Chinese is going great!

Hey family. I am so glad to be writing to you again. First, some items of business. Since Christmas is on my PDAY I'm not sure when I'll get to email home--but don't worry. I will email sometime ON CHRISTMAS. I will make sure that happens. I love you all so much and even though I'm missing Christmas in Virginia, I know that I'm in the right place here and they will take good care of me. Also, just like I sent home a letter on Thanksgiving, I'm going to keep my notebook with me and tell you EVERYTHING that I do/feel on Christmas so you can experience it with me!

Next- the other day I ran into an Elder Utsch from Edmond Oklahoma. He's in Aunt Leslie's ward. PLUS Uncle Les was his home teacher. Small world, huh?

Things are going great out here. I sing in the choir every week--which is so awesome. Also, tomorrow we're getting a new group of 19 missionaries!! SO CRAZY! I'm thrilled (: My roommates and I have, in light of the newcoming kiddos, stepped things up. We try to SYL as much as possible and we're really working hard to be perfectly obedient so that we can set a good example for the new missionaries. Plus, on January 6th we get ANOTHER load of new Chinese speaking missionaries! I LOVE MISSIONARIES!

Chinese is going well. Now that our older generation has left to go to the mission field, we have a lot more pressure. Sister Latimer and I are the music coordinators for our branch. (Which i feel like i may have mentioned last week... whoopsies). Anyway, we also all have to give talks in Sacrament meeting. We all prepare a talk before hand and during the meeting we are called up at random to speak. It's incredible intimidating. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE WE HAVE TO USE CHINESE! Eeeek! Here's some good news about the language though! This morning, my roommates informed me that I was sleep talking all night (like literally all night) and it was in Chinese! How great is  that?! I guess that means I'm dreaming in Chinese--even though I don't remember my dreams.

Here's a great thing though. I'm really working on relying on the spirit more during our lessons (rather  than having so much of a script). I think it has helped a lot. Our last lesson (with an investigator that has not been particularly receptive) was awesome. We told him that we missed him at church on Sunday (because he informed us that he couldn't go since he had a softball game). This was still part of the chit chat at the beginning so we didn't ever actually end up saying an opening prayer. We told him that the joy he feels while playing sports is even less than what he could feel at church. Then we talked to him about the importance of going to church and about how he will be blessed if he comes. We ended up having a very spiritual lesson about keeping the sabbath day holy (and we never even started our lesson about the Plan of Salvation)!

It was cool!

Also, Sister Ganowski (from St. George) got a pie in the mail from her mom. After we finished eating it (which I didn't actually get any...) we gave the plate to Sister Frischneck (whose husband is Grandpas doctor). She cleaned it up for us and filled it with goodies. We made a card with an invitation to always come closer to Christ and gave it to her to give it to a less active woman in her ward. I really hope that the things we wrote in the card will touch her heart.

ALSKDJFEIOWASL;KDFJ AHHHHHH!!! I'M SO EXCITED THAT NELLY IS MEETING WITH THE MISSIONARIES! I literally cried when I found that out. And I wrote a letter to Elder Gronning. I have been praying so much for her and I finally feel like that prayer is getting answered. I couldn't be happier now. I know that if she continues to meet with them, she will find sincere joy in this life and eternal happiness in the life to come! Today I have been sharing the good news with everyone! I"m just so thrilled. (: (: (: (:

Okay, in the last little bit, I want to share what I have learned this week. Well actually I have learned a lot.

First-- something about Christmas. We watch music and the spoken word every Sunday before Relief Society. This is what touched me. "The real spirit of Christmas is giving everything you have no matter how small a gift. I hope to dedicate my life to nothing less than that." That's exactly how I feel right now. All I want to do right now is dedicate every single day of my life to the Lord. How lucky am I that I get to do this?! I couldn't be happier. I'm antsy to get out to Taiwan for that very reason!

Okay now I want to really talk about how important the Gospel of Christ is. A quote that we heard in our workshop on Wednesday was from Elder Christofferson. He said "There's a large difference between sharing information and offering salvation." The obvious meaning of this is that we need to have the spirit present when we teach, but what I got out of it was much deeper. I am not out here to simply tell people about the Gospel. I am on a mission because I want to offer people the greatest gift there is--salvation. I want everyone to know that they can be with their families for eternity. They can find happiness to a degree that they never imagined and through the atonement of Christ they can be completely cleansed from any sin or transgression. Not only that, but Christ took upon himself all the pains of this world. THIS MESSAGE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE IN THE WORLD! I am so happy to share it. With that in mind-- I invite everyone who knows about the Gospel to PLEASE SHARE IT! People may think you are weird, but there will be someone within the sound of your voice who is ready to hear the word of God--and is seeking it with all their heart. I know this because I have done it. Sister Dalton told us this in Relief Society on Sunday, "Don't be hesitant to bear your witness that Jesus is the Christ. He is the son of God. He came into this world to save us all and through Him we can return to live with Heavenly Father again." OUR MESSAGE IS GREAT AND OUR MESSAGE IS TRUE! Seriously though. I have never felt more strongly about something in my whole life. Do NOT be afraid to share the gospel. We were born in this day because we PROMISED the Lord we would share His message. That is exactly what we should be doing. Never let a day go by where you don't share your testimony of the power of Christ to someone you know or just barely meet. In the recent weeks, I have been memorizing Alma 7:11-14 in Chinese (which I'm almost done doing). I promise that the things this scripture says are true. I promise that the Book of Mormon is indeed the word of God. I know that we are ALL children of a loving Heavenly Father and he loves us so dearly. I KNOW without a doubt that families can be together forever if we follow the example of Christ and join His fold.

I don't have much time left. I hope that you all know how much I absolutely love this Gospel. I don't feel like I put it very adequately, but I do know what I know. This is the Church of Jesus Christ. And it IS true. Completely.

I love you all.

Godspeed,

Sister Micaela Anderson