Meagan entered the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah, on February 5th. Most of the posts on this blog will consist of her weekly email reports that we receive from her.
Below is her first message, written after one full week at the MTC. We are so happy to hear about her progress and we hope you are too! It's so wonderful to see that her sense of humor is also fully intact. Those of you who know her well will immediately recognize that it's still our sweet and funny Meagan speaking to us.
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| Photo by Fabiana Beatriz Photography |
Hello family and friends!
This first week at the MTC has been a whirlwind. The hours feel long, but the days are short. I can't believe it's already P-day! So many new things have happened, I will try to describe a few awesome things that I've experienced so far.
First things first, I am in a district of Mandarin speakers who are all going to Taiwan, Taichung. Except for me, who's going to England. It's pretty funny, because they'll say stuff like "What do you think Taiwan is going to be like?" "Did you bring this or this because it's so hot there?" "Oh my gosh Taiwan is cool!" and I'm just over here like ... "God save the queen!" It's pretty cool though. In my district are Elders Johnson, Faddis, Savage, and Oswald and then there's me and my two companions, Sister Price and Sister Biancardi. My companions are awesome and our district is awesome. I guess we were a little shy at first though, because the other Mandarin districts called us Zarahemla, because "we were their brethren, but they never saw us." haha.
More about my companions: Sister Price is from Seattle and comes from a long line of Taiwanese missionaries. Like, her family went to Taiwan, she's not Taiwanese. That was confusing. Anyway. She's so awesome and smart and spiritual! The other day our companionship was feeling gloomy and doomy because we'd had a not-so-great teaching "appointment" and she suggested we all have a companionship prayer. It was a great suggestion, we all cried and felt better. :)
Sister Biancardi is from West Linn, OR (near Portland) and I actually knew her a little bit before coming to the MTC. She was in Women's Chorus with me last semester and we'd both talked a bit about how we were learning Mandarin and leaving on the same day for the MTC. She is very funny and determined, and she knows the gospel well.
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Other cool things... I'm learning Chinese, for those of you who didn't know. :) It's hard. I'm not going to lie. But at the same time, it's awesome being able to teach basic lessons to our pretend investigator, Guochenwei, and to be able to pray and bear my testimony in Chinese. More of it will come later, I know. Last night at our devotional, Elder Zwick's wife spoke about patience. She said that the Lord doesn't make mistakes, and that He called us to speak Mandarin for a reason. He knows we can do it, so why don't we? I really loved that.
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As for my daily schedule, I mostly am in the classroom. Honestly, I call that room "home" and not my dorm. I sleep and shower in the residence halls. I do almost everything else in the classroom. But it's okay, because I have the awesomest teacher ever. He is from Australia but speaks Chinese because he went to Singapore on his mission. He is like the most spiritual, most patient teacher ever. The "older" missionaries (those who have been out longer than us) are spreading rumors that he's one of the Three Nephites. I think I believe them.
Sunday is probably one of my favorite days. I don't have class, it's all personal study and meetings. The sisters get to watch Music and the Spoken Word before Relief Society. This week, when they sang Love One Another, they showed pictures of happy little families and I totally cried. I wanted to shake my fist and yell "Why would you show that? Do you realize I'm in the MTC and get emotionally compromised when I see families??" Haha. But it was a wonderful program and I felt the Spirit testifying to me that my family is blessed for my service and that I will be with them forever. I love the gospel!! I love the Plan of Salvation!! Also on Sunday, our little Mandarin branch of about 30 missionaries has sacrament meeting almost all in Mandarin. Everything except two of the talks and announcements is in Chinese, which is cool and also a little strange. On Sunday nights, after the devotionals, we get to watch a film or a talk, so my companions and I went to watch The Testaments in Mandarin. I love that movie, but I could not for the life of my figure out what anyone was saying if they spoke any word other than "The Son of God," "Blessing," "God," or "Hello." Needless to say, I just sat back and accepted the fact that I basically know nothing in Mandarin. But at the end, when Christ came and visited the Nephites, it suddenly didn't matter what language it was in anymore. I knew that Jesus Christ lives, that He loves all of us, and that He visited the people of the Americas. It is so cool how, no matter what language or culture or background you have, the gospel is the same and the Spirit is the same. :)
I feel like there's so much more I could talk about. While the MTC has made me more in-tune with the Spirit, and I speak Chinglish instead of English all the time, I'm still the same clumsy person I was before my mission. I've knocked stuff off of others' desks, I trip, I say things weird... One time I completely fell out of my desk and face planted. This morning I made myself bleed trying to open laundry detergent with my key. :) Hehe, no worries, I'm perfectly fine. All I'm trying to get across is, a mission is FUN and full of laughter. Honestly, I didn't think I'd laugh as hard as I have. I love the spiritual side of my mission and I love laughing with my companions and having fun. While a mission is so different from everything I've done so far in my life, it's been the best week of my life as well.
To answer a few quick questions...
My Chinese name is Lin Jiemei, pronounced "Lean Jee-eh May". I don't know what it means. I didn't pick it. They just gave it to me. Haha.
Everyone in my district has some Chinese experience. Everyone else took it in high school. I wish I could've done that! Oh well. It's nice not having to go over the basics, but also it means we get to jump right in and start speaking!
My companions and I have taught our "investigator" four times now. Each time gets better. Sometimes, he asks a question and I'm like "I think he said something about God... Wait, what?" and I get all confused. Other times, I answer him without even thinking about the fact that "Oh I'm just speaking Chinese right now and testifying of Joseph Smith. Cool." Some lessons are good, some are less good. Either way, I've learned more Chinese in these few days than I have before this. It's awesome.
Well, I think my time is about up. I love all of the mail I receive! It really uplifts me and makes me so excited! I love you all, I know this gospel is true, and I know God loves ALL of His children. I hope you have a wonderful week, and I'll write more next Wednesday!!
Love,
Sister Larson
Stay tuned for more next week!
Great letter from your amazing daughter! Sister Biancardi is from our Stake. Her Dad has spoken in our ward before. I think he is on the High Council. I'm glad to have this blog to read about Meagan's mission. Thanks.
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