MTC week #3

Leih houh ngoh chan ngoi gathing tuhnmaaih paahg yauh! 

(Hello my dear family and friends!)

It has been an amazing week here at the MTC! I can't believe that on Wednesday it will be my 3 week mark and that I'll be 1/3 of the way done with my time here! This week has defintely been the fastest week so far. 

First off, we got three new investigators- Yanni, Bill, and Walter! It has been so fun to see how much better I can communicate with them every time we visit. Yanni and Bill have been very receptive and great to work with! Walter on the other hand hasn't been keeping his commitments and seems to be lacking interest for the gospel. But we are still working on him! Actually during his lesson this week, I had a cool experience. We were teaching him and I got a prompting from the Spirit to ask him to come to church right in the middle of a lesson! I didn't think I should because we had planned to give another commitment and I wasn't sure if I knew how to ask in Cantonese but I did anyway. And he said yes! :) We were so excited! We will find out this week if he actually went. But it was such a realization for me that the Spirit does work through me for these people. 

My accomplishment this week was I can now pray in Cantonese with no notes and I memorized the missionary purpose in Cantonese! So that was good :) It's coming along well, my biggest struggle is the tones and pronunciation. In fact, there's an elder in our district who had a funny experience this week with tones. He was teaching a lesson and meant to say, "Jesus Christ is God's son." But instead he said, "Jesus Christ is God's coconut." she was super confused and showed them a picture of a coconut so they could realize what they had said. Hahaha! Turns out that son and coconut are the EXACT same weird but with a different tone! So if you get the tone wrong you get the word wrong :P That's the hardest part for sure! 

We had our first TRC this week, which is on Saturday mornings we go to the resource center and get to teach a member lesson. They are volunteers who speak your mission language- so usually RMs that are attending BYU or live close by. So it was a different experience teaching someone who doesn't know anything about the church. So we got to know them then left a short message about faith. Afterwards they evaluate how you did. Our reviews were pretty good for our first time! :) I still have plenty to improve on though. My new goal for this week is to just open my mouth and speak because sometimes I am afraid I'll say the word wrong or the structure but that's the best way to practice.  

The highlight of this week for me was definitely Tuesday night. Elder Quentin L. Cook (of the Twelve) came for our devotional!! :) We sat four rows away from the pulpit and the Spirit was so strong! He gave an amazing message personally for the missionaries, it was great! So that was awesome but an even better part was the testimony meeting me had after. It was just with the girls in our zone and the Spirit was so strong from the meeting. Sister Weaver (branch presidency member's wife) asked that we bear our testimony of the Savior. It was probably one of the most powerful meetings I have ever been in! We were all bawling haha and it was so amazing. I just wanted to share a few thoughts I had about the Savior in hopes that you can feel the same Spirit. 

Someone once told me that every time Jesus Christ looks at the wounds in His hands, He thinks of YOU. And I love that! I think sometimes we think of the Atonement as Jesus taking on the sins and pains of the world, which He did. But we need to realize and understand that He did it for us personally. Every pain, sickness, sin, temptation, or trial you've ever felt, He has felt it too. He knows what you've been through. And what amazes me is that He loves us so much that He volunteered to do that. He knew we would be imperfect and ungrateful but HE DID IT ANYWAY. One of my favorite quotes is from Elder Okazaki and it says, "Christ is not waiting for us to be perfect. Because perfect people don't need a Savior. He is the Lord of the living and the living make mistakes. He wants us in our imperfections, our sorrows, our brokenness, and our grief." He wants us to be happy, to repent, and come unto Him. I have such a strong testimony of the Atonement and am so grateful for my brother, friend, and Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives and loves each of us perfectly. And I promise you if you turn your life over to Him, He will guide you and comfort you. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Thank you for all the continued love and support! Have a great week!

Love, Sister Escher