Little Witnesses

Dear Family and Friends,

We should probably bring you up to speed on a “special project” we have been working on.

Just before we left on our mission, the church published a new version of Preach My Gospel with all new, revamped lessons to teach. Currently, that new version is only available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. We have no timeline yet for when the Japanese version will be available. 

At the same time, the Japanese government began granting visas to foreign missionaries, post-COVID. We’ve experienced a “surge” this year. Remember that a year ago, our mission was down to just 11 missionaries, all natives. We’re now up to about 110. That means there were really no experienced, proficient missionaries to train incoming missionaries this year. They’re all “green” together, and they’re all struggling to learn the language together. And they haven’t had a set of the Japanese lessons to teach. They’re just doing their best to put something together. 

In that situation, President Node asked us to do a rudimentary translation of the lesson section of the new Preach My Gospel (Chapter 3). We’ve been doing that for the last three months during our spare time at the kitchen table. It’s been both fun and at times stressful. We’re not pros at this, but we are uniquely qualified in this mission to work on it. Sometimes our work was “spirited.” For example:

Sister Low: “You can’t say it that way.”

Elder Low: “There’s no way a missionary will be able to memorize it that way.”

President asked that we make the sentences as simple and straightforward as possible, something that sounded almost childlike, so that young missionaries with only a few months of experience with this difficult language could easily understand and memorize it. That meant that we would translate a sentence, then edit, simplify, retranslate, and trim again. This took some time. We found that we need to translate something, then park it and let it sit for a few days and then revisit again in order to expose opportunities to improve. 

We made a lot of mistakes and corrections. Then Sister Node pointed out there is a lot of content in Preach My Gospel that really doesn’t make sense to the Japanese mindset. For example, the question: “Will you follow Jesus’ example and be baptized?” – which is the first question to ask in Lesson 1. It doesn’t make sense because people here don’t know what the word “baptism” means in Japanese. (“Baptism” in Japanese is pronounced “baputesuma” – just the Japanized English). They don’t know what it means to follow an “example” of some person they’re not familiar with named Jesus. What’s an “example?” The entire concept of the sentence is foreign even when translated correctly into Japanese. So that took extra work in a lot of spots.

We’re now at the end stage and have begun rolling out the translations to the missionaries this month. The feedback has been very positive. We’re told it’s much easier to study and they’re learning faster now. We’re thrilled. 

Here’s a sample of the dozens of sentences we’ve done, to give you an idea:

• 現代でも、預言者は神様から啓示を受け、私たちを導いています。
• Gendai de mo, yogensha wa kamisama kara keiji o uke, watashitachi o michibiite imasu.
• In modern times too, a living prophet receives revelation from God to teach and lead us today.
• Um profeta vivo recebe revelação de Deus para nos ensinar e liderar hoje.

Yes, that last sentence is Portuguese. We had to get creative there, but it’s needed since 18% of our missionaries are from Brazil. With each lesson we also added a vocabulary list of words (in three languages) they’ll need in order to teach the sentences. We’re glad this is wrapping up and actually doing good. Hopefully this will hold us over until the book translation comes out. 

Leftovers

As you know, we cooked a turkey for the branch for Thanksgiving and the kids devoured it. A huge hit. But Elder Low saved what was left of the turkey bones. Last week he said we have to do something with that and decided to make a pot of soup on Sunday afternoon. He simmered the leftovers for a couple hours to make a nice broth. There are no “soup noodles” available in the grocery stores here so he had to make is own pasta from scratch – flour, water, rolling pin. Then he added some left-over carrots and celery. When he was done, it was about 3:30 in the afternoon. He went upstairs to the relief society room to see if anyone was still in the building. There were about 20 kids still there, gabbing and socializing, so Elder Low said, “Who wants some soup?” 

“What?! You made soup? What for?”

“For you. And Sister Low is pulling some breadsticks out of the oven too. Come downstairs and have some.”

Let’s just say that went well. The 3 gallon pot was empty in 20 minutes. We don’t think they were used to a situation like that, where somebody just makes something from scratch, unannounced, just for them, for no reason. They were so grateful.  And that just makes us fall in love with them even more. 

Little Witnesses

The Christmas season has begun and we’re starting to get into the spirit. Last week Sister Low decided we need a tree. We wound up at a home furnishings store and bought a tiny little tree for about $25. It’s 120cm tall and came with a string of 20 battery powered lights and a dozen ornaments. We went to the Disney Store and bought some extra decorations. We think it’s cute. When we turn on our Bing Crosby -Nat King Cole – Burl Ives – Jonny Mathis – Gene Autry playlist on the iPad, the apartment feels downright festive. 

Last Saturday was a real highlight for us. Our institute students have formed a choir, and their Christmas concert was Saturday night. The institute has done this for 20 years now and they call themselves “The Little Witnesses.” 

We’re kinda old, and we’ve been to a lot of Christmas concerts over the years. This one, without question was the best one we’ve ever seen or heard. The kids are entirely self-directed. No “grownups” are involved. They do their own accompanying and directing and all choir members take turns at different roles. They also do their own arrangements and harmonies. And they sing with power. When the concert started, it felt like a blast furnace in the face. Just incredible. 

Halfway through the event, we looked around and noticed everyone in the audience was in tears. Every single person. Between songs a choir member came to the podium and said, “We can tell you’re all feeling something. Let me explain what that is.” Then he proceeded to teach us about the power of the gift of the Holy Ghost and invited anyone who wanted to learn more to speak with the missionaries at the back of the room for more details. 

It really was an incredible night. We’ve been talking about it ever since. We wish we could take them on the road, or at least put them in the middle of the Scramble for a night and watch people stop and be amazed. But they’re done for the season and have to get back to work and school.

We hope you all have a great month and wonderful Christmas season. From Sister Low: We’re so very thankful for all of your support as we serve. We know you will be blessed while we’re away. You’ll be blessed more than if we were there. We know our family, children, and grandchildren will be blessed more. Dear grandchildren – please don’t forget to pray for your missionary grandpa and grandma. We know we will be blessed when you pray for us.

We love you all.