No, really. If you've ever been to the MTC you know it. Everyone knows it: Four Square is one of the most important things you do as a missionary besides learning the language and fulfilling your purpose to invite others to come unto Christ.
Okay, not really, but it is a pretty big deal. Wei JM and I decided we were going to try it this week. All the elders in our district play it nearly every day during gym time and we figured our pseudo-brothers (the elders in our district) would be fairly nice to us while we're playing (they're not particularly, but they do cheer for us when we're not against them) so we tried it. It's way fun! And we get better every time, I've made it to King more than once. We convinced Bi and Gu JM to play with us the next day and soon we will have a force of sister missionaries playing four square that will be one to be reckoned with. We've even come up with strategies that would totally work if we could actually aim the ball. I did execute a pretty good Criminal Hook the other day, though, but Elder Shurtleff was too quick for me and he hit it back. Next time, though, next time. And I will be sure to let you all know when we execute a perfect Flamingo strategy. (I love being a missionary, i really do. But sometimes you need a little distraction, like planning strategies for a game I haven't played since third grade)
The food at the MTC cafeteria is really good, especially their desserts. So, I have made a goal that i am only allowed to have dessert on Sunday. I know about myself that I don't really do well at resolutions unless I have some incentive, however, so I asked my district sisters to help me come up with one. Their solutions: a deal (not a bet, because missionaries don't bet) that if I eat dessert on a not-Sunday then I will have to confess my undying love to an elder in our district of their choice. That would definitely be against the rules, and since I try my very best to follow the missionary commandments (it's really hard to go to sleep right at 10:30, I'm telling you), then it is actually a really good incentive for me. I didn't even have dessert on Sunday, I was so terrified of the prospect of having to tell an elder that I would love him forever. Hey, maybe I could say it in Chinese so fast that he couldn't understand it. That would be a good thing to practice, definitely more important than learning vocab for the Restoration! :)
I really hope everyone knows I'm kidding and that the point is, missionaries aren't perfect. I don't know if that's the point, actually. THe point probably is that I feel really good now that I'm not eating dessert and i don't even want to anymore because i feel so awesome. It's good practice for Taiwan, where they really don't have good dessert. So I'm happy! But if my companion tells me how good her cake is one more time there might be something to talk about in companionship inventory. (that was a joke, i love her)
Missionaries aren't perfect, it's true, and I definitely learned that yesterday. At sacrament meeting every week the branch presidency chooses two missionaries to give a talk on an assigned topic, but the things is that everyone has to prepare a talk and you only know that you have been chosen to give the talk when they announce it, about two minutes before you actually speak. I gave this sort of impromptu testimony my first Sunday here so i was pretty sure that i was exempt from speaking since there are three whole districts who have been here longer than us where NOBODY in the district has given a talk in Sacrament meeting yet. So I wrote a basic outline for a talk on repentance, shrugged and decided not to translate it into Chinese because I probably wouldn't be speaking anyway, and went on my merry way. The counselor gets up after the passing of the sacrament to announce the speaker, and the words "Our first speaker will be..." are coming out of his mouth when I suddenly think "It's me, shoot, it's me, I'm going to be giving a talk, why is it me?!!" and he finishes, "...Sister Cardon!" Compelled to be humble, much? :) Haha I'm making it sound worse than it was, I think it went pretty well, I just spoke a lot more English than I would have if I had prepared more. And it's good practice to give impromptu talks because you never know what will happen in the mission field! I'm actually really lucky to be able to have the Spirit with me to know what to say and practice speaking in front of groups, even if it was a mesh of Chinese and English that didn't make a whole lot of sense.
Last night we had an awesome devotional where Jenny Oaks Baker, a wonderful violinist, spoke and performed five or six pieces. She is so talented! Her violin sounded like silk, and she performed with her four kids, which was really cute. Her last piece was I Know that My Redeemer Lives and she was essentially playing a duet with herself, playing two strings at a time. It was so impressive, we're so lucky to have the opportunity to hear such wonderful music and speakers at the MTC.
We taught TRC again on Saturday and it went a lot better than last time! We planned the lesson about prayer on the walk over to the building where they hold TRC (not a good idea, you are definitely supposed to do more planning than that, although since it went well I'm not entirely sure i learned my lesson) and had two really nice discussions with some chinese-speaking RMs about prayer. In one of them we talked about having more sincere prayer, which I decided to put into action, and it was so awesome! Last night I tried praying specifically for every person in my district, and I felt like i gained so much love and understanding for them. Praying for people really helps you love them, and I definitely encourage you all to think more about specific people when you pray (you see, I'm practicing giving commitments when I teach, isn't it great to be a missionary? :D).
Thanks so much for your support, love you all and hope you are having a wonderful week. I sure am, I love being the Lord's representative.
Sister Cardon
PS I'm always trying to coordinate outfits with my companion, much to her chagrin, and this time i actually did it, here's a picture :) Every time I see companions with matching outfits I go, "see, they're doing it!" and she rolls her eyes. But I won this time.
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