Nimen hao!
So the meaning behind my subject title every Sunday we pick a Christ like attribute to work on for the week. Last week we picked humility, as a district and individually we all got humbled. Last Pday while playing volleyball one of Elders went up for a block, the missionary on the side went up as well and they hit one another. Our Elder fell pretty hard, he ended up tearing his ACL and partially his meniscus. He had doctor's appointments all week trying to figure what he was going to do. He has decided to stay for the remainder of the time at the MTC, however, he will then be flying back to Australia to get surgery and recover. Throughout the week not knowing if he would stay or not hit our district hard. We have really grown together and imaging one of us no longer being there brought all of us to tears. My companion got her wisdom teeth out on Wednesday. She was a trooper and we went to class that same night, she kept pushing herself because missing class would be rough. Well she ended up getting sick because she wasn't resting enough and from the medication the doctor put her on. For myself personally it was almost everyday I had the reminder that I can't do this only relying on myself. Which makes sense because I'm supposed to rely on Christ, however, I've had to learn the hard way that I haven't been putting 100% of my trust to him. I've had to humble myself and turn completely to him accepting the fact that I am nothing without him. It was hard to swallow but I'm grateful that he humbled me, because I know that with giving him everything he will soooo much better than I would have done by myself.
We've had amazing experiences as well this week! For our Tuesday night devotional we had the privilege to have Elder Neil L. Andersen come and speak to us!!!!!!! Absolutely amazing, words can't describe the feeling that was in that room. I know with all of my soul that he is an Apostle of Jesus Christ. His wife spoke to us first about how what we believe in. She did an amazing job, the thing she repeated multiple times throughout her talk was that people can not take away what you believe in unless you allow them to. SO DON'T ALLOW IT! It was so good. Elder Andersen then spoke about temples. He talked about how when we go to the temple we get to learn about the thing in mind, but also we are learning things for eternity. It was a really cool way to explain the importance of going to the temple and learning while we are there. One other thing he mentioned that really stuck with me is that the spiritual experiences we have make us who we are. We don't have the same experiences as others and that is for a reason. Don't compare yourself spiritually to someone else spiritually, you have had different experiences! I'm so grateful that we had the opportunity to hear from an apostle.
On Wednesday we got new missionaries in our zone! They are all just amazing! There are 8 of them and half of them already speak fluent Chinese. How cool is that?! It's been so fun to get to know them! Oh and one of the new sisters might have re-injured her ACL (she had surgery in Feb. of this year) while playing Sister Soccer Saturday. It's been rough for her, but she has an awesome attitude through it all. The way she is handling it is honestly amazing, I've gained so much respect for her.
Throughout all of the craziness of this week there has been a scripture that has stuck with me. It's in Jacob 2:8 it says "And it supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yes, the word which healeth the wounded soul." The word of God = the scriptures heals the soul. I know that this is true! This week truly has been humbling, and the scriptures have helped me turn myself fully to the Lord. One of our teachers challenged us to read the Book of Mormon for at least 30 minutes a day, everyday. It really has blessed my life personally, in my teaching, and has helped me with Chinese. Heavenly Father guides through his prophets and through the Book of Mormon. I love this gospel and I get more and more excited everyday to go share it with the people in Taiwan!
I have loved my experience at the MTC, it really has been amazing! Someone in my district yesterday told all of us that on this Friday we will be at our one month mark (also our halfway mark at the MTC). I can't believe how fast time is going by. I'm going to miss the MTC, but I'm honestly so excited to go to Taiwan and being able to share the gospel with the people there!
I love you all!
Sister Porter
Monday, September 24, 2018
9-24-2018 Pictures
1. Sister Andersen and I having too much energy
2. The sisters in my district after my comp had her wisdom teeth out
3. Our district at the temple this morning
4. The sisters
5-7. We are making a tradition that now for dinner on Saturdays we eat the entire meal with chopsticks. It was definitely entertaining!
2. The sisters in my district after my comp had her wisdom teeth out
3. Our district at the temple this morning
4. The sisters
5-7. We are making a tradition that now for dinner on Saturdays we eat the entire meal with chopsticks. It was definitely entertaining!
Week 4
Weishenme nihao nali
(Why hello there)
I feel like I emailed ya'll just yesterday. Time is really starting to fly by, we were talking yesterday how on this Friday it will be our one month mark (shenme?!?) I can't even believe it has gone by so fast, I am literally speechless!
We get to host this Wednesday so I'm super stoked about that! It's when we get to pick up the new missionaries. Probably will cry but it's all good.
Oh hey be watching the mailbox! I sent out a letter out today, so hopefully you'll get it sometime this week. There is something pretty cool inside!
I will tell you all more about what happened this week in the big group email but I just wanted to email you separately tell you that I love you all so much! The church is true! The spirit testifies that to me at least once a day but usually more.
The one thing I did want to share with all of you that is kind of personal (so won't be included in the big email) was on Saturday. I was starting to get a little overwhelmed in class because I hadn't been there half of the times because my comp wasn't feeling good. The little doubts of you can't handle this language was starting to form, but I was really trying to make them go away. At the end of class our teacher shared with us Ether 6, and how right now in the MTC is us preparing our barges for our missions. We need to be gathering everything we can because once we leave it will be harder to get those tools. He continued on how that God pushes us towards the promise land, but there are times that because of the path he has put us on it will take us down to the depths of the ocean. But if we prepare the way God instructs us to do so we will be OK. After he finished sharing those scriptures he shared a talk from Elder Bednar (Oct. 2016) "If ye had known me". It talks about how a lot of the time our belief in Christ is very general, we believe in him and the miracles he has done. However, we need to have a personal belief in him. We need to believe that for us personally he died. That we personally can feel the affects of his miracles. More specifically to us as missionaries, that we need to believe that the gift of tongues can be given to us personally. He asked us if we believed that if we personally could receive the gift of tongues. I started to tear up, because I honestly didn't know. I thought I would be able to hold it together until we got out of class, however, our District Leader asked me to say the closing prayer. I couldn't even get pass saying Dear Heavenly Father, I lost it. My district is super patient though and I love them for it. Since then I am doing everything in my power to gain that belief in him.
I love this gospel with all my heart, I love that it makes me stretch and grow everyday!
Love you All!
Let me know when you get my letter!
Love, Sister Porter
I feel like I emailed ya'll just yesterday. Time is really starting to fly by, we were talking yesterday how on this Friday it will be our one month mark (shenme?!?) I can't even believe it has gone by so fast, I am literally speechless!
We get to host this Wednesday so I'm super stoked about that! It's when we get to pick up the new missionaries. Probably will cry but it's all good.
Oh hey be watching the mailbox! I sent out a letter out today, so hopefully you'll get it sometime this week. There is something pretty cool inside!
I will tell you all more about what happened this week in the big group email but I just wanted to email you separately tell you that I love you all so much! The church is true! The spirit testifies that to me at least once a day but usually more.
The one thing I did want to share with all of you that is kind of personal (so won't be included in the big email) was on Saturday. I was starting to get a little overwhelmed in class because I hadn't been there half of the times because my comp wasn't feeling good. The little doubts of you can't handle this language was starting to form, but I was really trying to make them go away. At the end of class our teacher shared with us Ether 6, and how right now in the MTC is us preparing our barges for our missions. We need to be gathering everything we can because once we leave it will be harder to get those tools. He continued on how that God pushes us towards the promise land, but there are times that because of the path he has put us on it will take us down to the depths of the ocean. But if we prepare the way God instructs us to do so we will be OK. After he finished sharing those scriptures he shared a talk from Elder Bednar (Oct. 2016) "If ye had known me". It talks about how a lot of the time our belief in Christ is very general, we believe in him and the miracles he has done. However, we need to have a personal belief in him. We need to believe that for us personally he died. That we personally can feel the affects of his miracles. More specifically to us as missionaries, that we need to believe that the gift of tongues can be given to us personally. He asked us if we believed that if we personally could receive the gift of tongues. I started to tear up, because I honestly didn't know. I thought I would be able to hold it together until we got out of class, however, our District Leader asked me to say the closing prayer. I couldn't even get pass saying Dear Heavenly Father, I lost it. My district is super patient though and I love them for it. Since then I am doing everything in my power to gain that belief in him.
I love this gospel with all my heart, I love that it makes me stretch and grow everyday!
Love you All!
Let me know when you get my letter!
Love, Sister Porter
Monday, September 17, 2018
9-17-2018 Pictures
1. My comp and I in the fake snow
2. The sisters from our district and the oldest district
3 & 4. Our whole zone together
Family, Faith and Farewells
Ni hao nimen
This week has just blurred into one long day. Here are some of the highlights of this week.
Tuesday: The craziest thing happened while standing in line for lunch. There was a senior couple who was standing next to us and I saw that their last name was Porter so I asked them where they were from, they are from Arizona but they continued to tell me that they are related to the Porters in Porterville/Morgan area. But it gets even crazier! An Elder in front of us turned around and he was a Porter too!!! His family is also from the the Porterville/Morgan area. So we had a little family reunion, I realized afterwards that we should have taken a picture but we forgot! It was just a really weird moment.
Wednesday: Not a whole lot happened. We had class and taught one of our teachers a lesson. The lesson went really good. It's weird to think that 3 weeks ago my comp and I knew no Chinese but now 3 weeks later we are teaching lessons in Chinese and we are actually starting to understand a little bit of what they say.
Thursday: So my comp had to go back to the dentist for another deep cleaning, and a little back story: since she is from the Philippines she has never seen snow. Well on our way back to the MTC there was this house that had fake snow everywhere! So our driver pulled over and we took pictures in the fake snow, a guy came over and told us that it was a set for a christmas hallmark movie!!!!!!!!!! So that was definitely the highlight of that day.
Friday: I was reading in 2 Nephi 27 during my personal scripture study and a lot of it was just a blur for me. I was frustrated with my Chinese and I had gotten into the mindset that I would never be able to speak the language. I got to verse 23 and the spirit hit me so hard. It says "For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith. I realized that my faith about learning Chinese was not with God. I had to do a major attitude change. Now whenever I start to get discouraged I remind myself that I need to put my faith in God and that faith isn't having a perfect knowledge of things but trusting that he has a perfect plan for us. So during one of our classes our teacher was gone for like 30-45 minutes and being so focused we started talking about Harry Potter. We went through and assigned everyone in our district a character from Harry Potter. Our District Leader, Elder Keys was Harry Potter. The Australian Elder, Elder Preston is Hagrid. Sister Andersen is Luna. Her comp, Sister Griffin is Ginny. Elder Bataa who is from Mongolia called himself Dobby. Elder Gray couldn't decide between Voldemort and Snape so he is both. Elder Berges in Draco and his comp Elder Dalton is Ron. They assigned me as Hermonie and my comp as Cho. Our teacher came back in asked us how our studying was going, so we told him what we were discussing. We then continued for another 10 minutes discussing Harry Potter. It was the best thing ever.
Saturday: We taught our very first TRC, we go in and teach two 20 minute lessons back to back to members who speak fluent Chinese. I sat there and didn't understand a single thing that was being said. I couldn't remember any of my Chinese. I am beyond grateful for my comp who taught our whole lesson. I went completely blank the entire time. I had no idea what to do. Afterwards I was thinking about what happened, and I still have no idea why I went blank. We taught a lesson to one of our teachers later that afternoon and that went absolutely amazing! It helps remind me that it's ok if we have bad moments because God will help us through them. It also helped me remember that we are doing God's work, and it's ok if we aren't perfect because his spirit and his gospel is. As long as we have the spirit with us the people we come into contact with will feel that.
Sunday: We said goodbye to the two oldest districts in our zones. There is 23 of them leaving by Wednesday, and we are receiving only 8 new missionaries into our zone this week. Our zone is shrinking to about half its size. Probably the weirdest thing is that I am going to miss them all so much! I have only known them for 3 weeks but they have been a ginormous part of my life. I have learned so much from them and we have become one big family. It's super sad to see them go but I am also so excited for them to go out and start the next part of their missions!
My faith has grown so much this past week, I grow closer everyday to my Savior. I know that all of you can do the same. I encourage you all to read 30 minutes of the Book of Mormon everyday and pray about what you read. I know that if you do this you will see the difference it will make in your life.
I love you all so much!
Love, Bao Jie Mei (Sister Porter)
This week has just blurred into one long day. Here are some of the highlights of this week.
Tuesday: The craziest thing happened while standing in line for lunch. There was a senior couple who was standing next to us and I saw that their last name was Porter so I asked them where they were from, they are from Arizona but they continued to tell me that they are related to the Porters in Porterville/Morgan area. But it gets even crazier! An Elder in front of us turned around and he was a Porter too!!! His family is also from the the Porterville/Morgan area. So we had a little family reunion, I realized afterwards that we should have taken a picture but we forgot! It was just a really weird moment.
Wednesday: Not a whole lot happened. We had class and taught one of our teachers a lesson. The lesson went really good. It's weird to think that 3 weeks ago my comp and I knew no Chinese but now 3 weeks later we are teaching lessons in Chinese and we are actually starting to understand a little bit of what they say.
Thursday: So my comp had to go back to the dentist for another deep cleaning, and a little back story: since she is from the Philippines she has never seen snow. Well on our way back to the MTC there was this house that had fake snow everywhere! So our driver pulled over and we took pictures in the fake snow, a guy came over and told us that it was a set for a christmas hallmark movie!!!!!!!!!! So that was definitely the highlight of that day.
Friday: I was reading in 2 Nephi 27 during my personal scripture study and a lot of it was just a blur for me. I was frustrated with my Chinese and I had gotten into the mindset that I would never be able to speak the language. I got to verse 23 and the spirit hit me so hard. It says "For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith. I realized that my faith about learning Chinese was not with God. I had to do a major attitude change. Now whenever I start to get discouraged I remind myself that I need to put my faith in God and that faith isn't having a perfect knowledge of things but trusting that he has a perfect plan for us. So during one of our classes our teacher was gone for like 30-45 minutes and being so focused we started talking about Harry Potter. We went through and assigned everyone in our district a character from Harry Potter. Our District Leader, Elder Keys was Harry Potter. The Australian Elder, Elder Preston is Hagrid. Sister Andersen is Luna. Her comp, Sister Griffin is Ginny. Elder Bataa who is from Mongolia called himself Dobby. Elder Gray couldn't decide between Voldemort and Snape so he is both. Elder Berges in Draco and his comp Elder Dalton is Ron. They assigned me as Hermonie and my comp as Cho. Our teacher came back in asked us how our studying was going, so we told him what we were discussing. We then continued for another 10 minutes discussing Harry Potter. It was the best thing ever.
Saturday: We taught our very first TRC, we go in and teach two 20 minute lessons back to back to members who speak fluent Chinese. I sat there and didn't understand a single thing that was being said. I couldn't remember any of my Chinese. I am beyond grateful for my comp who taught our whole lesson. I went completely blank the entire time. I had no idea what to do. Afterwards I was thinking about what happened, and I still have no idea why I went blank. We taught a lesson to one of our teachers later that afternoon and that went absolutely amazing! It helps remind me that it's ok if we have bad moments because God will help us through them. It also helped me remember that we are doing God's work, and it's ok if we aren't perfect because his spirit and his gospel is. As long as we have the spirit with us the people we come into contact with will feel that.
Sunday: We said goodbye to the two oldest districts in our zones. There is 23 of them leaving by Wednesday, and we are receiving only 8 new missionaries into our zone this week. Our zone is shrinking to about half its size. Probably the weirdest thing is that I am going to miss them all so much! I have only known them for 3 weeks but they have been a ginormous part of my life. I have learned so much from them and we have become one big family. It's super sad to see them go but I am also so excited for them to go out and start the next part of their missions!
My faith has grown so much this past week, I grow closer everyday to my Savior. I know that all of you can do the same. I encourage you all to read 30 minutes of the Book of Mormon everyday and pray about what you read. I know that if you do this you will see the difference it will make in your life.
I love you all so much!
Love, Bao Jie Mei (Sister Porter)
Monday, September 10, 2018
9-10-2018 Pictures
1. The sisters in my district
2. Our district, the only picture where all of us where smiling. We have one elder who either doesn't smile or stands 3 feet away from everyone else
3. The sisters at the temple this morning
4. Our district after our temple session
The first and third one is from Tuesday of this week, We have decided that we are going to have a twinning Tuesday!
The Second one is of me and my Chinese grammar book, I was supposed to be studying but that didn't happen 
.
The last one is all of us pointing to the best mission ever!!!
Time is Not a Thing
Ni hao everyone!!!
I can't believe I have already been for 2 weeks, time has gone by so fast but at the same time I feel like I have been at the MTC forever. It has been absolutely fantastic but if I'm being honest all the days have merged all together.
My comp and I actually got to leave the MTC on Wednesday because she had to go to the dentist, we get to go back again this week because she needs to get a deep cleaning done. Also next week she gets the lovely experience of getting all 4 wisdom teeth out and 6 cavities filled in one sitting. So we won't be doing much in two weeks. I am so glad that I was able to get my wisdom teeth out before, because it would not be fun to get them out here in the MTC.
The only big problem I've really had this week is the temperature in the classroom. All of the Elders get really hot while in class but the sisters and I freeze, so there is a constant war of who gets to control the temperature. It's really funny because the other set of sisters sit in front of the thermostat so they always turn it up, but the Elders that sit there go and turn it back down whenever they do. One of the Elders is from Australia and is the main one we fight against about where the temp. should be at. So at one point this week Sister Andersen turned the heat up, Elder Preston (the Australian) turns to her and very loudly says "I AM SO HOT!" she simply replies saying that she is freezing which in return he says (say this in an australian accent) "ITS HOT, FEEL MY HEAD!" we all just died because it was so funny! But the thing is that he was dead serious, so when she wouldn't he turned to his companion and said the same thing. It was hilarious and probably one of those moments you need to be there for but we think its hilarious. Whenever someone is hot they yell "feel my head!" we all just bust up laughing.
On a more spiritual note, I have felt so much love from and towards my Savior this week. We have been reading in 3 Nephi for a lot of our scripture study this week. In chapter 18 Jesus Christ is teaching the people about the sacrament, how to pray, and to love one another. Everything he asks them to do he does first. I was thinking about that what he has asked me to do for the next 18 months and everything he has asked he has already done. He would never ask us to do something he wouldn't do. In another chapter (I can't remember which one) Christ is about to leave the people and return to God, but the people don't want him to leave so he stays and blesses them. We were reading this chapter as a district and I thought about what it would be like if Christ was sitting with us right then. I wouldn't have wanted him to leave, and I knew in my heart that he wouldn't leave. He loves us so much, and I know that that wants to be with all of us. If we ask him to be with us, he will.
I promise all of you that if you pray and ask him to be with you, and you look for him throughout your day you will feel his love. I know I have, and it has been one of the best feelings I have ever felt. I'm sorry if that made no sense and I jumped around a lot, its been a crazy week. I love you all so much! I loved receiving your emails throughout the week!
Love, Sister Porter
I can't believe I have already been for 2 weeks, time has gone by so fast but at the same time I feel like I have been at the MTC forever. It has been absolutely fantastic but if I'm being honest all the days have merged all together.
My comp and I actually got to leave the MTC on Wednesday because she had to go to the dentist, we get to go back again this week because she needs to get a deep cleaning done. Also next week she gets the lovely experience of getting all 4 wisdom teeth out and 6 cavities filled in one sitting. So we won't be doing much in two weeks. I am so glad that I was able to get my wisdom teeth out before, because it would not be fun to get them out here in the MTC.
The only big problem I've really had this week is the temperature in the classroom. All of the Elders get really hot while in class but the sisters and I freeze, so there is a constant war of who gets to control the temperature. It's really funny because the other set of sisters sit in front of the thermostat so they always turn it up, but the Elders that sit there go and turn it back down whenever they do. One of the Elders is from Australia and is the main one we fight against about where the temp. should be at. So at one point this week Sister Andersen turned the heat up, Elder Preston (the Australian) turns to her and very loudly says "I AM SO HOT!" she simply replies saying that she is freezing which in return he says (say this in an australian accent) "ITS HOT, FEEL MY HEAD!" we all just died because it was so funny! But the thing is that he was dead serious, so when she wouldn't he turned to his companion and said the same thing. It was hilarious and probably one of those moments you need to be there for but we think its hilarious. Whenever someone is hot they yell "feel my head!" we all just bust up laughing.
On a more spiritual note, I have felt so much love from and towards my Savior this week. We have been reading in 3 Nephi for a lot of our scripture study this week. In chapter 18 Jesus Christ is teaching the people about the sacrament, how to pray, and to love one another. Everything he asks them to do he does first. I was thinking about that what he has asked me to do for the next 18 months and everything he has asked he has already done. He would never ask us to do something he wouldn't do. In another chapter (I can't remember which one) Christ is about to leave the people and return to God, but the people don't want him to leave so he stays and blesses them. We were reading this chapter as a district and I thought about what it would be like if Christ was sitting with us right then. I wouldn't have wanted him to leave, and I knew in my heart that he wouldn't leave. He loves us so much, and I know that that wants to be with all of us. If we ask him to be with us, he will.
I promise all of you that if you pray and ask him to be with you, and you look for him throughout your day you will feel his love. I know I have, and it has been one of the best feelings I have ever felt. I'm sorry if that made no sense and I jumped around a lot, its been a crazy week. I love you all so much! I loved receiving your emails throughout the week!
Love, Sister Porter
Monday, September 3, 2018
First Week Pictures
Here some of The pictures we took this week!
The first one should be of my companion and I, and the other sisters in my district.
Then Sister Concardas and I (there is almost a 10 inch height difference 😂)
Then the Sisters of our district again
And lastly our entire district!
First Week
Hi everyone!!!
It has been a crazy week. My companion is a Sister from the Philapenes (however you spell it) her name is Sister Concardas. I absolutely love her, she is super quiet but there are times she will say something, and it will totally surprise me because it's so funny. My district is absolutely amazing! There is one other companion of sisters in my district, Sister Griffin and Sister Andersen. They both know Chinese already so they help me all the time! There are 3 sets of Elders also in our District, we are all heading to the Taiwan, Taipei Mission except for one Elder who is going to Hong Kong.
I wish I could tell you that the MTC has been all good things, but this first week has been a roller coaster ride for me. I would have a good experience with all of the spiritual things we are doing, but as soon as we would switch to learning Chinese I would become so frustrated with myself. I wasn't understanding the language, and I'm a perfectionist so I was bitter a lot. I felt that I was called to the wrong place, and part of me just wanted to give up and come home. Luckily for me the sisters in my district are absolutely amazing and they would help pull me out of my bad mood. But the next day it would happen again, and again. It wasn't until yesterday that I had a reality check. We were in sacrament meeting, and an Elder stood up who is in my zone and he told us how he had struggled his first week or two in the MTC. But then told us that it will only stay hard if we keep looking internal, he continued to say that when we get frustrated with ourselves we are also hurting our companion. I had never thought of it that way until then. But that wasn't the only thing, throughout the rest of Sunday we had a couple different devotionals. About 3-4 speakers talked about turning outwards and not in. As missionaries we aren't here for ourselves, we are here to serve God and those around us. The spirit spoke to me in every one of those talks. It changed my outlook on my entire mission. Last night I made a promise to my Heavenly Father that I would stop feeling sorry for myself, and start focusing on those around me. Since last night I have found multiple ways to serve my companion and the other Sisters. My mood has changed completely! It feels so good to be serving others and not focusing on myself. I am focusing coming unto Christ, I'm studying my Chinese but I've come to know that my Chinese probably won't ever be perfect. But that's not what brings people to Christ, the spirit does! So I am doing everything I can to have the spirit be with me! I know by doing that my Chinese will come, but the spirit is what is really important.
I am so grateful for this amazing experience that I have been able to have these last few days. Not all good, but it was the only way for me to learn how to be a good missionary. I promise all of you that if you need help with something turn to God, he will help you! He is wants to help you, he is just waiting for you to turn to him! I love this gospel and my testimony grows everyday! I love you all and miss you so much!
While I am in the MTC my P-day will be on Mondays. I can read emails throughout the entire week but can only respond on my P-day. I would love to hear form all of you!
Love, Sister Porter (or in Chinese Bao Jiemei)
It has been a crazy week. My companion is a Sister from the Philapenes (however you spell it) her name is Sister Concardas. I absolutely love her, she is super quiet but there are times she will say something, and it will totally surprise me because it's so funny. My district is absolutely amazing! There is one other companion of sisters in my district, Sister Griffin and Sister Andersen. They both know Chinese already so they help me all the time! There are 3 sets of Elders also in our District, we are all heading to the Taiwan, Taipei Mission except for one Elder who is going to Hong Kong.
I wish I could tell you that the MTC has been all good things, but this first week has been a roller coaster ride for me. I would have a good experience with all of the spiritual things we are doing, but as soon as we would switch to learning Chinese I would become so frustrated with myself. I wasn't understanding the language, and I'm a perfectionist so I was bitter a lot. I felt that I was called to the wrong place, and part of me just wanted to give up and come home. Luckily for me the sisters in my district are absolutely amazing and they would help pull me out of my bad mood. But the next day it would happen again, and again. It wasn't until yesterday that I had a reality check. We were in sacrament meeting, and an Elder stood up who is in my zone and he told us how he had struggled his first week or two in the MTC. But then told us that it will only stay hard if we keep looking internal, he continued to say that when we get frustrated with ourselves we are also hurting our companion. I had never thought of it that way until then. But that wasn't the only thing, throughout the rest of Sunday we had a couple different devotionals. About 3-4 speakers talked about turning outwards and not in. As missionaries we aren't here for ourselves, we are here to serve God and those around us. The spirit spoke to me in every one of those talks. It changed my outlook on my entire mission. Last night I made a promise to my Heavenly Father that I would stop feeling sorry for myself, and start focusing on those around me. Since last night I have found multiple ways to serve my companion and the other Sisters. My mood has changed completely! It feels so good to be serving others and not focusing on myself. I am focusing coming unto Christ, I'm studying my Chinese but I've come to know that my Chinese probably won't ever be perfect. But that's not what brings people to Christ, the spirit does! So I am doing everything I can to have the spirit be with me! I know by doing that my Chinese will come, but the spirit is what is really important.
I am so grateful for this amazing experience that I have been able to have these last few days. Not all good, but it was the only way for me to learn how to be a good missionary. I promise all of you that if you need help with something turn to God, he will help you! He is wants to help you, he is just waiting for you to turn to him! I love this gospel and my testimony grows everyday! I love you all and miss you so much!
While I am in the MTC my P-day will be on Mondays. I can read emails throughout the entire week but can only respond on my P-day. I would love to hear form all of you!
Love, Sister Porter (or in Chinese Bao Jiemei)
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