Week 9

Ni men hao!!

     Jiating, wo hen xiangyan nimen! Wo hen ganxie nimen suoyou de xin zhe ge libai! Just wanted to say thanks to you for all of the letters! That was so fun reading those letters from all of you!! And the Pumpkin bars!! Oh so delicious! We've got such a small zone that we've been handing them out to some of the Korean missionaries too and they now love you mom!! One of them, last night, told me to tell you that you are an angel! So you have quite a few admirers here, on the first floor of 7m. This week was so incredible! I've got lots to say, but only a little time to say it, so bear with me!

Starting on Thursday:

     The day started off with a surprise visitor from the Quorum of the Twelve... I don't think I'll tell you who it was though... Houlun Zhanglao!!! Elder Holland came to visit us!! It was actually kind of funny, that morning Sister Ward bet the district (the winner could pick the hymns we sing for the whole week) that it would be Elder Holland, so when he walked in the room I was totally surprised!! Come to find out, Elder Holland has a niece in our zone and this Sister told Sister Ward that he would be coming already! Not a fair bet!!

     It was so incredible to watch him. Not just when he was speaking to us, but as he sat on the stand next to his wife. It was such a testimony to me that families are forever... and Elder Holland lives that way. He was just sitting peacefully, holding his wife's hand, as he listened to his Grandchildren bear testimonies, sing musical numbers, and play instruments. It was incredible for me to witness that! And then, after I had thought about how important families are, he gets up and starts talking about family and how grateful he is for his. He didn't even need to say anything, I would have known just by watching him. He went on to talk about how blessed we are to have the Gospel in this dispensation, and how hard it must have been for previous dispensations knowing that they would lose the battle eventually and fall into apostasy. But for us, we will win. We are going to see this battle to the end, and that end is the imprisonment of the Adversary. The exaltation of our souls, and the Second Coming of the Son of God! I wish I could continue to talk about his remarks, but I'm short on time!

     Next, we had Thanksgiving Dinner. As thankful as I am for the food here at the MTC, I miss your food so much mom!!! I miss those mashed potatoes, the real turkey, the yams!!! (Jessi, just thought I'd let you know that they did have some yams here, not good ones, and I choked one down just for you!). But as I was sitting there eating this "dinner" (it was at about 11:30 in the morning) I looked around at all the faces in my zone, I saw my companion, and the Sisters in my district, all smiling and laughing and eating turkey and it was just really comforting. I missed you all a lot more than usual on Thursday, but I'm so, SO, grateful for my district and zone. It really feels like my family away from family. We're all very close, and it'll be a sad goodbye!

     And now for even more "sentimental Elder Noll," as we watched 17 miracles Thursday night, I cried like a baby! It really helped me know how lucky I truly am. I don't know why this time was so different as I watched it, but it was just a feeling that pierced my heart! I didn't even laugh during that part where the couple is skipping around playing with the blanket (Jessi)!!

So that was my Thanksgiving day!! It was incredible, but I promise, I thought about you all quite a bit!

Friday:

     Friday was a lot more normal and back to the regular schedule. The biggest surprise was the GIANT sheet of pumpkin bars along with all of the notes! Best thing in the world!! I sat there and read, and read, and re-read all those letters and I love each and every one of them! Thanks!!

Saturday:

     Saturday was really awesome! Dad, you'll be so proud! I woke up, worked out, showered, got dressed and then started brushing my teeth. I walked into the bathroom, toothbrush in my mouth, and saw an elder from my zone sitting on the floor, towel still around his waist and as pale as can be! I quickly put the toothbrush down and started my assessment! Luckily it was just a quick fainting spell, and he was just really dehydrated, but I just felt so grateful that I had the tools and knowledge available to help him out! And now after that little story, Dad, I was wondering if you could send me a layout of medical and trauma assessments just so that I can keep it fresh for the next two years? That would be great! I feel like I'm starting to forget some of the smaller steps!

     Later that day, we got to go to TRC (the teaching volunteer place where we teach in Chinese) and I had a great experience! We taught a guy from BYU, and he turned out to be one of my teachers' 2nd companion in Taizhong!! But as Elder Luke and I were teaching, I just realized... "we're talking in Chinese right now... AND I UNDERSTAND!!" It made me pretty happy... I'm sure that will change once I get to Taiwan!! "ting bu dong!"

Sunday was great, I got to make myself a scripture box for my Chinese Book of Mormon and it has pictures of all of you all over it! Along with pictures of Christ, Moroni, and Book of Mormon stories! 

     I'm looking forward to talking to you all in around 2 weeks! I'm so stoked! I get travel plans this week! I love all of you so so much! Sorry, this letter didn't have much of a message in it, but here goes! Stay strong, read the Book of Mormon everyday, and pray like it's the first time every time! Loves!!