Hey Family,
In T minus 21 days I'm going to Taiwan! Holla!!!
Okay so first I have individual things to say to each of you because you all wrote to me this week! That is the most exciting part of receiving dear elders! I love seeing letters from my siblings. I can feel all of your support and it thrills me! I'm writing to you all in no particular order (well it's the order that I opened your letters actually).
Garrett: I'm so glad you got a bunch of new clothes. You probably look awesome. Sweet shoes, bro! I still have pictures of you on my camera from you allstars meet. I love to show those to people. I'm glad you enjoyed Christmas. Sorry I missed it. I just had so many things going on that I couldn't make it back to Virginia. (: I anticipate missing next year too. But not to worry, two years from now I'm all yours! I really enjoyed reading your testimony about Joon's baptism. Continue to seek spiritual experiences like that and when you feel the Lord's love, write it down. If you write those experiences down then you won't forget and I know that you'll keep growing in the gospel.
Braeden: Congratulations on seeing Les Mis! Promise to watch it again with me when I get home? You're the best! I'm still a four square champion. Well I'm exaggerating. I've never REALLY been the best, but I have a great time and the elder's totally accept me in all my glory and goofiness. I'm still really silly. I make faces all the time (and sister B has caught it on camera). Yesterday I was holding a book in front of my face and when I moved it away I was making faces at elder K. He thinks I'm crazy! All the elders do. Congratulations on the big stage run! I heard you were the star of the show. That doesn't surprise me at all and I would expect nothing less.
I love you both immensely!
Sham: There is a letter in the mail on its way to you. (: Thanks for the pictures! Shandi, everyone agrees that you are the most beautiful girl in the world... And the elders are quick to tell me that you far exceed my very best self. I can't decide if it's a compliment to you or a dis to me. Lol.
Dad: Thank you for sharing your experience at the temple. I know that is the house of the Lord and he is always working miracles there. The temple here has been closed, but I look forward to doing a session next Tuesday! I love you so much and even though I don't hear from you always, I can tell you love me. All of your prayers have really made an impact on me. Elder M showed me your letter. I didn't read it but I got a kick out of the fact that you wrote to him! He's awesome and we're best friends. He just graduated in the spring so he's like a little brother to me. And somehow we've come to the conclusion that he will be my future husband's best man. Lol. Pray for him because he is really sick right now.
Mom: I got my letter from you last week. It's weird that it took so long, but thank you. You can email me pictures but I have no way of printing them. I would like hard copies of the kids from my daycare if possible, but everything else is fine via email (except if you hope that I will look at them other days because I can only look at the emailed ones on Tuesdays). It's your preference. Thank you for stopping by the daycare. You are the greatest. And congratulations on your mainstage debut. You were probably an amazing mrs. fezziwig (: Oh I need a new hairbrush. I've had mine for years and it's falling apart. :(
This week I think we're getting a new MTC presidency. I'll miss President Brown. Everytime I see him I make sure I thank him for his work. He always tells me that I'm awesome. I have no idea where he's getting this information. Lol.
Tonight I'm saying the closing prayer at the devotional with the general authority (I don't know who is speaking yet). Wish me luck. There will be a couple thousand missionaries watching!
S. mentioned in her letter to me that she wanted to know what the music coordinator does. I thought I would share that with everyone. Basically that means I picked the music sung/pianist/conductor for priesthood and sacrament meeting. I also arranged a special musical number for each Sunday and also made sure everyone had copies of the music in Chinese because our meeting is primarily in Chinese.
I was released from that calling on Sunday and called to be the new coordinating sister. This means that I watch out for all the girls in our mini relief society (there are 8 of us). I'll also welcome the new girls that are arriving the 9th and maybe the new girls coming on Jan 20. All of use are Chinese speaking. I also deal with any immediate issues that I can deal with and send the rest up to the branch presidency. I love this calling so far. My girls are so sweet and I just am filled with love for them. I work closely with the district leaders and the zone leaders too. It's awesome because I'm getting to know people in other districts much better.
Chinese is coming well. I officially have 7 scirptures memorized. This week I'm memorizing 3 more I think. It kinds of blows my mind how much I'm progressing. It is so weird when people ask me questions in lessons that I can answer completely in Chinese just off the top of my head. I speak the language as much as possible and I'm starting to speak much more fluid and quick. It's really a cool experience. I am so blessed to have this opportunity and I can't thank the Lord enough for all the help He has given me in learning this language.
Mom mentioned that on sister B.'s blog you find out more about our daily schedule. I'm sorry if I'm boring you all too much with other things. Our daily schedule is pretty much always the same. We eat three meals a day. We have gym time. We have two class periods. We have two hours for language study (except for on Monday and Wednesday) and one hour for personal study. On Mondays we do a service project and on Wednesdays we have a workshop (best part of the week). On Saturday's during class time we teach at the TRC (teaching resource center) where we teach volunteers who are usually already members of the church. On Tuesdays we have preparation day (so the schedule is different) and the schedule is also different on Sundays. That's pretty much it. The moral of the story is that my time is planned out very thoroughly and I'm always seeking new ways to further the Kingdom of God. I'm looking forward to getting out to Taiwan. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!
The other day we were talking about our younger siblings and the examples we are setting for them. (By we I mean my district of 6 elders, and sister L. and I). Little brothers, I really hope you are reading my emails. I would love to get your feedback on things that maybe I could work on and how I can solve some of the problems that I may have. Also, if you read any good scriptures I want to hear about them. Here's a challenge. For every sunday in the month of January, send me a scripture (via dear elder) that means something to you. It can be about any topic but I want to hear what it means to you. Will you do that? It would make me so happy! (:
Okay I want to leave you all with a spiritual thought. Read Matthew 14:23-24. After Christ fed the 5,000 he went up to a mountain to pray. From the mountain He could see the ship of the apostles being tossed around. He immediately went to help them. This is when he walked on water. My question is where is the miracle? Feeding the 5,000? Walking on water? Both are indeed miracles, but the miracle here for me is that Christ is AWARE of our circumstances. He knows what troubles we are facing because He stands on higher ground. He is on the mountain watching out for our safety.
Now read vs 28. This is the essence of faith. Aligning our will with the Lord's and through Him performing miracles. As we pray we submit our will to God's and He will use us as tools in His kingdom. How great is this?
I would love to elaborate more on these but I've gone over time. Take the time to think about these scriptures. How has the Lord blessed you? Thank Him for that and I know He will continue to bless you all.
I love you so much!
Love,
Cae Cae
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