This week has been a little strange, since we have been the only generation of Mandarin speakers at the MTC, but that will change tomorrow with the new group coming in. We have 33 new missionaries coming, which is significantly smaller than the 50 others that came with me, and 3 of them are sisters. Since I'm Coordinating Sister, I got sheets with their names and mission assignments on them, and it has been fun to see where everyone is going. No one from this next generation will be going to NYC! I was a little surprised to see that, but I guess they have who they need for the time being. They are, however, going to Taiwan, Scotland/Ireland, several missions in Canada, and Australia. Pretty cool stuff. I'm super excited to meet the new missionaries, especially the new sisters.
This week was also a little sad. Both our teachers were replaced, and one of the members of our branch presidency was released. We are sad to see everyone go, especially our teachers. Brother Liu and Sister Han are wonderful teachers and have helped all of us so much with our Chinese and our teaching. Luckily they will still be around, teaching other classes and whatnot. Also, even though we are going to miss Brother Johnson in our branch presidency, I was surprised and pleased to find out that his replacement is none other than Brother Grimley! Brother Grimley and his wife returned six weeks ago from their call as mission president in Taipei, Taiwan. I just so happen to know their son and his family, since they were in our ward while I was in Taiwan. Actually, Sister Grimley (the younger one) was my Young Women's president for a year. When I met Brother Grimley (the older one) after District meeting he saw my tag and asked "Are you who I think you are?" We had just barely missed each other, but he met my dad during the month before my family moved back to the States. It was cool to make that connection, and I am super excited to have them be a part of our zone.
It has been great to see Elder Safsten around the MTC! I love that we are here at the same time. He's pretty fantastic, and is going to be a great missionary!
This week our elders decided to assign us superpowers. Apparently, I would make things spark. Think Jubilee from X-Men. Sister Stevens would have laser vision (because of her piercing stare) and would be able to fly uncoordinatedly. I have this image in my head of her wobbling in the air, bumping into things. A lot of things. They also decided that if we were a part of Avatar, the Last Airbender, that I would be a water-bender and Sister Stevens would be a earth-bender. Yeah... sometimes focus is hard. Don't worry, we're still learning things.
For example, yesterday Sister Stevens and I did our first door approach. It was rather nerve-wracking, since we had NO IDEA what we were doing. The lesson went well, though, and he is "coming to church" with us on Sunday. (He can't actually come to church with us since we are in the MTC.)
Sunday's Relief Society was AWESOME. For those who have never experienced/heard about MTC Relief Society, all the sisters meet together at 9:30, watch Music and the Spoken Word (there was a wonderful performance of "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" this week), then have Relief Society immediately afterwards. There is a speaker who addresses us, rather than the discussions that usually take place. Usually one of the branch or mission presidents' wives will speak to us, but this week we had the privilege of hearing from Rosemary Wixom, the General Primary President! She was wonderful, and shared some stories about missionaries she had met and the importance of our work. I also found out that she served a mission when she was younger, which was cool. One of her main messages is that Christ is love. His message is centered around love for others and around serving our fellow men. As we grow closer to Him and become more like Him, we become more charitable people. Moroni 7 talks about charity and its importance. Without charity, which is the pure love of Christ, we are nothing. She also asked us to love the children, wherever we go, and to help them know that they are children of God. Something that I have come to know more fully while at the MTC is that we are all children of God, and that He loves each of us and knows us individually. I am so happy to have this knowledge, and the peace that comes with it. He loves you, He wants you to be happy, and He has provided a plan through which we can have eternal happiness.
I have to go, but I love you all and I hope you are having a wonderful week!
我愛你們!
Sister Beer
畢姐妹
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