This is my last week in the MTC and America for the next year and a half, so I better make it count (especially since I don't think I will get to email next week). I am so excited and happy to finally be heading out! But I am also supper nervous. I feel like I am nowhere near ready! (Then again, I don't think I will ever feel ready so I guess now is as good a time as any to leave.) Also, I am really going to miss my district. Over these pasty five weeks I have really grown to love and care about all of them. They are all soooooo amazing and I know they will be awesome missionaries. They have helped me to learn and grow so much and if it were up to me, I would love to serve my entire mission with them. THEY ARE AMAZING!!!!!
So this week felt long and short at the same time (I know that doesn't make sense). We have really gotten into the swing of things here so I had a lot of trouble thinking of cool experiences to write in my journal each day...
Last P-day (Thursday) we got to go to the temple as usual, email home, and play some sand volleyball. I LOVE playing volleyball with my whole zone. It is always such a blast and we all get a ton of laughs out of it, since none of us are very good. The only embarrassing part about that is when I see the ball coming towards me really fast, all that goes through my brain is AHHHHHH!!!! Apparently I actually scream too, which is super embarrassing! At least everyone gets a good laugh out of it :)
On Friday, my companions and I went rouge and left the MTC. . .
Just Joking! Sister Mosher had an eye doctor's appointment outside so we all got to take a fun field trip to an off-campus medical center. So fun!
She ended up having an eye infection (from sleeping in her contacts... DON'T DO THAT) so we got to take another trip to the Pharmacy. It was so weird/interesting to leave the MTC. I almost forgot that a whole world existed outside!!! So it was more of a shock than anything else to get to leave. Additionally, we finally got our flight plans Friday!!! I was so excited, but unfortunately, I am not with my companions :( Oh well, I will be with Sister King and a couple other Elders from our zone so it should be fun. I will get to see my companions again on the car ride to Hong Kong. For my plans, I leave the MTC at 11:50 am and take a plane to Arizona, California, Hong Kong and then Manilla. I will stay a week in the Manilla MTC after that. I'm so excited but I'm definitely not looking forward to our 30 hour flight time!!!
Lets just say that Saturday was a long day.
Despite this, it was also an awesome learning/growing experience for me. In short, I really feel like I learned a ton about how to better love and serve others. During class, Brother Cuttler was telling us about how on his mission, he would always try to be like Christ. He said he would be super nice and loving and that he didn't realize until later, that Christ was also bold. Christ would never sit back and tolerate bad behavior just to be nice. He would never condemn a person, but he would also help them correct their mistake. I feel like we need to be the same way. I am not saying it is our place to correct the mistakes of everyone around us, but we can be bold in standing up for what we believe in and teaching by example. I feel like this is something I really need to work on.
On Sunday, we were on our temple walk when sister Mosher accidently ran into her twin sister and niece. It was so fun to get to meet them and see how happy sister Mosher was. She cried when she saw her little niece and they all got to take a couple pictures together.
Seeing how happy she was totally made my day :) I love that girl, Sister Mosher is the best!
So... Monday was HALLOWEEN!!!! I know, so exciting! For one, we got to leave the MTC again to go check up on sister Mosher's eye (it's better) and we had a really fun day. We didn't have costumes but we all made the best of it. Everyone was switching name tags so we could be each other for Halloween. Sister Whaley's mom sent some fake mustaches in the mail, so we all had some fun with those.
Also, my mom sent a box of apple cider, cinnamon rolls and candy. I shared the candy with everyone but we are saving the apple cider and cinnamon rolls for tomorrow. It is Elder Taubwerei's b-day tomorrow so we are going to use them to have a little birthday celebration for him (he is the Elder from Kiribati so he knows almost no English! Despite that, he is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. HE IS HILARIOUS)
On Tuesday I nearly killed myself at gym time. I did squats around the track after running and doing some butt and ab workouts so I am still super sore today, but it was so worth it! I love working out, and I love how good I always feel for the rest of the day after. Also, we had devotional tonight. As usual, we went to choir first. This time, my companions and I got to sit in the front row to sing "Praise to the Man". Let me tell you, that song is powerful! As sister Mosher would say: I LOVE IT!! And what made the night even better is that President Russel M. Nelson came to talk to us tonight. He is such an amazing speaker and I felt the spirit so strong! I was so close to President Nelson, I didn't have to look at the screen to see him. It was so awesome. To be honest, it is probably one of the best days I have had so far.
Finally, yesterday was pretty normal. A couple days ago I started drawing a picture of our district if we were all dogs. I drew Elder Brown as a Great Dane, Elder Stokes as a Chow Chow, Elder Maez as a Wiener Dog, Elder Flores as a Panda (I know... it's not a dog. But it totally fits him!), Sister Mosher as a Cocker Spaniel, Sister Whaley as that Dogo Dog that is always used for memes, myself as a Pointer, Elder Oukuanguy as a Doberman and Elder Taubwuerei as a Beagle.
It was so fun to draw and my whole district loved it! Also, after dinner Sister Whaley and I got pants! Since we are going to the Philippines, the MTC gave us a couple pairs of dress pants so we won't get Zika while we are there. They are super nice and I am so happy to have gotten them!
TAGALOG
So this week we taught our first lesson on Skype with an actual Filipino today. It was so fun! I was so nervous but it actually ended up going really well. Since she didn't speak English, we had to use all Tagalog. I was expecting to forget everything, but I actually remembered a lot more than I expected. We are teaching again tonight so hopefully it goes just as well as last time.
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT
At devotional on Tuesday, President Nelson spent a lot of time talking about missionary work. A couple things that really stuck out from his talk were that "Exact obedience brings miracles." Since I have been here, I have been trying really hard to follow the rules and be obedient, but I noticed that I sometimes slack on the little things. This message helped me to realize that if I can really focus on being as obedient as possible, than I will have a much better and more successful mission. Also, I loved at the end when President Nelson said, "God will provide the energy and comfort you need, for with God nothing is impossible."
I know this is true. God is our light. He can comfort us and help us through all our times of trials. He atoned for your sins. He atoned for mine. That does not just mean that he suffered them, he literally took each of our sins from us so that we would not have to suffer. He felt guilt, sadness, pain, and loneliness for each and every sin we committed. He knows our pains because he has literally suffered them. So don't ever hesitate to give them up to him. We don't have to suffer because he already did. And when we are going through struggles, he can always help us because he knows EXACTLY how we feel.
I love my mission, I love my district, I love my friends and family back home, but mostly I love God. For with him, "nothing is impossible".
No comments:
Post a Comment