Week 5

Ellie didn’t have time to do a group letter this week.  So, I told her I would pull some highlights from the video she sent us. 

She said the weeks are going by really fast, she can’t even remember what happened on which day.  She continues to move forward with the language but they are all a little frustrated with the new curriculum.  She said likes it but since they are switching programs halfway through their training there are things that are referenced from the first few weeks that they didn’t get taught because they were trained with the old curriculum during their first weeks.  Despite that setback, they got called to teach without any notice and did a great job. (I guess they usually have time to prepare) She said they had to keep it really simple because of the lack of prep time.  They taught the entire lesson in Japanese without any notes and she was super happy about it.  Her sensei told them it was the best lesson they had done because of the simplicity and they spoke from their hearts.

Two classic Ellie stories: 

1 - “Hi” means yes in Japanese so people will ask her something and she will answer “hi” meaning yes, then everyone will stop and say “oh sorry, yes hi, how are you” then ask the question again.  Then she has to explain that she was saying yes and said it’s super awkward every time.

2- She was walking across the courtyard area and it was windy.  A gust of wind blew her skirt up, as she tried to fix it she dropped all her notes and they were flying all around.  I smiled the entire time she told the story because I could just see it happening and have heard her talk about things like that happening to her all her life (at least she always laughs at herself).

She ended with a challenge to our family to observe the Sabbath Day a little better.  She said one of the things she misses the most is our Sunday dinners together at home or at Pine Valley. She challenged us to make the entire day about family and not just the dinners.  This means no homework and less stress getting things ready for the upcoming week (which has always been a struggle around here). I will end with her own words:

“I realized how important those moments meant to me and I know that when we put the Lord first especially on his day, the rest of the week will be better. I hope that makes sense :) I love you guys so much and miss you. Hope you guys have a great week.”

Provo Temple

Ellie labeled this picture prime

We had to run home in the rain. :)