December 31, 2010

Week 6

Hey!!!!

Christmas was amazing!!! Definitely the best! I loved it!

Christmas Eve we had an amazing fireside with the MTC Presidency and their wives. They spoke about the many gifts we have been given... the gift of music, service, conversion, and the greatest gift which is Jesus Christ. After they spoke they surprised us with the great Christmas movie "Mr. Kruger's Christmas" and some kettle corn (my companion Sister Reece was so happy because it is a family tradition of hers to watch it on Christmas Eve so I was really happy for her and it was a really cute Christmas show!)

Christmas morning started with a HILARIOUS talent show.... Some Elders from Russia sang a MTC version of Lady Gaga's bad romance they titled "You Missionary Now"... Yes the even had all the crazy dance moves... it was so funny. There were also some really great Christmas performances and it was all a lot of fun!

Then, we had an amazing Devotional... Guess who came to be with us on Christmas?..... Elder Russell M. Nelson! It was amazing! He and his wife gave such an amazing talk. He told us the story of Christ's birth and talked about all the amazing symbolism behind EVERYTHING!!! It was so beautiful. He also talked about how 8 new countries were dedicated since September 1st.... Doors are truly opening for the church. He and his wife ended up spending the whole day with us... We had a fireside that evening and it was a two man performance of A Christmas Carol.... It was actually really good. Sister Okada was so happy because that is a tradition of hers so I was so happy that both of my companions had that little extra help of feeling at home on Christmas. I love them!

The next morning guess who was here... Elder Nelson and his wife... Yes we were lucky enough to spend 2 days with them. Such a blessing! Sister Wendy Nelson spoke in Relief Society and it was so so so amazing! She has the perfect balance of humor and spiritual. I felt like she truly spoke to me... It was so great!

Basically it was the best was to celebrate the birth of our Savior!

I love it here and I love you!!!! Until next week!

December 21, 2010

Week 5

Hey All!!!
It has been a great but hard week. Our district leader went home this week, which was really hard for everyone. We really miss him. He was tender to our hearts...we feel like we have a hole in our hearts...but are working hard to fill it.
We have new investigators: Chen, Vincent and Kong Li and another referral. So it is now up to 7. We are working hard to manage are time wisely but still teach our investigators well. We are figuring out what a good lesson plan is....it is a work in progress...teaching is a fine art...who knew?
I can't believe Christmas is already almost here...did that really happen? But it is so it's coming. I am excited to experience Christmas in the MTC...it will be a great but different experience. We've had a lot of devotionals and talks about Christmas over the last few weeks. We have a learned a lot about Christ and the true meaning of Christmas...I LOVE IT. One of my favorite quotes that I heard was "one of the greatest truths about Christmas is that the gift has already been given."  We wouldn't celebrate Christmas if there wasn't a Christ. I am so grateful for my Savior, Redeemer, and Friend Jesus Christ. He lives. I am so grateful for His atoning sacrifice. Remember the true meaning of Christmas and that it is not about presents, but His presence.
Merry Christmas! I love you! Until next week.

December 13, 2010

Week 4

Hi All!!!!!
 
So... everyday we have an hour of gym time. Which is a little long, since i am not the best at working out and dancing is not allowed. So i decided to start playing some volleyball. I play with missionaries from my zone. As most of you know sports aren't really my thing. But...i try anyways which makes a good time of laughter for everyone playing. So the other day I was playing an intense game of the volley. I turned to the side to talk to my companion when the elder on my side of the court decided to serve the ball. And guess where it went? Right to my face. Don't worry my companion ducked out of the way before without warning me (I love her). I fell to the ground laughing but because I cry when I laugh it just looked like i was crying. So of course all of the elders were worried (after they had all fallen to the ground and laughed for a bit as well). But the best part is they came to make sure I was OK and wanted to carry me off the court or help but they all realized they can't touch me or counsel me in anyway. So we all just sat there and laughed. the other best part is that the elders up stretching and running saw the hit so everyone knows me as the girl who got hit in the face.... Good time! 
 
Now to a good story. We were teaching one of our investigators...Liu Tai Tai. We began the lesson with some casual chit chat. Which lead to this question: Do you sister have boyfriends in America? We had no idea what she was asking. When it finally clicked we just laughed and had no idea how to respond. We tried to say later or after the mission. But then the question came...what do American boys like? Once again we didn't know what she was asking and didn't know how to answer. All we could stay was we are still learning. At the end, after the closing prayer she told us we should pray for God to give us boyfriends! YEP! It was hilarious!  
 
Our next lesson with Liu Tai Tai went much better. We had asked her to pray but she wouldn't. We finally realized she didn't know who she was praying to so she was scared to pray. Because she was raised Buddhist her concept of God was completely different from ours. She didn't know that we have a loving Heavenly Father. She only knew multiple gods who you worship. We decided to share with her Alma 18: 24-34. Which talks about Ammon teaching King Lamoni about who God is and about heaven and the creation and how we are created in his image. The spirit was SO strong. We all knew that she felt it too. We then read the remainder of the verses about how Ammon said that he was sent from God as a messenger. She then related that to us. She knew the love of God. She knew that God had sent us to her. She asked us why he hadn't sent us sooner...It broke our hearts. We didn't know the words to try to explain it. All we could say is that we were both being prepared. This made me realize how important it is for people to know that God loves them. They need to feel Gods love for them personally... It was AMAZING!
 
It's been a great week. Sister Okada turned 22...we surprised her with the BEST gift ever...yep from the MTC bookstore...we were creative. I love you all.
 
Until next week!

December 6, 2010

Week 3

HI!
 
oh ni hao!
 
so funny story the other day my companions and i had to go to sister Reeces' dentist appointment. quite and exciting time it was really weird to be out of the mtc and still in Utah. while we were driving back we were in this huge van bronze color to be exact and there was this interesting smell i was in the back seat. the driver ya know wasn't taking the turns too well. and i dont' know if you know this but i tend to get car sick so I had to move to shot gun. when we got back to the mtc it hit me and i ran to bathroom and THREW UP. of course i had to push about 6 elders out of the way just to get to the toilette...quite a good time.
 
so this week just has been a great one. there a little thing called gym time where i pretend to work out. So that means i started to play volley ball and most of you know that i am scared of the ball. so i am basically horrible. but we get a good laugh every time. and since i don't really work out then my companions and i started to do work outs classes in the morning for the sisters. we did step with is basically fake dancing. which i was so excited about since they wont' let me dance here at the MTC.
 
Chinese is slowly coming along and by that i mean VERY VERY VERY slowly. Um i started doing colors for tones to try to memorize them (this is where singing lessons would have really helped because i cannot control my vocal cords at all). we started learning characters and they are beautiful. But we just make up funny people in the characters to remember them. so it is a good laugh everyday. which reminds me my companions and i are pretty crazy and the snorting is kinda getting out of hand. we are working on it.
 
I absolutely loved the program that I am in. it is truly inspired. it amazes me how not only we were picked as companions but how we were picked as a district. My teachers are so amazing. And you can tell how much they love and care for us and our success. We might be driving them crazy, but we are not sure...ok kinda sure. In fact we had teacher interviews and I balled through mine...but only because i was having a hard time with the language. And he shared some really great spiritual guidance for me. But it was kinda funny.
 
We met our new investigators. And we LOVE them. There is Liu Tai Tai. She is a girl. She is a mom. A mother of three. And she is amazing. We taught her about how influential mothers can be with their children. And we taught her how to pray. And were able to show the picture of Mary teaching Jesus to pray. She started tearing up. And we could feel that she was feeling the spirit. She just love her children so much and wants to be happy. Gao DiXiong is our other investigator. He is a bit older. And recently lost his wife. He's only been in America for 2 months and he has a daughter here is Provo. And she is prego!!!  He is Christian and knows about the Bible...so we are focusing on the Book Of Mormon and getting to know him better. And we are adding in the Plan of Salvation soon enough. We took a member with us to the last lesson and it was SO fun to see him light up. It was so fun to see him as he was happy to speak to someone who actually spoke Chinese. He went to church this Sunday so I am really excited to see how it went. We LOVE OUR INVESTIGATORS.
 
So we do a little thing every morning called personal study for an hour. And it is amazing. I have been learning so much form the scriptures and Preach My Gospel. Because of this opportunity to study i have been able to look at the scriptures with new eyes. The Lord has really opened the scriptures up for me. And I am so grateful for that.
 
So Sister Julie Beck came and talked to us on Tues for the Devotional. And she had people who kn3ew her stand up in the beginning. And of course I was too nervous because the first elder from our zone stood up and she did not know who he was and it was AWKWARD. But i went up and talked to her afterward and she said such great things about our family. She shared a beautiful message with us and brings such a loving spirit with her.
 
I love the MTC. I love my companions. I love my district. I love my zone. I love my teachers. I love the investigators. I feel ok about the food. But most of all I love the service and feeling so close to the Lord. We are truly blessed as missionaries. Love you all!  Until next week!

November 29, 2010

Week 2

HEY!!! How goes it? So the mission is amazing and I'm loving every minute of it! The language is hard but slowly coming along... It's actually really beautiful and i kinda feel like I'm singing haha I still love my comps. We have so much fun together but yet we're really serious. We have the most amazing companionship study. We end up crying every time and the spirit is so amazing. I'm learning so much and I LOVE it!!! My district is amazing the Elders are so funny and nice and actually pretty mature haha so it's great! Last week we met a lady in the temple from Taiwan and she got our address and sent us some of her family names so today we were able to do their temple work.. it was so amazing. Even though I didn't know the person I honestly felt a connection and excitement for her and that her husband was able to have his work done at the same time... It really was beautiful. (I'm trying not to overuse amazing and beautiful but that basically describes it!) So a little update on our investigator... I think he thinks we're crazy... Last week we were teaching him about the first vision and since our vocabulary is still pretty small ( I can pray and bear my testimony and teach in chinglish) we decided to sing the hymn "Joseph Smiths First Prayer" to him... in Mandarin... the singing was horrible but the spirit was so strong and I could tell that he loved it. He's praying and reading the Book of Mormon so it's coming along and I just love him. We get 2 new investigators tomorrow so I'm really excited! Now to the best part.... Thanksgiving! This was honestly the best thanksgiving I've ever had... We had a devotional in the morning and we kinda new an apostle would be coming so I was getting a little excited... while we were singing "Because I have been given much" Elder Holland walked in... I started to cry... the spirit was so strong. He is so amazing and his talk was so powerful. I wish I could write it all... He talked about the Atonement in such an amazing and beautiful way. He expressed how important it was for us as missionaries to know why we're serving. He said that we were given our calls in the pre-existence and that this has always been in our plans. He told us to "cowboy up and get to work". He said that the Savior had to complete the Atonement alone so we would never be alone and that we need to serve with all our might so the Savior doesn't have to do the work alone. So powerful and such an answer to my prayers! I love Elder Holland and I love the Savior so much for what He did for me! I'm so grateful for Him and the Fathers plan!

November 22, 2010

Week 1

Hey! How is everyone? The MTC is awesome! I love love love it! I love my companions! There's Sister Reece from Arizona and Sister Okada from Wyoming. We all click instantly and we really balance each other out. Mandarin is both harder and easier than I thought it would be... the tones are crazy hard and me being tone deaf doesn't help at all (maybe I should have continued singing lessons...) but the structure of the sentences are pretty easy... The scariest part of the first day was when I walked into class and the teacher would only speak Mandarin and kept trying to tell me my Chinese name and what to do and I just stared at her for like 5 minutes but my new name is not Sister Bray it's Song Jiemei which means absolutely beautiful... JK it really has no meaning it's just a popular last name from Chinese dynasty haha but I love it! So I'm actually part of a really cool pilot program here at the MTC. There's only 4 districts doing it in the MTC and we are the only Mandarin district so I feel extremely blessed. The main difference is we teach an investigator everyday... let me repeat... we teach an investigator in Mandarin everyday... yep this started on Thursday when I knew maybe 10 words with the wrong tones haha but it is so awesome. His name is Xia Guang We. He is from China and he is here studying medicine. He has a wife and a daughter back in China and he is waiting for them to come here... He is so cool and I can just feel the Lords love for him every time we teach him. I loved that we had to just jump into Mandarin and into teaching. It really helps so much to have someone to focus on and gives me even more motivation to learn the language fast so I can talk to him and get to know him better! Basically I'm loving the mission so much! Yesterday was so spiritual and amazing... I would write more but I'm almost out of time! I love you all!!!!