Merry Christmas!

Hello there!

Strange weather eh? I guess that's Utah for you. It makes me wish I had a real coat. A bunch of Elders here have the one from Mr. Mac. It's pretty nice and it has a detachable waterproof liner. One of the Brothers I did sealings with this morning said "merry Christmas" to us. I thought it was because of the snow at first, but then he reminded us that is Christ's birthday. So happy birthday to him. Also Happy Birthday to Seth Wynn yesterday. I hope it was great.

This week was great! (Surprise, Surprise) Elder Beau Sanderson got here on Wednesday! (He's my cousin for those of you who don't know him.) I wasn't able to host for his arrival on Wednesday, but I did see him and talk to him at dinner. We have the same meal schedule, so we see each other a lot. He has two companions and is already learning some Korean. Sugoi desu ne?! (Isn't it great?!) He said he is enjoying the MTC already and it's getting even better. I'm glad he is taking well to the change of pace. His residence is in the building I do service in on Thursdays, so I might see him there too. He doesn't live near me though. He'll get to email on Saturday, but I don't know when his P-day is.

In other news, we got Kohai (juniors) this week! On Monday we got 27 Nihonjin (Japanese) Elders and on Wednesday we got 25ish other missionaries. Our branch has 105 missionaries in it! The whole fourth floor in our residence hall is Nihongo missionaries. It's super fun to practice my Nihongo with the Nihonjin. I had a fairly coherent and comprehendable conversation with Shimizu Choro last night. He is from Kobe and he was washing a stain off of his cuff. With the help of my dictionary, I told him he could borrow my Shout stain remover when he does his laundry. It was pretty cool. Meeting the Nihonjin missionaries makes me want to go to Nihon (Japan) really bad. They are super friendly and have great senses of humor.

How did you all like General Conference. They played it in the auditorium where we have firesides. We watched all of the sessions in there. I too enjoyed the "Stop It" talk by Pres. Uchtdorf and Elder Holland's talk about a similar subject just before that. I have access to all the General Conference stuff on LDS.org so I watched/listened to the YW conference while doing TALL (Tech Assisted Language Learning). I saw you, Jill! You have a beastie close up! Davis Shimai (Sister Davis) in my district said that Jill is really cute. I said that Jill looks just like me. Davis Shimai gave me a pity laugh. Anyway, I enjoyed Pres. Monson's talk about Believing, Obeying, and Enduring even though it was directed toward the young women.

Priesthood Session was baller as usual.I enjoyed Elder Bednar's talk about Honoring the Priesthood. He spoke of how we are entitled to the help and power of God if we live worthy of it.

Two and a half weeks until I'm on my way to Nihon! Super stoked! People keep telling me my Nihongo capability will plummet when I get there. Ha!! I'm sure my comprehension of fluent Nihonjin will be less than ideal, but my abilities will only improve. That's why I talk to the Nihonjin Elders so much. Get as much practice as I can.

My comp's friend had a saying that whenever something awesome would happen, he would say "The Church is true!" He's use it in situations like getting double meat on a sub for free. Now we use it for everything, but we say "Kyokai ga shinjitsu desu!" Our branch pres. said it randomly while we were in devotional review with the Nihonjin on Tuesday night. My comp and I turned to eachother, fist pumped about three times and then fist bumped. It was great!

Well remember that the Church is true. I love you all. Keep on keepin' on!

Ai shite imasu (I love you)

Sanderson Choro