WEEK 3 MTC: We're only three emails in it and this is just the beginning I'm home!

I have developed a new firm testimony about the MTC. 
It is the perfect place for a cold to spread.

Hello all of the people who love me and read my weekly throw up on a page! err Computer screen?

Okay! Welcome one and all to another week at the MTC. Things are kind of just starting to blur together. There's a lot of stuff the happens, but nothing really email worthy. I kind of just go to class. Try to learn Chinese. And then do other stuffs.

On Wednesday though I got the first vision memorized in Chinese! That was exciting! Gift of tongues is a real thing. Don't know if I can stress that enough. It's crazy. 

On Thursday I bought a $23 pencil. Totally worth it. Actually though. It's allowing me to study my scriptures so much more effectively and so that is a good deal to me. 

On Friday I did tutoring with a native teacher who is hear just to tutor missionaries in Chinese. We went mostly for my companion who is struggling with the language because he has no background in it. He is doing so well though. During tutoring however the teacher asked me a question and I responded and he looked at me and said "are you a half?" I have never gotten a better compliment in my life! He asked if I was half Chinese!! It felt good, but then I think he started to realize later on when I actually wasn't that good at Chinese that he had spoken too soon.

In Class we were teaching my teacher who pretends to be an investigator and we do the lessons with him. It is a lot of fun and we taught about the restoration! Because apparently I know enough Chinese to do that....... lol.

Two crazy things happened. First was that the gift of tongues only works if you trust it. My teacher said something and immediately I was like "He just asked for an example" But then I doubted that, I didn't remember ever learning the word for example, so it couldn't be that. I asked him what he said and he spent the next 3 minutes trying to explain it and use his phone to translate it for me. Only to find out that the word he had said was indeed, example. You gotta trust the spirit. But it was hard because I thought it was just me, and not the spirit. I've got a lot of learning to do on that still.

I then proceeded to make the worst language mistake that I have ever heard ever. I've never heard someone say something worse than this and if this had been a real investigator they probs woulda left the church.

So in Chinese there is a grammar structure called Ba/Bei. And so what I was wanting to stay was ren men ba JeSuJiDu xiasi 

That means, the people took Jesus and killed him.

What I said was ren men bei JeSuJiDu xiasi

Which means that the people were killed by Jesus...

So yah. I taught the false doctrine that Jesus killed all the people. That was rough. My teacher/investigator looked at me oddly and started to smile. And then I realized what I had done. And quickly said it the other way.

Jesus is apparently a mass murderer in the doctrine of Elder Baird.

At the end of the lesson though we had invited him to pray. We had previously committed him to pray by himself and this lesson he had agreed to read the BoM. But this was his first time praying for us. And so as I was testifying to him of the power of the BoM and then as he started to say his prayer I just started to smile. The spirit was so strong and I was so happy that we were bringing this to him. Even though he was fake I knew that what I was doing, and what I would soon be doing was right. I knew that I could bring this joy to other people and that it could help them. It was an amazing experience.

That brings us to Saturday... My first TRC. A TRC is where you go and teach someone basically. For the weeks 3-6 you teach members. For weeks 6-9 you teach actual investigators. So today was our first member TRC. It was going to be the longest that my companion and I had ever taught before and I knew it was going to be hard. We had never met this person before and so we didn't know what they needed. So my companion and I had prayed a couple days earlier and I had said BoM, and he said trails. So we went with how the BoM helps us through trails. Getting ready we were like, our lesson is half decent. But when we started our first TRC (you do two every Saturday) We actually brought the spirit and it ended up being what this person needed to hear. She was spitting Chinese at us and I was able t understand like 60% which was great! The lesson went amazing.

On Sunday my companion and I taught priesthood. And it went amazing. We taught about obedience and as I testified about how the prophets commandments in the white handbook and as I testified I felt the spirit confirm that what I said was true. That was the first time I had felt that my testimony was like actually doing something. It was an amazing thing.

It was a good week all in all. I think they can all be good if I focus on the spirit and not myself. It doesn't matter if I'm sick or not. I can choose to be happy and not focus on myself, but I can focus on the people I'm teaching and the spirit. It's cool that way!

Shout out to my boi Jared Poulter Who got his call to Brazil!

Till next week my subservient fellows.

Love,

Elder Baird

P.S. 

I heard that the pics didn't send sorry bout that. You guys have no clue how difficult it is to get emails through in this thing. 

P.S.S.

Hopefully the pics send today.......!

Today's something about socks moment......

How do you feel charity to someone who annoys you? I love my companion, I really do, but man sometimes it is hard. And I want to love him more fully. And I don't know what to do. So all you past missionaries out there, how do you do it? What am I supposed to do if I want to be obedient and my companions like ehhh, what am I supposed to do If I want to focus and feel the spirit and he just wants to be rowdy and mess around. How does one develop charity? I think it's something that we all need to work on. But now for me especially. I know that this is important and it is something I want to do. Because we need to love our companions and so I need to do this. And if I can't love him, who is really quite easy going and nice, how am I supposed to love companions who are not even close to as nice as him..... Who knows!

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

WEEK 2 MTC: Nearer my God to Thee? But how...?

Well it's that time again! Better grab your balloons and invite your friends! (You're welcome Roman)

Hello again all of my tenacious recipients! It is I! Elder Baird! Bringing you another weekly email on the best day of course! P-DAY!

So this week has been kind of interesting. Each day kind of just happens and you get to the end of the day and realize that you just did a whole day, again, and now you get to sleep and then do the same thing tomorrow. It seems kind of desperate, but in all reality, I love it! The amount of good that you can do in one day is astounding. And the amount that we learn in one day is even more so. I don't always remember it in the morning, but I have faith that the spirit can bring it to my remembrance when the time comes and it is needed!

Through most of the week though I was feeling lost. I knew why I was here and I knew what I wanted to do, but I just felt lost. I didn't feel like I was progressing the amount that I wanted to be. I didn't know what was wrong and I just didn't know what to do. Friday is when things started to really hit me. Just a sense of something off. We were able to have a 1 on 1 with our teacher and talk about how things were going in the MTC and I was able to talk to her, and as I expressed my frustration about this I started to understand exactly what the issue was. Before then I really didn't know exactly what I was feeling. I was feeling the lack of guidance by the spirit. 

That night I wrote down a list of things that I felt that I was missing in my journal (I will be selling copies of my journal when I get back for $50 a piece (it is worth it (maybe))). Then I prayed about it. I felt slightly comforted and realized that I was just needing more hope.

The next day we talked about hope in class and it was like BOOM! Slap to the Face! So I decided that is what I wanted, but still didn't feel completely there. I prayed to have hope and things got better. But, that day in personal study as I was reading though PMG (Preach My Gospel) I realized that I hadn't said a prayer to begin that study session. I quickly started to say one, and in that prayer I asked for direction. I wanted to more fully embrace the Christ like Attributes. And I had the thought that I don't want to give up somethings. Some of my goofiness and rowdiness.

Immediately the thought struck me "put all on the alter of sacrifice" The spirit was telling me that if I wanted to be Christ like, I had to get rid of non Christ like things. Like no duh, But that spirit was so strong in telling me that it was time for me to change. Time for me to do better, and be better. And so I am. I have no clue how long the change will take. But I am now willing to make it.

Now, this all leads up to Sunday.

Sunday is actually the best day in the world in the MTC. Not only do you not have class, but you also get to take the sacrament. Feel an increased amount of the Spirit. Get amazing devotionals. And oh yah, I played a musical number for the President of the MTC. So that was cool.

I was approached on Saturday asking if I would accompany and elder in our Zone the next day. I was a little shocked at first, but I whipped together and arrangement of "Nearer My God to Thee" with him in about 30 minutes and it was pretty good. We then preformed in Sacrament and it really brought the Spirit. He has an amazing voice. But I have had that song stuck in my head and it has made me ponder how to actually do that... still working on that...

That Sunday I really focused on feeling the Spirit through the whole day and it proved to be an amazing day. Some of the other elders are starting to lose focus on why they are here, and I just hope that won't happen to me.

I love the devotionals here, and I learn so much from them. This Sunday was especially special because not only did we get a devotional about how amazing PMG and the White Bible are (read PMG, it is amazing even if you're not a missionary), but we also got to watch the talk, "The Character of Christ" I recommend that everyone stop reading this email immediately, move all your plans and hour back, and google this and try to find this video now. It is literally the best thing I have sen in my life. Not only that, but you get to watch Elder Bednar talk as a Russian cookie monster. I'm not going to talk much about it other than this thought. How can we turn out more? How can we shirk the natural man, and turn out to others? I'm still not sure how to do this, but it is something that I think I will be working on for the rest of my life.

Anyways, I know that this was a long one, but I have a lot I want to share and time to do it. I appreciate all of your prayers and all the Love and Emails and regular mails that have been sent my way!

I love you all!

--

Elder Baird

百长老

This weeks "something about socks" moment:

Obedience is a sign of how much we love God. And believe that he exists. In the white handbook it says to shave every day. Those of you who know me and my hair growth patterns probably understand why that may be weird for me. But I still do it. Even though it is useless.

"Exact obedience brings miracles"

- President Neilson

Elder Schade at it again with the food creations. (I helped with this one.)

Pic with the Cantos, they are leaving soon. Thank goodness!!! JK i love them a lot. They're cooler than most the Mandos.

So whose idea was it to put a bunch of teenage elders together in a room?

WEEK 1 MTC: Something about socks, and tower of terror!

"I shoulda brought a bigger bag!"

Whats up all of my loyal followers and fans! It's Elder Baird here in my first email home! In all honesty I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to talk about here, but I guess we will figure it out as we go.

This has been crazy. I don't think there is a word that describes that as well as crazy does. So we will start at the beginning, Seems like a good place to start!

I got dropped off by parents, cried a few tears, and was immediately whisked away by my guide. We went and got my badge and a bunch of other stuff. Putting the badge on was a lot of fun! It was crazy that this was actually happening.

My companions name is Elder Broderick. He is reallly cool! He has a ton of energy and he wants to learn everything. He's never done Chinese before but it is coming along well. The gift of tongues is real! Who knew! 

After meeting my companion we meet our teacher and then went to a big group thing. And we were immediately teaching. Literally I had just put my stuff in my room and now I was teaching with the 600 other new missionaries here. 600 new missionaries in one day. It was a lot of people. 

Sleeping was pretty hard that night (one of the elders snores). And so I was tired the next day, but I have been tired every day so far so I think it will be a trend. We went to the doctors to get some blood drawn and get X-rays. Good times. 

We got to know the district better and I love them. Literally every single person in our district is great. None of the elders are dumb teenagers and we all want to learn really badly. So that is a huge blessing! We talked a lot about our missionary purpose today and dove head first into the language. MANDARIN IS HARD! But I can pray pretty well in Chinese now and can do some missionary things pretty well.

We talked a lot about obedience and following the white handbook. One thing we talked about was Missionary Dress and Grooming. And in that chapter it says that socks should be conservative and dark in color. I, of course, was wearing by bright rainbow socks. And I was struck by the fact that if I want to follow with exact obedience, I need to change my socks. So I've committed to not wear my colored socks anymore.

I'm tired.

Saturday was something different. Chinese is really hard, and I keep praying for the gift of tongues, but that doesn't happen without a lot of work. We spend a lot of time in class learning about it, and today we were informed that we were going to be teaching an investigator in only Chinese! I'VE BEEN HERE FOR 4 DAYS AND WE WERE ALREADY TEACHING A LESSON! so yah, I was terrified. But as I started to humble myself and work with the spirit I started to lose my nerves. 

On my way to the lesson though we decided to take the elevator. There were a lot of us in it. 19 to be specific. As the doors closed a different elder just yelled "LETS JUMP! 1-2-3 JUMP!"

No one had time to react and process, so of course almost everyone jumped.

That was when we dropped about half a floor and shut up real quick. All 19 of us had the same thought process "uh oh; what did we do; we're screwed" The elevator didn't keep moving and we very quickly decided to say a prayer (I love that we can say prayers whenever, it is great)

After that we called for help and 3 prayers, some language study, watching the restoration video, and 40 minutes later, we finally made it out of the elevator (it got so hot in there that we were able to play tic tac toe in the condensation on the metallic walls) Fun stuff!

CHOIR IS AMAZING! all to say about that.

As well if you haven't watched the face to face, watch it. I learned so much.

----

Well my faithful few, I really have no way to convey how this experience has been. This isn't even a tenth of what I have done here or have felt here. 

Spiritual thought of the day: As I was worrying about the language and being a missionary while studying outside, I started to read Mormon 9:25. In this it says that we can have all of these gifts if we have faith and don't doubt. I was worried that because I was struggling meant I didn't have enough faith or that I was doubting. Immediately as I was thinking this the bells at BYU started to play "Come Come Ye Saints"

The line "no toil nor labor fear" hit me like an elevator falling from the sky. I remembered the immediate goodness of God. And that it is possible for me to over come struggles because of the atonement.

I love you all! Thank you for the support.

Love,

Elder Baird

百长老

P.S.

all care packages are warmly welcomed :)

some ideas include: candy, mountain dew, snacks, cold hard cash, uncut diamonds, and no limit credit cards! 

:))))))

(I'm going to get an email from my mom about that comment *sigh*)

Got me and my companion

Pointing at Taiwan

Elder Schade at breakfast

My district!

Other Mandarin Elders