I'm Sorry, This Is Not The Tagalog I Learned At The MTC. Could You Please Use VAOL?

Monday, AUG 19, 2013
I realize I should have updated the blog as soon as I knew Megan had arrived the Philippines safely. My apologies. Her journey from Provo to Laoag went about as well as could be expected. She did learn upon arrival at the SL airport (Monday morning, AUG 12) that the first flight of their journey, SLC to San Francisco, had been cancelled. About half of their travel group, including Megan, was rebooked on a SLC to Portland flight. The other half of their group had to return to the MTC. They ended up traveling the following day.

All of the travel rearrangements took quite a bit of time, so Meg did not have much time to talk with us from the SL airport. A kind woman at the airport actually lent Megan her cell phone to call us - big missionary lineup at the pay phones. Mark and I enjoyed a brief chat with her, then it was off to Portland. Oh, Meg & I also managed to sneak in a quick call to Callie. Callie was at work, and in the process of training a new rep, but had made arrangements to leave her desk briefly when Meg called in. Those two are good for each other - close cousins and friends and very supportive of each another!

Fortunately, Megan had a two-hour layover in Portland and let us know she would call us back from there. I borrowed one of the doctor's offices here at work to take Megan's second call. I didn't want to cry (again!) at my desk :) AND I managed to conference in the entire family: Deon, Mark, Ryan, Becky, Tyler, Molly and Megan. It was grand! Such an excellent conversation. It was so sweet to have everyone involved. We sent her off with lots of encouragement and lovin'.

Her journey then took her into the future.  .  . Portland to Tokyo to Manila. Overnight in Manila. Then on to Laoag where the time is 14 hrs ahead of Salt Lake time. I missed a call from her on Wednesday morning (AUG 14) letting me know she had arrived safely! So sad. I still can't discuss it without getting all choked up. I was so absolutely devastated at missing the call. 

That's the bad news. The good news is she got to call back on Thursday evening (AUG 15)! I think this must mean she has a kind and thoughtful mission president, or mission mom, OR both! Anyway, we got to speak for all of about 2 minutes. Karen Redford and I were minutes away from entering Little Cottonwood Canyon - on our way to hike Cecret Lake - and then not in cell service. It has made all the difference to me having been able to speak with her. She sounded great! Very upbeat. Her first area is Vigan (you can google it). She says her companion is "adorable" and so I should stop worrying. Her parting words were, "Don't worry Mom, Christmas is not that far away". Whatever.

I received the email below from Sis Bet last night, Sunday AUG 18 @ 11:20pm (SLC time). Ryan, Becky and I just happened to be Google Chatting when the email arrived. Becky actually exchanged a couple of quick emails with Megan in "real time". So interesting! Her mood is good and all is well :)

So, holy crap guys. I am in the Philippines. How on earth did that happen? It is crazy amazing. I am serving in the Vigan area and am, supposedly, the envy of everyone. Vigan is supposed to be the most beautiful and the members are amazing. I would not know about much of the beauty, since I have been stuck inside for the past three days thanks to endless rain. I think we have been in a monsoon. It was so cool. Both literally and metaphysically. So I have not yet had the opportunity to experience the extreme heat, but have had a great taste of the humidity. My hair is totes deffs an afro and I freaking love it.

My companion is named Sister Sese and she is from Manila, but is also fluent in English, so I totally scored on that front. She understands the people AND me. Woo! She is really nice and has been very patient with me in getting the hang of being in the field. I think she grew up in a super posh part of Manila, so the semi-primitive living conditions we have (though for most people here, we live in a really nice apartment) we are both trying to adjust. It is a good think I camp.

My first laundry day in Vigan

It's a Monsoon (in the original you can literally see the rain pouring down!)

               

So because of the rain, I have only had the opportunity to go out and teach one time, and that was on Sunday. But before I get to that, let me just tell you that I freaking spoke in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. What the freaking what? I thought I was just going to bear my testimony, which I have pretty much down thanks to the MTC, but nope. I was supposed to talk for 10 minutes about service. Not exactly in my Tagalog wheel house. So I got up there, I didn't even have my Tagalog scrips with me, so I had to share all my scriptures in English. But I got through. I did not speak for anywhere near 10 minutes, but I think I shared a message that people A: understood and B: felt the Spirit in. So that is okay. I think I just need to be more fearless when it comes to speaking in front of Ward Members. They will totally be willing to help me, right? I just have to remember how excited I am to teach our exchange students English, because that is how the people here will feel. So being more fearless is one of my goals.

Okay, onto the lesson teaching. Sister Sese and I got to teach two less active members about the Plan of Salvation. Sister Sese did 90% of the talking, but I was able to share a testimony and clarify some doctrine here and there, and she said that I did a really good job, and that I am good at forming sentences. I did okay in understanding what people said, but they are deffs not speaking the same Tagalog here as in the MTC. It is like, a hybrid between Tagalog and the local language they speak, which I don't know how to spell. Illocano or something like that. But yay on the understanding/speaking for me. One of the sisters that we taught is named Nanay (Mother) Dion. Yup. Mamma D. I about died. She is this old lady and when we went to teach her, I am pretty sure she was wearing Rachel's dead fish outfit from Cambodia. She was so cute, just sitting there, no bra on, listening to Sister Sese and I teach her about the Atonement. The other sister we taught is less active because her husband no longer likes the church because some members were gossiping about something he did. I am not sure on the details. But the sister prays all the time with her daughter, which shows because every time we prayed, the little girl came and sat down and folded her arms. Hopefully we will be able to teach her more and get her to come to church. I think her daughter would like primary a lot.

Some order of business: I talked to the Office Elders and according to them the best way to send letters is still DearElder. FedEx is a bust, so don't use them. The USPS is still good and if you want to send packages use this place called LBC. Apparently they send packages of any size or weight around the world for only $55. They told me there is one is SLC, but I am not 100% positive. I'll leave that to yall.

I once again felt the love when opening up my email. Holy cow guys! Thanks for all the letters! I don't know if I will have a lot of time to read/reply, but I am not going to tell you to stop sending them. Obviously.

Well, this is awesome. Hopefully next week I will have more stories and hopefully I am able to figure out pictures on this computer. Cross your fingers.

Mahal Tayo!

Sis Bet

I Have Flight Plans. It's Too Real!

WEEK 5 - PROVO MTC

I was lucky enough to read this email for the first time with Callie. And it's true - Callie does know how to correctly pronounce "aaawwwesomeeeeee". Next time you see her, ask her about it :)

So yeah, I have flight plans. We are going from SLC to SFO then to Tokyo and on to Manila. I am also the Travel Leader for all 15 missionaries going to Laoag. Probably because I am the oldest, I already act like a mom (Thanks Rach.) and have about as much flying experience as everyone else in my district combined. So there is that. But I am now realizing that holy-effing-geez I am leaving for the Philippines in nine days...I don't speak Tagalog. I may or may not be having minor panic attacks about it all on the daily, but I will pull through. I just need to get there and come to grips with the reality of my situation and I will be just fine. I think the anticipation of it all is what is giving me the most anxiety. Plus, if I have to worry about 14 other missionaries, I wont have time to worry about myself, right? But I do think it will be strange to be a missionary out in the real world instead of being a missionary, surrounded by thousands of other missionaries in the MTC world. It will also be strange being at the SL airport knowing that I am not just going to be back in a week or so. But hey, phone calls. Those get to happen.

 

I did not take notes on this week like I usually do, so this letter is mostly my stream of conciousnes (I don't think that is spelled right...) as I think of things to say/things I want to tell you. The most exciting part of my day is mail time, which happens after lunch/after dinner. And guess who got four packages this week? Yeah, this girl. Major, major shout outs to the parents. Pops rocked a 24 pack of Dr. Pepper in a two part mailing. I honestly wish you could have seen the look on Sister Smith's and my face when I opened up the package. I think it was better than Christmas. We were so excited that we basically ran back to the classroom where Sister Hagee and Sister Cooper were studying and when I told them what the package was Sister Hagee just stood up, threw her study note book on the ground and said "SHUT UP! NO WAY!" She is a HUGE Dr. Pepper addict. We spent a good ten minutes reveling in the idea of Personal Party Time with DP, then in the idea of Party P-Day, then of more PPT. I then let it slip to the Elders that I have DP and they were crazy jealous, trying to bribe me for a can. They were brutally rebuffed, until the second package came the next day and I graciously gave them each a slice of the proverbial pie. But not before they all had to write thank you notes to Pappa Bettilyon. Maybe Pop's will share them with you, because they are pretty hilarious. Elder Jones' is my favorite. THEN, I two packages from Mamma D. How did you even have the idea to send Mango and Sticky Rice to the MTC? I almost died. I also ate it in about 2.5 seconds. So good. Then you took the idea of the carpet picnic from last P-Day to a whole new level. The cream cheese did not survive, but the basil, cherries, rolls, tomatoes, pepperoni and cookies are all being enjoyed and shared.

Papa Bettilyon sent Dr. Pepper for Everyone! Priceless!

Megan's Entire District at the Provo Temple on AUG 4th

 

This week for Teaching Resource Center (TRC or where we go to teach people in Tagalog who are not our instructors) we got to Skype with real Filipenoes (also not spelled right). It was nerve racking at first, but I don't know what happened to me, but I put on those big headphones that made me feel like I worked for NASA and I just started speaking Tagalog. Sister Smith just kind of stared at me like "where on Earth is all this coming from" and I looked back like "I don't know, but its aaawwwesomeeeee!" (awesome being said in a sing song-ie way, Callie will know). In TRC the people are already members of the church, so it is less stressful, so it is less like a missionary lesson and more like Visiting Teaching, which is a nice break from the stress of preparing lessons. We got to teach a man named Nate who lives in Manila and then we taught Brother Nicholes' old companion who also lives in Manila. They were both super sweet and said that our Tagalog was really good for only five weeks. I feel like they lied, but I will take the compliment.

 

How did I almost forget! Sister Smith and I committed both of our investigators to baptism this week! That was awesome, but still strange because it is real, but not real at the same time. Any way, we finally followed our prompting to invite Nel (Brother Roxas) to be baptized and he said he talked to his wife about it and he said that he wants to be baptized. Now we get to start teaching him the Laws and Ordinances and the Commandments, which is a little stressful because I foresee some issues with the law of tithing in Nel's life. Oh well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. Then in our lesson with Alex (Brother Nicholes) this week we invited him for the third time to be baptized and third time must be the charm because he also accepted! Sister Smith and I were so happy that our goal of "Do Not Hesitate" from last week paid off in baptismal commitments this week.

 

I cannot believe that next week is my last P-Day at the MTC. Holy cow. Thanks to everyone for the emails, DearElders, pictures, packages and prayers! I could not make it with out you!

 

Mahal kita!

 

Sis Bet

Kumusta Diyos!

WEEK 4 - PROVO MTC

You gotta have at least one jumping photo, right??!!

This week has simply flown by. And I think it was more eventful than I remembered, I also think it was more spiritual than I remember, because looking at my notes, it seems like I am just having a party all the time here. Not true. I am working rul rul hard I promise.

So first off, holy packages Batman! I think I got a package every day this week. Props go out to Gma and Mamma D. I laughed so hard when I opened Gma's package and I have, tomatoes, a huge cucumber and a jar of jam. They all arrived in perfect condition, so that good news. I also ate and shared all the fresh stuff (the tomatoes were gone before the hour was out, the were sooooooooo goooooood) and the Sisters and I just bit into that cucumber like it was a giant pickle. We are ladies. As far as the jam goes, I have brought it to breakfast every day this week and have been sharing the home made goodness around. It is so refreshing to eat actual good food.

Homemade and Homegrown goodies. The best!

This brings me to what happened last nigh. So before class I offered my teacher a chocolate chip cookie bar, but he declined because we are not supposed to eat in the class room. Then at the end of class he asked where the chocolate chip cookie bars were and I said "Brother Nicholes, you said that eating was bawal (forbidden)..." and proceeded to give him a hard time about his double standard. So yesterday when I got the fresh box of cookies, I brought them to class and told Bro. N that he could have some at the end of class. Class ends and I get the box out and Bro. N asks me how many he can take, I have a whole box, and I really did not expect what happened, so I said take as many as you want. Home boy peaced out with eight, EIGHT chocolate chip cookie bars. He just like double fisted them and walked out the door. I was so shocked, as was the rest of my district, but I wasn't even mad because I still had an entire box of cookies.

Talking about food also reminds me of when we have "Personal Exercise Time" scheduled. It is supposed to be and hour and a half where you do personal exercise in your room. The other option is to run outside and we all KNOW that aint happenin'. So the first week, when we see this in the schedule, my kasama just says "Personal Exercise Time? Reads like Personal Nap Time" so that is what we have called it, but this week it was extra special because my kasama got the package of all packages. There was DR. PEPPER. With caffeine - which is bawal on the MTC campus. Those who say there is not a need never went to class for six hours a day then had independent study for another three. So with all the goodies from my packages and her Dr. Pepper, we had "Personal Party Time" wherein we lived the Chub Lyife, as Sis. Hagee would say, and played Would You Rather. The laughing that happened during that game was the best work out I have had all week. Minus the attempts at playing volleyball which happen on a regular basis. Have I mentioned that I am not athletic? Because I'm not.

Personal Party Time
Exercise? Who needs exercise?

Another story about food. On Tuesdays and Sundays the MTC has ice-cream from the BYU Creamery and everyone gets pretty pumped over it. So on Sunday Elder Payne was eating a bowl of Coconut Joy and was going crazy about how amazing it was when he just goes "Shut up! Are there almonds in here?!" everyone paused and I was thinking 'shoot, where is his bag? Where is his Epipen?!' because I was convinced that he was going to be allergic and then die in the cafeteria. But then he goes "I LOVE almonds!" The timing and the phrasing was so perfect it was like it was from a movie. And maybe part of it is that you have to know Elder Payne, because he tries to be funny all of the time, but is most funny when he is not trying. The district continues to laugh about it.

So I am a bit of an awkward person, if y'all didn't know. And in one of my lessons this week with our investigator Alex, who is really just Bro. N role playing, I was trying to tell him how prayer does not have to be something that you sit down and take 20 minutes to do, but my Tagalog is not really up to the task so I just say "for example, you can just go 'Kumusta Diyos!'" which is about the equivelent of "Hey God!" and as it came out of my mouth I was like 'No! No! Come back!' but it was too late. My kasama just started to laugh and I could tell that Bro. N was trying so hard not to laugh and I just felt like an idiot. So that is embarasing moment number two with Bro. N front and center. Nailed it.

In other news, Sis. Smith and I had an amazing lesson with our other investigator Nel, who is Brother Roxas doing a role play, we were reading the first twelve verses of First Nephi chapter one with him because he had talked about how hard it is to read the Book of Mormon in our last lesson. It was cool for several reasons. One being I was impressed at Sis. Smith's and my ability to read in in Tagalog in the BOM, and at our ability to explain what was going on in the verses. Two being how strong the Spirit was in the lesson. Three being how, later, Bro. R said that reading with us made him want to read the BOM in Tagalog again. And four is a little good and a little bad. But Bro. R told us about how subtle changes can happen in lessons with investigators and how basically if we had asked Nel to be baptized right then, he would have said yes. But we didn't ask him! Even though Sis. Smith had the impression that she should, she didn't think the timing was right. So that was a bummer and we were both so disappointed that we missed that initial opportunity. But we made the goal of "Do Not Hesitate" to do anything that is good or that can invite someone to come closer to Christ. My logic is that it's never a bad time to ask someone to be baptized. You just have to go for it and pray for the Spirit to help.

Okay, well kapayapaan! I love you all so freaking much that it hurts! 

Sis. Bet

Megan and the Sisters in her District "being awesome!"

Sis. Sarah Yenchik with Megan. They grew up in the same ward.
Sarah is going to the New Mexico, Albuquerque Mission (same as Eric Pincock!)

Die Laughing, I Would

Week 3, Provo MTC

 Elder Pincock, definitely related.

Megan's MTC District Peeps. 

So this week we have been learning about describer/subject and the proper way to use that in Tagalog grammar, so in our attempts to be all Loaogian outside of class, my kasama and I were talking, in English, the way that the sentence would be structured in Tagalog. So we were sitting on a bench, under this massive tree, and we see a mouse. I immediately thoght of Ali Barnes and what her reaction would have been. But then my Sis. Smith and I were talking about where we thought the mouse lived, because we couldnt see it in the bushes, and then I said maybe it lives in the tree and maybe it will fall out of the tree and land in my lap. I looked at her and asked what she would do about it and her response was "die laughing I would." well good to know that my kasama has my back.

 

In other news, I was reading some of the family history that Ma sent me with, the testimony of Silas Clements, and holy moly, bomb dropped on page 12. SILAS CLEMENTS MET JOHN THE REVELATOR?!?!?! How did I not know that? It was so cool to read about that. So now I want to know what other cool things have happend to our family, so if you have (Gma) any other sweet family history tidbits send them my way! Also in the realm of family, I finally talked to Elder Pincock, and we are totes deffs related. He is also a hilarious young man and we get along famously. Just goes to show that family is always family. He watches Doctor Who and Adventure Time, so enough said.

 

Um, shout out to Tyler and Stu! Happy birthday yall. I hope you could imagine what it would have been like if I called and sang happy birthday to you. Because I deffinately did it in my mind.

 

Also, thanks for all the love! After dinner is my favorite part of the day because it is when I get my DearElders. There is kind of a joke in the district that Sister Hagee and I get all the mail, because we do. And I also got two packages this week? What? I dont think there is a luckier Sister in all the land. That is accompanied with a whistful arm wave, just so you can have the whole picture in your mind. Well done on the pranking/Ute supplies. I also laughed way hard at the "Chuck Webb" mints. If I only had pockets I would be doing him proud, but it is a little awkward just walking around with a handful of mints all the time. Ill figure something out though as a method of spreading the love.

 

Also in the way of pranking, the Elders have finally struck back. I accidentally left my cardiagan in the classroom, like and idiot, I should have seen this coming. And the Elders took it back to their residance and tried it on then took pictures of themselves wearing it. They obviously wont let us have said pictures, because, lets face it, its almost as if they pranked themselves with that one. However, we did get Elder Jones to try it on in the classroom when they finally brought it back for me, I bribed him with a cinnamon bear and Sister Hagee was up and ready with some sneaky camera action, so hopefully I will be able to send those pictures later. He looks like Mr. Rogers and it is pretty amazing.

 

Other funny story, we got a new teacher this week and in the first lesson, while we were singing the opening hymn it was pretty aparant that he is pretty talented when it comes to singing. We found out that he is an acting major at the Y, so it makes sense. BUT, in the next lesson the Elders were running late, as usual, so the Sister and and Brother. Nicholes decided to just start and sing without them. So I got kind of self concious because Bro. N is a good singer and Sis. Hagee is a good singer and I am just that weird girl who sings lound, but off key. So I was expressing this quietly to my kasama and all of a sudden Bro. N is right next to me and he just says "God created your voice Sister" and I blushed seven different shades of red. So needless to say I tried extra hard to sing well that round.

 

I also had the most amazing dream last night, George Takei (not spelled right, I dont think) came to play Settlers of Catan with us. Yeah. It was pretty amazing. I was telling my district about it this morning, but none of them knew who George was. So that was disappoining to realize I am the only real nerd in the herd. Oh well, life goes on.

 

So, Tagalog is hard. Freakin' verb tenses and emphases and vocabulary. Holy moly. There is so much to take in. But I keep realizing that I have learned more Tagalog at the MTC in two weeks and a half weeks than I ever did in four years of French in high school. The Spirit is an amazing thing. Kaloob ng mga wika. Sis. Smith and I now have two investigators, who are actually our guros, things are going as well as can be hoped I suppose. It is just super intimidatin to teach Bro. Roxas because he is so strict and his investigator character is so...you can just tell that it is someone super close to him who desperately wants to help his family, but is just not sure how to do that and how The Church can help with that. Our first lesson with him was way rough to say the least. But things have gotten better. Teaching Bro. N is much easier because he is so open and charismatic. We committed him to baptism last night and he said he was not sure yet, but it was not a straight up no, so I am choosing to look on the bright side.

 

I am feeling all the love and support, keep sending those DearElders my way. Also feel free to send pictures of your lives, I'm looking at you Molly Jones.

 

Love,

 

Meggsie

Pananampalataya Is Not A Five Letter Word

WEEK #2 - PROVO MTC 

See that? In the subject line? That is the word for faith. In Tagalog. I think that is is just a little excessive, dont you?

 

Ummm, shout out to my fave Macktilyons! Happy one year you two! Seriously love the ish outta the both of you. Check your pants.

 

So this week, good things. Good things. First off: the Sisters in my district are friggin' hilarious. We are all such good friends and I feel like I have known them for years, dont worry, we estabished that we are all liberals and my life became complete. We spend most of our time laughing at dumb quotes from movies we all know or mildly pranking the Elders. So on Tuesdaywe were going to try out what we were calling "Sister Service Day" where we take our own dirty trays from meals to the tray return and open doors for the Elders and just do things for ourselves to give the Elders a break.  The Elders, beeing the sweet young men that they are, were not having any of it, which really just made us fight them even harder on the issue.  We eventually gave up and when we were back in our residence hall we came up with plan B. Tuesdays are now "Sister Surpise Day" wherein we prank the Elders. MTC appropriate pranks of course.  But you know that box of glow-in-the-dark moustaches that Linda gave me? Well those came in really handy, let me tell you. So we grab these bad boys (the moustaches) and head over to our classroom a little early to head the Elders off at the pass, we get there, don our moustaches, turn out the lights and end up waiting for about 10 minutes in the darkest dark I have ever experienced, watitng for our Elders. They finally get there, open the door and we scare the bageezies out of them. It was so priceless. They keep trying to get us back for our little pranks, but they are just not as sneaky as we are. We will switch their scriptures around, or draw little things in thier notebooks, like cows and cats, they are just too trusting with their stuff. Maybe by week six they will ocme up with something good, but until then, Sister Surprise Day is going to be pretty amazing.

 

Oh! I saw Brant yesterday. I was finishing up lunch with my kasama, I am the slowest eater in my entire zone, dont worry about it, and he comes up, slams his hands down on the table and just shouts "Sister Bettilyon!!!" I drop my cookie into the salad I had been eating and nearly had a heart attack. It was so great to see him and to talk to him, but not great that I couldnt hug him. But it was so nice to see a familiar face.  Speaking of such, I saw Sister Yenchik yesterday too! Or maybeThursday. But that was so great! We hugged and chatted, I asked her how her first few days have been, she is only there for 12 days. Color me jealous. Oh well, Tagalog away!

 

So my kasama and I just keep teaching lesson after lesson. We had our last lesson with our first investigator and now he is one of our teachers, he is so stoked on life all the time, which is good because he teaches in the evenings and it is kind of hard to stay awake after a full day of studying and studying and studying to do more studying.  But now Sis Smith and I have two more investigators that we need to teach, and can I just say that the Spirit is amazing? I do not know Tagalog, like, at all, but when I am teaching and in tune with the Spirit, it is incredible how much more easily the language comes to me. We were teaching in class, just to one of our Elders, and we were supposed to be teaching the first lesson, but it was clear that was not what his investigator self wanted to talk about.  Once Sis Smith and I abandoned our original plan and just started talking to him about his concerns, it was like the Tagalog, really more like Taglsih, just flowed out of our mouths. It was a really cool experience.

 

The last two nights my kasama and I have been doing our planning under this tree at a table right outside our residence and this tree rains little yellow flowers on our heads so we look like fairy missionaries and for the last two nights, at twilight, we have sat under this magical tree and have had strapping young lads come and speak Italian to us. You think I am making this up or embelishing, but Im not and ladies, you know life does not get any better than that. But these Elders are all going to, thats right, MILAN on their missions and so far, three kasamahans have come and born their testimonies to us and I have sent them all with a little note to my dear Katie telling her all about it. I am praying that they all make it to her somehow, dont tell her, I want them to be a surprise.

 

I dont know if you know this, but Tuesdays are kind of a big deal around here, not just because of SSD, but also because of devotional. All the missionaries in the MTC just flood out and stream towards the Marriott Center, I hate that I am in Provo, and it is just kind of cool to see all of them.  I was not blown away by the speakers this week, but when we went back and had a devo. breakdown with our district, things got pretty real. One Elder, Elder Payne, shared a story about his Gpa when he was in the hospital after having this third heartattack.  The doctors came out and told his Gma that her husband was dead and that there was nothing else they could do, so all of the family at the hospital called the rest of their family members and had them stop what they were doing to pray for their Gpa.  When they were done praying, the doctors came out and said that their Gpa was alive and that it was a miracle. When he was telling the story, I just kept thinking about Gpa, and how much I miss him and how much I wish that he could have been here to give me advice and just, ya know, be Gpa.  And I started to feel jealous of the Payne family and the miracle that happend for them and the second I started to question why God did not do this for our family I felt Gpa.  I knew that he was there with me and I was just over come with the feeling that, just like I am where I need to be right now, he is where he needs to be right now too. It was so amazing, I felt so loved in that moment.

 

I love you, Jesus loves you, go UTES!    

 

 

Sis Bet

 

 

Three Days? Don't You Mean Three Weeks?

MEGAN'S FIRST LETTER FROM THE PROVO MTC, RECEIVED JUNE 6, 2013:

Okay, seriously. It is a time warp here, I have been here for three days and it feels like I have been gone for three weeks.  I never knew you could pack so much into one day, but when you have no real life, there is a lot of time to learn Tagalog, read your scrippy scrips and learn more Tagalog.

 

So yesterday, I had been here for two days and me and my kasama Sister Smith had to teach a lesson completely in Tagalog. I talked to Marlee about this before I left and she told me not to worry about it too much, but I still worried because that is what I do, I stress about things.  But Sis Smith and I went in with as much enthusiasm and confidence as possible and as soon as it was my turn to talk, I forgot all my words. But our investigator was really friendly and he talked a lot to fill in the blank spaces where Sis Smith and I were like "uh....shoot....we know this, right?" but I think most of the lesson was just us nodding and saying "opo" (yes) and "salamat" (thank you) when he would talk to us. But I think I relatively successfully bore my testimony and prayed in Tagalog.  The phrase I am most confidant with it "totoo po ang Aklat ni Mormon" or "The Book of Mormon is true" and really, isn't that what is most important?

 

A couple of cool things already happened this week, on the Fourth, we got to watch the movie 17 Miracles and I about lost my ish when one of the actresses came on the screen, it was Natalie Blackman! Or which ever Blackman sister was the actress person. It was funny to me how she is way not LDS and she is playing one of the pioneers in the Martin-Willie handcart company. She made a good performance, but there are some super cheesy scenes in that movie with her and her fiance and I was laughing way hard. The other cool thing was at the end of the movie, it goes back and says what happened to some of the people after the arc of the movie ended and one of the pioneer women saw a man in her dreams while she was trekking, and it turned out that he was one of the rescue party members, they got married, shocker. But the cool part was that it was Thomas E. Ricks! I freaked out again, so I think my district just thinks I am a freak/easily excited, but it was way cool! I didn't know he helped the M-W handcart peeps, family history, bam.  This leads into the other super cool thing that happened, there is an Elder Pincock in my ZONE!!!! The first night we went around and introduced ourselves in a Zone Meeting and he got up and said his name and that he was from Idaho and I got all excited (again) and flailed and was whispering to my kasama "I am probably that Elder's cousin, NBD" I asked him who his parents are and they are George and Dorthy Pincock. So get Gma on that and find out how related we are.

 

Speaking of relatives, I saw Brock Thursday night at dinner! I had been praying all day that I would see him, and when I got up to get a banana, there he was! I got all excited again and was jumping up and down and saying "I cant hug you! I want to hug you!" it was pretty hilarious, but I think he flies out on Tuesday night, so I hope I get to see him again before he goes and that I have my camera with me so I can take a picture with him. No cameras allowed in the cafeteria Ma, so I am not just shirking my picture taking responsibilities. Ill take lots, don't you worry. But Brock looked so good, just like the missionary he is, I love that kid. I also got to see Elder Childs at lunch yesterday, that was neat, he also looks good and he was making fun of me a little bit because he is only here for a week, and I am here for six. I get the feeling like the first part is going to drag like nobody's business.

 

Um, so my district is great, my kasama and I get along so far and I don't see any warning signes in the distance, so that is good. My district is six Elders and four sisters and we are shoved in the little tic tack classroom that everyone else used to use as a study room. After we were all done teaching our lessons yesterday, we just devolved into chatty-bonding time and we feng shued (that's how that is spelled, right?) our room so that is seems bigger. Lets hope it works and was not one of those good-at-night-bad-in-the-morning type ideas. Most of the people in my district are from Utah, but Sister Hagee is from Texas, Elder Liefi is from American Samoa and Elder Lloyd just graduated from Highland. I don't know him, but that is kind of cool, he knows Sam and Cole and Cooper, so we made that connection. But Elder Liefi is so sweet, he is so quite and so is his kasama Elder Glover (they are both wearing lavalavas today and it is so funny to see quiet, white, awkward Elder Glover rocking this bright, floral pink lavalava, so cute) so since he is not from the States, there are little things everyday that we will do and he is like
"I don't know what that is" or "I have never eaten that before" or "I have never seen that before" like on the Fourth, he had never seen fireworks! And he was pretty disappointed because all of the trees on the MTC campus were blocking the view from Stadium of FIRE!!!!!! so as Sis Smith and I were walking back to our room (we don't love fireworks) we happened upon this great, clear view of the fireworks so we RAN back to Elder Liefi to tell him, but he already found a good spot. So we went to bed. He has also never had pizza before. So interesting (as Sandy/Deon would say)

 

I love you as big as the sky times 7 1/2!!!!

 

Meggsie

Putting on my Big Girl Pants

Below is a copy of the talk Megan delivered in church during her meeting formerly known as a farewell on Sunday, JUNE 30, 2013. She did a fabulous job!!

"I am leaving for the Philippines Laoag mission on Wednesday. Yikes. Well here are some fun facts about Laoag, it is currently 90 degrees, there is a 70% chance of precipitation, humidity is at 71% and there is a 100% chance that I will have an afro once I get there. My mission president and his wife are both Filipino and they look adorable in their picture, but other than that, I am really going into the unknown. But Jesus will protect me, right?

So when I was growing up the question of my faith was never something I thought about.  Every Sunday I went to church, and I didn’t really think too much about it. It was not until I was in high school that I really started to question my belief in the gospel.

I was barely fourteen when I realized I first wanted to serve a mission.  It was my first time at EFY and I was sitting in a lecture when the instructor asked “who of you, girls included, want to serve missions?” I had honestly never thought about it before, but I heard a voice in my head say “raise your hand, you’re going to do that” so I raised my hand and was like “I’m gonna do that.”  That was the first time that I had had a prompting from The Lord, and I had understood what he wanted for ME specifically and I have treasured that moment ever since.

For a long time, I was worried that I would fall away from the church. Retrospectively, my worrying about becoming inactive was what kept me from becoming inactive. I was worried and I was stubborn, so I decided to go to church, and go to seminary and keep a current temple recommend because I was going to BE MORMON DANGGIT.

I didn’t necessarily have the testimony to back up my resolution to be a part of this church, but I believed that if I really tried I could gain the strong testimony that I desired. Alma 34:27 gives some great words of wisdom to that effect.

“But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.”

I had the desire to believe and I exercised the small amount of faith that it took to follow the commandments, go to church, actively attend seminary and do the little things The Lord asks us to. As I held onto that small amount of faith, it grew and The Lord has blessed me with a larger portion of understanding.

I wouldn’t deign to compare the trials of my life to those of Joseph Smith, but I think he and I made the same decision to believe in and desire the truth.  It was his desire to pursue the truth that lead him to that grove of trees, and it was his determination to exercise faith that lead to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to appear to him. Joseph’s resolve to pursue the truth that was revealed to him that day in his first vision and in all the days of his life after is a great example to me in the exercise of faith.

Joseph did not have all the pieces to the puzzle, and neither do we.  And while seeing deity face to face would be a testimony boost of unfathomable proportions, we can still gain full conversion to the gospel by acting on the idea of faith because true conversion does not come through passive contact, it must be something that is truly desired and pursued.  Sometimes it is hard to have this desire, life becomes difficult and the resolve to do the work of The Lord can waiver.

I had already decided to serve a mission when I was 14.  I told people, and it was always on the list of things to do that I kept in the back of my head.  I even made a deal with my best friend Katie when we were still in high school that we would put our papers in at the same time so we would be apart for as little time as possible.  Then we graduated from high school and went to college, and a mission was still lingering in the back of my mind, but it was later, in the future, I didn’t have to worry about that yet.

Then October Conference happened and the possibility became extremely real. Katie started to panic in the good way, the way that leads to prayer and the changing of plans and timing according to the idea of The Lord.  I panicked in the bad way that leads to self absorbed fear.  So Katie put in her mission papers, and I decided that I was probably not going to serve a mission.  My resolve to do the things that were right waivered because I was scared and I was too busy thinking of myself to exercise faith and really ask The Lord what I should do.

About a week after I had told my family that I was not going to do the whole mission thing anymore, I went to a fireside that was held in my Grandma’s ward.  It was the old mission president from the Rome mission and since my aunt and uncle both served there, we all went to hear him speak.  It was a great talk about the miracles that helped in the building of the Rome temple.  Near the end of his talk, I had the feeling of “you are going to be there, helping these people” and my stomach dropped and my heart started to pound.  Then, not one second after the person saying the closing prayer said “amen” I heard a voice say lovingly, but firmly “YOU’RE GOING ON A MISSION” and I was like “Okay!”

I turned to my aunt and said, with tears streaming down my face, “Debbie, I’m going to serve a mission” and as the news traveled down the pew, my mom popped her head out from the end and looked at me with these wide eyes and said “you’re going on a mission!?”

I didn’t know it then, but once I finally put on my big-girl pants and followed the promptings of The Lord I felt like the Lamanites in Third Nephi chapter 6.  There were so many different factions of the church and there were people rebelling against the church, but in spite of it all, they decided to remain true.

 “the church was broken up in all the land save it were among a few of the Lamanites who were converted unto the true faith; and they would not depart from it, for they were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord.”

I love the vocabulary of this verse, “they would NOT depart,” they were FIRM, steadfast, immovable and diligent in the face of adversity and fear.  Similarly, in spite of my fears, I did what The Lord asked and I put in my mission papers only a couple months after Katie.

Often I get the “oh holy crap what am I getting myself into” feeling, but I just have to power through those feelings to when I can feel the safety and comfort that comes with following God’s plan for me and when those moments of comfort arrive, I am a little more converted to the truth.

I have a testimony that this gospel is true.  It is one of my prized possessions because The Lord and I have worked so hard to put it all together. There are three things that I think hold my testimony together. First is the atonement, it is so real and I know that through its power, anything is possible. Joseph Smith really did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the Sacred Grove, and the Book of Mormon is true. With a testimony of these three things, there is really no going back for me. I made my decision, and Heavenly Father is helping me stay true to my choice.

I would like to share my favorite scripture with you as a wrap up and it is Doctrine and Covenants 68:6 and it reads:

“wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord and with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come.”

I know that The Lord has stood by me at all times in my life, and that because of this, I do not have need to fear.  I have also been fortunate enough to have so many family and friends who have stood by me and supported me, not just in this upcoming adventure, but in all the ones past and yet to come. Many of you are here today, and that is just more testament to how hard my friends and family rock.  I cannot wait to share the cheerful gospel message with the people of Laoag, they just have no idea how great life can be and I am so pumped to let them know.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."