It's so dark...

Before ya'll freak about about the title of this email, lemme explain. So, almost every night I fall asleep writing (usually in my journal, but this time it was a letter). So last night I fell asleep and woke up at about midnight. I got up to turn off the light, and Sister Jenkins was like "It's so dark" as soon as I did. I would've busted up laughing if I hadn't have been so tired (cuz she was asleep when she said it) but instead I just said, "yeah" and crawled back into bed. Then in the morning I told her what she said, and she was like, "I remember dreaming I said that, but not actually saying it. Also, you were yawning at like 2 AM" Who knew you could yawn in your sleep? It was really funny, haha

So yeah. We have good times, basically every day. Last week I was driving, and I said, "Right or left?" 

"I'm 41% sure you go left" 

*Turns left* "Wait!! That means you're more sure I go right!!" 

Today I told Sister Jenkins that I was 41% sure Saipan was better than Pohnpei. She said, wait! That's not ok!

In all reality, I love both islands for different reasons. I miss Pohnpei and the more laid back life style, cuz Saipan is super Americanized. But I also love Saipan. It's really pretty here, and I know I am supposed to be here. Maybe that in itself makes it beautiful. 

The language is coming. The struggle is getting the influxions on the words right. You can say "Hen hao" and depending on the way you say "hen" you could be saying very good, or hate good. So we are slowly throwing in new vocab we learn to our lessons, but sometimes it totally confuses our investigators. That or they bust up laughing, haha. 

Also forgot to mention in my last email, there was an earthquake 2ish weeks ago. We were in the car outside our investigators apartment, and the car started bouncing. I was like, what the heck, are there kids jumping on the bumper or what? No kids though... it was a small earthquake. So that was fun. 

This week I learned a lot about Charity. I attached my notes for now. I would encourage you all to study it on your own though. Maybe each of the attributes of charity found in Moroni 7:45, and see which of those attributes you can work on, one at a time. True to the Faith says that if you can have Charity, you will be prepared to meet God. Moroni says if you don't have charity, you have nothing. I would say it's pretty important then, no?

This week I will work on Patience.

That's all I got for this week. I love you all so much!! Keep your chins up. Even more, find something to laugh about every day! I know there will be, especially if you look for it. 

Pic of my district, left to right

Elder Ieru, me, Elder William, Sister Jenkins, Elder Slack, Elder Palmer

We went hiking to bird island this morning. That was pretty fun =) love my district!

Wo ai nimen! I poakepoakekumwail!

Sister Springer

"That's kinda cool." "Kinda weird."

Time is FLYING by!

Quick sum up of this week.

My companion is from Provo, UT. My mom asked me how she's like me. That's hard to answer... We have a very similar sense of humor. Also, you guys remember how I used to say stuff like "Lame sauce", or things like that in highschool? She says that all the time. She also is Tomboyish like me. Pretty cool. 

Of course, there's the fact we are both super excited to share the Gospel. And we love the Lord, and the scriptures. I don't know how to explain it. We just get along really well, I guess. 

This week during one of the personal studies, I was thinking about repentance/sinning. I realized something (thank you Spirit). Sinning and not repenting is like this: A little kid is jumping on the bed, falls, and gets hurt. But instead of running to his mom, he runs away from her because he is afraid that she will say, "It's your fault, you shouldn't have been jumping on the bed. If you had listened to me, you wouldn't have fallen. Now I won't help you." But is that how it is? No! When we got hurt as kids, we would run to our moms and they would somehow make it better. It's the same thing with sin. When we fall, when we sin, the first thing we should want to do is run to our Savior. I promise if we do that, He will be waiting with open arms to hold us, "to encircle us about in the arms of His everlasting mercy" (I'm pretty sure that's a scripture somewhere. I forgot where though.) He will never, ever say, I told you not to and you didn't listen, so you're on your own. The Atonement, and His love, goes deeper than that. So don't run from it. Run to Him, and He will heal you completely and fully. 

Christ-like attribute: Hope is enduring trust, therefore enduring faith (remember faith was trusting in God?) 

This week I will focus on Charity (not gonna lie, I already kinda started studying this one. Got some really cool insights I'll share next week.)

Sorry I didn't get any pictures this week... Kept forgetting my camera in the car. Sorry bout that. Next week I will have some!

Love you all! Stay strong, keep smiling, make every day a great day!

Sister Springer

Learning Mandarin Chinese, Ready Set Go!

Hey everyone!! 

Sorry about last week. Lost internet before I could send this out. So here is last weeks update:

Basically I feel like I'm back in America. It's drier here than Pohnpei for sure, and they have street lights and real roads and fast food and lotsa tourism on Saipan. Obviously, there are TONS of Asians. 20% of the population, or 1 in 5 people, are Asian, and mostly Chinese. Which is why Sister Jenkins and I are going to learn Chinese. It's gonna be kinda rough, but it's all good. 

I miss Pohnpei. I keep saying stuff in Pohnpeian. Family, don't be sad... But whenever I tell Sister Jenkins about Pohnpei, I say "Back home". For reals, I don't even try. I just call it home. I am definitely going back there some day.

Saipan is pretty cool though. Today we hiked up to the highest point and you could see around the entire island. (In the picture with all 6 of us missionaries it goes: Elder Iero the district leader, me and Sister Jenkins, Elder Slack and Elder Palmer the Zone Leaders, and Elder Williams. Elder Williams is from Pohnpei!! So that's pretty cool).

It takes only 1 hour to drive around the island. Which is good, because Sister Jenkins and I have to cover the whole island. The Elders split the island so they cover 50% of the people who aren't Chinese. Most of the Chinese people live or hang out in Garapan, so that's where we will spend a lot of time. 

Trying to learn Chinese on your own is sooo hard. We have these little books that help a bit, because they have the English, Pinyon (phonics of the Chinese words) and the Chinese characters. But even with the Pinyon, we keep saying stuff wrong I think. Yesterday we tried to tell a lady we were trying to learn Chinese, and I think I said something bad cuz she looked at me really funny, like I was crazy. It's all good though. We've made a whole bunch of connections, and hopefully we can get a little bit of tutoring from some of the locals that speak English and Chinese. One in particular, Yung Yi, sounds like will be really helpful. It's kinda funny trying to learn a new language after immersing yourself in one language/culture. One member that lives here said she can hear my Pohnpeian accent when I talk! That made me really happy. The gift of tongues is real people! Also, I keep rolling my R's when I try to read the Chinese.... I need a new gift of tongues, I think. The gift of Chinese tongues. 

Sister Jenkins and I are slowly getting the layout of the island. Friday the Zone Leaders showed us around the island once, but it was a quick tour. Luckily we found an atlas in our apartment that's been suuuper helpful, if a little outdated. Needless to say, she is the master navigator. 

Sister Jenkins is super cool. She joined the Airforce for a year before coming on her mission. She turned 19 then left like 4 days later for the MTC. She reminds me of a younger version of me, in a lot of ways. She gets my sense of humor, which is good, because otherwise we'd probably drive each other crazy since we are the only two Sister's on the island. But because it's just us, we go back to Guam once a month for training. So that'll be cool.

Having to whitewash an island, train, and learn a totally different language is pretty intimidating. But, between the transfer call and going to Saipan, I read Ether 12. The whole chapter is really good, but verses 23-27, and 37 really stood out to me. I know I have weaknesses--so many weaknesses-- but I know God will help me turn them into strengths. I feel pretty unqualified for this work, but He qualifies those whom He calls. I know that is true. I am going to pour my heart and soul into learning Chinese, and helping the Chinese people understand who God is. Most of them don't even know about God, and if they do, they are afraid of religion. It's a totally different approach to teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and Sister Jenkins and I are still trying to find the right one. Let the Holy Spirit guide. 

Speaking of... Cool story. Saturday night we were walking through Garapan, and I had the thought to try the sneaky way of talking to people by asking for a fake referral. Except for some reason I decided to ask a name of someone we got from the Elders, who lives on the other side of the island. Surprise! The lady was like, yeah I know him. "He's my husband. Just a minute, I'll call him." So Sister Jenkins stood outside the restaurant, totally not sure what to do. Then we went and talked to him. Turns out it was Brother Watts, who is a member of the ward. He married the Chinese lady last year. Just who we needed to talk to!! He has helped us sooooo much, and introduced us to many Chinese people, including the lady who will hopefully give us some tutoring lessons. It's awesome to see the miracles that come from just opening your mouth. 

Miracle Minutes: Made one last round through Garapan at about 8:55 before heading back to the car, and a man stopped us and asked for our Bible. He wanted the English one, and we only had Chinese, so we gave him an English pamphlet instead with our phone number, then said we'd bring him the Book of Mormon. Apparently he was baptized back in the early 2000's by one of the Elders, but he has lost his way. 

Anyway.... That's all for this week. You are all in my thoughts and prayers. I am excited and nervous for this new adventure. I know that Heavenly Father called me and Sister Jenkins to this island for a purpose. I just hope we can learn Chinese quickly and fulfill that purpose. 

I poakepoake kumwail and Wo ai ni men. (Means the same thing in two different languages. Except I can't type in Chinese characters or Pinyon.... Yet.)

Go forward with "an eye single to the glory of God."

Sister Springer

And this week:

We went to MLC this week. MLC is Missionary Leadership Conference. I guess since we are the only Sisters on Saipan, we go. It's so weird though, because everyone there has been on a mission for awhile, but I have only been out for a little bit and Sister Jenkins just started. (Ok, I say little bit... but this week I will hit my 4 month mark. It's already going way too fast.) So basically we got to Saipan, stayed a week, then Saturday afternoon flew back to Guam, then early this morning flew back to Saipan. 

Learned a lot at MLC. We talked about the Sabbath day and how we can get investigators to church. It was really helpful. President and Sister Zarbock and the Assistants are all inspired people. I love hearing from them, and am excited to apply their teaching to our lessons. Summary: the commitment pattern is inspired.

Last week I studied hope. Lots of good scriptures I found, and things. Forgot to get my notes from the apartment though, so maybe next week. This week I will focus on humility. 

Sister Jenkins mentioned something to me today that I thought was cool. I guess when she was in the MTC, Elder Christoferson came and spoke. He mentioned Micronesia Guam mission specifically, and said that this mission is extra hard because it's so spread out. Because of that, anyone called here was foreordained in the life before this one. When she told me that, the Spirit washed over me. It's crazy to think about, but really cool, too. There's another word for it... maybe just "I have an almost but not quite overwhelming sense of awe" would work. Jayden, what word could I use?

Anyway, signing off for this week. Wan an!

Sister Springer