#1 Email from MTC--First PDay

Leih hou, ga ting tuhngmai pungyo!

I would like to begin with a hokey sentence like, “Wow, the MTC! I’m finally here!” because… it’s actually how I feel :) tee hee. This place is very unique—like BYU, but ratcheted up even higher. EVERYONE is modest, kind, friendly, reverent, etc., etc., etc. It’s a little bit surreal. It’s been a great experience. I’m in a district of just THREE (a really small number): me, Fuhng Ji Muih (her real name is Sister Farr) and Si Jeung Loh (Elder Smith). Yes, it’s crazy; I have an Elder for a companion. With God, all things are possible, eh? Seriously though, since there are only three in our district, he’s what we like to call a “single Elder” so he learns, eats, walks around with Sister Farr and me, but goes to gym, the temple and laundry with our older district (with three Elders in it—Elder Au, Elder Pun and Elder Chang) (obviously those are their Cantonese names).

Sister Farr is LOUD!!! She is gorgeous and kind and 22 and danced at BYU and reminds me of a mix between Ashley Nixon, NaTasha Chandler and… Mother Teresa. She’s SO nice, so generous, so kind, so sweet and so not-easily-offended. Oh and did I mention LOUD? I love her. Elder Smith cracks me up, too—he’s so 19 years old. It’s awesome, like having a little brother around all the time.

I’ve been blessed with such a LOVE for the language! (Grandpa Blair, Thank You!) I’m so excited to be learning more. Our teachers are wonderful: Brother Jackson just got back from his mission to HK in (who-knows-make-up-a-month-because-I-don’t-actually-remember) and Sister Lau (native HK) who got back from her mission to DC in May. They are WONDERFUL—Sister Lau is tiny, adorable and overflowing with enthusiasm (every time we pray in Cantonese she squeals, A-MUUHN!!! At the end, and when we get a new concept, she says, “hou len!!!! (pronounced HO-layn. Brother Jackson is a great teacher and LOVES Cantonese.

We spend a lot of time in class, an hour in gym and about two hours all together eating per day. GF is a beautiful dream here—every GF person in the church should beg to serve a mission just for the food at the MTC. I went in to talk with the dietitian expecting to explain contamination, and stood, taken aback, as she showed me (very quickly…food is done at the MTC very fast…) the dedicated toaster, walk-in fridge full of GF bread and cookies and cereal and oven where they keep plates of food they make for us. WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! They made me PIZZA last week. Yeah, I know, AMAZING.

Please send me Dear Elders instead of emails if you can at all--I ran out of time to email today b/c I was reading, reading, reading! Printing emails is hard, but again, if you send emails send them in one big email (b/c it takes way longer to print if they're in different ones). And I get DearElders every day instead of just Wednesday!!!

To END:

Galatians 4: 7-8 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.

I've been learning so much.

Thank you, love you, God bless you!

Sister Darcey (Baak Ji Muih)