So this week was notably less exciting than last week. So I would say buckle up, but I guess I'll just say unbuckle. Haha. This week I've just been doing all that I can to learn the language and figure out how to teach people. It's coming along and I definitely feel better about it than last week, but it's still been really hard. The grammar structure in Chinese is very hard and I'm so glad that I had Mr. Anderson as a teacher for three years. I may have mentioned this before, but 3 years from him has gotten me very ahead of a lot of other people in my district. I'm not surprised at all that a lot of his students get called Chinese speaking because he just prepared us so well. I was reading a lot of other elders emails today and it's getting me pretty stoked to get out in the field. I honestly can't wait to be in Australia teaching the people there. Some of the elders in my district don't like Chinese and they are holding out for an English speaking transfer, but those hopes were kind of dashed when Elder Stowell got a letter from his friend speaking Chinese in Brisbane. His friend said that he speaks Chinese all day every day. That just makes me so excited because I can't wait to be immersed. Even if the first little while is tough. I'm also really excited to see some of my friends that come in here in September! It's going to be so so exciting and I can't wait to see them!
This week, I was diagnosed with Pink Eye. I'm pretty sure that the Doc just made it up so I would have to spend money on a prescription. The only plus side was that we got to walk off campus to the BYU pharmacy. It felt super weird to be out of our little box. Hahaha it was just one more thing that made me excited for the field! I have gotten better though and I'm feeling great! It was pretty hard to focus in our 11 hours of study when me and my comp had colds and I had pink eye. But it's all good now, so no worries.
The Pass downs of this week have been pretty legendary. You're actually not supposed to pass things down, but we got a whole bunch of Chinese lanterns for our room and I understood why the other elders didn't want to waste space packing them haha. It's been great though and in about 24 hours we will be the oldest group of Mandarins in our branch. So that's kinda fun. We don't get new missionaries until September 2nd for our branch though so our chances of speaking in sacrament meeting are increasing dramatically. The way it works is that everyone prepares a talk and then the branch president gets up and calls two names and those people go give their talk. It's basically terrifying. Now there are only like 22 Mandarin speakers in our branch, so we have good odds. It's okay though, because I still have faith that I won't have to speak hahaha.
I have come so close to Christ while I have been here and I just wish that everyone could spend a month in the MTC. It is an absolutely amazing and sanctifying environment. I love it here! I love all of you and miss you tons! Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Jackson
This week, I was diagnosed with Pink Eye. I'm pretty sure that the Doc just made it up so I would have to spend money on a prescription. The only plus side was that we got to walk off campus to the BYU pharmacy. It felt super weird to be out of our little box. Hahaha it was just one more thing that made me excited for the field! I have gotten better though and I'm feeling great! It was pretty hard to focus in our 11 hours of study when me and my comp had colds and I had pink eye. But it's all good now, so no worries.
The Pass downs of this week have been pretty legendary. You're actually not supposed to pass things down, but we got a whole bunch of Chinese lanterns for our room and I understood why the other elders didn't want to waste space packing them haha. It's been great though and in about 24 hours we will be the oldest group of Mandarins in our branch. So that's kinda fun. We don't get new missionaries until September 2nd for our branch though so our chances of speaking in sacrament meeting are increasing dramatically. The way it works is that everyone prepares a talk and then the branch president gets up and calls two names and those people go give their talk. It's basically terrifying. Now there are only like 22 Mandarin speakers in our branch, so we have good odds. It's okay though, because I still have faith that I won't have to speak hahaha.
I have come so close to Christ while I have been here and I just wish that everyone could spend a month in the MTC. It is an absolutely amazing and sanctifying environment. I love it here! I love all of you and miss you tons! Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Jackson