Hey guess what?
I guess I do get to write to you today. We got a big enough break from In-field
Orientation during lunch that we got to write quick emails home. How is
everyone? Life at the MTC is... life at the MTC. But now my District is getting
more excited as we are only 3 days away from flying halfway across the world to
spread the good word.
Feelings are
bittersweet. I mean, of course we're excited. But we're also sort of terrified,
because we all know that we aren't going to be able to understand people when
we arrive. We aren't going to be able to say most of the things that we want to
say, or need to say (though I DO know how to ask where the bathroom is, so I'll
be fine on that front). But we know that the Lord will bless us as we strive to
serve His people, and bring people closer to Him.
Yesterday we
said goodbye to one of our teachers, Brother Trebas. He was "Lester"
our first investigator that we taught when wefirst arrived. We grew really
close to him, and it was sad to say goodbye. He sent us off with some neckties
that he bought and wore in the Philippines on his mission there. He wrote on
the back of those and he wrote in our journals in Tagalog of course, so we're
probably going to have to wait a while until we can actually understand
everything he wrote. I may sent those ties (I have two because Bro.
Trebas gave me one for my birthday as well) home for my dad and
brothers to wear. I have no need for them right now.
Oh my gosh, I
have to tell you about the Sunday Devotional we had this week! The musical
number was done by none other than... ELDER ARCHULETA! When they first
announced that he was going to sing, there were whispers, and maybe a few
groans. People both like and dislike him, but people kind of got tired of
hearing about him. Anyway, Elder Archuleta got up to sing "The Spirit of
God." First verse: Beautiful. Second verse: He sings in in Spanish.
Equally beautiful. I got chills. Last verse (he only sang 3): English again,
but this time right before he got to the chorus, he started getting all caught
up in the Spirit, and he started to cry! He had to try so hard to keep his
voice from breaking as tears formed in his eyes as he sang "We'll sing and
we'll shout, with the armies of heaven, Hosannah, Hosannah, to God and the
Lamb." It was beyond words. No one who saw or heard that
performance could ever say anything bad about it. It was perfect. Then the
speaker got up to speak. You might have heard of him. It was M. Russell Ballard
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The first thing he said was, "Elder
Archuleta, you're a tough act to follow." He spoke beautifully as
well. David Archuleta left the MTC the following day. I got word that he was
put in the fast-track Spanish program (because he's going to Chile), that is
only 3 weeks long, to avoid having to be in the MTC with all of the
annoying fangirls/boys. I heard he's still struggling with the language though.
I wish him the best on his mission. He'll be great.
Here's a story
to remember. On Monday night I went to bed just like I always do. But then, in
the middle of the night, this really loud noise wakes me up. It's sounds like
an alarm of some kind, so I do what I always do when I hear an alarm that isn't
my own clock: I ignore it, and hope it goes away. Well this alarm didn't go
away. Then I hear my roommate Sister Montgomery yell, "Let's go!" And
I sit up, and I'm like "What, why? What's going on!" And she's like
"It's the fire alarm! We have to go!" I'm I'm just thinking
"Ugh, she's right." So we all put on our shoes and some jackets and
walk outside. I saw no flames, and my guess was that there was just some
electrical problem, but you never know. Soon some security guards ushered us
into the gym building right next to our Residence Hall so we wouldn't be
standing out in the local night air (I wouldn't want to risk it. I'm not sure
if I'm a Borfin that Shlumps or not). So we sit in the gym for about 10 or 15
minutes. That's when I got to look at the clock. It was 1:36 a.m. At the MTC,
that's late, because we go to bed at 10:30. After waiting a little, we got to
go back to bed, all was well. Except the fact that we'd had no explanation as
to what happened, and now we were awake and aware, plus my stomach had woken
up. The next day someone posted a notice telling us that there had been an
electrical problem with a heat detector or something, and it was fixed quickly.
So in the end, the cow didn't kick over any lanterns in the shed, setting the
whole MTC on fire.
I bought a
phone card today. I'll call home (or one of the cell phones) when I'm in SLC
between 8 and 9? My flight leaves at 9:36. I may call home again from San
Francisco, but it'll be after bedtime, but I'm sure my family won't mind if
they get to talk to me, right? If I get my hands on an international phone card
by the time I got to Hong Kong, I'll call from there too! I arrive at 6:30
local time, which I have no idea what time that is back in Utah, but I'm sure
someone will be home!
Tagalog lesson:
Philippinos use a LOT of English. Our teacher Bro Trebas showed us his
Philippines drivers license (he worked in the mission office) and it was all in
English. I heard it's because there is no universal language in the Philippines
that everyone knows (not even Tagalog) so they just use English for a lot of
official documents and stuff. Weird. Joke-lang is a popular phrase, as is
Okay-lang. Lang means "Just" or "only" so you say joke-lang
when you're teasing someone, and you say okay-lang if you are merely okay.
Love you all!
Next time I write, I'll be in the Philippines!
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