Okay seriously it feels like I was here emailing you all just yesterday. Time goes by so fast here it is crazy! But I love it. I have to warn you, basically everyday is the same thing over and over again so this may get a little boring. But I will do my best to keep it entertaining for you all! So, starting on Sunday.....Sunday was our first "real" Sunday in the MTC since our first last week was a fast Sunday. Every week, we go to a broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word, which is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing so that is always fun. Then we go to Relief Society, and since they totally favor the sisters here in the MTC, we get really good speakers from the Relief Society General Board. It was super awesome, our speaker was Melinda Barlow and she is actually a returned missionary so she had lots of stories that related to us well. Then we went to Sacrament Meeting. Here in the MTC, you are required to prepare a talk on the assigned topic for that week, and then 3 people in our zone get called. But the trick is that they don't call you until you have to go up there and speak. And it has to be in Tagalog. Hahaha so my praying paid off and I didn't get called last week, but I still have a few more weeks so we will see! That night we had a devotional from Richard I Heaton from the Seventy on prayer. Seriously I know I say this every week, but the devotionals here are so amazing! This week it seemed like the focus was on faith and on prayer, which is something we can always work on! Oh and also, big news.....our choir director told us that the MTC Sister Missionaries WILL be singing in the Relief Society Broadcast!! You all know that I am definitely not a singer, but it is a once in a lifetime experience so it will be fun! And you can all watch me on TV from home :)
Well... Monday through Friday are basically the same everyday. Lots of class! But my teachers are amazing. We have 2 new investigators we started teaching this week, Fernando and Genella, which are played by our teachers. At first I thought it would be so stupid pretending to teach our teachers, but it has actually been some of my favorite experiences here in the MTC so far. They act as people from their missions that they taught, and they are super good at it! Teaching them is hard because they don't really give us a break anymore since we have been here for 2, almost 3 weeks now, but it helps us learn more that way. My teachers are probably just sitting there thinking "we went over this in class today Sister Reategui, why are you speaking like a 5 year old?" Haha, but it's hard! The other day in our lesson, our investigator Fernando was telling us about how he got divorced and was basically crying because he said it was all his fault and she took his kid, and we didn't really know what was going on and we accidentally asked "bakit?" which is why?? Hahahaha and he just looked at us and was so mad. Like I just wanted to laugh because I knew he was fake and secretly our teacher but whatevs. (that was for you platos people) We talked to our teacher about it after and just laughed and laughed. He always tells us its better to make tons of mistakes here rather than with a real investigator so that's comforting I guess. Hahaha this Tagalog thing is hard it literally takes me like 5 minutes just to form a simple sentence in Tagalog on the spot which gets really frustrating. Sometimes I think of really awesome things to say, or ways to answer our investigators questions so well, but I have to kind of dumb it down since I don't know much Tagalog. It's definitely frustrating, but our teachers are good at working with us and helping us realize that the language will come after some time and A LOT of hard work. And prayer. We have really been focusing on prayer with our investigators, because it is really important for them to really know for themselves that there is a God and He is there to hear us at ALL TIMES. Our teachers say all the time, "Nothing in missionary work gets done unless your investigator will pray." It is so true! They really need the conversion for themselves. It may sound kind of stupid that I can say all these things and my investigators are fake, but seriously they feel so real. It's the weirdest thing! We are starting to realize that no matter how many times I testify of the truthfulness of this gospel, it really is all about their own personal conversions. Cute Sister Roroa, the one from Kiribati, had to teach me the other day and she put it the best way. I had to act like a stubborn investigator and her job was to get me to pray. She said, "When you want to get to know a friend, you talk to them right? Well when you want to build your relationship with God, then you need to pray to Him." Okay seriously she is so wise. I am obsessed with her! She always makes fun of herself because she says she has broken English, but she is so amazing. She reminds me that this gospel is so simple and that's what we need to share with our investigators! On Tuesday, we had a devotional from James B Martino, one of the Seventy, and he talked about working in the Lord's way. So cool story......we were actually late to this devotional because I had to go back to our classroom to get my journal, and when we showed up there were only 2 seats left in the whole place! The rest would have to go to overflow in a different buidling. Anyways, the ushers are showing us to our seats and all the sudden we are getting closer and closer to the front......and then they seat us in the very front row! Like this row is just for the speakers' family and friends. Maybe 2 of his family members didn't show up or something but guess who got front row? Yours truly and my kasama. It was AWESOME and the speaker was making eye contact with us the whole time! I was so scared that he would ask us to come up and bear our testimonies or something in front of the whole MTC because he was looking down at us the whole time. But it was so so cool! Maybe we should be late more often. Hahaha, no but it was another good and inspiring devotional! He talked about feeling what the investigator is feeling and really working on applying each lesson to them and how it can help them in their lives.
Week 3 is known as "the wall" week and I have definitely felt that. The language is getting harder and harder! I know that it will come when it comes, but it has been kind of discouraging. My kasama and I were pretty frustrated this week with it but our teacher, Sister Osborn taught us a really good lesson. She explained to us that if God were to come and say He could move a mountain, we would all believe Him, right? If God commanded me to move the mountain and was right by my side the whole time, eventually, I could do it, right? With His help of course. Well, she explained that He has commanded me to learn this language and teach the people of the Philippines in Tagalog, so what is the difference between moving the mountain? It's the same faith, right? That as long as He is by my side, I can do all things through Him! He will help me learn this crazy language and He will help me through this crazy adventure as long as I am working my hardest in faith. She also shared Ether 12:27, which says "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then I will make weak things become strong unto them." Okay that has become my favorite scripture EVER. Tagalog is definitely my weakness and it is comforting that as long as I stay humble and diligent, He will help me make this weakness a strength! HIS GRACE is sufficient for ALL men! It's so great and such a good reminder when things seem hopeless. Which is basically me trying to learn Tagalog on my own. Hahaha one day I was really discouraged and Sister Roroa just looked at me and said, "Sister, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!" Hahaha I just love her.
Well that's basically all that I have for you all this week. Here is a Tagalog word of the day....pinakamakapangyarihan, which means omnipotent! Haha Tagalog can be kind of a mouth full sometimes! Oh also, read the story of Enos. It is so amazing! We went over it in class and I have read it several times since then. We need to make our souls hunger for this great gospel we have been blessed with! His short chapter is relatable to so many things! AH GUYS I LOVE THIS GOSPEL. I love missionary work!!! And it really is missionary WORK. Haha I have learned that this week more than ever and I'm not even in the real world yet. But I love it! I hope you are all doing well. Thanks for all the emails and letters, you all make me feel so loved! Have a good week everyone!
Mahal kita,
--Sister Reategui
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