Honestly, the biggest highlight this past week was learning the language. Holy cow the Lord is so amazing. In just two weeks, I have gone from barely being able to say "hello" in Chinese, to being able to bare testimony, say prayers, invite investigators to make commitments, and teach lessons without any materials or scripted-out phrases or anything! The biggest indicator of this was Sister Bernhardt and my lesson yesterday. Up until this point, we have gone into our lessons with a lot of material to help us, you know, communicate... hah But yesterday we decided to let the spirit take the reigns. We planned and prepared fully in English, and let the spirit guide our Chinese when we went into our lesson. It was our best lesson yet! Not only were we able to communicate with our investigator fully (but simply), but we were able to let him guide our lesson with his questions and thoughts, and let him feel and recognize the spirit for himself. We talked for so long that we went over time and didn't even make it through half of the material we had prepared. Better yet, we invited him to be baptized and he accepted! We have two baptismal commitments now:) Granted they are both from our "investigator" that is actually our teacher playing two different roles. haha but it still counts! ha Honestly though, I feel the hand of the Lord everyday here. Whether it is through learning the language or even being able to make my curled hair last three days, mission blessings are so real and Heavenly Father is really looking out for us!
Our MTC life is in full swing and I am loving it! We pretty much just study our lives away and are feeling the literal meaning of "butt hurt" everyday. We have three hours of study time each day that we can do personal, companion, and language study, plus teaching lessons, plus six more hours of class class on top of that. It's a lot... But it flies by, and somehow we end each night wishing there were more hours in the day to do the Lord's work. It helps that we have such good teachers and constant comic relief from our district. Yesterday, it was my turn as I tried to say my normal Micah line of "and that is my life." Me being oh so confident in the vocab I had studied that morning was convinced I could say it in Chinese and ended up saying "and that is my body." So, yep, that was a fun moment. hahah
There aren't many of us sisters in the zone, and Sister Bernhardt and I are the only ones in our district. We are pretty much the only ones that will do stuff with the Elders and so we feel like they are finally thinking of us as "the cool sisters." Granted, we are getting this title from a bunch of Harry Potter nerds so, I'm not sure how much that means. hah And their usual name for us is "mom" or "sister little hands" so it's up in the air. hah Another thing we always get a crack out of is when people come and ask for our Chinese hymn books. There are only a handful of them, so all of the classes have to share. In Chinese, hymn books are literally pronounced "suga buns." hah I don't know what the actual words are, but it's so funny when people pop in asking us if we have the "suga buns." Classic. ha
Unfortunately, the food here isn't quite as sweet sounding as our hymn books.. The food is pretty awful not going to lie, but it's whaevs. Apparently though we are supposed to cherish this food because we'll miss it when we go into the field... (insert every crying and sad face emoji ever) SO, if ya'll want to send any snackies they would be much appreciated:)
Once a week, a fast food restaurant caters the MTC. This weeks was Taco Bell. I'm just going to paint this scenario for you. Elders that are starving. Unlimited Taco Bell for dinner. Beans in digestive system. 18 year old Elders. A tiny classroom with no windows after dinner.... Let's just say I think I lost half of my brain cells from the lack of oxygen or literal poisoned air entering my body.... pray for me people.
But really, life is wonderful here. We are working hard and seeing blessings everyday. To end on a spiritual note, serving a mission is the best thing I have ever done. It is the hardest, the most tiring, and the most demanding thing, but it is so worth it. I have received many boosts of strength this week from the scriptures and words of our leaders. First, I love Philippians 4:13. It says "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Alone I could not do this mission. Alone I could not leave all of you and my schooling and career. Alone I DEFINITELY could not learn Chinese, and especially not in 9 weeks or 6 months or 18 months. But, because I have Christ and Heavenly Father on my side, I can do all of these things. What Sister Bernhardt and I have been struggling with lately is getting frustrated with ourselves. We have such high expectations of where we should be in the language and what we should be capable of doing that is truly just unrealistic. A quote from our teacher that we have grown to love and cherish is "try your best, God provides the rest." All we can do is our best. We can't expect more that that. The Lord certainly doesn't. He knows we are not capable of doing this all on our own, and He isn't asking us to do that. He is promising us that He will guide us and strengthen us and fill in the empty space that we ourselves cannot fill. We just have to trust in that, and His faith in us. This applies to both missionary work and real life. The Lord isn't asking us to be perfect, but is asking us to try our best, rely on the atonement, and keep his commandments.
In Alma, chapter 26, we learn about Ammon and his brothers while serving their mission. When in a time of need, the Lord comforted them and promised them His help. "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." Not only will He help them, but He will give them success. Success to feel the spirit. Success to learn Chinese. Success to bring others unto Christ.
I love this work. I know that I am exactly where I need to be right now. I love all of you so much and miss seeing you, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Keep in touch and don't forget about ya girl. Send me emails and packages and letters and pictures. Lots of pictures. Have such a great week, and I look forward to talking to you all in another blink of an eye!
xoxo
Sister Richards
洁美李
Lǐ Jiéměi
PICTURES:
1- Elder Driggs' mom sent us all chopsticks and we bring them to every meal hah
2- actually we suck at chopsticks
3- love seeing elder miller everyday!
4- our sweet french elders- and the one with glasses and dark hair totally knows the LeBras family (my mom's side of the family) in France, and is besties with all of these friends Anneka and I made while in France! Such a small world
5- seeing sweet Katie and Anneka at the temple:)))
6- homelessly studying at the (butt) crack of dawn - mom you can take that out if you would like. hah it is just so accurate to how we feel at 6:30am hahaha
7/8- just selfies
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