Leih Houh Mah?

Dearest follwers,

As should be expected, it was another busy week in the MTC. I did get two packages; one from the Tietjens and one from my family so thank you very much! For the plaque that will hang in the lobby at church, my favorite scripture is D&C 112:10. I appreciate the many letters that I have gotten from friends and family via DearElder, they really brighten my day! I'm sorry to hear about the Zimmerman's loss, but I do know that there is a special spot set aside for Christian in the kingdom of our Lord. I'm so so so happy for Jason! It was all I could think about on Saturday! I wish I had been there to witness that special event. Best decision of his life :)  I shared his story with my district and they were all very impressed by his readiness to receive the gospel and his character. We want to be more like Jason in our humility and love.

Today I was finally able to get to the temple! I was so antsy all week as I thought about being able to get away from the MTC compound and feeling the Spirit in the temple.  I finished the Book of Mormon yesterday morning and decided to take Moroni's promise. I don't think I have ever really taken his challenge. I prayed and felt that I didn't get an answer. I reflected on the many miracles and spiritual times I have felt while reading in the scriptures (namely Hel 3:35 and D&C112:10), and decided that my question about the truthfulness had already been answered. Nonetheless, I went to the temple and had that question in my heart and had an amazing experience with personal revelation. I was sitting there contemplating my question and believe it or not, I had a Cantonese phrase pop into my mind. And it was the only thing that I could think about our repeat for 3 minutes. It was, "Ngoh jidou Moyihmunging haih Sahn ge syutwah." This phrase means, "I know The Book of Mormon is the word of God." Right there in the temple the Lord answered my prayer with my own knowledge. I have a testimony of this book, I had a testimony of this book, but this experience was a strength to me.

Yesterday I got up in my Sacrament meeting and bore my simple testimony in Cantonese. I can't say everything that I want to, but I can say a lot and I felt the truthfulness of my words. I have again started The Book of Mormon and I am halfway through 1st Nephi--hope to be done with it before I leave the MTC.

My first investigator, Pauline, whom I taught 5 times and almost got to commit to baptism, turned out to be my team teacher posing as an investigator! I couldn't believe it! we were all laughing. It's now different to hear her speak English and have to address her as Sister Tai.

This week in Cantonese we learned how to ask and respond to questions of location, where to meet with a potential investigator, and answer 'why' questions. The language it very "caveman-ish" and completely different structure from English. Kinda hard for me to remember the placement of words when I'm on the spot. I'm sure I sound like a pre-schooler.

Everyday this week for volleyball my district went out to the fields and played volleyball. We go at the same time as the Bulgarian elders and we therefore call it the Bulgarian Beatdown! We're surprisingly good players and I'm learning a lot from my district mates, some of whom played in high school.

This next week I get two new investigators. There names are A-Heih and Kim. I suspect that they are actually my two team teachers posing as people from different backgrounds so that we can learn to tailor our lessons to different types of people. I'd go into my detail about them but I am low on time. Normally teachers don't have to pose as investigators because there are many MTC volunteers or even non-members willing to come, but when there are 11 Cantonese missionaries in the MTC we learn that supplies are low in Cantonese speakers within Provo and surrounding cities.

We have incredible devotionals on Sundays and Tuesdays and those are real strengths to me. I love to hear what they have to say as well as the change that it brings in a rather mundane weekly schedule.

I'm a little surprised that I function as well as I do because I never get even the 8 hours of sleep. It takes a long time for me to fall asleep each night. Mondays our temple session is at 6:30 so we have to be up early, Tuesday we have gym at 6:05, and Wednesday we have service for 1.5 hours starting at 6:10. But I know that the Lord must have a hand in it because there is no way I would have been able to do this high school.

A few things I need: A water bottle (Maybe just the one that I used for tennis), headphones and a CD player. Because Cantonese is so tonal I get to use recordings of people's pronounciation to work on my own. So I need my own set of headphones and even just a cheap CD player. It only has to last for the next 9 weeks or so.

I was on Mormon.org this week (One of the few sites allowed) and saw that Brother Mike Lohner as well as Bishop Johnson have video profiles! That was cool! I've been watching the 5 profiles of Cantonese speakers and feel like they are my best friends though I don't know them or what they are saying. The sights around Hong Kong are amazing from their videos! I cannot wait!

I appreciated dad's message to me that talked about the miracle of my life. It really strengthened me and made me remember that the Lord has a purpose for me though I may not know what it is completely.

This week I studied the doctrine of Christ in my personal study. A notable chapter is 2 Nephi 31. I also taught this to my investigator.

A thought from the devotional yesterday, "Miracles are not unnatural events, but rather manifestations of God's love and power."( I don't have the exact words but I will look it up and share it later).

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder L. Spencer Siebach