Nǐ hǎo sweet friends and fam,
Well, I'm a third of the way done with the MTC and that is honestly frightening because I feel like I have so so much to learn. hah Chinese wise, it is coming. Slowly but surely. Ask me anything relating to Jesus and I got you. Ask me anything about real life or things not related to the gospel and I know nothing. haha Taiwan is going to go great...
My highlights for this week start out with TRC. This is where missionaries teach a few short lessons to investigators (real and fake) in our mission language. Sister Bernhardt and I taught an elderly guy that had served in our mission many years before, and a real investigator from Taiwan! It was really cool to use our language with people other than our normal investigators, teachers, and district. We both saw so many miracles while teaching these people, and felt the gift of tongues working through us! It still surprises me every time we go into teach a lesson, and Chinese comes out of my mouth. At the end of teaching, they give you an evaluation of how you did. Sis B and I were both happy to see that our lessons had gone well, and though our Chinese is still beginner, they could still feel the spirit. In our short lessons, we talked about our Savior and His Atonement. Even though they both were pretty familiar with these things, it was so nice to be able to share a truth that we all know. And don't we all need a reminder sometimes? I loved TRC, and already am looking forward to teaching on Saturday again!
Our district has gotten so so close this past week! We got matching shirts, do pretty much everything together, and have gotten in the habit of exercising together. We all took a turn this week leading our district in a workout, and let's just say, Sister Bernhardt and I kicked everyone's butts. hah The exercise levels in our district range quite a bit, but by the end of the week, a few of our elders were saying "We aren't going to Elder Driggs anymore for workouts, we are going to the sisters!" I wish I had a picture of us leading our elders in our squat sequence. haha I have never heard so many grown boys complain or whine so much. They'll thank us later;) Also such a funny thing this week. Our teacher Brother Griffin (who just got home from Taibei a month ago) was telling us how all the Taiwanese girls love American Elders. He said "They'll fall in love with you just because you're white." Right then Elder Kaufusi chimes in "I'm brown"- we all look over and he is wearing chemistry goggles and just grinning like a kid and we all busted out laughing. hahaha sweet kid.
One of the best parts of this week/my whole MTC experience was our Sunday night devotional. The Nashville Tribute Band came and performed for us and the choir got to participate in some of the numbers. HOLY COW it was unreal. At first glance I was pumped because I was like "Oh sweet country music!" Because disclaimer "no music" is SO HARD. So, I was excited to hear what this was and how this country music band was allowed to come and play to us here in spiritual prison. Ok, now this is when you all go and look up "The Nashville Tribute Band" because they are AWESOME. They are literally a bunch of dads that love the gospel that got together and formed a band. They got to share the strongest testimonies of the restoration, of Joseph Smith, of our Savior, and mission work through song! I obviously LOVED IT. It was so powerful to be reminded of the strong testimony that I have in each of these things, and be able to sing about it. I love music so much and the powerful spirit it can bring! Also go listen to the song- the hardest thing I ever loved to do. Now imagine this. We listened to the band play this song, and then he invited us to sing it WITH him after that. We were all wrecked. I don't think there was a dry eye in the whole room. It was actually so tender to get back together with our district after and to see all of our Elders with puffy eyes. "Allergy season" - as they all said ha!
Our devotional last night was so good too. Elder Juan A. Uceda of the 70 came and spoke to us, and it definitely pulled on all of our heartstrings. He shared with us his conversion story and the influence of the missionaries on him. What stood out to me the most was his message about faith. Faith is truly what sends us out on missions. Faith in our Savior, in His Atonement, and in this gospel. Faith that the Lord will qualify us to His work and will help us to learn what we need to learn, say what we need to say, and bring his children unto Him. Elder Uceda said "Leave the idea behind that you are not good enough, and exercise faith in Christ who has the power to change you." We are not perfect, but Christ does not expect us to be. He knows we are weak and that we make mistakes. We are 18 and 19 year olds for crying out loud. But, He has called US to his work. And He won't leave us stranded. We need to have faith in ourselves, and as we do this, the Lord will be able to work through each of us to accomplish His work.
I love it here and it really is just getting better and better! Time is flying and people are coming and leaving like crazy. We said bye to about half of our zone the other day, and today we have a bunch of newbies coming in! Plus so excited to welcome in so many friends this week!
I hope all of you are doing well and have a wonderful week! also send me dear elders or letters so I can respond to you all during the week
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