Hello everyone! My P-Day here is on Saturdays, so that's
when I can e-mail y'all! I've gotten to the MTC safely and now everyone here
thinks I'm the master guru at Tagalog! I came here knowing only about 15 words
and suddenly all the Sisters in my district (a group of about 10 missionaries)
always ask me for what things mean. They each have the goal to try and beat
Sis. Morgan, which I think is funny. All the Sisters (pronounced Seetors with a
Tagalog accent) are wonderful! My kasama, or companion, is Sister McMillan. She
is from Spanish Fork, UT (just 15 minutes north of Provo) and is the first
person in her family to serve a mission.
The language so far has been crazy!
On the first day, within hours of getting to the MTC, they put us in class
where the teachers (return RMs) only speak Tagalog. It's been only three days,
but I can already say my prayers in Tagalog! It's been a lot harder to learn
than German. In class, I have to resist the temptation to blurt out phrases in
German and instead think in Tagalog. Some of the words are fun to say like
pananampalataya which means faith. To prepare us for the mission field, they
assign us a fake investigator (someone who is interested in learning more about
the Church) and we teach them completely in Tagalog! My companion and I already
taught a first lesson and we'll teach more this next week. It's amazing how
when you put forth your effort to learn the language, the Lord makes up the
rest.
The food here is pretty good! They have pizza Friday each week where they
order a bunch of pizzas from Papa Johns. I bet the local Papa Johns is happy
about that arrangement :) Mostly all my time here has been a cycle of studying
scriptures, studying language, teaching others, etc. Even though I miss
everyone at home, I'm really happy here and excited to serve my Heavenly
Father.
Mahal kita,
Sister Morgan
