Third Week in the MTC

We are only at the MTC for a very short period of time. During that time we do all that we can so that we may learn the truths of the gospel so that when we are asked questions we know the answers, and if we don't know them. We know how to find out the answers. By study of the scriptures and by praying to find the answer the person needs at that time. Every Tuesday we have a devotional where a speaker gets p and talks to us for about 45 minutes. This week the speaker talked to us, about us. Everyone sent to the earth at this time are part of the noble and great one. An angel specifically picked us out of 100,000 people to come today. We were chosen for the choices we made in heaven. We are foreordained to come at this time. We may not see why we are chosen now, but it is often others that can see that greatness in you.

Mellisa Faw entered the Mexico MTC Wednesday July 24, 2013. I hope she loves it. It is a great experience. The first few days are the hardest, but after that they are hard but they are more rewarding as the days go on.

Jiang Jiemei had us practice teaching an investigator. We had someone in mind and we were to act as they would if the missionaries came to visit them. We were paired up, we taught, then we switched and we were taught. It was amazing. I was teaching Elder Ensign and I went through all the questions that I could think of, and I didn't know what else to say, and one word came to my mind "jiating" which means family. So I asked him about his family, that is what he needed, that is what I should have focused on, and that was where he needed help. I did all that I could, and right at the end I asked the question that he needed to hear. Elder Sheanshang was the last person to teach me, and we were talking about things we liked to do, he was trying to figure out what I needed, so I go to know me. Right at the end he looked at a scripture and a question came to his mind, was there anything that I regretted or wished I could change. that was what I was waiting for, that was the exact question that he needed to ask so that we was able to help me and get to know my needed. (I am acting like an investigator, I have a friend in mind that is looking to change but doesn't know how, so that is who I played when I was being taught.)

Saturday night we went outside to plan for the next day and choose our favorite Book of Mormon scripture. It was during that time that we shared experiences that we have had and what the scriptures mean to us. My scripture was 2 Nephi 11:7 "For it there be no Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God, and he is Christ, and he cometh in the fullness of his own time. I had questions about how we knew that there is a God. And I was reading and this verse just stuck out to me. Because of the feeling and confirmation that I felt from this verse I know this is a God, I know we have  savior and I know that he loves us and is always watching over us and will never leave us. Sister Faupula shared her dad's experience of becoming a member. he is the son of a Methodist minister, so he grew up hating Mormons and would tease them and tell them that there is no way the a boy saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Her father is really smart and loves to learn. So we saw the Mormon kids going to seminary so he went with them. He wanted to know what they were learning, and he was curious what they did in seminary. (Remember he loves to learn) so he went o seminary for two years, nobody knew he went, he made sure nobody ever noticed him. He liked it, and so he started reading the Book of Mormon and loved it. Everything he was doing he hit from his family, they had no idea what he was doing. So after all this time he knows the church was true, but he still couldn't believe that the whole Joseph Smith story. So he prayed, this was his the first time. He went to the Mormon Church and sat in the back and listened, but he really didn't like it. The last speaker got up and started his talk, and then he stopped. And he just started to bear his testimony; it was then that her father knew the church was true, and that Joseph Smith did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Right after he asked to be baptized, the kids couldn't believe him, because they knew him as the Methodist son. But he got baptized and went on a mission. It is amazing that anyone can feel the Holy Ghost testifying of the truthfulness of the gospel!!

Sundays are the best. This morning I was thinking and I found a book mark that I bought a long time ago. It said "return with honor" and I found a picture of a girl in the armor of the gospel, with the sword of truth, and the shield of faith... little things were brought to my remembrance that all connected. Everything I have done since I was little was preparing me for a mission. The little decision I have made were made directing me to be prepared to serve a mission now. during relief society a lady was talking about serving a mission she said "steady the feet, hands to grasp, encourage the hearts, inspire the minds and souls to save." this is what we do as missionaries, we help people. We watched a video of Elder Holland teaching at the MTC, he quoted a poem "come to the edge he said, "No, we'll fall." Come To The Edge, he said. "No we'll fall." Come to the edge!!! We came, he pushed us. And we flew." Do not let a single moment pass you by. We are to be apostolic. We are here to learn and listen to the Holy Ghost. We are not waiting to come home. This is our home. We are only set apart for a short period of time. There will be no other time like this one. Our authority comes from God, and our power is through obedience.

Love Sister Basko

Second week in the MTC

  On Tuesday I went to bed a little late, and got up earlier than I usually do, and I prayed that I would not fall asleep during class. I was wide awake all day. Then that night we have a devotional, and since my district is participating in choir we sang that Tuesday during the devotional, which was broadcasted to the other MTC's around the world...I guess. Anyway it was during practice that I fell asleep. But after that I was good. I didn't fall asleep during class or anywhere else. That was a huge blessing that day. After devotional we got back to the classroom and share what we learned with each other and we share our testimonies. The spirit was so strong. The experiences that were shared really strengthened my testimony, that I know this church is true. I know that when we are struggling Heavenly Father hears and answers us. He know what we need and is there to bring comfort and peace to our hearts. Also that day, it was during class I was thinking about Chik-fil-a and I was thinking about their waffle fries and how I really wanted them. And at lunch they had waffle fries. Heavenly Father does hear you and knows the things of your heart. Also during that day, while we were teaching Peggy I could understand what she was saying. Up to that point I was not able to understand anything that she was saying, but that day I was able to understand the majority of the things that she was saying!!!!!!! Tuesday was a great day.

We played volleyball with our district. It was really fun. It was nice to be outside and enjoying the sunshine. Today is the last day to teach Peggy. We are extending the invitation to baptism and she accepted which was great. The questions she asked us were really difficult and we struggled to answer her questions. One of our teachers is getting married in like 3 days in the Salt Lake Temple!!!

During the last couple days I had been thinking about how I don't have anyone here that I know. And that I was hoping that I would see someone that I knew. I saw Jake Gong, he got back about a month ago. It was really cool to see him. When I first saw him I was trying to figure out if I knew him or not. Then he came back and asked me, and yep it was him. Then I saw Cooper Heifer, from college here. He was supposed to go the Brazil MTC but he didn't receive his passport in time. So he is here at the Provo MTC. Which was really cool. I got to talk to him for a little while.

We did service on Friday. It is really great to do serve for those who live in that building. It was fun and good be able to help out here and to make the building cleaner. Today was the first day that "Peggy" or Sister Bready taught us. It was really awesome to hear the story about Peggy. Peggy was one of Sister Bready's investigators while she was on her mission in Taipei Taiwan. Peggy has having a hard time at work, and one day her boss was really mad, so Peggy went and said a prayer and asked for help. Then she went back and her boss was not angry anymore. The power of pray is amazing. We have a new investigator, Lin Jiemei. We will start teaching her this week!!.

Saturday was a pretty good day. That night we were sitting outside studying and we had 4 different missionaries come up to us and bear their testimonies in different languages, first was Samoan, then German, Portuguese and last was Italian. The last elder was Elder Orso, he has only been a member for lest that 2 years. He is going to Rome Italy, and the strength that you can feel from him is powerful.

If you can look up Music and the Spoken Word, this Sunday there was a guy who sang in Italian, and I don't know what he was saying but I could feel the love that he felt.

First week in the MTC

Wednesday: It has been 6 days since I entered the MTC in Provo. It had been busy. We have something to do every hour. Once I got dropped off Sister Patersen took me to the buildings that I needed to go through. I got my missionary tag and papers and then went and got my books. It was a little weird seeing so many missionaries. I guess there are about 3,200 missionaries here. The books I received were Preach my Gospel in Chinese characters, and Pinyin (English letters for the Chinese symbols.). A "pocket dictionary," it’s about 5 inches thick. And a bunch more books, it felt like 20 pounds of study material. Dropped my stuff off at the apartment, which is where I met Sister Faupula. I met Sister Knight in the classroom. Once in the classroom Ge Liaoshi only spoke Chinese, and I had no idea what he was saying. But it's good, nobody else did either. We had classes we went to where there was an investigator and we had to teach them a lesson. But it was a big group of missionaries and we taught a lesson. It was interesting how the lesson went, one person would say something and others would build off that. Sister Wells and Sister Heribert took us on a tour. They have been in the MTC for 6 weeks so far.

Thursday: We met with our branch President, President Dunn, today. We went to the computer lab and listened and practiced TALL, which are words, phrases and different lessons on the computer.  It was helpful. Chinese is really overwhelming. It has been really hard for me to understand what the teacher is saying in Chinese. Sister Faupula is able to understand and Sister Knight is getting it. I don't know if it is because I don't know the words as well, but I just have to keep trying. I was trying to figure out how I would learn Chinese, or what I needed to do. That night we met as a Branch,(I’m not sure what a branch is thought, but I know it was 2 districts, (district is like one class room, I have 8 people in my district, and there are 12 others in the other district, we are all speaking mandarin)). In the meeting I learned that I will struggle with the language but in time I will come to understand it. I need to be patient and diligent in my studies.

Friday” We did our first service here, we are assigned where we will serve and we serve for 75 minutes. We went to one of the girls apartment buildings and cleaned the stairs. Then we had personal fitness, during that time we are not allowed to use the gyms of the field, so we ran around our apartment and did some stairs then stretched. During gym time we can use the gyms but personal fitness we do what we want, like run around the campus or walk. We met Bao Liaoshi today. He speaks much faster than Ge Liaoshi. We taught our first investigator. Her name is Peggy, we taught her about the Holy Ghost, and prayer and why it is important to pray. It was really difficult to teach her, since we have only been here for 3 days so far.

Saturday: We studied for 3 hours this morning, it was really long. We taught Peggy again. It went better this time even though we were less prepared. She is very patient, which is helpful. We taught here about the Book of Mormon, and more about prayer. She asked us why we have the Book of Mormon and not just the Bible. But we didn't have the words for it, so we told her that we would tell her next time we taught her.

Sunday was awesome. I was told that the first few days that you are here it is the longest. Which it is. They days are really long, but by the time we get back to the apartment at night I can barely remember what we did in the morning. We listened to "Music and the Spoken Word" before relief society. We met with President Dunn again and the other district. Sacrament meeting was half in Chinese and half in English. There is a group of missionaries that are leaving our ward this week to go to where they were called to serve. We then went and walked around the Provo Temple. There were two protesters outside the temple. But once you got on the grounds you could just feel the peace. Sister Knight and Sister Faupula and I walked around the temple and practiced say sentences in Chinese and translating them. We went to choir. It was really fun. The choir director was really funny. I sat next to a girl that is going to Korea, and she has been here for 7 weeks, and she leaves in 2 weeks. After choir there was a devotional, which was really good, there were about 20 missionaries, in the auditorium that I was in, that had only just been baptized less than 2 years ago. We went and so church videos. The last video that we saw was by Elder David A. Bednar, his message was amazing. I really felt the spirit. He said that having a testimony is not enough to say in the church, you have to be converted to the LORD. Not converted to the programs, or the missionaries, or the people but to the Lord.

Love Sister Basko

Address in Taiwan

Hello, My name is Rachel Basko. I am a new missionary for the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I will being serving in the Taichung Taiwan Mission. I will be serving there for approximately 18 months. A mission is where I will be serving the people of Taiwan, giving service and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with the people.

I know the church is true. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us, and that they are always watching over us. I know that the prophets of old received revelation and that the prophet today also receives revelation. I know that just as in the olden days we are still receiving revelation pertaining to our lives today. I know there is a reason we are here on earth. That there is a plan for us and that plan is the Plan of Salvation. And there the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is how we will be saved and through Him we can return to our Heavenly Father. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Address in Provo Utah:
Sister Rachel Basko
Taiwan Taichung Mission
Provo Missionary Training Center
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604
United States

Address in Taiwan:

Sister Rachel Basko
Taiwan Taichung Mission
# 498-11, Wu Chuan Road,
Taichung 404-46
Taiwan