Goodbye MTC!

    Time is flying so fast in the MTC. I truly cannot believe that I am leaving here in just 2 days. I am truly leaving my home. I look at the mountains and see the big Y on the
mountain and I feel like I am still kind of at home so I am interested to see how leaving the country for 2 years will be. I am so excited to go!! 
     I just want to talk about going to Japan right now. Do not listen to any negative opinions about the MTC from anyone. This is the best place ever. It is ordained of God to prepare missionaries to be the best they can be. I do not care that I learned what to say here in the MTC, it's not about that. It is about learning how to be a missionary. I have learned the language of the spirit and how to teach through it. And that is way more important than any foreign language you will learn. Cherish the MTC. 

     But about going to Japan. I have a direct 14 hour flight straight there from Salt Lake. There is no nervousness!  I
promise that that is true but I say that knowing that every day is going to be so hard, I will not understand anything, and everything will be foreign to me. I know I am going to be stretched to my very limit and that I will be so close to breaking at times. But I am not nervous because I have realized this fact. This is not my work. This is not
about me. I am just a vessel for the Lord's work to spread to other nations. If I worry and think about myself then I am not accepting that this is not about me and I will not be living with the character of Christ.  As President Hinckley said, "This is a time when you will have opportunities you will never have again. On your shoulders rests the responsibility of the Church." I cannot give in, I cannot give up, and I will not back down. I have to work every day for this service and these blessings. In a devotional this last week, the speaker said, "Don't you ever settle for mediocrity. God has given you
gifts. Use them." Average truly is the enemy of excellence. The days that I am not giving my all will be my hardest days. The best part about missionary work is work. That is where the joy is found and the ability to overcome trials is received. God did not call me to Japan to be left alone. I will receive my blessings as I work for them. 

     I want to thank everyone for helping me reach this point. It was hard to get here and become the missionary that I am. Harder than you will ever know. But thanks to all that you have done throughout my life not matter how little and how small. You helped just one youth make the correct decisions in life and correct himself when he made the incorrect ones. I would not be here without you. Yes I am just one youth, but to you I thank you. Never forget that one sheep. There might be one soul, one youth, or one friend that needs your guidance. Never forget the one. You never forgot me. You never forgot me. I am so thankful to have the parents that were always there for me. You might not know this but I have the best mom in the world. She has guided me and always been there for me. She is one of the single best examples of love and charity and service. I will always be a momma's boy! And my dad is also one of the best examples in my life. There is not a better example to me of hard work, dedication, and never quitting. And I have carried that with me every day of this mission. I dream of being half the man he is when I have a family of my own. I have the best big brothers and examples of righteously dedicated missionaries. I have always copied their mannerisms and their examples because I  knew if I could grow up to be like them then I could be someone to look up to and rely on like many have done with them. I have had the best friends in the world and I cannot wait to go dedicate the next 22 months of my life to the people of Japan.

     Thank you all again. I will ALWAYS be in your debt for guiding this one youth to this mission. The next time you hear from me I will be in Tokyo. Aishiteimasu!
Love, 
Elder Trevor Aiken