Leih hou leihdeih! Hello everyone!
First let me say I absolutely LOVE being in the MTC and being a missionary! The Spirit is so strong and the people here are amazing! I love my district (basically my class). We have 7 sisters and 2 elders and about 20 heading to Hong Kong in December. My companion is Sister Leonard and she is super awesome! I actually talked to her via Facebook before coming here and I know it's not a coincidence we were put together as companions for the next 9 weeks. The Lord has his hand in that and I'm glad he did! We work well together and think alike and she is just great!
When I arrived to the MTC, I was in class learning Cantonese within minutes! All I can say is that THE GIFT OF TONGUES IS SO REAL. I have been here for 6 days and have learned so much more than I could've imagined. Day 3 I was saying my prayers and teaching a lesson to an investigator in Cantonese. Day 4 I was bearing a simple testimony in Canotnese. Some may say I'm just really good at languages, but having learned Mandarin, I know it's the Spirit helping me along and I'm not alone in this. However, all the Mandarin I thought I had lost is coming back with is annoying since I'm speaking Cantonese, but I know it will go away and I will get the Cantonese in no time! FYI my name in Cantonese is Si Ji Muih (see gee moy (like boy but with an m)).
Tuesday through Saturday is like a normal day. It starts at 6:30am and we have personal scripture study, companion study, language study, and class a couple times a day. Obviously meals are included somewhere in there and our day ends at 10:30. It's long but I learn so much! Also, my teacher Jong Hingdaih starts class by singing a hymn in Cantonese. Surprisingly, we get our pronunciations mostly right (I think!) when singing but not so much when speaking. The power of music! Monday is Preparation Day (PDay) which I kind of like our day off. And Sunday is our day off to refocus spiritually.
Yesterday was SO spiritual. I didn't think there was one time where I didn't feel the Spirit! Sacrament meeting's topic was on obedience and the "old" Cantonese speaking elders and sisters (they left for Hong Kong this morning) sang a special arrangement of Come Thou Fount and We'll Bring the World His Truth. It's common here to say when singing We'll Bring the World His Truth, "And we ARE NOW the Lord's missionaries to bring the world His truth." I get chills every time I sing that. Relief Society's lesson was on enduring to the end and how it applies to the tree of life story. At the end we watched "Mountains to Climb" by President Henry B. Eyring and it brought tears to my eyes. Go watch this video and I promise you won't regret it! The Spirit was so strong and it touched my heart to watch it.
A bonus about the MTC: I get to have chorus back in my life! I am SO happy about that! I joined the MTC Choir and yesterday was our first rehearsal. We are singing a 7-part harmony version of "I Feel the Savior's Love" and I am so happy I get to be a part of that. Chorus and singing is my comfort from home so that was a blessing for me to have while here for the next 9 weeks.
After choir practice we had a devotional given my Chad Lewis who was a tight-end for BYU and went on to play for the Philadelphia Eagles. He gave a great message about enjoying being a missionary and even when times get hard, count your blessing! Following this, we watched a movie by Elder David A. Bednar entitled Character of Christ. Elder Bednar is my favorite and his talk was amazing. It was truly given by the Spirit. In this talked, he reminded missionaries that the Lord has called us to our specific missions for a reason. It just really touched me and made me cry. I know I am where I need to be and that the Lord called me to the China Hong Kong mission for a reason. Being here has brought me so much happiness and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now.
I love all of you and I miss you! Have a great week!
Quote of the week: "I learned that patience was far more than simply waiting for something to happen - patience required actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results didn't appear instantly or without effort" (Dieter F. Uchtdorf)
Sister Maggie Shiffert
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