Week 18 - Happy New Year!

Dear Family,

 

It's so good to hear from you (mostly through Mom:) ) and to hear that you are all doing well! I am so happy to hear that Mandy had her baby girl! and I got a Christmas card from Shelly's family - I didn't know that Jordan and Chrsitina were expecting! I am beginning to lose track of all the babies being born in this family - I think so far there are seven babies that have been born or that are on the way that I haven't met - and I have only been gone for a little less than six months! By the time I get back they are gonna have to open up a new nursery school for all these babies!

 

Well I survived my first transfer and I am now in Atsubetsu! It is a great ward, there are so many really strong members here - I am super excited to work with them all! One of the families, the Ono family knows Landon - I think both Brother and Sister Ono served in Sendai at the same time as him - they have an adorable family, with four cute little kids. There was also a sister who lived in Tokyo before and she knew Janna as a missionary - Sister Furukawa (she speaks English fluently). Its always fun to make connections even in a brand new area with brand new people - the world is so small!

The ward is really is great, the Bishop is very young - in his 30s, and very excited about helping the missionaries. There were actually three baptisms in the ward last week, and two of them had their confirmations in Sacrament meeting yesterday - it was great! Hopefully there will be many more in the near future!

 

It has been a lot of fun to work in a threesome companionship! Sister Northrop and Sister Nanjo are fantastic! They are both such hard workers, and wonderful examples to me. They are always so positive, and I have learned so much from their simple pure, and powerful testimonies. I am really looking forward to working with them for this next transfer! Street contacting is always pretty interesting- the streets are pretty narrow with all the snow piled up on the sides, so we always have to walk single file, and when we try to stop someone to talk to them, it is usually the person in front that says, "Hello!" then the next person says "Excuse me", and then finally by the time they reach the person in the back they realize that we are talking to them, and the person in the back ends up doing most of the talking. It is a pretty interesting dynamic - we are still working on making it flow better, but its been a lot of fun!

 

Yesterday we were able to meet with an investigator and talk a lot about the Book of Mormon. He loves English, so we are helping him read through the Book of Mormon in English, and how to apply the Book of Mormon to himself at the same time. We mainly went over verse one of First Nephi with him, and asked him to find similarities between his life and that verse. As he did, I also realized how much it applys to my life as well.

 

"I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents" - I have been blessed with wonderful parents

"therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father" - I too have learned so much from my Father (and my mother) - and not just in everyday life matters, but also in spiritual matters too

"And having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days" - I have hard times, and things that I struggle with - but I know that ALL my days have been a blessing, and that everything I experience is there to help me grow

"having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God"  - there are a lot of things that i don't know, but one thing I do know for sure is that God is good!

 

I know that the Book of Mormon is true! It is written for our day, and for me, and there are really so many things to learn from it. It really is the keystone of our religion - I love what it says in  PMG, that the whole church stands or falls with the Book of Mormon. If the Book of Mormon is not true than our church is not true. But I have read the Book of Mormon, and I have thought about it, and prayed about it. I know that it is true! And I am so grateful for it.

 

Thank you all for your love and support! I hope you all have a great week!

 

Love,

 

Sister Budge