Hello Mom and everyone else!
How is life? It's just been
the same old at the MTC. I honestly can't believe it's been a week since
I last emailed. And I can’t believe I only have 2 weeks left! We are
supposed to get our travel plans this week! And our Chinese name tags (with
character names)! It's so exciting! It feels like forever ago since
I last saw everyone. I miss everyone and I hope you are all doing well!!!
Anyways, I fear that this email
might be short since I'm short on time. These computers are the WORST!....
anyways.... Last Monday was good; I hardly remember it well though. After
I did laundry and ate dinner we went back to class where we had to teach
a lesson. We didn't have that long to prepare our lesson, since it's hard
to motivate ourselves to work on p days..., so we decided that we were going to
teach the Joseph Smith story to our investigator who is having a hard time
having enough faith to be baptized. Poor Sister E…. doesn't really have a
lot of vocab to teach with, so I normally end up teaching most of the
lesson. Anyways, I started quoting the Joseph Smith story and I started
tearing up. The Holy Ghost was so strong! It was testified to me that
what I was saying was true. That Joseph Smith did see God and Christ in
the grove. He is a prophet! It's amazing the spirit you can have
when teaching a lesson. I can't tell you how many times before I had
recited the Joseph Smith story before (probably hundreds!) and never before had
I cried. But then again, I was just practicing it before. I didn't
really need the witness of the Holy Ghost when memorizing Joseph Smith's words.
But I needed it's witness when bearing testimony of it to my
investigator. I pray to have similar experiences in Taiwan.
Because, ultimately, I am not the teacher, and neither is my companion.
The Holy Ghost is!
So on Tuesday we had devotional once
again. I've kind of forgotten who the speaker was, but I still remember
the message that he brought. He really shared with us the importance of
prayer. Every morning and every evening you should kneel in prayer.
Tell God about your day, and ask him for help. He is our Heavenly Father
and he wants to hear from us! He wants to help us! But we have to ask for that
help. He has given us our agency, and so he will not help us if we
decided we don't need it. I've really grown in testimony of how important
prayer is. As a missionary, I feel like I am always saying prayers.
I pray that God will help me in learning Chinese, and for helping me more
understand his Gospel. I pray to be guided in everything I do. I
pray for the people that I will be teaching in the future. I pray that he
will watch over my family and friends. And I pray for his strength.
You know, I don't think I could have made it this far in the MTC without his
help. I don't think I could go through this work without knowing that I
am doing what he wants me to do. And I don't think I can go throughout
the rest of my life without maintaining a strong relationship with him.
He is my Heavenly Father. He knows me. He loves me. And he will guide me.
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| Sister Ninjas |
Anyways, I can't remember anything
that really stood out during Wednesday through Friday. I was just getting
really antsy to leave! I really miss Chinese food! I really think that
I'll learn more Chinese in Taiwan than I can here. And I just really want
to go out to work! But don't worry; I have maintained the perspective of
knowing that every moment counts at the MTC. I'm here to learn how to
teach and how to be a missionary. I'm so grateful to be here. I
just want to leave soon! Haha! I still am having a good time here.
We've found ways of making everyday fun. On Thursday I ran about 2 miles
with Sister Anderson, which was fun but hard! I don't know how I could
keep up with her! She's fast! And then on Friday, I taught the other
Sisters to make ninja masks with t-shirts. We then proceeded in scaring
some other sisters who are learning Mandarin as well. It was super
funny! :) We did it on a day where we all felt like collapsing, so
it really raised our spirits.
On Saturday we taught TRC
again. We taught Sister C.. who is
the mother of a Mandarin teacher at TRC (also named Sister C... She is
awesome!). Sister C.., the mother, has 5 kids, four of which all served
Mandarin speaking missions. She has a daughter in our mission, who has
only been out for 3 months. We'll probably see her in the field! We had a
very good lesson and the spirit was really felt. I also was able to see
the progress in my teaching ability. I've been learning so much!
However, I really need to do better at speaking Chinese all the time.
It's really hard... And I sometimes find myself wishing that my companion knew
more Chinese so I could practice with her.
Sunday was good. It's the last
Sunday before the "older generation" leave. So that was a bit
sad. The topic of this Sunday was Faith in the Atonement, which is very
important. Heavenly Father sent us to earth to be tested. He wanted
us to learn. And with learning comes mistakes; however, we must be perfect to
be able to return back to our Heavenly Father's presence. So he sent his
Son, Jesus Christ, to perform the Atonement. Christ paid for all of our
sins, but he didn't take away our personal responsibility. We must decide
for ourselves if we want to repent so we can benefit from his Atonement.
He paid for our sins so we wouldn't have to. We just need to have faith in
him. And having faith in the Atonement means that you have faith that he
will forgive you. And you have faith that you can change and be
better. And you must have faith that he will help you.
Relief Society was good. We
had Sister Mikita- Idk how to spell her name...(She spelled it just fine) But she is the Religion
reporter for KSL- speak to us. She gave the story of her family’s
conversion. She also said something that reminded me of what Mom said to
me before I left. She said "You will plant seeds (of faith) and they
will remember." That is so true. We may not baptize everyone
we teach. But hopefully we have brought them closer to their Savior.
The speaker for this Sunday night's
devotional was Brother Heaton, who we've already heard from. His talk was
pretty much the same as the other time, but I did write a bit more
insights. He said that we must have faith to recognize the Lord's hand in
our life. And the more we learn to recognize his hand, the more faith we
will be able to develop.
Anyways, today has also been
good. Since the temple is closed for cleaning, we got a temple cleaning
assignment! We sisters got to take apart a chandelier in a sealing room!
It took all 3 1/2 hours to do it, but it was really cool to do! The chandeliers
are always so ornate and beautiful! And they are made out of real
crystal! It was so scary trying to take them apart without breaking
anything. But we did it! And it was definitely a great experience to do!
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| Sister Sallstrom & Sister Peng |
Oh! And today I also was able to see
Sister Mindy Sallstrom (I spelled her last name wrong....nope, she didn't) before she leaves tomorrow! She's going to Arizona I
believe. I am a bit envious since she only got here last week and she is
already leaving before I am... But I was so happy to see her, and I wish her
luck on her mission!
Anyways, only 3 more hours left of
our p-day. Time moves by so fast!!! I should probably stop
typing since I am almost out of time. I said this would be short... but
it's not... Ah well! Have a great week! And feel free to write me –
another indirect request for mail-! I love hearing from
everyone! Haha! :)
Sister Peng
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