Excerpts from Letters

1-10-15
"Thankfully, we are pretty busy during the day, because that way I don't think about home as much...I think I'm about at the point where the language teaching caught up with my knowledge so far. :( We are learning new words and I am struggling to memorize them...We had our first lesson yesterday (our 3rd day). It was rough and he didn't understand a lot of it and we couldn't understand him very well either. He is from China and only speaks Chinese. Because he is from China, he has no knowledge about God, Jesus, the Holy Ghost or even the basics about our gospel or any other Christian gospel. We tried to explain prayer to him, then asked if he would pray with us. He laughed out loud, then said he wouldn't. That was a real mental slap to the face for me. It was then that I realized that this is the real deal! Especially when we get to Taiwan; if we mess up and scare or confuse an investigator away, that's it! I look at that story as a funny learning experience and not as discouragement, though. :) Today we had to teach him again and this time we were better prepared. We planned out our lesson much better and reviewed it more thoroughly. I now have a testimony of planning with my companion and a stronger testimony of prayer!! Today we explained everything better and were actually able to pray with him! It was rusty, but we will get better. :) I hope you guys are well. ...I'll be praying for you! I have to end here now, because it's way past bedtime! I love and miss all of you!"

1-12-15
"Today was my first P-day! :D It was lots of fun and it was so nice to have a bit of a break from the routine...It was great to be able to email you and instantly let you know what was going on! We had a couple Elders leave today, which was kind of sad. I don't know them that well and it was still sad to see them go. Goodbyes are going to get harder and harder. It was pretty cool though, because when an Elder leaves the MTC, they pass on certain things to others who aren't leaving yet. So today, I got a bunch of food and candy, woo hoo! We also got Nerf guns!! :D We had a Nerf war during free time in the residence today, which was really fun and kind of reminded me of home. It was really cool to just have some pure fun and bond with some of the other Elders in our zone.

I really hope things are going well for everyone back home!"

1-14-15
"It was so good to receive a package from you!! Thank you so much! It was a huge morale boost for me! I don't think that I'm struggling here, but the care package was great.

I think that I am starting to get the routine down besides waking up at 6:30 every day. :). I haven't been able to stay asleep an entire night here yet; I keep waking up in the middle of the night 3 or 4 times per night. It's weird, I've never has this problem before. :) Maybe it's just the Spirit waking me up. :) The Spirit does keep me awake during the day, though. It's really good, but also is kind of a bummer. Sometimes because I'm really tired...My companion falls asleep during the day a lot. Whether we're in a devotional, in class, or wherever, he will fall asleep almost at least once a day. I took a picture I can send of him sleeping.

I'm happy here right now. The Spirit is so strong and it's really been strengthening my testimony. My testimony got stronger in this last week than it would in a month at home! I love the atmosphere here and how friendly everyone is. I also like the supportive nature of the people. I'm going to miss having that out in the field! ;)

It was really cool (and a little sad, too), to know that a week has already gone by. It was cool to greet new Elders and Sisters as they entered the MTC for their first day. I didn't get to receive new missionaries this week, but we will do it about our 4th week in. My branch president is really cool and nice. I look forward to getting to know him and the rest of the presidency more! Sunday was different and good. We actually had a fairly busy schedule on Sunday, but we did have a little free time. We had a great devotional and the Spirit was so strong I almost cried! I don't feel the Spirit that strongly very often, so it was really cool. Converts got up and bore their testimonies and shared some stories, which was very cool. I haven't been able to sleep during the day except for sacrament meeting. I got my sacrament nap still, hehe. :) I don't know what it is about Sacrament Meetings!

Well, I love you all and hope you are good back at home. Moroni 8:3 :)"