Konichiwa!

This week was a lot easier with not getting too stressed out about the language. I struggle with being attached at the hip to someone all the time apparently. 

So I'll just start my letter at last Tuesday! The devotionals are super great here, and they're always geared toward being better missionaries and last Tuesday's devotional was especially great because the Elder that spoke and his wife both served in Tokyo!  They were great, but it was kind of nerve-racking to hear how miserable the fact that Japan has no central heating is.  He mentioned how he would put his shampoo in the fridge to keep it from freezing over night.  So I'll probably be needing some warm love from home next winter. 

The rest of the week my classroom instruction was mostly planning and organizing lessons and less of Japanese language training. We've done a lot of work on grammar this week and it's kind of confusing but I bet if I studied it a little harder I could get it.  

In my gym time I usually stretch, because I have a goal of being able to do the splits by the time I leave because half the girls in my district can. And I sometimes run on the indoor track. (10 times around is a mile...and that gets pretty boring so I usually just run 5 laps.) I do lots of push ups and there's a pull-up machine I go on every once in a while. Yesterday I didn't really work out though because me, my companion and Davis Shimai (another sister in my district, from Provo) were trying to memorize the baptismal commitment and started talking to the Nihonjin sisters. They're so cute and they were telling us how to say all sorts of things.  It gave me a lot of confidence seeing how patient they were with us learning their language. :) I loved it!  

Our district is really close, we eat together and go to the temple together and class and devotionals and everything. On Friday our District Leader, Elder Fernellius, decided that we should hold a district testimony meeting.  So at 7am on Friday we were all sharing how the gospel has touched our lives. It's kind of a different feeling bearing testimony as a missionary.  It's pretty wonderful! 

On Sunday our Sacrament meeting was the same, except I'm in a different branch now.  So only my branch president knows how to speak Japanese fluently, but the others are learning and trying like the rest of us.  I can sing hymns in Japanese! I can read Hiragana now, which I thought would take forever!  Of course I can't translate what the songs are meaning to say but at least I can keep up!  Next week is a special Easter sacrament meeting with one of the 12 Apostles, we're not sure which one.  But I'll be in the choir with my doryo and we'll for sure get seats in the actual devotional room instead of the overflow.  I think Easter will feel so special here at the MTC. Of course I'll miss you all, but I'm really excited to hear from a general authority!

On Sunday the Branch President announced that sometime on our missions we'll have ipads!  I thought the laptop computer thing was exciting, but ipads seem super legit!  Of course I'll be limited in what I can do with them.  Also he mentioned that while we're in the MTC we can email friends and other family members. I really want snail mail though, because I only have half an hour to read and respond to any emails I get. WRITE ME!  I haven't gotten letters from anyone!  It's sad.  I choose not to ask if the DL has already passed out the mail because I'm usually disappointed when he says he has and I didn't get anything AGAIN.   

Ai shitte imasu!

Love, Sister Bagley :)