Aug 13, 2013

As of tomorrow, I will have been her exactly two weeks.  The language is coming along pretty well and I am learning more than I ever have in my life about God, myself, and the gospel.  There is never an easy day here.  I work all day, every day to learn and grow spiritually in the gospel.  I have a few times realized that my first conversion must be my own and there are many ways in which I've found that I need greater conversion in.  The word conversion has come to mean to me "coming unto Christ" or "facing Christ".  I just want to ask all of you to do the same.  Come unto Christ by sacrificing those parts of you that need to be done away that you may more fully have the Lord's holy spirit in your life.

As far as the language goes, I feel like I'm not learning it fast enough, but I know I need to be patient because the other things I spend time on are important as well.  I am already reading Preach My Gospel in Tagalog and understanding it.

I have a great district.  We all get along well.  We have 4 elders and 6 sisters.  We all like to do activities together like play kickball or throw frisbees.  We have fun.  Right now we are playing basketball in the hallway of our residence.  It is our personal fitness hour right now.  We are using a ball made out of plastic bags and a small nerf hoop that was given to us by some sisters who left for the Philippines yesterday.

I know that through the power of the atonement we can be healed of EVERYTHING/ANYTHING. This power, however, is conditional upon us asking for it, desiring it, and seeking after it.  God does this because He is the master teacher and because every lesson he teaches is centered on us and our learning.  That is what we do as missionaries.  Every thought/idea/application must answer this question:  how does this help (investigator) come unto Christ?  We pray for them & study the gospel to find answers for them.  We love them and serve them.  It's a process that brings amazing joy and can also bring great heartache.

Love eveyone.  Be happy.  Continue to grow in the gospel.  Tell Danika I love her.  Tell the siblings to write me please!!!  Thanks
Love
Kell

First letter from the MTC

Well, Saturdays are my P Days. Now you can know when to expect emails. I will usually get on around 9AM.

 

The MTC is a fun place. I have the kind of schedule now that I've always wanted. I am busy all day studying, learning in class or on my own, and I get a good hour of exercise as well. I love the fact that half of my day literally consists of reading and exercising my brain while trying to learn a new language. It's nice. I have two awesome language teachers, Bro. Poole and Bro. Langer. They talk 99% of the time  in Tagalog. It's amazing how quickly we are able to pick up the language here. I can already carry on basic conversations, though I struggle with understanding everything that is said when I am listening to it still. I suppose this is because my vocabulary is still small. Bro. Langer set a goal for us yesterday that we should each learn 50 words a day and 15 phrases as well. He bore his testimony about putting your full effort into something and relying on the gifts of prayer, faith, and the gift of tongues to bring about real results. He promised us that if we do these thing we can be fluent by the time we leave the MTC. I like this challenge and am taking it up.

 

To give you an idea of the language, I will warn you that it has a lot of repeated vowel sounds. The longest word I've learned yet is faith: pananampalataya.

 

I felt like a robot the day I walked into the MTC and left Mom and Dad at the curb. I just had to keep my limbs walking. I want to thank you guys for everything you've done for me and I will put forth my best efforts into my mission. I love you guys!!!! Magmahal po Kayo.  However, many blessings have already come to me since being here. Sister Nally, the MTC President's wife, said that, "your families are apart of your mission." This is so true. And it is for this reason that I need to be diligent about writing to you guys and letting you know everything that is happening with me.

 

I am happy here as long as I focus on the work. I am surrounded by great people. I share a room with five other sisters. I like them all. They are all eager to learn how to be good missionaries and they all like to obey mission rules. We are all called to the Olangapo mission and we all have class together so that is nice. The food is okay, but definitely starchy. I usually go for the more organic meals like salads, etc. For breakfasts I usually go with cracked wheat cereal or eggs. I like the fact that it is there and ready for us as soon as we want it and there are no dishes to do! It makes life so easy because all I have to do is focus on my studying, which is what I love. :) My companion is a nice, quiet girl from Mesa, AZ. We get along fine. I am working with her to get more out of her. She doesn't usually add to a conversation unless forced. I like to force her. ;) 

 

You don't need to worry at all about me because we are well taken care of. There are always people around to help us and we have our schedules completely laid out for us all the time.

 

We taught our first (pretend) investigator yesterday in Tagalog. His name is Danilo Bulongbol. They let us take our notes with us and we were able to read from them so it wasn't too bad. I am grateful for the experience because now I know exactly what I need to work on. I got too nervous about speaking the language and understanding what he was saying that I couldn't feel calm or feel the Spirit. We teach our second lesson to him tongiht and my goal is to pray to understand what he is saying and to remain calm. I really believe that I can receive the gift of tongues as I put my whole faith into what I am doing and as I put forth my very best effort. It is not easy, but it is fun and rewarding.

 

I am wholly satisfied with my learning experience so far. When the Spirit is involved in learning as much as it is here, you are able to learn as you've never learned before. The only way I can describe it is that the lessons are REAL, the literature is REAL, and I can literally feel the truth of what I am learning around me. As you know Mom, I have always been fascinated about the subject of learning and education and so being here is a very rewarding experience for me. I am learning so much. Part of that learning is an increased testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Restoration through Joseph Smith. This church is true. I can no longer have doubts because it is so real and the evidence is all around me. (Please pass my testimony on to everyone you can.) 

 

Alam ko po na totoo po ang ebanghelyo at ang palabayad-sala ni Jesucristo.

 

 

I love you all! Thanks for getting me here. I haven't taken any pictures yet but I will work on that. Since it's just the MTC I will probably send you my memory card just before I leave.

 

Well, I think I've covered it all for now. I'll send letters out today as well. You can post whatever parts of this letter you think is good to post on the blog.

 

Love,

 

kell