Week #2: MTC July 21, 2016 - July 27, 2016

Sister Vranes and Sister Richman

This week has felt like it has gone by so slow, yet so fast at the same time. I can't believe it's p-day once again. On Sunday, as President Deng visited our class, he quoted President Kimball, who said, "If Taiwan could have 500 missionaries, China would be open." That was a wonderful promise to me of what is going to come. I knew there was a reason everyone I knew who was going Mandarin speaking was going to Taiwan, and I'm so glad of what is yet to come. Also on Sunday, all of the lessons were about faith in Jesus Christ. No matter who we are, whether a nonmember, a devout church goer, or even a missionary, we all have room for improvement. It is by our faith in Christ and His atonement that we can find the strength and courage to overcome our trials, repent daily and sincerely, and strive to become better each day. This has given me strength and courage to become a better missionary. 

Sunday night, for devotional, the Nashville Tribute Band came to play their songs. I absolutely love their albums, Joseph and The Work. We sang with them as a choir, singing "John's Song", "I Was Born", "When the Son of Man (Comes Again)", and "The Hardest Thing I Ever Loved to Do". It was beautiful their testimony of missionary work preached through the best medium I could think of, music. 

Sister Vranes and the other 3 Mandarin speaking
Sisters that arrived at the MTC on the same day 

Tuesday, we had yet another devotional, with Elder Spencer J Condie from the Seventy, and his wife. They spoke about the simplicity and power that a testimony carries. Sister Condie is from a European country, like Germany or Austria, and simply bore her testimony in English. Even though it wasn't her native language, it was powerful. I know now that the most important tool a missionary could carry, is their testimony. Sweet and simple, yet powerful beyond measure.

In devotional, the choir (which our whole zone has committed to being part of) sings a musical number. The spirit is so much more powerful, and I notice the lyrics more. The choir director is so funny and tells the most awesome and powerful stories. This Tuesday, we sang "Where Can I Turn for Peace". I never realized until now that this song IS a missionary discussion. As we all search to find peace, comfort, safety, and happiness, we have the answer--through Christ and His atonement. By His suffering for our sins and trials, His death, and His resurrection, we can have assurance that there is hope and peace in this life and in the life to come. There is a line that says "reaches my reaching". This line comes from the story of Peter walking on water as Christ did himself. During a storm, Christ walked on water. Peter, a disciple of Christ cried out to walk as Christ did. Christ beckoned Peter to come. Peter, a humble servant, started, but began to sink from doubt. As Peter sank, he cried out, "Lord save me" and reached out his hand. Christ reached down and pulled him out of the water. Just as Peter, Christ can reach down and pull you out of the water, no matter how far down you may be. You may even feel as if you are on the bottom of the deepest sea, but Christ will reach down for you. All YOU need to do is reach for Him.