We had a devotional last week and the quote I loved from it was, "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." This applies so well to missionaries but also to everyone. I am only out for 18 months of my life, for Elders, they are out for 2 years, but it is such a small amount of time. To not give everyday my best would be pointless and a waste of my time. No matter where you are, serving a mission. playing a sport, in college, at work whatever it may be we should be giving it our all. None of us wants to look back with regrets of not doing our best. Just a little thought.
Sooooo mom you know how I begged you to not send me to the MTC with just Crocs? Within 10 minutes of being at the MTC, I threw those suckers on. I love them so much. If you guys haven't invested in Crocs I highly recommend it. "They are actually cute in a granola way."-- Quote from Sister Winder.
I get roasted, as Michael Scott would call it, in class about everyday. I take it a lot better than Michael Scott did though. It's the districts favorite thing when my teacher teases me. I'm pretty sure they look forward to it actually. I deserve it every time because I do something something or say something dumb. hahhahahha for example the teacher asked everyone in khmer, "Is Elder Taylor a prophet?" ( an Elder in my district) and I was the last one to raise my hand because I was having a hard time with the word "prophet." He called on me and the Elder next to me was whispering "Baaa" (How you say Yes for a male) So I said "Jaa" (Yes for a girl). My teacher then started going off in Khmer and everyone was dying laughing. I soon realized he was giving me Restoration 101 and teasing me for answering the simple question wrong. Another time I was telling some of the district about how one time I dropped a bell in my ear (I was young... it was a small bell and I had to go to he ER with my grandpa hahha) as we were walking into the class from our break and the teacher told us we need to speak our language more. Then he used the example, "Once time I dropped a bell in my ear." and made the whole class say it in Khmer like 10 times. I was dying laughing. Out of all the sentences to say.... So now, everyone cam say that in Khmer which is great. I hope at some point I'll be able to say the whole story in Khmer... One day...
The language is alright. It's hard to not compare yourself to other people though. I fasted this Sunday to help me and I have seen the difference it has made this last week. You know how I talked about the ramen noddle scipt last week? We started learning that. KHMER IS SO SIMPLE I LOVE IT. There are like 10 rules and they stick to the rules which is perfect. I can't wait to be able to read and write. If you guy haven't seen what Khmer looks like, You should look it up. it's beautiful and mind blowing. After my mission I'm setting up all my gmail accounts to be in Khmer. It looks so cool.
So Sistaa (that's how you say sister in a Cambodian accent) Cook and I make weekly and daily goals with the language, scripture study, and all the great missionary stuff we do! But the most important goal we had was to not loose any socks in laundry today. And yes, in he midst of all the chaos, the goal was accomplished. "Obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles." I can testify of that. It is so hard to go to bed at 10:30 and to wake up at 6:30am and not sleep in. I know that all these little things add up. When we choose to follow all the "rules" or "guidelines" Heavenly Father blesses us, like how Sistaa Cook and I were able find all of our socks. It may not seem like a big deal, the whole socks thing, but it actually is. We love our no show socks.
One last funny story. We were teaching "Julia" (Made up person) and it was our first time with her so we were building her trust by asking her about her life and getting to know her then asking her what she is expecting to learn from us. She was catholic and after getting to know her my companion started asking her about prayer and how much she knows about it. Sistaa Cook started explaining to her about prayer and said a lot more than I thought she would so I kinda lost her on what she was talking about. She turned over and looked at me and I mouthed, "pray?" I thought she said "no" so I started giving the first lesson. Sistaa Cook stopped me around 30 seconds after when she realized I wasn't praying. Apparently I was suppose to pray but we totally had a misunderstanding and she zoned out when I started talking and didn't realize what I was saying. I was also wondering why Julia had her eyes shut the whole time I was talking... Makes sense now...haha
I love the MTC. I know a lot of people hated it but I think Heavenly Father is blessing me since I will be here for another 48 days. I am soo happy all the time and I figured out why. I don't have a phone to go to when I'm bored. I don' scroll through instagram envying people of their lives, their clothes, their body, or beauty. I'm not on snapchat watching stories where I wish I was somewhere else where they are having fun. I'm not resorting to listening to music when it gets quiet in the house or in the car and I'm not watching TV when I have nothing else to do. All these things keep me from being able to be truly happy all the time. Yes, I was very happy at home, don't get me wrong, but I was not this happy. It's hard to explain. I'm just not in the world at all right now and it gives me so much time to pray, to ponder, and to read the scriptures. I have grown so much closer to my Heavenly Father. No joke, reading the Book of Mormon is SO FUN!! It's the best time of my day and I get so sad when I have to stop. I don't know why I didn't read it more often and make it more of a priority in my life. Actually, I do know why. It is because I would get a text, want to watch a show, and get distracted. Anyways, I challenge you to read the book. It is amazing and it has changed my life.
Love you guys. Sorry for the novel. If you make it to this point, you're a true friend <3
Stay fearless-
Sista Snooks
4th of July color coordinated, of course!
Yep, that's Bucky! He's doing great!
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