I definitely don't know enough Mandarin. But the prophet has promised us that the Lord always qualifies those He calls. We are representatives of Jesus Christ. We are His hands on the earth, and our job is to act in behalf of Him. And that's incredible. We are certainly called to His work. (Seriously, we sing Called to Serve all. the. time.)
In other news, SNOW!!!! I am seriously stunned by it. It's gorgeous. I've been walking around feeling like I'm in a movie. I'm not used to this! It feels so unreal, it's like a fantasy. We were walking to the temple on Sunday and it just came pouring down!!! Like rain, but not! It's such a blessing to get to experience it before we leave and I'm really grateful for it. My roommates probably think I'm crazy but I'm too happy to care. We are seriously in a winter wonderland and it's freezing but it's wonderful.
Thanksgiving was actually pretty great. I was pretty impressed with the cafeteria's turkey and cranberry sauce. We did a service project where we made meals for kids in need which was a lot of fun. We also watched Ephraim's Rescue, which if you've seen the movie, it certainly gave me a lot to be grateful for. (Although, as my roommate Sister McCabe said, "Happy Thanksgiving! Everybody dies)." Elder Neil L Anderson (and his 8 grandkids who were adorable) spoke to us about gratitude which was also cool. And they had a program in the evening with musical numbers and that was a lot of fun.
So I've basically become the walking dictionary for my roommates. We're all sitting here emailing and at least 3 times in the last hour they've asked me how to spell words. It happens all the time in class too. It's nice to feel useful #englishmajor
They also give me a hard time because apparently I talk in my sleep a lot. This is weird because I don't know if I ever talked in my sleep before coming to the MTC. Apparently it's a lot of mumbling, sometimes in Chinese.
I also read a story this week that stunned me: An elderly couple, Brother and Sister Smith, in their late 70s joined the church, and a year later got their patriarchal blessings. One fast and testimony meeting Brother Smith stood up in church and read from his blessing: "Brother Smith, you and your wife would've joined the church several years ago, except the missionary who was supposed to teach you the gospel decided not to go on a mission."
What?!?!?? This was such a testimony builder to me that there are people out there who need the gospel and who God prepared for me to find. I'm so excited to go to Taiwan, to do my very best, to find these people and to serve them! We leave December 6th, so it's coming up soon!
Last thing! Go onto mormon.org and click on the #LightTheWorld initiative. This is such a great program the church has put up where it gives you ideas for 25 ways to serve over 25 days and starts tomorrow, Dec 1! I love this because at a time when we have so, so much to be grateful for, we can find ways to truly serve and help others. No matter what religion you are, service is something we all love to do.
Thank you so much for all your prayers, letters and support. (And thank you for reading my absurdly long letters). It really means so much to me. Wo ai nimen!
Sister Daynes
(Deng Jie Mei)
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