Hey dad!
This is coming early to you today, and I don't actually have a keyboard right now, so please excuse me if I have a bunch of spelling mistakes and I don't get to write as much as I usually do. Speaking of
which, is there any way that you can send me a Bluetooth keyboard? Or maybe I can get one here. What do you think would be best?
Languages are so fascinating and so so cool! I absolutely love it. :) I love Japanese with my whole heart! I love reading, writing, speaking, etc. in Japanese! I will admit though that I really do like singing in English more. Haha but Japanese is so so so cool, and I can understand a bit of it now. :) As I continue to study, I learn more and more. Oh! I am actually starting to understand probably. . .50% or so of the scriptures that I read. I think that I can probably credit that more to the fact that I have read the Book of Mormon multiple times than the actually fact that I am learning Japanese. Haha but I love it. :) It is so cool what you can learn when you read multiple languages. Dad, I really challenge you to keep your German up. If it is rustier than you would like it to be, than work at it. The Lord called you to Germany for a reason, and the German that you had then will come back faster than you know. You will be able to bless so many lives when you practice it. The Lord will trust you with opportunities to use it to testify of Him only if you are preparing to use it. Trust Him. He will guide you as to how to learn it and use it. Stretch yourself in the language. Study the scriptures in both languages. I promise you will be blessed not only with time to do it, but with the resources and capacity of mind to learn more than you could know.
It really is interesting how languages work though. I am saying sounds and forming words that sound like gibberish in English but make complete sense to me. I do it on a daily basis. But it makes sense to me. I read from the Book of Mormon, going through the characters, and I literally can't not read it (does that make sense?) haha I definitely don't understand all of the words, but I can generally tell
you where words are (there aren't any spaces in between words) and where particles are (other extremely important parts of Japanese), etc. it really is incredible to see how the Lord works in our lives. The gift of tongues is real. But why talk about all of this Japanese? It is because I want to talk to you about another language.
The most important language that any missionary will ever learn on their mission is the language of the spirit. Ultimately that is the only language that is important for them to learn. If you were under
the complete influence of the Holy Ghost you could speak any language that the Lord needed you to. I think that is absolutely incredible. The message that I want to leave with you today is that you should always strive to have the spirit in your life. Keep the commandments, be obedient in all things, magnify your calling. The spirit will guide and direct you in all things. I love you so much, dad, and I hope that you know that. I miss you a lot, but I am excited that I have the opportunity to serve here in Japan. I can't wait to see you at Christmas over Skype (or FaceTime actually! That would work.) speaking of which, when do you want to skype? I can from the 22-25 anytime, so you let me know when works for you! It will have to be 40 min at the longest, but I am way excited! Love you!
Love, Elder Livingston
リビングストン長老
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