Dear Family,
Well first off thank you so much for the package. I really liked getting the cars. I carry the Lotus Evora GT4 around with me everywhere. But yeah that's fine about the mixup with the ferrari's. Poor Stig. Well with an expensive, fast car like that, it makes sense that there is no stereo.
Well first off thank you so much for the package. I really liked getting the cars. I carry the Lotus Evora GT4 around with me everywhere. But yeah that's fine about the mixup with the ferrari's. Poor Stig. Well with an expensive, fast car like that, it makes sense that there is no stereo.
That's fine as well about the Zonas. I appreciate just getting things from home.
So about the Broadcast. It was really good. You should be able to see me. Elder Jenkins and Elder Peterson said that there was a point where you could see me. Not close up, but also not too far away. I guess my biggest things I took away from the broadcast were that first the members need to be working harder and jump onboard with the hastening to help the full time missionaries. It makes since too that the members must be more involved with missionary work because they are the key to retention of new members in the church. Us as full time missionaries are not always there for the converts and investigators, but the members are. So the investigators and converts cannot become converted to the missionaries, but rather to Christ. This is something big we are taught here. The other big thing I got was the pulling away from tracting for missionaries. It makes sense since in this world today that there is more security, more waryiness, and less likelihood to meet with strangers. I'm sure the high rises in Taiwan are pretty hard to get into if you don't live there. So that tracting doesn't work. Plus people are more nervous and wary these days to meet with complete strangers. I feel that also the Church is going to be pushing hard now over the next year of implementing techonolgy. So that can mean computers as well as tablets for missionaries. It will make for a more simpler and easier and quicker way of finding and teaching to have your area book just there on a small tablet.
I'll try to keep my eyes out for Sammy. I might see him. I don't know. There are well over 3500 missionaries at the MTC I fell. I don't know though. Just seem like so many. So Jarom might or might not be in my Branch. They split the Mandarin Branch, so I am in the new Branch 25. There is still the old 39 Branch. We will get two new districts in our Branch. If not I will still see him since all the Mandarin classes are together and also the residence hall and also basically the same schedule.
So TRC is Teaching Resource Center. Volunteers from outside the MTC come and we teach them. Most are members, some being RM's or students at BYU. Occasionally there may be a nonmember. They come for many reasons such as helping the missionaries with the language, seeking a spiritual boost for themselves by being taught by the missionaries, and so on. So it's a great time for teaching others who are not our teachers (the progressing investigators we teach are our teachers).
But so other big news and such for this last week. Ge Lao Shi (our teacher from the very first day) got married last Thursday, so he is gone for the next two weeks and we are having other teahcers substitute in until he gets back on July 6. Elder Turner and I bought little matching shoe horns (blue and pink) for him and his wife since basically the only place we can buy stuff at is the book store. They were also only 50 cents each, so we made sure to take the price tag off before we gave them to him :) We met the new mission president and his wife on Saturday night. They are very nice and he seems like he will be a really good mission president. Elder Ward is now the new district leader and I am now for the first time senion companion. The whole time I was DL Elder Turner was the senior companion. Also the MTC is the biggest cesspool for disease in the whole wide world! It's awful! Over a week ago I was sick with cold symptoms, sore throat, and such. I took medicine and by Wednesday I was better. However, in the middle of Tuesday night Elder Heaton threw up and was sick. Basically knocked out cold all of Wednesday until dinner time when he was feeling much better. Then Thursday Elder Teerlink got sick with cold symptom stuff. So he stayed back at the residence hall and rested. Then Friday night throughout the whole night Elder Peterson was throwing up. He probably threw up 6 times or so. He pretty much just slept all of Saturday and by mid afternoon was doing better. Then Saturday night Elder Oberg threw up to the extent that he was throwing up so hard that he threw up blood. Later in the night he threw up again and him and Elder Teerlink went to the hospital at 2 in the morning. They came back and said that it was GI. Then last night I threw up three times and had been sick with cold symptoms. I am feeling much better now, bout 80% or so. So now we are all wondering who will be next for tonight. :/ I really hope no one else gets it.
So some funny things my Laoshimen (teachers) told me this week. English Missionaries come to the MTC and leave understanding and knowing the Gospel. Spanish Missionaries come to the MTC and leave speaking the language. Chinese Missionaries come to the MTC and leave being humble. Then the other thing is that this past week we have memorized Joseph Smith's First Vision in Chinese. It's very important though that we pronounce things correctly and say the correct tones. For example the last line "This is my Beloved Son, Hear Him" in Chinese is "Zhe4 shi4 wo3 de Ai4zi, ting1 ta1 shuo1." Now Ai4zi is beloved son because ai4 with a dropping tone is love and zi is pulled from the word er2zi which is son. However if you say Ai3zi, whereas instead of a dropping tone its instead said with a falling rising tone, you will be saying "This is my midget, hear him"
So just a few things, especially one to clarify. I need my big Taiwan flag. It's not for my sushe room, its for our district's classroom. Our classroom is pretty pathetic and bleak. We have one little picture of Jesus and that is it. Nothing else! Of course I am not going to take that big flag with me to Taiwan. But for the time being while here at the MTC it would be nice to have to liven up our classrom a little bit. Also if you can find my Bible in Chinese characters that would be really great. Try not to get it confused with the Triple combination (BoM, PoGP, D&C). The MTC is super backordered on those. Like two generations before us didn't even get them before they left.
Also I have a few pictures too since I am borrowing a SD card reader.
Love,
Elder Dayley
