Week 5? Already?

Week 5? Already?

Its an eternity. And I'm still not even to halfway yet (for the MTC I mean)! But I've already been here a few days shy of a month. October is creeping up on us here. I miss the fall changing the colors on the trees. I can see them from the gates of the MTC on the mountainside. But as is life, and its only two falls I will be away...or is it three?

It was a really hard week for me emotionally again. It was a rollercoaster week of ups, downs, and corkscrews. I don't like being so emotionally wrung out, but I guess I had better get used to it though, that is a mission for you. Yesterday was really hard. I have been battling discouragement and doubt and feeling unworthy to be here all week but they pequed yesterday. I ended up having a small break down with my companion about it. Once again she proved to be invaluable as a support. She has such a huge testimony its really inspiring. One of the things she said to me stuck with me particularly. She said that santan is here just as much as the holy ghost is. He knows what we are doing, and he knows who we are going to teach and who we are going to touch. She said that I must have some work cut out for me ahead, and that I must have someone important to teach because he is really hammering on me. He knows exactly where my weaknesses lie and he is really pounding on them trying to get me to give up and go home. Well I don't quit. And he isn't going to make me.

Within the next week and a half, all of the older mandarin districts will be leaving for Taiwan. It is an off feeling. Our branch will go from 70+ down to 20. We will have gone from 10 sisters to 4. We will be so lonely. But only for a week, then the new missionaries will come in. They tell us there will only be around 20 more however, still quite small. We will then be the older, more experianced, verterin MTC districts. That is an intimidating thought, I do not know enough chinese to have that happen to me. All the sisters recieved callings because of the change over.

The one bright spot of this week was the TRC. When we taught the 2nd lesson (the plan of salvation) for the first time, Sister Petersen and I were spot on. We had companionship unity and the spirit on our side. Of course there is still so far to improve on our teaching skills, but we have also made great strides. The 'investigator' was a wonderful man and he was very active in our discussion. We had even prepared little cut out peices of the plan of Salvation which we had him assemble and put in order. He seemed highly amused by that fact. I was glad, it had taken us several hours the day before to cut them out and draw them up! At the end of the lesson we commited him to baptizm. Our first. He was hesitant at the first commital. But we explained to him the importance of baptizm in his life and how the atonement applied directly to him and he readily agreed the second time. After the lesson was over the man came up and thanked us for doing such a good job. He told us that he really loved sister missionaries and he appreciated the great spirit that we brought to teaching. It was a heartening experiance.

Well that little red timer is blinking at me. I hope you all are well.
Sister Melissa Thiessen