I did it and it was surprisingly not hard at all! haha I'll try to recap everything as best I can! This week was probably the longest week of my life. I'm pretty sure I did more "things" in 7 days than I did in the past three months at home, but it was soo good! When I arrived, I was greeted by my host who took me to my room where I dumped off my luggage. Then I went to my first class and met my little district - A.K.A the people I spend 6 hours a day struggling through Mandarin lessons with. Our Laoshi (pronounced lau-sure), our teacher, started spitting fire with the Zhongwen (Chinese). And only Zhongwen. Oh, and I also have a Zhongwen name and I love it: it’s Mo with a 4th tone, so say it like you're yelling "No!" but Mo. No one can tell me the meaning of it, but it's great. So the lesson went on for two hours. I have never been so confused in my life while simultaneously being so excited knowing that MAYBE someday I would understand him :')
The lesson was finally almost over and everyone's companions had arrived except mine. Of course! And then right before dinner she got there. I will try to make the long story short - here it goes: My companion, Sister Behrends, found out her Zhongwen name was Pi with a 2nd tone (pronounced Pee!). She apparently wasn't a fan and I was trying so hard not to laugh. But she was legitimately annoyed with it. So that was strike one. Then Laoshi started asking her the questions in Zhongwen that we had been going over prior to her arrival, and she almost cried. I felt so bad but also couldn't help her because what do I know?? Haha Anyway, we spent Thursday and Friday morning as companions and had a lot of fun and I really loved her, but the Mandarin was super overwhelming for her. On Friday afternoon she pulled me out of class and said she couldn't do this. She told me she had dated a guy whom she was ENGAGED to after he knew she was leaving (?!?) and he was going to wait for her to get back to be married. Buuuut he broke it off two days before she left for the MTC. So: Foreign language + being named Sister Pee + a broken engagement=Sister Behrends going home. It was very stressful because I missed 3 hours of Mandarin class time to go help her figure stuff out, but I had no room to complain. Lesson learned: missions are NOT for everyone and that is 100% okay.
Anyway, I now have two other companions so we are a tri-panionship (not my favorite word). My companions are great. Their names are Lei Jie Mei (Sister Thunder- awesome, I know) and Liang Jie Mei (Sister Light). (Jie Me means sister) I have so much fun with them and feel really lucky to have such great companions. They are so easy to get along with and let me be weird. Mandarin lesson: My companions = Wo de tongban men (sorry I don't know how to type tones). Pronounced (woah-duh-tongbaannn-mun)
What else? The food! The much anticipated review of the food. Pretty
much all you need to know is that I have eaten more wraps and bananas in
this past week than in my entire life. And if I'm feeling really craaazzzyyyy
I'll eat some cantaloupe. I feel like I went from being a very high
maintenance person in terms of food and life in general (fam & laura can
back me up with this one) to no maintenance at all within 4 hours so you
could say positive changes are taking place zai MTC. (zai = at the)
To Dad, Ian, Peyton and any guys reading this - I recently discovered the greatest invention. This kid was snoring in front of me during conference and it looked so uncomfortable because his neck was flopped over to one side. But when he finally woke up I noticed--no joke--he had a BLOW UP TIE. I am not kidding, there was an inflation hole like on a beach ball on the back side of his tie and it was possibly the greatest thing I have ever seen. You just inflate it, put it over your shoulder and you are set to conquer any meeting. (Mom, I am serious when I say you need to find them and order them for the guys. hehe)
I am having a really, really good time here and it's only been a week. Everyone I have met is so kind and friendly. I love saying "ni hao" to random people and hearing them say “hi” back in a different language. I have decided that the MTC is like a mini earth -- all different cultures and languages in a super small area.
I think the greatest lesson I have learned so far is humility. I have always relied on myself to get things done, but I am realizing that that can only get me so far. When Laura and I first became friends she told me to "offer it up to God" when I would get annoyed. That has turned out to be my motto. I can get so frustrated with myself not remembering a word or how to say something in Mandarin, but it really helps to remember that I will learn what I need to in time and according to God's will. It is also crucial to have humility in my companionship. I have been thinking about how easy it is to find fault in other people if we want to. We can pick apart the little things that are annoying and let that define how we see that person. But I have been thinking about how that shows a fault in myself/ourselves more than anything. People are incredible! We really don't know everything going on in someone's life that makes them "the way they are" or that would explain certain things they do. Good news is we don't need to know it all to be kind! What I am learning is that it is MY problem if I find fault in others so readily. I have been trying to simply love people regardless of anything they do. Christ was and is a really good example of this- he loved and loves all people and it has been really easy to see that and feel that being here this past week.
To Dad, Ian, Peyton and any guys reading this - I recently discovered the greatest invention. This kid was snoring in front of me during conference and it looked so uncomfortable because his neck was flopped over to one side. But when he finally woke up I noticed--no joke--he had a BLOW UP TIE. I am not kidding, there was an inflation hole like on a beach ball on the back side of his tie and it was possibly the greatest thing I have ever seen. You just inflate it, put it over your shoulder and you are set to conquer any meeting. (Mom, I am serious when I say you need to find them and order them for the guys. hehe)
I am having a really, really good time here and it's only been a week. Everyone I have met is so kind and friendly. I love saying "ni hao" to random people and hearing them say “hi” back in a different language. I have decided that the MTC is like a mini earth -- all different cultures and languages in a super small area.
I think the greatest lesson I have learned so far is humility. I have always relied on myself to get things done, but I am realizing that that can only get me so far. When Laura and I first became friends she told me to "offer it up to God" when I would get annoyed. That has turned out to be my motto. I can get so frustrated with myself not remembering a word or how to say something in Mandarin, but it really helps to remember that I will learn what I need to in time and according to God's will. It is also crucial to have humility in my companionship. I have been thinking about how easy it is to find fault in other people if we want to. We can pick apart the little things that are annoying and let that define how we see that person. But I have been thinking about how that shows a fault in myself/ourselves more than anything. People are incredible! We really don't know everything going on in someone's life that makes them "the way they are" or that would explain certain things they do. Good news is we don't need to know it all to be kind! What I am learning is that it is MY problem if I find fault in others so readily. I have been trying to simply love people regardless of anything they do. Christ was and is a really good example of this- he loved and loves all people and it has been really easy to see that and feel that being here this past week.
I miss you all soo much and think of you every day. I can't tell you
how much I appreciate your emails and support. I LOVE YOU!!
LOVES,
Mo Jie Me
P.S.. Dearelder.com is the best thing! Anyone can send emails and they are printed and given to me the same day!!! I love it and I love all the emails you guys have been sending. Peyton, thank you so much for taking care of Nollie and cooking for the padres. I knew you would <3
P.S.S. Thank you, thank you, thank you Teresa McDermott for creating my blog!!
P.S.S.S. Enjoy the photos below!
LOVES,
Mo Jie Me
P.S.. Dearelder.com is the best thing! Anyone can send emails and they are printed and given to me the same day!!! I love it and I love all the emails you guys have been sending. Peyton, thank you so much for taking care of Nollie and cooking for the padres. I knew you would <3
P.S.S. Thank you, thank you, thank you Teresa McDermott for creating my blog!!
P.S.S.S. Enjoy the photos below!