This week has been crazy I don't even know where to begin! The mtc is an amazing place, everywhere I go I hear all sorts of different languages being spoken and practiced which is awesome, everyone here is so focused on learning and trying to be better there is a special spirit here. The layout of the mtc also reminds of a prison in some ways haha it's always a nice surprise to see the mountains and be reminded that I'm in Provo, I've only been here for 5 day but it feels like I've been here for a month, but not in a bad way. The amount of information that I'm learning is crazy, I go to bed every night exhausted but with my head full of new things, and wake up every morning tired but excited! Sometimes it feels like one big BYU reunion! It's so fun to walk around and see all my friends from freshman year with their name tags and see how hard they're working, its truly inspirational.
My companion Shi Zhang Lao (Elder Stratford) is a great guy and we get along very well. We have similar ideas about teaching and he getsbuckets in basketball during gym time. He is also randomly the second cousin of one of my good friends from BYU, and she is in our neighboring Mandarin zone so we all get to spend lots of time together. He and I are the only kids in our district of 10 kids that have never had any Mandarin experience so we have decided to be the hardest working companion pair to make up for that, and it's really paid off. We pray before every study session and I've never felt my mind so open to learning something in my life, the amount of mandarin that we are taught and absorb in the day is pretty ridiculous. I can tell that companion relationships, if they are done right, can be really strong and uplifting relationships so long as we are both striving to do our best and have the Spirit with us.
When I walked in to class the first person I saw was Elder Hammond one of my really good friends from BYU! It's exciting to be together and learn together, I've learned to appreciate and love everyone in my district.
Learning Mandarin has been crazy, the rate at which we learn is faster than that of any class I've ever taken in my life, and I have never worked harder at or been more humbled by something before in my life. The first day of class our teacher spoke only Mandarin and only has ever since, I have never heard him speak English, and after two days, my companion and I had to prepare and teach a Mandarin speaking investigator. It was definitely the hardest day here so far. We walked up to the and said Hi were missionaries and he just spoke all Mandarin and we were pretty mindblown. I was able to pick out some things here and there and tried to answer some questions, and my poor companion was struggling even more than I was. We left bearing what little testimony we could and I felt very humbled and a little embarrassed. I think I apologized to him like a thousand times because I couldn't say anything I wanted to. It helped me to realize how little I can rely on myself at this point, and that I need to rely with faith in God that I will be helpedthrough the work. Elder Stratford and I have spent more time on our knees in prayer than I probably did the whole summer while I was home and I can really feel it pay off! We are more calm and prepared, our second lesson went miraculously well, we prayed to be calm and have the spirit with us (all in Chinese), and I found that, even though I still struggled, I was able to understand more and more of what he was saying and was able to speak more and more. It's so exciting to see these little miracles, 5 days ago I couldn't speak any Chinese, and now I speak it 6 hours a day in class, and am teaching our 3rd lesson all in Mandarin about the Book of Mormon next week.
This week I have been trying to change some parts of my nature, I found that I have been so judgemental, prideful, and selfish. We learned a lot about the character of Christ, how he was the perfect example of selflessness, in every moment of his life, including his greatest struggles, he thought of others. I have been trying to turn my thoughts and my prayers more outwards, and out of a more genuine love for others and not out of any selfish desires like recognition etc. These past few days I have been slowly de-worlding myself and trying to become the best missionary I can be. At a devotional we were told basically to get over ourselves, stop worrying about why me, or I want, or I expect, and realize that it's not always going to be what we want or think we deserve. We have to lose ourselves in others in order to find ourselves.
I apologize for the length and jumblyness of this letter, there's just so much to talk about and so much I've learned and experienced already!! I love you all and I know this work truly is the work of the Lord! Sorry if I don't get to respond to all of your emails, my time is fairly limited here in the MTC!
Love,
Elder Woolley (dunks) :-)
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