MTC Week 5

The MTC is so fun. This week I heard a story about a 30 year old woman serving a second mission. I'd recommend all of you to go do something similar. It's awesome out here.

So apparently our district is pretty stellar. The Church tech people came in and were developing a new app and wanted feedback from a 'good district'. The language committee decided on us. So they all came in and it was an interesting experience. They gave us their phones and had us do this little training on their new app. Then after we gave them feedback. It was all these 30-40 year olds taking criticism from teenagers. They said "Be completely honest. We want great feedback and we want to improve this app. So don't hold back!" They got the honesty they asked for.
We TORE THAT THING APART.
Some quality comments from us missionaries were "yeah... I didn't really understand what we were supposed to be doing"
"It looked like you just did a Google search and copy pasted a bunch of stuff on here"
"This feels like it is more suited for a paper company than missionaries"
"I would never EVER use this on my mission"

We gave honest feedback and the whole app was a decent idea but it needed a lot of work.
Watching these adults try to put a brave face on as we berated their masterpiece was a little uncomfortable. They went from 'thank you for the feedback' to slowly becoming more defensive. "Dave, isn't that the slide you made? They said they don't understand it."
"We didn't have a lot of time to work on this"

The funniest was when we were using their phones, texts would show up at the top. We realized the adults were texting each other while this whole ordeal was going on. One of the missionaries saw a text that came in during the feedback that said "I'm not bending over backwards to fix that". 
Needless to say it was a learning experience for everyone. I really am grateful that people are working so hard to make something for missionaries. It's pretty awesome how many people are supporting us out here. The whole situation was just really funny though. There's something great about having a panel of experts taking notes on your answers every time they ask you a question.

The trio is still dominating the basketball court. Since the gym reopened, us 3 have played a few games together. The caliber of play shoots up when our chemistry kicks in. Behind the back passes, alleyoops and off-the-screen threes are common occurrences with the trio. It's so much fun playing with my companions. I look forward to playing basketball and volleyball every day.

We know we've been at the MTC awhile when we Chinese Elders can have weekly traditions. Some favorites include "eat cereal with a fork" "Floral Tie Friday" and "Sweater Saturday". Sweater Saturday is a blast as 20 of us walk around the MTC in 90 degree weather wearing our 3 layers. We make a big act out of it. Whenever we pass someone, we ask them in astonishment how they're not freezing. "It is SO cold out here! You'll get frostbite. How are you in short sleeves right now?" We tell them the storm is coming in and it'll be snowing in a few minutes. As they look up bewildered at the clear blue sky and glaring sun, we walk away, shivering, huddling together, and considering out loud whether or not we should go and get our gloves out of our suitcases. Stuff like this is so funny to me and I'm laughing every day at the MTC.

I sang in church on Sunday. A couple missionaries from my district played violin and piano and I sang 'I Need Thee Every Hour'. It was a really spiritual experience and I loved being able to share my testimony through music.

We had a cool experience on Saturday when we taught a practice lesson. The man we taught didn't speak Chinese but we still wanted to practice the language, so Elder Brenchley and I spoke Chinese while Elder Ramsey translated. Nothing can make you feel good at the language like the man saying "You all must have the gift of tongues. I didn't understand a word!"
The Spirit truly is helping us learn this language. It's been such a blessing to be able to pick it up so quickly.
Something else I learned was when we had a Chinese substitute teacher who spoke little English and he bore powerful testimony. I imagined that how he sounded to us is similar to how I'll sound to native Chinese speakers. And although he wasn't eloquent or extravagant in his language, the Spirit was so strong as it carried his humble words into our hearts. The reason I am not stressed about learning this language is because I know that as I do my best, God will make up the difference. And whatever I struggle to say, He will help the people understand.

I love being a missionary. Seriously. It is hard but it is so awesome. Can't wait for another great week!

Elder Halverson





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