Sister Escher in Hong Kong: Cantonese, Conference and Easter!!!

Jousahn! (Good morning! :)

Wow, another week down at the MTC. On Wednesday, I will have finished 2/3 of my time here. Six weeks down, three to go. I'm still content with being here but I'm sure I'll start getting anxious to get to HK this next week or so!

Cantonese was a little frustrating this week because we were introduced to some new grammar structures that just go right over my head! :P The grammar structure of Cantonese is completely opposite of English so that's hard to wrap your brain around. But I am still learning a lot and trying my best! We learned how to teach the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity in Cantonese which made for some pretty funny/awkward word mix-ups ;)

But what an INCREDIBLE weekend we had here at the MTC! :) My spirit got very spiritually nourished! General Conference was as amazing as always! And there is nothing more powerful than sitting with God's army of missionaries listening to our living prophet speak. I honestly cannot choose just one talk that was my favorite, they were all so great! But some ones I liked best were Elder Renlund, Elder Causse, Elder Holland, and Elder Andersen. If you didn't watch all of Conference I invite you to get on lds.org and watch the talks! Very, very inspired leaders we have today!

I was so excited about Pres. Monson's announcement of temples in Haiti, Ivory Coast in Africa, and Thailand! What was so crazy about Thailand is this week I was talking to my roommates who are going to Thailand and they were saying they wished they had a temple in their mission. And I said, "I have a feeling you will get one soon. What if they announced that in Conference this weekend?! That'd be so crazy!!" (I was half serious and half kidding!) Haha so we were all quite surprised when the announcement came. All the Thai missionaries were screaming and crying and so happy! It is so great being a missionary during these times when the Lord is hastening His work! Not only through missionaries but through the building of temples.

Even though I missed out on some fun, family Easter traditions it was a great experience to celebrate it here and it'll be one that I'll never forget! :) Everyone wore cute Easter colors and we got to take a walk around the campus and to the temple. The Provo temple is seriously SO gorgeous right now with all the colorful flowers blooming- pictures just don't do it justice! I loved all the talks given in Conference about His resurrection and the sacredness and importance of that great event. There is a large picture in one of the foyers of the resurrected Christ appearing to Mary at the tomb. I was looking at it when I had a distinct impression. I remembered the scripture "He is not here, for He is risen." And then the thought, "Because He is risen, you are here" entered my thoughts. It was a very profound and beautiful thought from the Spirit. I am HERE on Earth and HERE on a mission for one reason only. That reason is because Jesus Christ lives today!! Because of Him, death has no sting, the grave has no victory, and our sins will be forgiven and forgotten by God. WOW! What a special gift we are given by our loving Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for His Atonement! May we always remember it.

Another great thing that happened this weekend is that on Sunday night instead of having a devotional, VOCAL POINT came and performed for us!!!! I was SOO excited when I found out!! For those of you that don't know, they are the BYU men's A Capella group. If you have never heard of them, drop what you are doing and youtube them RIGHT NOW. Seriously, so good!! :) Haha! They sang hymns and non hymns (it was pretty funny seeing how excited a bunch of missionaries got to hear something besides hymns ;) and shared experiences from their missions since they are all RMs. Their words were really inspiring!

Anyways, it was a fabulous weekend with Easter and Conference and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! Shout out to my little sister Shaylie who is getting baptized on Saturday! :) I am so excited she is making this decision. It is the first step to a blessed and happy life in the gospel. I love you and am so proud of you Shay! Wish I could be there!

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

Love, Sister Escher