I was on vacation last week and couldn't receive her emails nor post :(. Better late than never.
How is everyone? I mean, I've
been telling everyone how I am... but I honestly don't know what is going on
with all of you... (I do believe that may be an indirect request for letters….hint,
hint) I hope you all had a
fun Fourth of July, and that you are all enjoying your summers. :)
Anyways, I still can't believe
another week has flown by! I only have three more weeks left here! Isn't
that super crazy????? That's not a long time... but sometimes it feels
like forever... I just want to get out to Taiwan, teach people and serve
the Lord! But don't worry, I'm not getting so excited that I forget about
the importance of being in the MTC. I'm still learning a ton, and my
brain is full of lines that I've memorized. It's funny, because sometimes
I have words in my head, and I know they are Chinese but I can't think of the
English translation. Or, lately I've been searching through my Chinese
English dictionary to see how to spell English words... Though that shouldn't
be much of a surprise to those who know me... I spell terribly.... especially in
emails. Sorry! Haha! Hopefully mom has been editing them.... Oh, speaking
about this dictionary of mine. It's supposed to be pocket sized... but
it's bigger than my bible, and heavier... I don't know where I'm supposed to
find a pocket big enough for my dictionary.... It's not named very
well...
Anyways, going along with what I've
been doing, I'll organize this by days.
Monday:
 |
| Sister Peng's district with the Taiwan flag |
Monday was a great day, of course because
it was a P day. Any of you going on a mission, word of advice: SAVOR YOUR
P DAYS! Haha! It always seems soo short. Anyways, we weren't able
to go to the temple, because the temple was closed for cleaning. We won't
be able to go there for the rest of our MTC stay, which is a bit sad. But
it does give us some extra time to do things. Though, not much of it is
exciting things.... I just practiced Chinese for a long time....
Anyways, I loved Monday because I just got a ton of mail! I got a package
of candy from the Becksteads (It's huge! Thank you so much Becksteads! I
love you! And my roommates and companion love you!), I got all the dear elders
from my family, which was so nice of them considering the fact that they are
all having fun without me. Sigh...., I got some fake tanks from my mom so
now I can be a modest missionary (not that I was immodest before... but
sometimes it feels like we are expected to dress like nuns.... not really....
and a lot of sisters don't obey the rules as well as they should. I've
seen a lot of knees (O.o) and tight shirts...) and I also got a letter from
Elder Johnson who is in England. He is doing well, and apparently they
got a full week of sun! Wow! Haha!
Tuesday:
Well, Tuesday started pretty blah,
just because class was hard to sit through. But then I got a letter
from Elder Jacobs. Yay! He's doing well to, and he wants me to teach him
Chinese. The first thing he asked was how do you say yes and no in Chinese....
And the answer... there is no yes and no. There is only verb or negative
verb. It's like want or not want. Will or not will. Hungry or
not hungry. Yup... Not sure how I'll answer that question well.
Chinese is a great language. :) It's very complicated and the tones just
make it so delightful! There is a little bit of sarcasm in that, but not too
much. I really do like Chinese.
We also had our Devotional. Brother
Richardson talked to us. I don't remember what he is... Anyways, he gave a
great talk focusing on the phrase: What'er thou art, act well thy part.
I've always loved that phrase. It's good for everyone, so implement it in
your lives!!! Anyways, basically it means that whatever you are called or asked
to do, whatever you do for a living, whoever you are, just do the best that you
can. Be the best that you can. And do your part to make the world a
better place. We all have our part to play in the great scheme of things,
but if we don't do our part, then we affect other people. I liked his
talk. :)
Wednesday-
Couldn't really think of anything to
say about Wednesday. Then I remembered breakfast. I was standing in
line to get a plate of fake eggs and hash browns, when I realize I'm standing
in line next to three missionaries who are all fluent in Chinese... probably
because they are from Taiwan, Beijing and Shanghai. Anyways, they start
talking to me, and I talk back. We then get to the part of: where are you
from? When I said Utah, they all told me my Chinese was pretty good for
living in America. I thanked them, but secretly I think they were being
nice. I was very lost in the conversation.
Thursday-
 |
| 4th of July - MTC style |
Happy Fourth of July! Holidays
for missionaries aren't really holidays. We still went to class, we still
studied. The only difference was after our last period of class we went
to a devotional thing. They called it a celebration though. At the
end, they played 17 Miracles. For any of you who haven't watched it, go
and watch it. It will make you cry. I've seen it once before with
mom, and I liked it a lot. But it was inspiring to see the faith that
these pioneers must have had to cross the plains in the winter. It was
cool to see the miracles that where manifested unto them. Miracles do
happen now days. We just have to look for them. And sometimes, they
aren't big. They are small. But they bless us. Anyways, after
the movie, we got to eat ice cream bars and go watch fireworks. It was
hard to see the fireworks with all the tall elders in the way. Also, we
had to stay in the MTC boundaries, and trees were blocking the view. But
it was fun. I have to say, it's much nicer to watch fireworks with the
family in places you can actually see them... The sounds aren't much exciting
by themselves. Oh, and Sister Anderson's mom sent us a bunch of festive
stuff to wear and glow sticks. That was nice of her. We have some
pictures, and I'll post them, but they are a little bit blurry... Sorry!
We then went to bed at 11:30, because they extended our curfew. However,
we still had to wake up in the morning at 6:30 which I was not looking forward
to. But I'm still alive! I love sleep though. Sleep is a
beautiful thing....
Friday:
The highlight of Friday was the
Rainstorm. The rainstorm was a nice break from the heat, and it was fun
to stand outside in the rain. The thunder and lightning was also pretty
awesome. Our building was shaking, so that was a little scary. Haha! Oh,
another thing. During the evening classes we had a substitute, for
reasons explained later in this email. Anyways, it was funny because he
asked me if I was from Taiwan. I said no, but my mom is from Taiwan. He
then asked me if I was one of the accelerated Missionaries, and I had to say
no. He told me that my Chinese was very good and pretty much like a
Taiwan person's. I laughed. I don't think I'm anywhere close to
sounding like a real Taiwan person... I'm working on it though! Because
when I get to Taiwan, I want to be as fluent as possible!
Saturday:
Saturday was great. We got to
teach in TRC (an acronym for something I've forgotten...) Anyways, we
first taught a Lee Jie Mei. We taught her how to receive revelation at
church. For those of you who are curious this is our advice. Go to
church with a question or an issue you would like to ask the Lord about.
Then, go to church with a willingness to learn and with a reverent
attitude. Listen to what the Holy Ghost brings to your attention and to
your heart. Anyways, we then committed her to bear her testimony at
church. I really hope she did, because I told her if she would, I
would.... And I did. Anyways, second we talked to two girls, ages about
10 and 7, and their father. The girls are learning Chinese in a immersion
program for school. The dad learned his Chinese through listening to
CDs. All of their Chinese was VERY good. It was way cool to see!
Especially the father, who listens to everything in Chinese- even Harry Potter
podcasts! It was also funny because the dad, when I introduced myself,
said that he recognized me from the TV and from newspaper articles. I'm
famous! Haha! Just kidding. It's kind of funny, because I've kind of
forgotten about the interviews I did, since at the MTC we didn't really get to
see any of it. The only thing I can see is the article on LDS news.
Anyways, we committed the girls and their father to pray in Chinese, which I
taught them how to do. It's so cool to pray in a different
language. And I think it really helps you learn the language. :) We also
got our teacher Brother Nightingale back. He got married and was on a 2 week
long honeymoon (Original spelling was hunny moon). Is that how you spell it? Anyways, since
he's been gone we've had a total of 18 substitutes, which has probably effected
our learning negatively... but that's okay. We have our teacher back and we are
happy. He looks very happy as well. We were teaching him as our investigator,
and he was willing to accept everything we threw at him. We've committed him to
baptism and he seemed happy with that idea. :) Haha!
Sunday
 |
| Sister Peng's testimony in Chinese |
Well. I bore my testimony in Chinese
in front of our branch! That was nerve-racking! But I did it! It
was a way cool experience! I need to get more comfortable bearing my testimony
in Chinese though if I'm going to be an effective missionary. Oh, and it
was also fast Sunday, which always gives you a spiritual high. Though, it
was a bit distracting since my stomach was growling. Haha! We also went
to the temple to just walk around. It was such nice weather. Oh,
and Aunt Violet, it's the Provo temple... not the Saint George temple....
Today was good. I'm just
writing letters and such. Not sure where the time is going since it is
flying by! Anyways, I should probably go, since my time is almost
up. Love you all! Hope you all are having a FANTASTIC
week! See you all next week :)
Love,
Sister
Peng
