Week 5 Get-It-Done-Eldredge

     This week has been a blast... I have to say that this week has been my absolute favorite so far. With me falling out of my chair during a lesson, mattress surfing in the residence hall, and snipe hunting- its been a full week. Of course there is also all the amazing religious experiences with a temple across the street and general conference weekend.

       First things first, "The Chair Story." (As it is referred to by my entire zone.) So first off you need to understand TRC. I have no idea what it stands for, sadly, but its when we teach members in Tagalog. The first few weeks we taught members live here at the MTC- that's how I got to meet with Phil Atoigue- and last week we got to Skype with members in the Philippines and teach them a lesson all in Tagalog. Since we already had a lesson plan for the Atonement we decided to do that. We all had our portions set and our words and vocabulary down and we were ready. Nervous, but ready. 

     So as soon as the Skype lesson started I could tell that I had no idea what we were talking about. I scrambled over my notes trying to recognize what we were talking about and then it was my turn. Sister Rosser and Banham had been talking about the Atonement and how through baptism we can be made clean- no matter our past. So now it was my turn to talk about how the sacrament acts as a renewal of the baptismal covenants and, when taken right, can lead to a fresh clean slate at the beginning of each week. Kyle, our Skype buddie, said that he could not see all of us- I think he was skying from his phone- so I do my best to scoot in and Sister Rosser pulls me in. 

     Something happened. I honestly could not tell you what. But the chair slipped and I was down. I can only imagine how that must have looked on the screen to Kyle! So I pull myself up from off the ground and I simply cannot remember a single word in English. It actually took us several minutes to recompose ourselves because we were all laughing soooo hard! Our teacher, Sister Cope is doing her best to stay in her own chair because she is laughing so hard as well! And all the Tagalog left me! It all left me! I had no idea what anything was. What's Hindi? I don't know! (it means 'no' and pronounced hin-dee) And Kyle was doing his best to keep a straight face and I just look over to Sister Banham for help- I literally could not think of any words, English or Tagalog- and she just looked at my chair that was lying there on the floor and we all just lost it again. I don't think I have laughed so hard in my life. 

     Next on the marvelous world of wonder is General Conference!! So, for those of you that you don't know, at the MTC we listen to devotionals Tuesday and Sunday nights in the gym on the collapsible risers/ stands. So for General Conference we were going to do the same thing!  Sit for six hours in the gym, go eat lunch, sit go eat dinner and sit... We could only hope that we would not: 

1) loose feeling in our feet from being cramed into these tiny risers 

2) fall asleep due to the inability to stand and miss out on the blessings 

3) or wet your pants from the inability to get to a bathroom from being crouded in those stands. So the night before- friday night- I talked with my branch President, President  Howard, if we could simply pull the conference up in our language class and watch it there. He was all for it, because we would be more likely to get stuff out of it if we were 

1) comfortable and not in pain from being crammed into the risers and 

2) able to stand if we got sleepy! 

      

     So For general Conference we (Sister Banham, Rosser, and I) brought all the food we had hoarded in the last four weeks to the class room and shared with the Elders in our district. We ate and had the most amazing conference experience we could ever have hoped for. Durring breaks we would clean up the classroom, and discuss what we had learned from that session. 

     

     If you have not watched General Conference just youtube "General Conference April 2016" and it should come up on the Mormon Chanel.

     My favorite talk was the very first talk of the Saturday Morning Session. I wish I had thought to bring my notes and then I could tell you all about it. Too bad you'll have to go and experience it for yourself!! Seriously though, I received personal revelation for myself, for my investigators, for my district, and for my Zone through General Conference. And remember, after watching it, apply it. Think of it like this: If you were a turkey and you went to a meeting about how one turkey had learned to fly, and you learn all these amazing things that can not only impact, but save your life at that meeting; and then at the end of that meeting you walk home? What was the point? Why bother even attending? You've got to apply this stuff to your life! I for one will work on being of a more gentle nature. 

     This comes from the fact that I instill fear into the hearts of men. I'm kidding- though, all the Elders in the newest district are terrified of me. I haven't the foggiest why, but they are. Well, I do. I talked with a few and it's because I am so quick and demanding when we are trying to do our opening exercises. (Opening Exercises is where we have a prayer, sing a hymn, and read a section from the White Missionary Handbook then we close and go to our personal study.) I like to start on time, and I have a lot- and I mean a lot- of studying to do. So I am a little brusque with them in the mornings about starting and I guess the Elders assumed I was like that all the time! So I have been working on being nicer in the morning and throughout the day.

     For our Sunday Devotional we had Vocal Point come and sing and it was the absolute best! After we had the oprotunity to either go and listen to some prerecorded talks or watch a church movie called The Testiments. We, as a Zone chose The Testaments, and when it started it started in Korean!! We all sat there for a bit and wondered if we should try going to a different recording- perhaps Characters of Christ by Bednar- but I got up and went into the sound box to find it empty! I called in a Brother who worked there and explained that it was in the wrong language. (Every week they play this movie in Koran but had changed it up to English that day) He didn't even realize! Once it was fixed we went back into the main room an everyone applauded me because they thought I had fixed it! I have to admit I did give a little bow. Now, because I made it possible for us as a Zone to watch General Conference in our respective class rooms AND I fixed the movie they call me Get It Done Eldredge. Well.. They did for that weekend but I still call myself that when I'm struggling with a language concept...

     This week I was also sick. It was rough and all I wanted to do was sleep and cry and be sick- and it wasnt even that bad! I just had a bad headache and a stomach ache. But I pushed through- I prayed and told God that I could not do it alone, but through and with Him all things can be done. The lesson we had that day with our investigator Lani was litterally the best. Because we, as a companionship, relied on the spirit so much we not only could speak the language but we could also understand her needs and what she was saying. The Lord will provide a way.

     I also got to meet -again- the Elder that Joe went on exchanges with in NZ! His name is Elder McCarthy and he is serving in Kiribati!! What a small world.

     

     So today we went to the temple across the street and did sealings, though only children sealings to their parents, and I brought names that Grammy gave me and I had the COOLEST experience. So beforehand I thought we were doing endowment sessions so I had brought a huge load of names for everyone and while we were eating in the Temple Cafeteria (ISN'T THAT SO COOL THAT THEY HAVE A CAFETERIA?!?!?! Their waffles are the friggin best) everyone talked about how they wanted to either do initiatories or to do sealings. So I shuffled through my names and found 9 males that needed to be sealed to their parents so I thought heck yeah! But only 6 Elders were going to go so I was going to leave the other three names in the locker room but I had the impression I should bring them. So I stuck them in my dress pocket and we all went to the sealing room. The guy who was leading the session first asked if there were any of us for whom this would be their first time and everyone but me and one other elder raised their hand. He then gave us this really cool introduction about the history of the ordinance and the meanings behind the things that he would say. Really cool. So then he said that we were all going to do 2 names each. Instantly my pocket began to burn. I all but leaped out of my seat and handed the extra three names over as fast as I could. I got to stamp the date that they were completed on the card after he put them into the computer. 

    

     After that we all went to the Celestial room and it was seriously the most amazing experience I have had to date in the temple. One of the older sisters that had sat as proxy for the moms came up to me and thanked me for the great spirit that the Elders and Sisters of my zone had brought to the session. What an amazing experience.

   

     So after General Conference on Saturday we went back to the residence and mattress surfed. INSERT PICTURE OF ROSSER BIFFING IT its not as bad as it looks, as the mattress stopped sliding half way down the stairs and Sister Rosser decided to army crawl the rest of the way down! We were all dying it was soooo funny. And only last night we went snipe hunting with all the Kiribati sisters, who had never even heard of it. Sister Brown and I went and hid in the bushes and jumped out and scared the girls. It was the absolute best. They were a little upset but now they all think it was hysterical. 

     I have grown so close to these missionaries, Sisters and Elders. It will be hard to leave them but since we are on the Lord's mission it will all end well! I love you all!!

                                Sister Eldredge

Fun Tagalog words!!

     Dalas- (da-lass) meaning 'often'

     Kaligayahan (cali-guy-ah-han) meaning 'Joy'

Lori, that one is for you.

     Pusa (poo-sa) meaning cat

     Puso (poo-so) meaning heart. Dont mix them up!! You dont feel the Holy Ghost in your cat!!

Week 4: A new Elder arrived at the training center from New Zealand who had Been! With! My! Brother! Joe! In! New! Zealand! DAYS! AGO!!!

3/31/16

This week I had the blessing of being able to be like Moses. I didn't part any seas but I did have my mouth filled with the Lord's words. In one of our lessons I got the overwhelming feeling to bear my testimony and the words just came! My grammar was good and the words all made sense and it was an absolutely beautiful experience. I pray every day to be able to have the faith that the Lord will be able to work through me again like that.

SO GUESS WHAT FUN STUFF? I LOST ALL THE NOTES I TOOK THROUGHOUT THE WEEK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED SO I AM GONNA GO AND TRY TO WING IT. SORRY IF ITS NOT AS DETAILED AS USUAL NOT TO MENTION MY PICTURES OF MY COMICS DIDN'T REALLY TURN OUT SO THERE WILL ONLY BE THE ONE...

IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!

 Magundang Hapon Everyone!! (beautiful day)

    So spring has sprung here at the MTC and the weather cannot make up its mind. One day it will be snowing and the next it will be bright and sun-shiny and I want to quote the dwarf from Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe "Its so warm out" because its sooo warm and you want to take off all the million layers you've put on to try and survive! My mother has been such a blessing and has sent me jackets, vests. the softest socks on earth and her love. They all came in separate packages so every day I'd get a new package full of love and warmth! It was driving my mga Kasama crazy!! (So in the Philippines in order to make something plural you add 'mga'- pronounced 'manga'- before the word) 

My mga kasama thank my mother daily for the warm things she sends, as I tend to share them with them! It's rather funny, as I keep confusing Sister Rosser's name with the light artist Rothco and mixing the two up to call her 'Rosco.' She tells me she is going to name a dog Rosco now, because of how often I call her that.

    

    So Easter was an absolute blast here at the MTC, we got to listen to M. Russel Ballard speak for our Sunday morning Easter Devotional. And with next week being General Conference I don't have to worry about preparing a talk for sacrament meeting! So how my branch president, President Howard, does sacrament meeting is he gets up to do the announcements and then announces who is going to give a talk. No warning whatsoever so everyone must come with a talk prepared! Last week I got called to give a talk and I had not prepared a thing! I honestly didn't even know what the topic was. So I went up, sang a song out of the Tagalog hymn book Ako ay Anak ng Dios (pronounced: ah-ko I ah-nah-k n-g d-joe-s) and bore my testimony that God loves us and did my best to look like I knew what I was doing. It was rather funny because as I walked to sacrament meeting I just KNEW I was going to get called on to give a talk so I had two songs I was going to choose from, Espiritu ng Dios (The Spirit of God, PronouncedL eh-spiritu n-g d-joe-s) and Ako ay Anak ng Dios. (I am a Child of God) Apparently I did pretty well as people kept thanking me for singing and complimenting me on my singing voice.

    I don't know if I've told y'all but in the Philippines most of them do not know how to play the piano so how they begin singing is the conductor will sing the first few words so everyone starts on the right key and then they say Handa, awit (pronounced: Honda aw-wheat) which means ready, begin. So I have gotten pretty good at guessing what key a song can be sang in where everyone can reach it. It might not be the right key but its high enough for the Sisters and low enough for the Elders

    So last week we got a new batch of Sisters and Elders and they are the best! I thought I connected well with the district that left a few weeks ago, but these missionaries are amazing. My poor dears, a sister in my zone tried to warm up some pre-popped caramelized popcorn in the residence microwave and it CAUGHT ON FIRE and the whole level smelled of burnt popcorn! We came in just as it had stopped burning so we saw a bunch of Sisters evacuating because of the smell and our poor sister running to the microwave to try and clean it up! Later that day an Elder got a package and in it was the exact same kind of popcorn that the sister had burned and so he gave it to her and told her to not stick it in the microwave and she fell out of her chair laughing. It was good fun. Thankfully the burnt-popcorn smell didn't stay longer than a day...

(from right to left: Elder Fifita, Elder Lowry, Sister Banham, Sister Rosser, myself, Elder Tibeti, (Pronounced tie-bess and Elder Maoingoa- pronounced mowh-ing-oh-ah)

    I am so incredibly blessed in my district. We all know how to have fun and mess around, but we also know when we need to study. It's been such a blessing to have been assigned to work so closely with these missionaries. They are what keep me going, they are encouraging and have the most amazing testimonies. Elder Tibeti, even though he arrived a week after we did and had to try and catch up with us in the language has surpassed us and his testimony makes us all cry. As a District our first week we decided to try and read the entire Aklat Ni Mormon (Book of Mormon) in the 6 weeks that we are here at the Provo, MTC and although most of us are only in Helaman Elder Tibeti- even starting a week late- has finished!! 

And it is always fun when the teachers join in on the joking around!

    Yesterday I ran into an Elder who, before he came to the MTC, went on splits with the missionaries in his area and guess who he tracked with?!?!?! JOE!! I mean Elder Eldredge. It was soooooo funny! I walked up to him and his companion to welcome them to the MTC and he asked me if I knew an Elder Eldredge in New Zealand and it was the friggin' coolest thing ever. He's going to serve in Kiribati (kitty-bus) which is a pacific island right on the equator by Australia. Half of my Zone is from that Island so he and his companion got swamped by my zone all wanting to talk to them and get their names so they could write home about them. It was sooo cool. Its certainly a small world- especially in Mormon town.

     

    So sadly, I lost all of my notes detailing all the things I wanted to talk to you about, so this will be a very sort blog post! Just know that I love you and I think of you, all of you, all the time! And Fun stuff, it only takes a week for mail to exchange between the Philippines and America, so you will definitely be getting snail mail from me while I am out in the field! If I've written to you then I'll probably do so again. If I haven't its probably because I don't have your physical address! So send it to me!

Mahal ko tayo! (I love all ya'll- yes that is the literal translation. pronounced mah-hall co tie-yo)

Week 3: The Lord Can Work Miracles In My Life!

3/24/2016

    What a week. Time just keeps getting faster and faster! If it wasn't for me taking notes throughout the week I would be telling you that I have nothing to say. But boy do I have stuff to say! hahha With Easter coming up and new districts coming in, as well as our older district leaving, its been an intense week. I kept going back to my family's motto: "Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust!" Honestly that pixie dust (the spirit and Heavenly Father's guidance) is what gets me through some days and it is the most amazing thing to lean so heavily upon the Lord.

    So funny Tagalog mishaps this week!! I've got two great ones! In a lesson I tried to say 'God loves you' but accidentally said "gosh, I love you!" My mga kasama (muh-n-gah cass-am-ah =companions, plural) and the investigator (our teacher Brother Warnick) tried so hard not to laugh, and I didn't realize what I had said wrong until my mga kasama explained it to me! I was so embarrassed! But it was OK, because Sister Rosser accidentally called 'Jose' 'Ernesto' which is the name Brother Warnick had gone by as our last investigator! I also accidentally said goodnight instead of you're welcome!  

    Showers are still fun, as this week we all became Celine Dion. We were all trying to sing "and iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii will always lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou!!!" and we all sounded like a bunch of skinned cats in an automated rocking chair factory. It was awesome.

    For all you worry warts- In Alma 57:21 God promises to bless those who follow with strict obedience with protection and guidance. In the Scriptures these young men fight in a war and, because of their great faith, not one life was lost! So I will be OK!

    Speaking of OK.... My Kasamahan (kah-sama-hahn =companionship) was asked to be the new Sister Training Leaders! So, in essence, each class is called a District and in each District there is the District Leader. There are several Districts in a Zone and there are two Zone Leaders chosen from all the combined Districts and then there are the Sister Training Leaders. So District Leaders look over their District and report to the Zone Leader who reports the goings on of the whole Zone to the mission president. Sister training leaders take care of all the girls in the Zone, so we are basically like Zone Leaders, just for the girls. I hope that makes sense...

MOM PLEASE CHECK MY SPELLING FOR KAITIBATI

    Well this last Wednesday we got two new districts, with six new girls total! Half of them are from Kiribati with English being their second language and Tagalog being their third! It's daunting but I hope that they feel welcome and that they know that although the MTC is hard it is soooo worth it.

    "Why do you get so cold when you're old? I'm fatter than ever, yet the wind blows right through me!!" -Howl's Moving Castle   This quote sadly speaks so true to me. I gained four pounds just in the first week here at the MTC and I'm constantly cold. You may be thinking 'well Mikella, you're such a stick anyways i'm sure its no big deal!' Thank you for thinking so, but it it driving me crazy nonetheless. It may have to do with my eating habbits here at the MTC...

Or it may be the fact that I eat three meals a day and sit on my butt in language class the rest. Thankfully we do have gym, and that is so fun but it is not enough apparently! Ha ha ha!

    Did you know that Ewoks speak Tagalog? Its true! When They are looking at Princess Leah they say "Magundang syia" (Mung- ga-dung sh-ya) which means "She is pretty" or "She is beautiful." So fun fact, I'm speaking ewok. Some other fun Tagalog trivia is that 'Library,' when literally translated, means 'book place' or the 'place of books.' Then the word Pagbabayad-sala (pug-ba-buy-yad- sal-lah) which means Atonement literally means 'He has paid for our sins in advance.'

    Recently I have noticed that my ability to speak Tagalog was stagnating. I could study as hard as I wanted, but would never really take anything in; at least not for long term. I was able to talk with my wonderful teacher, Sister Marcucci, and was able to realize that I was doubting myself, and the Lord's ability- or willingness- to work miracles in my life. I can believe that God can reorder time and universes but was unsure if He would help and guide me, If I was worthy to even be here. Needless to say it was a rough day for me. But then I read in Alma 14 where Alma and his companion are imprisoned and he prays for the very walls to fall down- and they do! That great miracle came to pass because the Lord was able to work through Alma by his faith. For through faith we can do all things. So long as we trust in the lord, even if we must go to Him and ask if it is the right way to go (Brother of Jared) then He will be able to not only work through our faith, but we will know that we are working according to His plan.

    I also got a blessing this week from my District Leader, Elder Lowry.

He is an amazing missionary and he's always got a joke on hand. (After this picture was taken he accidentally walked into a wall) Ha ha. It was the first blessing he had ever given, and although he was apprehensive about it after he had blessed myself and one of my companions he kept saying over and over, "that wasn't me, that was Him!" The marvelous thing about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is that we have these pathways to hear from our loving Heavenly Father, be it through prayer, scripture reading, receiving a patriarchal blessing, or priesthood blessings. The Lord want's to communicate with us and we can and we should! Make prayer a priority. If you haven't prayed in a while, do so now. If you have I ask you to ensure that you are truly pouring your heart out to him and allowing Him time to communicate with you! Its a phone call, people! You don't just talk and talk and talk and then hang up! Wait and Listen, and when you listen act!!

    

    I was in a lesson earlier this week an dI kept having the impression to say something to our investigator. I didn't want to as in lessons you are supposed to talk in all Tagalog- which I cant do just yet... But this impression kept coming to me and I finally thought "I cant!" I all but shouted at the spirit and the next instant the prompting left and my companion said what I had been prompted to say- and she didn't say it perfectly either, but she tried! That's the difference! The Lord told Moses that He would put the words into his mouth and He will. We just need to show faith in him and in ourselves to accomplish His work.

    As I may have said before, this is the hardest thing I have ever done. It is also the most gratifying and the most awe-inspiring thing I have done. But that does not mean we are serious all the time! We laugh as we teach, we laugh as we make mistakes, we laugh as we do personal study and we laugh as we share and enjoy our mail.

    Thank you so much to all who sent me Dear Elders, cookies, tea and love. You brighten my day!

    As an example there is a whiteboard outside our classroom in the hallway, and for almost a week we had the lumbalumba ng Diyos (lum-bah-lum-bah means Dolphin) in all its glory portrayed. It's just a super fun word to say, lumbalumba...

   Well my time is up and I love you all!! Keep the Easter season in your heart year round, and you will be blessed.

Sister Eldredge

Week 2: I LOVE THE MTC!! Also, Language Shenanigans & General Fun in the MTC

Magundung Hapon everyone! 

     This week has gone by so fast its insane, so let's start with Thursday last week: I received a Dear Elder from my darling mother and it was written in Jane Austin-era writing and I shared it with my whole district and even my teachers. It was hysterical. 

LANGUAGE STUDY FUN

panel two: *Elder Fifita bumps the door*

pannel three: *we all think someone is coming in*

the words by sister rosser= *praying*

     So apparently in the Phillipines when you beckon for someone to come to you or to follow, you have to do it with your fingers downward. (Now keep in mind we are a bunch of 25-19 year olds that are removed from any form of entertainment possible so the dumbest things are hysterical.) So Our teacher stepped out for our personal study time- and during this time you study topics for the investigators you are teaching and you study the language. Well Sister Rosser was staring at her hand, wiggling her fingers in a Filipino beckoning motion and changing the rotation of how she was beckoning. There was next to no change in the way it looks but one way feels really strange compared to the other. 

Sister Rosser by her comic personality.

     So she started giggling like crazy and pretty soon Sister Banham and I were all doing the filipino beckoning motion together and giggling like we are insane when Elder Fifita bumped into the door and we all freaked out because we thought the teacher was coming back in! It was way funny.

 

My District

So from left to right is Elder Fifita of California- the District leader, and his Kasama Elder Lowry of Michigan. Then Myself, Sister Rosser and Sister Banham of Utah. Elder Tibiti (tie-bus) of Kiribati and Elder Mauigoa (mow-een-go-wa) of Samoa. I feel like I have known these missionaries my whole life and I cannot begin to explain how dear they are to me. 

     This week I got all my immunizations out and it hurt like the dickens but if I don't get sick over in the Philippines its all good. Oh! another fun fact for all you worry warts; you are more likely to die from falling coconuts than from typhoons. Just keep that in mind. I'll be ok; I won't do anything stupid (My stake president here in the MTC had us all write it in the Missionary handbook our first day here) and I'll avoid coconut trees. 

     I've been so blessed with the companions (mga kasama) that I have. They are exactly what I needed in companions and I know that me being with them is by divine design.

SURPRISES

Panel one: Sister Rosser: so what so you miss most about being home?

panel 2: *without missing a beat* instant messaging

pannel 3: hehehe....

panel 4: anooo? (translation: whaaaat?)

panel 5: you just never cease to surprise us.

     One of the fun things about having Sisters and Elders in my Zone from Katibati (kitty-bus) is the fun cultural things I learn from them. Like how to catcall, for instance: "Tsss Tsss." So ever since my mga kasama and I learned how to catcall at them we have been hissing at them every time we see each other. It's so funny because they will laugh if you just look at them so catcalling will make them dissolve into puddles on the floor, they are so expressive. This one time I hissed at one of the sisters and she hadn't seen me there so she jumped a foot in the air I had scared her so bad. The MTC would be so much harder without them in our Zone, they are so fun.

     So this little thought struck me while trying to focus on language class and not on the upcoming Sabbath. Compare this comic to the scene from Emperor's New Groove (If you haven't seen it shame on you its one of my utmost favorite Disney movies its so quotable.) Where Yzma and Kronk are talking after turning Emperor Kuzco into a llama. (spoilers) The Kuzco is represented by the Tagalog language, Kronk is me, and my teacher Ms Marcucci is Yzma.

EMPEROR'S NEW LANGUAGE 

Panel one: "Perfect! Now take the language out of town and finish the job!"

Panel 2: ME: What about P-day?     Teacher: Sister Eldredge, this is kind of important

Panel 3:  ME: and sunday? TEacher: alright, a quick day of rest..

Panel4: THEN TAKE THE LANGUAGE OUT OF TOWN AND FINISH THE JOB!!

     My favorite phrase in Tagalog this week is "Ano ba iyan?" (ah-no bah yen) which means "What the heck?" My mga kasama and I say it almost every other minute. So we were learning about the importance of proper grammar and object focus in language class this week and our teacher asked (in tagalog) "did the devil tempt the people?" and someone shouted out (in tagalog) "I tempted the devil!" It took us all a while to translate the sentence before we were all laughing like crazy. The teacher had to sit down he was laughing so hard.

     Which brings me to my wonderful language mishap this week. So there is "Alam ko po na..." (ah-lah-m ko po nah) which means " I know that..." and there is "Hindi ko alam na..." (hi-n-dee ko ah-la-m nah) which means "I don't know that..." so while I was teaching one of our investigators- we are teaching two right now- instead of bearing my testimony by saying "Alam ko po na ng Espiritu Santo will basbasan pamilia tayo." I said hindi ko alam! So instead of saying "I know that the Holy Ghost will bless your family" I said "I don't know that the Holy Ghost will bless your family! My mga Kasama were both just sitting there staring at me trying to tell me telepathically that I had just said it wrong! Luckily they knew the phrase "forgive us we are still learning the language" (which is something I should learn... and they were able to save the lesson! hahaha When we got out of the lesson we all fell over laughing at how bad we had messed up. It's both nice and not so nice that our teachers play our investigators, that way we aren't messing up someone's salvation and the teachers know exactly what it is we need to learn. But is also strange because one minute they are your teacher and the next they are playing"Lani" or "Jose." I'm so blessed to have grown up in a family that taught me to laugh at my mistakes.

     Whenever a guy is in the Sister's Residence Hall (for maintenance, cleaning, etc.) an announcement comes on the intercom to let us all know we have to be decent or lock our door and hide under the covers (JK)... It is the funniest thing ever.

MALE IN THE BUILDING

Panel1: *at the residence*

panel 2: MALE!! THERE IS A MALE IN THE BUILDING

panel 3: "Ano Biy an?" *translation: what the heck?"

     So every Wednesday new missionaries arrive at the MTC and this week I got to host the noobs!! So when I was dropped off at the MTC there was a Sister who picked me up at the curb. She helped my family take pictures and then guided me around the campus picking up my necessary books and showing where I would be eating sleeping and breathing the next 6 weeks. So I got to do that this week for two sisters, one going to Nauvoo, IL and the other going to France. It was so amazing to see their enthusiasm and remember when I was dropped off three weeks ago.  Not to mention my whole District got to get out of language class! That is both awesome and not, because we now have to catch up what we missed.... so hurray for learning a new language in about 6 weeks!

 

     I feel like I have been born again. This whole mission experience has changed the way I see everything. Back home can be compared to the pre-mortal life in heaven where we all lived as spirit children of God with Him. We are old yet so young, unable to comprehend so many things. Receiving your call is like hearing where and when in the world you will be sent into mortality. Your family knows that it will be hard, though we cannot fully comprehend, but they know that you will be strengthened and be better for having gone. Leaving for your mission is your birth into mortality. When you first get here you are disoriented and you cry easily like a baby and by the time you leave the MTC you are a youth or a young adult prepared to take on the world- or at least you think you are. You receive little notes from home and you hold them close to your heart- they are reminders of the support and love you have backing you up every step of the way. You could compare the skype sessions as to large 'aha' moments where the spirit just hits you. Your mission is your new life, you are with your Trainer and they show you that you can. Soon you are training others, and this is like parenthood. You take in new 'greenies' (missionaries that are new to the mission field) and you train and teach them best you can. Then you grow old, after training and being trained by so many and return home to your parents: this is your death, there is still so much to learn and to do. Death isn't the end, but the beginning of yet another life. 

     I haven't even left the MTC and I know that this is the most amazing, hard, and spiritually enriching experience. I am so blessed to have the support I do.

With all my love, 

     Sister Eldredge

     Bricken and Associates Shout out! Just letting all y'all know that I miss you and hope you are continuing to be the most amazing people ever. I'm thinking about and praying for you often!!

Week 1

Me and my two companions Sister Rosser and Sister Banham

3/10/16

Before I came here to the MTC I have to say life (compared to this emotional roller coaster) was fun, but this is the most amazing fun I have ever had in my life. Don't get me wrong the language is hard and its emotional here but I have not only grown as a person but created such amazing relationships with my kasamahan, my district, and my Zone that I know I will keep in touch with them for the rest of my life. We laugh over everything. Because when you are bored and there is nothing to do but study the language and study the gospel anything is funny. Like the other day my hair was covering my name badge and so someone came up and was speaking in Tagalog and I could tell the gyst of what he was saying. I though he said 'what is your name?" but what he said was "Oh sister Eldredge! Where are you from?" So I- ever so confidently- flung my hair over my shoulder to show off my name tag and said "My name is Sister Eldredge!" Everyone busted up laughing and I have to say I hav not laughed that hard in a long time. Yes it was awfully embarrassing and every now and then my mga kasama will flip their hair over their shoulders dramatically and we will all laugh.

So my first week here at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) has been absolutely crazy. From day one we started learning the language and the teachers speak only Tagalog... no english. So there is a lot of "I think you said this" and miming as well as them writing things like totoo= true on the board. So there are groups called Districts which - at least here at the MTC are basically your classmates- and then the Zone. The Zone consists of everyone learning your language. So for people going to France and speaking french there may be several zones that make up everyone who is learning that language and at least three times as many districts. For me there are about three or four zones in my district and that consists of everyone learning Tagalog. So its not the biggest group.

Joe talked about how there were only 28 missionaries in his MTC in NZ and I think I saw 100 missionaries arriving with me the first day. It's crazy big here. I will be spending 6 weeks here at the Provo MTC and then 5 days to a week in the MTC in Manila, Philippines. So out of the 540 days that I get out of a mission I will spend about 40-50 of them in an MTC. So once I get out I've got to hit the ground running so I can make the most of my time with the people of Laoag!!

Happy Birthday to Lilly Mayhew and Jacqueline Gilmore! I miss you both more than I can express. And Congratulations to Maddison Mayhew on her baptism last week! I wish I had been there to give you the biggest hug ever! I know the lord will bless and guide you and the Espiritu Santo will never lead you wrong. Be sure to listen carefully to how you feel now that you have the kaloob ng espiritu santo (the gift of the holy ghost) and your life will be blessed.

So for all you worry warts: In the Philippines the mission homes have their water go through THREE filters before we get it. Not to mention that on my first day they gave me a water bottle that filters water as you drink it. So I've got that and I've got the LifeStraw that dad gave me. So I will be OK! hahah

And for those who want to there is a thing called Dear Elder where you can send me letters here in the MTC and I will get them THAT day! That way I can write you back and I will have more time to contemplate what I want to say to you so you won't get the crappy emails I've been writing so far that basically consist of "thank you so much for writing, im sorry I can't say much" Y'all took the time to email me and I want to be sure that you dont get crappy emails like that but i am literally am running around trying to get time to write to everyone! Its such a blessing and I feel sooooooo loved!

The language is hard. Let me tell you that again; the language is HARD! But I am so blessed to not be going to a country where the characters are different like Taiwan or Korea. At least Tagalog sounds exactly how it is spelled. I dont think I have ever prayed so much in my life as I have this last week. We pray before we do everything and we pray after we do everything. It is good practice as I am now praying in a different language! Its hard because I cant just start talking to Heavenly Father like I used to, I've got to seriously think and congigate and all this fun grammar stuff I am not the best at. It has made my prayers all the more meaningful as I take the time to slow down and say what I am really feeling. I finally said a prayer almost full tagalog just yesterday and I truly felt the spirit. It is amazing the leaps and bounds in progress you can do when you give up your prideful ways (or I give up my prideful ways) and lean upon the Lord to help you learn.

My district has set the goal to read the entire book of mormon (aklat ni mormon) in the 6 weeks we are here. Its crazy and I have never read the BOM this fast. Aunt Sarah, you were totally right I just can't put it down. The BOM has become the MOST interesting and powerful book. Before I came here to the MTC I would feel good if I read one or two chapters daily but here its like six chapters a day is easy and its amazing. Oh and fun fact! My Zone will get to be a part of the dedication of the new Provo Temple! I cant wait for that! It will be AMAZING i'm sure.

One of the absolute best things about living in a building full of girls is shower time. We sing hymns or show tunes or songs from that animated movie by Dreamworks about Moses. Singing hymns with people who are singing them in a different language is the COOLEST thing ever.So I have been dying to watch the moses movie. I honestly can not remember what it is called...

Speaking of not being able to remember things! I spent a good fifteen minutes during lunch trying to remember the word 'honest engine.' For those that may not know my dad is an absolute tease. You never know if he is being honest or not so in order to find out you ask him 'honest engine' and if he replies in Honest Engine (not engine honest or any other variation) then he is being serious. I couldn't believe I forgot that!! There are just so many words that I have to remember and they almost all start with the letter 'p' or 'm' so I'm running out of brain space.

So  I have the absolute best mga kasama ever. (In Tagalog to make things plural you put 'mga' -pronounced manga- in front of it.) Sister Rosser is from Santaquin Utah and Sister Banham is from Logan Utah. A large portion of our Zone consists of people from Kiribati (pronounced kitty-bus) and because some of them are still working on their visas to America they did not all come in the same day as the rest of my district. Just yesterday we got a new elder so he will have to catch up to the rest of us in the Tagalog language. It'll be harsh but I know he can do it.

Its so funny the little quirks and such that you never realize are unique to your family until you are glued to your mga kasama side. Like I'd say "Stop doing that bandi" from the Kid History youtube videos and my whole district would just stare at me like a grew an extra foot! hahahha

By the third day here at the MTC we were already teaching investigators. Now these investigators are people who volunteer to have the lessons taught to them. They are not real investigators but that does not make it any less daunting! Trying to speak Tagalog is hard, trying to teach someone the gospel by speaking taglish/ tagalog/ miming is even harder. Especially when your investigator speaks Tagalog fluently. In the first lesson Elder Maoingoa (maw-ing-oh-ah) was trying to say that God loves the investigator's family but accidentally said 'I love you.' The Investigator BUSTED up laughing and it wasn't until he explained to him what he had said did he realize.

If anyone wants to send a care package feel free to print out and mail pictures so I can brag about my awesome family and friends to my kasamahan and some fruit herbal tea would be such a blessing. I cant even begin to tell you. Here at the MTC lukewarm is considered hot and being able to microwave my own tea the other day (my Sister Leader gave me some Blueberry tea and it was an emotional time... hahaha) was an absolute basbabasan (blessing.)

If you are looking for a nice talk to listen to or watch I would suggest David A Bednar's talk "Christlike attributes" that was given at the Provo MTC. It changed my outlook on life and my outlook on my mission.

I love you all more than you know and I cant wait to hear from all of you!!