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Saturday, July 26, 2014

More Learning and Teaching......and Photos!

WEEK 2
Dear Family and Friends,
     
     I have been in the MTC for 17 days now.  It seems like such a long time ago when I first got here.  Only four more days and I will be halfway done with the MTC.  It is discouraging to see the English speaking elders get here and then leave 10 days later, but I know that I am going to need every second I can get to grow and learn the language.  A lot has happened with our investigator since we last talked.  My companion and I started studying all the different question forms because we realized that we were spending most of our lesson time answering a question that she asked right at the beginning.  This really paid off because our lessons went to a whole other level.  We finally answered all of her questions about the Holy Ghost and Priesthood Authority. Then we actually committed her to be baptized.  We just decided that we were going to ask her and then she said, "Oo, gusto ako. Ngayon?"  Which is, "Yes I want to.  Can we do it now?"  We were blown away by her response and had to respectfully decline and tell her that we would give her a date.  
     Our next few lessons consisted of us trying to explain tithing, the word of wisdom, and even the law of chastity.  We thought it would be a little awkward, and it was.  She even asked us what our mga karanasang (experiences) were with the law of chastity.  You could say that there was more than a few moments of silent thinking during that lesson.  But it all turned out great in the end.  Joane had to go back to the Philippines, and now we have two new investigators.  Their names are Ace and Ernesto.  We start teaching them on Monday.  
     Now, every Tuesday, we go to something called TRC.  You go to the main building, and they assign you a room.  You go to that room and there are one or two people inside who speak Tagalog.  You just sit down, get to know them, and talk about whatever they need to hear about the gospel for about twenty minutes.  Then you go to another room and do the same thing.  It is really nice because you realize that you are teaching real people, and they have real stories.  Everyone's needs are different, and all you are there to do is to help them draw closer to Christ.  
     I don't have much more time, but I just wanted to say how grateful I am for the MTC and the way that the program is designed to help you focus on what is the most important, which is Jesus Christ.  Every day, our teachers tell us,  "All you do is invite, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost take care of the rest."
     Thanks for all of your support and all of your prayers.  I am finally getting accustomed to the MTC lifestyle and the MTC food.  There is a joke here that everyone says that you feel the spirit all the time, but it is actually just the food.  I have learned that you really do feel the Spirit all of the time, as long as you try your hardest and follow the rules exactly.  Shout out to all of the cousins and all of my amazing family and friends!

-Elder English
                                                                          
                                                                                        
With his companion, Elder Erickson


The Filipinos



 "Kweba ng pato" 
(I believe this is a room for studying and coordinating referred to in last week's letter.)

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for correcting me!! I just use the words, phrases or sentences from his letters. It's wonderful that I'll be able to learn more Tagalog as he continues to write to us.

    ReplyDelete