Speaking Chinese

You can't post an MP3 file on blogger.com, so this is in the form of a "video" with a still picture and sound.

A Privilege to Pay

"A privilege to pay" is part of a quote that one of the wives of our branch presidency shared with us on Sunday (the branch presidency are three men, a president and two counselors, who preside over and lead our branch of missionaries, which is also our zone). She was telling us stories about Mormon pioneers (Mormon Trek, any Iowa City-ites?), and she told us about a survivor of the Martin Handcart Company. This particular company went through some really grueling trials, in great part because they left so late in the season. When one survivor heard someone comment on their experience, part of his response was: "The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay" (as quoted by President McKay, I think). It's really quite impressive that someone would consider a journey from Iowa to Utah, much of it in winter, which killed off a good fraction of the participants, "a privilege" because it let them become acquainted with their God. Any experience I've had to date has nothing on that, but I still think that anything we go through that brings us closer to God is, in net, a privilege to experience.

This week I basically stopped speaking English. I only speak English to church leaders, sometimes MTC employees, and to translate for other missionaries (or myself, if no one is there to translate for me). Previously, my companion and I spoke English to study and plan together, but we did away with that. I think it's a really good thing, if a little tiring.

In another slightly entertaining blunder this week, one of the elders in my district related the Book of Mormon story of the Brother of Jared seeing God's toe. For anyone not familiar with the Book of Mormon stories, it's actually the divine finger that appears. My teacher did an admirable job stifling his surprised laughter. It didn't matter too much--we all know what he meant, and I suppose seeing the foot of God would also be plenty astonishing.

I leave a week from today! I have my flight plans and everything. Thank goodness visas to Taiwan aren't hard to get (unlike the countless Latin America-bound missionaries who are hanging around the MTC or shipped off to USA missions temporarily while they wait). If anyone wants to send me mail after today or tomorrow, mail it to the Taiwan address on. That's the mission office. If it comes to the MTC after I leave, it will be returned to you, not forwarded. (DearElder.com is also an option.)

Well, that's all I have time to share this week. Thank you again for your time to read about my experiences, and especially thank you to anyone praying for me.

Much love,
Sister Andersen

MTC Day 61

Hello once again, from the shadows of the something-or-other hills I greet you (I get to watch Music and the Spoken Word almost every Sunday. I think it may be affecting my speech patterns).

Well, it is my second to last week in the MTC. Barring any travel complications, I will leave Utah for Taiwan exactly two weeks from today. Any mail that comes to the MTC for me after that will be returned to sender, so start sending stuff to my address in Taiwan sometime next week. DearElder.com does same-day letter delivery at the MTC for no charge, if you really want to make sure I get something the Friday or Saturday before I leave. Also, I think mail to Taiwan takes three stamps. You can use DearElder.com for mail to Taiwan as well, but it's not same-day. It costs 94 cents, I think.

This week got started off well as we got to go clean the temple last Monday. The church has well over a hundred temples around the world, and as far as I know, all of them get closed for cleaning periodically. I spent my Monday afternoon in the temple basement, assembling new chandeliers. It was really satisfying, for several reasons: 1) chandeliers are cool; 2) you can see the fruits of your labor instantly as you clean each little piece and hang it up; 3) it's for the temple, and I love the temple.

My companion and I are participating in this progressing investigator activity. A progressing investigator is someone being taught by the missionaries who is showing their acceptance of the missionaries' message by doing things like reading the Book of Mormon, praying, attending church, etc. Missionaries invite their investigators to commit to do those things, among others; an investigator keeping his/her commitments is a progressing investigator. Anyone familiar with my life, or any other active LDS person's life, will probably notice that we do and do not do a lot of things for the sake of our faith. Willingness to act on belief is a central concept to our religion (and to many others), so unless someone is willing to do that, I suppose he/she shouldn't join this church. Anyway, so we have an MTC Chinese teacher (I mean he teaches Chinese; he's not actually a Chinese person) that we get to teach repeatedly as if he were a progressing investigator. It's really great, because we can really get to know his situation and plan our lessons around his needs. We decided that we wanted to give him a call, because in our fictional timeline we had a day that we didn't meet with him. We told the teacher, and we actually got to call him using phones in two different rooms. I was a bit terrified to speak and try to understand over the phone, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. Granted, he's not a native speaker, but I will take my small victories as they come. It wasn't a long conversation--I just answered a couple questions he had and shared a scripture that was relevant to his situation. It's interesting how much I can care about someone who's identity is sort of fictional. But then again, we are interacting with a real person, and all people have needs, including MTC teachers.

Well, I'd better get going. As always, I hope you are all well and happy. I always enjoy letters, so thank you to all those who have written.

Much love,
Sister Andersen

MTC Laundry Room

Me in the laundry room, writing letters.

Us with some of our friends, the Spanish elders (taken when Sister Son was still in our companionship). L-R, Back-Front:
-Elder Jensen, Elder Harmon, Elder Carroll, ElderChatwin
-Elder Graham, Elder Hardgrave, me
-Sister Nelson, Elder Hildreth, Sister Son

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

MTC Day 47

Wow, so many things have happened in the last week. I'll have to pick and choose... Sister Nelson, Sister Son and I are figuring out this threesome thing. Sister Son is great; I love her, and I think I love Sister Nelson even more now that we've got Sister Son. It's still complicated to coordinate everything together, but definitely worth it. One of my favorite memories of the MTC will forever be the day I had to explain to Sister Son what the phrase "Who's your daddy?" means. Our elders have delighted in their Chinese translation of the phrase. After being asked the question several times (in Chinese), Sister Son asked me why they kept asking her--after all, explaining the identity of one's father is a bit difficult. With some help from an elder, I tried to convey the idea of a triumphant sports moment or something along those lines. She has since found several useful applications for the phrase (e.g. "I don't want Satan to be my daddy"). However, her most significant contribution to my life is definitely the feeling and spirit that brings with her. She is very patient and helpful with us, and also willing to express her gratitude. I think going out of our way to thank each other for things has been the best thing yet for our companionship.

In another amusing adventure this week, one of our elders accidentally thanked God for giving us death. He was praying in Chinese, and with just a little bit of confusion over tones and consonant pronunciation, he said "death" instead of "hope." I was actually quite impressed that no one laughed mid-prayer; we managed to contain ourselves until after. Fortunately, he was equally amused by his mistake.

I reread this really great talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks (Elder Oaks is one of the apostles, a very important part of the general leadership of the LDS church. It's the same calling as that held by the apostles in Jesus' time). The talk is called "Why Do We Serve?", and it's all about our motives for giving service. He lists a few possibilities, from least to most desirable. The most desirable is charity. I've been thinking about the whole idea of being motivated by charity (defined to be the pure love of Christ). I've been thinking about it actively for about 24 hours now, and it's pretty interesting what things I do and don't say or do when I'm trying to keep that principle in mind. I think the exercise has helped me understand better why patience is so relevant to love, because really trying to be motivated by love all the time requires a lot of patience. In some ways it's easier to do one-time dramatic acts of service than it is to let sincere concern for others and God seep into every little action and thought. I think that's probably one of the more significant things I've been learning about, which is why I thought I would pass it on. If I only wrote about physical experiences or events, that wouldn't do much to reflect the most important part of my life experiences.

Well, I must be off again. Take care!

Love,
Sister Andersen

P.S. I leave the MTC July 28--exactly four weeks from today.

MTC Day 40

It has been nothing short of a very eventful week. Within the last week, the older districts of Mandarin-speaking missionaries left, I got a third companion added to my companionship (yes, gasp of surprise and, fortunately, joy), and the MTC became the site of intense mission president training.

The older missionaries leaving was sad, because I won't see most of them again. A lot are going to my mission in Taiwan, but plenty were not. Their leaving is also a clue that this week we will get new missionaries. Our zone will get two new districts of missionaries added to the two we currently have (a zone is the next organizational unit up from a district). We will get a new companionship of sisters, who will almost certainly room with us. We're pretty much all really excited to have new missionaries, and trying to think of ways to help them have a good transition to MTC life.

My new companion is Sister Son, from South Korea. Her Mandarin is already very good, as is her English. She is only going to be with us until July 16th, when she will leave for her mission at the Oakland, CA temple visitors' center. She has a really amazing story, which involves actually being baptized in China, where she was studying Chinese (so rare, because there are no missionaries there; the only people who can be baptized in China are foreigners living there). That was three years ago. She subsequently moved back to Korea, where she lived with her mother and brother. After having her visa application turned down three times, she is finally here. She is absolutely amazing, but insecure in her English and in her Gospel knowledge (familiarity with the scriptures, teaching abilities, etc.). Honestly when she teaches and shares her experiences, the feeling of the Holy Ghost is almost tangible. God teaches us truth through the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost can speak to our mind and heart in a variety of ways, including distinct thoughts, feelings of peace and joy, etc. [For anyone unfamiliar with the term "Holy Ghost", you can ask Emily's mom or look it up on lds.org if you want to understand better.] When we teach, our primary goal is to invite the Holy Ghost through our sincerity, preparation, and prayers. The idea is that we present information, but the Holy Ghost is what can actually help people recognize and understand spiritual truth, so if the Holy Ghost is not with us, the teaching will be ineffective. I love Sister Son. Learning to teach with three people, helping her catch up on lesson preparation and teaching skills, and trying to cultivate a triangular (maybe a pyramid, if you include God) companionship relationship is a bit tricky, but it teaches me a lot. I think something I've learned more recently than ever before is that when the Lord asks us to do something, he gives us extra blessings so that we'll be strong enough to do whatever it is. That's why commandments from God are blessings, because as we do our part in following them, the Lord makes us better than we could have been otherwise. That's what I think, anyway.

Oh, right, mission presidents' seminar. Basically, every mission in the world has a mission president. This man and his family live in the mission. He interviews missionaries, coordinates their training and placement, etc. This calling lasts for three years, so every year a third of the mission presidents in the world get replaced. When new mission presidents get called, they are trained for about a week by church leaders (the Twelve Apostles and First Presidency). That is this week. As you might imagine, security measures go way up, our space gets cut down a bit to make room, and staff are running around madly organizing. This afternoon, a mission president and his wife came to observe our district teaching, and to give us feedback. My companions and I taught a companionship of elders in my district as the mission president's wife observed. It was a little nerve-wracking, but over all a really great experience. We taught the elders as themselves (meaning they didn't pretend to be non-LDS church members investigating the church). We really only taught two out of the seven or so principles in the first lesson, but the Holy Ghost was very much present. The sister told us that she had felt the Spirit (another name for the Holy Ghost) more strongly then than she had since they arrived. We're not having spirituality contests, but I felt very grateful for her comment, because it indicated that we had achieved our main objective.

Well, I think that's the main news. I hope you're all well and happy!

Love,
Sister Andersen