I can't believe I'm already on week 7! We have two weeks and two days left till we leave!
The most exciting thing about this week was I got a new companion, Sis. Taylor! So I am no longer in a trio, though I'm still in the same room and I'm still in the same district, I just now only have one companion instead of two =] She is so great and I love her so much already! She is from Bountiful, UT and is also going to Taiwan Taichung with me! She took 2 years of Chinese at BYU and did study abroad, so she is here in the MTC on the advanced program. She's been her for the last 4 weeks doing English and learning how to teach in English, and then, in theory, she will be leaving with us in 2 weeks to go to Taiwan! I say in theory because we don't know that she will get her visa in time =[ That will be quite sad if she doesn't. Anyway, we've been having a great time so far, and I'm really enjoying being companions with her!
We also got new missionaries last Wednesday! 9 sisters and 17 elders! So great! 3 sisters are going to Taichung, the rest are going to Taipei, and the elders are going to Taichung, Taipei, Australia, New York, Singapore, and one is even going to SAN JOSE, CA! I told him he had my ideal mission call =] I would have loved to go back to San Jose, speaking Chinese, but I'm still excited for Taiwan =]]]
Investigators: They are still well, but we moved back both of their baptism dates to allow for more time to finish preparing them. Wei4 Di4 Xiong1 will be getting baptized on Saturday May 5 and Zhang1 Jie3 Mei4 will be getting baptized on Saturday May 12. We are thrilled!
This past Sunday was great too, as I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting! Every week we are given a topic and we are all to prepare a 3-5 minute talk in Chinese. Then, after the sacrament is passed, they announce who will be speaking. I knew I would be speaking as there were only 3 sisters who hadn't spoken yet, and seeing as it was the new missionaries first Sunday (and I'm not bragging by ANY means here) I just knew the branch president would be asking me to speak. And he did. So I was mentally prepared for it, but it was still nerve wracking, even though I had it all written down in front of me and had practiced it several times. He often takes notes on those who speak or give prayers, so afterwards I asked how I did and he said wonderful. He said my tones were great and there were only a few grammar errors. He also thanked me for being so prepared =] So that was fun!
We also had the MTC president, President Brown come and sit with us at dinner that night. That was a treat! He's sat with our elders several times before, but never us, and I secretly wanted him to =] We got to know him a bit better and he gave us a "scripture test". He asked where we could find scriptures on different topics, mainly all the Doctrine of Christ (which is Faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the end). I was so amazed at how much I have learned about the scriptures since getting here! That was one of my biggest weaknesses was I didn't know where to go in the scriptures to find different scriptures about different topics, but after talking with him, I realize I know much more than I thought I did =] So that was great!
I also realized this week that I've been relying too much on my companions when we teach. During the first lesson that Sis. Taylor and I taught together, I realized that too often if I don't know how to say something or I don't know what to say, I just turn to my companions and they will speak. While that is definitely a good thing, I realized how much I was doing it, and so that is something I am going to work on this week is being more prepared myself to answer investigators questions and also preparing better vocab wise. It is definitely much harder teaching with two missionaries then three!
Chinese: Definitely coming along! My new companion and I have vowed to only speak Chinese till we leave. While it's only been 1 1/2 days, we've done really well so far! It is so much easier to speak Chinese constantly when your companion is willing to do it as well! So I'm grateful for her and her example to only speak Chinese! I know the Lord will bless me as I strive to do my best!
So my mom asked me a question, and often I will just answer back to her, but I decided I'd answer this one for everyone. She asked me: "Do you ever wonder what you've gotten yourself into?" And the answer is yup, sometimes I do! It doesn't happen too frequently, but I've definitely had moments where I've said to myself, why am I here serving a mission? Why am I here spending 6+ hours a day studying Chinese and the gospel? Why am I here, away from family, friends, school, entertainment, everything? I always stop myself and I think back on the moment I decided to serve a mission and I remember. Its because I have something so great that so many people in the world don't have, and I want to share it with them. I know that knowing the gospel of Jesus Christ and applying its principles in my life has blessed me so much, and I want nothing more than to share that with others. I want others to be able to be with their families forever, and the first step to that is accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and following his example and being baptized. I know that is so true! So on those days when I wonder, what have I gotten myself into, that is what I say to myself, and then the thought goes away, and I get right back to work, even harder, so I'm better prepared to help those I meet!
One other thing. I was reading in Mosiah 14 (I think) and it was talking about the intercession of Christ. I've heard that often, and never really understood what it meant, so I decided to take some time to try to figure it out. I read all the footnotes, and the footnote scriptures footnotes until I'd read them all. I had a little bit of an idea at that point, but still wasn't sure. So, I decided to go to my Chinese Book of Mormon and see what word is used in Chinese. The word is dai4 qiu2 (I think). The dai4 is the same dai4 in dai4biao2 which means, representative, and dai4 by itself means to stand in place of. Qiu2 means to beg, so putting them together means, someone who stands in place of something/someone else and begs! And behold, I had my answer! So that was just a really cool example to me of how I can use Chinese to better understand what words mean =]
Oh, I also passed the 3 month anniversary of my car accident and collar bone surgery =] I can't believe its already been 3 months! All is well!
Well, I love you all so much! I don't know if I've said, but if you don't check my blog, you should because I believe there are some pictures up there: www.sisterbusath.blogspot.com
Thank you all for your love, support, prayers and especially letters! You don't know how much those mean to me!!!! You all are too kind!
Love, Sister Busath
MTC Box 107
Taiw-TCG 0517
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604
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