TWO more weeks!!!!

Ni Hao!!

 

Can you believe it, exactly TWO more weeks until I leave for Taiwan! Yay! I've just got to endure to the end of the MTC. If you want to send me anything, send it soon! I can't wait and we get our travel plans this Thursday. They say that normally they dont do layovers in San Fran. It will probably be in L.A. But I will let you know the layovers and what time they will be because I will be able to call home at the airport. So since dad will be in China, I won't be able to talk to him on the phone. Alma, I will be calling your phone most likely. Can you go over to Mom and dad's house so i can talk to mom and yeye too? Hopefully the kids can miss a little bit of school?!! This will be the only time i get to talk to them since they will be gone for the holidays. Also, what phone number will I call? I feel like you have a million numbers. Let me know. Can't wait to talk to you all!!!!! :) The MTC really is a great place. I love how strong the Spirit is here and all the teachers are really inspiring. However, I can't wait to go out into the field. I know it definitely won't be easy and that I will have a lot more challenges ahead of me, but I will actually get to teach real people and I'm so excited!

 

So last Tuesday for Devotional, Elder Michael T. Ringwood of the Seventy came and spoke. I LOVED his talk! It was on enduring to the end and it was probably one of my favorite talks! He talked about how in Preach My Gospel (PMG) on page 3 it says the the most important of the Lord's work is done in the HOME. It is within the walls of your own home. So why are we on missions if that is the most important work? In the home, we testify of Jesus Christ, we teach the importance of keeping the commandments. I liked how he said that there was a reason why Nephi went to Jerusalem to get the plates BEFORE he went to Jerusalem to find a wife. H.F. wants you to have the most maturity and strong foundation of the Gospel BEFORE the home! I really liked that analogy. This mission experience will help us learn about enduring to the end. The lessons learned will help us better do the most important work of the Lord in the home. If you endured to the end on the mission, you will come home PREPARED to endure to the end in this life. We can then teach our children how to endure to the end. We shouldn't worry about adjusting after the mission because we won't need to. You need to continue focusing on enduring to the end. He said that your parents, converts, future spouse, and H.F. will care if you endure to the end. Use your mission to help you improve so you can be the best mother/father in the home. He also quoted Pres. Hinckley, "Everything good that has happened to me since, I can trace back to the decision I made at that time." I love that because I know how much my mission will affect me after I come home. Anyways, ENDURE TO THE END! The only thing in our purpose that we haven't fully experienced yet is enduring to the end.

 

Did everyone just love conference?! I am so glad I got to watch it here at the MTC in ENGLISH before I left for Taiwan. It was probably the best weekend at the MTC. So relaxed and I was so spiritually fed. I don't have a favorite talk and I don't have much time to tell you about all the talks I liked, but I loved how there were so many talks about families! Well, to me, I thought that was one of the main themes of conference. We had a district meeting after and talked about our favorite talks. I loved how everyone had their own opinions on what they thought the main theme of conference was. This just proves how personal conference can be. We all heard different things depending on our needs. I loved how Elder Eyring talked about how while i am on my mission and serving the Lord, I can depend on the Lord to take care of my family. This brought great comfort to me, because I think about you all a lot! Hopefully you are seeing those blessings in your life. On Sunday, inbetween sessions, did you all watch the MTC/missionary special on BYU TV called "A Mighty Band of Youth"? If not, you should watch it! So cool to see how missionary work has grown in the past 6 months!!! 65,000 missionaries now!? Crazy!! I'm so grateful to be apart of this wave of missionary work! A few sisters from my zone are in it. You get to see the inside of the MTC. Watch it for FHE or something. I think the kids will love it and it will help them get excited for missionary work!

 

On sunday for devotional, they had BYU's Vocal Point come and sing for us. The whole devotional was them singing. It was so cool! They were on NBC's "The Sing Off" a few months ago. Go youtube them. They are great! Then for the film devotional, I decided to go watch Elder Holland's talk called "Missions are Forever". This one was almost just as good as "Character of Christ". So everyone, go and search for the text of Missions are Forever and read it!!!! It was so powerful and hilarious. I wish you can watch it because the way Elder Holland talked made it so funny! But the message was the best part. I don't have time to tell you much about it, so go look it up. He talked at the end about teaching with power and authority and astonish someone. Also, he talked about why missions are so hard because salvation is not a cheap experience. I think i might have mentioned that before. The road to salvation goes through Gethsamane. We can't say we are Christ's disciples without experiencing some of what He went through. Anyways, he just goes on about how you need to be obedient and how you need to give your mission everything you've got. Love Elder Holland.

 

Okay, I'm out of time. Wo ai nimen!!! Jiayou!

Sister Chao