HYRUM'S LETTER #9 AND PICTURES
JULY 15, 2013
So this is it! My
last day at the MTC. Good thing it's a P-Day!
I've had such an
exciting time here. I've made some really great friends, learned a boatload of
Chinese, and felt a part of a historic time to be a missionary. It's been
incredible to see this place slowly fill more and more over the time that we've
been here. There are SO many people at the MTC right now. It's so cool to see
that there are so many people right now who want to serve the Lord as His
missionaries!
I especially love that my sister has joined me on this journey! It's been so
great to see her here. I'm so glad that she has chosen to serve the Lord as
well!
I'm
SOO excited to get to Taiwan. I think the next two weeks might be the hardest
two weeks of my life, but I'm so pumped! Admittedly, I'm not looking forward to
stepping off the plane in 90 degree weather with 90 percent humidity. But, I'm
so excited to get to the field where all of the time and effort I'm putting in
has an actual in the lives of ordinary people in Taiwan. I'm so happy for the
opportunity I have to serve, and I'm so grateful for the help I've received
from all places.
I think my Chinese is now at a point where I won't be completely lost when I
get there, just mostly lost. But I think I'm ready to be immersed and I can
learn the most at this point from listening to native speakers.
It was kinda cool;
our first week here we watched the Testaments (an LDS movie about Christ in the
Americas) in Mandarin, and then yesterday, they finally showed it again in
Mandarin. It was cool to see how much my knowledge of Chinese has grown, even
if they still talk too fast!
Today,
we're going to spend a lot of time packing and getting ready to leave at 6 AM
tomorrow.
Short letter today,
but I'm sure my next one will be the longest yet! I don't actually have any
idea when I'll be able to email again, but you will hopefully hear from me
soon!
Elder
Richardson
On
Wednesday, when Melissa was supposed to come in, I spent about an hour waiting
for her car to come, but apparently she just walked in! So I was sitting eating
breakfast on Thursday, minding my own business, and I looked up and there she
was! I was so excited! I got up and gave her a hug, which was received by
surprise from all the other missionaries around us. (NOTE FROM MOM: When you are a set apart missionary for the church, you put a lot of things aside and one of them is girls, flirting, hugging girls, dating, etc. So for Hyrum to jump up and start hugging a beautiful girl that no one in his district had seen before was a bit of a shocker! This added info makes the story a bit funnier! I am sure their excitement to see each other created a bit of a scene!)
Our meal times
overlap by about 15 minutes, so I've been able to see her at almost every meal
these past few days. It's been really fun! Attached are some pictures of us.
Melissa wanted me to
tell you that her P-Day isn't until Wednesday, so she can't email you yet, but
she will.
I'm
still like half asleep because my district for some reason decided to wake up
really early to come do laundry. So that's why I less eloquent today!
