Monday, August 18, 2014

Nihao everyone!!!

So, the lesson I'm supposed to learn this week is to trust in the Lord's timing.  It's been a rough up and down week for me, but as Sister Jenkins says, "after every trial comes a blessing." So, where to start?

Tuesday Sister Lew was having some visa problems so we went and talked to them about that. While we were waiting we heard on of them get a call from the airport from a group of missionaries who's flight got delayed so much that they wouldn't have made their connecting flights so they had to come home.  We looked at each other and had the same thought of, 'are they our missionaries?' But we dismissed the thought because they left at around 4 that morning so we assumed they were on their flight already.  But seriously that would be the worse! Being prepared mentally and physically to go to the field and then have to come back to the MTC for another day! rotten! So after we're done getting her visa problems figured out we go to class and one of our Zhonglaomen (Wheeler) told me that I would be a super cute grandma...weird.  Also, during language part of class we were learning words for church meetings such as bishop, sacrament, sunday school, ect.  One of us accidentally said that the Bishop makes covenants with God in the baptismal font.  It was hilarious, probably more so because the MTC makes you crazy.  We spent about five minutes trying to contain the laughter :) Then lunch rolls around and we're sitting eating when this group of missionaries struts into the cafeteria with JAMBA JUICE!!! and guess who it is?! Our Taichung missionaries that were supposed to leave that morning.  Yep, their flight got canceled so they were the ones who were talking to the travel agency.  They were telling us how horrifying and scary the outside world is all the while flaunting JAMBA JUICE in our faces.  They think they're so cool :) Also, one of our Elders (Jensen) cracked hard core today and was sarcastically saying how great the MTC is, "Would you take the ocean over these bricks?! I think not!" Yes, if you are in the MTC for this long, this is what happens to you. In devo the speaker talked to us about Repentance and how a lot of the times it's just submitting your will over to God.  During district meeting afterward when we were all bearing out testimonies I pretty much lost it because the day before mom had emailed me telling me that Grandpa wasn't going to make it much longer and so a MONTH after I enter the MTC, and he's going to pass on. So I lost it, and then of course the Branch Presidency found out and wanted to know why I was crying, so yea, tuesday was awesome.

Wednesday wasn't super crazy, except Sister Jenkins went on a 10 min rant about how everything is the same here and she's going crazy.  It was rather amusing and we got the last half on tape. She said she felt much better afterward.

I have found that cleaning showers does NOT help me have Christ-like love for people.  See, we have service assignments every week and this week they asked us to clean the showers.  I know it sounds fun, but we didn't even get to use the gun this time.  Nope! Also, it was super fun to pick up the hair...seriously though, I have gloves on and I pick up this wad of hair and it's this furry wad of furry goop...and some of it's green. yummo!! We did have a really good discussion with our investigator. she wanted to know how we could get to the celestial kingdom with our family when our family isn't willing to accept the gospel and has a ton of problems.  I got to share some personal experiences with her and in the end I simply told her that I didn't exactly know what would happen, but I did know that God loves His children and He has a plan for them, and He will give us every opportunity He can to help us return to Him. 

So, we have a lot of mandarin speaking missionaries. I'm pretty sure that this is the biggest group of mandarin speaking missionaries the world has ever seen! Also, E. Elliot got a letter from his parents and they said that the 31 missionaries that are going to Taipei on the 5th is the biggest group they have ever received...so yea, we're making history. no big deal :)

Also, Sister Strong talks in her sleep... I woke up at 3 in the morning to hear her speaking chinese words...it was weird but also super cool.  

Saturday was I think the craziest of the week.  We woke up at 5:50 to go do pilates in the gym and they played MUSIC!!! INSTRUMENTAL CLASSICAL PIANO MUSIC!!!  I just wanted to lay there and listen to it.  I think the main reason I want to go back is because of the music...just in case you were wondering, you can't listen to ANY music in the MTC...and I'm going crazy!

Funny story of the week.  So, we had TRC on Saturday and we were talking about how you can receive personal revelation when you go to church, ect.  So the first guy said something like, "...shenyu shengcan" which I recognized as partake of the sacrament because that's what shengcan is.  So I pretty much use this for the rest of the lesson and the whole next one.  After ward when our laoshi was evaluating ours and telling us how we could improve he asked us if we knew what shengyu meant.  We told him and he told us we were wrong.  So instead of telling the volunteers that I liked partaking of the sacrament, I instead told them that I liked , "giving birth to the Sacrament".....BAHAHAHA...wow you guys, I can not WAIT to get to Taiwan, I'm going to mess up so bad and say crazy things like how I like giving birth to the sacrament and they're going to think I'm crazy and that the church is crazy...good thing I'll have a senior companion who knows what she's talking about :)

So after we taught our investigator on saturday this guys that we've never seen before comes and says he needs to talk to me.  so he takes me into a room and tells me that he received a call from mom that morning informing him that Grandpa had died that morning.  So, as I'm crying he's telling me how I'm not allowed to go to the funeral and about this guy who's brother died in a plane accident and the father was the one who recovered the body...you know, some real comforting stuff.  I felt better...NOT! So then I had to go back to class bawling and the zhonglaomen have NO idea what's going on and the Jiemeimen know so they try comforting me.  Tan Lao Shi talked to me and I told her what was wrong.  She shared a quote with me that I think was by Elder Holland.  it went something like, "If we could see the other side, we would see fiery chariots and war horses rushing to our aid to protect us" wow was that powerful.  Afterward we played a really cool game in class.  So there's an investigator and a missionary.  the investigator has to think of a need (like they can't quit smoking) without vocally saying it.  The missionary has to flip open to a random page and point to a random scripture. After the missionary reads it to him/herself the investigator tells the missionary his/her need and the missionary has to apply that scripture to the investigators needs.  IT was hard, but really fun and eye opening to how the scriptures can apply to us in any situation.  One of the elders (when I was the investigator) said that when we are on missions our sacrifices are sanctified in the Lord, and that was super powerful.  Missions are hard, but the things we sacrifice to give our all to the Lord will be worth it and everything will be made up for.  Our sacrifices are sanctified in Him.  He knows us and what we're going through.  He loves us and knows we can do it.  These are the last day, the hastening of the work period.  We must give our all.  We must sprint to the finish line, knowing that we did all we could to help this message of love and forgiveness be proclaimed on every mount.  Every nation. Every people.

I know this church is true! I know the Lord loves and know each and every one of us.  I know that most of the times it's not what we say, but what the spirit says.  The Lord has a plan for everything.  

Love, 

Yu Jie Mei

PS: we got our chinese tags!!!

I will be serving HERE!

New Chinese Name tag

Cam with the Taiwan flag

Monday, August 11, 2014

Ni hao pengyoumen!!!

This week has been crazy!!! We hit our one month mark two days ago and had a 'party' that night during additional study.  I only have three more p days till I go to Taiwan.  Also, we found out that all three districts are leaving on the 5th of September.  That means all 31 of us will be on the same airplane going to Taiwan, how crazy is that?! Funny story though.  The travel office told us that they have a max limit to how many missionaries can be on the same airplane, it's kind of like how many they can afford to loose.  Anyway, after the mission age they bumped it up to 40, so that's why so many of us can go on the plane at the same time, because they can now afford to loose 40 missionaries... For some reason this made us laugh way more than it was supposed to.  

So, Monday after class it started pouring like crazy so instead of additional study and planning, we all went outside and played in the rain. completely soaked! Also, this girl that is going to Indonesia was telling us that her packing list told her to bring a laptop and a swimsuit...weird. She has NO idea why, but she brought both.  I also saw a teacher with the last name of woolsey...he's a ginger, i wonder how we're related.

We've found it rather difficult to explain things to people with Non Christian backgrounds.  We had a lesson on simplifying the lessons and not using big words that they might not know.  It was super helpful, but we still struggle to explain it as simply as possible.  something they told us was to explain it to little children. The only problem with this is whenever i explain it to little children they have a split second attention span, but our investigators actually pay attention.  and it's all in chinese.  Also, my laoshi shared a really good poem with us that I LOVED!!! here it is

Go the edge

No, We'll fall

Go to the edge

No, we'll fall

Go to the edge

We went to edge

He pushed us off

And we flew

I love this poem because sometimes you won't know your full potential until someone pushes you past where you think you can go.  That's how learning a new language is.  You're never comfortable because they're constantly pushing you past where you think you can go.  Our laoshi also went over our short Term assessments where we were given a question and had to answer them.  Apparently I'm really good at explaining myself with the words I have; like working around it, but my tones need work and my grammar needs work.  yep

Wednesday morning we went into our classroom and were thrown into this 20 min elaborate charade game with our zhonglaomen (elders).  We found out that the night before a magical dragon named Jack came into their sush and cursed them...so now they can only speak chinese for the rest of the MTC stay...it only lasted two days, so now they're back to speaking chinglish :) Also, I got a package from sister. Kallmeyer!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! it was full of pictures and this gorgeous scarf.  It totally made my day.  

Thursday was pretty exciting as well.  Sister Lew scared me while I was in the bathroom.  She ran in screaming my name because she got a package from her boyfriend's mom. That night my district had them during additional study and we shared our love lives...super exciting.  Someone said something about an idiot and sister jenkins, without thinking, said, "It's pronounced Elliot!" (from open season).  Elder Elliot was there and she felt SO bad because she accidentally called him an idiot.  We were all laughing because we knew she didn't mean to and it just came out.  

The next day Elder Elliot got about 3 dozen donuts from some unknown person and when we ate them this time we shared first impressions.  Most people thought I would be quiet and shy...and one Elder said that he pegged me as someone who would cry for hours if I saw a puppy run over. I probably would.

Sunday was a roller coaster.  The four of us Jie Meimen (sisters) made a deal because each tongbantwan(companionship) thought the other set would be called as sister training leaders.  So now sister Lew and i owe them a candy bar, because we were called as sister training leaders yesterday.  During devotional the speaker had a couple of converts who didn't know christ before they became converted. It was amazing to hear their stories.  One said she started reading the BOM so she could make fun of Mormons.  She got as far as the testimonies of the 8 witnesses before she felt like a lightning bolt hit her heart and she threw the book on the floor.  She finally started reading it again after a couple of weeks. I learned that God prepares people, there are no accidents, and to not give up on investigators.

Well, everyone, i think this is the longest email I've written so far! I hope everyone is doing great! I love you all! 

Yu Jie Mei (Sister Fisher) 

Been out for one month!!

All of Cam's Chinese books

One month!

One month group

Monday August 4, 2014

Nimen hao!!!

It's already August!!! I can officially say that I am leaving next month! This saturday is our "hump day" so we're having a party for that ;)

Last Monday we did sealings in the Temple and it was super exciting.  As missionaries we can only do children sealings, and the ordinance worker told us that he got a couple of kids the week before that needed to be sealed who had the last name of Lord. Their first names were Bless Me and Remember Me...I'm not sure what else to say about that ;)

I've realized that missions are hard because they make you think and question things.  When an investigator asks you a question you've never thought of because you've taken it for granted or don't know how to answer, especially in chinese, it's really hard.  Most of the questions I know how to answer, just not in chinese.  Also, I feel like their are lessons I'm meant to learn each week.  For example, this week the lesson I learned is how we are hand picked by the Lord.  One of the speakers that talked to us was an institute and seminary teacher and he did the math and found that the chances of you being chosen as a Latter-day Saint Restoration missionary is 1 in 100,000...that's from Samuel Smith to now! To narrow the field, the chances of being chosen as a 'hastening the work' missionary is 1 in 1,000,000!  We were saved for over 6,000 years to come forth in this time. Then last night the devotional speaker (Elder Worthlen, BYU President) said something similar.  He told us that we need to have confidence in the one who gave us the call.  We might have decided to go on a mission, but He decided where we went.  He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what we are capable of. I just know that HE KNOWS that I can learn Chinese, I am capable. I just need to have faith in His trust in me...if that makes sense

This Wednesday our district got to host.  It was way exciting!! It was like reliving the first day with ALL the excitement and WITHOUT the pain and sadness.  The only downside is some Sisters have SO MUCH STUFF!!! and their luggage is SO HEAVY!!!

Our lessons have been going pretty well.  They never go as expected, but you can always feel the spirit and we somehow fumble our way through.  Last time we had a lesson planned about Christ's ministry, Apostasy, and the Restoration.  As we were heading in I had this thought that we were going to be talking about the plan of salvation.  I was like, oh no...and I didn't tell my tongban because she probably would have shot me down.  After the prayer I had the same thought, but I still didn't say anything.  I didn't even make it to the resurrection of Christ before she started asking question that would have been answered if we talked about the plan of salvation. silly me.  so we started on that and we're going to finish it next week.  

So Saturday night it was abnormally cold in our sushe (dorm room).  So we all curl up into a ball and sleep like that ALL NIGHT LONG! then the next day (sunday) it was an ice box in pretty much EVERY building we went into.  We almost died...almost.

We watched the Joseph Smith: The Restoration movie last night and I was asked to say the opening prayer for about 500 people, so naturally I say it in Chinese. I don't think I've said very many english prayers here... when I get back I probably won't remember how to say a prayer in chinese.  

Some interesting things though:

the word for hungry and the word for evil are the same word and tone...we thought it was very fitting and wildly funny :)

also, the word we use for Elder (Zhonglao) is the same word they use for Jedi Master... I'm a bit jealous of that one 

I hope everyone is doing great! I love you all! I know the gospel is true :)

LOVE 

YU Jie Mei :)

At the Temple

Sisters Jenkins and Fisher

Selfie attempt

Elders Vaughn and Wheeler, Sisters Lew, Jenkins and Fisher

Monday July 28, 2014

Hello all! I hope everyone is doing well!

So the weeks are blending together!!! It's week three! The MTC experience is such a learning experience.  We have devo every tuesday and sundays and the speakers always speak about something I need to hear about.  Yesterday Sheri Dew spoke to us during Relief Society.  It was freakin amazing! She talked about Priesthood Power, Keys, and Authority. Some things that really stuck with me was she said that when we take our Endownmnets out we are given God's power and given knowlegde about how to use that power.  The Endownmnet is a gift of Priesthood Power.  Also,  a pattern I've been picking up on is the role of angels.  Multiple speakers have mentioned a little thing about it each week.  On multiple occasions I've been told that our ancestors and angels (one in the same) are protecting us and guiding us.  Sis Dew quoted Jeffery R. Holland in telling us that we need to invite angels to help us.  They want to help us, but can't help us as much as they want to unless we as for their help.  If you think about all the ancestors you have, they are watching out for you!

During movie night last night we watched "Characters of Christ" which was basically a recorded talk by Elder Bednar.  The main focus of the talk was how Christ turns outward when we or the natural man would turn inward and be selfish or complain about life.  Turning out or learning and practicing how to do it was ho to become truly converted.  A testimony is just the beginning of the path to conversion toward Christ. As we teach people about the gospel, we need to teach them in a way that they can become converted to Christ.  It was pretty life changing. 

So our elders amuse and entertain themselves by making orange juice bombs or drain cleaner bombs.  Actually it's passion fruit guava..something like that, but if left for a couple of days, it builds up pressure and busts open.  It's pretty suprising to the unsuspecting.  They also try to do a barbershop quartet...with six of them.  It's...interesting.  They also like to play fruit ninja...real life style.  Basically they throw bananas and apples at each other and slice them out of the air with a knife. It's really messy. 

Our teachers are amazing.  They have such great insight, and they're really good actors, because they also couple as our mudayoumen (investigators).  Tan Lao Shi is playing this girl with super anxiety problems and it was scary how good she was.  The relationship we have with them can only be described as they are kindly but forcefully pushing us off a cliff with a hang glider that has holes in it...and they expect us to learn how to fly.  But it's okay, because that's where the Lord comes in...we just need enough faith to make it fly :)

so, how is everybody? anything interesting, funny, exciting, or boring in life? If you email me, I will email back... I promise :)

Well, that's all folks. The Church is true!!!

Yu Jie Mei (Sister Fisher)