Week 7

the subject line is my new favorite mandarin word. it means "gladly". one of my favorite things about the mtc is making qian laoshi and the rest of my district shakes their heads at me because of the words i ask the translation of. when qian asks me to do something i usually respond with "would i say no?" zhongwen zenma shuo (how do you say "would i say no?" in Mandarin)? wonderful words i have gotten the translation of include: dodgy, fight, gladly, only because, only of you, are you sure, whatever, oh my gosh!, can i just say... i think i drive my district nuts... the other day i was going through the tapes for my tape recorder (i'm making you a tape next week, surprise!) and found an old "recorded" diary from the summer before junior year of high school. HILARIOUS! we listened to it together. part of it talks about cameron mcdonald and says "when i'm around him i'm, like, speechless." elder welling said, "i cannot imagine someone that you are speechless around. i'd like to see that." funny.

I TAUGHT THE FIRST LESSON IN MANDARIN!!!!!!! holy cow. i was so so so scared. but the lord blesses those who are humble. the mtc has definitely humbled me, and continues to. we taught two "investigators" with a "member" it went really well and the spirit was strong. i even cried! i cried in mandarin! amazing!!! we will teach it again on saturday then next saturday we'll teach the second lesson. i cannot believe how quickly the time goes here. i swear, in a blink of an eye it is p-day again. crazy!!!!
i'm trying to come up with other noteworthy events... oh i know!! the packages you guys sent. nimen feichang bang! you guys are extremely awesome. thank you thank you thank you!
mom- we listen to the prince of egypt every day!! we love it. and as i type i am wearing brown opaque tights. the cookies from hawaii are delicious. (sister mcintosh demands we visit her! i think she wants to know who made me this way. haha)
dad- we read the joseph smith books every comp study. awesome! my favorite chapter so far is the one on repentance. joseph was an amazing man. i am grateful for him.
little girls- your drawings are THE BOMB! zenme name hao? how could that be so good! you are awesome!! <3<3
how is everyone feeling? my companion has been really sick. she would not go to the doctor. i kept PLEADING with her to. i think i kind of now know what it feels like to be a parent... asking someone to do what you feel would be best for them and being ignored. i'm sorry if i ignored you. i'll do my best not to anymore. well, one day in comp study she fell asleep twice. so, i FORCED her to go. and she was sick according to the mtc doctor. now she's on the road to recovery and i am still in sound health.
elder cornelius story of the week... i realized i tell you something funny he did every week. i think his sister ends up with these emails and the stories are amusing so i might as well keep it up... while teaching at the trc he and his comp asked the investigator if they had any questions. the investigator answered no and cornelius said "xie xie, xie xie (thank you thank you)". funny.
xu zhanglao (elder britt) and i got into an argument the other day. a fight! he was telling me about how jesus had three wives and a bunch of stuff about the dead sea scrolls. i told him that i will not read the dead sea scrolls as doctrine until a prophet/seer/revelator tells me i can/should do so. he was greatly offended. will you guys check into this all? my first instinct would be to ask ked. would you? how is he? i wrote connor a couple of weeks ago but haven't heard back yet.
did you guys get the stuff i sent last week? the picture and my schedule? i'll send more pictures today. i'm excited to take pictures that i can develop. i want you to see who i see every minute of everyday. remember how i used to have you go on facebook to look at people. i wish i could have you do that now.
wednesday we get three new girls! all going to kaohsiung ! exciting!!! i hope to be a good example to them.
well, my time is limited. and is running out. i love love love you guys! i hope you are well. i miss you!!!! muah muah muah muah muah.

<3 zeng/jade

ps an interesting thought... read the bible dictionary about prophets and then the referenced scriptures at the end. WE ARE PROPHETS! crazy! doesn't that make you feel more important?