More General Authorities than I can shake a stick at

Dear Family,

    My time is shorter today than it usually is because we have a special devotional tonight, we are hoping someone from the 12 will be speaking, but it really could be anyone.  The MTC has been hosting the new mission president seminar this last week which means three things.  First our lunch room is even smaller than usual because they cut off part of it for the mission presidents and general authorities. Next it means I got to meet Pres Moon and his wife.  They are very kind and wonderful people and extremely down to earth which I like. It was funny because he didn't know that we sisters were part of his mission. His paperwork told him he would be meeting with ten youth (supposedly elders).  When he saw that Chi Yang made up the ten he thought Chi Hays and I were her companions dropping her off. When Sis Moon figured out the mishap and they realized they had 12 missionaries to meet they were ever so kind to us as well. I enjoyed hearing him talk about his excitement for the mission and his hopes that Vietnam will open shortly.  After the initial freak out over learning vietnamese I was a bit skeptical about Vietnam, but now I am so excited and would absolutly love serving there. We spent the rest of the time sharing out favorite scriptures and hearing Pres and Sis Moon's testimonies, it will be a delight working with them for the next year and a half.  Third it means that if you keep a weather eye out you can see members of the 12 walking about.  Last night at dinner as we were coming out we saw Elder and Sis Bednar coming down the hall, sadly we couldn't talk to them because they had guards posted in the hallway.

     I can't believe I have already been in the MTC a month, okay so sometimes it feels like I have been here an eternity but others it feels like I was just dropped  off.  I gave a rather skeletony list to Mom about what I do, but I didn't explain classroom time very well so here is a shot.

     We spend six hours everyday but Sunday and Tuesday with classroom instrution.  We have three teachers who teach us about tieng Viet, studying the Gospel effectively and creating lesson plans.  They Kiet (tie kit) and Thay Thuan (tie tune) are room mates.  Thay Kiet served in Campuchia (Cambodia) and Thay Thuan in Houston Texas.  They have such a verve for the Gospel and for the Vietnamese language I can't help but want to learn from them.  Co Huong was our first investigator as Chi Suong and now has become our teacher, she served with Thay Kiet and has great passion for the Gospel, sometimes it can be scary, but she helps me remember to always feel what I am teaching.

    Learning Vietnamese is unlike any other language I have worked with.  The tones are still treating me horrible.  One I can hear them, but can't figure out how to make them and second I am used to memorizing words, but here you have multiple words that look exactly the same except for tone marks. "Ma" for example can mean anything from mother, to ghost to young rice plant.  I am constantly amazed at how much the Lord is helping me learn and at how much I still have to learn.  This last week I have been able to bear my testimony in Vietnamese and really feel the Spirit.  Having the Spirit with you helps you learn the language and love the people more.  We had an interesting activity this week where we taught one member with the five of us all teaching together in English and tieng Viet, that was exciting.  We started out so lost and disconnected, but by the end we were actually working off each other's lesson plans.  It was amazing having my heart come alive at the joy of the work as I bore witness that I KNOW the Book of Mormon is true and it is a blessing in my life. 

   One last thing about tieng Viet, so all question words go at the end of the sentence, which always messes me up.  So if I want to ask what, where, when or how I have to say them last, but my brain always wants to same them first, so I can never think of the rest of the question because my brain freezes at the start or to ask a yes no question you add "khong" (comb) at the end of the sentence, which when I talk to investigators I always forget. So I'll be asking them for a commitment and they just stare at me because I never make it a question, oh well the joys of learning another language.

          I love you all and am very excited for the work ahead. I know this is God's work and is truly the Gospel of Jesus Christ, at the end of the day that is what makes all the hard work, the joys and the down times worth it. 
Much love Sister Fabricius

How blessed we are

Dear Family and other people,

   Do we realize how blessed we truly are?  Our Father in Heaven looks out for us in so many ways and gives us tender mercies w/ out number, yet still we question His love for us and our purpose here. There is much to say about the last week, but I start with what happened in the temple today.  For some reason which I didn't know at the time I felt like our trio should do sealings today.  After wandering around to all the desks on the main floor trying to figure out whether they had daughter sealings, and almost giving up, we finally found out what we needed.  One reason we wanted to do sealings was that we could finish sooner and have actual personal time, we didn't finish sooner, but I received a wonderful blessing instead.  After some delay we entered the sealing room (keep in mind this is the first time I have ever done sealings) and the room was beautiful.  As I went up for my portion the brother helping stopped when he heard my last name and asked if I knew a Rodney K Fabricius, I said I did and that he was my grandfather. This brother stopped in his tracks and told me that he, Brother Thorstenson, served with Grandpa in Denmark and was his companion. He said that Grandpa Rodney was one of the most loyal and faithful latter day saints Brother Thorstenson had ever met.  As we proceeded Brother Thorstenson's voice became rocky as he said how proud Grandpa is of me preparing to serve in Cambodia.  Today has been a good day and I am looking forward to the week ahead, but I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father that he would give me a tender mercy on the days I am feeling lonely or without purpose. I am thankful that I know of how thin the veil can be and thankful for an ordinance worker who was in touch with the Spirit today.

   On another gratitude note, I'm thankful for my earthy father as well.  I have been trying to figure out when Father's Day was for two weeks, I finally found out at Music and the Spoken Word on Sunday. Dad you have blessed my life in more ways than I can count, I love you.  I was amazed at the theme this Father's Day took here for me. Sunday morning I was studying D&C 132:15-25ish and it struck me how amazing our Heavenly Father is, He gave his Son to be our Savior, not just so that we could live with God again, but so that we could become like God. Sis. Dalton visited us for Relief Society and told us of our importance in God's plan and that we have the unique opportunity to tell people who they really are and that the Savior they have a potential they could never imagine. Sunday night Sheri Dew came and spoke to us(I love that the MTC is sort of like General Conference every week, next week we'll have most of the leadership of the church here doing the New Mission President Seminar, I'll meet Pres. Moon, I am so very excited).  She reminded us that we aren't staying, won't stay and can't stay on earth and our purpose living here is to train us for a better tomorrow. Have you ever pondered how short our time on earth is, some days it does drag so, but it will pass by quickly. If anyone cares please read D&C 76 sometime and really see what our Heavenly Father has for us, what he WANTS for us, what a blessing that knowledge is.

  Along with the spirit that helps us learn and gain perspective humor is a wonderful blessing. The two I want to share are funny and sort of embarrassing. I have shared already that I have learned the language enough to give a basic prayer and a basic testimony, let's just say the prayers need a little work.  This last week I learned the word for guidance (hướng dẫn) and was trying to use it in a prayer at the end of class. When I said it the teacher started to chuckle so I decided to try pronouncing it again, then he started to laugh. Finally I gave up and just said something else, at the end of the prayer I asked him what I had said, he told i had said the word for marriage and when I said it again he couldn't figure out why Iw as trying to say it on purpose...that was a little awkward.  the second is just for fun. The elders going to Cambodia with us all enjoy singing and have figured out the lyrics to some Mulan songs, one night they were kind enough to escort us back to the residence hall while singin "I'll make a man out of you" let's just say most of the sisters were jealous :-)  I have now made it into the inner circle by finally being able to display decent volleyball skills at gym.  The elders have moved me into there setting rotation instead of ignoring me.

  Last bit of news, first I have found my favorite foods to be Orange Chicken and Fish and Chips, I hope and think that in the next seven weeks I'll have them again.  On Sunday Pres Reynolds (a counselor int he branch presidency) motioned me over and asked me to be the music coordinator, apparently some callings never leave you alone.  I am excited and hope I'll find some people with music skill to help me out in priesthood.

  Thank you so much for all your support through prayer and letter, all the other people in my district are jealous because of the letters and packages I receive.  Thank you to Justin, my cousin, for the letter and I'm grateful to hear the swing set didn't tip over :-) I apologize for those I can't write letters to, but know I am so very grateful.  I know this is God's work and He blesses each of us to do it.

  All my love Sister Fabricius

Just for fun

There will be an update tomorrow with her weekly email, but for fun I thought I would share this.
Click here to go to google translate and you can translate whatever you want into Vietnamese and hear it.

I Live

Dear Family,

  I have survived another week and it is considered here that I am now on week four, I "only" have eight weeks left.  I will take for my email the subject suggested by Moriah and answer some of the questions posed.

  The MTC feels huge, I know that it isn't but it feels that way. In order to feed, house and teach 2000 missionaries it needs to be, in my time here I will only get to know about twenty of them, but that is okay.  The food is alright here, but definitely not like mommy used to make.  Some of the days I fear walking inside of what I'll get, other days I fear walking inside knowing what I'll get and still frightened for fear I'll eat too much.  I am constantly amazed by how much of tieng viet is creeping into my language. I can do a from the heart pray and say almost the whole thing in Vietnamese.  The teaching is scary because I prefer frelancing instead of reading, I want it to be from my heart.  that can a be a good thing or a bad thing.  We taught in the TRC (teaching resource center) we actually taught native Vietnamese young women.  They were very kind to us, especially when we presented a special snail about the box of happiness...yes it really was that bad.  But the less I freak out about it the better it is, so I am trying to focus on gospel study and unity amongst our companionship.

  This last week has taught me even more than last week and I still have so much to figure out.  Co Huong our one sister teacher who served in Cambodia three years ago pulled me aside when I was struggling with working together in our companionship and told me to stop freaking out. I"m not freaking out I"m just frustrated.  When I told her that she reminded that it was only week three and I still have an entire mission ahead of me.  Then after not answering any of the questions I asked, she gave me one peice of advice that will stick for most likely forever...Chi Fabricius this mission is unlike anything you have ever done before. Stop comparing it to anything else and have faith the Lord will take care of you.  She is certainly right about it being unlike anything I have ever done, even the study is different and teaching with my companionship and definitely not quite like friendship.

  I really don't freak out as often as I seem to write about, it's just after a really really really long week that is all I seem to remember when my brain is tired, sort of like it is right now. So when I was keeping myself from freaking out last week I was thinking how ill prepared for this adventure we call Cambodia and wondering what Heavenly Father was thinking when he decided that is where I should go. I still don't have an answer for that, but I was reminded by one of our visiting general authorities that God does see the end from the beginning He has prepared me just the way He needed to for this grand adventure. 

  It amazes me just how near home the MTC is.  I was sitting at breakfast this morning talking about USU when an Elder going to Cambodia jumped in and started talking about Zombies vs Humans.  I was shocked to find out he used to help facilitate it and actually knew Fred Bittner.  This elder asked me why I never joined in, I told him I would feel unfaithful to Vergil if I was carrying around a nerf gun, the two of us thought it was funny, but Chi Hays did not, oh well I enjoyed the laugh, it was a good way to start off pday.

  I am currently the envy of the district due to the receipt of two packages.  Thank you so much to Aunt Kirsten for the package of snacks, the letter and the scarf, it has already been of much use here.  The elders have even threatened to steal it and use it as a tie.  Thanks so much for the package which was just received this morning.  I have already enjoyed a part of the rice crispies, which are not too pink or too gooey and am so very grateful for the socks, it is definitely perferable to the socks that keep getting eaten by the dryer.

  I'm glad to hear Courtney survived the chicken wire experience and hope she'll keep coming out to Newton. 

  We still don't have roomates after losing them last wednesday and it appears we won't be getting them this coming week either, I think for now i am okay with that.  I did get a surprise that week by Angell Christopherson in the hallway, it was so lovely seeing someone from Cache Valley.  One story of note I should probably share is that I do have a prank side of me, well sort of.  The cambodian elders have 12 elders in one room and there room smelled really bad, so I bought a can of glad and sprayed it ine once or twice when the room was empty.  The elders were a fan until Anh Ca Bruggeman stole it from me and sprayed it in there faces and later they called me Sister Fabreez this...I haven't decided how to respond, but that is okay.

  All the elders in the zone are now acquainted with my hiccups and its not just when I'm nervous either, instead of saying bless you they say Fabricius.  My hiccups seem to have morphed from terydactyl to dying rabbit to little calf, I really am trying to hold them in.  I'm sure there is more I could write about, but I can't think of anything else after the letters this morning, I guess the fam needs to get together and compare notes.

   I know the Gospel is true, that Heavenly Father knows the end from the beginning, that as Papa Gardner said there are no coincidences and that the temple is a place of peace, utilize it.

           Thank you all for all the letters I have received, I"m doing my best to answer all of them and I apologize if there are delays.  Have a fabulous week and I shall so enjoy my packages.   Much Love sister Fab

P.S feel free to send more questions so I have an idea what you want to know. much love Alison

I apologize for lack of pics, but the MTC doesn't like usb cords

Good Morning Campers

Dear Family,

   Another week at the MTC has come and gone and I don''t yet feel like a veteran.  I'm thankful that i haven''t had to host new greenies or guide anyone but my trio around, because I would fail miserable.

  Here is a quick run down of the people in my life

 Anh ca Steele : district leader, friendly, motherly and always telling the sister s to look out for each other, such as making sure we eat enough food and get vitamin i whenever we need it.  This week I found out his full name is Remington Steele, I laughed and laughed, see Grandma Shirley for more information or put in Remington Steele in google

 

Anh Ca Bruggeman is his companion.  He''s a lively fellow that was in active since he was 11, but cleaned up his life. I love his desire to learn the gospel, but always jump when he slams his fist on the table (usually when he can''t get something or when he is joking, but it still makes everything rattle)

 

Chi Yang: a 27 yr old sister and recent convert. She broke up w/ her boyfriend right before coming out, but they are still madly in love and write each other. I love her sweet spirit, kind heart and peace making heart for it has smoothed the way in some trio friction. Don''t think she is passive though because when she speaks her mind, look out

 

Chi Hays: I''m not sure quite what to say because she has me so confused. She is 22 yr old genius who has been waiting for the Lord to tell her she could serve a mission since she was 16. She is so fun to be around, but really confusing. She has an amazing grasp of the doctrine, but doesn''t share in comp study.

The cac Chi Cas (sisters) will be going to Cambodia with me, so we will see each other quite often in the coming years and the elders are heading to Cali

 

Sister Gordon: my bunk mate who is a total sweetheart.  When I couldn''t stop crying Friday night she took me out to the couches and asked me what was wrong. I spilled my guts about missing home, missing my first name, missing anything familiar and feeling completely unprepared. She calmly listened gave me a big hug and told me not to give up that the Lord was looking out for me.

 

Sister Frederickson and Sister Davis are her companions.  They too were part of the tear fest that helped me become a happier person here at the MTC.  All three of them are shipping out tomorrow morning to head to the Temple Square mission, I will miss having them in the room and coming home at night to their cheerful smiles.

 

The only other major people in my life are members from the zone.  They have adopted we Cambodian sisters with loving care (they sort of had to we are the only sisters in the zone).  About eight of them are going to Cambodia with us speaking K''mer, but they are all really weird. I enjoy eating at the cafeteria with them, but even then the conversation heads to the strange. I think my favorite part is that they accept me as a player on the volley ball court and that they explain to everyone else where ever we go that the strange noises I make are just my hiccups. Trust me they have had plenty of occasions to have to tell other people about my hiccups. I hiccup everywhere, in class, in devotionals, at dinner and in hallways. I dont know wherther my favorite response was my teacher Thay Kiet spinning around, bending over and covering his face after a particularly loud one or was a girl we passed in the hall who stopped and told her companions she just her a meow.  The main blessing of my hiccups at this point has been that they always bring a giggle from the trio and help us lighten the mood in any situation.

 

Some significant things I have learned this week:

  First I encourage all of you (commitment pattern coming) to keep a pencil and paper beside you as you study the scriptures I am always amazed by how much information comes from the Lord when I consistently ask questions and seek answers from him.

 

  Second: attend the temple, no matter the age do something at the temple. The temple has brought such peace in my life as I have attended a session and done initiatory work. What a blessing and a strength it is when I contemplate going to the wilds of the world. ( speaking of the wilds of the world Che Hays promised that if I cant find a doctor in Cambodia she will personally draw my blood (she has been needle certified since she was 17) and send the blood to BYU-Idaho on ice for the tests, I''m thankful for her support, but hope it doesnt come to that, time will tell ;-)  )

 

  Third:  I''m so very thankful for companionship inventory, though it doesn''t give solutions for problems it gets things out in the open and helps me gain perspective for the week ahead ( I need doses of perspective seeing how my main perspective man isnt near by).

 

  Fourth: I still struggle with the language, but I''m supposed to. It is part of my coming before the Lord and realizing that I am nothing with out him, and with him I can do everything.  For some reason in pre earth life I came before my Heavaenly FAther and told him I wanted to serve him and share the Gospel with his Children and for some unknown reason he said that yes i could.  Im so grateful for that knowledge because it has strengthened me as I have adapted. I know He has set me apart to do this work and isn''t going to give up on me. As a reminder if God calls you to do something he doesnt tell you that you can''t do it, that''s Satan, Heavenly Father just waits for you to turn to him and he will strengthen and enable you.  The only way Satan can get to you here is through your thoughts, so he does his best to raise doubts in yourself and in the Gospel.  When those doubts come, as they did during the Restoration movie and I wondered if I really knew I kept a prayer in my heart and by the end of the movie, I knew Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and this is the Gospel of jesus Christ, Im grateful H.F trusts me to share it with others.

 

  Fifth and Last: This week has been a week for saying ""it doesn''t matter"" a lot. At first I said it with frustration or anger, but the more I turned to the Lord the more I had peace and joy in the saying it. There is so much in our thoughts about others or in our comparisos with others that simply dont matter, when we give those things that don''t matter to the Lord he can and does fill our lives with the things that do matter...just some food for thought.

 

  I;m so grateful for all the letters that have come to lift and strengthen me, they have brightened my evenings so very much.  A thanks to Josh, Ari, Kenzie and Leif, they were unexpected treasures, I hope I answered some asked and unasked queries. And a thanks to everyone who has written, it means the world.  Please keep in mind that I sitll exist and if you don''t have time to send a real letter Jennifer says that Dear elder is just like texting...I wouldnt know about that anymore ;-)

 

                                                  I love you all, Have a fabtabulous week.  Sister Alison Fabricius

P.S a sister here calls me sister Fabulous, I think I''ll miss that when she ships out.