~~ALOHA!!!!~~
That's Sister Chen's favorite greeting. She went to school in Hawaii before serving her mission here. THANK YOU DAD!!! I got the fun package filled with love!! And candy!! And AMAZING pictures. I loved the NCYLS one!!! THANK YOU!! And so exciting to hear about San Jose!! I told a few Sisters here. You know...water cooler talk. You have no idea how excited they got. Seriously. SO GREAT!!
THANK YOU
--Josafat!! I loved the Samurai hat and the balloon. So did the sister missionaries here from Japan. They were pretty impressed. :) Thanks for the updates too! I can't wait to buy a pair of pants from you someday!!
--Margaret!! It sounds like you're getting into the whole Nevada scene. YMCA and callings to boot! THANK YOU so much for your sincerity and endless friendship. You have NO idea what a good example you are to me.
--Seanold!! Skydiving?? Nice. Sounds like you are doing really well! Happy happy!!
I'm going to cut to the highlights for this week. Way too many to include:
- It's official. I can now take Danish tours. In order to take language tours at Temple Square, sisters need to pass off with another sister who speaks that language. Before this week, I just bump into miracle Danish people on the square. Now, when we get Danish motor coaches or people requesting a tour in Danish, they will page (yes, like 1990s pagers) 2 people. Sister Andersen, from Copenhagen, and yours truly. You have no idea how grateful I am for Danish people. Being able to help them understand eternal hygge is a really great thank you I think. :)
- Yesterday, Sister Chen and I got to see President Monson. This week marks the 100 year anniversary of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Tons of celebrating going on here. We saw him. The thing is, I know that Thomas S. Monson really is human, like everyone else. At the same time, I know that he really does have a lot of responsibility. He serves as a living witness of Jesus Christ. Just like Noah (no...not the San Jose based bagel shop). Sister Chen started shouting "Zai Jian!!" (Bye!!) and waving on his way out. I am so obsessed with her. She's hilarious.
- One of my favorite moments of the week: 2 couples from Pennsylvania. 50s-60s. Best friends. 4 people. 4 different faith backgrounds. After about 15 minutes with Sister Chen and I, walking around Temple Square, one of the women said, "Wow. You're normal.
I don't know why I didn't think you would be" Breaking down prejudices about Mormon missionaries: mission accomplished. Isn't that beautiful? I love that! She was able to relax!! And then she was open to understanding some of the beautiful meaning behind the things there. - I am really grateful for Sister Chen. Something that I'm learning is that loving who we're with is SO important. I really feel like I can trust her. THAT, is a gift. Can you imagine if we all trusted the people around us? She has taught me so much about authenticity, history and laughing. We get to ENJOY every day!! That is HUGE. Such a blessing. SO many miracles with her. Including many Chinese motor coach tours. FILLED with sincerity and care for the people we get to meet. I love it.
Thank you all for EVERYTHING YOU DO!!!
Love you!! We're off now to the mall. To find a Boba drink (reminds me of the Bay Area) and get our eyebrows waxed. And tonight, we're watching Tangled.
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!
Sister Amy
