Nimen Hao!
Wo ai nimen, Wo xiangnian nimen. Wo wei nimen qidao.
This week has just been amazing, I've learned so much. Before I get to the spiritual stuff here are some of the big things that happened this week.
1. Our Mongolian Elder tried quoting Matthew 14:31 and instead of saying "oh ye" he said "oh yeah". And none of us can quote it correctly without laughing.
2. Our Mongolian Elder also broke part of his foot so he is in a boot. (yes someone in my district has gotten hurt at least once a week)
3. We are now the oldest district in the zone... we leave the MTC in 3 weeks! It's going by so fast!
4. One of Elders ate his chick'fil'a with plastic gloves on Monday so that was interesting.
5. We got all of our Elders matching ties and took "family photos"
6. We learned two very important sayings in Mandarin, first one: "bihnm dou" which is flip the table in exasperation. Second: "Wo shou bu liao" which is I literally can't even. Our teachers probably regret teaching us that but there is no turning back now.
7. Sitting here emailing and a random Elder just told his comp that whenever he writes satan's name he never capitalizes it. His comp responds "ohh got him".
Now on to the spiritual stuff. I have had so many amazing experiences this past week it has been a blessing. My experience here at the MTC and for my mission in general is like climbing a mountain. My first today here was when you are at the bottom of the Mountain looking up to the top asking yourself how am I going to get to the top. But you start on your hike anyways. I know that these next 17 months are going to fly by. That will be when I reach the top of the mountain and look back down and ask where has all the time gone? The view at the top will be absolutely amazing and worth every bruise and scrape I got on the way. Currently I am part way up the mountain, I can't see the top of the mountain anymore and I've gone too far to turn back now. On this hike I have two options. 1. look down at my feet and just keep thinking to myself how long and hard this hike is. OR 2. Look and enjoy all the beautiful scenery around me, get to know the people I'm traveling with and encourage the people around me making sure they don't give up.
We are all traveling on this mountain of life and we are all at the part where we can't see the top anymore. It can be discouraging at times, I have felt those discouraging times. But I want to promise you that looking up and seeing the beauty around you is so much better than just looking at your feet. LOOK UP! See the visible and hidden beauties God has put in your path. Get to know the people you are hiking with (family, friends, coworkers, strangers) they are all so unique and you will be blessed for getting to know them. Learn to love them because when you do you will do anything for them to make sure they get to the top of the mountain. Serve them, help them, carry them if you have to.
There have been a couple of times that I've tripped and bruised myself, but every time I have fallen there has been someone to help me back up. I have seen so many beautiful things this past week. Here are some of them.
I've been studying the book of Mosiah this past week. I absolutely love it! The two parts that stood out to me the most are chapter 4 verses 16-27 and chapter 5 verse 12-13. The one found in chapter 4 talks about how we shouldn't be judging others if they have less than us because we are all beggars. It's so true! So instead of tearing others down help lift them up! Do everything in your power to help them. But also in verse 27 it says something about how God doesn't require man to run faster than he has strength for. Know that whatever God asks of you he knows you can do. The second one talks about how we need to always have Christ's name written on our hearts. I have the privilege for the next 17 months to have his name on my chest everyday. You don't need a name tag to have his name on your heart, if you act the way he would, love/serve others the way he would, talk the way he would you will have his name written on your heart.
We taught one of our teachers this last week about the Restoration of the Gospel. I had the opportunity to recite the first vision to him in Chinese. I was able to get through it without messing up once. But that wasn't even the cool part! The spirit was so strong in that room, both my companion and I were crying while we shared our testimonies with him. My Mandarin is limited but through what I was able to say the Holy Ghost was able to testify. It truly was amazing, I can't even find words to describe it.
The last one I want to share is about General Conference. How amazing was that!?! I loved every minute of it! I'm so excited for the 12 new temples! I'm excited for the new church schedule, I think it will bless families immensely! All of the talks were just amazing! But I had 3 that I just absolutely loved. 1. Elder Rasband's talk about not fearing. I've been working on strengthening my faith in Christ, everything he said was answer to my questions. 2. Elder Andersen's talk about how the Savior can heal every and any wounded soul. I loved this talk so much because the Savior has healed my soul many times and I know he will continue to do so for the rest of my life. I also loved it because that is my purpose as a missionary! To invite others to come unto Christ so he can heal their wounded souls! I know he can/will heal you if you turn to him and ask. 3. Elder Stevenson's about helping the Shepherd tend to his flock. The lord requires our help to keep his sheep safe, what an opportunity! I have so much love for the people in Taiwan already! I can't wait to go and serve them. But I'm also loving all the opportunities I have here at the MTC to serve others.
We are so lucky to live in a time when there is living Prophets on the earth! I will stop babbling now. I just want all of you to know that I love this church and my love for it grows everyday! Keep Climbing the Mountain, the view is beautiful at the top but it is just as beautiful on your way up.
Love you all!
Bao Jie Mei
Monday, October 8, 2018
Monday, October 1, 2018
10-1-2018 Pictures
1. Our amazing zone at the temple yesterday
2. The best district in the MTC
3. Our zone the night before Sister Ayre left
4. My Jiemeis at the temple this morning
5. Sister Griffin skinned herself while shaving so of course I use my over the top first aid skills to help her out. Yes the gloves were necessary.
6
5. Sister Griffin skinned herself while shaving so of course I use my over the top first aid skills to help her out. Yes the gloves were necessary.
6
Nimen hao!
Nimen hao!
We hit our one month mark last Friday, I can't even believe that it has already been a month.Time has flown by! It has been amazing to see how everyone has progressed in such little time, it just testifies that with the Lord anything is possible!
This week has just been spiritual experience after spiritual experience, and I love it!
Monday: We had class that night and it was the first time the whole entire 3 hours was spoken in Chinese. A tad bit overwhelming at first, but it actually was really good! I didn't understand everything but I understood a lot more than I thought I would. At the end of class our teacher shared with us the Christmas Story of the 3 trees. How just like the trees we have a plan of what we want to do, but God has another plan for us. We may not always understand at first why he cuts us down and makes us into what we are. But if we go forth with faith and have patience we will be able to see what God has in store for us. I know that this is applicable to our own lives because I have gone through that same process. I'm still not sure what his exact plan for me is but I know that whatever it is that it is better that anything I could have planned.
Tuesday: The biggest thing that happened Tuesday was our devotional. Oh my goodness, it was fei chang hao! I had gotten a little annoyed with some people that day, and going into the devotional I was a tad bit bitter. I was humbled and chastened very quickly. Both talks were about charity, love and kindness. The first speaker (Sister Waddell) talked about loving kindness, and how no matter what people do love them! The second speaker (Bishop Waddell) talked about what our missionary purpose is: inviting others unto Christ through loving and serving them. What we should expect: it will be the most rewarding, frustrating, hardest thing we will ever do. But also that every mission is designed personally. Look for what Christ wants me to learn. Also what is expected of me: We are on the Lord's time not our own. He also talked about loving our companions and that when we get frustrated with them never think about what they are doing wrong but think about what you can do to change. So my goal sense then has been to be a better companion and serving others in the little ways.
Wednesday: It was a super special day, our zone all fasted together for our two missionaries with torn ACLs. We got good and some not so good news. The Australian Elder from my district is able to stay to finish his time at the MTC but then will go home for surgery and when his recovery time is over come join us in Taiwan. The Sister from the youngest district had to go home Thursday for surgery. We all miss her so much, but I'm so happy that she is getting everything fixed now so she can back sooner! Our district got to be hosts for new missionaries. It was so exciting! No surprise but I cried waiting for the missionaries to come, I just felt so much love for them. I also felt all those nervous and exciting feelings I had when I came in. It was just so amazing to see others leave their families in order to serve the Lord. This work is absolutely amazing! I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of God's army in the Latter Day! Also a little funny thing when I started to cry two of the Elders from my district pulled out little tissue packets from their pockets and told me they have started to carry these around just because they know I cry a lot. hahaha super sweet of them! Last thing from that day, I was getting a little overwhelmed with some of the vocab and I was struggling to see my progression throughout the week. I was paired up with one of the Elders for language study activity and he asked me what I was frustrated about. So I quickly told him, and he gave me some pretty good advice. He told me that he could see me studying super hard and putting in a lot of effort. He compared it to going to volleyball practice everyday and working super hard. But I was choosing not to play in the game. He told me very bluntly that I needed to open my mouth, or I would never progress. So that is what I've been doing, and to no surprise it has made a difference. I've made mistakes but I've learned form them all! Super grateful for the constant reminders I have of my purpose.
Thursday: Honestly I don't remember what happened this day. Our last class ended with just us laughing super hard and our teacher telling stories. And when we were writing in our journals that night we were still laughing super hard so I didn't write down much. But our district was able to bond over that. I love them all so much! They are my brothers and sisters, I don't know what I would be doing without them.
Friday: We hit the one month mark, and our halfway mark at the MTC. As a district we were super excited but also super sad! We all have loved our time together at the MTC, and to know it's almost over is sad. But we are also super excited to get out in the field! One of the sisters that leave next week described it as a ship in the harbor, we are learning and growing here but our purpose isn't to sit in a harbor. It is to go out into the world and share his gospel! In a month am going to have the opportunity to leave the harbor and go out into the world to share his wonderful message! I get giddy just thinking about it!
Saturday: We had our last in person member TRC, the last two went really rough! But this was soooooooooo good! My comp and I were unified, our Chinese wasn't perfect but it was so much better! We understood partially what the people were saying. We left the lessons feeling great! I know that my comp and I prepared well for the TRC but it was not us teaching that lesson. It was the Holy Ghost and because of him it went to so well. I know that if we are in-tune with spirit he will take over and make it 100X better than we ever could!
Sunday: It was our last fast Sunday in the MTC. One of the sisters also mentioned how it was 2 of our 18 fast Sundays while on our mission. Broke my heart! It is going by so fast, and before I know it will be over. I'm not going to waste a minute of it! We had an amazing devotional from our MTC presidency about the relationship between the Savior and Peter. They compared their relationship to ours. "You were called to walk on the water. God will raise you out of the water you are struggling with." How amazing is that?!? I know that is true and no matter what we go through the Lord is reaching out to help us, all we need to do is reach for his hand. After the devotional as a district we celebrated one of our Elder's birthdays! We had cake, we sang him about 5 different songs in both english and chinese, we also had birthday hats and the little noisy blowy thingies. It was a hoot and a half.
Ah I forgot after the Tuesday night devotional I had this encounter: people were being really slow at walking down the stairs. So an Elder says to his companion, "uhhh I just wanna shove everyone down the stairs, but I can't shove the sisters". So I say, "You can shove the other side, it's just Elders." So the Elder in front of him goes, "Elder you can't shove me." And the original Elder goes, "Elder, I will shove you all the way to the Celestial Kingdom haha". So I respond, "ummm in that case, you can go ahead and shove me to the Celestial Kingdom." Then he goes, "I can't Sister, that's inappropriate contact, but I can politely invite you haha" It was probably the best invite I ever had!
I know this church is true and I love all of it with my whole soul/heart! I am so happy to be able to be sharing this gospel!
I love you all so much!
Love, Bao Jie Mei
We hit our one month mark last Friday, I can't even believe that it has already been a month.Time has flown by! It has been amazing to see how everyone has progressed in such little time, it just testifies that with the Lord anything is possible!
This week has just been spiritual experience after spiritual experience, and I love it!
Monday: We had class that night and it was the first time the whole entire 3 hours was spoken in Chinese. A tad bit overwhelming at first, but it actually was really good! I didn't understand everything but I understood a lot more than I thought I would. At the end of class our teacher shared with us the Christmas Story of the 3 trees. How just like the trees we have a plan of what we want to do, but God has another plan for us. We may not always understand at first why he cuts us down and makes us into what we are. But if we go forth with faith and have patience we will be able to see what God has in store for us. I know that this is applicable to our own lives because I have gone through that same process. I'm still not sure what his exact plan for me is but I know that whatever it is that it is better that anything I could have planned.
Tuesday: The biggest thing that happened Tuesday was our devotional. Oh my goodness, it was fei chang hao! I had gotten a little annoyed with some people that day, and going into the devotional I was a tad bit bitter. I was humbled and chastened very quickly. Both talks were about charity, love and kindness. The first speaker (Sister Waddell) talked about loving kindness, and how no matter what people do love them! The second speaker (Bishop Waddell) talked about what our missionary purpose is: inviting others unto Christ through loving and serving them. What we should expect: it will be the most rewarding, frustrating, hardest thing we will ever do. But also that every mission is designed personally. Look for what Christ wants me to learn. Also what is expected of me: We are on the Lord's time not our own. He also talked about loving our companions and that when we get frustrated with them never think about what they are doing wrong but think about what you can do to change. So my goal sense then has been to be a better companion and serving others in the little ways.
Wednesday: It was a super special day, our zone all fasted together for our two missionaries with torn ACLs. We got good and some not so good news. The Australian Elder from my district is able to stay to finish his time at the MTC but then will go home for surgery and when his recovery time is over come join us in Taiwan. The Sister from the youngest district had to go home Thursday for surgery. We all miss her so much, but I'm so happy that she is getting everything fixed now so she can back sooner! Our district got to be hosts for new missionaries. It was so exciting! No surprise but I cried waiting for the missionaries to come, I just felt so much love for them. I also felt all those nervous and exciting feelings I had when I came in. It was just so amazing to see others leave their families in order to serve the Lord. This work is absolutely amazing! I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of God's army in the Latter Day! Also a little funny thing when I started to cry two of the Elders from my district pulled out little tissue packets from their pockets and told me they have started to carry these around just because they know I cry a lot. hahaha super sweet of them! Last thing from that day, I was getting a little overwhelmed with some of the vocab and I was struggling to see my progression throughout the week. I was paired up with one of the Elders for language study activity and he asked me what I was frustrated about. So I quickly told him, and he gave me some pretty good advice. He told me that he could see me studying super hard and putting in a lot of effort. He compared it to going to volleyball practice everyday and working super hard. But I was choosing not to play in the game. He told me very bluntly that I needed to open my mouth, or I would never progress. So that is what I've been doing, and to no surprise it has made a difference. I've made mistakes but I've learned form them all! Super grateful for the constant reminders I have of my purpose.
Thursday: Honestly I don't remember what happened this day. Our last class ended with just us laughing super hard and our teacher telling stories. And when we were writing in our journals that night we were still laughing super hard so I didn't write down much. But our district was able to bond over that. I love them all so much! They are my brothers and sisters, I don't know what I would be doing without them.
Friday: We hit the one month mark, and our halfway mark at the MTC. As a district we were super excited but also super sad! We all have loved our time together at the MTC, and to know it's almost over is sad. But we are also super excited to get out in the field! One of the sisters that leave next week described it as a ship in the harbor, we are learning and growing here but our purpose isn't to sit in a harbor. It is to go out into the world and share his gospel! In a month am going to have the opportunity to leave the harbor and go out into the world to share his wonderful message! I get giddy just thinking about it!
Saturday: We had our last in person member TRC, the last two went really rough! But this was soooooooooo good! My comp and I were unified, our Chinese wasn't perfect but it was so much better! We understood partially what the people were saying. We left the lessons feeling great! I know that my comp and I prepared well for the TRC but it was not us teaching that lesson. It was the Holy Ghost and because of him it went to so well. I know that if we are in-tune with spirit he will take over and make it 100X better than we ever could!
Sunday: It was our last fast Sunday in the MTC. One of the sisters also mentioned how it was 2 of our 18 fast Sundays while on our mission. Broke my heart! It is going by so fast, and before I know it will be over. I'm not going to waste a minute of it! We had an amazing devotional from our MTC presidency about the relationship between the Savior and Peter. They compared their relationship to ours. "You were called to walk on the water. God will raise you out of the water you are struggling with." How amazing is that?!? I know that is true and no matter what we go through the Lord is reaching out to help us, all we need to do is reach for his hand. After the devotional as a district we celebrated one of our Elder's birthdays! We had cake, we sang him about 5 different songs in both english and chinese, we also had birthday hats and the little noisy blowy thingies. It was a hoot and a half.
Ah I forgot after the Tuesday night devotional I had this encounter: people were being really slow at walking down the stairs. So an Elder says to his companion, "uhhh I just wanna shove everyone down the stairs, but I can't shove the sisters". So I say, "You can shove the other side, it's just Elders." So the Elder in front of him goes, "Elder you can't shove me." And the original Elder goes, "Elder, I will shove you all the way to the Celestial Kingdom haha". So I respond, "ummm in that case, you can go ahead and shove me to the Celestial Kingdom." Then he goes, "I can't Sister, that's inappropriate contact, but I can politely invite you haha" It was probably the best invite I ever had!
I know this church is true and I love all of it with my whole soul/heart! I am so happy to be able to be sharing this gospel!
I love you all so much!
Love, Bao Jie Mei
Monday, September 24, 2018
If you pray for humility be ready to get wrecked...
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
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
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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