Delayed departure from MTC

October 16, 2017

Delayed departure from MTC

Hello, everyone! I'd like to greet you with the same greeting my sister sent me in her email today: Nee How!! Also, I'm about to leave the MTC. What the?! Here's the scoop: I still don't know the scoop. They told us our Visas didn't come a few days ago so for a period of about 24 hours, I was reassigned to the Colorado Fort Collins mission. On Friday they told us our visas were actually secured but that they weren't at the MTC yet, so back to Taiwan! We were to find out our flight plans today. BUT, the latest is that they still don't have news for us and we'll find out tomorrow at 4pm. My guess is that China will open to missionaries before we get our visas.

I just wanted to leave you with one of my little reflections from being at the MTC. I was placed into a district of a group of people I probably NEVER would have met if it weren't for the mission. All of us are so different from one another, and we all have different stories of how we ended up here. If I had seen any of these people in the halls of UVU before I came, I'm sure I would have said "hi" to them. I maybe would have talked to them a bit and sampled their personalities. But I never would have known them. I never would have seen how they could change my life. How sad would that be? I know, without a doubt, that it was no accident God placed us in a district together. We were meant to strengthen each other, teach each other, and learn from each other, and we had the ability to do it because we all brought something unique to the table. I will always smile when I remember Elder Hugg singing "Drift Away" before he departed the MTC, or when, in my mind's eye, I see Elders Allen and Riener acting out Elder Allen's plan to convert the Queen of England. (I was actually really trying to focus on learning a Chinese grammar principle when that happened, but I heard the laughs and the whoops and the chairs moving. I also saw the pictures.) I will laugh when I think of Elder Reynertson telling one of his many life-adventure stories, the way he moved his hands and his eyes lit up the room. I will remember how Sister Williams always made me feel so loved, and how Sister Sorenson always had some way to relate with every person she ever talked toElder Church and I had great conversations about Arabic and Chinese and we wrote Chinese words with Arabic letters. No one in the world but us may ever know how to read and understand our secret writing code. I will remember Elder Zueger's quiet yet powerful presence, his eye for beauty, and how he carried his camera around and captured our MTC experience like no one else could. And I will never forget my first two companions, Sister Zentz and Sister Westover, who were (literally) with me 24-7. We experienced everything together. Together we struggled in lessons and struggled to figure out how to make them better. Together we weekly planned and daily planned and set countless goals, some of which we accomplished, some of which we didn't. But when we didn't achieve a goal, together we worked to pick ourselves up and try again. Together we did laundry, fulfilled our assignment as STLs, studied, shared experiences, discussed how much we love the Gospel, and grew into better people. At least, I grew because of them. And for that I am forever grateful.\

I can't wait to go to the mission field and teach other people about Jesus Christ. I may not yet quite understand the weight of the message I have--of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and of His Atonement--and I may not ever fully understand it, but I'm beginning to. I study The Book of Mormon and other scriptures daily in search of knowledge and direction from God. I want to know the scriptures. I want to be prepared to bring people to the very source of everlasting joy, which is Christ the Lord. I am striving to become more patient, kind, diligent, and loving so that when people see me, they will see a real representative of Him. And when people meet me, they will want to know Him.

I love you all. Next time I write you, I'll be out in the FIELD! (I hope).

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