Catching Up

October 9, 2014

Dear Family,

I am about 24 hours away from FINALLY receiving my travel plans. These 8 weeks so far have been so crazy long. I am so so ready to get off the MTC and into Japan. This week was a really long week. It feels like it was a year ago that I sang in conference, but that was just this past weekend. Side note: its a darn good thing that I have those spelling suggestions because I am forgetting how to spell words just about every time I turn around. I'm so used to changing English words into Katakana for example Lamp is Rampu and it sounds similar but is spelled totally different. My Nihongo is getting pretty good, I learn concepts a lot faster now, grammar (bumpo) patterns come much faster now that I am so used to speaking it and I am starting to realize how little I actually learned in my Japanese class in high school and college. Basically they were vocab and alphabet classes compared to here. I am grateful for them though, it has accelerated my learning a bit. Although aside from that I surpassed my Japanese classes in probably the first 2 hours of class. One of my finals was literally the first thing we did here, which is kinda funny.

Conference. Conference was amazing, I would appreciate it if you could send me those talks because I missed the entire afternoon session on Saturday and wasn't able to take notes at all that whole day because we weren't allowed to bring note taking things to priesthood session. We left just after the first session and then hopped on buses with the worst air suspension I have ever felt in my life. Now add to that a bajillion missionaries and 0, literally 0 air conditioning. Needless to say my companion said I was visibly green after the ride there and the ride back. So that part was no fun but I got to know Elder Poffenberger a bit better as we talked about life while we were dying on the bus. Then we practiced until conference began. Being in the choir loft was insane, first off, it is tiny compared to how it looks, second that Organ is huge and crazy loud, third the conference center looks small from there until you take into account the size of the people at the very back. "You all look so tiny, you look like little ants!" It is a massive massive building. It was so fun singing and especially during Ye Elders of Israel I could have sworn there were at least a thousand of us up there, not saying just us missionaries, but as we were told by our director, angels would sing with us, and I sincerely believe that that did occur. It was incredible. One of the times I wasn't paying any attention to the director when he had us stand but suddenly at the exact right time it felt as if I was being lifted up by someone. That was cool for me, embarrassing in my head at first but then after the fact was incredible. When the prophet walked in as well as the first presidency it was incredible the way the atmosphere changed, you could tell God had been talking to him just prior to his entry. It was such a cool experience, I wrote it all in my journal so I have everything written down twice. It was awesome that you all were able to see me and when you said Jacob got a picture next to me I laughed, because I felt almost like a celebrity, so that was nice too!

Here I am learning what I know and believe about the gospel, but the most important things I am learning is what I don't know, and what I need to know and learn. I have read my Patriarchal Blessing every day since I remembered I had it here and it is seriously like my own personal road map or GPS. It’s not as obvious like turn left here, but it gives me a better vision of where I am going so that I can do what needs to be done to get there. My problem with language goals here is that like my patriarchal blessing I have a vision of where I want to be in the language and when I want to be there but I have a really hard time making goals that relate to that, so my teachers have been helping me, and I think I will get it figured out pretty soon. I know that this church is true and that Joseph Smith did see God and Jesus and that he translated the Book of Mormon. My testimony grows every day, and even though I have had some crippling days where everything on my mind just shuts me down, I always have all of you to support me and Heavenly Father must have like a service list of Angels who are assigned to get me to stand up or to speak or to get out of bed. It’s kind of crazy but it’s true. 

Morgan: tell your insides to get with the program! That all sounds like no good, maybe you ought to just sing to them to make them feel good. I'm really tired in case you didn't notice. I did get my box and had pop tarts for breakfast today, possibly the best breakfast so far. That tie by the way was perfect, I have decided I like skinny ties so I wear it all the time now, it is awesome. I can send boxes home I am just lazy and haven't gotten around to it quite yet, I will probably send it next p-day with everything I don't need to take with me. That circle thing I will have to remember because I have been thinking about that same concept this week without knowing how to illustrate it. Grandma sent me brownies last week, everyone needs to find that recipe and learn it, memorize it, live it, and love it. They are so perfect. I don't have an English word to describe it but they are honto ni oishi to omoimasu. (basically delicious) Thank you so so much grandma.  I can't wait to get to Japan, I love all you guys and thank you for everything you do! Watashi wa ganbarimasu. Ai shite imasu yo!

Love,

Elder Gailey

October 2, 2014

Dear Family,

It's p-day again! Boy has it been a long week too. A good week but a long week for sure! Lots of choir practice, which is what I just got back from. They are long practices 1.5 to 2 hours, and while I am not the largest fan of singing it is fun nonetheless. I hope you all get the chance to listen to what we sing as one of the songs is a first in the history of General Conference. They told us every single missionary at one point or another will be shown and most likely more than one time too. So I am excited, only 2 days until I am in the conference center singing to 5 million ish people... holy cowwwww. The weeks are mostly the same here with just some different experiences at the same meetings and such. Nihongo is coming pretty well, it’s hard to know how much I am improving because it’s not by such big leaps anymore and it probably won’t be until I actually make it to Nihon. We get our travel plans a week from tomorrow though, so I am crazy stoked for that. Tell Morgan to get feeling better, as nice as the sleep you get during surgery is, surgery isn't fun! 

Morgan, no my room is not a walk in closet! I left my room stinky so that it doesn’t become that, mwahaha. Your letters are hilarious and I needed a touch of Olan so thank you for that writing style, and nice vocabulary!

I got the donuts and they were great thanks! I am doing my best not to get fat though! But it’s kind of impossible so I'm not actually trying. Grandma sent me some delicious brownies the other day so that was good as well! I will put my list of a million things that I need/want that I have written down probably in a different email.

I am feeling annoyed of being sick, I have been healthy in the MTC a total of 11 days, so that’s great. But I am feeling older honestly, I feel like an old man almost, it’s kinda weird but kinda cool. I am guaranteed to sing in conference from what I can tell. I cannot wait to leave the MTC, it feels almost like prison a lot of times but I try and stay positive. The Most difficult thing is probably learning to make more complex and long sentences combined with understanding the Nihongo Book of Mormon. I would say my favorite thing so far was last night. We got to skype with a sister member in Japan, and basically we home taught her. It was so fun and cool that we were able to communicate with an actual person like we would talk to for the next 2 years. We felt the spirit even though it was a million miles away and it was cool to see it progress the way it did and see what we could say. I am staying focused for sure, some days are harder than others but I think I am doing well.

We get iPads in the field. Yesterday we got to be the very first test group ever for one of the new missionary pamphlets designed to help missionaries in non-Christian countries get in the door. It was all about sharing expectations. I wish I had payed attention and studied the gospel better and asked more questions.  All the Elders in my district are going to my district but the Sisters are going to Nagoya. When you say classes we don’t really have those, it is more like 3 hour study blocks in our room all day long. Same room, same teachers, most of the time same subjects and stuff. There are a couple people that I knew from camp up here and I saw Ryan Liston enter the MTC yesterday so I talked with him. There is a sister in my zone from like Renton or something. I don't know what my favorite package was but they all have been great! Thank you so much for all that you all do to support and help me. It will be a long 2 years but it will be the best 2 Years. If I forgot anything I will write it in a letter or another email. I love all of you, remember that if we pray in faith we can ask for anything and if it be at all possible that it fits with His plan he WILL give it to us. I have learned that over and over again, and it is very important. Make a point to think about your questions first then to pray about them and our prayers will be more meaningful and we will gain more from them. I love you!

Love,

Elder Gailey

September 25, 2014

Dear Family,

This week has been long and hard. Lots of things have been going on, but first I should let you know, if I don't miss any practices I will be singing in the Missionary Choir for Priesthood Conference!!! How cool is that?? Hopefully we can record that and put it on a DVD or something cool like that. I am really excited for it. We have practice every day before the session starting on Friday and including a two-a-day on Tuesday. So from last week, I can say much better the things I want to say, I can be more articulate now which is really nice. My understanding is improving as well but I do need to continue to try and figure out body language a bit because everyone says that will help. The day after p-day is always more difficult, we call it p-day hangover. But the days are going by faster on average and that is great. Sunday we had the Ogden temple dedication and that was super cool to watch/participate in! The Hosanna shout was probably my favorite part, it was so cool to be in a room with thousands of Missionaries and everyone waving their handkerchief and shouting, it was loud but super cool. Then afterwards we sang The Spirit of God, and especially with what that song means from Camp Helaman, it was so cool, yes there were more missionaries singing it in that room than usual but it seemed different. Almost like there were more than just Missionaries in that room singing the song with us, it certainly felt like we were soldiers waiting to run onto the battlefield. It was a really cool experience. Then on Tuesday we had another apostle come to speak (M. Russel Ballard) and he said "I didn't prepare anything but I am just going to talk to you like I would to a grandchild." He said a lot of cool things. One of those things was not to let anyone pass you without trying to share what you know, because our message of what we know is important. It was very cool! I got really sick again starting Sunday night, I slept literally all but 4 hours of Monday and I went to the clinic on Tuesday, apparently I have a sore or something on the back of my throat (she said "ohhhh bad luck") on top of my cold so it will take a while for those to go away because they are both making it harder for each other. Last night Brother Stratford (one of my teachers) had us tell him things he could work on, so as a result we might get some one on one coaching in Nihongo and teaching, which would really help me, so I am excited for that! I got my package with the memory cards in it, Thank You! I was kinda bugged by the fact that someone stole the other 2, but thank you! It sounds like Mom has been working like crazy all week, sorry! Seminary sounds like it will go really well this year though, and that bird story: Crazy! I really miss you guys, but I am learning so much here, and as much as I want to just be in japan to be immersed and finally be doing the work, slowly I am starting to see why I have to be here so long. I have more to learn, not necessarily language wise, but scripture knowledge and spiritual knowledge wise. We got lectured in one of the devotionals that we need to share our missions with our families better so hopefully I am doing an alright job of that. I love all of you and thank you for all the support you give me! ai shite imasu yo!

Love,

Elder Gailey

P.s. I think I have everything so far, I just keep having to resist the urge to ask you to send me some shoes. So I think I'm good, but thank you! 

September 18, 2014

Dear Family,

This week had a million ups and downs. It was rough, but there were times when it was really easy. Since no one emails me anymore *cough cough* what are you guys up to? How was your week? What am I missing out on? How's the weather in Washington? I savor every moment that it rains here, it’s like living in the Sahara for a week without water then suddenly hitting an oasis. It’s so dang dry here. You would think I would be used to it after our visit, but nope! Mom: I still haven't gotten the package you said you were sending with probiotics and meds. Speaking of lactose issues I have a funny poop story that I feel the need to share after a long week so that I can get myself a laugh. Usually I'm efficient at food, but here I think there is so little that is actually beneficial to you that everyone's body just packs up the food and sends it out immediately. I have never seen so many guys poop so much in one location in my life. Their plumbing bill must be huge. Anyways. . . 

The days going by quicker than I expected, Japanese is slowly coming, thanks for always having me in your prayers, they are helping. I can understand about 80% of what the teachers are saying even to each other and they speak 10000 mph to each other. Speaking is also improving. The grammer comes easily to me (which I would hope so after so much struggle to figure out how to learn English grammar). The biggest thing that I have to work at is learning my tango (No Emilee, not Tango, but taw-n-go) Yesterday though, we taught a lesson, and it was great for me at least, I understood everything they said, and I spoke words that I have never learned before and I spoke fast and well with only 3 or 4 real mistakes in the entire 30 minute lesson and it was so much fun! I know I don't know enough yet to go to Japan, but honestly I wish I could just be there teaching real investigators and learning the actual language not the theoretical one, and its hard being here for so long. Saturday is my half way mark I believe though so I am excited for that! 

For our Tuesday devotional, Richard G. Scott of the Twelve came and spoke to us and it was amazing! First time I have really ever been in this kind of setting with an apostle talking to me. It was amazing. I'm learning so much about how to better study, and how to better feel the spirit (that has been my big focus of my prayers and everything and I think I am figuring it out), and all kinds of things. I remember saying before I left that I wanted to bear my testimony to you in Japanese by Christmas, well I can already do that almost as well as in English it just isn’t quite as speedy. Sometimes because it is so hard to remember what I did every day it would be helpful for you guys to send me a bunch of questions in my emails because sometimes I forget the questions from the dear elders and you asking questions would help me to tell you more about my week and the MTC. I can't think of anything else, so if you send me some questions I will answer them as soon as I can.

Love,

Elder Gailey (Gailey Choro)

September 11, 2014

Dear Family, 

Days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days. That is the best way to describe the MTC for me so far. Parts of every day fly by, but other parts just drag and drag forever. Sorry I sent you all colds! I'm still not all the way done with mine, the coughing comes and goes but I didn't know it was possible to produce that much snot. TMI I know but it’s all good. Anyways, this past week was good despite being sick. I learned all kinds of things, and some were very helpful. When I was set apart, President Nelson blessed me with the gift of tongues, and at the time I didn't really understand it at the time, but now I really do. Out here I definitely do have the gift of tongues, but the hard part is that I absolutely don't have the gift of interpretation of tongues, I can speak with surprising accuracy and speed (especially in lessons) and I can say most everything I want to say without much looking up of words, but I have a crazy hard time trying to understand what they reply. In our last lesson, which was yesterday, I went on having a full conversation about basketball with my investigator (Thanks Garrett!) but when he would reply often times I would have to turn to Elder Clark and say "What did he just say??" Elder Clark has a very hard time speaking but can understand most everything. Maybe that's why the Lord had us be companions, to play off each other's weakness, and to help each other learn. It’s still frustrating though. Most of my district is saying "I can understand what he is asking/telling me, I just can’t answer to save my life!" and I'm the complete opposite so it has its pros and cons. 

Mom, those batman socks are so flippin sweet! I actually wore them the day after I got them on a regular day as my regular church socks, and it was a good day. Laundry gets easier and easier every day, I can almost do it with my eyes closed, but I think I'll keep them open. We go to the temple every p-day so this will be my 3rd visit to the Provo temple. It is nearly exactly the same as the Ogden temple inside and the Celestial room is so dang similar to the Seattle temple that after opening my eyes from a prayer I thought I hadn't left on my mission yet because it is so dang similar. Everyone is getting on each other’s nerves a little bit each day but at the end of the day we are all happy. My cold came from the sisters in the district (as we breathe the same exact air for 16 hours a day in class) and it has spread to literally every person in the district. But now it is mostly gone. Sorry if I am making really weird sentences, but I think in Nihongo sentence structure mostly now, which is weird but good. I think I take SYL more seriously than most of the other people in my district, so much so that sometimes switching back to Ego (English) is hard, even if I do use some Ego words that I don't know in Nihongo in my Nihongo sentences. Dad, sometime soon I will be sending a section of one of my emails that I want you to send to Uncle Dale, I'm working on it in my head in some of my study time. 

I am so glad I have my patriarchal blessing, there have been numerous kengo benkyo (personal study) times that I have studied that and looked up words and topics from it and it has taught me so incredibly much, it is awesome to have. I miss all of you guys, and it sounds like life is going pretty good in my absence. Oh, if you wouldn't mind, anyone, would someone send me a dear elder with like a summary of big world news? I feel so isolated here that Yellowstone could have erupted and I wouldn't even know. The MTC has 98% covered walkways. I assume it is for rain and snow to keep us dry and safe which is nice (Utah missionaries are the biggest whimps about rain I have ever seen just so you all know) however, we never see the sky! It drives me a bit insane so when we get to go to the field on p-day to play sand volleyball I leave with my neck hurting from looking up. If any of you want to know any specific Japanese (Nihongo) words let me know, I would be glad to share. I can’t think of much else except thank you for all the dear elders, they help a lot, they usually come when I am at my worst too so it is very helpful! Any letters and packages are helpful too! I love all you guys, and I miss you, but doing the Lord's work is a lot of fun, even if it is honto ni musakashi (Very Hard). I am so grateful for the opportunity to be on my mission and to learn Japanese and to learn this much about the gospel. I wouldn't want to go anywhere else.

Love,

Elder Gailey

I wanted to tell this to everyone - "The church is true everybody. Weird way to start I know, but if all of us just took 5 or 10 minutes to just look around we would all realize that all over again. Heavenly Father answers our prayers practically constantly. I am loving being a missionary, I am learning so much about the gospel it’s crazy. I can really feel the difference between being a regular guy and a missionary. P-days are like Christmas pretty much but every day kind of is in its own way. The food was good for the first 2 days and it has slowly descended into being just something I eat because it provides some kind of sustenance. We don't sleep much and have our bad days here, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I am so grateful I am about to be out here, serving the Lord. It is amazing every day and speaking Nihongo isn't as hard as I thought, understanding others though is a totally different story. Well, every day out here my testimony has grown, I can't wait to be out in the field, its killing me having to wake up in America every day. Fukuin wa itsumo shinjitsu da to shite imasu. I know that the Gospel is always true. Elder Gailey."

P.S. That man is playing galaga, thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did. Morgan I am so proud of you for what you did with that guy in the wheel chair. I was reading your letter and I practically cried. I could learn a lot from you! I'm proud of you! 

P.P.S Here is the letter to the new Ozone: 

Dear Ozone,

My name is Michael, well Elder Gailey now. I was last year’s Camp President. You have no idea how much you have in store for you. I love Camp Helaman. I guarantee that it will be hard, for some of you maybe even the hardest thing you have ever done. It was for me. If any of you don't feel like you deserve the spot on the presidency I can tell you this, as I'm sure Brother Crabtree will tell you soon anyways - whom the Lord calls, he qualifies. You will all be with each other becoming friends, becoming colleagues, becoming brothers. I entered Camp with 8 strangers and I left the last day of camp with 8 brothers. I said it will be hard and it will, but every second and every struggle will be worth it in the end, you will all see.

There are times when you won't want to go to meetings but when you do go you will be blessed. You will realize that everyone there has their strengths and weaknesses, and that all of you were called for a reason. You should know that the Camp Directors love you unconditionally, they are there to build you up and help you, so take what they say seriously, as it could change your entire experience with camp. Before I finish, I have a few words for your President, so 2015 Camp Helaman President listen up. You are the President of a camp that can change 300+ young men's lives. It is up to you to make it as good as you possibly can, you have 8 others (if it is the same number as my year) to help make that possible. The first thing to realize is you can't do it alone, it took me way longer than it should have to realize that. I'll share an example of that: The Thursday of camp I woke up exhausted, almost like I hadn't slept at all because of how much work I had been doing and things like that. So I tried and tried and closed my ears to what the Holy Ghost was trying to tell me. I was being told that I couldn't do it alone and that I needed to let my Ozone do their job. So I finally gave in after about 3 hours and went back and layed down, walkie talkie on full blast in case I was needed. I saw something I hadn't seen until then. The Ozone is able to do just as much as me and often times more. So listening to them coordinate and make everything run like clockwork really humbled me and taught me a lot. I cannot do it alone, that may or may not be hard to grasp but it is important. Ozone, remember that the President isn't superman, and he isn't Heavenly Father. He can't answer all your questions, and he doesn't need to. All of you were called to be in the presidency, and you all can make decisions on more things than you will realize. I hope what you get out of this is that Camp Helaman is one of the greatest experiences you will ever have in your life, and that it will teach you more than you will ever understand. I will end with my testimony. I know that this church is true, without any doubt, it is made plain to see in the work the Lord is doing. I know that Joseph Smith restored this gospel to the earth to bless us in these last days. I know that God is our Heavenly Father and that he sent his only begotten son to atone for us so that we can return to God through repentance. I know that life is hard sometimes, but that God has a plan for us, always. I know that lives will be changed through the 2015 Camp Helaman that you all run, even more so than ever before. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to write this letter to you as the new presidency. I hope you all go on a mission, as it is every bit as good as camp. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen. Camp Directors to atarashi Presidency ai shite imasu. (Camp Directors and new Presidency I love you) Ganbate! (Good luck/Work Hard!)

Elder Gailey 

September 4, 2014

Dear Family,

The work is hard. It gets more difficult every single day, both in study and staying awake. The food is progressively worse, and I found out that the chocolate milk causes me lactose intolerance issues... hence the gas, and the stomach pain from drinking 9 cups + a day! Dad had asked what I did on gym time, and I play mostly volleyball! It is so much fun, and it is really funny with the nihongin (Japanese natives) play because it is like watching a Japanese game show! I had a bit of a cold this week, and it isn’t quite gone, but almost. Thanks for the Dayquil and Nyquil mom! The district starts to rub each other the wrong way now but for the most part it’s okay! I see Braydan most Sundays and Tuesdays, and we talk a little bit but the MTC keeps us too busy to talk as he always has to go back to West Campus and I always have meetings as a district leader. Only one more Sunday of that though! Did you guys do anything for Labor day? I know I studied, and studied, and studied, but other than that I didn’t do anything special. The gospel really is true, and I learn that more and more every single day. In D&C 14: 5 I think is the verse it talks about asking in faith you will receive, and that is most definitely true. I said my faith has grown incredibly in the last email, but it grows more every day and is rewarded every day. I feel like I could ask to fly and Heavenly Father would say "go for it!" but I won’t press my luck too much. 

Sundays are weird, it is like and feels like any other day then suddenly I have a meeting or suddenly I have Sacrament meeting. It’s crazy! Every person in the whole zone has to prepare a 3 min. talk and we can get called on in sacrament at random to give it. They call two missionaries (Senkiyoshi) every Sunday. Most of the meeting is in Nihongo, but the branch presidency's remarks are in Ego (English). I find I don’t feel like I can talk that much better this week but my understanding has leaped forward. Although I am able to write my lesson notes in Ego and translate them piece of cake into Nihongo!  We got 2 new investigators (our teachers) this week and in the first lesson my comp and I were sufficiently humbled. But we taught him (Kuwahara the investigator) again yesterday and we went 100% on spirit to guide the lesson and it turned out great! Laundry isn’t hard at all anymore, and it goes well, and your dear elders are definitely making it and helping with the hard times a lot! Thank you! I can’t wait for my socks and I am so grateful for all the donuts! Tell Morgan "Ganbate!" (Ga-nn-ba-tay) it means work hard/good luck! I hope she enjoys school! Dad, don't go too crazy on her photography class, but definitely go take pictures together! I am running close on my email time, and I can’t hardly remember what I did 2 days ago so thank goodness for my journal, so tell everyone I'm doing well! I will try and send another letter but I don't know it I will have time this p-day. I love you all, and missing you is hard, I wish I could have done that ice bucket challenge, but I'm glad Garrett did it for me. I would almost do anything to hear some music or see a movie but it’s okay, I am here where the lord wants and needs me and I love it!

Love,

Elder Gailey

August 28, 2014

Today is P-day! Every Thursday from now on. It feels like Christmas today, because as Japanese (Nihongo) missionaries our first p-day got skipped so we had to go 8 days without one. My companion is great, he is a lot like me, and we get along well. He gets on my nerves sometimes but that’s life, everyone does at one point or another. The food... well it’s not bad, but it’s not delicious either. Not to mention the chorus of farts from 10:15 to 10:30 is the worst. Not to mention how bad everyone's farts smell. Anyways... classes are good we have the same teacher for all 9 weeks, and he thinks I am doing really well! Today we did laundry and my companion and I had no real troubles with it but I guess we will see when we go get it out of the washer! That is crazy about the car, but good thing it was all okay! I saw Braydan at the Sunday devotional! I didn’t get to talk much to him though. Thank goodness Ginger is doing well! I'm understanding a lot of Japanese when they use about medium difficulty words, and after yesterday I finally understand a large portion of the sentence structure. The particles like wa, ni, ni tsuite, and ni yotte are the hardest part for me cuz I have a hard time figuring out which one goes when as there are a lot of exceptions. That’s crazy that you did the Ice Bucket challenge, and I bet Garrett enjoyed being the one to dump the water. My faith has grown so much in the last 8 days, and I now know for sure that the gift of tongues is real. I just had to have the faith that it was, and bam! Nihongo came like that!

Please let everyone know "I'm doing great at the MTC it gets hard sometimes, but life is that way, you just have to work through it. The lord blesses all of us in amazing ways and we all need to remember to be grateful because sometimes it’s the little things that we don't say thank you for at the end of the day that change our day/week/year the most. Japanese is wonderful and I love the work. Every member a missionary! I love the MTC and can’t wait to get to Japan!"

Love,
Elder Gailey