The Gift of Tongues is Real

8/13/09 Email Message

Family,

Wow I cant believe all of that happened to Grandpa and he is still alive. I guess he is just too strong. I think this is a sign that I should write him a letter. That will be the first thing I do next P-day. If you talk to him soon tell him I said Hi. And Im praying for him.

I have kind of a cool story from over here in Japan. So in the MTC they drill three little letters into your brain. No matter what you do you cant get away from these three letters. They say it in class, they say it in the halls, they say it in devotionals, they say it in gym, they say it in your dorms, they say it at lunch - its everywhere! After three months in there all you can think about is those three letters. "S.Y.L." - Speak Your Language. Its a little reminder to keep you speaking the language that you are learning at all possibilities and in all situations. They used to promise us that if we kept "speaking our language" one day Japanese really would become "our language". Sometimes I doubted if that was really true.

Well after "speaking my language" for over a year there are a handful of Japanese words that have become part of "my language". Recently Ive been doing a lot of translating at church and other places for the Hansens (the senior couple that is in the office here) The most difficult times are when someone says one of "my words". If someone says something like dendo or kamisama (God) I repeat it back as dendo or kamisama. There have been a few times when they have to look at me and remind me they dont know what Im saying. Sometimes I just dont even know the English translation. Its a testimony to me that the gift of tongues is real. Its a crazy experience thats for sure.

I have a few questions. Did you get my memory card for my pictures in the last package? Also are you going to send my childhood pictures soon? If so please include pictures of high school too. It would be great to have pictures of back home. Also please send my baptism picture and one of me and kimberly in our kimonos. It would realllly help with investigators and in lessons. Please send those ASAP. Also did I tell you I broke my camera? If not - i broke it. Should I buy one here? What should we do? Also one of my suits is falling apart. I need a new one. I can get a good one for about 80 dollars. Also I need to get my drivers license here and we have a problem. I need my driving record from Alabama. Please copy that and email it to me ASAP. Thank you!

Love you all! Thanks for writing me. Talk to you soon!

Much Love,
Elder Brendan Kingsford