Week 3

Hello!

 

Well another week has gone by at the MTC - This weekend will be my halfway mark! I have been here for about 2 and a half weeks, and I only have about that much to go! So that is pretty crazy to think about - but also very exciting! So I only have 17:56 minutes left to write to you, so I probably won't get everything written that I want to say, but I'm gonna try!!

 

First, Mom and Dad it sounds like you are just as busy as ever, but doing some pretty incredible things! I printed out the song Mom, and I will definitely take a look through it when I can! Also, that is so cool that you get to give a talk in Spanish!! You finally get to use it again! I'm sure they will all be very impressed. I am excited! I wish I could have been there to be trained by you again Dad - you really are so good at inspiring, directing, and leading missionaries. I look back on my notes from the conferences I did attend often! Tokyo missionaries are the luckiest in the world! I tell them that everytime I see them. Speaking of which, I met the new Japanese missionaries that just arrived on Wednesday - and two of the sisters are going to Tokyo! They are both really sweet, and very excited to come! It's so funny, everytime I meet a Japanese missionary, and they put two and two together with who my parents are, they always want a picture :) And they want to come meet you guys in Tokyo after their missions a lot of the time too, so be prepared for that in a couple years! I remember now, it was Junnichi Maeda that volunteers here and has a son in Tokyo that has taken some pictures that he said he would pass on to you through Elder Maeda, so i don't know if you have gotten those yet or not, but that is who it was :)

 

Things have been going great here at the MTC - it is super busy, but always fulfilling. I didn't realize how much teaching you actually get to do here! I have about 5-6 investigators right now (some of which are teachers and volunteers pretending, but there are a couple that I'm not sure about...) so I end up teaching at least 2-3 times a day! It is really fun, and I am learning a lot - everyday I learn a better way to teach something, or a better way to begin teaching, and every lesson is different, which makes it really fun. The other Japanese speaking elder in my district and I teach each other everyday in Japanese, we switch off being the investigator and the missionary, and they gave us a Japanese tutor to help us along which has been very helpful. She actually knows David and Janna, her name is Sister Shimomiya, and she is getting married next week I think! Anyway, small world. Today I get to teach again in Japanese at the TRC (teaching resource center), so we'll see how that goes!

 

Other news, is that I have been called to serve as the Coordinating Sister for the branch, which basically means that I go around every night to all the sisters in our branch and see how they are doing, and just make sure they are doing well and are comfortable and happy, and I also help welcome and orient the new missionaries that come. We have new missionaries come every week because we are an international 3 week branch, so I welcomed the first group this week - they are great! It has been a really fun calling, although it takes up all of my time that I used to have for writing in my journal, so i am still working out how to fit that in somewhere.

 

Sorry that I can't write much more my time is running short, but I love you all so much! Oh and thank you for the cinnamon rolls!! They were delicious!! My roommates all really enjoyed them as well, and they say thank you :)

Oh and one more thing I just remembered - Dad do you remember playing basketball at TAC with Jim Whittle and his son? Elder Whittle was in my Japanese district! He just made that connection the other day, and he thought it was really funny that you were the Tokyo mission president - he just knows you as the basketball player with the fancy shot and a funny sense of humor :) so that was a fun connection!

Well I am really out of time now, so I love you all, and I hope you have a great week! The church is true!

 

Love, Sister Budge

 

(PS - Can someone please pass this on to Grandma Budge, and let her know that I wrote her a birthday card today and then realized that I don't have her address!! So hopefully I'll run into Jake soon and he can give it to me... but HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!) love you!