Settling In...

As soon as we got back from our Chinese convention, we began to have regular weekly meetings in Chinese, just like the English Congregations. This means I would have to move out of the Cayce Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses into a brand new one all by myself. It's not like this doesn't happen often, but for me, I had never moved before. I had been in Cayce all my life. I had friends and family and felt very comfortable in my home congregation.... Moving to the East Columbia Congregation (about 45-50 minutes from my house) would mean stepping out of my comfort zone. I'm also what you would consider an introvert. I do not like change, and I have trouble making new friends cause I'm so shy. This move was a VERY BIG DEAL.

I had made up my mind at the Convention though, so there was no turning back. The very next week after the convention, we had a public discourse and Bible discussion. We started off really small. If I remember correctly only 10 people were attending at that time. We met in a small room that could only hold 15 people at the max. The week following we would hold our first school. Amanda and I would have the privilege of giving the very first presentation. Amanda taught me a phrase that even over a year later I still have not forgotten. "That really makes sense!-- 真的有道理 Zhēn de yǒu dàolǐ'. 


Scott also was able to give a presentation that night. Scott's chinese was good from the start, but he has gotten so much better in the past year. I have to keep reminding myself to not compare myself to him since he was studying Chinese for a lot longer. At this point in my journey, I had only been studying Chinese for 4 months. 


In November, I was able to give my very first presentation. I got a chance to write a 5 minute talk in Chinese. Before, Amanda had wrote the talk, I just helped present it. 


Looking back now, I can see the significant improvement I had made in just a matter of 3 months. Learning Chinese is very hard. Sometimes you hit a wall and feel like you are not improving at all, but that is not the case.  In our group, I feel it's important to constantly praise each other on our improvement so that we don't get discouraged. This helps us to keep moving forward. And I don't think we could be learning as fast as we do without Jehovah's help. We aren't just learning this difficult language for a hobby, we are learning Chinese so that we can help the Chinese people learn about the Bible. We are fulfilling the commandment at Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit" 

As far as settling into my new home, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I missed the Cayce congregation a lot, but I have since then made even stronger bonds with the friends at East Columbia. They are now my family too. ^-^ 


East Columbia's Chinese Group
First Public Talk && Watchtower Study





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