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 ;-)
P.S a sister here calls me sister Fabulous, I think I''ll miss that when she ships out.
No comments:
Post a Comment