WEEK SEVEN: I am the Lone Survivor

Hooray for health!

at the Temple

One of the few pictures I have from this week

So...an explanation for my subject line....every single sister in my zone has had some kind of sickness this week, from stomachaches to headaches to earaches to nausea to fever and sinus infections and even high white-blood cell count. EVERYONE.  And I am THE LONE SURVIVOR!!!!!!!!!!!!! My companion has slept a minimum of 17 hours every day and we've been to 4 doctors visits this week, and I had to go on splits with every sister companionship, and at one point was assigned to two elders because all of the sisters were ill!

Pretty proud of my body for staying healthy right now. Every sister has had it, all of my roommates currently are sick, and half of the elders have it. Now if only my body could stop putting on weight...

Well we got NEW MISSIONARIES THIS WEEK!! Xin de chuanjiaoshi! I knew Madison Giles and Isaac Wu from BYU. Sister Giles is in my zone and Elder Wu is in the other zone. The two new districts pretty much already know more Chinese than me but wo bu guan. It's whatever. 

Along with the new missionaries, my amazing friend Adrianna Bean came in this week!!!! Also, Holden Bergquist from my home ward! His mom took a picture of me while they were dropping him off! My friends Krista Ek and Cameron Reddish from BYU are also here right now too!! So many friends!

I wasn't supposed to this past week, but I hosted! I was sitting outside studying and there was about 10 of these sisters who didn’t have anyone to host them, so a lady asked if we could help and of course I said yes! I didn't have a companion so I couldn’t teach anyway and my teacher said it was ok!! So, that was so fun!! Except dropping off a sister on the 5th floor of a building with no elevator…

We got a sister from Singapore this week!! Sister Tan is amazing and speaks very good English...along with very good Chinese so she got fast-tracked and taken away from us. But i got to meet her and now she says Hi to me all the time!!

So, the rule is that you can't be alone with elders right? What about when none of the sisters in your zone are well enough to be in class and you have to be in a classroom with 6 elders and a male teacher? Well that's what I had to resort to this week because everyone was sleeping back at the residence or at doctor’s appointments. It was weird, lemme tell ya. Never thought it would be weird to be alone with boys.....the mission changes ya ;)

WE GOT OUR FLIGHT PLANS THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!....and then almost had a full on riot. We got our travel plans and everyone is so pumped. A few hours later, the supervisor comes in and said, "you're here for at least another week, your visas haven't come in" and then everyone and everything WENT NUTS!!!!!! There were elders punching walls and screams of "we NEED to fast tomorrow!" and everyone just running around screaming. So the best and the VERY WORST news you can get at the MTC all in a few hours. Well....a few hours after that, the same supervisor comes back in and says that our visas are here and everything is ok. SHENME DONGXI!? It was like a cruel joke, but it wasn’t a joke because my emotions were toyed with and everything turned into a black abyss, ha ha. But it's ok now. I think. 

Accomplishment of the week: I finished a WHOLE JOURNAL! Never in my life have I been so consistent in writing in a journal and it is basically the coolest thing I've ever done to take up an entire journal. I know, I'm cool. 

We did TRC Skype this week!!!!!! so we talk with a member IN TAIWAN for 40 mins! W were teaching a really nice young man who was patient with us. BUT Sister Sorenson and I taught together, and since we're not companions (ours were sick) it was a little rocky. It still was good though! We get to do it again tonight!!!

Well I have some awful news. I plugged my camera into these old computers so I could send pictures and ALL OF MY PICTURES FROM THE LAST MONTH DISAPPEARED (except the four that are in this post). So I have no pictures from this past week at all. And I'm very sad. If you want to pray for my poor little camera to remember its contents, that would be appreciated. I am grieving for the lost life of my pictures. 

More aweful news: two elders in Taipei died this last week, so please keep their families in your prayers.

On a lighter note, we had an awesome devotional by the General Young Women First Counselor and it really inspired me to make some goals. This week's include expecting miracles and developing charity. I read a scripture after praying about what I need to focus on, and I read 1 Corinthians 13:2. Even if I have all the faith in the world, it doesn't matter if I don't have charity. So I'm working on that. Loving everyone and everything...except this idiotic computer that ate my pictures. 

I want to challenge all of you this week to be extra kind. Reach out to someone you haven't talked to in a while. Smile at someone who looks like they need it. I could have used that a lot this week as I sacrificed my study time for my sick companion. I used this week as a week of service and not a week of learning and I know that it will improve me if I let it. I also challenge you all to SEND ME DEAR ELDER LETTERS!!!! My address is the same for another 12 days, but then it will be:

Sister McKenna Wright

Taiwan Taipei Mission

4/F, #24, Lane 183

Jin Hua Street 

Taipei 106 

Taiwan

So I love you all - and yep that's it. I'm praying for all of you and think you're awesome!!

Wo ai nimen, 

Ren Jiemei