My MTC companion - Elder Quilter

12 October 2013

So this week we have all become Senpai. Meaning we are no longer the newest group of missionaries going to Japan. We had a group leave for Japan, among them was Cuba Chouro. I was lucky though to inherit many things from my good friend. Including another blanket and about another five pillows. My sleep has much improved since then. With the loss though we have gained a group of kohai (the new kids), it is not a very large group though. One of the rooms only has two people in it and considering they are built for six they are really lucky. 

The end of this week also marks the beginning of the half way point of my stay at the MTC. The days are going faster and I can't wait to be leaving, even though most likely we will have to wake up around 2 in the morning to go get our plane. The language is really coming along great. When we first got here we got a big bag of books to help with learning the language. I just started reading one that we call the sumo. I really like it, it focuses more on kanji. I like this because it allows me not only to learn new words but how to read them as well. All the books here have nicknames, and most are really cool. There is the Sumo, Katana, Magikarp (most people think it's useless, hence the name, I call it Garidose because I really like it), Ninja, Pikachu, Mr. Miyagi, and a little green sheet of paper called Bulbasaur. 

I've been asked a few times to talk about my Dourio or companion a couple of times so I will. His name is Jacob Quilter he is from Orem, Utah so about a 30 minute walk from where we are now. He's really awesome, I think we would hang out a lot even out of the MTC. He always has a smile on his face. He describes himself as an awake person. He's not a morning or evening person, when he's awake he is who he is. He's super selfless and always does little things to help me out. He took three years of Japanese in school but it's been awhile so it doesn't help him much. Overall he's awesome and I'm super glad I have him as my Dourio.

I want to thank everyone who has been sending me letters, it's awesome to hear from friends and family. If I don't write back it's not because I'm ignoring you, but I only get an hour every Saturday to write emails and sometimes it's not enough time to write everyone.