"We've all been working hard here, studying and trying our best
to learn the language, and we're all exhausted.
But I know that... the Lord is also laboring with us.
This is His work and I know He is doing it His own way."
10 November 2014
Monday
Hellooooo!
Excited to be able to write today.
It was a good week! Time went by the fastest it has so far here.
On Wednesday we'll be starting our 5th week which is crazy to think about. We can mostly understand our teachers during class now which is nice because there's a lot less of charades going on. However, when we teach our investigators it's difficult to know what they're saying much of the time. But in general, we can hold conversations now and teach a 45 minute lesson no problem!
Teachers
This week we got 2 new teachers which was hard for us because we loved our last ones, but these new ones are great too! For whatever reason, they've switched our teachers a ton already. Sometimes in 1 day we'll have 5 different teachers which is sort of odd but it's fun getting to know them all! We joke around with them a ton so they probably get sick of us and go beg another teacher to come in :P No, I think they actually like us a lot. And surprisingly they've all said we're pretty behaved! Our teacher actually started crying when she told us she was being moved to a different district :(
But now we have Ke Laoshi and she's awesome. We call her the gypsy princess because she's probably the most hipster person I've ever seen. Everyday she wears leggings with patterned high socks over them, some sort of paisley poncho thing and then another patterned scarf on top of that. She's really sweet and she's a great teacher!
Our other new teacher is Ge Laoshi and he's hilarious. He's extremely animated when he talks which is actually helpful even though we laugh every time he says something to us. He's famous for "Women meiyou henduo de shijian" (We don't have a lot of time) but with each word he acts out a different motion. First he points to all of us, then he waves his hands in front of him for "don't have" then he puts stretches his arms all the way out to his side for "a lot" and then points to his wrist for "time". But it works! None of us ever forget how to say that now.
Scripture that has made a difference
Jacob 5:72 "And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things."
We've all been working hard here studying and trying our best to learn the language and we're all exhausted. But I know that as this scripture says, the Lord is also laboring with us. This is His work and I know He is doing it His own way. We just need to be willing to keep up with the pace.
How I am growing
Most of all I think I've been humbled since I've gotten to the MTC. I've learned that things I might have thought before were earned I'm now learning are given.
Last night after devotional my companion and I went to watch one of Elder Bednar's previous devotionals given at the MTC. And who doesn't love Elder Bednar?! He has a way of teaching clearly and simply and candidly. Exactly how Dad is too and perhaps that's why Elder Bednar is one of my favorites (I know we're not to have favorites but they even look alike!)
Basically in his talk he talked of many things and told of a few stories that frankly, were harsh at first. It seemed like he was being a little hard on us but at the same time I knew all of his words were true.
He said, "Every mission is good for the missionary, but not every missionary is good for the mission." I know he's right: the mission will be a tremendous learning experience for everyone, but not everyone becomes the type of missionary that we really need to become.
But after that he talked about how any success that we will have on our missions is a gift from God and it will be in His timetable, and if we are finding success on our missions we must give all the credit to Heaven, and not get arrogant.
I love the scripture Alma 26:22 "Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works,and prayeth continually without ceasing--unto such it is GIVEN to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be GIVEN to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be GIVEN unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been GIVEN unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance."
So to sum up in one word what I've learned at the MTC so far: humility.
People here who are influencing me
Sun Laoshi. This was one of our teachers and the one who we became close with and cried when she had to leave our district. She really is amazing! When she was a teenager she went to live in Japan with a host family. That host family was Mormon and she became interested in their church and started taking the discussions. It took a year and a half, but eventually she was baptized.
She's from Shanghai so the idea of God and of prayer, etc. was all very foreign to her. She said it's just not something they're taught about in school and she didn't really know much about religion. But it's incredible to see how much she's changed her life!
She went on a mission to Australia, now she goes to BYU and teaches in the MTC! She's incredibly enthusiastic and she's hilarious. She has a super high pitched voice and is full of shrieking laughter and squeals. We miss her as a teacher but we still run into her every once in a while :)
LOVE YOU!!!
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