WEEK 2:  LOVE <3

Nimen hao family and friends!!!

Mandarin word of the day: shenme dongxi. Say it really fast: "shen-maa dong-shee." Literally translates to what the stuff but means what the heck. This is my all-time favorite word in Mandarin.

Now that you now that......SHENME DONGXI, my brother is getting married!?!? You know you are on a mission when your mom sends a letter and casually slips in the "I'm sure you have heard -- Ian proposed to Savannah."  Actually THANKS A LOT IAN. Despite my being the last person in the entire universe to find this out it doesn't change how incredibly excited and happy I am for both of you. I love y'all (that was for Savannah cuz Texas) I am so sad to miss the wedding but I hope the life-size cardboard cut-out of me makes it in ALL your wedding pics. ;)

Also I have another "shenme dongxi" story... So we were role-playing and teaching our Laoshi (teacher) as if he was actually an investigator of the church. I honestly don't remember what I was trying to say, but I look straight into his eyes and with all seriousness I say, "Wo yao ni." This quite simply translates to "I want you." HAHAHAAHA  I am trying to teach someone about Jesus and I look at them with a straight face and say I WANT YOU!! Thennnnn a couple seconds later he's like "ni yao wo?!?! Shenme dongxi?!" (You want me? What the heck?!?!) It was one of the funniest moments of my life and I could NOT pull it together for the rest of the lesson. So yeah, shenme dongxi.

Anyway, I thought I would share something a tiny bit more serious. Le topic of the day (and of life) is LOVE <3. This week love keeps coming up for me. I have been thinking about how everyone talks about love and says it everyday, but I am wondering if I am actually showing it. I was reading 1 Corinthians 13 for personal study and read verse 8- "Charity never faileth". Or as I interpret it: A little love never hurt nobody (that's a song but I don't remember the name #mishlife).  Then I read an article about what one woman's children had taught her about love. The lessons she learned were 1) everyone deserves love, 2) we're all one big family and 3) everyone believes differently. Children are the best examples of love and inclusion - it's the only way they know until they are taught to see people differently. I know these lessons seem soooo simple and it's because they are! The heart of Jesus's message is love. Why do we make it so much harder than it needs to be?

As I am working to be the kind of companion and friend I would want to have myself, I have really been trying to understand how Jesus loved & loves us. If we all love as He did while he was on earth and as he does now, no one should EVER feel lonely, left out, unappreciated or unloved. It is so easy to love those who love us and are like us, but I don't know why I limit myself to showing love to only those who fit into those categories. Not one single person thinks or believes the same as you or me.  We can find something amazing and different in everyone we meet if we let ourselves love with no limits. 

For me, it is helpful to remember that I am flawed and make mistakes everyday, but Heavenly Father is always pouring out His love regardless of anything I do (if you don't believe me wake up at 6:30 and watch the sunset- God love us lots). THAT is the kind of love I want to have for people. I found a 14-day love challenge if you wanna spread sum luv:

Day 1: show patience with someone

Day 2: overlook someone's shortcomings

Day 3: look beyond looks

Day 4: resist the impulse to categorize others

Day 5: see a situation through the other person's eyes

Day 6: forgive somebody who you feel has wronged you

Day 7: don't criticize actions or circumstances

Day 8: show mercy to someone

Day 9: give 10 minutes to really listen to somebody (I especially love this one)

Day 10: speak kindly

Day 11: express thanks to somebody either verbally or through a note

Day 12: focus on what you have in common with everyone you meet

Day 13: offer a genuine compliment

Day 14: see everyone you talk to through God's eyes

I really did not expect to feel so much peace and love being physically separated from all my loved ones and spending each day with people who were complete strangers 2 weeks ago, but in the past couple days I have been *trying* to implement a better quality of love for people & for life. Lemme tell ya, it works! I think if we just TRY, we will feel God’s love for us and that helps us keep going. Maybe this is just a gigantic email rant for myself because I need to be reminded over and over again, but if you try out the challenge or even just one day, EMAIL ME and let me know how it goes.  Actually you can email me regardless.  I really love hearing from all of you and if you need to feel love I would be happy to tell you how great you are! 

I hope everyone has a great week in civilization!!!  I wish I could hug you all.

Sending lots of love and virtual hugs. 

xoxox

Sista Armstrong / Mo Jie Mei

P.S. Picture Captions: 

1) Neature

2) Sister Clark from Sweden. She is my 4th mom (the order is #1Mom  #2 Laura  #3 Peyton)

4) Sister Woo from Korea. She is my workout bud and I LOVE HER. She makes me do (3) 1-minute 30 second planks with her AFTER we are dead from a circuit workout. #projectnotgetfat

5)  The typical mish zone pic at the temple, wo do tongbanmen (my companions)

6)  Making mini hearts how they make them in Asia - with your thumb and pointer fingers

7)  Niu You Guo -- avocado (best food on the planet!)

8)  Photo added by Jess taken by Ian:  Ian “happened” to be at the temple, needing a break from finals(??) and "bumped into" Hailey and her comps while walking to the temple. 

WEEK 1 AT THE MTC=complete!

     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.

     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!