I guess the biggest news this week is that I have been extended at the MTC an extra week! Instead of leaving on the 18th of September, with the rest of my zone, I will be leaving the 25th with the rest of the New York North bound missionaries. The NY North mission transfers are one week off of the other Mandarin speaking missions, so Elder Murray (the other missionary in my district going to NY North) and I get to chill at the MTC for another week.
I found out because a voice came over the intercom calling me down to 1M to meet with my district president. It's a little weird when they talk over the intercom, because this voice comes from the heavens and expects you to respond. (There are microphones somewhere so they can hear you talking back.) I went over, completely confused as to why I was there, and he sat me down and told me the news. He then asked if I wanted to call home to tell my family. At first I assured him I could write a letter home (sorry, parents) but he encouraged me to call. So here I was, sitting in a little room in 1M, waiting for someone to pick up the phone. When Mom heard my voice, I could tell that her missionary daughter was not who she was expecting to be calling. They had just arrived home from some event with my oldest brother Chris, who was visiting, and the phone had started ringing. Nathan told her "It's BYU calling, you probably don't want to pick that up." Oh Nathan. In any case, I'm glad she did pick up and I told her the news. I also got to say hi to Chris and Mary, which was great, and to speak some Chinese that they probably didn't understand. I loved hearing from them, and even though I want to go to the field, being in the MTC an extra week never killed anyone.
In other news, I am no longer coordinating sister! It's a little sad because it means I don't spend quite as much time with the other sisters, but ling yi fangmian (on the other hand) it means that I get a little more time in the evenings to prepare for the next day, write in my journal (I do that now, by the way), and other miscellaneous stuff.
I got to host my cousin Sister Caroline Ure as she entered the MTC this week! She is going to New Orleans, Spanish speaking and is pretty much awesome. I love how much family I have seen here in the time I have spent at the MTC. It's pretty great.
After much anticipation, our new teacher arrived this week! His name is Mu Laoshi, and he served his mission in Taipei. Also, he is a hipster. Okay, so that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. He has the glasses, the wavy-on-top hair, the old style kicks, the random interests, the special obscure drink... the list goes on. We all really enjoyed his teaching - he's pretty great.
Oh yeah, and Tuesday Devotional this week was pretty much the best. Neil A Anderson from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles* came and spoke to us. It was SO COOL to have an Apostle there to speak to us! At the beginning of the meeting Sister Stevens and I sang "Behold the Wounds in Jesus Hands" with the choir. The words invite everyone to recognize what Jesus Christ has done for us and to recognize Him as our Savior. It was pretty powerful. When Elder Anderson started speaking, he had us sing "Happy Birthday" to President Monson (he turned 85 a week ago) and he then told us what he throught the prophet would want us to hear. My favorite point he covered was when he told us to let the Lord shape our back to the burden we are given. He gave us three quotes from President Monson to illustrate this idea: "Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies," "The Lord will shape the back to carry the burden," and "When you are on the Lord's errand you are entitled to His help." I especially like that last one - as long as we do what the Lord asks of us, He will help us. On the flip side, if we are not doing what He asks, He has no obligation to do so. It brings to mind the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 82:10: "For I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."
I am grateful for the support I am getting from home and from my friends. Thank you all so much for everything you do to support missionary work, and those you know who are missionaries!
I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Sister Beer
*Apostle: For those who are not familiar with LDS terminology - we have a President at the head of our Church who runs the affairs of the Church along with his two counselors. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are the next group under them and they have specific responsibilities pertaining to running the Church as well. All of these men, however, are special witnesses of God and of Jesus Christ and testify that He Lives.
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