That's right, we are officially at
our 4 1/2 week mark, which means we are halfway done with our MTC time!!!
WOOO! We are really excited about being that much closer to being in
Thailand!
So this past week we got to
celebrate the 4th of July MTC style!! It was really good. After our
classes and what not we got to all gather together and watch the movie "17
Miracles" about the Mormon pioneers traveling to Utah from all different
places of the world. I love that movie! And it was nice to just sit
and relax by watching a movie! After that we got to go outside and watch
the Stadium of Fire fireworks! Mainly we just talked with our Elders
because the fireworks weren't very consistent in their timing. And we
were still inside the MTC gate, so that was fun-ish. :)
Something I really liked about the
4th was that we got to hear a couple devotional speakers who talked a lot about
pioneers. It was so interesting to me to think about the people who have helped
me be a pioneer in my family. Also, it was interesting to consider
all the people I can help to be pioneers. All the people I teach and
bring to Christ will become pioneers in their families, countries, etc.
It is so amazing to see how the Lord works, especially when we don't completely
understand the things he has in store for us and for those we will soon come in
contact with.
I've been reading Jesus The Christ
by James E Talmage, and it is such a good book. One of the highlights for
me so far was the fact that Heavenly Father has given us agency so we can use
it to make our own choices, and to suffer the consequences or reap the rewards
depending on our decisions. But at the same time, Heavenly Father knows
each of us so well, that He knows exactly what we are going to do in any given
situation before we are actually put into that situation. He is
omnipotent, but he wants us to learn so he gave us the means to do so, and what
a blessing that gift of agency really is.
The 4th also really made me excited
to spread the Gospel message that I have to offer. The message I have
truly is a message of freedom, hope, happiness, and peace. What a
blessing that is to know that what I have to offer other people is my testimony
of this Gospel and the love that their Heavenly Father has for them.
As I was reading my journal entries
from the past week, I noticed how bad my grammar is getting... is it logical to
say that as my Thai progresses, my English digresses? Maybe I'll just end
up bad at both.. :)
We celebrated Elder Smith's 19th
Birthday on the 6th! It was so good to be able to pitch in with the other
Sisters in our district and buy him candy and a card to show him how much we
appreciate his kindness and sweet testimony. This week has truly shown me
that we are in the districts and companionships we are in for a reason. I
have really come to love my district this week. I have gotten to know
them more as people and not just missionaries. That makes it sound like
missionaries aren't people, but sometimes we forget that each of us come from
such different backgrounds and have such unique experiences that we have
to offer in this work. A lot of the time we are just learning together,
but we are always growing together. It is amazing to see the changes that
have already taken place even in this past week.
On Friday we also started reading
the Book of Mormon in script! Granted it takes us SO long to read even a
line of a verse, but we are learning. It is really overwhelming and it is
easy to get discouraged, but I know that I can do it with the Lord's help, if
only I will rely on his merits which are mighty to save. We also started
singing only Hymn #2 for each class. We thought we might as well get good
at one of them! We are really good at listening and recognizing words
(once they have already been partially sung.) It usually ends up like
this: "phra phuu PEN CAW" (God) or "suad CCN
WCCN" (prayer) or "Phra win YAAN" (part of Holy Ghost). It
is actually quite humorous.
I really love Thai. The
language is so beautiful and I love learning it! It think the most
awesome part is that a lot of the words actually mean something. Take the
word repentance for example. In Thai the word is "kaanklabcay"
which means something to the effect of "turning heart". So
cool, right??
Anyways, here are a couple
highlights from our weekly Mormon Message viewing on Sunday morning:
- "Never let a problem to be
solved become more important than a person to be loved" - Thomas S Monson
- "Continue in patience - trust
God and believe in good things to come." - Elder Holland (I think)
I love watching Mormon Messages!
Since it was Fast Sunday, we got to
attend our first mission conference in the MTC! It was amazing. But it
was 2 hours long. Which is not amazing. But we survived!
A couple things I liked:
- Read Alma 26:16-22 when you feel
like there is no hope
- Prayer is the forerunner of faith
- "The Lord will not steer a
parked car"
- We should not pray to change the
will of God. Instead we should pray with the intent to conform to His
will and meet Him in the middle.
- Missions are not about the
missionary.
I really love
this one. I was just thinking about all the people who are depending on
me and my faithful service. My family now and in the future, the people
in Thailand who have been prepared to receive the Gospel and are now just
waiting...its so neat. I love it! I've also learned that missions are not
meant to change who the missionary is. They are a means by which we are
able to better discover who we really are. I've learned so much about
myself these past 4 weeks, and I can't believe the changes that have taken
place. I'm not a different person, I'm just a new and improved version of
who I already was. The MTC and missions in general have a miraculous way
of showing us who we are by magnifying both our strengths and our
weaknesses. It can be hard to come to grips with our faults, but knowing
them and seeing them more evident in our lives will enable us to work on and
improve them. The more I learn about my missionary service, the more I am
learning to cherish it. I realized that each day that goes by will be a
day I will NEVER get back, so I should use my days wisely and center them on
serving Christ and God's children.
This brings up something else we
were asked last night during our devotional: "Are you serving time or are
you serving the Lord?" I joke sometimes about how the MTC is a
prison, which when you hardly ever leave, it can come to feel like one.
But I have realized that I seriously need to consider the time I am given here,
because I will never get it back. I only have 18 months to dedicate purely
to serving the Lord, and I want to be sure that I am not going to have any
regrets by the end of it. :)
Something that has been weighing
heavily on my mind lately is the subject of personal revelation and
prayers. But we talked about receiving revelation through the Holy Ghost on
Thursday...or Friday...or Saturday (I don't remember), and we watched a clip by
Elder Bednar** about revelation. He asked how we could know if it was our
thoughts or the Lord's thoughts being revealed to us. he paused for a
minute, and said something profound "It doesn't matter." He
then proceeded to talk about how if we are seeking to follow God's will,
putting our trust in Him, keeping the commandments, serving faithfully in all
that we do, and moving forth with faith, we should have nothing to worry
about. Sometimes we may be acting off of inspiration we don't even know
we are receiving until we look back, or we may never know. It doesn't
matter. That was just what I needed to hear. Sometimes you feel
like your prayers aren't being answered or that you aren't receiving the
revelation you think you should be. Maybe you are, but maybe you
aren't. Maybe you don't need to know right now and it will come
later. Maybe it comes in ways we aren't expecting. Who knows?
All we can do is move forward in faith and with an eye single to the glory of
God, and we cannot go wrong. He isn't going to tell us every step to take
or every path we should walk on. He wants us to learn, and we would not
be able to do that if He was always directing us. But one thing is for
sure: if you do these things, you cannot fail. Heavenly Father
won't let you! So keep moving, all things will be revealed to us in His
time. :) And remember: Heavenly Father will not use a floodlight to
guide us when a flashlight is sufficient.
**(If you haven't yet, go
watch Elder Bednar's Mormon Messages 3-part series about patterns of
light. :)
I think that is all I have for this
week! (I could think of more, but I am running out of time! An hour + my slow
typing skills = brief and broad emails. :)
Love you all!
Sister Norrell
P.S. WRITE ME LETTERS. Please?
:)
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