I miss and love guys so much! I don't even know where to begin... These last 6 days I feel like I have used more flashcards and studied harder than I ever did at BYU...(not that I didn't study) but I love it here. It is nothing like I thought it would be!!
I guess I will just go through my week! Saying goodbye was the hardest thing to do by far, but it was amazing to see Gods love for me and how he comforted me on the plane ride over. The guy assigned to sit next to me was a one week old RM! He gave me a lot of tips and advice for a mission. Then all the women on the flight pampered me with love. One nice lady even gave me her business card to get a free pair of leggings from her! She said, "Free clothes always makes a girl feel better!" HAHA little does she know I can't wear leggings..... So If anyone wants free leggings hit me up!
Shout out to Halsey Anderson for picking me up and Mckenna Lake for letting her use her car! Love you guys.
So my roommate at BYU was Hailey Graviet who is Serving in the Vietnam Mission and she was my host at the curb!! What a tender mercy that was cause I felt so much better having her show me what to do the first day at the MTC. There was 700 new missionaries that day and all the new mission presidents were there and all of the quorum of the 12 was there the whole week! Basically this last week was crazy.
The most overpowering part of this last week was when they put this perfect black name tag with Sister Snooks and a bunch of characters that look like ramen noodles and she asked something along the lines of, "Sister Snooks, are you ready to become a full time missionary?" (That was the worst quote in the world... I'm so sorry I can't remember what she said) But I was overwhelmed with the spirit while she put it on me. It felt amazing. Had no idea it was going to be such an emotional experience. That was also when I figured out who my companion was going to be, SISTA COOK!! I love her so much. We knew of each other because of Instagram, bless, and we work so well together. She is the cutest thing ever. She also makes me run all the time with her... like 6 mile runs... because I have to stay with her... so looks like I may not gain weight in the MTC. Holla.
My Zone is amazing. We cover South Asia and have the biggest zone in the Provo MTC, which means WE ARE THE BIGGEST ZONE IN THE WORLD! We are really proud of it. Sister Graviet is in the same zone and so is my good BYU friend Andrew Oaks! My district is hilarious. Basically all of them are 18 years old and have SO MUCH ENERGY. I laugh more than I talk I'm pretty sure... I remember people always saying that as a missionary you find everything a lot funnier that it is and I can testify that to be true. Also missionaries are very good at self entertainment. The Elders like to throw their plastic water bottles and try to get it to land upright... and when that got boring they would throw the bottle into a tree to try and get it to land upright... It's funny to watch... probably not as funny to read about.
Soooo the language.... Oh boy. I have not heard my teacher say an English word yet. ISN'T THAT INSANE? but .....I'M LEARNING SO MUCH!! So I was the last one to arrive in my class due to having the last name that starts with an S and everyone else was in the class for an hour or more before me. The teacher kept asking me my name and I was so confused. It took a good ten minutes until I realized what he was asking but then I didn't know how to respond. Good times. Now I can not only say my name but I can pray, testify of certain things, and give short lessons about certain topics I know the vocab on. Oh and I know a ton of random vocab words. It is amazing. So right now we aren't learning the ramen noodles script thing that looks impossible to read... we are reading a romanized version that helps us sound out the words using the sounds you use in Khmer. It's intense. I think I've learned more khmer in the last 6 days compared to the two years of spanish I had... Actually, I know I do because I've had to give three lesson in Khmer so far! They are so funny! We have an investigator named ummm... I don't know how to type it on this computer but basically you say it like Baung Sophaul. She is this cute Cambodia and I love her so much! So a little background information about the "investigators" in the MTC. They can be real investigators that sign up to get to know about the Gospel or they can be members. Baung Sophaul gave it away by wearing her young womens medallion. Good try. But yes, Sista (That's how you say it in khmer) Cook and I have taught in Khmer. We plan our lesson out then study like crazy the vocab and sentences we have to say then give it to her. It's great, until the lesson goes completely the other direction and you haven't studied a ton about that topic. But the gift of tongues is real. Sista Cook and I were able to answer her questions and teach a completely different lesson. That right there let me know that God is right next to me every step of the way and that I really am just a mouth tool for him. As long as I do my part to put all these words in my head, even if i can barely remember them at times, he will help me and loosen out tongues so we can share his words. It is amazing!
So after we learn a word in khmer we are suppose to use it in our every day conversations. Sister Cook and I were saying a prayer and It was my turn at dinner. I went through the prayer and one of the lines was "Thank thee for all our many pooh while we have been here at the MTC." And sister Cook lost it. What I was trying to say was blessings which is "poo" but you say it like"pboo" and the whole sentence just was not the best. We were dying!
A good way Sister Cook and I found to help with memorizing is to jump rope while saying vocab words and sentences. If you've seen the movie "The Spelling Bee" You'll know what I'm talking about.
I had another cool experience with the help of my father. He sent me a dear elder that had the scripture Ether 12:6. If you don't know it, read it. It was exactly what I needed at the time. Serving a mission and being a missionary is hard. It is NOTHING like my old life. There has been multiple times where I thought to myself, there is no way I can do this, I can't speak the language, I can't do this for 18 months. But soon after I receive a tender mercy of seeing a friend, getting a scripture from my dad, or my companion or teaching saying something I needed to hear. Then those thoughts go away and I remember why I need to be here. We had a devotional where Steven Allen told us that Satan is very mad at us right now because we are missionaries and he is going to do everything to "push your buttons" to get you to go home. It is true. It's hard. But I know this is where I'm suppose to be.
Oh my goodness family. I miss you so much. There is not a day to goes by where don't think about you or pray for you guys. I love you so much. Thank you for all the little notes! I find one every single day! You guys hid those well in my bag! I'm pretty sure I'll find some when I'm in Cambodia someday! You are the best. The dear elder letters are the sweetest things in the world and help me get through the day to read them! Dallin and Jessie, I love getting the play by play of how your days go! Keep it up! Dallin, my district loves your letters! I usually read them a line or two of your letters. Do you write them yourself?? They are SO good! I'm pretty sure you have better grammar than I do.. Best line of your letter was, "When is your pee day?" HAHAHAH ahhh I love you guys so much!
Thank you Liv D for the cupcakes! They are heavenly! and Grandma I loved the cookies! So did my roommates and the room next door to me! You guys don't realize how much I appreciate you thinking of me and sending things like that.
Well I love you all! Thank you for your support! Write me!!! Send me a Dear Elder! My information is below.
Love you.
Stay fearless-
SIsta Snooks
No comments:
Post a Comment