Another week has gone by--it's crazy how fast time is flying!!! The hours and days can seem really long, but the weeks and months are starting to fly by! This is the fastest January I have ever had, that's for sure. :)
It's really good to hear from you and know you're doing well. I apologize for the times I can't get to write to you all individually, but I have very limited time to email. I want you all to know that you're great, and I wouldn't be here without your love and support!
This week has been pretty great, but it's a little bit hard. As we were swept into the area, it's been difficult to find new investigators to teach. But we do have one progressing investigator who is part of a part-member family, and we have lots of potential investigators who members are preparing for us to come and teach!! It's really funny--there is one sister in our ward, Sister Heath, who has a friend she wants to invite over for dinner sometime when we will be there. She has given her a Book of Mormon and had lots of discussions about the church with her. Sister Heath had us over once last week and is having us twice again this week, in hopes that one of these times, her friend will be able to make it. :) She's so great--I just wish every member was as missionary-minded as she is!!!
My companion, Sister Strasser, talks about how when she gets back from her mission, she wants to be super involved with the missionaries. She's so excited to be that member who they can call up whenever they need someone to go with them to appointments, to feed them every week, to give them all kinds of referrals, etc...she says her husband will have to simply be on board!! :) I hope to be the same way--it's crazy to see how much work needs to be done, especially when you get out of Idaho and Utah!!! :) Seriously--so many members out here are converts; it amazes me!!!! Wake up, and welcome to the real world, Sister Budge!!! :)
Random side note....I'm really getting used to being called, 'Sister Budge,' and it would be really weird if anyone out here called me by my first name!
Funny story for the week: So, there is this older sister who has been in the hospital for the last couple of days, and Sister Strasser and I have been able to go and visit her there. She loved it when we would sing to her, so our visits mostly consisted of us singing her hymns. :) Anyway, we went to see her yesterday, but upon going inside her room, we found lying in her bed not her, but a little old man! It was a little surprising, of course, but we went with it. :) We tried to tell him that we were there to see someone else, but he smiled and said, "You're looking for me?" We laughed and tried to explain why we were there. He was just happy to see us. :) We sang him a hymn instead and left him with a Mormon.org card with our number on it. I hope we made his night, even if we didn't get to see Sister Westendorf!! :) I do love being a missionary! :) "Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them to receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." I love that! Please continue to pray for me, and I wish you the best this week!!! :) --Sister Marissa Budge