christmas from MTC email#7

Dex Tidwell is at MTC as well. He wrote the Naivasha totally nailed her two piano pieces. He wished he could learn to play the piano. Way to go Sister Burrows


Sheng dan jie Kaui le!!! HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Ni Hao Nimen! Xie Xie wei nimen de ai. Wo ai nimen! :)

 

Thank you everyone for all of the awesome christmas cards, letters, and packages! :) I will write you all back as sooon as i find time in my crazy schedule! I'll tell you a bit about my last week, and then about this morning's devotional with ELDER NELSON! and then what is to come :)

 

This week I learned that the most effective way to teach our investigators is simply and with the spirit. We should not complicate doctrine and principles when they really do not need to be complicated. We also shouldn't teach to their interests. We should teach to their needs in a way that interest them. This is something that has helped my teaching so much, and brings the spirit so much quicker. My companion and I have found that when we plan too much, our lessons always turn out forced and awkward, but when we study the principles we will be teaching, pray, and then go in with our hearts and minds open, we have the most incredible experiences that we share with our investigators.

 

Last Tuesday we had an awesome devotional by C. Scott Grow (i started laughing when I heard his name). He taught us the four things that we need to teach by the Spirit: Faith, Obedience, Sacrifice, and Revelation. Here i'll share some of my notes and thoughts with you from that devotional!

 

Faith: When you have studied truths, doctrine, and scriptures until they are yours, you will then teach from your sould. You will teach with God's authority. (When I learned this, one of my favorite scriptures was brought to mind, which he then used later in his talk. Alma 17:3)

Obedience: repentance is the first step of obedience. It does not always mean you are doing something wrong, but rather you are not doing something you should be doing. Repentance is when we turn to the Lord, align our will with His, and Come unto our Saviour. We must strive to be 100% obedient. To the Missionary Handbook, to our Mission Presidents, and to the Promptings of the Spirit that the Lord gives us.

Sacrifice: If we are willing to sacrifice our will to  the will of God, we will then have the assurance of the Spirit. One thing we will enver have to sacrifice is our agency, but we can voluntarily lay our agency upon the Altar of the Lord and we will be immaensley blessed. We need to tell the Lord "..that we know that He knows we've given Him our Agency" -Boyd K Packer. That we are no longer mutual, but that He can now do with us what He would.

Revelation: Without revelation, we can not longer receive Salvation.

 

Okay our Devotional this morning was INCREDIBLE! as usual :) Christmas in the MTC is absolutely magical, it is what Christmas should really be about. Remembering our Lord, Saviour, and Brother Jesus Christ and his amazing sacrifice. Sister Nelson taught us about all of our spiritual gifts, and how we might go about so receive them. It was awesome, and now i know that i need to pray to know what to pray for when i ask our Lord for spiritual gifts. "The Lord does not have a sleigh full of gifts for us, he has GALAXIES." -Sister Wendy Nelson

 

Elder Russell M. Nelson taught us that we are the link to eternal life for the people we will teach on our missions. The message of Chirstmas is Christ's VICTORY over death. He taught us more about obedience which I will share more with you in my next email i'm sure :) and then he told us to BE CAREFUL OF RUMOURS! like the ones about missionaries getting calls to China. THESE ARE FALSE. we must always REFUTE ALL RUMOURS. We must not be rumour mongers, but we must decide NOW to be rumour STOPPERS.

 

Okay, so coming up today is the Christmas Devotional/ Talent Show. I will be performing a piano solo! I will also be accompanying a group of elders from my zone as they sing God Rest You Merry Gentleman. It is a SWEET rendition and they sing it awesomely! :) I'm super excited so i will let you all know how taht goes :) We also have another devotional tonight by the artist who paints a bunch of the church paintings, I can't remmebr his name, but i will let you know how that goes! Then tonight we will watch "It's a Wonderful Life" we we are all SUPER EXCITED ABOUT!!!!

 

Also i've gotten some letters from people telling me congratulations for leaving the MTC early....I WILL NOT BE LEAVING EARLY! I don't know what people are talking about! But as far as I know, i'm leaving on January 22nd like planned :)

 

Since everyone emails home on Christmas, I will try to email my usual email also tomorrow, if not, then next week i will!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS! Elder Vomocil said to tell you that you've converted him to gingerbread. He usually doesn't not like it at all, and now is OBSESSED with it :) hahaha Elder Jenson also said to tell you THANK YOU! and that you're the best and he loves you! They both say they can't wait to meet you mum after the mission :)

 

Mummy, can you ask whomever is the YW president if i can get a new Medallion, to one for VIirtue? I never got one, and SISTER DALTON! Told me to write you and ask for one :)

 

Also I NEED LITTLE SOCKS! LIke the no peeky ones, BECAUSE MY FEET ARE KILLING EVERYONE AND WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE! hahahahahah it's pretty bad! Also my one shirt with the firnge on the bottom that you like and my ninja turtle jammies. I LOVE YOU!!!

 

 

THE GREATEST TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTMAS IS THAT THE GIFT HAS ALREADY BEEN GIVEN. I LOVE YOU ALL! MERRY CHRISTMAS
--

week 6 at the MTC- half way mark

Ni Hao EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well it has been an incredibly interesting and exciting (i feel you might not) week!!! Let's see, I don't have my journal to help me remember, so i'll try to do my best, and next week i'll fill in the gaps.

 

I'VE OFFICIALLY BEEN HERE FOR HALF OF MY STAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our older generation all left last week, so we are now the only generation here! It was an emotional time, but we will see many of them soon as we also enter the mission field....and EVERYONE wants to go to BYU after their missions, so i'll be able to see them all :D WE ARE GETTING OUR NEW GENERATION TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!! and I get to be a host! :) I'm super excited! We are getting four new sister missionaries and fifteen elders. We have some super smooth elders coming in, one's name is Elder Proudfoot......I've been praying that he is going to be a native american....and HE IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so pumped! We are also getting an Elder today from a little country in South America (Which is totally european) so we are excited to meet him as well! (the international missionaries, and those that don't speak English as well come into the MTC on Tuesday so they have extra time to learn where and who everything and everyone is.) We are very excited for the new sisters and have been writing welcome notes to them and we went and made their beds for them today so they have one less thing to worry about.

 

I have officially been the Coordinating Sister for 9 whole days now! Which doesn't seem like a lot, but i feel a lot more confident getting our new sisters and being able to advise them. I've had some awesome experiences with my girls right now and being able to advise, comfort, and bear testimony to them. I know that the Lord will provide me with what i need to say, when, and how. HE IS WATCHING OVER US! I

 

I've had some of the best dreams while here in the MTC! Since about my first week and a half, i usually only dream in Chinese (and randomly in KOREAN), and usually dream about teaching the discussions ahahhahahaha [total missionary]! It's great to wake up and the first thought in my head and that i say out loud is JESUS LOVES US! TODAY IS GOING TO BE A GREAT DAY!!! BECAUSE JESUS LOVES US!!!!!!!!!!!! it's absolutely fantastic!

 

My audititions went well apparently! I didn't feel very great about it coming out, but i went and auditioned with another song today, and they were like, "Oh! We were going to have you play Joy to the World probably, but you can play your song and we'll see." Then i finished and they said, "Oh that was fantastic! Now we have to decided between the three songs you've played!" and some random elder that was waiting to audition was like. "I CHOOSE THAT ONE!!!!!!" hahahahaha Today i played The First Noel, and last week i played Joy to the World and Huron Carol. I know that i'll probably play for the Christmas missionary devotional/talent show, but i was really hoping to play in the Devotional that the General Authority is coming to ;) We'll see i guess! I am in the Missionary Choir (ASHTON STOP LAUGHING!) so i'll get to perform no matter what :D oh and i'm also on the accompanying list so I randomly accompany kids that sing, when they audition and perform! So yeah....I've dealt with some major diva elders who really need to knock down the pride until they practice more ;) but then I realize that I'm the exact same way in other things in life. FACE SMACK! I also auditioned with the all-elder district in our zone! They sang God Rest You Merry Gentlemen and did INCREDIBLE! I really hope that they get to perform, if not, they are performing for our branch in sacrament this week anyways :)

 

On a sad note, one of our elders went home this last week. He got really sick last Pday and they took him to the ER that night....keep him all the next day without telling us anything...and then the next day called him companion in and told him that the Elder was going home. We were really sad, because he was finally opening up and getting more confident in his speaking and teaching, but I know that the Lord wants him to be healthy and is preparing him for something great :) This week from that experience amoung others, I know that the Lord will always help us do what is right. Even if we don't understand the timing. He is watching out for us and will always be there when we look for him.

 

MUM, have you ever heard of Dear Elder? you can type letters to me and they'll print them off and deliver them to me.....and IT'S FREE!!!! and honestly sometimes I can't read yours and daddy's handwriting ;) BUT I STILL LOVE YOU! so if that's easier, you should check it out!!!

Dinner last Sunday sounded very fun! I hope you tell everyone Hi for me and give them my love :) I've been receiving sweet christmas cards/notes from ward members and I really appreciate them. :) They always arrive at the perfect moment! PEOPLE ARE INSPIRED! Thank the Lord that he is watching out for me!

 

QUESTIONS: How are the Toolsen? I hope that everything is okay and that everything works out. Also HOW IS RACHEL HUBERT?! you just stuck that quick note in the letter and didn't tell me anything else!

 

Well I absolutely love you all and appreciate everything you do for me! I'm sorry I'm so behind on my letters, they hardly give us anytime!!!!!! I will do my best to catch up and then stay caught up! You are all AMAZING CHILDREN OF THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!

 

Wo zhidao zhege jiao hui shi zhenshide. Shen ai women he yao women hen kaui le! Rugguo women fucuo Ta de jieming, women jie hui gangue Ta de ai, he Ta de shengling. Wo ai Nimen! Nimen dou fei cheng hao!!

 

Zaijian

 

Bao Jiemei

I am the new zone leader

Okay so I'm not really the New Zone Leader.....I am however the New Coordinating Sister which is basically like the Zone Leader/Relief Society President for all of the sister missionaries in our zone....which right now is 4 because the other 5 just left! But in a week and a day, we have a new generation of Mandarin missionaries coming in, so i will be responsible for all of the new girls and orientating them, checking up on them, advising them, doing clothing checks, etc. So yeah! Basically I thought i would be the last person of all the girls to get called and now I'm terrified that I'm going to traumitize the new girls hahahahahha

 

OH DAD I FORGOT TO TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!! I put a small sandwich bag with your frozen cookie dough in the freezer for you before I left......and I didn't tell you.....so I hope you've seen it by now, or if not go eat it!

 

SHOUT OUT!: The Rigby family sent me an AWESOME package so THANK YOUUUUUUUUUU! It had all of my FAVORITE snacks in it! :) You are all the best!! The WIHONGI'S also sent me a package full of YUMMY treats in it last week! I can't remember if i said thank you so if not.....THANK YOU!!!!! :) LOVE YOU ALL!

 

ASHTON! TELL ME ABOUT YOUR ADVENTURES!!!!

 

I see Dex all the time so it is GREAT! I usually see him a couple of times every Sunday, and randomly during the week. Can I have Uncle Jeff's and Auntie Susan's address please? That would be awesome :)

 

Well I KNOW that the Lord is watching out for my companion and I. Everytime we go to teach our Investigators everyday, it NEVER goes according to the plan! I know that the Spirit is there prompting me to know what to say, because whenever our Investigator asks us a question, I'm prompted to remember the RANDOMEST words from my high school or childhood Chinese. I have the hardest time with memorization, and although I'm getting better in leaps and bounds, I find that I still don't know the words that I need in order to explain doctrine. But then I remember random words like "fruit" "Volleyball" "Basketball" "and dream" and I'm able to explain through my experiences or analogies. It's an incredible experience, and I feel terrible for my poor companion, because she has ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what I'm talking about! But she just sits and prays for me and listens closely. I've never heard a more powerful or magnetizing testimony than hers. When she starts to testify, whether in English or Chinese, You just WANT to listen in and believe her. Her faith is so strong! She is quite shy, and so has a hard time sharing, but when she does, it's always the perfect thing to say, and you just get drawn in to her words.

 

GUESS WHAT?! Elder Vomicil knows how to play the "In the Middle" game that the Morley's taught us! It makes me so happy to meet people with random connections to you. I guess his dad and Uncle Tony have been best friends forever so their families are really good friends! Elder Jenson is his companion and a stud of a missionary. He is only 19, but he's one of those golden boys that has always grown up wanting to serve a mission FOR THE RIGHT REASONS. They are the Zone Leaders of the Korean Zone and are my P-day/ Gymtime buddies :)

 

JUST IN CASE I FORGET! According to the Mayan Calendar, the World is supposed to END TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!! So if it does....I LOVE YOU and i know where i'm supposed to be :) hahahahahaha

 

You are all incredible and i love you all so much! I hope you all have a spectacular week and are enjoying the love and service of the Season! This church is true and the Lord is watching out for us. Especially when we are doing what we are supposed to. Stay diligent, humble, submissive, and look for ways to serve others. I LOVE YOU ALL! Please pray that i might fulfill my calling as a missionary, and also my calling as the new Coordination Sister. I'M A MORMON! I KNOW IT! I LOVE IT! I LIVE IT! <3

MTC 4th week

Ni Hao!

 

Wo hen gao xing gao su nimen wo de li bai! I'm so excited to tell you all about my week! First of all....Yes Daddy and Mum i am working on my language! Fear not, i do not believe that it will come without an immense amount of work! i just don't write about my language adventures as much as my other ones....but funny story! We were teaching our investigator Wei Di Xiong and i was sharing my testimony with him and i said "We DO NOT KNOW that the Book of Mormon is true." while nodding my head....he looked alarmed and said "You don't even know that it's true?!" I was like "yes yes yes....WAIT NO! we KNOW the book of mormon is true....no do not know!" All of this happened in Chinese though hahahaha and our investigator (who is actually our teacher acting as an investigator he had on his mission) was relieved hahahahahhaha.

 

Oh and YES Mum! I pooped in a jar, had to take a sample and mix it all up in this little test tube....put the tube in the white bag, and give it back to the Health Center place for my visa! That picture was just when they gave us the bags and equipment.....we had a couple of days to complete the challenge ;) hahahaha SOOOO GROSSS! oh and i got to do minor surgery on Sister Gan's knee! (don't try this at home kids) She had cut it open and it was healing, but infected...so she needed to open it back up and put some hydrogen peroxide on it but she was too scared to open it up....so i washed a knife with boiling hot water and soap and then sanitized it with alcohol and cut her back open! Without even hurting her! I NEED to be a surgeon when i grow up! Too cool! hahahaha

 

Here an experience I think that you will like :)

At TRC, i had the opportunity with learning to be humble last saturday. Sister Gan (lovingly) told me during our feedback after our first lesson that i could simplify and shorten my testimony. At first i was like okaaaay "what if i need to keep saying something...like i'm prompted or something?" I was being impatient because sometimes she doesn't talk as much during the lessons due to her shyness and being worried about the language.....but then i realized that i was being super prideful and condescending so i said "You know what? You're right, i will try to work on that. Thank you." Then i got over myself, applied what tips she gave me, and our next lesson went super well!!! So if i'm even being prideful in my next letters or anything, please just remind me to get over myself, taht i'm not THAT much of a big deal and i need to be humble. :D

Our lesson yesterday (Monday) we were teaching our other investigator Dai Jie Mei about the Fall of Adam and Eve and reading with her in 2 Nephi 2 and she couldn't understand it. We are not allowed to take any of our books in except for our BOMs (Not even our dictionaries!) so i ended up explaining in my own words about adam and eve.....in CHINESE! hahahaha i also had to explain why Nephi killed Laban as she had read 1 Nephi 4 over the weekend.....it's lucky that one of the elders in our district's name is Sha Zhong Lao (Sha means kill) so i was able to understand her question.....as i had to keep going off of the lesson plan that we had, my comp was super confused and lost for parts of the lesson....I know that i struggle with the language in class and ask a million questions because i have no idea what is going on....but during the lessons the Lord is definitely helping me out by guiding my by the Spirit in what to say in Zhongwen. I am able to recall words that i briefly heard or learned in my Sophomore year of Highschool....words that normally have nothing to do with anything, but somehow i am able to use to help our investigators understand what we are trying to help them learn. The Lord and McKay is definitely watching over me and my companion :)

 

Okay, so we got a new district leader on Sunday (Elder Lotulelei). His birthday was also on sunday, and Elder Green's mum sent a cake a little present, and we mde him a card and had everyone sign it. He was incredibly touched by our thoughfulness because his mum died about 6 years ago, and he hadn't really celebrated his birthday for a long time, and now he said that he gets to celebrate it with some of the people that he loves most :) Then Yesterday, on McKay's birthday, i was having off and on moments and worried about you all....and last night my district came together and gave me a birthday card that they each wrote in to Mckay, and a mini Children's Hymnbook with tabs mariking all of the songs that they thought would remind me of him, or about families and such. Elder Lotulelei bore his testimony and expressed how happy he and the others were that i am here on my mission and that they can feel his spirit with me as well. They are all incredible people, and sometimes i can't believe how much i love the people in my district, zone, and even classroom floor and how supportive and loving they are of each other.

 

On a lighter note...........I ROCK AT VOLLEYBALL! hahaha Elder Jenson and Elder Vomicil (the ones in the picture that i sent you?) play with us everytime along with Lotulelei and some of the other Chinese and Korean speaking elders....oh yeah and I promised Jenson and Vomicil's district that i would be all of their penpal.....so we'll see how that works hahahahahahah

 

I LOVE YOU ALL....my time is up! and sorry I'm horrible at writing letters, but they hardly give us any time! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING! Wo ai nimen. wo zhidao zhege jiaohui shi zhenshi de. wo zhidao shen he yesu jidu ai women. tamen yao bangzhu women huigai tamen. wo zhidao touguo yesu jidu de shuzui women keyi yongyuan zhu zai yiqi. wo ai nimen!!!!

 

Mum: A present for my comp would be awesome! Also next time sister bowen comes to visit me in my susha i will give her a box of shoes and tshirts to give you. the ones you sent are great...but are really wide and short! so i can't even wear them to gym as i'm running around and playing sports :)  could you send my XL soccer game tshirt, and my united tshirt with the red logo? and my USC sweatshirt and purple plaid? i will send the shirt and sweatshirt home before i leave the mtc :) oh and when i asked about the dresses, i wasn't planning on taking them to taiwan but thats ok :) oh and the Bread was DELICIOUS! i LOVE YOU!

 

~Bu Jie Mei

mtc third week

Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 10:36:48 AM
Subject: Ni hao ma wo de pengyoumen! :) Hello my friends!

HELLO DEAREST MUM, DADDY, ASHTON, and FRIENDS! <3

Mum all of your questions you keep asking me i've either already answered in my emails or when i wrote you hahahaha :) LOVE YOU! I also just got a package this morning from Auntie Lynn and Uncle Andy.....so THANK YOU!!!! Thanksgiving sounds like it was absolutely so much fun! I don't need bags to give things to Sister Bowen yet, I won't need to send things home until right before i leave the MTC, but i do need somethings! First off, Yes please send me my license, I was told to bring it with me on my mission (i realized that i hadn't responded to that question Dad). I wrote you, but i'm assuming you have yet to receive my letter, but i put those "requests" in my letter :) Also my tennis shoes are completely ripped along the side, so can you (or Ashton) get me some of those White Tennies with Black Laces from Walmart in the little boy shoe section (size 5 1/2) they are like $9 or $10 dollars.  That would be FANTASTIC!!!!!! Then in January before i leave, i will send lots of things home to you :)

OKAY.....ARE YOU READY TO HEAR THE THANKSGIVING DAY SECRET?! welllll.....remember how Sis Gan is Elder Holland's niece? well....he came! And I GOT TO MEET HIM! and he SHOOK MY HAND......AND HUGGED ME!! and......I WAS IN THE FAMILY PICTURE! hahahahahaha that part i felt awkward, but Elder Holland was like: "Trish! (sister gan) Come over here and bring your companion and get in the picture!" and i was like "Ummmmm it's okay, i'm not in the family" and then some family member was like "He's an Apostle of the Lord" so i was like "I will be OBEDIENT." hahahahahaha and YEAH!!!! SUPER AWESOME! The fireside started off with two of his grandkids bearing their testimonies, and then one sang, and another played a piano solo! He has some awesome, talented grandkids! Then Sister Holland talked about how AMAZING the BOM was and how we NEED to share it :) Elder Holland talked about how blessed we are to be born and alive in this last dispensation and how we have been saved for these last days. It was incredible like all of his talks are, and we were all just pumped up to go preach the Gospel!!!

On Thanksgiving we also did a service project/humanitarian project and it was super fun! Then we had a "FUN" devotional/fireside and there was just a bunch of awesome musical numbers, a few testimonies, and a way funny thanksgiving skit. Then we finished off the night with watching "17 Miracles" which was awesome! :)

On Sunday in RS (which is ALL the sister missionaries) i played the piano while a sister in my zone sang. it went really well! I'm going to audition to play in a Christmas fireside or something, and oh yeah, I'm singing the in choir in tonight devotional hahahahha.

OK, our P-days go like this:

6:30 wake up
7:00 Breakfast
7:45-9:00 prepare for the day, get laundry stuff together
9:00-11:00 Laundry
11-12 Personal Study
12-12:45 Lunch
12:45-1:30 Nap :) Or we really just write letters and such
1:45-4:15 or so, we go to the TEMPLE!
4:15-5:00 Personal Emailing Time (if we don't email during Laundry)
5:15-6:15 Choir Practice
6:20-6:40 Dinner
7:00-8 Fireside
8-9 District Meeting to review Fireside
9-9:30 Planning
9:30-10:30 get ready for bed, comp prayer, etc

AND THAT'S HOW MY PDAY GOES!!!!

I'm being summoned by my comp because she's ready to leave, but I will right you another letter, and you should be getting one anyday if you haven't already! I LOVE YOU ALL! Sorry there haven't been as many adventures accounted in this email as usual, I'll try to figure out how to send you some pictures so you can see my district, and if you could send the things i asked for, that would be DIVINE! I love yoU!

November 20th 2012

Hello all!

 

Mum, thanks for all the questions, it gives me something to write about instead of just rambling on like the usual :)

 

I wake up at about 6:15-6:30 every morning! We get ready, have comp prayer (btw Sis Gan is the sister from St George that Gma and Gpa were talking about!), go to Breaky at about 7:20 and are in class by 7:45. We eat lunch at Noon, and Dinner at 5:00 so every minute in between is either spent in class, or some form of study (personal, comp, or language) The teachers here are all BOMB! and I LOVE my district! Sister Gan and i get along great and we are both super open with each other. If we feel one of us needs to work on something, we gently point it out and help each other improve, no hard feelings. I LOVE IT! She is quite shy and I am can be very overbearing, so we are working together on helping her be more outgoing and me letting other people have the spotlight once in a while ;) hahahahaha

 

I got the packages you sent and all of your letters :) Each letter you send and package too always come at just the perfect moment! YOU ARE AN INSPIRED WOMAN MUM and I love you. I also got a package from Auntie Miriam....so SHOUT OUT to the Bledsoes :) you are all fantastic and my district was ecstatic to see the Christmas Music CDs :D Thank you for all the other treats and goodies as well :)

 

Ok so some fun/funny/CRAZY experiences:

 

Every Pday we have the opportunity to go to the temple and last Tuesday right after walking out the front gate of the MTC in front of the security booth we ran into Ryan Jolley who i've known forever from like elementary school. so i said hi to him and before i could do anything HE GRABBED ME INTO A HUG! hahahahahah and the first words from my mouth were "I'M A MISSIONARY!......AND YOU JUST HUGGED ME!" hahahaha quickly followed by an awkward handshake and apology hahahaha he was on his way to an interview at the MTC to be a Hmong or Mongolian teacher or something. (i found out later he got the job which makes sense because he'll be awesome!) I've made a goal while here to be obedient with exactness, which EVERYONE knows that i struggle with, so I told Brother Freischnicht (sounds like frish nick) about the hug even though i knew he probably would care and HE LAUGHED AT ME! hahahah but then told me that if i continued with my goal of being obedient with exactness that i would be blessed. I think he laughed because i think he thought that i saw Ryan and like went and attacked him....but it's fine and my district still like to tease me about it :)

 

I did see Dex! I ran into him for like 2 seconds on the morning after he came in, and the got to talk to him for longer on Sunday night at the film. I got permission to give him a "Cousin Hug" so we were able to do a super quick/ awkward hug hahahaha i also see Dan's Liafau here EVERYWHERE! we have the like same schedule so we run into each other every day at like gym, meals, and on the mtc "campus."

 

Mum i get to eat three meals a day on Sundays, just Fast Sunday is the one meal thing....which makes sense right? :) I also get to go to Gym 5 days a week which is AMAZING! so we either go to the fitness center and workout (which can be awkward because I'll do cardio then a few weights.....and i lift more than some of these precious little elders....so i'll grab the smaller ones sometimes to lessen the awkwardness hahahahah) or we go to the Gym and play volleyball! (Pai Qiu) SO MUCH FUN! being in the MTC has seriouslyl blessed my vball playing skills and given me lots more coordination hahahahahhaaha because i KILL it on the court :)

 

Teaching our investigators is still terrifying every time before we go in....but every time we come out of the lesson I just want to go teach the whole Chinese population of the world with my broken Chinese....IT IS SUCH AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE! With working on Sister Gan being more outgoing....we'll plan to have her lead the lesson most of the time, because of course if i lead then i'll just take over the whole thing and no one else will ever talk....because i'm in love with the sound of my own voice of course :D hahahaha When i'm nervous i ramble....This is also apparently true when i talk in Mandarin hahahahahah. But Sis Gan will share and then when the investigators don't understand, they'll look at me and I'll just explain what she says in my own words.....IN CHINESE.  In class i'm always so confused and have no idea what the teacher is saying, but when i'm in our lessons, everything is so clear and i know just what to say and how to say it, and even when our investigators (Mao, Dai, and Wei. 3 separate ones) talk at like A MILLION WORDS A MINUTE i still understand what they are trying to say. It is the Spirit and the Lord watching over me and my companion and i know that to be true. It's just like my mission scripture Proverbs 3:5-6 and D&C 68:6 say: If we trust in the Lord, Try to be Happy, Preach His gospel, and declare and testify of Him; then we have no need to fear, He will guide us to know what to do, how to do it, and when. I love this gospel so much and am SO GRATEFUL for this mission opportunity! I love you all so much and am sooooo grateful for the examples you are al to me and the support you give me. I LOVE YOU ALL!

 

P.S. Mum and Daddy I'm writing you out a handwritten letter as well....sorry i do not write more, we're only allowed to write and email on Pdays.....OBEDIENCE! the wedding and hanging out with the Tidwells sounded like a blast and I'm glad you all had fun :)

 

P.P.S. i know a secret about the Thanksgiving Devotional that i will share with you next week....I can't give too much away ;)

 

I LOVE YOU AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

1st MTC photo of Sister Burrows and Sister Ganowsky

Lloyd from grounds at BYU took this photos of Naivasha and her companion sister Ganowsky from St. George. Our first MTC photo of her

email # 1 from MTC

I love you all and I am alive! I will also write you a nice long letter later so that will be good :) I love all the updates and notes that you send me :) Let's see I'll tell you about my week and then answer questions. The first part you can copy to my blog :)

 

Day 1:

You guys dropped me off and they took me to get my new ID, my name tags, and then a bag of books that weighed about a gazillion pounds hahaha. Then they took me to my Residence Hall (not a dorm because we just reside there at night). I sleep in the top bunk of a bed that is six feet in the air with no ladder....so once i'm up there, i stay up there for the night before i leap down each morning :) Then i went to class where they did not speak a word of English. At first Elder Crowell and I were the only ones there with this teacher who kept asking us questions in Chinese and expecting answers while like ten other teachers sat in the back and watched and laughed. Then one by one Elder Gish, Elder Lotulelei, Elder Thompson, Elder Sandstrom, Sister Ganowsky (MY COMPANION!), and then Elder Green showed up. After three hours of that class they took us to drop our stuff off, and went to a new missionary meeting, then dinner, then we went to teach  our first three investigators! Luckily it was in English with a bunch of us teaching one person. I was the first person to start talking and teaching. Then after a long and confusing half day, we went to our residence and unpack-ish and went to bed!

 

Day 2:

Breakfast, Intense 3 hour class purely in Chinese, Personal Study for an hour, Additional study, Lunch, Companion Study, Lanuage Study, PMG Workshops, dinner, more district study, and then bed!

 

Day 3:

Same as above, but that night we also taught our first investigator named Mao Xiao Jie (Ms. Mao) COMPLETELY in Chinese! It went HORRIBLE! hahahahahah we left and we were all confused (me, my comp, and Mao) and i kept mixing up bu ker qi (you're welcome) and dui bu qi (sorry!) and kept saying you're welcome to her hahahahaha NO BUENO!

 

Day 4:

After breakfast we went to our classroom and were all ready to learn some Chinese when some Tagolag teacher came down and told us that there was some girl upstair named Mao and was speaking in Chinese waiting for someone. SURPRISE! our teacher forgot to tell us that we were teaching her first thing in the morning so Sister Ganowsky and I went up and taught her again without any preparation except and desperate and hurried prayer outside of the room in which we were going to meet with her. WE KILLED IT! we did awesome! it was still a bit of a struggle, but we got her to accept the Book of Mormon, understand that we are all children of God, and commit to read the BOM. (i also gave her my Chinese BOM which apparently i wasn't supposed to do.....so now i don't have one....) The day continued with the same as day 2 schedule, but also filled with district bonding. We Love our district! Especially Elder Gish (whom i've met before...he's the cousin of my jr high friend zach gish) who is from New Hampshire, Elder Green, his comp, who is from Orem, Elder Crowell who is from North Ogden, and Elder Lotulelei who is from Reno, NV. I get along super well with Sis Ganowsky. She is from St. George and is shy and not super outgoing, but she does great with me and we get along wonderfully :) Elder Holland is also her Uncle!

 

Day 5: (sunday)

We went to the Spoken Word while the elders when to Priesthood. and Then RS where Sister Esplin (the General Primary President) spoke. She did an amazing job! We also had lunch then Sacrament with our zone which took place in about 80% Chinese. Then we had our district meeting, and branch presidency interviews, etc. We also had our Sunday Night Fireside, and then film night :) We went and saw a video of Elder Holland "Always a Missionary" I've heard parts of it before, but everytime i hear it, it is just as incredible as i remember!

 

Day 6:

Started out with Service aka. cleaning the whole residence hall (hallways, bathrooms, doorknobs, sinks, vacuuming, mopping, sweeping, etc.) Then we had classes and the usual. Then we taught Mao that night.....and SLAYED IT! We went in with the goal of me speaking less, and letting Sister G do a little more. She has a hard time reading the language outloud and speaking. I as usual babble when I'm nervous....and apparently this is still true for me in Chinese! but she read the BOM and we had her commit to pray, and taught her how. We also assigned her certain chapters to read and accidentally assigned her the chapter where Nephi cuts of Laban's head....but oh well! hahahahaha

 

Ok random things that have happened. Ppl keep asing me how long i've spoken Chinese....and i DON'T SPEAK CHINESE! hahahahaha Ppl i've seen: SISTER BOWEN! Mikey Welch, Bryce Telaroli, Dan Liufau's Bro, Brady Webb, and some others. always strange to see them!

 

Ok THis is for the Fam bam....I LOVE YOU ALL! i miss you guys and think about you everyday! i pray for you all the time and hope you are having a good time. I LOVE THE MTC!!!! oh and Lloyd took a pic of my and my comp and is going to text it to Ash hahahahahha I want you to know how much i Know that i'm supposed to be here and i don't regret anything! Don't worry about me and know that i'm very happy!

 

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love, Bu Jie Mei!

 

PS, Mum could you send me some detergent and fabric softener? oh and THANKS for the package! Can we have some cookies or something? like oatmeal raisin? or kitkat bars!? I LOVE YOU....my time is up! BYE!

--

Peace be with you, keep the Faith, and Godspeed. 

Sister Naivasha Hani Burrows

MTC Mailbox #212
TAIW-TCG 0124
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, UT 84604-1793

The Eve of.....

Well the time has come...I'm being set apart tonight, and I will enter the MTC tomorrow. It is an exciting, stressful, and scary time. Exciting because i will finally be a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and giving all my time to the Lord! Stressful because I still don't know how I'm going to pack all of the clothes and shoes I want to, so I guess I'm going to have to start nixing what I really don't have room for. And scary because I will be leaving my family to go halfway around the world (in three months) and I'm worried about leaving my family behind! However, I know that the Lord will watch over them in my absence, and we will all have more blessing because of my service. Now I'm off to finish packing and figuring out how to bring everything I WANT, even though I know i'll just be bringing everything I NEED.

Feel free to comment, but please keep it short, clean, and kind. Peace be with you all. -Sister Naivasha Hani Burrows

Dear Sister Burrows....

Dear Sister Burrows:

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Taiwan Taichung Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months.

You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, November 7, 2012. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Mandarin Chinese language.