promise to the protestant minister that he would get baptized into their church. Immediately my companion and I felt prompted to ask him to pray to God right then, and to ask him what is best to do. Watanabe kyodai had been struggling with praying to God, and told us that he did not want to do it because he didn't understand it very well; however, because my companion and I were able to testify to him boldly about the power of prayer he said that he would pray. In his prayer he told us that his decision to get baptized with the protestant minister may not have been the right decision and that he may had made many mistakes in his life. He didn't understand the church very well, but through the spirit that he felt he knew that our church was the best thing for him. After his prayer we told him that God loves him no matter what. Even though he may have made many mistakes in his past, through the power of the atonement he can become clean of his sins. Watanabe kyodai told us that he felt a powerful feeling that he could not explain. I knew that the spirit had testified to him that this church is true. He told us afterwards that he wanted to receive baptism in our church. The joy that I felt when he said that in our lesson was overwhelming. I can just imagine Heavenly Father looking down on us and feeling so happy that one of his children was set on the right path to return to him. I hope that throughout the remainder of my mission I can have enough faith to teach boldly! 

Our district was able to do hosting on Wednesday. We got to help the new missionaries around to get to their class and residence during hosting. It was a blast meeting so many new missionaries and seeing how excited they were to serve the Lord over the next 2 years. I was able to see 2 of my best friends in high school too! I saw Andrew Jackson and Kelton Jacobsen. Sadly we were not able to get any pictures, but I think we are going to try to get everyone from Pineview together on Sunday to take a picture together. I have seen about 5 or 6 of my really good friends from Pineview here. I was able to get a picture with a few of them which I will send to you after this email. During the morning yesterday for breakfast I had a jalapeno cheese bread bagel, which reminded me so much of home (sounds weird, but it is true). After basketball practice mom and I would go to the Maverick gas station to get a couple gatorades and some jalapeno bread. Even something small like that always brings back memories from home. I don't know if they have placed the scripture for my plaque in our ward yet, but I have a new favorite scripture that I would like to share with you. My new favorite scripture is Alma 33:23. I love this scripture so much because I think it applies so well to our investigators. We cannot be the ones who convert our investigators. The only way that they can be converted is through the spirit. As missionaries we can be the ones who plant a seed in their hearts, but it is only by faith and through the spirit that they can truly become converted to our gospel. I love the last sentence that says "And even all this can ye do if ye will." We have been given the chance to grow our faith and to have our burdens lifted by the savior through the atonement. All we have to do is use it. In the chapter before I love that Alma talks about the seed of faith in verses 28-43. This scripture is so applicable to everyone. All of our faith may just start out as a tiny seed, but through constant care and nourishment we can grow our faith into a strong giant tree. I love reading about the experiences of the prophets of old because all that they teach is so applicable to us. Alma specifically is so applicable to me as a missionary. Seeing his example helps me to learn how to teach and to push through the difficult times. 

Again I cannot believe just how fast the time has flown by. It feels like I arrived at the MTC just yesterday! It has been such an incredible experience, one of which I will never forget. If anyone would like to know I am currently reading in Alma chapter 40. I hope that you liked the letters that I sent, when I get to Japan hopefully I will be able to send you some cool stuff. I am not exactly sure how much money I can spend. I have been trying not to spend too much, but I bought a few books from the MTC store and some stuff that I thought I might need to use. I am not exactly sure if I should be not spending very much money or if I can buy certain things or not. Also I was wondering if it would be alright if I bought a shirt here at the MTC. Thank you sooooo much for the packages! My class loved that package so much! Those sticky notes will help a lot for Japan, and those cards of Jesus are awesome! We had a leaving America party today, and everyone loved all the candy! Those packages were really sweet thanks again so much! Also it will be fun to be able to hand out the little kids in Japan pennies from America, I can't wait! Hopefully when I get to Japan I can send you a package of some really cool stuff there. Well, time continues to go by so fast. The next time that I email you I will be in Japan! It is so cool to think that I will be flying half way around the world in just a few days. Thank you to all of you for the emails and for all of the support. I hope that I can continue to share with you all of my experiences in Japan.

I love all of you and continue to pray for you every day!

Elder Hirschi