Riley #3 - Beginning of MTC Birthday, TRC, and an Exciting Time

Mollie #11 - Victoria's Secret, To Family, and Father Video

Mollie's #10 - Comics, Tackled, and Faith

 Starting off with a couple of comics...




Hey All,

  Today, I was tackled by a man. Don't worry, not really, I'm fine. Who knew that waiting in the sack lunch line was so dangerous?
   While reaching for some of the delicious vanilla soy milk they have here, I felt this heavy weight fall against my side. I thought someone had tackled me.

   What really happened was that the man in the line opposite of me had passed out! (He probably weighed 230 lbs.)
    I fell in a mess, as I dropped my tray and stumbled half into the refrigerator. He ended up passed out, going into seizures with his head on my feet! His whole body was quivering with shakes! Everyone just stood there for a second before the register lady called in for medical services.
    I asked if anyone would be willing to give him a priesthood blessing. A couple of elders who knew him offered. Immediately after the blessing, he stopped shaking! One minute later, he woke up feeling fine.

   From this I learned:
1) If you don't feel well, do something about it
2) I need to update my knowledge of emergency response
3) Priesthood blessings work

   On other news, we are getting new people this week, and I am fairly excited! Our branch (~ small congregation) is going to have four new sisters.
   Since the start of my time here, the members of Relief Society sisters has doubled! There are currently around 600 sisters.
    Anyway, when I first arrived, everyone was really open and kind. I felt comfortable here in about three days. I really want to do the same for this new group of sisters.
    All of the rooms downstairs have been renovated into missionary rooms. I know it's going to start feeling a little bit crowded here.
   
P. S. I saw Isaac Healey and Samantha Rainsdon here!

Riley #2 - Finishing Up the 2nd Week, Some Jeans, and Studying

Dear Family,

      Thanks for the package and the letter. I have now finished my first full week at the MTC and will soon finish my second week. It feels odd to think I am already a fourth the way through my time here, as it doesn't feel like I have been here that long.

Every Tuesday, we have a Fireside in the evening in which we get to hear from a general authority. Last week, we got the opportunity to hear from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland! He talked about teaching with the power and authority we hold. Also, he talked about what it means to have a successful mission and how we can have one.

Missionaries have been leaving to their missions since Sunday, as their  time to leave came. When they leave, everything they can't pack they leave out in the hall for the remaining missionaries to use.

The majority of it is candy and other treats, but there is also a wide variety of other things from Halloween masks to Christmas trees. One of my companions found a suit that fit him, as well as a sweatshirt. I managed to find a pair of jeans that fit me, which was good because I hadn't brought any.



Every day has been really long, but because we do basically the same things everyday, it seems like in no time a week has gone by.

     Every day, we wake up at 6:30am and go to bed at 10:30pm. The time in between is completely planned out. Everyday, we typically have a half hour to 45 minutes for each meal, 50 minutes at the gym, 6 hours of classroom instruction, 1 hour in the computer lab using the language resources, and 2 hours of personal study in the classroom. The extra time in our schedule is labeled "Additional Study Time" and usually has to take place in our classroom. There are a few other activities we do, but unless it is Pday (~Personal Day) or Sunday, that is typically the day.

              (Here we are studying while waiting for laundry on PDay)

We are always practicing Chinese. We try to speak as much as we can in our everyday conversations with each other, and constantly quiz each other on vocab, as we walk between activities, exercise in the morning, and eat our meals.

Love,

Elder Bowman

Elder Jeffrey Holland (Videoclip)

Mollie #9 - New Friendships & Goodbyes, A Smashed Finger, and Forgiveness

Dear Family,

     So, the fire alarm didn't go off this morning, but it went off in the cafeteria this week. Maybe they are beginning to figure it out.

     Bowman & Pops thanks so much for the Fig Newtons and the sewing kit. I used the sewing kit to make a headband. I made it out of scraps from the give away box.  I included a picture of it in here.

  
 Some of the elders left this week. We miss them. I think a mark of a good missionary is "to be missed."  My companion, Hermana Ferrel, and I had invested in them. We have had a good relationship with them. Elders Woodbury and Slavens crack me up. It's hard saying goodbye so soon.

     One way we helped each other was through all of us working on a musical piece together. I really didn't do much.


 Hermana Ferrel played the piano, and the two elders sang "Savior Redeemer of my Soul". I helped them through critiquing them - such as with timing issues, hitting shaky notes, harmony issues, dynamics, etc... They had never sang to anything but their "shower head." The competition was fierce (I mean there are about 3,000 mission worthy Mormons here), and we didn't make it the first week. (It still needed some work - they had forgot some of the lyrics). But, we made it the second week, and they got to sing at a farewell devotional to about 350 people.
       
   
  It was really fantastic. The new president here at the MTC really liked it. He invited us to sit at the very front during the Sunday afternoon devotional. That was pretty neat. I mean the stadium seats thousands of people, and I could not have been closer to the speakers. I sat next to an elder that had just turned up at the MTC that day. He was supposed to have come on Wednesday, but he had broken both of his knees playing rugby! He had a temporary cane and a hospital wristband still on.

   I will try to do better with focusing the pictures, but it is kind of difficult for me. I'm sending one of my area in my room.

     Speaking of pictures, I have sent you more than you have sent me! I would like pictures from the cousins visiting and of my Madeleine.
     (Random fact: I have been humming/singing Adele songs here when I think of her...)

 Another good thing to send me would be bread. I have been longing for good bread but, well, that is up to you.

     I don't know what to send Riley for his birthday. Maybe you could send him a cake in a box.

     Random thing that happened this week is that I smashed my finger black- I was vacuuming. Anyways, the vacuum cord got caught in the door, and by some happenstance I smashed my finger. I went to the doctor and he drilled it to relieve the pressure. (I really didn't want to lose another nail again so soon.)

It was very exciting this week - Elder Holland came to speak to us!  When he gets up there on the podium and shakes his finger at you staring you down... you listen. He told us that we need to be obedient. And, to have the gospel in our soul so strong that you astonish people. He said more, but I don't have time.

One spiritual thought I was told this week was what to do when you have a difficult time forgiving someone. Imagine Christ holding your hand and asking you "was my sacrifice not good enough...was my life and death not enough for you to forgive."


Another thought I had was a thought about what a gift it is to come to earth. I mean before earth we lived with God as spirits. We were simply spirits not understanding - knowing nothing but God, knowing nothing but good. But here on earth we have an opportunity to act, to become more than something that is acted upon. In this way, we progress. We have the ability to influence, act, and change things, becoming more like God. We get to choose good and God for ourselves. What a great gift!

Mollie Comics

This is what happens when you leave your Razor at home.....
And are too lazy to get another.     (Click to Enlarge)


An Object Lesson from Devotional

Mollie #8 - The Flu and Overly Dramatic Girls

Dear Family,

    So, a lot has happened since last week. So after I got sick, everyone got sick, and they were not sick with a cold. It was some sort of virus. (~norovirus)   I would say that 40% of the people at the MTC caught it. In our district of 8 - three caught the bug.

   People were sick and throwing up all over the place. At night there always seemed to be someone sick in the bathroom. It was more prevalent among the boys.  One elder shared with me the following story about when he started feeling sick.

   Evidently, as his roomies were praying for him to feel better, he felt sick and ended up vomiting in the middle of the prayer. The other boys told me it was the fastest they've ever got off their knees.

    The virus only lasted about 5 days. I think it might have been something related to the food. My companion and I never caught it; And, we never eat the main dish at meals. (Honestly, they're not very good.) We are soup, salad, cereal, wrap sandwich people.

   Anyways, there was a certain time when it was really bad at the beginning. People were dropping left and right, like moths near a lightbulb.

    The other two sisters in my district watched everyone dropping and became afraid and kind of....(okay, really!) DrAmAtIc!  Some of the girl were honestly scared.  I was almost sympathetic towards their drama...almost. I tried honestly.

   My description of the situation is pretty much exactly what happened. Our district leader defaults to Moroni 10 or 1 Nephi. Strangely enough, we swap between crazy all-over-the-place to serious  scripture study in about  five minutes.

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   Anyway, that was most of The Sick MTC Story. People being ill. People being quarantined. People being taken to the hospital. People being overly-dramatic, etc.
 
Lots of Love,

Mollie

Mollie #7 - Comics of Early AM Fire Alarm

Dear Family,

Half of the fire alarms in our building look like this.






   Last night, these alarms went off at 4:00am. Evidently, a pipe had burst in the basement. It took us about 3 minutes to get outside. I was the first one up in our room. I told everyone to grab their shoes and coats and get outside!
   The alarms are as loud as police sirens. The flashing bright lights made me feel like I was walking on uneven ground - (meaning I was half-awake).


 We all gathered at the gym in a large pile. Can I just say, that next time, I'm going to add blanket and pillow to the things I need to grab!

   One of my roommates said that she thought it was a very loud alarm clock. The other said that she just froze trying to remember what it was that was most important to grab.

    We stayed in the gym for an hour and a half.

    In the end, we were all dog-piled on top of a bunch of yoga mats half-asleep.

    Let's just say the next day seemed very long. All of us were drifting off in class and devotional. We talked nonsense.

Riley's 1st Letter - Companions, Mandarin, and Mollie

Mollie #6 - MTC Mayhem Continues

Hey all,

So, time here at the MTC has been fun .

You would never guess what happened again today. The fire alarm went off for a second time. We all piled outside to the gym. And, this time I remembered to bring a pillow and blanket.

I still don't know exactly what happened, but evidently it is a legitimate concern.

We have been banned from the elevators, on threat of having to talk to the mission president if we disobey.

And for some more fun, we have been partying it up here at the MTC. It was Hermana Porter's birthday yesterday. Her mom sent her a party in three boxes including a homemade angel food cake. She says that is the only thing her mom knows how to make which I think is fantastic, because it is, of course, the one thing I always always fail at making.









One of these pictures is of our district- the one with eight of us.

My companion - Hermana Ferrel - is the white blonde standing next to me. The blonde is Hermana Porter, and the brunettte is Hermana Peck.

The guys are (left to right) Elder Mitchell, Clark, Flitton, and Bench.
Elder Mitchell is the one that smirks in the corner, and then says something that blows your mind.
Elder Clark is the responsible leadership type.
Elder Flitton says stuff occasionaly like "how in the world did you connect those thoughts- that was fanastic!" 

Elder Bench is just solid - a really great person - really he is a sweetheart. He lost his mom last year and doesn't get very many letters. But he wants to share the gospel with others because of how much his family, the gospel, and the plan of salvation mean to him.

These are the people I spend 10- 12 hours a day with my district!

Other things that happened this week, I fell in love with my new teachers!

It is funny how much you can grow to love someone when you spend 4 hours a day with them. Hermana Doxey knows the scriptures backwards and forwards. It is amazing how she pulls things from the scriptures, like you pull recipes from a box.

Elder Byrd, my other teacher, is really good at connecting and offering up parts of himself for others. I really like him, and how he finds a way to tie the gospel to others lives.

Thanks for the flowers and the letters from the others! I just love them!

Lots of love,

Mollie

Before Riley's Dropoff at the MTC

After a busy week with lots of family and friends, Riley received a blessing from the Stake President and went through the temple on the night before he left. He was grateful to have his friend, Nathan, come and sleepover, and had friends, like Russell, see him off just before he left. Jake had to say his goodbye early, since he had to attend school.


We fed him at the BYU area Kneaders, where Michele and Baby Madeleine joined us. We found there were many other missionary family and friends there. One girl had returned from his very mission a year ago, but said she knew of no Mandarin-speaking missionaries when she served there. She told him a little about his mission president and his wife and said she was convinced it was the very best place to go. Riley was very happy and excited to go. With hugs and tears, we went through the MTC line and said our goodbyes turning him over to a young missionary that was his guide. Here are some photos of our morning with him.









If you want to see what it's like at the MTC, click the link on the right ~ "5 Videoclips: Inside the MTC"

Mollie #5 - MTC Construction

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