These Days

わたし​は​自​の​真上に、​太陽​の​輝き​に​も​勝​輝いて​いる​​光​の​柱を​見た。そして、その​光の​柱​は​次第​に​降りて​来て、光​は​ついに​わたし​に​降り注いだ。そして、その​光​が​わたし​の​上​に​とどまった​とき、わたし​は​筆紙​に​尽くし​難い​輝き​と​​栄光​を​持つ​​二人​の​御方​が​わたし​の​上​の​空中​に​立って​おられる​の​を​​見た。すると、その​うち​の​御​一​方​が​わたし​に​語りかけ、わたし​の​名​を​呼び、別​の​御方​を​指して、「これ​は​わたし​の​​愛する​​子​で​ある。彼​に​聞き​なさい」と​言われた。

If you want, I can recite the entire above paragraph to you.  I've memorized it and I repeat it to myself on my daily commute now to keep practicing.  

It's Joseph Smith's First Vision in Japanese, which is the same thing that missionaries memorize.  I decided to memorize it because when I was in Taiwan, people would perk up when I got to that part.  The description in the old Chinese translation (that I learned) was beautiful and people would just stare at me, "Wow, your Chinese suddenly became perfect."  For the first time, they could focus on the words and not try to understand what I was saying.  

Since Japanese is incredibly difficult for me, I thought this might be a way to start to practice the cadence of the language without stumbling over trying to make a coherent thought along with saying the syllables.  It only took me a few days to learn it (easy to do since I walk for 80 minutes a day).  

Yesterday, I ran (yes, I went on a run) to visit my dear friend and gloated to her.  "I can say the First Vision in Japanese!  I memorized it."  

Her response?

 "I love that this is your idea of relaxing - to go memorize something in Japanese."  

"You might need to learn some more Japanese to accompany that, such as, 'Joseph Smith said this.'  If this is your way of proving to Japanese people that you're suddenly fluent in the language, what will they think when you tell them you saw two personages in a pillar of light?  They'll think you're crazy."  

Touché.

Off to learn more Japanese.