Another week has come and gone!
Thanks so much for the letters and packages. They really do make my
day. I was especially surprised when I received a dear elder from Riley
and Mattie. I even wrote that one down in my journal because I figured
that might be my only one from them :)
It seems like so much has happened each week it' s hard to remember what I have and haven't told you... but I'll try.
So
our district is really big. Fourteen of us and all of us except three
are going to Bacolod. Plus there's another district of 12 that entered
the same day that's going to Bacolod as well. So basically, a lot of us
will be heading to the Philippines. Only two missions speak Hiligaynon,
Bacolod and Illoillo and only about 8% ofPhilippinos speak it.
Basically we were told we'll probably pick up Cebuano and maybe Tagalog
while we're there. Recap of the week:
FRIDAY:
We got a new teacher! Brother Speicer teaches us in the mornings, but
then Sister Tamang teaches us in the afternoons. She was the
investigator we taught our first week here, when she pretended to be
"Cherry Mae". She just got home from her mission in Bacolod in May! It's
weird because I probably saw pictures of her on Facebook. She's tall,
and beautiful, and makes me want to become a teacher here. That
afternoon, Sister Young and I went to go study outside but just as we
sat down on the grass, she got bit by something. She thought it was just
an ant or something so we didn't think much of it. By nighttime, it
still hurt and was really swollen but we thought it would probably be
better by morning.
SATURDAY: It had gotten bigger.
So we went to the health clinic, but it's closed on weekends. Long
story short, we left campus and went to Instacare in Provo. Although it
was a little depressing driving through Provo but not really being in
Provo, it was really fun to be off campus for a while. You don't really
realize how much of a bubble we live in here at the MTC until you leave
it. You realize it's not normail to see everyone in skirts and suits,
and see everyone studying, reading the scripures, or eating. Have I told
that basically what our days consists of? We wake up, study, eat,
study, eat, study, eat, gym, study, and then sleep. That's literally how
it goes, but I can' imagine it any other way. We didn't even realize it
was Saturday until someone reminded us that we had church tomorrow
morning.
SUNDAY: Sherri Dew spoke in Relief Society. Best day ever. It was amazing and so uplifiting. She's
such a powerful speaker and I feel like she really connected with what
we're experiencing here at the MTC. Later we had sacrament meeting with
our branch. Our branch president always calls on two missionaries to
speak for five minutes, with no notice. We finish the sacrament, and
then he announces the rest of the program. Scariest thing ever. It feels
like the reaping from the Hunger Games. That night we had another
devotional by Robert Swenson who is involved with the church's
missionary department i think, I didn't bring my notebook so I don't
exactly remember, but he talked about things he learned while on his
mission which was both really funny, but also really spiritual.
Afterwards, they showed Legacy. I think I teared up at least four
different times while watching it. Lately I've been so emotional. I
think it's a mix of exhaustion/stress/overwhelmingness/happiness/etc.
that I experience every day. Most of the time it's happy tears though :)
One line that stood out to me was, "Give God the chance to fulfill His
promise." I found that really comforting cause I think while being here,
it's hard to see how I will ever actually learn this language and become
an effective missionary. But we're promised time and time again that we
will be successful, and that we can be an instrument in the Lord's
hand, and that we can and will learn the language and be able to fulfill
our purpose by helping others come unto Christ. It's always comforting
to be reminded of thal.
MONDAY: We started teaching our
new investigators. Brother Speicer is "JB" and Sister Tamang is now
"Girlie" They pretend to be investigators that they actually taught
while on their missions, and we each have about 20 minutes to teach a
lesson. It's stressful but also nice to really learn how to follow and
rely on the Spirit, and the importance of paying attention to their
needs rather than just teaching lessons. We teach every day, so it
always keeps us busy trying to learn the language so we actually know
something to say. On Monday, the health clinic doctor wanted to check
Sisters young's leg and we found out it was infected :( But, he put her
on some pills so now it's almost all healed. It got to be as big as my
hand, which was probably really annoying to her since it was on the back
of her thigh, and we sit all day. What's fun is that in the waiting
room, they have this big puzzle. So basically I relaxed and felt like I
was back home working on a puzzle for twenty minutes during lunch while
she was with the doctor.
TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY: Tuesday
night we had a devotional where the speaker read part of his mission
journal. Basically, his journal would be like "today was horrible and I
can't speak the language, and there's no hope for me." And then the next
day would be like, "I really feel like I"m progressing in the language,
and everything is so good, and I'm loving life." Basically that was what
Tuesday and Wednesday was. It's so easy to get so discouraged and
frustrated, especially when you teach an investigator and it doens't go
well, or you trying forming one sentence in Illongo and it jus epically
fails. Everything was just a little depressing. But then you have days
like yesterday, where I think it was the best day since be at the MTC.
The thing is I can't even pinpoint why Tuesday was so horrible, and why
Wednesday was so good. But I know those ups and downs will only become
more intense later on in the mission.
THURSDAY: We have P-Day! Since
the temple is closed all of July, we're not able to go. But that means
basically our whole afternoon is free. Which means we are able to take a
nap which is seriously probably the most exciting thing ever. What
makes today even better is that usually we have class from 6-9 on
p-days, but everything after dinner is cancelled for the 4th of July.
Which means we have no class today! Instead we have a special
devotional and then we get to watch the fireworks from Stadium of Fire!
Clarissa
came in yesterday and I have yet to see her. I even peaked into some of
the classrooms that I know are English speaking, and ate lunch outside
hoping to see her. I'm sure I will eventually. I love you all so much!
Palangga
ta ka! I'm out of time!
xoxo,
Sister Fitzgerald
No comments:
Post a Comment