Week 4 - MTC

Hey!
It was so great to talk to you yesterday! Happy Mother's day mom. You're the best mom ever. Other people might say that, but I'm convinced I'm right. But how cool they let us call home! You all sound great.

Congrats on finishing finals! and good luck to everyone else finishing up school. The last few weeks were always exciting. Please take full advantage of Lake Tahoe this summer in my behalf. I love that lake. Congrats to Abbey on her AP stuff. She's one impressive girl. I'm so proud of her. And Danny with driver's ed?! Are you serious?! I can't wrap my mind around that. Crazy. Tell Jack that the piano probably isn't fun now, but really is such a gift later on. I wish I could play like I used to. And not just a gift in the sense that you can play in church or it sounds nice to others, even though it is that, but I it's a gift to you too, Jack! I promise you'll miss it, so keep it up.  And yay for gardening!!! we have the best garden boxes in town. And the best dirt...sorry dad :) (Hannah and Tom - and all of us - worked hard on the garden boxes a few years ago, and we did the math wrong, and ordered alot of dirt.  We've been blaming the mathematician ever since!) I hope it goes well this summer.

Things here are just the same. We have another teacher, but she is actually from Hong Kong, so it's been nice to hear the tones from her. She's hilarious, and is actually dating one of my friends from the math program, so that was fun. I make her blush all the time by asking her about him. But she's having me memorize pi in gwong dung wa (Cantonese), so that's been  fun. She's so cute. And comes up to about my shoulder, if that. I think that's something I'll have to get used to. When I send pictures home, I'm going to look a lot bigger than I actually am, so dont be too surprised when I look like a giant.

Sister Tu'avao is our sister from Tonga in my district and she is absolutely hilarious. She is the most sassy person I have EVER met. Very blunt and honest, but one of the most loving people I have ever known. She hugs any stranger she meets and tells them how much she loves them on their first encounter haha. She calls me her twin, and is always checking up on me..."you ok tween?" My companion and her companion are always talking about boys and kissing and stuff, and it annoys her too, so that's why I'm her tween...because we have the same feelings haha. She's always copying my actions and posture (I'm trying to sit up straight dad), and when we sleep at night, she has to face the same wall as me haha. But she's great. Mom you cant take this next part out if you want, but I thought it was funny and you might think it's funny, even though it's a bit revealing haha. So we were all showering one morning, and sister adams and sister heaton were yelling across the bathroom and singing and being loud. So sister Tu'avao tells them to be quiet because they were "too noisy." I was shaving and not really paying attention. And then, I hear her shower go off, and I just assumed she was headed back to the room. But then I hear my curtain fling open, "Tween, are you ok?!" Hahaha I screamed and tried to cover up. She was just so worried and didn't think anything about seeing me in such a natural state. She's a funny girl. I love her. She has the biggest heart. I'm not sure the people in Hong Kong will know how to handle it in any other way other than accepting it haha.

Anyway, on a more serious note (a much more serious note) President Holland came and spoke to us last Tuesday. I have never heard someone speak with so much passion and intensity. Holy cow! I was about 5 rows from the pulpit, and was pushed to the back of my chair the entire hour from how powerful his words were. It was amazing! He spoke about his mission, and how it meant more to him than any mission has ever meant to anyone else. And then he said that our missions better mean just as much to us as it meant to him. I left my notes at the residence hall, so I'll just go from memory. We talked a lot about our purpose as missionaries. We invite others to come unto Christ, but you cant invite someone to a place where you haven't been. He said the problem about missions when he served was that by giving memorized lessons, the gospel and spirit would often go from the lesson, regurgitated by and over the missionary, and then to the heart of the investigator. The leadership of the church couldn't believe how many returned missionaries were falling away later on in life. He then talked about how holy and inspired Preach My Gospel is. The reason they compiled Preach My Gospel was to convert the missionary. Now the message hopefully goes through the missionary and then to the heart of the investigator. He was very direct and intense from then on. He said that not a single missionary should ever fall away from this gospel. He said, "I can't stand the thought of losing one of His (Christ's) sheep, but I can't conceive the thought of losing one of His shepherds. What kind of loyalty is that." He talked about the seriousness of missionary work, and the quality of the work expected. We dont hope our investigators will read scriptures, or hope they come to church. We show up at their door at 8 in the morning to bring them with us. We read scriptures and show them how to study. He didn't threaten us haha, but he essentially said that if we dont live up to the missionaries we are called to be or let it have the impact on our life that it should, he would be the one slitting our tires or kneeing us in the throat. But that shouldn't even compare to the fear we should have of our own conscience of being disappointed in or having regrets about our mission. Because every decision that meant anything to him later in life stemmed from his mission. Our missions will be hard, and they should be hard, because salvation isn't cheap. The road to salvation always goes through Gethsemane and Calvary. It shouldn't be easy for us, because it wasn't easy for the Savior. And as representatives as Jesus Christ, we are invited to identify with Him. We can walk at least one of those steps the Savior walked to Calvary. Salvation always costs everything. So we had better give it everything. This sounds a lot more brutal than it really was. Sorry, I'm just trying to type fast. But it was very intense and very powerful. So, I'm going to give it everything, because this is a privilege. And I dont want to get kneed in the throat ha.

And on that note, this life is a privilege, and in some sense, a mission. We should be giving it everything we got here. I need to just do a little better today than I did yesterday. Always doing my best to progress just a little. That's especially how I've been feeling with the language, and my personal characteristics I'm working on. It's kind of like dad's stock stuff...We're not looking for these huge gains. Just a little at time, and down the road we'll see how far we've come.

So...keep keeping on! Anyway, I love you all.

Hannah