Well, another semester has passed me by. All I have left are 4 finals, and then I will be done until Fall 2013! Wow, that sounds crazy! I am so ready for a break in school! I know a mission will be hard, but I am so ready for it, and I am so excited!!
I talked with brother who works at the MTC and evaluates incoming missionaries who have experience in their assigned language. He asked how much experience I had with learning/speaking Chinese. And then we talked for about five minutes in Chinese. He asked me my name, where I am from, where in China I had been, if I liked Chinese food, what kind of Chinese food I liked, how many kids were in my family, how many siblings I had, whether they were brothers or sisters, if I was the oldest, and maybe a few other questions. I was able to answer all the questions he asked, and only had trouble understanding him when he asked me where in China I had been, if I liked Chinese food (only because I couldn't understand the word he was saying for 'to eat', even though I knew it; it sounded different over the phone) and another question, which I don't remember. So, I did pretty well, I thought, but then he said he'd recommend that I stay in the MTC for twelve weeks. He asked what I felt, and I told him I felt like 12 weeks might be too long, but that I was happy to do whatever he felt would be best for me. He explained that the way the six week program works is that, the first 3 weeks are spent mostly speaking English, and you are taught how to teach the gospel in English, and then the last 3 weeks is Chinese, but you are already expected to be able to then teach in Chinese at almost the same level to which you were taught in English. Yeah, that wouldn't be good for me. I don't have the church vocabulary to do that. Or enough grammar to do that either. So after he explained that to me, he asked how I'd feel doing that and I said, you are probably correct in saying that I should stay in the MTC for 12 weeks. So 12 weeks it is! He said that, after I study for the next few months, if I feel like I have improved enough, and feel that only 3 weeks of Chinese would be sufficient, I could call him again and we could talk again, but I don't think I will have enough practice speaking Chinese before I go into the MTC to be able to do that. So I will practice and build up my vocabulary, so that when I am in there, I can progress further and be able to help out the other missionaries who may not have as much (or any) experience with Chinese as I do.
The thought of being in the MTC for 12 weeks is a bit daunting, but I am excited and it will be great!
I have sold my housing contract which is such a relief! I am about 1/3 moved out of my apartment, and will work on getting most things moved out tomorrow and Sunday. Finals are next week, and I have one a day through Thursday and will go home either Thursday night or Friday. Friday we are picking up Noelle at BYU-I and moving her and her friend home for the next semester, and then Saturday we are leaving for California! We will only be there till Thursday, but we are going out for my cousin's wedding, which is on Wednesday. I am so excited to go to California, and I am so excited that I will be able to go to my cousin's sealing! This will be the first sealing I've been to, so it is exciting!! Once we get back from California, we will be having an early Christmas Eve dinner with my Mom's family and then Christmas! I'm really excited for Christmas =] And New Years!
And after the holidays, I get to spend 2 1/2 months studying Chinese, Preach my Gospel and nannying lots =] Got to get in my fill of kids for the next 18 months!
