Xili Xili Xili!!

Fambly!

Missionaries love the temple cafeteria. I went this morning and got waffles. Everyone loves it so much! I do love it so much. Tori remember Nicole Brown from EFY so long ago? She remembered me and she remembered when we did AUNT AGITHA!!!! Crazy. She said she has a bunch of pics of us on fb. She is going to Japan and I saw her in the cafeteria. 

I love the temple mainly. Okay let me say nothing is more romantic to me these days than a temple sealing (it's like a chick flick missionary style) but in all reverent honesty nothing is better. Think about it! The promised blessings and just knowing that a wife gives herself to her husband and her husband to God. It's so beautiful to me. And the promise of being with your spouse and family forever. PLEASE never do anything that will prevent a temple marriage. It's so important and you will be hindering so many joys and blessings!

Cool news! I can email whoever I want so pass that little maily mail email around! They changed that for all missionaries and you have an hour and 30 mins. (so they say).

I love you 100% and never any less. Hugs and kisses (xoxoxoxo) through the web.

Mom you angel! Thank you for the stamp! Mom I love you so much. When I go to teach investigators I think of you and your strong 16-year old self who met with the missionaries and used faith and acted to know the truth. I'm so excited to help others the way they helped you. Love you mama.

Mam: Elder Bean says thank you!

Subject quote: Okay so here is the thing. Mandarin is a tricky language but it's great. I really love it so much and I've come to realize that I can speak it! Let me tell you what I can do at this point: I can greet people at morning and night, I can bare my testimony, I can pray, I can teach the first and second lesson (not the greatest but I can teach the doctrine), I can scold people, call people angels, and then some random things. So basically I can be a missionary and speak MTC mandarin decently. HOWEVER there are times when I just can't figure out to say the words and that happened when I was teaching our mu dao you (investigator). I was telling her how we came to this earth to experience sorrow and joy so that we can grow and progress. I asked her if she felt that she had grown from the joy and sorrow in her life. She looked so confused and kept saying "xili?" and was so puzzled. And I would say yes "xili"! She still looked really confused and then I kept teaching and then apparently the investigator (who was my teacher) figured it out and said "xile" which is the real word for joy. Xili means baptism and so I was basically asking her about her baptism that never happened. She thought it was so funny that she broke character and just started laughing. It was pretty funny I guess. That's the funny stuff that happens in the MTC! The humor is crazy!

Family! 1. I love being a missionary and can see now why people would say that they were a little jealous of missionaries. It's hard work that is no lie, but what greater work than to work alongside the Godhead to teach our brothas and sistas eternal truths! 

2. I love you all and I can feel your prayers (EVERYONE). I mean it. When I was set apart I remember President Noble blessed me that I would be able to feel them and I had never thought of that as a blessing before, but I tell you now I am thankful he blessed me with that and I can feel it. THANK YOU! xoxo

So remember how I was trying to have charity the last week (shout out to Mar. San. (you know who you are) for giving me those scriptures. You inspired me to do the same thing with other attributes and subjects so now when I study the scriptures I compile them into my patience, faith, baptism, and Atonement archives). <--- This is a good thing to do when you study the scriptures because it helps you really STUDY them and you are able to have scriptures to go to when you want to study a subject. Simple knowledge but just restating it. Well this is what happened. I was praying so hard to really love my companion and to make our companionship better. I talked to her about all I was feeling in Comp. Inventory and when I was talking to her, something just changed in me. It was the strangest thing. I was just looking at her and I just loved her and yes I was frustrated at how our companionship was going but it was okay because I loved and respected her and I really felt that. God answers prayers. He answers them in so many ways and that is how he answered mine. I think he softened my heart and made me less of a scrooge or something but I'm so thankful that happened because it has been a lot better now! I think I also just wanted her to understand what I wanted to do as a missionary and just where I was coming from and what this mission was to me. People just want to be understood! Take the time to listen to people. REALLY listen to them. The highlight of my week is Sunday when we are able to watch Music and The Spoken Word (watch it too! it's sososo good). Last Sunday the thought was about listening to people and REALLY listening to them. It talked about this deaf girl that is a famous drummer. Super-neat. And she says she feels with her whole self. Her body and her legs. Listening is more than hearing. It's turning your heart and attention to someone and giving your all to understand them. I hope I can always do that because I’m a missionary!! I need to listen to people's needs so I may be able to better help them. Since I’m a missionary and I love it I also think like one a lot. And that's a lot like the spirit. To really listen to the spirit we need to turn our attention away from other things and try with our all to listen.

TENDER MERCIES EXIST!!!! The tender mercies this week. 1. corn-dogs for lunch!! (there were more but this is really all I can think of) Don't be blind to the Lord's tender mercies

I love Sundays so much because during Relief society a sister gets to tell her conversion story and it's always so great to hear. Also, we sing in mandarin and have to give 3 min talks in mandarin. I'll have to give one in about 3 weeks (yahooo)!!!)

Okay time is short. I love you all. TRC started and I loved it. Guess who was there? ETHER TAM! I've seen so many familiar faces in the MTC and I'm so grateful for that. Okay, really cool, so in the TRC I was able to teach a NONMEMBER FROM TAIWAN!!!! Usually it is a member, but this member daughter brought her mom! Amazing! I loved it. ! She used so many words I didn't know and MTC mandarin is DEF not real life Taiwanese mandarin but my companion and I explained to her the Plan of Salvation and how we can be Gods if we live righteously. I love the plan. She gave us her number and said she is going back to Taiwan but wants to learn more and that she is in my mission! I don't know about area but you know miracles happen. My first contact. xoxo gossip girl

Okay the last thing I want to do is talk about Christ because I love him and he's my number one. These days and forever. Easter is this week (right? my brain really is scrambled) and what better time to think of our Savior. I feel so privileged and blessed to be able to go to Taiwan. This is why. there are hardly any Christians there. There are so many sweet, sweet people who don't know who Christ is AT ALL. How lucky and blessed am I to be able to introduce them to someone who knows them so well and someone who loves them so immensely. I want to cry about it every time I think about it. I feel so blessed. I want to testify of my Savoir. It's in my soul and it burns. It's a burning desire to share what I know and feel about Him because I want others to feel the love, support, and joy too. Oh man oh man. Look up the lyrics to "Savoir Redeemer of my Soul" PLEASE. Those lyrics say exactly how I have been feeling since I came to the MTC. It is through my savior where i gain strength and I find so much comfort in knowing he went before me. He went before ALL of us! He knows us and you want to know what is even more beautiful? You knew him before we came to earth. We probably gave him some good fives and talked about heavenly things and hugged him a lot. And what is so great is you can know him in this life. You knew him before and so please take the time to know him now. He hasn't forgotten any of us. I know that he lives and he was resurrected and that only through his amazing sacrifice of TRUE CHARITY are we able to make it back into the arms of our loving father in heaven. The last verse of the song I mentioned states" Chasten my soul till I shall be in perfect harmony with thee. Make me more worthy of they love, and fit me for the life above" Oh my heart!! this is how I feel family. The wonderful thing is we are all worthy of the saviors love because his love is unconditional. He gives it to us freely, but lets all try to be WORTHY of it. When we come to understand his love for us I feel that it makes us want to do so much more and be so much better.  I want to be more worthy of the Saviors love and that is why I am here. I am here to serve Him and the Lord. Oh man oh man how lucky am I to be part of this work. I know with all my heart it is true. It's not easy, but there is joy in the work.

Remember our Savior always please

I was always told that a mission is the most selfless time of your life. This is how I see it. A mission is between God and I. Only I and God know how much effort I put in and how hard I work but here is the thing. It's BETWEEN God and me but it's ABOUT others. It's not about me. It's about me serving whoever I can and serving them with all my heart. A mission is about love and service but you get to work alongside God. How wonderful! Life is good!

xxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxox

and Jamison. xoxo
Happy Easter
Bu Jie Mei

Sisters in Zion

The District

 

 

Join The District

Jiating (family)!

I'm a sister missionary at the MTC and I LOVE it and I EMBRACE it! JOY IN THE MTC

Shenme hao erzhi (What's good son?)

First off let me say I'm the luckiest girl in the MTC. I feel the love! Three packages and all the letters! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO Forever and ever! This shout out also goes out to all the friends( Ellie,Rebecca Lopez, Marcel, Madsie, Cecil L. Samulson, Anna, Tara Bear, and AB loves to you all) that have written me too. My heart melts every time. The first week was really hard for me and your love, words, and support helped me so much. KNOW THAT YOU WERE THE WIND BENEATH MY WINGS! Really, I thank you all so much. <3

SHOUT OUTS:
Tina! I'm so sorry!!! Hahahaha. ROFLS AND SYRUP! Happy 14th not 12! My brain is completely scrambled I can hardly remember anything right. The MTC does crazy things to your mind. I can't even think of life outside of the Empty sea. When I walked to the health center or when I walk to the temple It's strange because I've walked that path so many times, but it's different now because my mind is completely focused on this glorious work
Father! Thank you for the letters and the advice you are giving me. I take each thing you say to heart and it seems that what you tell me is JUST  what I need to hear to make my day better. And the ROC book! I love it! It smelled like China! I can't wait to tell my diqu (district) facts about the book. And i love that you gave me contraban. Silly string and a squirt gun?? Oh you want me to live on the edge. Look out for this sister.
Mother! You angel. I loved the bread. I share most of my treats with the district because I love them so much and they just gobbled it up! Thank you Thank you! And the St. Patty's day card was so good!Also cool thing. The day I got your package I woke up and hoped for my water bottle and highlighters. Lo that afternoon i got your package!!! You are so in-tuned!!!

Grandma and Grandpa! You angles thank you for the card. I saw that card in Smiths the other day and hoped I would one day get one like it and you made that possible! So much love!
Tori! Congrats!!!! Man sissy you made it in! Congrats you chemistry genie! Follow your dreams sissy. You know what to do. Do what feels right. xoxo to the end.
Alex! So your papers are in now??? Brother. I can't wait to give you advice and hear what'll happen!

THE SUBJECT QUOTE:
Okay, so I love my phrases that I love to say. For the first week I would go around and say " Ni shi tianshi" Which means you are an angel. Literally an angel like Moroni appearing you Joseph Smith. I was really getting a kick out of if! These are the jokes that are funny in the MTC! And hopefully to you because it's good. Whenever anyone was sweet (which is basically all the sisters all the time) I'd say it. I however expanded my vocabulary and moved on to bigger and better things. I have been trying to find joy in everything. Joy in the companion. Joy in the MTC. Joy in the zone and most of all JOY IN THE DISTRICT! So apparently my Utah accent is rally coming out or my English is becoming slaughtered by mandarin because everyone thought I was saying "join the district"! How funny! So everyone around me thinks I want everyone to join my district. I'm trying to recruit. Well now that filming is done they moved us to 7m aka Asian Nation because all the Asian languages are there. I'm so glad to be around more mandarin speakers.

THE LIFE:
I can't believe I forgot to tell you I'm a movie star and what happened my first day in the Empty Sea! Picture this. I'm pumped and feeling good to be a missionary and I walk into my classroom. BAM cameras everywhere! I thought this was a normal thing so I went with it! The MTC development team was filming my district because they wanted to see how their teaching was. It was actually great because they put us in this really nice room. It was the 5th floor of the Spanish building so we had a great view and everyone would say "hola" to us and be extremely surprised when we said "ni hao" back. So for the past two weeks they film our class when this certain teacher teaches. On Monday they filmed us one on one and there were bright lights everywhere and I got my own personal microphone! So watch out! I might be in the District 4: Join the District. Not really. It's for the new teachers so they might take clips of what they filmed and put it for the new teachers to watch. Pretty cool. So If I decide to teach I could watch myself possibly. There should be a picture of Sister Graham and I in the room with cameras.

The Koreans have landed in my hall and they are so funny! I can't wait to be all around Asians. They are 1. loud 2. love candy 3. love when you tell them you love them in Korean or speak ANY Korean to them. I showed them the straw glasses and they freaked out and screamed a lot because they really love them.

There's so much I want to tell you all but there just isn't the time!

So there was a Spanish speaking elder that Sister G and I would teach Mandarin to, well he was on his way to SLC to do visa stuff on the train and he saw an Asian sitting there so he said hello and Book of Mormon in mandarin ( the two words we taught him) it started a conversation and he gave her a BOM! How cool!

For St. Patty’s Day I wore all green and my shamrock necklace. Gotta support the holidays. It was funny to see all the green in the MTC and only 1 missionary is going to Ireland. They had him stand up in the Devotional.

Okay so  life in the MTC is this --> I have my badge and i love it. I love this life. It's hard but wonderful because of the work that I'm doing. I'm so grateful to be here and I have felt closer to God and Christ than I ever have in my life and it has only been two weeks. Amazing. I have a swipey card and I have to swipe into every buildings. We pray over our food before we eat and pray everywhere in the halls. That is just the life of the MTC. I like to wake up at 6:30! It is not hard at all for me but the days are just exhausting. I actually wake up at 6 automatically every morning. Going to bed at 1030 is the hard part because I want to talk to people and write in my journal. but strict obedience. Already I have been trying to go to bed at 10:30 like we should and it's amazing how much different I feel. It's only a 15 min difference of what I would normally do but through strict obedience miracles happen and it's such a little thing but it's real. I love the food. It's just like the cannon center but they have fruit, wraps, salads, and then mainly chicken stuff. I usually get salads wraps and cookies. I love the cookies o_o. We are now teaching two investigators who are my teachers and I'm super excited for that I love my laoshi (teachers). The girls around me are angels. The struggle right now is my companion (of course) . I love her but it's hard to have her as a companion because like I said she is very 19 and in a different mindset. She isn't very focused and she is kind of wild. It's just hard when I want to study and be on time and she is just fooling around and lollygags. We've been late twice for our teacher and I hate that because I feel so bad and I'm really trying to be strictly obedient, but she is great and I know God put us together for a reason. This is my companion 1. She loves to talk and tell stories 2. She likes to talk in voices and quote movies all the time 3. she is from Texas and California 4. she likes to be very natural with her products. She washes her hair with baking soda and uses hemp stuff and coconut oil, she also puts moss on her face (okay jk but i can see her doing that) 4. She lights up when she talks 5. she gets back pains but has such a good positive attitude 6. She is friendly to everytone7 she is understanding 8. she wears the vibram 5 finger shoes 9. She has the voice of an angel. It's like a southern Baptist voice 11. She is 5'6 blond cutie 12. She loves the Lord 13. She has a hole in her foot she likes to put her earring in so obv. We are a pair. We are actually pretty similar and I see a lot of me in her. She interrupts people a lot and That is one of my bad habits and so now I'm really trying to kick it because I know how it feels now.... I love her though and can't wait to strengthen our companionship.

Okay, I quickly want to end with this thought. Today in the temple I was thinking about why God does all that he does for us. It's because he loves us! he loves us all so much! That is why we have this gospel. That is why we are here. That is why he sent Jesus to atone for us and why he made this plan for us. He wants us to grow and progress and be the best we can. I feel like a lot of people ask why things are sometimes. We need to always remember God loves us and hold on to that conviction. If we do then they whys don't become such a bother because we know what happens, happens out of love. I just think of mom and dad and all they do for us and they love they give us and the love of family and friends. Why do you do the things for the people you love? Because you care and that's why God does everything he does for us.

The gospel is so true!! Read JSH of the First Vision! I’ll write you a letter about what I was thinking of it. It's so good. The gospel is true. Never forget because you knew it! You knew it in the premortal life! Heck you knew Christ so come to know him now in this life. It'll be familiar.

Love you all to the ends
axoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoz
Bu Jiemei

Brought to you by MTC Productions

Let's learn Chinese

Home away from home

I don't think Taiwan knows what they are in for

Sisters

Join the district

Saying good-bye to her favorite window

"You ban together to eat cereal"

FAMBLY!!

Oh my heart. Yo sup. It's my first pee day! It should actually be poo day because I was just in the health clinic and they told me I need to get a stool sample and put it in a vile and then mix it up and give it to them. It's for my visa. Sorry, that's probably not the first thing you thought you would hear but that is how my day has been so far! I'm just doing laundry right now and then i will go to the temple. Yahoedehoe!

First off, TINA HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Everyone give Tina the biggest hug for me. I love you Bombeena and you are now 12 so live it up! I hope you like Young Womens. It's pretty fun stuff. I hope you have a good birthday sweet pea.

Now, I made it. You guys I survived the first week and if I'm honest I didn't know if I would. The Empty Sea is hard stuff. Mandarin is the biggest kick in the pants that I have ever received, but I'm kicking that toned lanuguage right back. It was actually really neat. Yesterday I truly and sincerely experienced the blessings of the Gift of Tongues.I was so grateful!! I was speaking correctly and I could communicate what I wanted to say. I couldn't say everything the way I wanted to say it but  I could communicate and I could understand. And oh what a feeling that was!! It was pure joy. Yesterday was the first day that I acutally loved the MTC. I hadn't loved it until then. It's funny because it's not good days or bad days, but it's good hours and bad hours. Emotions are crazy, but I'm so grateful to be here. I'm truly starting to catch the spirit of the MTC and realize my calling. I was thinking about the Mantle of The Lord and I can feel it. I feel the responsibilities that I now have, but I don't feel alone and I don't feel like I can't accomplish these responibilites because God is so near! It's the strangest neatest feeling to feel this way.

You're all dying to hear about my companion and district. Well don't worry we get there.

If I could describe the Empty Sea I would describe it as the strangest place. It's totes 50 shades of cray man. It's funny how just praying in the middle of the halls with your companion is a normal thing. Oh the questions, so no we do not have one big prayer over the food but we do individual ones. I'm senior comp right now (just because of my name) and so I have to remind my companion to do that but I usually forget I'm getting better. Also, you can't say "you guys" I'm bad at that but I'm trying to fix it. Also Sister Emma Canfield was two doors down from me! She just left for Georgia this morning. My other two roommates left too. They are going to Taipei and were here for 13 weeks. Yikes!
And my friend Lucy Taylor is on my floor. She is the one in the picture with the sun behind us.

MOM! Do you recognize that boy?? He is BRANDON BEAN! Elder Bean is my district leader! Your student! Isn't that great. I'm so happy about my district they are finally opening up. There are 5 boys and then my comp and I. One elder is white but lived in Shanghei and one is from an island by Fiji. Super fun. Find joy in the district! I really have. They give me joy.

Okay so this email is all over the place. I write the main events on sticky notes and then put them in my journal so I don't forget what happened that day because it is suppeer cray cray how the days blur together.
So the quote in the subjuct. So funny. Everything is a weird funny here because you need to be missionary funny. So our zone decided to get together during dinner and clean out all the fruti tooties and dinococo ceral (it's like chocolate pebbles). So basically everyone ate a bowl of ceral but some of the elders ate  7. ((warning my typing is going to go to the dogs because there is no time)!!!) And we did it! We cleaned out all the ceral! They are kind of in these dispensers like the bulk candy in Macy's. Anyways a worker came over and he was kind of mad and he siad "you can't ban together to eat ceral!) it was just super funny to thing of us gather to do that but that's what we did.

I have tianshi (angels) in my zone. I have been going around calling everyone angels. I'm pretty sure that word means literal angels so it's super funny to me, but the older girls have helped me out a lot and i'm so grateful. I can't wait for the new missionaries to come in in 3 weeks so I can be a tianshi to them and help them, becuase it's tough. Friday my tongban (companion) and I had to teach an investagator in mandarin and it was tough, but on Saturday we got him to pray with us and he promised to pray that night and we gave him a pamphlet so it was pretty successful! It's just hard because he asks questions and I don't really know what he is asking. It is really humbling learning a languate and I feel it, but I know without a doubt that I can do this as long as I am obedient and relying on the Lord. I LOVE OUR HEAVENLY FATHER! You guys!!! LOVE YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER! HE GIVES US SO MUCH!

Okay so my comp is from Texas. She likes to fist pump in the air when people talk about Texas. She is the one in the picture in front of the temple. The other picture is my district minus elder bean. So she is 19 and she is definitely 19 and I am definitely NOT 19 if you get what I mean so that is a little hard, but I'm trying to love her. She is very nice and she loves to sing. It was alot of fun when we were doing our service project becaue we were just singing hymns as we cleaned the railings in the gym. So many snot rockets. She has the voice of an angel. Let me quickly say music is such a blessing! I have been singing so much here. I really missed singing! I'm doing choir too and tonight there is supposed to be a special guest!!! (((GUESSES ANYONE))) And she is kind of hippieish so that is awesome becuase you know me. I kind of love that stuff. We are similar in a lot of ways. God really knows what he is doing. She is very friendly and easy gonig so I have a good time with her. I know the words to chinese and she knows how to say them well so we make a good companionship

Also I see Valeria all the time and love it!

Oh also Mam remember the Tengs? I called you when I was on a date with him? Well his dad is my 2nd councilor!! Crazy huh! Also we are in the spanish building so it's funny when people say hola and I say zai jian because that's my language!

AHH I have to go!

I love you all so much. This week away has really shown me that and has made my love for you all grow! Send me Dearelders! I''m a baby and I need them! I love you all!
xoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Wo ai jiating (famlily) he nimen (you all)!
 I have so many funny stories but no time to tell you!!!
Bu Jiemei

With companion from TX

The District

Elder Bean

Bu Jie Mei

Officially A Missionary

Tonight, Amanda Burr became Sister Amanda Burr! She is so excited to enter the MTC tomorrow afternoon.