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!!!
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| I will be serving HERE! |
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| New Chinese Name tag |
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| Cam with the Taiwan flag |
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