Letter 7

Ni hao! Wo ai nimen! Wo hen kuaile zai MTC yinwei wo yao chu Taiwan chuanjiao!

 

I LEAVE IN TWO WEEKS! How exciting is that?! I really can't imagine what it is going to be like there, and my Chinese is certainly not ready, but I could not be more excited! I know that is where the Lord wants me, and maybe someday I'll know why He trusts me with such an important work. TWO WEEKS!!! Hehehe... You know you are all excited too. I shall soon leave the wonderful but monotonous life of the MTC and head to a teeny little island with over 25 million people. Blazes. Well, let me tell you some cool things I learned this week.

 

Steven B. Allen came to our Sunday Fireside and showed us a bunch of old LDS commercial clips. Most of them were great frazzled hair ones from the 70's with ultra cheesy one-liners, but he linked each one to us and our mission. However, for the sake of all reading this, let's apply it to everyone so you don't all get bored.

 

"Sometimes the most important thing you can share is yourself. Give them your time"

This was shown by parents sometimes putting off the little things (like reading a book or playing a game) with their children, but eventually taking that special time to be with them and realizing how important it is. The memories playing with children or spending time with someone in need will far outweigh that one time you did that one ultra important thing... what was it again? Oh right... you don't remember because years later it ended up not being important :) People want YOU. The greatest gift Christ gave was Himself, and we can all learn from that by serving others.

 

"The people in your heart can't hear what's in your heart, if you love them let them know everyday"

I loved this one so much! It was a man talking on the phone to his daughter in front of everyone at work, and he didn't want them to hear him say "I love you" back to her. Sometimes we automatically think, oh that person knows I love them, no need to say it. However, that's silly talk. I realize I don't do this enough either, so Mom, Dad, family, I LOVE YOU all so much!!! Missionary work relates to marriage in so many ways when it comes to having a companion. As missionaries, we need to tell each other the good things we do, help each other realize we are loved, and encourage each other to be the best we can by words and actions. I'm not married, duh, but same goes to a husband and wife I'd presume. What a sad thing not to tell the one you love that you love them with your whole heart! We need to cherish all the people in our lives.

 

"People become the labels you put on them"

This one sounds simple, but can have such great meaning. One elder here always says, "There is good inside every single person. If we don't believe they can change, who will?" They will become who we see them as. If you see them as negative, then they feel they have met your expecations. Why change? If it's positive, they feel hope, and their desire to become  better will increase. I know this is true! It takes time, but is one of the most rewarding things in life. True change is possible. True change is do-able! It all starts with a little bit of faith. Read Alma 32. See others with faith and hope and they will do the same.

 

There were more, but that's all the time I have for today. Mom, Dad, I'm so excited that you both want to SERVE A MISSION! I think that would be such a wonderful blessing to each of you and am pumped that you are preparing now to go when the time comes :) I'm so happy for you! I promise the blessings far outweigh the sacrifices and I'm not even to the field yet. I have such a strong testimony for how important missionary work is and how wonderful it is to bring others happiness and joy. There is no better feeling! (Except maybe cuddling on the couch with you Momma and watching a movie, but don't tell anyone I said that haha) This week has been ultra hard, but ultra rewarding at the same time! I had a dream that I climbed a tree here, fell off, and broke my legs and couldnt go to Taiwan for another 2 months. Don't worry, all tree climbing has since ceased and I am being super obedient. No more trees for me. Not that I climbed any before........ :) Tell Rachelle I got her package, and THANK YOU SO MUCHHHHHH!!!! All the chocolate and beef jerky are gone, but boy it was good. Thank you both so much, what an aweosme family I have! I love the pictures you send from your kids and cherish them! I truly LOVE LOVE the quilt and sleep with it and cuddle it and think you did a PERFECT job with the colors and size and everything. I love it so much! Thank you :) You are all in my prayers, every single one of you, every day! I love you and so does Heavenly Father. Remember that when times get hard. I wish you enough

 

Love always!

Sister Smart

Letter 6

Well dear family,

 

It's your favorite day of the week! Haha kidding kidding... kind of... You better love Tuesdays cause you get to hear from me. Haha anyways. I only have 3 weeks left here. UNREAL. I feel like I have learned so much this last week. I don't have much time do to a silly computer malfunction, but let me tell you some cool things.

 

The Lord answers prayers. I have always known this, but this week have seen it take a whole new meaning.  One of my companions has been severely struggling the whole time at the MTC. However, this week she turned to the Lord, started to read the Book of Mormon, and is starting to recognize her purpose here as a missionary. She still has some work to do, but I know the Lord will help her progress and become the missionary she wants to be. The Lord will not take away our agency, but as soon as we awknoledge we need Him and want His direction in our lives, He immediately steps in and helps carry that burden. When we recognize we are weak without Him (Ether 12:27) He then makes us strong and gives us the strength needed to continue. I love seeing the principles we teach everyday as part of the Gospel take place in the lives of real people! I know this Gospel blesses families and cannot wait to go to Taiwan and share that love, hope, and happiness with everyone I meet! My goodness gracious. Sometimes I think I'm so happy I might explode... but then I rethink that because it would be really messy and gross. Instead I just smile a lot! I hope you all do too!

 

My pregnancy is going well. Haha. If we still calling Chinese my baby, I'd say it''s definitely growing, but not ready to pop yet. This analogy is getting really weird... Pretend I didn't say that. Chinese is going well haha! I am awful at it most the time, except when we are in a lesson. We work and prepare, but Heavenly Father makes it really happen when He allows the Spirit to be there. I keep reminding myself that I could only say Ni Hao 6 weeks ago. It's like climbing a really cool tall mountain. Right now I'm at that first little rest stop. I look down and see that I have indeed begun climbing, but there are still miles and miles left to climb. It's all worth it though once you see that view from the top! I love you all so much and will write more next week! I love getting your emails/pictures/letters/anything! Thank you so much!

 

OH before I forget, one favor. Pretty please go watch a 3 minute little video on lds.org. Even if you are not religious, I think you'll love it. Go to LDS.org, click on Mormon Messages, go through the pages until you see "Mens hearts failing them'' and watch it! It is that perfect little boost to help you through hard times. I watch it often here and thought some of you may enjoy it :)

 

Love you all so much!

Sister Smart

Letter 5

Helllo hello!

You are probably with Andrew right now, tell him I say hello and I love him! Tell everyone Hi and that I love them! Also, be on the look out for a letter from me! hehehe. Keri sent me a dear elder! That was so awesome, and Angie, Shari, Tracy, and YOU all sent me letters! Oh how loved I am haha. It is so nice getting letters from people. I know everyone is so busy though so dont feel bad when people dont have time. No worries at all!

Answers from your last email

-MTC furnishes all those things and I didnt bring my own since I never sleep with a pillow anyways

-I am so healthy its ridiculous! I drink those everyday and havent gotten sick, even when my companion does. It is almost shocking

-The food is quite good! Its harder not eating gluten, but they always serve rice if the main meal has it. I only cheat every once in a while for their brownie cookies. They are to die for. I dont do it often though, and I dont feel any stomach pain after, so thats good. Anyone who complains about MTC food is a whiner haha. They do wonderfully for feeding thousands of missionaries 3 times a day

-Yes, I gave those tapes back.

-And your tape recorder, I dont know where it is, sorry! Last I saw was on your clothes thing in your room. What in the world is that called..... a dresser! Yes on your dresser. Hope you find it!

My days are pretty busy, but I enjoy them none the less. And it was awesome to be on the same time you were! I GOT SO EXCITED! hahaha,  Im glad you enjoyed hearing about the typical day at the good old MTC. Most of them are exactly like that, just in different orders. 5 weeks down, only 4 to go! I leave for Taiwan in less than a month. Unreal! Send me a picture of you in your new skirt! I love pictures. I should have brought more, but I love love having that family book to look at all the time. Ive shown it to many people, along with the drawings sent to me by nieces and nephews hehe. I love it! We cant print pictures here anymore, but Ill figure out a way to send you some once I get to Taiwan. Well nothing too out of the ordinary happened this week. Scripture study, chinese study, Scripture study in Chinese, chinese study, scripture study, and so the pattern continues! That is my life and I love it! I shall write more next week. Love you all and miss you dearly!

Love,

Sister Smart

Forth Letter

Ni hao wo di jiating!

 

What a week. I can't believe it is P-day already. Momma, you asked to know more about what I do on a daily basis. Sorry I haven't thought to send it sooner, I am just so used to it that it seems like boring information to send haha.

 

The schedule changes depending on the day, so here is a typical Thursday

5:55- wake up and attend a physical fitness class from 6 to 6:30

6:30-7:10- shower, get ready, companionship prayer, and go to breakfast

7:40- 10:50- Class starts with a prayer and hymn. We spend an hour learning Chinese, an hour learning teaching principles and practicing them, and then an hour teaching an investigator or having companionship study time.

11:00-12:00- Personal study time, I read 30 minutes from the Book of Mormon, and then devote 30 minutes to Preach My Gospel, Jesus the Christ, or preparing scriptures that would help our investigators. Personal study time is DEFINTELY my favorite part of the day!!!

12:00-12:40- Lunch! We sit with our district and try to speak Chinese most the time.

12:45-2:00- Language Study time. I memorize phrases, study vocab, work on pronunciation through reading the Book of Mormon in Chinese. It is a slow process but I understand more and more everyday.

2:00-5:00- Class again. We learn a new grammar principle, practice it, work again on teaching principles and how to strengthen our own testimonies, and then another hour either teaching an investigator or having companionship study time. During CST we plan out how we can help our investigators come unto Christ through roleplaying in English and Chinese, planning lessons, praying for inspiration, and sharing neat things we've learned during personal study time.

5:00-5:40- Dynamic Dinner Dining Experience! No, it's not actually called that, but I thought it might make it sound more exciting haha.

5:45-6:45- TALL time. TALL is a missionary version of Rosetta Stone that we work on via computer. It has native speakers we can listen to and then we record ourselves to help pronunciation.

7:05-7:55- GYM TIME! I love gym time. We usually go outside and play in the sunshine. Our district usually goes and plays sand volleyball with each other and it is really fun. Occassionally we'll play basketball or something like that too. We have 30 minutes after that to get showered and back in Church clothes to be in the classroom for additional study time.

8:25-9:00- Additional study time. We usually work on our lessons for the next day during this time.

9:00-9:25- Planning time. Here we review the day and if we accomplished the goals we set the night before, how we could have done better, and set goals and plan out the next day.

9:30- 10:15- Get ready for bed time, write in journal time, get snacks from the vending machine time........ :)

10:15 is quiet time for us to take time and personally reflect on the day. Lights out are at 10:30 and then we wake up and do it all again!

 

There is a day in the life of Sister Smart. I absolutely love it! Every single thing up there starts and ends with a prayer. 2 Nephi 32:9 (Read it in the Book of Mormon) We want everything to be done for and in behalf of our Savior, for that is whom we represent. We are on His time and should never waste it. I love reading the Book of Mormon every single day. I draw closer to Heavenly Father and can feel His love and protection when I do. I promise anyone reading these letters that if they take the time to read the Book of Mormon, their lives will be enriched beyond measure. I can't imagine not having served a mission and am so thankful I could come here to prepare to go to Taiwan in 5 weeks! I love you all SOOOOO much! I miss you, but know I am exactly where I am supposed to be. The Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families!

 

I shall write ya'll again dearest loved ones of mine :)

 

Love,

Sister Smart

Song Jiemei

Third Letter

Ni hao mei yige ren! Hello everyone!

Well it is week number three, and I must admit, time is certainly paradoxical here. The days feel long and I feel like I've been here forever, yet I can't believe I have already been here 3 weeks. It's a weird feeling but I still love it. Today my district is having a chip party! Bring chips. Eat food. It will be glorious.

District 39A:

Elders Edwards & McKenzie

Elders Hellberg & Forbes

Elders Savage & Black

Sisters Smart, Christensen & Cole

We all get along pretty well and have been getting to know each other better. We are all going to Taichung except Elder Black who is going to Singapore. We leave in 6 weeks! The older district left this morning so we are the next to go. I'm so excited! We have 2 teachers, Wen laoshi and Fan laoshi. My companion Sister Cole has tons of appointments throughout the week. She has knee problems so we have physical therapy 3 times a week, plus she sees a counselor so we have that once or twice a week. Sister Christensen and I have found that we have so much time we are just sitting in waiting rooms. Yes, we study, but our favorite thing to do is meet people!

Random stranger of the week:

We met an 88 year old lady who is chipper as a squirrel. She is brazilian, owns her own business, owns over 100 hats, and flys to europe all the time. She said (imagine thick brazilian accent) "I'm living the dream. I own large house with big nice porch. I sweep it everyday and I've got yard so so far. I don't ever need to do my hair because I have enough hats to wear everyday." Haha she was so hilarious. I hope I'm that enthusiastic about life at age 88.

Welll, we've got another appointment so we must head out. I love you all! Write me heaps of letters.

Love,

Song jiemei

Sister Smart

Second Letter

I'm pregnant. Or at least that's what I accidentally said in Chinese to my class this week. Oops. Don't worry, it's not actually true. We say some odd things here on accident. "I know that prayer will bless your monkey" Oops.  Someone asked me what I like to eat, and I responded "Everyone" Oops haha. I meant "everything." While about to say the prayer at the beginning of a lesson, "Do you mind if we say cake?" Oops! In someone's lesson, "Shen ai ta de haize." It was supposed to mean, "God loves all his children," but instead said "God loves all his midgits." While that is very true as well, it wasn't exactly what they meant to say. The word for midget is "aize" and the mere absence of the slight h sound changed it completely.

 

Haha oh what a fun experience learning Chinese is! We are studying our little hearts out though, and the Lord blesses us accordingly. We have 2 new investigators this week that we are teaching everyday, so that's really neat. Teaching makes all the hard parts worth it, even if the lessons don't go as planned. We are able to sit down and try to explain what is so very important to us. We tell families they can be together forever. We tell people searching for happiness and peace that it can be found through prayer and scripture study. We tell them that we are all children of our Heavenly Father and that he loves us more than we can comprehend. Yeah, we have the best lives ever! And to think, it's only going to get better as we really get the opportunity to teach in Taiwan.

 

I'm happy as a clam. I've never quite understood that phrase. Are clams excessively happy? I hope so. If not, think of something else that is extremely happy and that's what I am. Wait... is the phrase "I'm happy as a clown"? My companion just said that's what it actually is... if so I've always said clam on accident. Oops! Haha well we all know how great I am at the english language so that would make sense. Well I love you all dearly and keep you in my prayers. Send me letters! I like them via any source. I'm not picky :)

First Letter

HELLO! First week at the MTC and I love it! My p-day is on Tuesday and we get to go to the temple later today. The departure date is June 26 so 9 weeks total here. Only 8 to go! I really love it though. Oh sure I could find plenty to complain about, but why do it when I am so lucky to be testifying and learning of Christ on a daily basis I not only have one companion, but two. We are a tri-panionship. First is Chen Jiemei (Sister Christensen from Logan UT) She is pretty quiet, but we get along really well. Then there's Kong Jiemei (Sister Cole from Tracy CA) Her stake president forgot to tell her about the pilot program so she came two weeks early on our original date! Haha crazy, so she knows the ropes and was in an english branch for 2 weeks. We all get along very well even though we have really different personalities. You are right Mom, I do smile all the time! Or I try haha.

You asked about Sundays... they are different in the MTC. We watch Music and the Spoken Word each week and then have relief society. Then some study time, lunch, and then sacrament meeting (which is in Chinese...haha) Everyone has to prepare a 3-5 minute talk in chinese and they randomly call on the speakers during sacrament so everyone prepares. We are safe for 2 more weeks, but then we are able to be called on too. After that we have some more study time, can take a temple walk, and then go to a missionary fireside. Overall a really great day! Chinese: oh man it's hard. Both of my companions have spent several months in China and are pretty decent at mandarin so I'm lucky they can help me a lot. Blazes it's hard, but the Lord will equal us to our call if we have faith and put forth our best effort!

 Helaman 3:28 Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God.

Wo zhidao Yesu Jidu shi Shen de erzi. I know Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We taught our first investigator Xia Guang Wei last week and have had 3 appointments with him so far. Even though we are surrounded by the Spirit all the time here at the MTC, it can be really hard to feel the spirit during a lesson where you can barely speak the language. I don't know what he's saying most of the time, but that's why we prayerfully decide what to teach him. Hopefully it's what he needs to hear! haha We spend hours and hours preparing and hope the Spirit translates the things we don't know how to say yet. I am always happy when I get to bear my testimony in Chinese though because I get to testify that we are children of God, that He loves us and wants to help us, that he answers our prayers and has given us the Gospel so we can live together with our families. It's wonderful, but hard not be able to say more in Chinese. I keep reminding myself that I've only been learning for 5 days and not to let myself get frustrated with all I don't know.

Well time is short and I must get going, but I'll write more. I hope you got my letter already! I'll write more and try to send pictures. I LOVE IT HERE and can't wait to spread the gospel to the people of Taiwan.

Wo ai nimen, I love you guys,

Song Jiemei

Sister Smart