Week 3

Hey Mom,

I'll just start off by giving you answers to those questions that you keep asking. My district is Me, Mattson Choro, King Choro, Yoshida Choro, Malcolm Choro, Wood Choro, and Webber Choro. (Both the o's in choro are long sounds, I just can't do them on this computer.) Elder Mattson is my companion, and he's pretty cool. He's big into sports, and he's just a loud kinda guy. :P King Choro is a wrestler, and he does like jujitsu and stuff. He's always really nice and super relaxed, and an awesome roommate. Yoshida Choro is also one of my roommates, and even though he's half Japanese, he knew absolutely no Japanese coming in to the MTC. He always does really random things. Like, REALLY RANDOM. Like, putting body soap in his mouth so he can blow bubbles. But he also has this spiritual side that is really deep and awesome. Malcolm Choro was our first district leader, and he was the only other one that hadn't had any Japanese before he came here. He's a really small person, haha. I'll try and send pictures. I'll probably just end up mailing you my sd card. Wood Choro is from Payson, and he is seriously a buff guy. We started working out as a district every week, so who knows? Maybe I'll be buff when I get back. :P I can already do THREE whole pull ups now. that's three more than I could before I came here. Anyway, Wood Choro is always happy, and its awesome. Webber Choro is also from Payson, and he's pretty much a Japanese pro. I always ask him questions about Japanese. He's kind of the serious one that keeps us all on task.

My schedule is a little different every day, but basically I have 2 three hour blocks where I'm in class with a teacher, either Fowers Sensei or Evans Shimai, and we learn Japanese, study the gospel, and teach our investigators. (We have two now. Going to challenge one to be baptized tomorrow.) And we also have another 3 hour block that includes an hour of gym, an hour of language study, and an hour of the TALL (technology assisted language learning) lab, where we get on computers and use a program to help us learn Japanese. These 3 blocks are switched day to day, but we basically have a planning session, breakfast, one block, personal study, lunch, another block, dinner, another block, bed. Devotionals on tuesdays and sundays, workshops on saturdays. P day on tuesdays. There's my schedule in a nutshell.

I'm not sure that I'll be able to email next week, and I know I won't get to call. It's Christmas, so to everyone reading this, Merry Christmas in advance. I've pretty much just been writing letters today. SO. MANY. LETTERS. Even to people who I haven't received a letter, just as a little Christmas present thing.

Oh, by the way, I'm the District Leader now. It just happened on Sunday. Lots of responsibility, so I hope I can do it. I learned that in January, our little branch of 28 people, (formerly 7 people) is getting 64 people just in January. Isn't that insane? Also, I guess the branch presidency aren't really sure if we're here for 12 weeks or just 9. we're on the 12 week curriculum, but they might end up kicking us out at week 9... :-/

Hey Dad, you should start studying Japanese! That way, when I get back, we can have like, secret conversations and stuff. One thing you can do is come volunteer at the MTC. Every saturday, they have this thing called the TRC where we go teach volunteers in our language. You could use that as practice to brush up on your japanese. Just wait for me to leave, because I doubt they'll let you do it if I'm still here. Also, remember the oil vial that you gave me to take? Well, I had it on my keychain, but one night I looked at it, and only the lid was there. It must have fallen off somewhere. I'm sorry for losing your vial. :'( But I bought a new one, so I don't need another one.

Once again, I'm really grateful for all the support everyone has given me. I just keep getting letters and some packages, and it always brightens my day. I really can't believe its been 3 weeks already. At this rate, I'll be home tomorrow. It'll definitely be a bitter-sweet thing. It's been really fun here on my mission, and its only been 3 weeks!

By the way, I saw Craig, Joe, and Izak... well, I mean Elder Channell, Elder Talbert, and Elder Erekson, this past week. They all left the MTC today, so now it's just me, haha. Pretty exciting stuff for them, right? I'll be out there pretty soon too. I just can't wait for some real food. MTC food is SUPREMELY average. Like, it's averageness is above average. None of the food really stands out at all. But that doesn't mean you need to send more food in a package. I've got so much! Today we just sat around and wrote letters while eating all the food.

Anyway, I've basically just been rambling for half an hour. My email time is up, and my clothes are almost washed. Theres a possibility that I'll be able to email next week, but if not, I hope everyone has a good Christmas. Love you all so much!

This smiley face attack is dedicated to Lauren. :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ c: :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ c: :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ c: :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ c: :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ c: :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ c: :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ c: :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ c: :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ c: :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ c: :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ c: