4/6/2016
I HAVE NO BLOOD!!!

Disclaimer: Everyday that I have learned more Chinese, I have gotten worse at English. I think I will be able to type okay, but please forgive me if I sound like a grammatical wreck.

So my blood. Or lack of, I guess! We had to get our blood drawn yesterday for our VISAs and so we went to the medical place and I was super excited because I have never had my blood drawn and I just thought it would be neat. So the lady sticks the needle in my vein and my blood starts coming out at the slowest pace that is humanly possible. AND THEN IT STOPPED. It just stopped coming out and she had only filled about a third of the smaller vial. So she was like, "Wow, I guess I will just have to try the other arm." And I was like okay sweet! So she couldn't seem to find a vein in my other arm and then stuck it in potentially what I think was my ligament, but I am not a doctor. So literally zero drops of blood came out of that arm. So she was like "I guess you will just have to leave the MTC (And I was like whoa, we are allowed to do that?) and go to the BYU student health center." And then she gave me candy for stabbing me more than once and then a huge cup of water to make my blood flow or something. So we went on an adventure and walked down to BYU campus and went into the medical center. I told the lady I was pretty sure the reason I had no blood was because my heart had probably stopped beating and she thought I was serious so that was awkward. But then she tapped that first vein that had a little bit of blood and it slowly but surely came out. Anyway she described my blood as stubborn, so I guess that is fitting, it being inside of me, the most stubborn person ever. So I was the only one who had to do that, all others had perfect blood. And I have to do it two more times while I am here! So adventures!

My district and my companion are awesome. My comp is Sister Jensen (Jian Jie Mei) from Detroit Michigan. She is very humble and knowledgeable and has an incredible sense of direction. In short, she helps me out a ton. My district is super fun! There are 9 of us, but we have two fast track elders tacked on to our and another district. But as for the nine of us, 7 of us are sisters going to Taipei, one sister is going to Hong Kong and the last person is a Solo elder going to Scotland. We have already grown very close and we have a lot of fun together. Sometimes I wish they would work more, but we have a good time. My companion and I live with 3 girls from the district before us serving in Taiwan as well, but TaiChung? I think that is right. They are so cute and we have gotten pretty close to their district.

My teacher is fabulous! We all know how many questions I like to ask and he answers them all, sometimes specifically asking me if I have a question, because odds are I actually do. :) He teaches us a lot. My Chinese has grown so fast! I know that I would not be learning at the rate that I am if I were not here in the MTC and on this mission. We were asked to teach a lesson in Chinese to a lady that doesn't speak any English. This was on Friday, so we had been here for about two seconds. My only way to describe it (and please know I am not trying to be negative, I feel fine about it) is that it was a train wreck. I don't think she understood a word we said! However, we brought the spirit a couple of times when we bore our testimonies in broken Chinese. Our second lesson was Monday night and it went so much better! Monday was probably the hardest day that I have had here, I just got a little discouraged about the language, but we went to our lesson and it was the complete opposite of the first one. My first lesson I was disappointed that it hadn't been a "Gift of Tongues" experience like so many people seem to have, but this one was. She asked about conference, which we didn't even know how to say and we had a conversation about conference and her weekend and then got into our lesson. In this lesson she understood all that we were trying to say, but I think we could have done better bringing the spirit. We have had to learn to simplify our lessons quite a bit to be able to say things that we understand, so that she can understand. Like Nephi, my soul has begun to delight in plainness. There is a joke around the MTC that the people called to Taiwan are the people who like to talk a lot (which is true) because we think we could teach the best lessons in English, but then we are limited by the limited Chinese we know. First we think it is because it teaches us humility. Second, when we have spoken to investigators in English, we have given way too much complicated information and we think that this forces us to be simple. While it is a joke, it is somewhat true.

Conference was amazing! Every single one of my questions was answered and it strengthened my testimony a lot that prophets receive revelation for us as church members in this dispensation. I loved Elder Holland, Uchtdorf, and Bednar's talks. We got to have district review after every session and I loved it.

We as Mandarin speakers also have the best schedule in the MTC, and we love our Wednesday P-Day! I love working out everyday and I feel the spirirt very strongly here. When Elder Holland said that we would have to go back to the real world after conference and lose that feeling, I was so happy to know that I would still be in a place where I am surrounded by the spirit of the Lord. Everyone here kind of feels like a Veteran compared to us, but it's good. I feel like I can't believe it's been a week, but I have learned enough for it to have been several. I love this work and this gospel. I know that our Savior is helping me learn everything that I need to and that i couldn't be doing this without him.I have been humbled, uplifted, and brought to my knees in reliance on the Lord. I love you all and appreciate your support and letters.:) Sorry for the long email, I have a lot to say, a lot of the time.
Big Faith!
Love, Hayley (Sister DeWitt)

Lu Salinas Edwards Soooo sweet and awesome!

Emily Smith Vasica So exciting

Amanda McDonald Perkins Yea! She sounds great! Our girls are so lucky! They make me want to go on a mission!

Elaine Satterfield Thanks so much for sharing the joy! Marissa and I are smiling big for you and your Hayley girl! 😘

Robert Cox You and Renn have raised quite a fine young lady, she'll be a fabulous missionary. Thanks for posting this.

Ginger White Hyde What a beautiful letter! Missionary emails are the BEST! <3She is incredible!

Denise Richmond Lafeen Thanks for sharing i am so sorry i did not make it to her farewell. Bronchitas hit me!!!

Mary Ann Hawke Great to hear from Hailey and so happy she is doing so well! I loved the story of having her blood drawn - just cracked me up that she was so excited to have it done! She is such a fun and funny girl! Just love her!!! You should be very proud of her!

Tanya Martin What a wonderful letter. I loved reading it. She is so cute and her testimony is inspiring.

Janice Brady Swasey Good luck on your mission.

Amy-Jo Armstrong Stanford She sounds like she is having a wonderful experience!

Lisa Hastings Finley What a great letter. She's such a great girl. I kind of miss missionary letters.

Larry Cox What a wonderful sense of humor and can express herself wonderfully! Who is on the Lord's side who? Hayley DeWitt!!! I wonder where she got her sense of humor and wit? Good job Sara and Wren!!

Ruth Holbrook Furniss She is amazing!! What a fun letter:)

Lois Fish Williams What a great attitude.

Becky Edginton Weller Sara DeWitt! I can hear so much if you in her!! She's awesome!

Linda Pearce Oh my goodness Sara, this girl is a total riot! I love her and love her spirit and her humour (she reminds me of you), and just everything about what she said just shows what an awesome person she is. I wish I could have the chance to meet her! What a likeable girl!

Shawn Thorkelson Hahaha! She types how she talks, it's great.

Linda Horne Kennedy Love her

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