I made a tiny snowman, but forgot to take a picture.

 It is 9:00 am. Let me tell you about my day so far...
 Woke up at 5:00 am because I was freeeezing. Mind you, I was wearing a shirt, sweatshirt, a jacket, sweatpants, long socks AND had two blankets on. So I thought I would take a hot shower to warm me up. Nope, no hot water. Only really really cold water. After my shower I had to do some tumbling down the halls in the residency to warm me up. It worked. Read my Book of Mormon in mandarin. My companions got up at 6:30, we grabbed our sheets and our dirty linen and did laundry. We then got a very nutritious breakfast. Mine consisted of POG, a donut, and a banana. And in the time that we have from breakfast until exercise (which is in about half an hour) we email.

 Now lets go back and look on this past week.

 Thursday (1/28)
 Went to the doctor's office to get Sister. Brinkerhoff's blood test done. Had exercise time in the gym and it was nearly empty. Walked off campus to the BYU health center to get a prescription for Sister. Brinkerhoff to aid her with her sleep. Went to class, then lunch, then class, then dinner. Practiced teaching lesson 2 in PMG in mandarin. Went back to residency and met the new sisters in our zone. Shared my food and then went to sleep.

 Friday (1/29)
 Fridays are service days! My companions are I got to take out ALL of the trash from the entire residency hall. We piled the trash into a big rolling cart, took the elevator to the trash compactor and threw all of the trash into the compactor. T'was fun. Exercise time came after service. I was fortunate enough to jump into an intense game of volleyball with the polynesian elders. Man, if only the weather was better, we could be playing volleyball in the sand court outside...Went to class, had lunch, went back to class. Practiced teaching Wu Chia Hsin in mandarin. Went over lots of vocabulary and grammar structure. At the end of the day Wu Lao Shi asked us, on a scale of 1-5, 1 being not at all and 5 being you gave it your all, how focused we were that day. She had out on her desk, two water cups. One cups was hers as a whole and one cup was Jesus. She had each missionary that did not give themselves a 5 for that day, come up and pour shoyu, ketchup and mustard into her cup. After all of the condiment pouring, Wu Lao Shi drank the condiment filled water. She explained how students are a reflection of their teacher. Just like Christ took upon our sins and mistakes, she, for that day, "drank from a bitter cup" for us. It hit all of us pretty hard. Every day, we need to do our best to focus all our attention on the Lord's work.

 Saturday (1/30)
 TRC today! Taught two volunteer members about the importance of prayer in their life. One of the volunteers shared a story about how when he was working (he is a paramedic) he had to help this chinese man in critical condition who spoke no english. He didnt really know how to translate medical terms so he said the most sincere prayer in his heart and he was able to get out in mandarin what he had to in order to take care of the chinese man. He said it was a life changing experience. After TRC, Reviewed lots and lots of grammar. Listened to conference talks in mandarin and translated them. Our class did an activity where we taught our fellow missionaries about repentance and the importance of the atonement. I taught Elder Johnson. We spoke mandarin to each other quite well. It is amazing how much we have learned here. We all recieved advice from Wu Lao Shi. "Dont be a vegetable in class. Do something. Say something." Had another activity where we wrote our name on a paper and passed it around the classroom. Each missionary wrote a compliment in mandarin and drew part of a face...Ill have to show you guys the pictures...I love my district!

 Sunday (1/31)
 I taught relief society today. Played the piano in sacrament. Spoke and shared my testimony in mandarin. It was snowing HARD during our temple walk. Our district sang in mandarin in front of the temple. Went to Choir practice. Had devotional with Matthew Richardson. Overall, it was a good day. Sundays always are.

 Monday (2/1)
 I have noticed that people handle stress so very differently. There are also some that handle it real well and some that just can't take a whole lot. It saddens me to hear about missionaries that come to the MTC, stay for a little while and then are sent home because they just cant do it.

 Tuesday (2/2)
 My district played volleyball with me!! The people in my district arent very athletic SOOO them playing volleyball is a HUGE deal! Had devotional with Elder Craig Zwick of the Seventy. He gave a really good talk about prayer and our district had a very spiritual testimony meeting afterwards.