Ni hao jiating he pengyou!!
Hello family and friends!
First of all, I just got Sharon's card and Betsy's package. Thank
you so much!! I love hearing from all of you. Also, thank you Alicia and
Kristen and Cheryl Gerdy for your packages last week and Snoopla for
your letter! They were much appreciated (: It's
nice to hear dad's side of the stories too, so thanks for your letter
this week, baba!
Elder Vang left last week. We're gonna miss that lad and his vest haha
Hmm.. Where to begin.. Oh! We'll start with news first. So we got
word that our visas still haven't come yet (although if they get here in
30 days, they should be here on the 21st) so we got word that we're
getting reassigned. Our names were submitted,
the apostles will pray a bit, and we'll get word of where we're going on
thursday or friday. From the last batch of missionaries, I should be
able to email when I find out so be expecting that. Hopefully we
shouldn't be in the states for too long if everything
goes well. Honestly, I think my subconscious was preparing myself
because I'm not even bummed. I'm definitely a bit nervous to be
teaching in English, especially things more complex than "Heavenly
Father exists and He loves you!" haha. But it will definitely
be a really good experience to get my teaching skills down in English. I
may need to buy a coat and maybe some warm tights sooner than I thought
though...
I finally got to play the piano! Randomly this week some elders
wanted to do a musical number, and I'm the only one in our district who
can play the piano, so I volunteered. The first one was in sacrament with Elder
Sessions, and he sang "Have I done any good
in the world today?" and I think it turned out really good. Then the
second one we had to tryout for. I played for Elder Wimmer and his
twin (in the other mandarin zone) and they sang "I'm tryng to be like
Jesus." SOO good!! They literally have the voice
of angels, and it makes it even better that they sound exactly the same!
Oh boy. We got to perform for the sunday night devotional with all 2000
missionaries! It was super nerve racking because I think that's the
biggest audience I've played for, but it was
really cool. We were all feeling a bit fluttery before the meeting
started, so we asked if we could go in the room behind the podium (where
the speaker chills before they come in) and say a prayer. It was a
really good experience. Not to mention, I've always
wanted to see what's back there haha. We got to meet the speaker beforehand, and he asked if we were doing the musical number. We said yes,
and then he said, please invite the spirit. Umm I'm not sure if that
was mean, or he was nervous, but the pressure
was on! We went back to sit down, and I still kinda had butterflies
though, and while we were singing the opening hymn my heart was pounding
in my stomach. Luckily, we sang "Be thou humble" and one line was
something like, plead with the Lord in humility.
So I silently pleaded with the Lord to calm my nerves and let me play
like I know how to do so we can invite the spirit. The second I sat at the piano, I felt totally calm and then everything was
perfect. Sometimes Heavenly Father doesn't answer
our prayers when we want, but He will for sure answer at the perfect
time. I'm so grateful for that, and I'm really glad that He's given me
that talent that I can use to invite the spirit. I really hope
that I can use my music in Taiwan!
Also, while we were auditioning, Sister Nally (MTC president's
wife) was in charge of the tryouts so I got to meet her! I told her that
gma and gpa Sumner are my grandparents, and she was so excited to hear
that! We're going to take a picture together
this week (: I'm really glad that I've had so many connections at the
MTC. President Woodfield with grandma and grandpa Sumner, Brother Seow
with dad, Brother Averett with mom and dad, and now President and Sister
Nally with grandma and grandpa. It's been
nice to have a little piece of my family in them whenever I see them.
Speaking of family, an elder from our zone and a sister in our
district both had a grandpa die this week, so it's been a bit of a rough
one. They're doing good now, but I just hope that strengthens their
testimony of the plan of salvation even more. It's
almost a blessing to have that experience. I'm so grateful for the
knowledge that we have to comfort us during times like that.
Tongbans for life! Okay, maybe just 9 weeks
We got our zhongwen nametags this week! They're so sweet! Although I
think we're getting a new English one soon, so that will be a bit wierd haha
Our new zhongwen mingpai!!
Feng Jiemie
Yesu Jidu
houqi shengtu jiaohui
Now our investigators. What a week! I'll start with Liang jiemei.
We invited her to watch conference and she did! I'm so glad! But the
lesson went on, and it just kind of was bu hao (equivalent of no bueno).
Let's just say, the one thing that we can't
beat is other people's agency. It's so hard, but I kind of can
understand a little part of what the Savior feels like when we don't do
what we know is right. BUT. Our next lesson with her was a little
better! We had no idea where to go after that, so we
figured we'd try and invite her to serve! You have to start somewhere
right? I think she'll follow through with it, so we're moving in a good
direction.
He jiemei is doing great as always. She just takes everything in
so humbly. She also watched conference (YES!) and I think our next
lesson we're going to commit her to baptism!! She's so ready. Haha it
seems silly to be excited for my teacher who's
pretending to be a mudaoyou, but it's just so exciting! I can't imagine
what the excitement will be like when it's a real person!
We also got a new investigator, zhang dixiong (wu lao shi in real
life). He's also super accepting of everything, but he's still trying to
quit smoking. Sister Bowman promised him that if he would try and quit
smoking, she'd go off of chocolate. haha
I guess if it works, it works! We're also going to try and set a
baptismal date pretty soon though so that's exciting!
So I'm starting to become a fan of cereal, soup, or salad. Haha I
could pretty much tell you what is for lunch or dinner any day, and I'm
just a little sick of it. It's really not bad, but I've just been here
for so long! But I still enjoy ice cream
wednesdays and sundays. (: The MTC sickness has been going around again,
and I think I might have caught it. Just a little stuffy nose and loss
of voice, nothing to keep me in bed. Haha and I decided long ago that
I'm immune to all over the counter drugs,
so I'm just letting it run its course.
We had interviews with our lao shi (teacher) this week, and that
was really nice. She told me to not worry about my zhongwen, and then
shared the scripture that says pray in your closets, and the Lord will
reward you openly. I know that I'll learn it
eventually, but it's always a nice reminder to ask for help.
On friday, Sister Bowman and Meyer got to go the SLC temple because
they're foreigners (Sister Meyer is from Australia and Sis Bowman
submitted her papers in Shanghai) Lucky! I'm glad they got to go
though. Also, shout out to Joseph and Lys for their 1st
anniversary! Cheers to the happy couple. (two points to whoever can
name that movie)
Temple walk! Me and Bao JM still love Sister Olsen and Sister Johnston after all this time!
Too bad they're going to Taichung
Haha so funny moment of the day. We split up our class for wenfa
(grammar) practice, and we were with the elders in the trio and wu
dixiong was teaching. He said something was 'chabudoa' which means
almost, and then Elder Tang said 'chabs'. Hahah It
was just funny to hear English slang like totes be put into zhongwen.
And our lao shi, who is always serious, totally cracked up and still
does every time we say it. Haha ohhh zhongwen...
Luckily, the days are going by a lot faster. Once we've eaten
lunch and are in class, I can't keep track of what class block we're in,
or if we've eaten dinner yet. Haha it's rough sometimes, but it's nice
that the days are just blending together.
You would think we study all the time... :)
I finished the MEMJ this week! Of course, I had to do the Moroni
challenge, and let me tell ya, the book is true! I just know it. I've
started reading the articles of faith, all the testimonies, and Joseph
Smith History. I don't think I've ever really
read them like this, and it's actually super interesting! One thing I got from JSH
was that the church was meant to be persecuted from the beginning. But
as much as Joseph was persecuted, that doesn't change that he saw
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and that the
church is still the only true church today. That will never change, no
matter how much people persecute the church. I'm so thankful every day
to wake up and be a missionary. I can't wait to spread this gospel, and
bring its light to so many people. Thank
you for all your prayers, I know they are helping me through every
second of my day. I love you guys!
Sister Facer
Thank you, 8th grade sewing class. And to Sis. Gonzalez for the mini sewing kit!
Two sewing masterpieces!
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