"The day starts like the rest we've seen, another carbon copy of an old routine..."
The days are blending into each other and this was probably the fastest week of my life. We hit our halfway point on Friday!! Sometimes we forget that we'll actually leave here someday. It seems like a faraway dream. But as always I'm loving it here. I constantly feel as though we have so much to learn and I'll never know enough of the language, but when all the new districts came in I was able to see how far I've come. They'll ask us questions about how to say something and I'll be like "wow, I actually know how to respond to that."
So one morning I come out of the bathroom after getting ready to go to exercise- I usually go on splits with Sister McCabe and we walk to the field- and find that she has LEFT ME. This is super against mission rules so I didn't know what to do! I was all alone since all 10 sisters in our zone had left! Plus I was locked out of my room. So I walk to the front desk all by myself to get a key and then Sister McCabe comes running into the office, super breathless and apologetic. She'd gone to the field with another sister and somehow forgotten me! It was so funny.
We were giving the first lesson to each other in Mandarin one day and I couldn't stop smiling. You know why? Because WE CAN SAY THE ENTIRE FIRST LESSON IN MANDARIN! Our pronounciation is probably terrible and we would have no idea what to say if someone asked us a question, but we can do it! It's incredible how far the Lord has brought us from when we first arrived. With more practice hopefully we can get even better.
We guessed an apostle was coming to speak to us due to the buzzing that was spreading around the MTC. Our choir director told us it would be a big night so there was all kinds of speculation about who it would be. (This is what missionaries talk about in the MTC). My guess was President Nelson and I hit it right on the money! He is amazing. Probably my favorite apostle. We sang "Praise to the Man" and it was so powerful. Our director told us all about Joseph Smith and his life, and the story of W.W. Phelps writing that song. The story is incredible. Joseph Smith was such an amazing man and prophet.
We had a lesson this week where we asked our investigator, Yu Yong Xin, (who is actually our teacher) to pray and ask the Lord if he was there. We told him that prayer was like talking to God as if you were on the phone. So he bowed his head and said "Nihao, Tianfu. (Hello, Heavenly Father)." He prayed to know if ther Lord was there. He was quiet for a really long time. Then he said "Xiexie. Zaijian. (Thank you. Goodbye)." He told us that he'd heard a voice telling him that God was there. He knew that God had answered his prayer! It was so incredible. We left the room and were just jumping up and down, so excited. It was our first lesson where our investigator had made a really big step.
If God loved our fake investigator enough to give him that answer and to let us feel the spirit in that lesson, think what God will do for our investigators in the field? God loves us and wants to hear from us. Just by praying we can receive so much strength and hope.
We also watched the Testaments one night and I cried my eyes out. I hadn't seen it in years and the end is so amazing. If you haven't seen it, it's only like an hour long. I highly recommend it!
Much love to all of you! Hope you have an amazing week!!!
Sister Daynes
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