Downhill from here...

Hi Familyyyy!

 

The new mandarin speaking missionaries come in tomorrow! We are so excited! None of them are going to my mission but still we can't wait to welcome the newbies, I'm thrilled they are going to think my Chinese is so good...(they don't know any better, bless them).  Once again I loved TRC on Saturday. My Chinese is getting better and better. It blows my mind that I can literally talk with someone for a half an hour in Chinese! I have so much to learn, nope I don't even wanna think about it. Now that the older generation is gone, the presidency will start calling on us to give talks in sacrament, we´re all freaking out, it´s so nerve wracking, I made it through Sunday, they didn´t call on me. However there was an Elder who was giving a talk and he was wanting to say ´´take these questions you have and think about it´´ only he said ´´take these questions you have and die´´ hahaha we were all dying. To ´´think´´ and to ´´die´´ are very similar words in Chinese haha too funny. 

They passed around my little chex for sacrament, It cracks me up when I eat it because you can hear me in the corner crunching on my sacrament while everyone else has normal bread. Usually at lunch and dinner, I dont' eat much, the food just isn't too good here, especially the gluten free stuff but I'm loading up on rice! 

My companions and I are becoming a lot closer, opening up and what not. Its getting much better, we laugh a lot and can laugh at ourselves (usually after a lesson and I've said something ridiculous haha). We have Skittle parties because that's one of the treats I can actually have. I have an...admirer, if you will. His name is Elder Riddle, I met him doing laundry.  He speaks Chinese so he always comes and talks to me and helps me with my Chinese. The other night he actually came to my classroom and gave me a ´´moon cake´´-  you can look it up.  It has to do with some tradition in Taiwan during this month. I guess it's an honor to receive one so...I felt pretty special. My district likes to tease me about it haha, he´s a nice kid. 

My bathroom buddy Sister Duchene left yesterday morning, I'm depressed, she was the only one who understood my love for Jbiebs. She is going to Texas speaking Spanish. I will miss her, we have plans to be friends when we get back.

ALRIGHT now to the serious stuff. We got to participate in the Brigham City Temple dedication on Sunday! I have never been to one obviously and didn't know what to expect.  It was really neat I'm glad we could watch the broadcast. We even all had handkerchiefs and got to do the shout! Loved it.

I am called as the music coordinator for our branch and it was my first Sunday having to do something.  We were short copies of music so I tried to distribute them evenly.  When it came time to sing, I didn't have a copy (sacrifice I made for my branch) and so I'm totally mouthing the Chinese lyrics.  Then I look up on the stand and see that my zone leaders don't have a copy either, so they are doing the same thing. I was laughing. Afterwards they came up to me, ´´Sister Raitt, thank you so much for your service, great music program´´ (being sarcastic) haha they are great. My Branch President is a huge fan of John Raitt and he asked if we were related and I said yes, so now of course he assumes I'm this amazing singer, he always mentions it in his weekly letters to me. haha. 

I'm sorry this letter is all over the place but I'm just remembering things as I type. We watched the Joseph Smith movie Sunday night, I just love that movie. If you get a chance, all of you should try to go see it soon. I just love the firesides here, they are always so inspiring, when i leave I'm ready to just go CHANGE THE WORLD! haha But really, they are awesome. I know I have been called of God to do His work and I have been set apart with authority to do so.

Another funny story, in TRC on Saturday our investigator was talking to us and I really wasn't understanding much, but then she starting speaking in English, totally in the middle of the sentence and all I could think was...I have the gift of tongues!! I understood that perfectly! haha That's the joke in our district - whenever our teacher accidentally lets an English word slip, it always surprises us so we say, ´´Oh my gosh!  It's the gift of tongues!´´ haha too funny. 

I cant believe I have only five more weeks here, I mean, don't get me wrong - I cant wait to get to Australia but that's not a whole lot of time for me to learn everything I need to know! ugh. Sink or swim, right?

Anyways...I love you all so much and miss you. Hope you enjoyed this random email about my week haha. The spirit is so strong here, I wish all of you to read the Book of Mormon, It is changing my life in so many ways. The Book of Mormon is true and If you aren't sure then read it and ask Heavenly Father. I love learning about Jesus Christ and his Gospel. Nothing makes me happier. I hope you all have an awesome week, I look forward to your letters! Love you all!

 

Sister Raitt