Week 3

oh my gosh! oh my gosh! oh my gosh!
i have so so so much to tell you guys about. and so little time.
thank you for all of the news from the outside/real world. the main thing that keeps me going in this bubble (beside my faith and the faith of my companion) is mail! so keep it coming! i love it. i miss hearing your voices, reading your voices is the next best thing.
i do hear from quite a few people... mostly gamma girls, sheri sivertsen sent some sweet rolls, grandma ireva, grammy, troy.
yes, forward these to all you please. if necessary please edit content. i love the food here and eat way too much.
i hope your trips were great. i hope you thought of me as i walk from building to building in the snow.
lauren is amazing! i'm going to touch her as soon as i get home, so that colin will rub off on me.
i was surprised by my sadness about heath's death. spirit world missionaries will get him i'm sure.
so... my life in the mtc... never a dull moment yet many dull moments.
this week we trained at the referral center (rc) where people call for free dvds and books the church advertises. i had interesting experiences there this week. the first was amazing. i pretty much gave the first lesson over the phone and the woman i spoke to said she would go buy the book of mormon. (we can only send one free thing and she wanted the lamb of god dvd.) i told her to read 3 nephi 11. she wrote the chapter down and said she would. i think she will!!! i wish i had a way to contact her. she was amazing and the spirit was really strong. the next day i got a freaky phone call that lasted about 40 minutes. sometimes the guy sounded like he was honestly interested, other it sounded like he was bashing. he asked about the law of chastity and if cuddling was okay. what the heck am i supposed to say? and he asked about the acappella group inside out. weird. weird. weird.
sister mcintosh and i taught at the tec (teacher evaluation center) where we practice and teachers give us feedback. the teacher we taught asked us to come back. he said we teach with power and he struggled to come up with criticism. awesome! we were so happy and felt really good about our teaching tast at the trc that would be the next day. it, unfortunately, didn't go as well as planned. i don't know what the deal was but the flow wasn't there. we were really discouraged but qian laoshi (our amazing amazing amzing teacher) told us that everything that he heard was perfect, and that the sit in investigators were the problem.
funny things to tell you about...
the mtc turns you into a forty year old and a ten year old at the same time. qian laoshi taught us exercises to do in the classroom. one is called ji fengli. it's silly i'll show you when i get home. the point is that i pulled my hamstrings doing it! crazy. and i have had sore abs all week from my amazing sit ups. ha! (dad, yes, stock up on the sports bras please.) my comp and i laughed outloud about the combo.
my new favorite thing is playing four-square with the elders at gym. the dummies play like fools when girls are on the court (court?). i try to get them to play like real men but they don't. i'll break them. my goal is to be king square the entire game by the time i leave. MAKE IT A GOAL, MAKE IT HAPPEN.
an elder in my district had a dream that a guy followed me to the mtc, submitted papers so that we would be here the same time, then proposed to me here. weird. funny.
so, our district has a goal to be more positive as we start speaking the language (which i SUCK at). i told them about saying three nice things to someone after you say something mean. so now, when we say something negative about ANYTHING we have to say three positive things. i have had to say three nice things about tones, three masculine things about elder welling (i accidentally referred to him as "she"), nice things about myself and more. qian laoshi is really funny. he made a sign that says zhongwen on one side and yingwen on the other (mandarin/english). the mandarin side has a little man drawn on it. when i accidentally spoke english in class he decided that we have to apologize to "his friend" when we slip into our native language. i'm the only one who has had to say "duibuqi, qian laoshi de pengyou" (sorry, teacher money's friend.) and i've had to twice!!! ha
the district has figured out my nostrils. it makes things funnier.
one sad thing... the prophet! will you keep me updated, via dearelder, about what goes on. they told us right after we watched the restoration video last night. i didn't know i would cry so hard. and i have never heard 19 year old boys sob before. sorrow permeated the huge room where we have devotionals and exercise like i have never experienced. he was a great man. we will miss him. the mtc has a sad air today. i'm sure it will turn into gladness soon as we all realize that president monson will be sustained! i'm looking forward to seeing what he has for us to learn in his dispensation.
well, time is almost up. i love love love love love you guys. wo ai nimen.

<3
zeng jiemei