No one expected it, because how could that happen? I'm refering not to the insanity that happened in Spain, but to us getting expelled from our 3rd floor room in the air conditioned 18M and getting moved to the basement of 7M. The reason? There is an influx of Spanaphonic Missionaries, and the powers that be like to keep all the similar language learners in one spot. So; 18M is pretty much exclusively populated by Spanish Speaking Missionaries, and all of us Asians are in one of the older buildings, which is actually better because there are less stairs, we're closer to the cafeteria, and we have a view of the mountains now, whereas before we were staring at the backside of a building. It's actually an improvement in most areas, it just hurts to get unceremoniously ejected from our home of 5 weeks.
Many people have been inquiring as to what actually goes on here, so I'm going to put up a condensed version of my schedule;
Tuesday we taught a lesson, had 6 hours of Chinese class, and listened to a devotional by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. It was so good!
Wednesday we taught a lesson, had 6 hours of Chinese class, and welcomed 8 vibrant and enthusiastic new Elders into the Zone. They are going to the Bible Belt, I don't envy them on that one.
Thursday we taught 2 lessons, had 6 hours of Chinese class, and gave the new Elders a tour of the Provo Missionary Training Center. We also taught them how to use their planners, and how to do a companionship inventory so that they can resolve their differences peacefully and in a manner that will help them to grow as Missionaries.
Friday we taught a lesson, had 6 hours of Chinese class, and did a Practice teaching. The point of it? Christ turned a couple fishermen into Apostles by using three words "Come Follow Me". Okay, there was a bit more, but that was the meat of His message. My summary of the Gospel? "God Wants (to) Help". In Chinese and French that's 3 words. (Sahn seung bongjoh and Dieu voudrait aider, respectively)
Saturday we had TRC, the Training Resource Center. We taught 2 lessons to real live Church Members who speak Cantonese, and boy did we teach! One is a bit less active, and we helped him understand just how vital it is to go to Church with a question, and with the resources to record your answer (more on that later)
Yesterday I had a Zone Leader Meeting in which my Companion and I talked about the needs of the Branch, then we had Branch Council, in which all 4 District Leaders and the Coordinating Sister came in and we all talked about the needs of the Branch, and then we had another meeting where the same group came in and received Leadership Training. It's also my responsibility to do short District Leader interviews, and then write comments about the weekly reports they give the Branch President. That's on top of the typical 3 hours of LDS meetings. But, it's actually nice to do so much of the administrating to ensure that everyone is following the rules, and it's even better to have the opportunity to Minister to these Missionaries and help them grow and progress; because that makes me grow and progress!
The Sunday Devotional was given by the President of the Provo Temple, and what a talk it was! He related pretty much everything we talk about outside the Temple to something we do inside the Temple. The Temple is just an expounding of what we learn at Church! If you truly love LDS Doctrine, then you can't help but love LDS Temple Work! It's all so connected because it's the same thing! Of course, because of the sacred nature of Temple Work we don't talk about it, but that's out of respect, not secretism. Have you ever heard the term "milk before the meat"? The Temple is like that; you've got to be able to process the very earliest of things before you can even hope to begin to maybe slightly understand the Temple.
I love this Gospel! I am so happy to have a loving Eternal Father; a Celestial and Omnipotent God who has given me so much knowledge and put me on this Earth when He did so that I can bless the lives of others! I can hardly believe that I have a loving Elder Brother, my Savior Jesus Christ, a God in His own right, who willingly sacrificed Himself so I, an overtalkative fly-fisherman, can have the opportunity to choose for myself! I am so glad that They gave me the Holy Spirit, a guide, comforter and helper to bring me peace and knowledge. I love you all so much, see ya in a couple!
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