September 9, 2012

So its finally come down to my last week at the MTC... Its weird because I've been here so long its hard to imagine leaving; haha just kidding I am so ready to get out! Although I know I am no where prepared enough to teach I am ready to go. My teacher Fu Hingdaih (FOOH Hing-die) told me a lot about what I first day will be like in the Field and it honestly sounds pretty intense. I just got to make the last 7 days and 20 hours or so in an airplane! Sooooo ready to go. Fly out at 9:30 at SLC!

 

I will defiantly miss Elder Morton and Kimball, I would say we have become good friends and developed a decent understanding of each other. Spend every living movement with someone for almost three months can really make love or hate them but luckily for us it came out pretty well and we haven't killed each other yet. I just really hope my new companion in Hong Kong is a really good missionary, like my companions, because I am going to need all the help I can get when I go into the field and teach my first lesson... I can't wait to write about that haha.

 

As for the MTC life, not much has changed since basically week three. I go to breakfast, gym, shower, class, lunch, personal study, language study, class, dinner, and finish the day with some good ol' TALL Lab. (Anyone who goes on a foreign mission will LOVE TALL haha.) Yeah sooo I am seriously ready to get out this rut of the MTC.

 

So that's basically it for my MTC stay the next time I write you will be in Hong Kong! So everyone should email because letter in Hong Kong will expensive and a massive wait. 

September 3, 2012

So last Tuesday the Mandarin and Cantonese Missionaries got told a general authority was going to talk to specifically us for like an hour (from 4 to 5pm) before the devotional. So of course the only reason he was coming was to tell us China was opening, right? Haha Well we met Elder Anthony Perkins last Tuesday (8/28) and he basically (like I thought) gave us a pep talk and prepared us for our missions. Elder Perkins was mission president in Taiwan, some other stuff and the last five years he was a the area president of Asia. At the end he let us have a cool little Q and A. Of course the first question asked was about China being opened (it's still Communist I don't know why people kept asking) but he gave a very interesting response. (I don't have perfectly written down but this is what he basically said.) "China is open, but in a special and new way unlike any place before. We have Elder/Sister all over the world teaching native people from China. People in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, America and so many other places. When these native Chinese people receive this gospel they are allowed to take it home to their family and share it with only them (that's the law about religion in China) but they almost ALWAYS accept it. So even though China is not open officially, it is and work is being done. God has allowed us a special way to teach his beloved people from China and it works but hopefully soon we can teach them in China but even now we are still teaching the people of China." Thought the way he explained was pretty amazing and never really thought about it but its true. Pretty inspired words if I do say so myself!

Not much else has happened. Still studying Cantonese and the scriptures everyday; I have read the Book of Mormon once already here. The language learning has kinda of slowed a lot compared to the first couple of weeks so I think it's time for us to head out (which happens in FOURTEEN DAYS). So excited for the 22 hour flight! haha

August 27, 2012

So Elder Anderson of the quorum of the twelve came last Tuesday and it was pretty amazing. He spoke on 8/21 which is President Monson''s birthday soooo he spoke on 10 things president Monson said. I left my notes at my room so I will give you more in detailed information at 4pm today or write you a copy in a letter or something. The two things that I remember best is Monson's favorite quote, "Do your duty that is best, leave unto the Lord the rest." Which I honestly feel describes my mission pretty well... Although it is relatively successful compared to the rest of Asian missions, I feel a lot of my future lessons will be planting seeds for other elders. I just have to do my best and leave unto the Lord the rest. The other thing that really talked to me was Elder Anderson''s closing line when he bore his testimony, it reminded me a lot of Joseph Smith's line (don't remember it perfectly), "I cannot deny what I know, for I know its true, God knows I know and therefore I cannot deny the things which I speak." Or something like that, Elder Anderson said, "I know this church is true, I know the book Mormon is another testament and I am here as another testament of Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ amen." The firmness behind his voice was so strong the room was in complete and utter silence, I don't think I have ever been in a room with 2000 people and it be so quite. It was amazing, If I could have a even a 1/3 of the power that he spoke with that night I know I could be a great missionary. That's all I really want, his the firmness of the truth that he had when he spoke, the smile he talked with and the love that he shared with us. If I had those three things I know I can be a great missionary, even with such a tremendous language barrier that I will have for a while.

 

So now I have my own companionship because the new Canto is with Elder Kimball. Elder Morton and I have been getting along great and seeing decent amount of progression in our "progressing investigators." One is truly considering baptism (we have date set in about 2 weeks ish) and we just started a new investigator but she is pretty stubborn about things so we will see how that goes.

 

The language is pretty tough, obviously, but I can still see progression although it is slow. This language is very tough and at some times relatively depressing. I could spend 2 hours learning new words for a lesson and when it comes time to teach only remember a few of them. I know Hong Kong is going to be really hard speaking there but I think I have learned as much as I can from the MTC. I still have 22 more days here so hopefully I can keep progressing but it definitely has slowed down.

August 20, 2012

The language is coming along pretty well. Me and my companions can now do a 50 minute lesson without notes so there is a lot of progression but we still have A LOT of room to improve before we hit HK. My sounds and tones are correct like 85% time so that's awesome. 

SO the new canto group is one elder and one sister, neither are natives so they will be here for the full 12 weeks. 

Questions from from parents:

Couple questions about the MTC:

1)      Are you teaching real investigators? I thought it was just practice in first few letters…but you last one made it sound like they were real…sorry for being unaware…but real investigators you teach in mtc? How does that work…bring them from BYU? Educate me please

2)      I talked to some one and then there was new family in church today about scriptures in Cantonese…they said Mandarin and Cantonese both have same written language but different spoken language…how does that work?

3)      When do you leave for Hong Kong…I think you said 17 Sept.

4)      Have you had any Apostles speak at the MTC? Do you have devotionals or speakers come talk to you guys? How often?

5)      Is church “wars” or there are 2500 that go to one meeting? How does it work?

Elder Arrington's responses:

 1. We teach our teachers ACTING as investigators they taught out in the field, so we are teaching "real people" from Hong Kong to prepare us for our mission.

2. Okay so Cantonese doesn't have their OWN written language so they barrow Mandarin's characters. Cantonese also has 7 tones (9 technically) and Mandarin only has like 4 I think. So our language is completely different (words may sound the same but it is essentially another language) so to learn how to read I have to basically learn 1.5 languages on my mission. I don't actually learn to read characters until about 6 - 8 months in the field in HK. Soooo it should interesting.

3. I leave Sept 17th, I get on a bus at 5am drive to SLC then fly to LA have a lay over there for 2 hours I think and I get to call you while I am there by the way. Then I fly to HK which is like a 16 - 18 flight...

4. I missed the Mission president training that is late May, early June. So I haven't seen an apostle yet. We have MTC leaders speak on Sundays and Apostles/70's speak on Tuesday nights every week.

5. Your zone is your ward. My zone has like 40 people or so. Oh Josh Clason my Summer roommate was in my zone he leaves tomorrow afternoon.

August 13, 2012

So the MTC is still as fun as ever. Constantly in a classroom learning something new, getting way to excited to play futbol everyday, and being just as excited to get to bed. The MTC is pretty exhausting like I said before. You see so many people come and go it kind of makes you sad. The language can be very difficult on certain days and it feels like you aren't learning anything. Teaching our "investigator" and seeing no progression is so frustrating. It seems like there is a lot more failure than success here. Then on the other hand the moment when you have those little successes like your investigator going to church, understanding the language or getting that little nap in feels SO amazing. It really is the small things that keep you a live here.

I only have 35 more days left in the MTC. It feels so close but I know its pretty far away. I am really stoked to go but at the same time I know I am NO where ready to teach in Hong Kong due to the my level of language skills. So it will really be interesting to see where I will be at in the next couple of weeks! On a side note we get some new baby Canto's this Wednesday, one elder and one sister. So that should be a confidence boost to see how much I have improved since getting here hahah.

My favorite things at the MTC are playing futbol when ever I can, learning grammar for Cantonese, wearing shorts on Pdays and not getting food poisoning :)!

August 6, 2012

I will share the small bits of information about my mission that I've learned since being there. There are 6 zones in my mission, about 100 missionaries, 3 languages are spoken in my mission Mandrin, Cantonese and English and it has the highest baptismal rate in Asia (the Phillipense are not included). There is an area in Hong Kong called the International Zone/District and that part of the mission is in pure English! The Hong Kong Mission gets to stay out later than everyone else, we can be out until 11:00pm! Our name tags are cooler than everyone elses because no one has one like ours. They are a little bit bigger than a normal tag, it has the church and my name in english on the right side and in Chinese on the left side. As a bonus we get to have our favorite scripture engraved into the back of it! So by the end of my mission I will have four different tags!

The MTC life is hard and not just because I speak another language. I think its because I finally hit the rut of the MTC. I do everything over and over again and its starting to take a toll. It also doesnt help seeing so many friends I have made here and friends from BYU come and go while I still have 42 more days... Although I know being here is worth it, it still can be hard. I am not homesick, I'm not depressed, I am not scared but I am constantly exhausted. Honestly the only thing that holds me up are quick naps when people arent looking and seeing the small successes everyday. That moment when you teach a lesson and you can just talk without pauses in full Cantonese is what really keeps my "alive" here. I now understand why people dont like the MTC. It is not because it is a bad place because trust me it is an amazing place but you get stuck in a rut and see A LOT more failure than success here. I honestly do apprietate my time here so far but I am so ready to go to Hong Kong and teach there.

As for the language I can really see a change in it from where I have come from. I am starting to slow converting from writing lines to read in lessons to just speaking to them from my head. Although those lines may not be long or complicated I can deffinetly see an improvement. My reading and writing skills in romanized Cantonese is improving as well, writing statements or learning new words is much easier now since I can "sound out" what I am trying to say. I am really thankful for my amazing teachers Fu Hingdiah (Hingdiah means brother) and Gu Hingdiah who are really patient with me and the entire class. Although they arent school teachers I honestly learn more from them than any "professional" teacher I have met. I am really thankful for their work and efforts.

The older group of Hong Kong missionaries left and I hung out with them a lot during study time and gym so its kind of sad to see them go.

In Hong Kong I get to go to the temple every transfer since the mission is so small. Also I found out on Hong Kong Island (pretty sure its there) there is a church building its three church buildings built on top of each other. It is the second most expensive property the church owns because its in the city and its so hard to get a good spot there and apparently they did. (The most expensive is the conference center.)

July 20, 2012

So today 23/7/2012 is the beginning of my 4th week at the MTC and a pretty popular quote at the MTC comes to mind, "Days may feel like weeks but weeks begin to feel like days." Its weird to say but that quote really is true here at the MTC, each day feels like FOREVER but then you look back at the end of the week and I'm like "Where did all the time go?" Its crazy. The food here isnt that bad but its exactly like the Cannon Center by Helaman halls soooo I basically know all of the food they serve here. AlsoSTAY AWAY FROM THE ORANGE JUICE! Seriously people have been like DYING from this drink hahah, just a warning to the next group of MTC goers.
The weird thing for me so far is to see so many people come and go. I have seen tons of friends here from BYU and made some close ones to but I have already said goodbye to 3 districts here, I have come to know in my 4 weeks of being here. Its weird to see kids come in and complain about being here for three weeks or eight weeks while I sit there and realize I still have eight more weeks to go and I have been here 4 already... Its funny just to see how people live here at the MTC and complain about the different things. One thing I noticed (and I went through) was for a while most forgien speaking missionaries are jealous of English speaking missionaries. They get to be here for three weeks and leave! They don't have to worry about going to the mission Field and not understanding a thing, they dont have to worry about new cultures and they dont have to work about having to stay here for 12 whole weeks... I literally have never been more tired in my whole entire life, its like a battle everyday to stay awake around 1 or 2pm. I spend anywhere from 3 to 10 hours a day just working on Cantonese, it is beyond exhausting... Im brain dead by the end of everyday.

On a positive note my Cantonese is improving. I can now construct my own sentences and read romanzied Cantonese with about 80% accuracy. Also just to let everyone know I wont learn ANY characters in the MTC I learn them on the streets of HK and an average missionary learns anywhere between 1500 to 3000 characters (you need like 1800 to literate in HK). I also am teaching two investigators (returned missionaries acting as people they taught from their mission) one man named Ahei he is 41 witha 5 year old boy and a 18 yearold teenager named Vincent. They are both reading the Book of Mormon right now and Vincent just went to church. We have been teaching them every other day for the last two weeks. Vincent is really considering baptism and might actually receive it soon and AHei is still thinking about it. All our lessons have been in 100% Cantonese since day one and its finally starting to get a little bit easier. We are now teaching full 30 - 40minute lessons instead of out 10 - 15minute lessons from the first weeks. Hopefully I can keep progressing at such a quick pace and ask for everyone to pray for me to understand this langauge because it is really intense.