Saturday, December 29, 2012

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
--

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

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

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

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

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

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