Week 2: 355 Rules & gift of tongues

Hi everyone,

This week started off pretty rough. I was getting really upset about the language. It's not that I wasn't learning, but I was frustrated because we were teaching lessons to an "investigator" by the third day. I had the attitude of "I CAN'T teach a good lesson if I can't even speak Chinese?? How is it possible?" Well our whole district was thinking that way, and our teacher could tell. So he "broke down" (and spoke in English) and gave us a little pow-wow or mini devotional on faith. It was very very very much needed. He said that we can't see Chinese as an obstacle, but we need to see it as a stepping stone. He also said that the only way we can make Chinese a stepping stone, is through Jesus Christ. FAITH BEFORE CHINESE. And he reminded us that as President Monson has said "The future is as bright as your faith". He also said that Jesus Christ fell so that men might rise. It was just really powerful. I realized that I hadn't once trusted in the Lord in my teaching. And I also realized that I needed to look at what God has given me. He truly has given me the gift of tongues. And I truly have felt that gift this past week. 

My companion and I decided (the day after the mini devo) that we were going to show our faith in Christ. And that we were going to trust in Him. Our previous lessons had been planned out, every word. But we both felt like we should just try to use the Chinese we know, and teach very simply. We didn't even write out full sentences. Well we wrote out sentences in English, then translated the words we weren't sure about into Chinese. We went into the lesson feeling confident, and I kept telling myself that I was showing my faith. Like in Ether where it talks about how there is no witness until after the trial of your faith. At least I think it's in Ether. So we taught the lesson (lesson #5 btw) and it was incredible. I have never felt the Spirit testify to me as much as it did. We knew that by doing a lesson plan like this, that we had let the Spirit guide us, and the lesson went a little bit different than we thought, but I truly felt guided. For example, we were talking about faith, repentance, and baptism (and we invited her to be baptized btw, she said she didn't know yet. Anyway), and we were talking more about how God will answer our prayers if we ask, and I wanted to bear a small testimony of prayer, and I was trying to look up a page but I couldn't find it. To save my life. Literally it just disappeared. My companion continued and took over, and she bore her testimony, and the conversation sort of moved on but then I felt like I needed to add my testimony to hers, and I literally opened straight to the page. It might sound like a coincidence, but I truly felt like I was guided. It was just such a testimony builder. I learned that I truly need to have faith. But that I am doing HIS work, and I am teaching HIS gospel, and as long as I do my part He will help me. I also learned that it actually is possible to teach a meaningful lesson even though I speak a little Chinese. Which I needed, and I know that the Lord knew I needed it. I'm not really the one who is teaching, the Spirit is. I loved it!

I love my district and I love class! Funny story though, our "investigator" just walked into our class one day as our teacher. We were all shocked. We thought we would never see her again, but she's actually our teacher! How fun :) About class, I have never laughed to much in my life. It's so fun. Our goal is to focus though :) We get a little carried away. The best part is our teacher is a part of it. We even made him walk out of class once because he was laughing so much. Our one teacher (Ge Lao Shi) Is a great actor. Class is literally a game of charades. Well not so much now because we understand more, but he would definitely win a charades competition if there were such a thing. 

The MTC has SO many rules (355 to be exact). Actually that's not what I don't like, what I don't like is that we don't know all the rules. Then we "get in trouble for it". For example, a bunch of the Elders and Sisters in my district had brought candy with them (cause everyone gets food in their packages but can't eat them except at 9:30 at night because that's the only time we are allowed to go back). So we would eat candy here and there like during breaks or something, and the next class our teacher decided to give us a 15 min lecture (it was in a nice way though) about why we shouldn't eat candy or anything in the class. We didn't know!!! It's frustrating because that happens all the time. Especially to our poor district leader. He always gets picked on by the Branch Presidency for little things that he didn't know he should be doing or shouldn't be doing. Side note: we have an awesome branch presidency. Our branch president (who is amazing,he used to be an ambassador, he speaks Swedish and French, no biggie). Well the other day Sister Skinner (Ran Jie Mei) wasn't feeling well so she went back (with her companion of course) and slept. But they missed dinner so they hadn't eaten. Well the branch president had come to check on our district and found out they hadn't eaten. So he got us Subway. We all sat on the floor and ate Subway at 10:00 at night! He's such a good man! The other counselors and especially their wives are great too!

We had interviews with our teacher (Wu Lao Shi), the one who was our investigator and ended up being our teacher). She's from Taiwan, and she just said the sweetest thing. She told me that I have definitely been blessed with the gift of tongues. She said that she knew I would bless many in Taiwan, and that the people in Taiwan would love me. I was so touched. She also said (lovingly) that she thinks that spiritual gifts are given to us to help and serve others. And she said that because I was doing really well with Chinese, that I could really help others learn. Then she said "BUT it doesn't help others when you translate all the words into English" I was like "oooops haha" I just translate what the teacher says, but apparently I need to let others speak or try to figure it out too. It makes sense and I definitely should. I am just so grateful. I'm definitely #1 or #2 in my class. One Elder has a really good memory so he knows more words than I do, and his pronunciation is pretty good. I don't mean to sound like "Oh I'm the best", but It has just been such a confidence booster. I just never thought that I was going to catch on as quickly as I have. I know that the Lord has blessed me so much. 

One of the sisters in my district/room/class has this amazing hiccup (miracle) trick. I had the hiccups during study and she says "Give me your pinkies" I was like "Um, what?" And she said "Give me your pinkies." I was like "Is is gonna hurt". She said "No" So I handed her my pinkies. She started to rub/massage them lightly, and my hiccups disappeared. I WAS SHOCKED! Like WHAT? TRY IT! Haha it works!!! Seriously!!! :D She said it usually only works three times, but it depends on the person. It's like a miracle haha. 

I just wanted to share a couple more quick things that I learned this week. 

1. I need to have faith, and trust on the Lord. Completely.

2. Missionary work isn't about me. I'm not learning Chinese to benefit me. I'm learning Chinese to bless the lives of others, and to be able to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the sweet people of Taiwan. 

3. If I want to change myself and become better, I need to focus on serving others. And just focus on others. 

Well that's all I've got :) I love you all!!! So so much!!! 

Love, 

Sister Roberts

(Luo Jie Mei)

Temple

 Typical MTC Photo

Name tag

Matching ... unintentional

Roomies

At the temple

Week 1: First Week in the MTC and loving it!

Here is Sister Roberts first post from the MTC.  She is loving it!
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First of all, I just love it here!!! Even though I haven't even been here a full week. Ask me if I feel the same way in a few weeks!!! :) So the first day was definitely crazy. Once I was dropped off, I was rushed everywhere. Got my books (which BTW they weigh 35 pounds instead of 12 like they said they would. Benefits of learning Chinese...), got my tag, MTC card, went to my dorm, dropped off all my bags, then went straight to class. But of course they only speak to you in Chinese. 

​I​

t was awesome because I understood. I responded back to the teacher and he said "Oh ni de zhong wen fei chang ha

​o​

" which is "Oh your Chinese is very good!". With a surprised tone in his voice. I can't complain. I had my name changed from Ru Jie Mei to Luo Jie Mei which was the Chinese surname 

​I​

 had been given in China, and the name that all my family has. 

​We then 

 had a welcome meeting, and it was cool because 

​as ​

I was sitting there, I was overcome with love for my companion. And I literally hadn't even talked to her much! Definitely a cool experience. After that, it was dinner

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The first day wasn't too exciting. A lot of information thrown at you. 

Second day was also very hectic and crazy. It didn't help that we (my room) were all so tired because my poor companion (Sister Hughes or Hu Jie Mei) spent the night throwing up. I went with her to the doctor (cause I have to stay with her) and that took about an hour.  She's ok :) 

I love her! She's just the best! She's from Bountiful Utah and has been here her whole life. She's also going to Taiwan, and she just has the sweetest testimony! I have so​ much I can learn from her! So get this, we are both short, we both were born on July 3rd 1996, we both have heart murmurs, and we basically love the same food. Except she doesn't like spicy. We are literally the same person. It's the best!!! We were a match made in heaven!!! We have two other Sisters in our room. Sister Erickson (Sun Jie Mei) who is outgoing and just tells it how it is. Love her! And we have Sister Skinner (Ruan Jie Mei). Hu Jie Mei (my companion) is going to Taiwan Taibei, Sun Jie Mei is also going to Taiwan, and Ruan Jie Mei is going to Toronto Canada mandarin speaking. Pretty cool! We all get along really well. 

Our district is pretty small. We have us four sisters, then we have three elders who are in a tri​-​companionship. Elder Ramanlal, is from Hawaii and is going to New York North mandarin speaking, and who also met the cast of Hawaii five-0 (shout out to Hallie and my mom and brother) because they wanted to use his house. He is also the district leader. Elder Joly is from Utah, and he's cool. Then Elder Welch from Utah as well. Everyone in my district has had some amount of Chinese experience. Everyone is working really hard to learn Chinese... It's hard. And oh goodness it takes so much brain power. Especially trying to understand the teacher who only speaks in Chinese. But it's definitely an adventure! We have learned so much already. It's overwhelming for sure, but it could be worse. At least I have background, good pronunciation and ​a ​good ear for the tones. 

Second day was pretty straight forward. We met the branch presidency and we also met our zone. Which is only 5 more elders. So there's only 4 sisters in our zone and branch. (Our zone is our branch and there are​ only 12 people all together). Our zone is pretty awesome. We eat all our meals (except breakfast together). They are really helpful, which is good. The only complaint I have so far about the MTC is that I feel like no one has really taught me anything. As in, how the MTC works. Or the daily planning

​. ​

 Maybe it's just cause I missed half of the second day going to the doctors with my companion, but I just feel like there is so much I don't know!!! I'll figure it out eventually. So as I said we met the branch presidency, and we were given our callings. I'm the pianist (woohoo!) Sister Erickson (Sun Jie Mei) is the Sister Training Leader, Sister Hughes (Hu Jie Mei) is the chorister, and Sister Skinner (Ruan Jie Mei) is the music coordinator. It'll be fun. So for church, we have to write a talk every week. In Chinese... yay... Then they randomly pick on 2 or 3 people to share it. I guess it's good cause by the time you leave the MTC, you have talks prepared. Anywa​y, ​ I gave the lesson in relief society (first time teaching a church lesson) and it went well. ​I​t was on Enduring to the end. ​I​ t's funny though because it's just us 4 sisters, and then the three wives of the branch presidency. Sorry i'm jumping around so much. There's so much I want to say!!! And I feel so rushed!!! 

So we taught our first investigator on Friday....yes it was in Chinese. It was awful ​(haha)​. We taught about God and Jesus Christ. It was supposed to be 30 min, and ours was 5... but it's ok! The next day we taught again and it was a whole 15 min!!! Good for us! It's kind of frustrating because we literally don't know enough Chinese!! I mean I guess it's a good experience, but I can't say I learned much from it. I was just annoyed cause I couldn't speak. Also the investigator was on her phone during the prayer(s), so we taught her about prayer the next lesson. The second lesson definitely went better. We taught about prayer and more about God. I'm almost positive though she isn't a real investigator. But I gotta say she's a good actor. 

So my companion told me that someone told her that there are 355 rules in the MTC....how crazy is that.... but our branch president taught us that we should just be obedient and not ask why. The rules are here after 170 years of missionary experience, so we just need to trust. 

BTW​ my P-day is on Monday!

I've been sleeping well, and I haven't been homesick at all...sorry haha. I may get there, but honestly, I just have so much to do, and so much to think about that I have very little time to think about home. Which is ok with me. It's not like I have forgotten any of you though. Don't worry!!!   We have really just been learning Chinese and doing personal study, with meals in between.  Wake up at 6:30, get breakfast, go to the gym (we are lucky we have gym in the morning), get ready, have personal study for an hour, companion study (hour), language study (hour), then lunch, additional study (hour), then class (3 hours). Then dinner, more class (3 hours), and study time, daily/weekly planning, then bed. Crazy I know. We are allowed to go outside for companion study and additional study though. Thank goodness!!! 

This past Sunday was awesome. It was so spiritual. After church and our temple walk with our district, we went to devo​tional​. Chad Lewis (the NFL football player) and his wife spoke, I​t​ was really good. Also, Taysom Hill was there and bore his testimony. ​I​t was so good. After devotional​, we have 10 or so option of movies (maybe less). We watched this devotional given by Elder Bednar about the Character of Christ. I​t​ was awesome. Basically he said that we need to work on being someone who thinks outward instead of inward. He encouraged us to go through the scriptures and find examples of Christ and where he shows love and gives service instead of thinking inward. You all should do that!!! 

Well that's all ​I​ got for ya! I'm not frustrated with the language yet, and I'm actually just really excited. My testimony has grown so much. I have felt the spirit so much and it's just such a confirmation that I'm supposed to be here, and that my Heavenly Father is ​happy for ​me. I know it'll be hard, but so far it's been great!!! Thank you all for your emails and letters!!! Talk to you next week!!!!

Love, 

Luo Jie Mei

(Sister Roberts)

Day 1 - Entering the MTC

Cecily entered the Provo MTC Wednesday, October 14, 2015 with a 1:15 drop off.  It was an absolutely beautiful, bright, sunny fall day in Provo.  We flew out to Utah on Tuesday from Atlanta.  Grandma & Grandpa Roberts came up to see Cecily and spend the night.  We had a great trip. We were able to visit her cousins Devon, Dev, their son Liam, and Zach Ward.  It was a fun brief visit.  We also got together that evening with Karin Jorgensen for dinner and ice cream.

Cecily woke up on Wednesday so happy and excited to be finally starting her mission.  That made it easier for us, to say the least.  We had a pleasant surprise with her aunt Natalie driving up that morning from Beaver to join us for lunch and to say goodbye.  We all went to the Provo temple grounds for a few pictures, hugs, then headed to the MTC to drop her off.  We were so proud of Cecily ... once we pulled into the MTC, gave her one last hug and said goodbye, she grabbed her bags and headed into the MTC and never looked back.  No tears, no second thoughts, she was ready to go and fully committed.

We are still waiting to hear from her and can't wait!

Here I Go!!!

Well This Is It! I'm off!

So can I just say, it most definitely doesn't feel like I'm reporting to the MTC this Wednesday! Like WHAT?! Crazy!!! It definitely snuck up on me. It felt like it was never coming then BAM! It's here. Oh well I can't complain. I won't lie, I'm scared. But my Stake President said that being scared is a good thing. It means we will (hopefully) be on our knees, and allows us the opportunity to be humble.

I can't wait to grow and change, but I definitely have no idea what I'm getting myself into. But then again, who really does? I've tried to prepare the best I can, and I feel like I've done a good job. But I still feel as though I have more fears than I do excitements.

I look forward to the hard times because that's when I will grow and change. I'm grateful for all those who have been so kind to me especially in my "new" ward. And for all the tips and advice I've been given. 

I know that this is God's restored church here on the Earth. I definitely have many many many many things to learn, but I feel that's one of the reasons I NEED to go on a mission. To learn, and grow, and to be humble. I can't wait to see I become. I'm going to try my absolute best to be the best missionary I can be. I know that my relationship with my Father in Heaven grow, and I will learn to rely on Him. And I must say, I am completely putting my life into His hands, and I can't wait to serve my God, and bring the gospel to the precious souls of Taiwan. 

I love you all!!!!

Love,
Sister Roberts

One Week and Counting!

Well, I guess I've got a week until I leave! Crazy! 

     So I've had my call since June. It feels like I have been waiting forever, but at the same time, it has gone by so fast. I am grateful for the time I've had to wait and prepare, but for most of the time, I just psyched myself out. I thought way too much about all the things I was scared for. Which I shouldn't have, but I did. 

     Surprisingly, I am calm. In fact, I am excited. Which is something I have wanted for a long time. Before, while I was sitting in my fears, I felt guilty that I wasn't more excited. But now I can honestly say that I am. I know that I am supposed to serve a mission, and I know that I have been called by inspiration and by God's servants here on this earth to serve in Taipei, Taiwan. I have always felt that way, but I wasn't focused on my purpose for going, and who I would be serving. And when I was able to focus on that, my nerves were calmed and I began to feel excited! And I am so grateful!

     I feel ready. I haven't studied Preach My Gospel as much as I would like, but I didn't know how to, and I was stressed because I didn't know what I was supposed to remember, and how I would be teaching it, etc. Which I probably didn't need to know, but it was just hard for me to go through it because I felt like I wasn't productive. Hopefully I will pick it up fast! 

     I'm so excited! And I feel so grateful for the important purpose that I feel as a future missionary. It has inspired me so much to do everything I can to grow, and improve myself. I want to be the best missionary I can, and I just hope that when I'm having a hard time I will still be motivated to do my best! 

     I hope all of you will write me once or twice! I would love to hear everything that's going on, and of course tips and advice that you may have! Love you all!!!

Love, 

Cecily Roberts

(Future Sister Missionary)