The Cantos!

Leih hou to all my favorite people in the world!!

How is everyone this week?! I want you to know how much I love you and how much I pray for each of you - by name, in detail, every morning and every night. I wish I could better express how much I love you all and how much I care about you. Dad, I hope all is well with stake presidenting and traveling. Indianapolis this week, huh? Crazy. I'm keeping you in my prayers. I know you've got a lot on your plate. Mom, I miss you like crazy! I think about you every single day. I hope you're doing wonderfully! I hope RS and subsituting and mommying is all going perfectly. Whit Twit -- WHERE ARE YOUR PROM PICTURES YOU DWEEB?!! But for real. I want to see them! I hope you had such a good time! I pray for you and what you're going through all the time. I love ya :) Park, how is track? Are you about done? I heard about your 5:34 mile - uh HOLY COW! nice job!! Jaren, what's new with you dude? I haven't heard from you in forever!! Write me please!! :)

This week absolutely FLEW. I honestly can't believe it's already Monday again. It feels like I was just here, emailing you all in the zoo of a laundry room. Seriously. It's a zoo. Even though our schedule got changed, we still got up at 5 to do our laundry because otherwise I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have been able to do it. It's crazy around here. Also, I'm sick. A cold is going through the Cantos (that's what we call ourselves haha, the 3 districts that are going to HK together) and it's been a beast. I feel like I'm sleeping in a hospital. Everyone's snuffly and gross. It's super fun. But I am the only one that completely lost my voice. I'm not even kidding! I wish I could give you a call just so you could hear how I sound. I sound like a grandpa smoker. Everyone makes fun of me haha. It's been like this for 2 days now, and it's not getting any better, sooooo... we'll see. I have never ever lost my voice like this in my life, it's the weirdest thing. Last night I was just mouthing things and the elders were laughing so hard. Gotta love it! I went and bought some EmergenC at the bookstore and have been taking that at breakfast every day. And I've been getting plenty of sleep. Hopefully I'll get better soon!

One thing that has been so much fun this week has been volleyball. Yep. I, Shaylee Wilcox, have been playing volleyball with everyone during gym time. Who's shocked?! :) It's been SO FUN! Our elders wanted us to play with them so bad, so on Wednesday night for gym we all played together - a bunch of Cantos. It was sooooooo fun! I'm horrible, but they just laugh and help me and we cheer in Cantonese and it's the bomb. And then on Thursday it was warm enough to go out to the sand volleyball pit outside! BEST THING OF MY LIFE!!! We get to take our shoes off! I've never been so excited. Being cooped up inside all day is hard, so we all look forward to gym now that it's warm enough to play outside. We have been sprinting straight to the volleyball courts every time. It's been awesome! I absolutely LOVE all the Cantos. We have so much fun together! All of our elders are like my brothers. I love them so much. I'm going to be so sad to leave the MTC and not see all of them 24/7!

Friday was Haa Hin Dai's last day :( super sad. I'm really going to miss him and his great teaching! It seems like so much of our vocab and grammer knowledge came from him. (I think it's because he was our only American teacher and he knows how it feels to learn a crazy language, so he could explain things really clearly to us). But he didn't even give us his email address, so I'm pretty sure we're not getting married. Bummer. ;) And Saturday was Daai Ji Muih's last day. I BAWLED. Oh my goodness, I'm going to miss her so much! I'm going to send pictures in a minute so you can see her. She's the cutest. She graduated from BYU so her mom was here to help her fly back to HK and so her mom came to our class and we had a testimony meeting (all in Cantonese). It was so powerful. It's amazing that with the few things we know how to say, we can still bear testimony of the things we know to be true. I felt the Spirit so strongly. It was so neat. Daai Ji Muih's mom went second to last, and she bore such a sweet testimony. I was sitting there crying at my desk, looking at this little lady from Hong Kong, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I love the people of Hong Kong so much already. SO much. I'm so excited to be able to travel there and learn from them. I am so excited to serve them! They have such big hearts. I can't wait :) Anyway, Daai Ji Muih went last and Sis Morgan and I were bawling. It made it worse that we were both sick, so we were blowing our noses and being all gross and sobbing. Haha. But we're going to miss her so much! I can't think of someone who has had a bigger impact on me and my testimony than Daai Ji Muih. She is so amazing. THEN we found out that her parents are in the temple presidency in Hong Kong! She hadn't told us before. So hopefully we'll get to see her in HK!!

This week I have been humbled more than ever before. We read Mosiah 3&4 during one of our class periods, and discussed it. I felt the strong need in my life to put off the natural man. I need to be better. I need to be more diligent. I need to be strong. I need to remember Christ and what He did for me. "It was not easy fro Him; why should it be easy for me?" It shouldn't. I need to work to be better. It is only when I am giving my ALL to the Lord that I am qualified. The Lord called me to this mission, and I know He will help me, but that does not mean He does not expect me to work as hard as I can. I am a Wilcox! We are HARD workers. I have such a legacy of hard work to live up to. I feel the weight of that, and it motivates me to work harder and be better. I don't want to disappoint the Lord. I want to get this job done RIGHT, the first time. I want to do my mission RIGHT. And "right" means doing everything the Lord's way. I must have dedication and determination! It hit me this week that I don't ever want the Lord to think that I haven't done my best. I want to BE my best at all times and it all things and in all places on my mission! I heard a quote, "If you think you can't, you're right. But in the strength of the Lord, YOU CAN." I love that, and I know it's true. If the Lord hadn't been helping me, I would have quit already. I would have given up. This mission is hard, and it's only going to get harder. But the Lord is here with me. No companionship is a companionship of two. It is always one of three -- me, Sister Morgan, and the Lord. I know that is true. I love this quote from Jeffrey R. Holland, "Whn you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out, YOU ARE STANDING WITH THE BEST LIFE THIS WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN; THE ONLY PURE AND PERFECT LIFE EVER LIVED. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him - the Way, the Truth, and the Life." I know I quote that a lot, but it has immensely changed my life. It forever will be a part of who I am. I am so incredibly thankful for my Savior and His sacrifice. He died for me. The Atonment is infinite, yes, but it is also very intimate. Jesus Christ knows me. And he knows you. He knows exactly how to help you in whatever you're going through... if you will let Him. I know that is true with everything that I am.

Last night we were able to watch a talk by Elder Bednar called the Character of Christ. Morg and Haley talked about how much this changed them and I was so excited to watch it. It was AMAZING. Elder Bednar said, "The character of Christ turns OUT when the natural man wants to turn IN." In the midst of Christ's sufferings, he turns outward in love and service and compassion. Elder Bednar told us to GET OVER OURSELVES. It was pretty powerful. I felt such a huge desire to change my life and turn outward. I feel like I have been such an inward-turning person in my life up to this point. I feel so bad about it. I'm trying to repent. I'm so sorry for my selfishness before coming out here! I wish I could better express how I feel. I need to, as Elder Bednar so bluntly put it, get over myself! This work is NOT about me. I need to be more like Christ. I need to turn out and focus on others. I am trying, and I will keep trying. Mom, I think you are such a wonderful example of this. You are SO friendly and always, always, always thinking about and caring for other people before yourself. I have watched you put others first my whole life! And now it is my turn. I will try to live up to your example, and the example of our Savior. This is a mighty work, and there are many souls to save. I want to be converted unto the Lord.

I am learning so much here! I can really feel the Master shaping me into who He wants me to be, little by little. It hurts a little bit, to humble myself and really turn unto Him. He is taking me in His hands and making me the kind of woman that will do His work forever. I only hope I can give myself to Him adequately! I know He has great things in store for me.

I have never been so happy in my entire life - despite hairy showers, bats in our residence, stinky feet, smoker voice, not-so-good food, no family/friends... I am discovering the true and lasting joy that this gospel has to offer. I am so thankful that I am on a mission!! It's the BEST decision I've ever made. I love the Lord SO much. I want to make Him proud. I want to make you guys proud! I am working hard to do that :) I love you all so, so, so much. I wish I could see you!! But June 3, I get to talk to you. Yayyyy! :) I hope I have my voice back by then :) You are the best family in the world. Thank you so much for teaching me how to be devoted to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I am so thankful that I have this gospel in my life.

I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you!!!!!!!!!! More than life! :) xoxoxoxoxo

With all my love,

Shay
Gwok Ji Muih