The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey

Seriously one of the greatest places on earth. The architecture is impeccable. The size is immense. The history is rich with religious fervor and conflict. This place went from a Christian church to a Muslim mosque, to a museum. This place definitely lives up to its name Hagia Sophia, meaning "Holy Wisdom."

The Byzantine empire built this building around 300 AD. It wasn't until like 500 AD that they got the current structure. When the Ottomans took over Constantinople, now Istanbul, they converted this building into a mosque. They covered all of the Christian symbols and personages (thank goodness or else we wouldn't have these original pictures todays). They then put up their signatures of the Imams (at least that's what they are called by the Sunni Muslims). That's why you see the signatures and virgin Mary and baby Jesus in the the second picture. Seriously, what other religious building contain both Christ and the Imams? It's amazing how both religions truly revered this building. Kind of reminds me of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Also, the picture at the bottom with Jesus in the middle is the first depiction of the Jesus that we all imagine. Every other artist painted/drew/sculpted Jesus to look like this painting (or at least His features). This was such a cool sight.

If you had to go to Europe, go to Turkey. Turkey is one of the most amazing countries' anyone can ever go to. This is something that should be on everybody's bucket list. I definitely want to go back again.

Living in Fear

When I say I'm the complete opposite person of who I was when I was a child, I'm not exaggerating. I have grown so much in 21 years. I can't fathom how much more I am going to grow the rest of my 79 years of my life.

I feel like the biggest change in me was going from "living in fear" to "living on the edge." I really regret that I let myself live in fear. I held myself back from doing so much. I feel like the reason why I'm not as talented as I could have been is because of fear. Seriously, I was afraid of everything. I was afraid of failure. I was afraid of change. I was afraid of new situations. I was afraid of meeting new people. I was a little girl in a big world. I couldn't handle the world. Actually, I'm still a little girl in a big world, but I'm not letting this world get to me. I'm not letting this world scare me. Nope. Not at all (at least I'm telling myself).

Now I feel like I'm invincible. I'm up for anything (as long as it's keeping within the Lord's commandments). My family feels like I am too ambitious, wreck-less, and irresponsible. Maybe I am, but it beats living in fear and living like a vegetable.

Chinese!

Not until this past week have I been studying and exposing myself to Chinese. I've been slacking with my Chinese since I got back. I would casually study Chinese here and there. I'm trying to get a lot more serious with preparing for a mission. It's hard preparing for a mission when you're in Hawaii. I just want to play all day long instead of studying. I guess that's a good thing that BYU Hawaii didn't accept me, but BYU Provo accepted me.

I feel like the thing that I need to improve the most is listening comprehension. I feel like Chinese people talk as fast as cheetahs. I pick up words I know here and there, but overall I cannot understand the full meaning of a sentence. That's why I started watching this Taiwanese drama on Hulu. In English it's called "In Time With You." A couple of people suggested that I watch this drama. It's pretty good. I like the dialogue, but I feel like the situations are cliche. I'm only on episode 5 so my opinion might change. This show has definitely been helping me get used to Chinese speech. It's Chinese that you would speak on the streets, so I feel like I have been learning phrases and vocabulary that I never learned in Chinese class that I feel will be useful. The problem is that this is Taiwanese Chinese I'm getting used to. I'm pretty sure a ton of my investigators are going to be from mainland China. I am afraid they are going to think I am talking gibberish. Even my teachers will probably have served in Taiwan, so they'll be teaching us Taiwanese Chinese. I'm sure even though I'll be speaking Taiwanese Chinese, the PRC peeps will be impressed that a Filipino girl can be speaking some sort of Chinese.

I've been reading through the missionary vocabulary book for Mandarin Chinese. To tell you the truth, I have been struggling going through it. I started from the beginning on the first discussion. There would be grammar structures that I would struggle getting a grasp on. I would think, "What the heck? I have never learned this in my Chinese classes!" Ok this is bad! I am starting to sound like those return missionaries who think they should be understanding everything since they lived in Taiwan, but they aren't so they get all mad about it. I just need to find that balance with my Chinese knowledge. I shouldn't be over-confident if those first couple days are easy for me in the MTC, yet I shouldn't be discouraged if they aren't. I just got to learn how to be confident in the Lord guiding me, but with a humble heart.

I started reading a friend's blog from the Jerusalem Center who is now in the MTC. She is going to the Taiwan Taipei mission and she is leaving for the field pretty soon. I want to say she's leaving the beginning of June. I feel like it has been good for me reading how she feels being in the MTC and learning Chinese. It's rather entertaining the experiences she has been having. I feel like I have a better feel about what I am going to expect going into the MTC, especially being a Chinese speaker. I can't believe how long they are going to be teaching us in the classroom. I'm sure I am going to be going crazy a couple times here and there. I turn into a little baby when I get impatient and irritated. I know that being in the classroom for the whole day will transform me into a little brat. My district and teachers and companions are going to get a kick out of me acting like a 5-year-old. It was interesting when she wrote about that they ask two random missionaries every sacrament meeting to go up and give a talk in Chinese. I'll probably be freaking out ever Sunday because they'll be doing that. However, I have had pretty good instincts on knowing when the bishopric is going to ask me to give a talk. Hopefully this gift doesn't fail me while I'm on my mission.

I also saw a picture of her and a number of other sister missionaries that will be going to the Taiwan Taipei mission. I was surprised to know a couple of the sister missionaries in that picture. There was even one girl I had no idea she was going on her mission. I had to go on Facebook to make sure that the girl I saw in the picture was the girl that I was thinking of. It turned out to be her. Her younger sister ended up going to the Taiwan Taichung mission. I feel like out of all of the missions, I know the most people going to the Taiwan Taipei mission. I sometimes wish that I was going to the Taipei, Taiwan mission just so I can be companions with my friends. The girls that I know that will be going to Taipei are some of the neatest girls I have met. I would have loved to have been mission companions with them. I'm sure I'm more suited for the Australia Brisbane mission.

Scattering the Seeds

Tonight my family and I got on the topic of the Jerusalem Center. We actually had a debate about it. My brother is claiming that the Jerusalem Center is draining a lot of the Church's resources and that it shouldn't have been built. He thinks that the Church shouldn't focus their efforts on the Holy Land more than other countries. He thinks that the Church should make an equal effort to introduce non-proselytizing countries to the Church. He said that the Church shouldn't be spending tons of money on the Jerusalem Center just so they can gather "the chosen people." He feels like the Church glorifies the Holy Land more than they should.

I disagree. Yes, the Church spends a lot of money and resources on the Jerusalem Center, but I feel like it is definitely worth it. From first-hand experience, the Jerusalem Center has been spreading the seeds of the fullness of the gospel, despite the inability of the Church to proselytize. I feel like this is worth every penny of what the Church spends to keep this center running. I also feel like the Jerusalem Center was built in its due time and place. I know that the prophets were inspired by the Lord to build this center at this time and place. I feel like countries, such as India and China, may not ready for anything like this yet. That's why the Church hasn't built anything that could establish the presence of the Church in these countries. As a result, I don't think the Church should focus on giving all countries equal effort and resources. It all depends on the Lord's time table. I agree that the Church is glorifying the Holy Land, but for good reason. Monumental events have occurred there. The greatest event ever in history occurred in Jerusalem: the Atonement performed by Jesus Christ. This is something definitely worth glorifying over. As for the Church focusing on gathering "the chosen people," I don't think the Church is favoring one race of people over another. Like I said before, it's a matter of timing and preparedness. Maybe the Lord knew it's time that the people of the Holy Land get a taste of us Mormons.

This debate reminded me of something else. Even though we may not build anything like the Jerusalem Center in China, I feel like the seeds are being scattered in indirect ways. People from the PRC are working all over the world. Some of them are getting baptized. Some go back to the PRC. They probably introduce their family and friends to the gospel. Even these little efforts of "paying it forward"is a way of scatting the seeds on mainland China.

This idea got me pumped to preach the gospel in Mandarin Chinese in Australia. I'm pretty sure most of the Mandarin speakers in Australia are from the PRC. The PRC and Australia have strong ties. According to the Wall Street Journal, Australia wants to have strong ties not only trade-wise, but military-wise also. I feel like this is a sign that there's going to be more migration between the two countries. I hope those that I introduce to the gospel will plant seeds while they are in mainland China. I wonder how many destinies will be determined by one person's efforts?

My Mission Blog

So I've been hacking away at my mission blog today. Instead of using blogger.com, I'm using blog.com. I like this website for my mission blog for a couple reasons:

- I don't have to worry about giving my password for my email address to my family. My password for my email address is the password for everything else. I could have created a new email for my blog, but I feel like that would be more of a hassle.
- I feel like I can be more creative with my blog through this website.
- There's different sections I can include so it wouldn't be hard to find certain information.

It's been rather fun putting together this blog. This has been getting my creative juices flowing. I'm just going to post the link right before I leave for Utah. It's also still under construction and I probably won't complete this blog until then.

"Take Me Home"

My roommates and I found this on Netflix instant watch and we were supposed to watch it. We never got to it. I finally watched it yesterday. This was a good movie! It was a simple movie, but moving. To me, a movie is well-made if it can humble me. This movie definitely did that to me. Also, I thought it was cool how the two main characters are married to each other in real life.

This movie reminded me about something that my PL SC200 professor mentioned. I forgot how, but he all of a sudden got on the topic of his first engagement. He said that after he moved from California to Massachusetts, he realized he wanted to marry this girl back in California. They have never dated, but they were pretty good friends. He flew back to California. He just approached her and said that he got this feeling that they should get married. She agreed to it. They ended up going on a road trip down to Massachusetts so they could meet his or her parents. I remember distinctly how he said that road trips never go well. He said, "Once your half way across the continent on a road trip, there will be silence the rest of the way." That's a bad sign apparently. After that road trip, they broke off the engagement.

In this movie, the exact opposite happened. The two of them ended up getting really close through the road trip. This is what I learned from these two situations: If you can't even handle a road trip with your significant other, how are you going to handle this long journey of life with them?

Also, I absolutely loved the music to this movie. The music definitely made the movie what it is. All of the songs are from the artist Bootstraps. Their album was only $5.50 on Amazon so I bought it. The songs on this album all have the same sound, but I like it anyways. This is probably a little too soon to say this, but if I were to have a theme song to my mission experience, it would be "Fortyfive" by Bootstraps. This would be my background music when I'm walking up and down the streets of Australia.

Speaking of missions, I have one roommate that is already out on the mission field and one that will be entering the MTC tomorrow. Cassie was made Sister Training Leader after being out on the mission field for only 4 days. That made me laugh. The responsibilities never end for her. From school, straight to the mission, and then straight to the big callings. Sarah will be entering the MTC tomorrow. She'll be there for only a week and a half and then she'll be out preaching the gospel. And then there's just me left out of the bunch of roommates to be leaving on a mission. I really wanted to leave in May or early June. I was not expecting to leave as late as August. I'm sure the Lord has a good reason for me leaving this late.

Children

They have such an amazing affect. I feel like I become a better person when I'm around them. They always lift my spirits. I'm happier. They never fail to humble me. I can even get sentimental at times.

They are so precious and innocent. Their hearts are so pure. The world hasn't tainted them. They are so inquisitive. They see the world at angles I never knew existed. I feel like I'd rather learn from children rather than I teach them.

Sometimes I wish I majored in something where I can work more with children. I feel like I'm not really exposed to children. Not a lot of people in my family really want children. I'm the opposite. I really want children and I really want to be around them all of the time. I think this is what has been making me skeptical about going to graduate school. I'm not sure if I want to be a full-time career woman. I don't want to spend 100k for graduate school and then end up being a stay-at-home mom. I'm hoping I'll be able to figure this all out after I get back from my mission.