Halliday shimai interprets Isaiah (YIKES!) and finds her path a bit thorny...

Hello again!

Ok first off... I did write you a letter mommy. Unfortunately we can only write on P-day and that ends at 6...and I have choir at 5...so I only half finished it. I'm finishing it today.

I did get the package and was so happy about the curry and the soup. And the cookies! And the elders loved the gummies. Allen Choro loved the koala cookies as well...and as I threw them to him howe choro intercepted them. Allen choro said it was a good thing he did that too otherwise he might have just run over and hugged me.

Allen Choro is so cute haha. He's the kind of elder who clearly follows the old saying "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach"

He eats like 3 plates at every meal and if you give him food he loves you forever...he literally has tried to hug me on more than one occasion. (on valentines day I gave chocolate to all the elders in my district cuz that's what girls do on valentines day in Japan)

Anyhow so yeah. The package was well recieved.

Let's see what else.

Last night I talked to a guy on chat about 2nd nephi 7. I had to go through it verse by verse and help him interpret it. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS!?!?!

THAT'S ISAIAH!!!

Yeah. it was hard. hard hard. But it was pretty fun. We talked for about an hour and a half. At the end of the discussion I tried to commit him to reading King Benjamin's address. He told me not to go "missionary" on him and I was like "uh....what else am I supposed to do? I'm a missionary"

Long story short though, he never directly committed to reading and I don't know if he will. He says that he took Moroni's promise and nothing happened. I wanted to cry! I wanted to talk to him face to face or something...cuz that's just not possible...you don't just not get an answer. *sigh*

Oh well, there's only so much one can do from behind a computer. But It was pretty sad.

Oh! last night on the way to the referral center, I looked at the mountains and the sun was setting and the mountains were all orangey. I was like "WAH! ALPENGLOW! WHERE'S MY CAMERA!!!" I didn't have it cuz we're technically only allowed to take pictures on p-day and sunday so I ran back to my classroom with my poor companion trying to keep up with me. I didn't run TOO fast cuz I have to stay within sight and hearing of her...but I ran as fast as I could. I grabbed my camera and got back outside and it was nearly gone! I wanted to cry while Sister Webb sat there wondering what on earth I was so worked up about.

I took a quick picture but the FLASH went off!! grrrrrr. I'm carrying my camera with me EVERYWHERE from now on. -_-

Yay for spring! I swear that everyday I'm here the days get more beautiful. Sunday was the BEST. It was cold and foggy and we got a mix of rain and snow. Sister Webb thinks I'm insane cuz she sees snow all the time but oh well. I think she needs to take the time to look around her instead of just at her feet. I think she's missing out on a lot of things. :(

Unfortunately, she's taken to using kind of an angry tone when she tells me that I'm weird which makes me think she's getting angry at me. Not that it matters so much in the long run cuz I'm happy and I'm happy to look at all the pretty weather and stuffs. But she's getting slowly more and more discouraged in class and she's taking it out on me I feel.

I'm not sure what to do at the current moment but keep smiling and hope it rubs off but she's become REALLY negative lately. The bummer thing is that I remember being that negative and everytime she says "That's disgusting" or "I HATE that" I have to mentally kick MYSELF and wonder HOW on earth ANYONE ever put up with me. -_-

Our companionship is suffering a little from it too because as she shuts down she won't listen anymore. I've been praying but I'm really not sure what to do. But Fujioka sensei is noticing it too...he mentioned it to me last week.

Despite all that, we taught together in the TRC (training resource center) last week and it was amazing! We worked together really well and we used TONS of scriptures to explain things...I think we did better at asking questions too but we still got told we needed to do that more. Anyhow, it was an amazing lesson and I talked half the time like I should have instead of freezing after the first point! I committed him to reading 2nd Nephi 2...or was it Alma 7...I don't even remember. They're both equally good. Anyhow and at the end...I got him to commit to baptism! Yay!

Granted...baptism in the TRC is NOTHING like Japan...we're teaching RM's in there....of course they'll commit. =P

Speaking of Japan. We went to the TEC (teaching evaluation center) the other day to practice contacting on Bro. Farnsworth. First off the man has the most INTENSE blue eyes ever created....when we were introducing ourselves It went somehting like this

"I'm bro farnsworth...I served in Sendai...blah blah blah"
Me: mmhmmmm.....
"So introduce yourselves"
Me: "I'm Sister Halliday...I...like...video games?" (couldn't think of much else cuz his eyes were so intense

So now I look like a loser who only likes video games. Oh well!

Farnsworth Sensei was pretty hard to practice contacting with though! He pretended to be an old japanese woman and when we started talking about God he was like
"I don't believe in the American God"

I was like "I HAVEN'T PRACTICED THIS!!! WHAT DO I DO!?!??!?!"

So basically we got the door shut in our faces...I really have to get better at teaching non christians. *sigh* =P

It was fun though. I enjoyed it lots!

Well, time is up. Get better cuz the flu is no good.

It's sunny here today...I'm pretty sad...I'm still not a huge fan of the sun. Specially when it reflects off the snow.

oh yeah! We took a zone trip to the temple on sunday! Cuz all our Senpai are leaving next week. Crazy no? I'm gonna be Senpai in a week! Then I'll be going to Japan!

I'M NOT READY!!! I WANT TO STAY IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT LONGER!!!

Ok well now I'm really done. So I'll finish up here. Tell my ratties hi! And that is sooooo cute that Bit plays catch. aw...I miss Bitty bit... v.v

Is the dog dead yet? Tell her hi for me too if she's not, and the other cats too!

Love,
Halliday Shimai

Halliday shimai writes her sister Brianna a letter...hoping she will get one back!

Dear Brianna,

Thank you for your letter! It was so exciting! Well, yeah...anyhow...

I’m totally drawing a blank here on what to write...I wrote it all in the family email. I’m eating breakfast now. Exciting huh? I put your picture on the wall by my bed. Everyone keeps asking, “who’s that girl” and I’m like”...duuuuuh...what’s the Japanese word for little sister again? Oh yeah! Watashi no imoutou” and they are like “hontou?! Kirei desu ne!” (Really?! She’s pretty isn’t she?) I took a picture of my bed so you can see it later.

That is great that you want to serve a mission! You’ve got more time to save for one than I did. :P Before you serve though, I would recommend getting your Patriarchal Blessing you slacker! Unless you already have...and I missed that announcement...But seriously, you should get it. It helps more when you are young rather than when you are older.

So, let’s see here. Anything else? Every time I write a letter I draw a blank on what to say. How’s school? I heard you’re reading A Tale of Two Cities? I’m sorry. That book sucks. Don’t worry, I will be over soon and then you can get Mr. Yanez and never be sick of English again! ^_ ^

Tell Ms. Jackson that I said “Hi” and that A Tale of Two Cities is “still lame” =P

She will probably say, “Jessica didn’t even read it...” which is mostly true cuz I am lazy.

How are Yoo Jin and DiDi doing? I miss silly Asians! Now all I have are silly white boys. Not as good. Oh! I know what I can tell you! You will have to share this with the rest of the family.

Last Tuesday I got the most RANDOM letter. It was a Dear Elder.com letter from a Mieko Takahashi. She lives in Tokyo and attends the Senzokuiken ward of the Tokyo stake. She found my facebook page and found out that I was going to Tokyo and was in the MTC now...so she wrote to me! She said that she had some friends in the MTC now too. One was a sister Vivian Giang, going to Temple Square.

Now there are 2000 missionaries here and running into people happens occasionally but not very often...’specially people you don’t really know. Well that night at choir I ran into Sister Giang! It was completely insane! I hope that I get to serve in the Senzokuiken ward so that I can meet Mieko. That would be the coolest!

Well, that’s really all that I’ve got. I’m sending you a picture of my district that Elder Smith drew. It’s fun stuff. Make sure you save it cuz I wanna see it when I get home.

Thanks again for your letter,

Love Halliday shimai

MISSIONARIES LOVE LETTERS! To insure that, Halliday Shimai writes her Daddy!

Dear Dad

Thanks for the letter! Whee!

I am glad you are all proud of me. Don’t worry about the RC. It’s not really all that bad. 10 minutes after the incident happened, I was laughing about it. It’s hard to get discouraged here since the spirit is so strong, there’s not much what can drive it away. (One month in Utah and she’s starting to sound...ummm. Utahn?) And there are others in my district that are having a harder time than me, so I’m really fine. Plus, I have 8 more weeks in a controlled environment. There’d be serious issues if I gave up in such a safe environment =P.

Actually, I think that teaching is harder than the RC but mostly on account of boys are dumb. =P (What is happening to her grammar?) We had to teach Elder Harris and Elder Howe the plan of salvation yesterday and it was impossible.

Elder Harris starts off: “Here’s our situation. We met at a park...at a fountain in the park... no...at a bathroom in the park...

Howe: “That sounds dirty.”

Harris: “Well bathrooms usually are...but it was a clean situation! Totally MTC appropriate”

Howe: “My wife died...it’s just me and my son.”

Harris: “I miss my mom soooooo much! *cries*

Howe: "I know son."

And, yeah, where are Webb Shimai and I in all of this? On the ground laughing. Stupid boys. I never hate them until after practice, when I realize that I’ve learned nothing. - _ -
But really, I love my Elders and we are slowly working on getting them to grow up. They really are better than they were, I promise!

Guess what? In choir we are singing Army of Helaman. The tenors get the melody cuz we are just that awesome, but besides that, we’re singing with a children’s chorus. YAY! Little kids! It’s gonna be so fun! We are doing laundry now, or rather Webb shimai is doing laundry. I don’t have laundry cuz I stick to the “if it doesn’t look dirty and doesn’t smell dirty, it’s not dirty” rule. So I only do laundry every other week. It’s freezing cold here, so sweating isn’t a problem.

Speaking of cold, I’m used to it finally. I’ve actually gone out of the room without a coat and survived! The snow has mostly melted, so that means it’ll snow again randomly in keeping with Provo weather patterns. Let’s see...anything else? I guess not. There is but I don’t write with my journal in front of me. I should but I don’t. Thanks again for the letter! Missionaries love letters! Yesiree!

Love Halliday shimai (written in Japanese)

The week in which Halliday Shimai gives a talk in Japanese, joins MTC choir as a tenor and then gets sick

Dear Family,

You can write emails....I will just print them up and read them later.

Anyhow, now for the news of this week. Every week we have to write a talk and random people have to give it. This week we had to write it in Japanese. Mine basically sucked...it said "baptism" at the beginning of every sentence. Of course... so did everyone else's. If we didn't have to give them at sacrament, we were gonna have to give them to the branch presidency. The branch presidency probably lived to regret that decree since all of our talks sounded the same.

Well we get to sacrament and...you guessed it. "The talks today will be given by Sister Halliday and Elder "we don't really remember his name cuz I was laughing at the irony"

So yeah. I gived a talk entirely in Japanese. It sucked basically but that's ok cuz I gave it. I'm gonna look at that talk in a year and laugh my head off cuz its so lame. =P

So I'm unlearning everything you taught me growing up. I don't feel awkward when the Elders take my trays anymore. In fact...its almost expected. Bro Tong introduced a new concept to the boys on Sunday. Standing up when sisters enter the room.

Yeah my district doesn't get it. I can stand in the doorway all I want...they'll just give me blank looks. =P

The other day I was going to sit down to lunch and Elder Young (one of the zone leaders) actually pulled my chair out for me. I almost stared at the chair like..."what am I supposed to do now?" cuz that's never happened before. Webb Shimai and I were thoroughly impressed.

Speaking of Elders being nice...there is this one Elder here who is my absolute favorite (I have a new one every week I think). This week it's Elder Kobayashi.

He's from Brazil and doesn't speak English very well. He's going to Nagoya I think. Anyhow he's learning Japanese with English on the side since everyone here speaks English. Yeah...moving on. He's half black and half Japanese and I promise you...God didn't make a more beautiful person. Seriously...

Anyways. The other day he stopped me in the cafeteria and said "promise me something. promise me you'll never take off your glasses"

IT WAS SOOOOOOOO CUTE!!!!

Probably cuz he can't really speak English...cuz if Elder Williams or something said that I'd be like "yeah duh....cuz if I did I'd be blind dorkface"

But anyhow, it was adorable. The elders probably wouldn't like me calling them adorable but they're 3 years my junior so that's what they get.

The Krispy Kreme's were a huge hit. Elder Allen was so happy to get donuts. Thanks!

Oh! Did you get my SD card? I'm worrying cuz I feel like my letters are going nowhere. Seriously. I've gotten nothing from Brittan and my letters from Natalee have been really far apart and in the first one she asked for my address so I sent it to her and the second letter she sent didn't have my new address on it anyhow. Suspicious? I think so.

Course...it is Natalee.

I did get letters from Julie and Ali and Eric and Brianna and dad and of course mom. I'll try hard to respond to everyone today. I don't have to do laundry today so that'll save time. but I do have choir.

Yeah! I'm in the MTC choir! We sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer last week and we're singing Army of Helaman this week. On Sunday's we're allowed to record us singing on our tape recorders so I'll have to do that for you.

I'm in the Tenor section. The boys all look at me funny when I sit down and the elders from my district tell me to go away =P It looks really funny when I'm this splotch of color in the midst of all the dark suit coats I must admit. =P

I LOVE SINGING though! I sing like ALL the time here. It probably drives sister Webb nuts (she somehow miraculously doesn't like church music at all) but oh well.

I got a Japanese children's songbook and I sing from it all the time.

Things are going alright here at the MTC. The only time I hate having a companion is times when it involves getting dressed or going to the bathroom because girls take FOREVER to do ANYTHING. What is wrong with them? Seriously...

I've decided that having extra time in the morning to get ready is like having a bigger purse. The bigger purse you get, the more stuff you put in it. The more time you have...the more they'll find other things to do... -_-

Oh well. I get to sit and eat teddy grahams so I can't really complain.

The RC went better this week. We talked to a Jewish Rabbi and invited him to come to church. He accepted.

I'm not on the phones right now...only chats. Every time I get up the nerve to do phones...I lose it again as soon as someone else's phone rings. It's kinda funny actually.

We did well at the TRC this week I think. At least, I didn't freeze up after the first principle. Last time I froze after God is our Loving Heavenly Father and Sis Webb had to take over.

The only thing we need to work on is transitions, going slower cuz Sis Webb rushes from point to point, and talking over each other. (which comes from Sis Webb rushing from point to point). And I need to work on getting started. lol. I always make her start. =P

Oh. funny story in the last 5 minutes.

Sis Webb and I were sick this week. I had a sinus infection and she had an ear infection which went down into her throat. Of course we got sick when the health center was closed so we had to go to the front desk and they sent us to the BYU health clinic. We walk down there (which is off mission boundaries) and its CLOSED! LAME! total waste of time

So we come back and Sis Webb is REALLY sick, so we go to the room to sleep and I insist she see a doctor but there are none and cuz of presidents day, today is the earliest they're open. I went out to see if there was anything in the vending machine to make her feel better and she went out to get a drink. We locked ourselves out of the room and I had no shoes! So we had to borrow some from some sisters down the hall and go get Sis Hardle.

We're all better now...yay. Now that the doctor is open. stupid doctor. -_-

Oh well.

Anyhow, times up!

I'll get to the paper letters after breakfast! Talk to you next week!!

Love,
Halliday Shimai

Another week and I'm still alive

Hello family!

Well, I only have 29 minutes now so I haven't read your many emails. I'll pri nt them out after this and read them and hopefully respond via real mail...cuz everyone loves real mail! Cept that would cause mom to go to the mailbox and see all the crap in there. bummer.

So let's see, this week was somewhat less eventful than last week, oweing to the lack of a fire. =P

The food here is still good and I am not sick of ambrosia salad yet. The only thing is that the spaghetti is gross, but that's it.

Let's see. I haven't gotten much mail still, the elders get more mail than me. WHAT THE CRAP!?!?! Explain this to me please?

I got a letter from Eric yesterday though. That was pretty happy. I only got letter number 2 though and he says he sent number 1 at the same time. Weird. Maybe I'll get it today.

So that's enough about mail I don't get. Oh wait. I got your letter mom! The picture of the slug made me laugh. I'm sorry you have crap to write on at home. I took all my cute stuff. Not that I've used it...I still need Aunt Shareen's address so that I can thank her for that binder. It's amazing! And all my roomates are jealous of it.

I also got the package and the elders and my roommates all love me now. I gave all the koala cookies to the elders...but I ran out and Allen choro didn't get any. v.v

Thanks for the tape recorder and the scrubby thing. I'll use it as soon as I find time to take a shower....you have no idea how hard that is. I'm living on the idea of body spray and deoderant...and then if my hair starts to look gross then I take a shower. Otherwise I just don't have the time.

Let's see, So the events of this past week. We had our first TRC visit. That's when we get to teach the lesson to an "investigator"....who is usually a BYU student who's volunteering. That went....badly. I totally froze after "our heavenly father loves us" (and if you look at chapter 3 in PMG that's the FIRST section) and Webb Shimai talked for the whole lesson. Blah. We totally had that lesson down too!

We have TRC again this week...hopefully it will go better.

The japanese went well....we had to introduce ourselves and our purpose to someone in a park. It wasn't too hard but my companion froze on that part.... do we need to work on some things? I say yes.

So after the TRC I was pretty upset but I got over it quickly. It's only my first week...er second. or whatever.

Last P-day we went to the temple. YAY TEMPLE! The provo temple is a lot prettier inside than out. =P

We had a devotional on the life of President Hinckley that night too...It was amazing. Then we all sang "we thank thee o God for a prophet" It was really really powerful. I couldn't sing cuz I was crying.

Let's see whatelse...I should have really organized my thoughts before I wrote this cuz that timer in the corner is making me tense and scattering my thoughts.

I'm sending an SD card home today so you can see pictures and movies of my crazy district. I love them all. Smith Choro is hilarious and brightens my day. He always goes out of his way to say hi to us shimai...which is cool cuz its hard for us to assimilate into the group. All the guys room together and the girls well...we don't. So we often get left behind. I'm always yelling at them "HEY! DISTRICT MEANS FAMILY AND FAMILY MEANS NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND....SO GET BACK HERE!!!"

On sunday we had someone from the primary general presidency come speak to us. It was a really fun relief society cuz we sang primary songs the whole time. The lesson was about children and how we can teach the gospel through them. It made me really miss the primary but I already told the Primary that I think...assuming Bishop read my postcard to them.

I love singing hymns and children's songs. It's so much fun to be in the gym with all the missionaries singing as loud as I can.

So, did you all get to hear the letter I send Bishop? I hope you all enjoyed it. (the letters I've yet to read are probably talking about that so I'll not talk about it further here)

So Aubrey has a calling in primary. You are soooooooooo lucky Aubrey. You are going to LOVE it. The kids are such a blessing to the ward you guys don't even know. (trust me...it's been 3 weeks since I've seen a small child)

But seriously...When we're told we should become as little children just look at the primary kids and you'll know exactly why. There is no faith like the faith of a child.

Which faith I seem to be lacking. Heh...*looks away* Hey look! A bird!

Yeah...so we went to the RC last night and we're on chats which isn't so bad...cept Ward choro got some crazy nut who was trying to tell him that God's body is imperfect because his legs bend the same way as ours and physics proves that's not the most efficient way to bend...I dunno. Our chat...people...were pretty easy. We had a Catholic who felt kinda empty in his religion and so was asking how we knew ours was true. Webb shimai and I were like "YAY! We can answer this question!"

But we're also on inbound calls...and the minute my phone rang I FREAKED. Like I didn't even answer it...I just started crying and my face was completely white and I was breathing really hard. Webb Shimai didn't know what to do cuz she was on a call too and here I was like...dying. So I tried to get the teacher's attention but I missed the call. He was really nice about it and took me off calls entirely...but my whole district saw. =/

They haven't said anything yet...and I actually started joking about it back in the classroom so people didn't worry too much. But yeah...basically it was pretty bad. I said a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry long prayer last night lemme tell ya..

Ok well times up and I have to print out my emails so I can respond to you so I love you all and say hi to Yoo jin and didi for me! I miss them!!! Give them a hug for me!!!

Love,
Halliday Shimai

Greetings from the MTC!

Dear family,

it's me! ummm....I can't remember what I was gonna say cuz there's a little red clock counting me down. grrrrrrrr.

let's start with the food shall we?

I actually like the food here. It's really good! And surprisingly I haven't needed the enzymes! wheee! could be cuz I eat spinach at like every meal...don't tell anyone though. And I eat that wonderful ambrosia salad at EVERY meal. MMMMMMMMMMMM

k that's the food. moving on. There are 6 girls in our residence. 2 senpai (girls that have already been here 6 weeks) and 4 kohai (the new girls) I'm companions with Webb shimai (japanese for sister). She's really nice and we get along great. Even when I lose stuff...which is only HALF my fault because the MTC doesn't account for girls not having pockets and they don't let us carry our bags around. dumb? I think so. So I think I've lost about eveything including my blue card, which I mailed last week. It's probably in Sendai now if you guys haven't gotten it.

Let's see, what else? ummm.... oh yeah. recently I've lost my debit card. AUGH! so frustrating! I think this is God trying me since I'm not struggling with the Japanese like everyone else. Anyhow so mom, if you could kindly cancel that for me and send me a new one ASAP that would be WONDERFUL. thanks!

My district is awesome. We all have a lot of fun together...but study time is still a little bit rough as we're still getting used to disciplining ourselves.

Webb shimai and I went to the temple last week and it snowed on us. A lot. And the wind was blowing and I was crying about how cold it was cuz it was. My companion is just fooled by Satan's trickery and doesn't think it's cold. (She's from Layton)

I've got some pictures which brings me to my next item of business. I need new SD cards. Are those coming? I'm not out yet but I will be soon.

I would also like someone to print out my lightining picture that I took. It's on my Hard drive in my pictures>jessica>lightning I believe. No one here knows what a monsoon is. They keep getting typhoon and monsoon mixed up. And my companion is under the mistaken impression that Utah gets monsoons. Kinda like they're gonna get a huge earthquake soon right?

Anyhow also, there are some extra new years cards in my room in the folder in the top shelf of my desk. if you could cut one out and send it to me. I wanna stick it up on the wall in my residence.

speaking of residences...you ready for the excitement?

On sunday night we went to bed at 10:30 like always. At 11 the fire alarms went off. My companion and I ran into the hall and saw smoke so she ran off while I ran into the room to tell the other girls who either (miraculously) slept through it, or were taking their sweet time about things. anyhow, I was the last one out and I lost my companion...and not having my glasses I was also blind. It was really scary...but I found Adams shimai (my senpai) and grabbed her backpack. We all found everyone else in the gym so I was with my companion again thank goodness.

The gym was full of worried sisters. And sisters who decided since they were in the gym they may as well play basketball....

The tongan sisters were in a corner singing. Which was really calming and beautiful.

Long story short it ended up only being a bag of burned popcorn and we were allowed back in an hour later. But I'd like to know who can't cook popcorn to that extent. It was REALLY bad.

So let's see, what else. Well, gym time is a nice time to relax. We sit in class for like 10 hours a day...it gets really annoying and my butt is literally bruised from it.

anyhow, I usually do stretches, run a few laps, use the bikes, push ups, pull ups, and sit ups. I don't take part in the sports because mormons have this amazing ability to make everything a violent contact sport. Including 4 square. Brown choro got a split lip from it last gym period.

Oh yeah, Brown choro is our Aussie. He's hilarious. And he's always telling us we're weird and we speak wrong or spell things wrong. Everyone tries to mock his accent but they can't do it. He however, can pull off a perfect American accent. It's crazy.

Well, time is winding down. I've got about 10 minutes left. I'm surprised I got through so much. If there are typos its cuz I was typing so fast. But I can't think of much else.

Except that I haven't gotten any mail. You guys are all failures! Tell my friends that too. Except Nata....Sister Rowley. She sent me mail. But everyone else is a failure! take that!

Ok well I think it's time to wrap this up. Oh yeah. There is NO time to get ready in the morning here. No time between 6:30 and 7 to take a shower so I don't. I do it at night but there's not much time then either. luckily when I get up and my hair is bent it looks like I styled it. But taking showers in short is a pain cuz I don't have time to fix my hair. I think I'm just gonna have to deal with looking ugly for a year and a half. *shrug*

K that's all. I kinda miss home but not really too much. I love it here!

Love,
Halliday Shimai

PS send my lichee and kiwi gummies. Webb shimai is a deprived child and needs to try them. Thanks a bunch!

First Letter! WOOT!

Dear Everyone at home,
It's 3:30 on Wednesday and I've already adjusted fairly well. The Sisters in my residence are very nice. Sister Webb is my companion, she is from Layton, Utah. Sister Osterloh and Sister Beaufort are from Sandy and Utah (?) respectively. It seems that I am the only poor soul that is not accustomed to the cold weather.

Ok, so of course it's been busy. Busy, BUSY, BUSY! But anyone could have figured that out. It's 9:15 pm now and I have about an hour to write. Minus whenever Sister Webb is ready to go take her shower. We have agreed that getting up at 6:30 am and class at 7 means... no time for showers.

Sisters Osterloh and Beaufort are both very talkative. I was unpacking with Sister Beaufort and we talked easily. Sister Webb is very nice too, but quiet. I keep trying to talk to her, but it is coming slowly. Oh well, my conversation skills were lacking anyhow. Sister Osterloh and Sister Beaufort seem as though they have known each other forever. It's amusing.

Our Senpai (Senior Sisters) in our room are Sister Adams and Sister Hardle. They are nice too and if you ask me, have the enthusiasm of cheerleaders. A lot of Sisters are like that. It is taking some getting used to. Sister Adams mom is from Hawaii!

Our Branch President is President Vancherie. I like him almost as much as Bishop Jobe so far. Brothers Smith and Tong are his Counselors. Sister Tong reminds me of Grandy. A short Asian woman who loves giving hugs and telling you that she loves you.

We got the tour of the MTC today. Oh! My mailbox is actually #202. I think your card said #204. Sister Osterloh has #204, so if you send stuff it will still get to me. Funny story... Sister Beaufort was actually called to the Hawaii Mission to speak Japanese but... her call got changed to Hiroshima 2 weeks ago. All of us Sisters are going to different missions in Japan. Sister Osterloh is going to Fukuoka and Sister Webb is going to Kobe. Poor thing, she seems so lost. She is the only girl going to Kobe in our Branch.

Most of the Elders are going to Tokyo and Sister Hardle and Sister Adams are going to Tokyo also. No one for Sendai yet. Bummer for Brittan, or I think I should call him Elder Dopp now...
Anyhow, bummer for him.

Let's see... the food isn't bad actually. We've had roast beef and mashed potatoes and jello and pineapple. I ate almost all of it, even the carrots! They have BYU Creamery ice cream every Wed and Sun. too. Yay! Ice Cream!!

Here are some numbers for you. 307 missionaries reported today and the bulk of them are going to Japan. I think that number is somewhere around 50, 8 of whom are from Brazil. Arizona provided the most missionaries aside from Utah. The Mission President says to remember that Utah was actually the 5th choice for the Church headquarters.=P

On my way through all of the stuff, before I got my room, I met an Elder going to Tokyo and a Sister from Queen Creek. It was fun and she has been the only one to sympathize with me about the freezing weather. =P It is really fun walking around and hearing so many languages being spoken. Everyone greets each other in their mission language. Mandarin is thus far the most amusing to hear.

My goodness! It is already 10:05! We were supposed to have time to write letters but our Senpai are so excited to have us here that we have been interrupted many times by visiting Districts and choruses of "Called to Serve" in Japanese. P- day is on Tuesdays and apparently Email time is at 7 am! We get 30 minutes. Look for an Email next week! Oh! I forgot, I am Senior Companion... not that it means anything, but yeah, I am. Well, it's 10:11 pm and I have prayer. As senior companion I suppose I had better say it. Then I gotta review my schedule and go to bed. Class tomorrow! I am beginning to wonder when I will have time to write in my journal. Even the missionaries run on "Mormon Standard Time" and all of our meetings have been late! Night!

Love Sister Halliday

P.S. I am already feeling the blessings of being here. Today, though I should have been petrified, I have not been. The Lord can do anything with a willing heart.
Ether 12:27 "I will make weak things become strong unto them"
I will be a talker yet!