MTC Day 54

Yet another eventful week. How to begin relating the most recent events which have transpired (and some old ones that I didn't stick in my last letter). I guess chronologically is probably the best way to go about things in this case. Almost two weeks ago we got new missionaries in. I don't think I wrote anything about it this past Monday because of time constraints and other material to cover. Our zone (larger than a district--ours has four districts in it; see some previous entry about that) received two new districts to replace the two districts that had just left the week before. One of the new districts is all elders, but the other has a companionship of sisters in it, Sisters Chang and Fisher. Sister Chang is from California. She's really cheery and fun. She already knew some Chinese before getting here, which is good, because Sister Fisher had a degree in Chinese (and French) and had spent a year living in China. Sister Fisher is from just outside of London. I really like both of them, and am happy to have them in our room. They don't leave until late August/early September.

As I think I probably mentioned previously, Sister Son feels insecure about her English, her familiarity with scriptures (which we rely on heavily when we teach), and her general qualified-ness to leave the MTC. I think everyone who talks to her for five minutes would probably think she was just fine to leave, but the importance self-confidence is not to be minimized. This week she ended up in a series of long interviews with an MTC supervisor. The whole thing was a bit emotionally stressful because she had to explain in rather painful detail what she's worried about and why she feels inadequate. I also sympathize with the supervisor; I mean, the MTC can't really start letting missionaries choose how long they're here, so it must be a bit of a rigorous process. Finally he presented her with a choice: July 16th (her original date), or August 26th (and switching to the other companionship of sisters). She chose August 26th. (Note: If you're wondering why the dates are so far apart, I suspect it has to do with the every-six-week changes that occur in every mission. Every six weeks, companionships may be switched around, missionaries may move to different areas, etc. For a missionary to come in the middle is probably much less convenient, but this is all just speculation). If she's waiting to leave, it's much better for her to be with the other sisters. She'd switch eventually anyway, and this way she can practice teaching in English until they switch over to Chinese. So the main gist of all this is that Sister Son is no longer in our companionship. Losing a companion is sort of like getting something amputated. You have these phantoms pangs, looking around as if she should still be there. I'm not upset about it, but it took a little getting used to again. I think having Sister Son actually helped Sister Nelson and I be more unified. Sister Son was in a difficult situation, and we got to work together to help her (we also received lots of help from her). Having someone to care for together was great for our relationship. It kind of brushed all of my silly complaints and annoyances away because it was so obvious that there were more pressing and important things to worry about. Now I just need to figure out how to keep in mind that there are always more pressing and important things to worry about, and things will be good.

We also have a new teacher. Did I mention that before? I think his name is Brother Barton (I know his Chinese name, but I don't know how to indicate the tones while typing, and you probably wouldn't know how to say it anyway). One of our other teachers left to get married, so Brother Barton came in her place. It's kind of fun, because it's like we're training him while he's training us. I like him a lot. He's really cheerful and excited about things. Even if he were complaining, I think he'd be smiling. Hopefully we can help him learn how to be a good teacher and expect good things from his missionaries.

Well, that's most of what's happened. For the MTC, it's quite a bit of change (especially considering it's so far into my time here).

I love you all!

Sister Andersen