HEYOOO!!! Wazzzz up wo de jia he pong you?
Day 1: My host is awesome! She's from Taiwan. She is REALLY short and tried to carry all of my bags up to my room all by herself. Whenever I tried to help she told me no. She is going to Australia.
So I met my companion. Her name is Sister Liu. She is pretty much JUST like me. We like most of the same things. She is also funsized! She's 5'0. IM TALLER THAN SOMEONE!!!! She is originally from Taiwan but moved to California. So her Chinese is REALLY GOOD! Don't know why she is not being fast tracked ... My District is amazing too!
Day 1: My host is awesome! She's from Taiwan. She is REALLY short and tried to carry all of my bags up to my room all by herself. Whenever I tried to help she told me no. She is going to Australia.
So I met my companion. Her name is Sister Liu. She is pretty much JUST like me. We like most of the same things. She is also funsized! She's 5'0. IM TALLER THAN SOMEONE!!!! She is originally from Taiwan but moved to California. So her Chinese is REALLY GOOD! Don't know why she is not being fast tracked ... My District is amazing too!
There are 3 sets of elders. SIster Liu and I are the only sisters. They are all a big ball of fun. Their Chinese isn't good at all though. Except Elder Chang who is from Taiwan as well. So the three of us help everyone else. There's Elder Williams, Elder Jane, Elder Flemmings, Elder Ludwig, Elder Booth and Elder Chang. Elder Booth is form Australia. AHHHH HELLO AUSTRALIAN ACCENT!! IT IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING IN THE WORLD! I feel like whenever he talks I am being fed chocolate on a beach in Hawaii. Ya, we make him read everything. | He is also our District Leader. |
My Zone is great too! The Zone leaders are totally outgoing and really took us under their wing. They come into our class to help us out or just see how we are doing. The sister training leaders are total SWEETHEARTS!! First time we met they gave us huge bear hugs.
People I saw: Kenzie Bindrup, Sawyer Gerring, Tom Moncur's cousin, Parker Stephens and Kimi Wood.
Day 2: This was a day to just get used to everything. I got to know sister Liu a lot better. She is really relaxed (always says wo bu guan). The thing is I am that way too. But eventually one of us makes a decision on what we need to be doing right then, what to eat and blah blah blah... (Kesha?)
Day 3: So we started this thing where we say "Shot gun swipy!" to open any door to a building. We have little key cards and you know when you want to sit in the front seat of the car you yell SHOT GUN?!?!?!? Ya well we say it to swipe our cards. Plus it’s just fun to say.
Today we actually got to workout. THEY HAVE AN INDOOR TRACK!! And as long as you leave the building with your companion you can pretty much do whatever you want. So I got to run and it was amazing! But indoor?? Ya that part is't too exciting. And from what I have heard you don't sweat during gym because it's just games. Ok ok ok - you can sweat if you want to. It's 50 minutes of gym and there are many choices as to what you want to do. Games, run, bike, weights.... all and all.... Sister Liu is a dancer so she spends most of the time stretching. We have already become SO close. AND GUESS WHAT! She will share clothes. I don't think I will ever need to borrow her clothes. But she has used my pants and I have used her toothpaste.
We also had our first lesson to an investigator. He's from China and we can't speak any English. We did REALLY well. We talked about God and prayer. We got him to pray with us and invited him to pray that night and to meet with us the next day. We were both really excited about it because all the elders who went before us said that it was really hard. Well my companion is really good with Chinese soooooo we had that advantage. And since he was from China we talked about the places where I have been in China.
Day 4: We had our 2nd lesson with our investigator. This time I could hardly understand anything that he was saying or anything that my companion was saying. She would even have to turn to me, ask if I understood and a couple of times had to translate into English. I usually got kinda what they were talking about but I couldn’t decipher what his direct question was and stuff. That got me really frustrated. My companion would sometimes turn to me and ask if I wanted to say anything. Well....I guess I didn't prepare enough because even in English I did not know what to say. So she would just go on and on. Our lessons are supposed to be 30 minutes max. But we went for over an hour. He just had question after question. Oh and he talked about BaiBai.
We agreed that for our next lesson I would do most of the talking instead of her. I don't think it's good that she is needing to translate everything for me. I am not learning that way. So instead of turning to her for help when I don't understand I will just ask the investigator to say it again and/or slow things down. And I would be the first person to answer his questions. Of course things might change according to what the Spirit tells us...but that's the plan for now. We will teach him again on Monday.
Day5: The sisters get to watch the Spoken Word every Sunday morning. It was beautiful. Relief society was good. Talked about the purpose of Relief Society and sang A LOT. Good thing I like singing hymns!!
The sacrament is all in Chinese. SO are the prayers and so are the talks. I could kind of understand the speakers. The two sisters who taught were leaving on Monday to the field. One of them was my host. ASIANS HAVE NO EXPRESSIONS WHEN THEY SPEAK!!!
I said the closing prayer. My companion said that she understood me. Whenever I say anything I ask her if she understands. She always says yes though... not sure if she is saying that to be kind. I tell her that I want to speak like a native. She told me that all I need is practice talking with a native and hearing their tones and hearing how fast they talk. So we agreed that she would talk more like if she was in Taiwan and if I don’t understand what she said she would slow it down for me and help me out. I have learned a lot of new words that way!
We went on the temple walk - which was so great. My host was so cute! She had never seen snow before coming to the MTC so whenever she gets the chance she would jump and run through the snow. SHE LOVED IT! She is just so happy all the time! She told me that she could help me out with my Chinese too. But she is leaving early tomorrow morning. DANG IT!
MOM MOM MOM!!! YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF ME!! My companion and I are in the Choir. Yes, the MTC Choir. It is so much fun! Well today was our first day of practice. The director is so energetic and tells stories. He is also a comedian. Not famous - but he made us all laugh. But he is also very uplifting. Needed that.
Oh and we are broadcast live on Tuesday night. My companion and I want to be near the front....
Day 6: PDAY!!!! I NEED THIS DAY!
I was able to workout this morning even though we have no scheduled gym time. My companion didn’t want to go to the gym - so I tried cross fit in our room. I AM A JELLO MOVING ICE CREAM ARM SLOBBY TRASHCAN MESS! I used to be able to do all of this stuff ... well I’m outta shape. I have lost muscle and gained weight. Not too much but ya know ... "FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD! IM ANXIOUS TO TRY IT!"
Oh there's another thing about my companion and I - whenever we say lyrics to a song we break out into singing and it is glorious.
Do you know what else is glorious? NOT! My bed. It is soooo uncomfortable! I want my cuddle buddy kitty back with my 4 pillows and 3 blankets...
I was able to go to the temple today though - which was great!
Ok here's one thing that sister Liu and I do not have in common. SHE HATES THE RAIN! And it was raining on the way to the temple...
People I saw: Kenzie Bindrup, Sawyer Gerring, Tom Moncur's cousin, Parker Stephens and Kimi Wood.
Day 2: This was a day to just get used to everything. I got to know sister Liu a lot better. She is really relaxed (always says wo bu guan). The thing is I am that way too. But eventually one of us makes a decision on what we need to be doing right then, what to eat and blah blah blah... (Kesha?)
Day 3: So we started this thing where we say "Shot gun swipy!" to open any door to a building. We have little key cards and you know when you want to sit in the front seat of the car you yell SHOT GUN?!?!?!? Ya well we say it to swipe our cards. Plus it’s just fun to say.
Today we actually got to workout. THEY HAVE AN INDOOR TRACK!! And as long as you leave the building with your companion you can pretty much do whatever you want. So I got to run and it was amazing! But indoor?? Ya that part is't too exciting. And from what I have heard you don't sweat during gym because it's just games. Ok ok ok - you can sweat if you want to. It's 50 minutes of gym and there are many choices as to what you want to do. Games, run, bike, weights.... all and all.... Sister Liu is a dancer so she spends most of the time stretching. We have already become SO close. AND GUESS WHAT! She will share clothes. I don't think I will ever need to borrow her clothes. But she has used my pants and I have used her toothpaste.
We also had our first lesson to an investigator. He's from China and we can't speak any English. We did REALLY well. We talked about God and prayer. We got him to pray with us and invited him to pray that night and to meet with us the next day. We were both really excited about it because all the elders who went before us said that it was really hard. Well my companion is really good with Chinese soooooo we had that advantage. And since he was from China we talked about the places where I have been in China.
Day 4: We had our 2nd lesson with our investigator. This time I could hardly understand anything that he was saying or anything that my companion was saying. She would even have to turn to me, ask if I understood and a couple of times had to translate into English. I usually got kinda what they were talking about but I couldn’t decipher what his direct question was and stuff. That got me really frustrated. My companion would sometimes turn to me and ask if I wanted to say anything. Well....I guess I didn't prepare enough because even in English I did not know what to say. So she would just go on and on. Our lessons are supposed to be 30 minutes max. But we went for over an hour. He just had question after question. Oh and he talked about BaiBai.
We agreed that for our next lesson I would do most of the talking instead of her. I don't think it's good that she is needing to translate everything for me. I am not learning that way. So instead of turning to her for help when I don't understand I will just ask the investigator to say it again and/or slow things down. And I would be the first person to answer his questions. Of course things might change according to what the Spirit tells us...but that's the plan for now. We will teach him again on Monday.
Day5: The sisters get to watch the Spoken Word every Sunday morning. It was beautiful. Relief society was good. Talked about the purpose of Relief Society and sang A LOT. Good thing I like singing hymns!!
The sacrament is all in Chinese. SO are the prayers and so are the talks. I could kind of understand the speakers. The two sisters who taught were leaving on Monday to the field. One of them was my host. ASIANS HAVE NO EXPRESSIONS WHEN THEY SPEAK!!!
I said the closing prayer. My companion said that she understood me. Whenever I say anything I ask her if she understands. She always says yes though... not sure if she is saying that to be kind. I tell her that I want to speak like a native. She told me that all I need is practice talking with a native and hearing their tones and hearing how fast they talk. So we agreed that she would talk more like if she was in Taiwan and if I don’t understand what she said she would slow it down for me and help me out. I have learned a lot of new words that way!
We went on the temple walk - which was so great. My host was so cute! She had never seen snow before coming to the MTC so whenever she gets the chance she would jump and run through the snow. SHE LOVED IT! She is just so happy all the time! She told me that she could help me out with my Chinese too. But she is leaving early tomorrow morning. DANG IT!
MOM MOM MOM!!! YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF ME!! My companion and I are in the Choir. Yes, the MTC Choir. It is so much fun! Well today was our first day of practice. The director is so energetic and tells stories. He is also a comedian. Not famous - but he made us all laugh. But he is also very uplifting. Needed that.
Oh and we are broadcast live on Tuesday night. My companion and I want to be near the front....
Day 6: PDAY!!!! I NEED THIS DAY!
I was able to workout this morning even though we have no scheduled gym time. My companion didn’t want to go to the gym - so I tried cross fit in our room. I AM A JELLO MOVING ICE CREAM ARM SLOBBY TRASHCAN MESS! I used to be able to do all of this stuff ... well I’m outta shape. I have lost muscle and gained weight. Not too much but ya know ... "FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD! IM ANXIOUS TO TRY IT!"
Oh there's another thing about my companion and I - whenever we say lyrics to a song we break out into singing and it is glorious.
Do you know what else is glorious? NOT! My bed. It is soooo uncomfortable! I want my cuddle buddy kitty back with my 4 pillows and 3 blankets...
I was able to go to the temple today though - which was great!
Ok here's one thing that sister Liu and I do not have in common. SHE HATES THE RAIN! And it was raining on the way to the temple...
Overall this place is amazing! I have met a lot of people from many different areas around the world! The food is great and there is A LOT of it! YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT buahahahaha ... I know a guy who gained 20 pounds within the first 9 days.... I got lucky with my companion. I love this gospel I know God lives I love you all I HAVE YET TO CRY!!!!! And I only felt discouraged once. Love you all! Sister Graham |