MTC Day 33

It was a basically normal week. I'd say it was one of the more
stressful weeks in terms of my companionship. Nothing went wrong in particular, but as I've said before Sister Nelson and I are very different, and we're still figuring out how to enjoy being together 24/7. However, I'd say the worst of that is over and I think we're both getting better at being encouraging and helpful to each other. She is a great blessing to me, and probably even more so because of how much we learn together about how to be thoughtful and aware of someone else's needs.

I thought maybe I would share with you a typical day's schedule, especially for anyone who has no idea what I do with my time. Every week we basically have the same schedule. Almost every day has some unique meeting or something that only happens on that day, but you don't need to know about every one of those. I'll give you Thursday as an example:

6:30am
We need to be up by this time, every day, but on Thursdays a little earlier because we report for service at 6:30. All missionaries in the MTC spend about an hour every week cleaning, which saves a lot of money over the course of a year.

7:45
Breakfast! On Thursdays we get sack breakfast so we can take it back to our room and get ready.

8:45
We have an hour of personal Gospel study time very day. I usually split it between studying out of the Book of Mormon, and preparing for our upcoming teaching.

9:45
We also have an hour of companionship study. This is supposed to help us build companionship unity and prepare for the lessons we'll teach. We are allowed to speak English during this time if we want to (or Chinglish).

10:30
Sister Kuang teaches us for several hours most mornings. We usually get to practice teaching with another district at some point, do language study stuff, study from our missionary manual thing (Preach My Gospel).

1:00
Lunch time! This time we do eat at the cafeteria, where we may or may not be getting fat on MTC food. (I don't think my weight has changed significantly since I got here, but some people do gain quite a bit.)

1:45
MDLS--Missionary Directed Language Study (I think it's pretty self-explanatory. We do whatever we want to study Chinese.)

2:45
Weekly Planning Meeting. My district has an hour planning session every week, where we set goals and plan together. More goals. More planning.

3:45
Brother Hodges, our other teacher, teaches us most afternoons. Basically the same sort of stuff as Sister Kuang.

6:00
Dinner

6:45
Gym time (I know, having it right after dinner is a bit unfortunate). I run, go on an elliptical, play volleyball.

8:00
Missionary Directed Time (Almost like MDLS, but we don't have to study Chinese.)

9:00
Daily Planning Session, done in companionships, for the next day. Goal setting, scheduling when to get stuff done, etc.

9:30
We're back at the dorm for the night.

10:15
Quiet time. Be in the room. Quietly.

10:30
In bed.

So that's a typical day for me. They fly by, believe me.

One of my favorite things about the MTC is the "your best is enough feeling" that I get pretty much all the time. I guess there is comparing of self that goes on, but in my experience teachers don't expect all their students to excel: they just expect them to do their best. I know all the missionaries in my district have been blessed a lot as far as the language goes, but for some it definitely comes easier than for others. It's just really great that how smart you are isn't the point. If a missionary works hard, and cares about the people he teaches, and loves what he's teaching, and tries to be obedient, that's good enough. It's like the antithesis of a highly competitive academic program, because everyone's success is enhanced by everyone else's success.

Well, I must be off. My companion is a little stressed because she forgot some of her laundry at the dorm (I write during laundry), so we need to go get it. We start teaching in Chinese this week--pray for me, or at least think happy thoughts about me.

Love,
Sister Andersen