Tina, Eat The Food!

The weeks are going by way too fast now! It's all becoming a blur. So this past week, I feel like everyone has been trying to give us so much food, hence the title, "Tina, eat the food!" Because that's just how I feel. If you say no...they just keep offering. "Oh, why not? Just a muffin, are you sure you don't want a hot drink?" Even the palagis and the maoris. The islanders though, like I've said before, learned my lesson not to turn down food. We picked up some members to go with us to a lesson in the Tongan Ward, the lesson fell through, so they invited us in and I thought we'd be able to talk to the non-members there and set up a lesson. But it was to have some food. Ha. They gave each of us a large slice of banana cake, then they gave us a cup of milo. I was trying to balance it on my plate, but spilt a little, and then the member sitting next to me (the mum) kept tellin me to trade slices with her and to take her plate, I was confused, and then i finally asked if she didn't want her slice and she said, "Yours is wet!" and I said not to worry about it, so I finished my slice with milo on it, and then another member was telling one of the kids in Tongan to bring me another slice, so she did. And I had to eat it. Tongans, too funny.

 

I decided I could NEVER be Chinese. Did you know they don't even write the language that they speak? And it doesn't matter which direction they write in. The traditional Chinese Book of Mormon is written right to left and vertically, but when Sister Chan writes letters home, she writes horizontally and left to write. So confused. But I have been able to pick up phrases from the Chinese primary songs she has, and she taught me "The cheese is old and moldy," in cantonese, and now I can count to 10. I've learned the 4 mandarin tones, in Cantonese there are 7. She said she's going to teach me, but it sounds way to hard for me to remember. No wonder asians are so smart. It was been SO fun with Sister Chan lately. My love her has grown so much and also for asians, haha. Whenever we say asians, I try to guess where they are from, sometiems she can't even tell though. We were eating with members who just got some Chinese students, and this is the conversation we hear, "How do you say hi in Chinese?" "I think it's Ciao." "Isn't that food." Then I chime in , "Ni hao!" hahahaha, too funny. Especially since they just sent home another Chiense student...how did they not learn how to say hi?

 

In case anyone was wondering: they're going to have a rather large VC at the Rome temple. President Monson said, "Now I don't want a dinky Visitors' Centre in Rome!" And the sculpture who sculpted the Christus, dont' know if anyone knows, but he also made sculptures of the 12 apostles and the church is going to get replicas made to go into the Rome VC. Kind of cool. All of these originals or in a church in Denmark. The guy who came and did the training last week told us.

 

We had a really good companion study with our Zone Leaders last week. We were practicing teaching simply and it was a big wake up call to how complicated I make lessons. Even the lessons in Preach My Gospel have SO much information in there that can be over the investigators' heads. It was just what I needed because I feel like I've become pretty routine lately and I've hated it, so it helped me to see how I can change the way I teach and what I say.

 

Things are definitely slow right now, feel like I'm running out of ideas of how to get things done, but I still have so much to be happy about it. Funny how even though things aren't great in this area, I still have a strong love for this area. I guess it's a confirmation that I know that I'm supposed to be here...and I feel like I'll finish my mission in this area, ha. And I love all the missionaries I get to serve around, the sisters and the few elders we get to see.

 

Every time I talk to the Tongans, I love em more. We were talking to the first counselor in the Bishopric and he told us that Bishop challenged everyone in the Bishopric to invite one person to be taught by the missionaries. The counselor was quite excited and said they have a family that they're not that close to, but going to invite. And he said, "Everyone said 'yes' so we have to do it! Hopefully some good things start happening for yous!" Yes please! The way missionary work is supposed to be done.

 

Long letter. Sorry.

 

Ofa atu!

     Sister Mullen