Sibling Letter: Valentine's Prose

Dear Flora,

Roses are red, violets are blue, I love you so does everybody else.

Flora you are adorable

From Michael

Happy Valentine's Day

Have fun in the M-to the -T-to the-C!

Franny

Sibling Letter: Valentine's Day

To Flora:

You stole my candy, but I still love you.

Nikki

Parent Letter: Valentine's Day

Dear Flora,

We love our missionary! Hope you are having a fun Valentine's Day. We are making you this box for Family Home Evening. Shock-Shock-Shock. Don't die of shock that we are having FHE. Dad bought the candy and he couldn't find any Hot Cheetos! Oh well.

Michael and Nikki wanted to eat the candy for the snack, but we wouldn't let them.

Maybe you can pass out the Fun Dip cards to all your new friends.

I trimmed Desi's hair today. It was full of split ends. I also talked with Gen on the phone. She told me all about her new calling. OK-Have a fun day.

Love

Mom

Sibling Letter: Happy Valentine's Day

To Flo from Desi,

Happy Valentines Day!

Only 16 weeks until graduation. I can't wait. Hope you're doing good learning Chinese. We miss you... Enjoy the Valentine's care package. Send pictures.

XOXO

Desi

P.S. Share w/your companion.

Missionary Friend Letter: Mission Goes By Quick

14 February 2009

Flora,

When did you move to South Carolina? Hope you're liking it! I was so excited and surprised to hear about your mission call. I don't remember you saying you were for sure going to serve but of course I'm excited that you are going to serve! I saw a picture of Taipei in an Ensign article and it was so beautiful! Definitely jealous! So I'm sitting in sacrament meeting right now, and there are two missionaries giving farewell speeches. It's funny to see missionaries leaving when you have 3 months left on your mission. I know you hear this a lot but it's true that a mission goes by so quick! You won't love every minute of it because there are hard days when you wonder why you decided to go on a mission or you question what you are doing. One of my comps and I concluded that the difficult part of any mission is the best kept secret. But, the good far outweighs the bad. Sure, it's hard but as cliche as it sounds, it's the best thing I have ever decided to do. I know you'll be a great missionary because you have a hard-work ethic and study habits. You love and serve people. Those will benefit you a lot!

(Sister Muse takes a step off the soapbox) I'm glad you told me about Amanda because I think about her and wonder how she is. I email her my weekly email I send out so I don't know if she gets them. Tell her I say hi when you talk to her. My favorite missionary scripture is Alma 26:36. This is how Alma (I think) feels about missionary work. I feel exactly the same way. One of the blessings from my mission is that I'm happy a lot more. I smile more. I feel good and confident about myself. (I also love Moroni!) We have a guy we're teaching in the singles' ward, and he is so golden! He already reads the BOM and already finds answers within the BOM! He sees the difference the gospel has made in his life. He sees himself and others in a whole different way. That's a testimony to me this work and the gospel is rock solid true!

Thank you for being a great friend to me. I remember you helped me to meet people when I first got there. I appreciate that! We had some good memories, and a lot of them I still remember Sunday dinners and Karaoke are my favorite memories of BYU-I! I love yiou and I will continue to write you! Have fun!

Sister Muse

Sister Flora Bruno at MTC

Missionary Letter: Amazing Teachers

Sweet, I'm glad a couple of you wrote back, I remembered something I wanted to mention so I'm going to do that in my last 6 minutes. This week we went to the TA teaching place on Saturday morning. It was our second time teaching. We do fifteen minutes in Chinese and then the rest in English for the first 4 weeks. So this was week two. The Chinese was better than last week...WELL...our teacher Han Laoshi is a strict and harsh guy. He's not good at compliments and is VERY good at calling people to repentance. This week he watched Sun Jiemei and I teach...and he gave us a HUGE thumbs up when we finished. We thought he was like kidding. Well later, we actually found out he was BLOWN away by our teaching. We had used tons of scriptures and actually taught no new principles because we were busy explaining the old ones in the scenario. He told us that was the best teaching he had ever seen at the MTC in his entire life...and Han Laoshi is not a joking or over complimentary type of guy, if he said that, he was serious. So yeah, Sister Ackerson and I are killer in English. We now get to do the 2nd lesson twice in English before we have to start teaching Chinese lessons...Then YIKES...who knows.

Until Next Week,

Fu Jiemei.

MTC Devotional: Missionaries Acting Differently

Brother and Sister Jose A. Teixeira of the Seventy

MTC Provo

10 February 2009

Sister Teixeira: Even photos you take show what kind of mission you serve. Start your mission right. If you don't know how to speak, start with a smile.

Elder Teixeira: There is a price to pay. A mission is a special thing. It is difficult but worthwhile. You need to be spiritually mature and persuasive missionary.

Set apart to think different and act different. When two men are exactly alike, one is not necessary. Purpose as a mission common with your companion is goals and vision.

Focus on common ground with companion follow with exactness.

Message must be taught by divine power.

Exercise faith as you go along.

Lord will always fulfill his promises.

If you lower your expectations. Excessiveness lowers desire lowers ability to follow Spirit.

If you raise expectations your excessiveness raises your desire raises greater ability to follow the Spirit.

You need to set higher goals. Give all we have.

MTC Instruction: Overcoming Negativity

LGM

Provo MTC

10 February 2009

Develop faith to find them that will receive you.

What is relationship between your purpose and finding?

Doesn't say the field is brown already to plant. The field is white. Alma 13:24 16:16-17

Decide not to be discouraged.

Don't let anyone stop you.

Don't be a lazy, pansy bother

Your teachers/investigators can feel the difference whether you are working or not.

Practice connecting.

Missionary Email: Funny Week

Monday, February 9, 2009 9:25 AM

Okay, so this week has been pretty funny. I have a timer on what I write so I don't have that much time EVER. They block any way you can cheat too. Let's see, business first, dad, I can't send pictures on the MTC computers because they block it. Also, i would like you to send that SD card to USB port converter. You can buy them on Ebay for pretty cheap. Also, I forgot my battery charger at home, it's plugged into your wall. Send that with the stuff, and send the stuff soon! I got some pictures printed out none of them great, but I'll send them anyways and write names so you know who I'm writing about.

some funny stories...we are in district D and we spend a lot of time with district A at lunch, etc because we don't want to get too close to any one district at the advice of a teacher. And since we spend HOURS in the class with our wonderful boys, we spend time at lunch with some pretty funny Elders in district A. We don't spend time at all with the sisters in our zone except for in the sushe (dorm) at night. I have a hilarious comic I made about the boys in district A i'll send you. I'm still working on one that is actually funny for my own district. There are a lot of people learning chinese that learned english as a second language and still struggle with it. 4 of the 14 boys in just the two districts.

So in our district there is a hilarious Elder, Li Zhanglao. Well, we went to go get our visa work done, and he found out they were drawing blood and he RAN AWAY. His companion had to chase after him, and Sun Jiemei and I had to go find them. We found Zhang Zhanglao, and told him to FORCE his companion out of the bathroom. We all had to coerce him to go, and then the nurses had to pretty much bribe him with gatorade and chocolate. I've never seen such a big Elder so scared of needles. It was great.

I found out the funniest thing about district A too. They all have drama too. One of the Elders the first week here, spit over the shower and it landed on the nose of another elder. Well, the other day the Elder that spit was joking about the "basketball playing abilities" of the Elder that got spit on...well this elder has a short temper, and despite their district goal to avoid the foyer during language study because they have a hard time as a district studying in the foyer, the Elder that got spit on refused to go in the class, and his companion was the district leader that made the goal...so he felt AWFUL...well finally his companion went into the room with him and we hear a big BANG. HAHAHA...The elder had hit the door with like all his strenght...all of a sudden we hear this Elder being like "OWWWWWWW OWWWWW I BROKE MY PINKY, I BROKE MY PINKIE" And his companion was like "Whatever, you are fine, you didn't break anything." I gave him my only ice pack and some ibo and I think that made him feel a little better. Then I told this Elder that the other day at the dinner table, the boy he was mad at was the only one at the entire table that told everyone to stop speaking badly about him...even though he thought this elder HATED him...and then he was like "WOW, I didn't know...I guess he forgave me, now I need to forgive him." they seem fine now. I wish girls were that simple. I addressed the girls about how we weren't building each other up last night, and one girl refused to "listen to my contentious spirit." I very much felt the spirit in approaching the situation and I'm sure Satan wanted her to not be involved in fixing contention. Hopefully her heart can soon be softened because I think everyone else in the entire room came to a common ground. So we all have an understanding minus this one sister. Who I hope will not be too mad at me for long, but today is Preparation day and an AMAZING day, so I will not dwell on it.

Amanda Nelson works here and I get to talk to here now and then. I had her text matt on his birthday and say happy birthday for me. That was fun.

About SYL, I need to do better. I went to a tutor and I knew when I first learned Chinese I didn't learn tones, so he told me to relearn everything. Well, I decided that was an excellent idea, so I stopped SYLing with words I wasn't positive for the tones...well last night I was talking to our fabulous zone leaders about why I haven't been SYLing, because Wei Zhanglao (in my district, there are 3) said he used to be so proud of me because I'd SYLed since my first day here and now I wasn't anymore...So he wished I would try to be that example he used to see...and I told them about not wanting to say things wrong anymore...so All the older Zhanglaomen (Elders) promised they'd fix my tones if I'd try. I think it's a good idea and I will SYL all the time, and take small breaks sunday and preparation day. That's my goal.

So I want to check back to see if you guys respond later, or write me on DEARELDER. My roommate got 8 letters in one day! I have 9 family members So i should be equaling that record, but I'm not. HAHAHA :). Seth gets home from his mission like 2 days before I leave to Taiwan. He sends me the cutest envelopes. I'll take a picture.

I'll WRite next week! bye.

Parents Letter: RE: Funny Week‏

Mon 2/09/09 10:02 AM

Hi Flora!!!

This was a long and a funny letter. I wish I could write letters this good. I hate to tell you but your record will probably ever be about 2 letters in one day. I don't know any other family in the church who is worse about writing letters.

Well, MY problem, as you know, is nothing ever happens to me. So there is not much I can say.

Ok let me think of something I did this week. Well, in my calling in the RS I have to go to a weekly missionary meeting. So this past week I went and I had to laugh at how messed up these missionaries are. This one guy Desi's age just got baptized last week. His girlfriend is in the Summerville ward and he was having the discussions at their house, and the Summerville elders were teaching him. They found out the day before his baptism that he actually LIVES in our ward, so at the baptism, our elders went up to him and told him he had to start going to our ward. He said no. Hahahahaha. Now they have to figure out a way to try to convert him to coming to the Oakbrook ward. They are trying to get Desi and Franny to help them with this.

Also, when I walked in the meeting I smelled this really nice cologne. So I said (to Bro. Griffin) "something smells really good, it that you?" and he said, oh yeah that was something his wife picked out for him. So the missionary says, "You might be smelling MY cologne." And I said, "oh, you are wearing cologne?" and he said, "yeah, but just a little bit, I don't want to be TOO attractive!" lol. Anyway, that is the kind of elders we have.

Here is a nice quote that someone sent me this past week which I thought you might like. It is by Joseph Smith:

We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect; and that the nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker, and is caught up to dwell with Him. But we consider that this is a station to which no man ever arrived in a moment: he must have been instructed in the government and laws of that kingdom by proper degrees, until his mind is capable in some measure of comprehending the propriety, and justice, equality, consistency of the same. For further instruction we refer you to Deut. xxxii, where the Lord Says, that Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste, howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye, etc.; which will show the force of the last item advanced, that it is necessary for men to receive an understanding concerning the laws of the heavenly kingdom, before they are permitted to enter it: we mean the celestial glory. (D.H.C., 2:8; Teachings, p. 51.)

I like the thought of losing every desire for sin. You might suppose that your mother is a big sinner, and you would probably be right, but I actually have a heart to be good and follow the Lord. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I hope you will enjoy your mission and the opportunity you have to conquer the flesh and overcome sin. It will be easier to do it now than at any time during your life.

You should enjoy your time there, and have fun, too. Don't be too hard on yourself, but do what you can to improve little by little.

OK I will try to repent and write you more often. Did you get my letter last weeK?
Love you,
Mom

MTC Instruction: Rules and Obedience

Didai Huiyi

MTC Provo

9 February 2009

Obedience first law, can't go anywhere else without being obedient.

Little things that will hold you back, like not focusing for five minutes.

Quiet time and lights out NEEDS to be observed.

Focus--inappropriate action with Elders & Sisters.

Never flirt with elders.

Rules are to help us.

MTC Devotional: Come Unto Christ

Richard I. Heaton (Provo MTC Administrative Director)

MTC Provo

8 February 2009

What we do as missionaries should help others to come to Christ.

No other sentence was given as much attention as Come to Christ.

• If you understand this phrase it will change your life and attitude.
• Will affect your role as Fathers and Mothers. It has that kind of impact.

People face so many obstacles to come on a mission. So many sacrifices, because the gospel is worth it. (See Jacob 3:2)

What does it feel like to come unto Christ?

• Savior heals more importantly he will heal us emotionally if we lean on him.
• Feast on the love of the Lord.
• Moroni 10:30-32.

Invite with great passion.

Be perfected in Christ.

Look to the people you are teaching with Christ in the distance, lead them to Christ.

People can make progress towards Christ, but they can only be saved through the ordinances of the restored gospel. Moroni 10: 3-5.

Crucial to invite them to pray about Christ. JC is savior of the world.

Inviting people to make commitments is inviting them to repent.

We want them to have an internal change of heart.

Faith=Action

• baptism and receiving Holy Ghost not complete ordinance without both. 3 Nephi 19:9-13 pray for most desire, desired the Holy Ghost vs. 11-18 Why didn't want Holy Gost.

People will want to be baptized. Help them endure to the end.

Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet 13

ETTE=lifelong commitment

We are servants of the Lord.

MTC Sacrament Meeting: Obedience

Brother Yiwei (Gray)

MTC Provo

8 February 2009

Obedience is the first law.

Obedience shouldn't be an irritant, but a quest.

• Make a quest to sleep by 10:30 pm.
  
• Vitally important to know right from wrong.
• Submissiveness important for obedience.
• Our will only unique thing we have to give to God.
• Lengthen your stride.
  

MTC Devotionals and Firesides: Vicki F. Matsumori

Vicki F. Matsumori (2nd Counselor, LDS Primary General Presidency)
MTC Provo
8 February 2009

Thanks for desire to serve the Lord.

Will have opportunity to interact with primary.

• Help the children know they are loved.
• Teach children the gospel.
• Help them feel the spirit.
• Try to smile and know their names.
• Teach children they can be part of an eternal family right now.
• Children are your youngest converts.
• Children can serve the Lord.
• Children remember the songs.

What children learn in primary is a lifelong feeling. A man went to primary twice, but sought out the church because he knew "Joseph Smith was a prophet" from primary, he wanted his kids to have that feeling.