Only 1 Week Left at the MTC!

Sept. 30, 2013

Hey Mom and Dad!

Well I'm glad I was on the screen so you guys got to see me! I just sent you a ton of pictures

from this past week, so hopefully you get all those. It was definitely weird seeing myself on screen like that, haha, but it was really fun to do it. We had to practice every single morning, so I was completely exhausted, but it was so much fun. And it felt good to get out of the MTC for a little bit. And I had never been to conference or anything before like that, so it was super fun! We left the MTC at about 1, then got there, got seated according to height, rehearsed, the RS Presidency talked to us, then got a snack, and got back in our seats for the broadcast. The day went by super fast. The talks were really good too, I know you guys already watched it, but it was awesome hearing President Monson speak. And we get to watch it again this weekend (while the elders are watching the Priesthood session) so I'm excited for that. And at the end, the entire RS Presidency gave every single sister a hug! So it took a while to get out of there, but that was super nice of them. We got a few waves from the First Presidency and Elder Holland who was there as well, so it was way fun! And when I was walking back to the bus I ran into Sarah P (from BYUI), haha it was crazy. I gave her a quick hug and then had to go, but it was fun to see her.

Pictures of Sister George's trip to Salt Lake City to sing in the MTC choir
 for the General Relief Society Broadcast

Well as for the Sister Training Leaders, it doesn't matter if it's just a twosome or a trio, but we're it till we leave. Although practically all we do on Sundays is lots and lots of meetings, but that's ok. It's still fun. We went around last Monday night to visit all the sisters, and it seriously took about an hour, and one of the companionships is just really not getting along, so we're trying to help with that as best we can. And currently my zone is just made up of 3 districts, because a ton of the people that were here when I got here have left. It used to be 6 districts. I don't really know too much about infield orientation actually, I know it's practically all day Thursday, and some people have said it's amazing and others have said that it was the most boring thing ever, so I guess we'll see, haha. It's in English though, so that'll be weird.

This week's been good though! Let's see, we hosted for the first time this past week and that was so much fun! I had to host like 12 girls (normally you do 3 tops) because they were so short on Sister hosts, so anytime I walked by an Elder hosting a Sister he got me to do it instead, haha. But it was fun! All the girls were super nice and it was fun to remember when I checked in. And I saw Noelle B! (She's a friend from BYUI too). She was in a car dropping someone off and I was walking by with my girl I was hosting and we got a quick hug and then had to leave, but yeah so that was crazy! Wednesday was a crazy day just because of hosting, but it was really fun. We're doing it again this week, and it'll be our last opportunity so it'll be good!   (when they 'host', they greet the new missionaries being dropped off at the curb outside, help with their luggage and take them inside to check-in and orientation) 

Then Thursday was just amazing because I got the Reese's Puffs and my travel plans! Haha, it was a great day. The Reese's Puffs were perfect Dad! And don't worry, I figured out the milk situation. For a couple breakfasts, I just took the entire box to the cafeteria and got milk there, and there's actually a vending machine on my floor that has milk in it, so I did that too :) Haha, it was great. I've already gone through one box, I had them for breakfast a couple times, then lunch today, and then just snacking in the classroom. I also got to share some with my district because apparently they aren't just my favorite, haha. But I'm saving one box for this weekend, General Conference snacks and then breakfast on Sunday (because that's always the craziest to get food). So thank you for those! And I leave in a week and a day!

Her favorite cereal, thanks to same day delivery from Post Mart!

Sister George's Travel Itinerary

Then last night at dinner an elder friend came up to me and said there was this Taiwanese guy who wanted to talk to my companions and I because we were going to Taiwan, so we talked to him all throughout dinner, and that was super fun. He's from Taichung, but served in Taipei, and now goes to UVU, so we just talked about Taiwan. He said we are going to love it (which I already knew, haha) but he said it was an extremely hard mission, but also extremely fun. Apparently I will be hotter than I've ever been, and sweat ridiculous amounts, so that sounds fun. And he said there's lots of hiking that we can do and apparently my mission president and his wife are way nice, so I'm excited for that. It was fun to hear about it.

I'm getting a little nervous, haha not going to lie, but not too bad. I'm not nervous about being in Taiwan or anything, because I honestly probably feel most comfortable in Asia, haha, but I'm just anxious to see what it's like, because I know it'll be way different than what I was used to in Shanghai. And if my Chinese is actually as good as it needs to be to fully communicate with people, because I have a feeling MTC Chinese is different than actually talking to people on the streets in Taipei, but we'll see. I've realized I can pretty much say anything I want to say, it's just a matter of if it's in the correct tones, and if I actually get the right point across. I'm continuing to work on vocab, and just reading out of the Book of Mormon to help with tones and everything, so I'm sure it will be good.  I'm still way more excited than anything else, haha.

I hoped you liked all the pictures! I had to take some with the Reese's Puffs, so many people were jealous, haha. I loved them.

Well I love you! And I can't believe this is my last week here! Haha I'm so excited! But the time has seriously flown by! I'll try and write you a last letter this week, at least the last one from the MTC.

Love and Miss you!!

-Qiao JieMei