Home MTC: Week 2

Hello everyone! This has been a good week! It was less busy than last week which was nice. On Monday me and my companion had our second lesson with the college student we were teaching, and unfortunately it did not go as well as the first one. She still gave us good reviews, but I think she was just being nice cause it was pretty cringy :) But lessons learned!

We also had another lesson on Saturday, with a guy that we had never taught before. This one was a little difficult to plan because the guy we were teaching is paralyzed from the waist down, and since we had never met him and were just going off his bio, it was hard to know if he wanted comfort from his injury or just in life in general. This lesson flowed smoothly though! I don't know how much he is willing to change because of our message, but he seemed to enjoy it so that's good.

I really don't know what else happened this week. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun! I didn't have classes, so it was nice to just chill with my family. On Saturday we had our afternoon class in Chinese. Not gonna lie, it was a little exhausting, but according to Brother Ensign that means the gift of tongues is working! So, I guess I gotta get used to being exhausted 6 hours a day for 7 weeks straight! No, I’m actually so excited, I head to the Provo MTC this Wednesday and I can't wait!  

Spiritual thought for the week: I have studied a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ recently. It is such a powerful topic to me, and I know that through Him and His incredible sacrifice we can be healed! Take your weaknesses to the Lord and He will strengthen you. Although I haven't really seen magnificent results in my own growth as of right now, I know that Jesus Christ can make my weakness in Chinese and teaching strong, and I promise that He can for you too!!!

I would invite you all to study Ether 12:27 and the doctrine of Christ's Atonement and take it to the Lord in prayer with a desire to internalize this message and learn what to change in your life to become a more effective servant. He will answer you. Take time to be still and know that He is God.  Anyway, I love you all and want to hear from you if you got this far!

Pictured: 1. Chopstick mugs that we planned to have during a lesson. 2. Sister de la Guardia's (a sister who would sometimes join our classes) last lesson with us.  

Home MTC Week 1

Hello everyone! Welcome to my email list :) I would like to start by sharing a quote by my wise afternoon teacher Brother Truman. "English speaking missionaries go to the MTC for three weeks so that they can learn to teach. Spanish speaking missionaries go to the MTC for six weeks so that they can learn Spanish. And Mandarin speaking missionaries go to the MTC for nine weeks so that they can learn to be humble." Wise words Brother Truman :)

Online MTC took a bit of getting used to at first, but it's been really good so far! My district is so fun and I'm so excited to meet them in person. It kind of gives me EFY vibes with how fast we've gotten close without even meeting each other in person! But it's seriously been so good. The spirit can be felt over zoom in case you were wondering. We've had some fun classes and activities to help us with our teaching, and I had my first helping others lesson on Saturday! It was short and sweet but actually went pretty well so that was nice! 

Oh, by the way my companion is named Sister Conder, she's super fun! The schedule is very busy but I mean I don't have anything else going on, so it's been good. Since it's all just zoom classes there isn't too much to talk about...but email me back with any questions you might have! Spiritual thought for the week: we had a super awesome devotional by Elder Christofferson and his wife, and in her talk, she emphasized the importance of "unpacking your bags" and "unpacking your heart." If you refuse to unpack your bags and make a home of wherever you are, you will be miserable. In this way she compared it to unpacking your heart, and that only by unpacking our hearts and letting ourselves connect with people will their hearts open enough to be touched by the spirit. 

Elder Christofferson talked about how Christ will call us in His name, and we need to internalize Him in ourselves as His disciples if we are to hear Him. He then went through five ways the Book of Mormon can help you be a disciple of Christ. I won't really get into those, but it was a super good talk and I highly recommend watching it :) Anyway I hope you all have a good week! 

Janelle's Setting Apart

Sunday night Janelle got set apart at the church. We had all of our immediate family members (except for Janika and Brandon who had already headed back to Pleasant Grove) and Grandma and Grandpa Westra were also able to come since they were not going home until the next morning. 

President Nadauld had everyone share some thoughts and advice for Janelle (so that was emotional!) and then he set her apart. Her blessing was SO incredible and powerful and she was given some amazing blessings!!! 

We got some teary eyed pictures after we got back home! 

Missionary Farewell

Janelle had her missionary farewell today! When I found out (a few days ago) that there was no musical number planned we hurried and threw one together. I found a pretty arrangement of "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" and we asked a few of Janelle and Jaiden's friends to sing it (Clay McFadden, Jaiden, Emily Williams, Alex Merdes, and Trina Lang). They did a great job! 

Janelle had worked hard on her talk and did a great job. We had a lot of family who came to support her (Grandma and Grandpa Westra, Chris and Kim and Camden and Cayson, Shane and Alicia's family, Derek and Danielle's family, Janika and Brandon, Jase and Ellen, Jared, Jaiden, Josh, Jenna, and of course me and Rick)! She also had LOTS of friends who came to support her! ) This picture was taking at Jaiden's play the night before, but I am including it here since all of these same family members were also at Janelle's farewell! 

We had a little luncheon at our house afterwards for our immediate family and also for our family members who were in town and for Janelle's friends. I also invited a few of our friends (the Williams, Phillips, Wildes, and Amy Ences family). 

We had a variety of soups (taco, white chicken chili, vegetable, broccoli cheese and potato) and desserts. I wish I had thought to get a picture of Janelle with Grandma and Grandpa Westra! Brandon helped us with the MTC door poster and it turned out really nice! 

Missionary Photoshoot

 

Temple: Janelle Endowment

Tonight, we had the opportunity to bring Janelle to the Cedar City temple to receive her endowment!

Rick and I left early with her and brought her out to dinner in Cedar City before we went to the temple. The St. George Temple is still under construction, which is why we went to Cedar City. Because of the ongoing effects of Covid, masks are now required in the temple. 

The rest of our adult kids were planning to meet us at the temple before the session. Janika texted and asked us to pray for them that they would make it in time. They got stuck in really bad traffic in Spanish Fork due to an accident which put them behind schedule, and she was worried that they might not make it. I checked the GPS and it showed that they would arrive thirty minutes after our 8:00 session was to begin. 

Nonetheless we prayed for a miracle -- and our prayers were answered! They were able to arrive twenty minutes before the session started.

While I was with Janelle as her escort, Rick managed to lock his keys in his car! He talked to the temple presidency who gave him a phone number to call and then joined us in the session. His keys were waiting for him at the front desk when we finished the session. The locksmith had offered his services for free, but Rick called him back and insisted on paying him. 

Other than those two things everything went smoothly, and we were able to enjoy a beautiful, sacred experience with Janelle and our other endowed children. Afterwards we took pictures with our family and with Janelle's friends, Brea Bulkley and Clay McFadden, who had also come to support her. We had a funny moment when we went to leave and saw that Clay was still inside the gates, which were now locked. He was locked inside the temple grounds! After a few moments of wondering what to do we realized that the gate was still open on the other side of the temple! 

Just a little bit about the temple endowment from ChurchofJesusChrist.org: 

The word endowment means “a gift.” In this context, the temple endowment is literally a gift from God whereby He bestows sacred blessings upon you. The endowment can only be received in His way and in His holy temple. Some of the gifts you receive through the temple endowment include:

1. Greater knowledge of the Lord’s purposes and teachings.
2. Power to do all that God wants us to do.
3. Divine direction and protection as we serve the Lord, our families, and others.
4. Increased hope, comfort, and peace.
5. Promised blessings now and forever.

Janelle's Mission Call Opening

Janelle has been SO anxious to receive and read her mission call!! Of course this is totally understandable! She had tons of people there in person and lots more who joined in over zoom!! You can see her opening her call HERE!! 

We are all beyond excited!! Janelle will be a fantastic missionary! Here is a group picture of those who came out to support her -- and there were lots more who showed up throughout the evening (missing the announcement, ha ha!)

She is going to the Taiwan Taipei Mission!! Now she can put her three years of High School Chinese to good use! She reports to the MTC on November 15 and will be teaching the gospel in the Mandarin Chinese language!