Hi, mom! How are you? I'm really doing pretty well here, and I feel like the Spanish is coming along really well! Elder Barringer is my companion, and he's awesome! He's a really chill guy from Charlotte, North Carolina, and he just finished his first year of school at BYU Provo, so he's Rissa's age; he went to the summer, fall, and winter semesters there. I can tell that we have been and will be blessed with the gift of tongues to some extent, because we have been able to catch onto the language really well! We've both only taken two years of Spanish, our freshmen and sophomore years, so it's been quite a while since we've really used all that we've learned! Haha! And to answer your question, Mom, yes, we taught our first lesson yesterday to a mock investigator (but they act really well like real investigators), and I think we did about as well as anyone does with their first lesson. We have our next lesson with him today at 6:30, so I'm hoping it goes well! Oh, and I just started two batches of my own laundry!!! One for the whites and one for the colors! :) I remembered to separate them! :) I haven't washed any of my slacks yet, but for next week, is it ok to wash them with other things, like my colored socks and sweaty gym clothes, or should I wash them with my shirts and garments, or do another, third batch with just them, in like a really tiny load? Just wondering, but NBD :) Anyway, I was called yesterday to serve as my District Leader, so that's pretty cool! Fairly overwhelming with everything else I have to do, like learning and studying the gospel to the point of near perfection and learning an entire new language in the next 5 or 5 1/2 weeks, but I'm not overly worried about it! I guess I'll just use all the time I have to do all the things they have us do, and hope/have faith that it'll work out! :) I have a really cool district, and don't be overly impressed that I got called as the DL, because Elder Barringer and I are the only elders in our district, so NBD :) We have two companionships of hermanas, but one of them is a trio, so we have five hermanas and two elders in the district. All of the hermanas are really cool and funny, so we have a good time with our district. Also, you asked about the food, and I have to say, people made it out to be a lot worse than it is! I like it! The best thing about it is the fact that there is ALWAYS an option for cold cereal!! They just always have those cereal dispenser/container things that are at the continental breakfasts in hotels, so I'm pretty excited about it. Also, everyone is always saying how cold it is, like this morning when we had to be somewhere at 6:15 for service, Elder Barringer (it's pronounced, in English, like bear-eenje-er, so the 'g' makes a 'j' sound) had his arms all wrapped up in his t-shirt so they weren't even out the arm-holes, and I was thinking how perfect and beautiful it would be if the temperature and humidity could be just like this for the next two years! :) He is also going to Guadalajara, and since he's from North Carolina, he's thinking that our mission temperature and weather are going to be great. I'm fairly certain that as soon as I walk off that plane on July 21, I'm gonna pass out and die on the spot...:) Anyway, Hannah, that's awesome that EFY went/is going so well! I loved it. And I'm glad that you are getting along with Jared better, because I really grew to like him by the time I had him for driver's ed awhile and when I had him for government and history. Anyway, I'm not sure that I know anyone's emails other than Mom's, Dad's, maybe Hannah's and maybe Marissa's, so if people want me to write to them, you guys should send me their email address. It might be cool if I could just get a list of everyone that Marissa writes that would care to have mine. Oh, and one of the elders in my zone said he played basketball at Big Bend College, and that he knew Shanelle and Shania from singles ward and sports up there, so that was neat! If you run into either of them, or their families, you could say I met a tall, dark-haired kid named Elder Wendt (i think that's the spelling). Well, it's nearly time for lunch, and I need to go put my clothes in the dryer, so I'll leave soon. I just want to let you know that I am doing well, and that I know this is what I need to be doing, so I'm excited about it! I'm learning and growing so much with my Spanish study and with the gospel, both, and the Spirit is always present here. It's a nice, peaceful place that I can tell I'm going to grow to love. Anyway, good luck with your lives and do good in the world!
Elder Budge
Elder Budge