It's been a crazy and SUPER GOOD week!
I got to see Cameron on Saturday and it was SOOO GOOD. I've never had half an hour go faster in my whole life but it was SO GOOD to see him! Also I got to wave at Mom and Grandpa through the front windows. :) Definitely the highlight of my week!
Also our new Cantos got in this week! They're all so sweet and it's been fun watching them start learning Cantonese and also get introduced to all of our crazy zone traditions. Our whole zone is seriously so cool and I'm so glad that I get to experience the MTC with them! Speaking of, this week I officially hit my halfway point for the MTC! CRAZY. It's gone so fast!
This week my district was also selected to be the example missionaries for the incoming missionaries in People and Purpose. Basically our job was to talk to an investigator as a companionship in front of a bunch of missionaries, ask them questions about their lives, and then step back and let the new missionaries teach the investigator as a group. It was kind of funny though because none of us were nervous to talk in front of a big room of people or about the investigator or anything. The only thing any of us were nervous about was that we've never started a lesson in English before. I was worried the whole time that I was going to habitually switch into Cantonese and not realize it! We survived though and it was actually a really cool experience. :)
This week we learned that we'll be losing not one, but TWO of our teachers! (Cue the tears.) Lèih Jímuih will be studying abroad in the UK and leaves sometime next month, and Cheung Jímuih left today for a month-long trip to Hong Kong (although she'll be back just a few days before we all leave). Us Cantos are seriously blessed with the best teachers in the MTC and I'll miss them so much!
Also our devotional speaker last night was Donny Osmond, which was a wild time. He talked about "Perseverance, Obedience, Confidence, and Experience" and told us lots of stories about his life. Lots of people were freaking out, which was really funny.
In other news, I've been coming to truly love Cantonese. When I first got my mission call, I thought Canto would be pretty cool (true) and pretty hard (also true), but that was about it. Now that I'm able to speak it a little better though, I'm starting to see how beautiful it really is. Some Cantos occasionally comment on how they wish they were learning Mandarin instead just because it's much more widely spoken, but not me! I wouldn't trade Cantonese for the world now (although if you had asked me 2 weeks ago I probably would have said otherwise ;)). The tones are tough but they make the language sound so musical and I also love how conceptual Chinese is. For example, if you break down the word for "confidence" it means "self trust" and if you break down the word for "faith," it means "trust heart," which I think is so cool. We do need to trust ourselves and our abilities but even more important is trusting our hearts and trusting the Spirit, and I love how Chinese conceptualizes that. The other word that we learned this week that I really loved was "fuisam," which means "insincere" and when broken down means "grey heart." When Lèih Jímuih was teaching us about it, it was in the context of having sincere prayers and not letting our hearts be passive. Super cool imagery. :)
Our Tuesday night devotional speaker was Elder Nielson of the 70 and his wife (who are from Twin Falls, shoutout), and they talked a lot about just letting go of ourselves and putting our faith in the Lord. Elder Nielson also pulled up President Uchtdorf's talk about not sleeping through the Restoration, and it all just stood out to me so much. So often we hear the Restoration being spoken of in the past tense ("The gospel HAS been restored, the Lord HAS established his church," etc.) but the truth is that that's not entirely correct. The Restoration ISN'T over! The gospel IS BEING restored. The Lord IS ESTABLISHING His church on the earth. The Restoration is STILL HAPPENING, and we each have an amazing opportunity to be a part of it, whether we're on missions or not. Be a part of the Restoration! Don't let it pass you by. Do your part. Be invested. Be involved. And don't let your heart turn grey. :)
Much love to you all! Thank you for all you do!
Gayaùh!
Gwok Jímuih (Sister Wasden)
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