Week 19 - I am Officially an Adult in Japan!

Dearest Family!!

Thank you Mom, Dad, Landon, and Becky for your emails! Its always so much fun to hear from everyone! Today was kind of a crazy schedule as far as emailing goes, there was a huge EFY training meeting and we couldn't use internet all day so we moved our P-day time to night, and now we just have a little bit of time to write - with three of us it always takes a little longer so it's gonna be a little short this week probably - I keep hoping that one of these days I will have time to write to everyone I want to write to... we'll see if that day ever comes. Until then - just know I love you all! And also that this weekly email is very much for you as well :)

That is so exciting to hear about everyones mission calls!! I don't even know what to say, I couldn't be happier about it!! ;) Thank you mom for keeping my updated on who is receiving their calls!

I wrote Grandma Budge a letter last week, hopefully it will arrive soon - but Grandma you are always in my prayers, and I love you so much! Get better soon.

This past week has been a blast! I love working in a threesome. Sister Northrop and Sister Nanjo are SO much fun, and such hard workers - I really am so grateful for the chance that I have been given to work with them. This week we met with the Bishop about the ward mission plan, which talks alot about focusing on families. We are so excited about this theme, and actually most of our investigators now are families, or have small children - it is a lot of fun. In Obihiro, in the county we taught mostly older people, but here in the city most everyone is younger. Its been super fun. One family has been coming to Eikaiwa for a while, they have four little kids ages 5-11 ish who all love to learn English, and are super fun. Oh yeah, Eikaiwa has changed a little since coming to Atsubetsu - I am teaching a kids class now! Last week was my first time ever teaching kids anything really - it was a little hard to keep them focused sometimes, but it was so much fun! The subject was weather so we drew lots of pictures, and I drew on my primary days to teach them all "Once there was a snowman" ;) They loved it! There were about 7 or 8 kids and 3-4 moms that were in the class - I am going to have to start getting a lot more creative with teaching English! If anyone has any tips for teaching kids - mostly preschool age - I would love to hear :) For now we're just gonna sing and draw!

I feel like my emails are always super jumbled, and I'm never sure if they make any sense really, but I'm about out of time, so I will end by sharing a favorite scripture of the week;
1 Nephi 3:7 - I read this this week and thought I'd put it to the test and think of the hardest commandment that the Lord has given us, and then to see if I could find a way that he has shown us how to accomplish it. There are so many commandments, and sometimes many of them might seem hard, but God does not tell us to do anything impossible - I would challenge you to all think of something that seems impossible to you right now, and then test Nephi's testimony and see if after prayer and studying it out you don't find a way that God has prepared for you to do it.

Thank you for everything! I love you all! I'll try to send some pictures, and maybe write a littlle more coherently next week ;)

Love,

Sister Budge

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

Week 17 - Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!! 

It is hard to believe that it is already 2013! In thinking back on this past year of 2012 it is amazing to see how blessed I have been, and how blessed our family has been. With weddings, babies, and mission calls it has been a really big year for everyone. I am so grateful for the opportunity and blessing that I have to be here in the Sapporo mission sharing the beautiful message and truth of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for my family (which is ever growing :) ) and even more so for the fact that we can be together forever! I am pretty excited about that :) I have been blessed more than I can say, and way more than I could ever deserve, and I am so grateful for the wonderful chance I have this year, 2013 to dedicate the entire year to helping people have those same kind of blessings! I am realizing more and more just how incredibly fast the mission goes, and I have made a New Year's Resolution to use this year the best possible way that I can. I am super excited! 

We got our transfer calls this week and I am transferring! It is my first transfer out of my bean area, and I am super sad to be leaving Obihiro and my companion Sister Seto - I love them both to death, but I am also super excited to go to my new area with my new companions! Yes, I say companions, because I am going to be in a three-some! I am going to an area called Atsubetsu (which is in Sapporo) with Sister Nanjo (who is from Tokyo) and Sister Northrop (who is from California/Washington). I have gotten to work a little bit with them before on exchanges and things, and they are both great! It will interesting to see how it works as a threesome! Hopefully we don't scare people away when we try to talk to them! Transfers are on Thursday so I am trying to get all the packing and writing of meishi's (name cards? its like a business card, but its not a business... i don:t know how to translate it), and trying to see as many people as I can before then, although everyone is busy with New Years celebrations and things so its been a little difficult to do. 

The ward has been great, during this New years time we have been invited to a different members house every day for dinner - they are really such a great ward, I will miss them a lot. But we are still in the same stake, so maybe I:ll get to see them all at a Stake conference coming up in March. 

Well this past week has been a blast! It was so great to talk to everyone on the phone, even though it was short - you all sound genki! And Dad, thank you so much for sending me the pictures from the onsen! It looks like it was a blast! I am very impressed that everyone decided to do it - Janna must have been very good at convincing everyone, last I heard she was the only one excited about doing that! it sounds like you all had a very Japanese Christmas break! Did you do anything special for New years? 

We also had a Sister's training meeting, and the Messiah concert last week - we didn:t sing, we just got to listen - oh my goodness it was beautiful. I think they are putting it on YouTube, you should definitely try and see it! It was very professional, and the spirit was almost overwhelming! I had the chance to sit next to an investigator of some of the Sapporo sisters, and she just kept saying, I feel so happy! This is such a feeling of joy. I want to keep this feeling. I felt the same way.  

Yesterday for New Years Eve we had a mission wide special Day with the Book of Mormon - we spent the entire day just reading the Book of Mormon. It was great! It really is a true book. Everyone in it, and everything in it is true - and it truly all testifies and focuses on Jesus Christ. I have been highlighting all the references to Christ in the Book of Mormon this time as I have been reading - I am almost through now, and so are my highlighters! If anyone has any doubt that the Book of Mormon focuses and testifies of Christ I challenge you to find a page or two that doesn't mention him at least once. There is so much to learn from the Book of Mormon - I know it is true, and that the principles in it come from God and are meant to bless us in this day. 

I am about out of time for this week, but I love you all, and wish you all the best for this New Year! 

Love,
Sister Budge

Week 16 - MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Christmas is here! I can't believe how  quickly this year has gone by! It has been so neat to me to see how very much the same Christmas feels even though I have never had a Christmas like this before. I feel the Saviors love so strongly whenever I hear a Christmas song or testify to someone about the true meaning and importance of Christmas. I know  that Christ lives, and that he loves every single person that has ever lived or will ever lived. This week we were blessed to have a zone meeting where we talked a lot about the Savior and his attributes and his atonement. One of the things that really stuck out to me was the Savior's humility and submissiveness in the Garden of Gethsamene. Even though God perfectly understands us and our feelings, Jesus Christ was willing to not only understand our pains, but to fully experience, and overcome them for us. Even if only one person in the entire world chose to accept His sacrifice, he was still willing to suffer for everyone's pains. so that everyone would have the chance to overcome them. The more I learn and the more I testify about the atonement of Jesus Christ the more I am amazed and overcome with gratitude and thanks for Him. I know this is Christmas time and not Easter, but this year for some reason rather than the birth of Christ, his atonement has really stuck out to me at this time. After all, if it hadn:t been for the atonement, if he wasnt our Savior and Redeemer, his birth would not have been all that important in the first place. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have now  to be a missionary here in Obihiro, Hokkaido and tell people about this wonderful gift that they have all been given, but do not yet know how to receive. I love this gospel. I love the peace, joy and truth that I feel from it. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ, and this opportunity that we have at Christmas  to remember His birth that was made significant by the miracle of his atonement. I know that He lives. I know  that he has given us all a gift, the gift of forgiveness, the gift of being able to change, the gift of being able to return to live with God someday with our families, and the gift of eternal happiness. I hope that we can remember that one greatest gift among all the other wonderful gifts that we give and receive at this most wonderful time of the year.

I am excited to talk to you all tomorrow! Have a very Merry Christmas!! I love you all!!

2 Nephi 19:6 - I didn't realize this was in the Book of Mormon too! He truly is all of those things!

Love,

Sister Budge

Week 15 - Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Hello!!

I don't have much time to write today, so I'll try to make it quick :)

That is so great that you met a couple from Obihiro! It was probably Brother and Sister Okuda - they just started a one year mission as temple missionaries in Tokyo. They are great! Okuda Shimai teamed up with us for Onodera Eiko san's lessons alot - she is an amazing person! If you happen to run into her again, please tell her hello, and about Eiko san too! She left for Tokyo the week before her baptism so I don't know if she knows about it yet.

I sent the information for the Christmas call next week in another email, hopefully 2:00 works for you? If for some reason you can't call at 2:00, then you can try to call some other time - except for 10:30-1:00 or after 8:00 pm. But 2:00 would be best - try not to all get stuck in a bathtub and lose track of the time okay? ;) I can't wait to talk to you all! I'm trying to figure out how to talk to all of you at the same time - this family is getting too big! :D

This week was a crazy week! First of all - there is a lot of snow! Apparently this is an unusual year for Obihiro, but yesterday it snowed a good 1 and a half to 2 feet, and it all stays. Today was perfectly blue skies and sunny, but still pretty cold - I guess when it snows it snows a lot, and when it doesn't it doesn't at all - but I miraculously have still not slipped and fallen, and it hasn't been too cold yet!

We had a sister's exchange this week and I got to work with Sister Yao, who is on her last transfer for a day. She is an amazing missionary, it was so much fun to work with her! I think the thing that impressed me the most was the way that she just left a good impression with everyone that we talked to, whether they listened to us or not, and even when one lady ended up telling us about her religion for a good 30 minutes or so, she very tactfully turned what could have turned into a bible-bash type situation (without the bible...) into a good experience for both of us :) I love working on Sister exchanges and getting to learn from so many great examples - this was my third exchange so far, and all three have been with last transfer missionaries! I think President Evans knows that I need all the best training that I can get! :)

One of my favorite scriptures this week I actually heard from Sister Yao on the exchange - it is Jeremiah 1:6-9 :)

I'm about out of time for today, sorry this week is so short! In short, all is well, and the church is true!

I'm not sure if I'll be able to email next week or not - there is a Zone Christmas activity, so just in case I can't, I'll talk to you all next Tuesday on Christmas!!

Love you!

Sister Budge

Pictures

Week 14 - Eiko San!!

Konnichiwa!!

Well it is officially winter here in Obihiro! It has snowed a couple times in the last week - which is pretty unusual for Obihiro I guess - and there is a good two feet of snow on the ground. I don:t think it will be disappearing anytime soon either! We have officially quit riding our bikes and now rely on walking, buses, and occasionally member's give us rides in their cars which is great! I've actually come to enjoy housing in snow storms - everyone is super nice! They usually at least open their door and talk to us for a little bit whether they are interested or not, probably just to see who is crazy enough to be knocking on their door in that kind of weather - but thats okay! One lady that we talked to in a store even offered to drive us home! We had an appointment near by soon so we declined, but she was totally sincere. It really is true what they say about Hokkaido - the temperature is freezing, but the hearts of the people are warm!

A funny thing happened this week when we were housing with a member. We knocked on the door, and it opened, and the man inside heard who we were and where we came from and then without hearing anything else told us to wait a moment and closed the door. A few seconds later he comes out with a two foot by three foot painting and just hands it to us and says "Here, take this, it is for you! My business card and an explanation of the painting are in a folder on the back - Thank you! Bye!" Very surprised, and quite confused we fumbled to hand him at least a flyer before he shut the door again. Overcoming our shock a little bit and thinking about what to do with our newly accquired painting, we decided to go back and give him a present of The Book of Mormon in exchange for his generosity. We knocked again, he came out we gave him The Book of Mormon, and then he comes right back at us with another painting! Before we knew it we were left again outside his door with now two paintings and still no idea why on earth he decided to give them to us. But our apartment and the Elder's apartment now have original pieces of artwork to decorate! I'm still not sure what it all means, but one thing is for sure - you can never predict what happens when you dendo!

Okay, that was the funny thing this week... now for the exciting part :)
Onodera Eiko san got baptized!!!!!!! She had her interview on Thursday, the baptismal service was on Saturday, and in sacrament meeting yesterday she received the gift of the Holy Ghost. She is now officially the newest member of the church in the Obihiro ward. It was beautiful! She was so calm and peaceful before it all, and she just said that she knew that this was right. I won:t lie I was worried about it all week, thinking about anything that we might not have explained well enough, or things her family might say or do to stop her, or if she would relapse on smoking or something would happen to postpone her baptism. I told my companion about some of my worries and she kindly reminded me to think about when I was baptized. Did I understand everything perfectly when I was baptized at eight years old? Obviously not. I wasn:t baptized because I passed some test of my gospel knowledge. I was baptized because I believed in Jesus Christ and I wanted to follow him. Baptism is not how we show that we are perfect - it is how we allow God to make us perfect, and show him that we are willing to make changes in our lives to follow Him and let His gospel and His light change us. Eiko san truly is an example to me of what it means to become as a little child, submissive, meek, humble, and willing to learn, and willing to obey. At the beginning I made the mistake of thinking that I had to help bring her up to my level so to speak, help her come to my level of understanding before she could be baptized. Now I realize that I need to become more like her - its not about how much you know, its about the conviction of your heart. It was a beautiful weekend, and I feel so blessed to have been here to witness it!

I know that this gospel is true, and that it truly is the way to happiness and eternal life! I love you all a bunch! Merry December/ Christmas Season! What a wonderful time of year to let the light of Christ that comes so naturally at this time of year change us!

Love,

Sister Budge