WE'VE GOTTEN DOWN TO SINGLE DIGITS! i leave the MTC in 9 days!!!! we finally got our travel plans! monday the 18th we report to the travel office at a ripe old 2:30 a.m. because our flight is at 6:00 from salt lake to san francisco. we have a 4 hour layover and then we leave straight for osaka!!!!!!!!! and we'll get there at 4:30 on the 19th hahaha. our travel group is HUGE. 32 of us are flying together and all going to kobe!!! AH THIS IS SO REAL! (: 

other items of business:

- we hosted again this week and a TON of nihonjin came!!!!! I got to practice my japanese on some real-life japanese people which was super exciting and they basically just laughed at me a lot but i don't even care because they are the cutest things i've ever seen in my entire life. and i could understand most of what they said so that was really reassuring that they're teaching me a real language here. hahah sometimes i wonder

- also, we had this AMAZING opportunity to help out the new missionaries this week! The very first day, all of the newbies are split up and sent to different rooms where they are joined by a volunteer. This volunteer is at his/her "house" and it's a simulation kinda thing where some missionaries come over to their house and give an example of how to begin teaching. Meaning they just get to know the person, figure out their needs so that they see how they can help them, and then evaluate how they can help this person come closer to Christ. Which is just a regular lesson. In this case, however, the group takes over after approximately 10 minutes of us teaching. But since this group is new, they sit in on what a lesson is like. Violette shimai, Grundvig shimai and I were chosen to be these missionaries that groups of new missionaries got to watch which was super exciting and also a little intimidating. But we just focused on the individual and beforehand we just prayed to be able to feel God's love for them and oh my word it was incredible. I felt overwhelmed with love for this person that I had never met and it's soo incredible to feel just a tiny portion of what my Father in Heaven DOES feel for me, and feels for every one of us. If you haven't felt it in a while, pray to feel it and then give Him a chance to shower us with His love. He loves us so much and wants us to feel it and I promise you He will. 

sorry this is so short. I love you all and am always praying for you! 

love

meg