Week 5

Magandang Umaga!

Today my companions are having an English Fast... and so far it has been so much fun!  We're beginning to realize that we know a lot more than we think we do... and also that we don't know the words for anything that doesn't have to do with our lessons, haha.  Needless to say, we've been carrying around our dictionaries :)  

This morning at the temple, we did sealings, which was an amazing experience.  We were proxy for daughters, but we also got to witness a marriage sealing.  I loved being there and listening to it all. I hope I will get a chance to do that again before I leave for the Philippines.  We are over halfway done with our stay here at the MTC.  I'm getting more and more anxious to be out there.  I don't feel ready... but I don't know if I will ever feel that.  It's hard to see your friends come and leave the MTC though when you still have several weeks to go. 

My favorite thing to do here is sing.  The choir is so amazing... I think I feel the spirit there more than anywhere else, especially as he uses the songs we sing  to teach us things which we can apply to our lives.  Tonight we're singing in the Devotional and we're singing an arrangement of Joseph Smith's First Prayer.  Who knows who we will be singing for... we never know who the speaker is until right before it starts.  I'm always excited to find out though.  Last week we heard from the Provo Temple President and on Sunday's devotional we heard from Ronald A. Rasband, in the presidency of the 70.  Outside the choir, I sing almost 24/7.  :)  It's really hard not to break out in song when someone says a phrase of a song that I know.  I've been doing better though at only singing church songs.  I like to jazz up the hymns a bit though... hope that's okay.  It's just so much fun!  I love to sing so much!  I've been asked if I'm one of those cronically happy people... maybe so. :)

I think the most important thing I learned this week is that when we humble ourselves before the Lord, he really will help us.  I always knew that, but I've been studying a lot about humility and what that means.  I don't know why it takes me so long to humble myself and listen to and trust the Spirit, but when I do, the results are amazing.  I too often let my pride get in the way of doing the Lord's work and I don't even realize it most of the time. 

I love my life so much.  This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Savior lives!  He knows us and is mindful of us and will help us when we ask Him.   He really does and He loves us more than we can possibly imagine.  I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to be one of God's missionaries here on the earth at this time.  It makes me so happy.  The church is true!! (: 

Love, Heidi

Week 4

Thanks Dad for sharing that story, I really enjoy hearing temple experiences.  This past week, the Provo Temple President spoke at a devotional and he shared a lot of really good temple stories.  We also heard from Elder L. Tom Perry at last Tuesday's devotional.  They both were amazing speakers.  This last week has been incredible actually.  I have been studying a lot lately about missionaries in the scriptures, especially the sons of Mosiah and they have given me such a greater desire to do my very best.  They had to endure so much, but they never gave up and they ended up bringing so many people to Christ.  I also watched the Mountain of the Lord again and realized how much sacrifice was put into building the salt lake temple and all the temples.  I again had the urge to do my very best while here. 

 

I love Tagalog!  This past week, I taught 6 lessons and didn't use notes in any of them.  It's incredible how much you realize you can say and how much the Lord helps you when you are doing His work.  I've been memorizing the articles of faith in Tagalog and a few hymns and it's been coming so quickly.  So, I have been blessed in that respect, but we are still having a hard time using all the teaching fundamentals that we need to be.  That is something we need to learn to do in English before we will be able to do it in Tagalog.  Really getting to know your investigator well enough to be able to apply the lesson to their lives and make sure you are teaching something that they understand can benefit them.  We are still working on that, but hopefully it will come soon.

 

Alam ko po na buhay ang Diyos.  Jesucristo ang ating Tagapagligtas.  Alam ko po na nagbayad-sala ni Jesucristo para sa kasalanan natin dahil mahal niya tayo.  Alam ko po na totoong propeta si Thomas S. Monson sa mundo.  Alam ko po na nagpakita ang Diyos at si Jesucristo kay Joseph Smith noong 1820.  Ipinanumbalik ng Diyos ang ebanghelyo sa pamamagitan ni Joseph Smith.  Totoo ang Simbahan ni Jesucristo ng mga banal sa mga huling araw.  Nagpapasalamat ako para sa pamilya ko at mga kaibigan ko.  Nagpapasalamat ako para sa mga templo.  Mahal ko kayo! 

 

I don't know if that was all perfectly correct, but I gave it my best shot.  For some reason it's harder writing it down than speaking it because I have to decide if it looks right instead of if it sounds right, haha.  Good luck figuring out what it says. (:

Have a wonderful week!

Heidi

Week 3

Dear Family,

 

I am so excited for you Jarom!  I can't wait to see Emma! 

 

Let's see, what has happened this week?  We taught one of our "investigators" yesterday and failed miserably.  He hadn't followed up on the commitment to read the Book of Mormon, so we spent the majority of our time reading with him and he looked so bored the whole time.  Then when we started our lesson about how to pray, he kept interupting us telling us that he already knew everything we were saying.  We didn't know how to change our lesson in the moment though because... we still don't really know this language all that well.  Then, we ran out of time and had to leave before we could extend a new commitment or share our testimonies or anything.  There are a lot of things we need to work on, but I think one of our biggest problems is that we aren't very unified as a companionship.  We've already tried so many things to help with that, but our ideas are just so different.  I don't know what else to do.  I am now the senior companion and being the least opinionated person in the trio am trying my best to keep the peace.  Nothing any of us say is going to change the other's opinions of certain things.  If any of you have any good ideas, please let me know.

 

Last Tuesday, Elder D. Todd Christofferson came and spoke to us for devotional.  They never tell us who is going to be speaking before we get there, so I had no idea why we all stood up in the middle of our prelude singing.  It was pretty exciting.  And I also noticed that everyone sang louder than normal with him there.  Later on in the meeting though, I felt a little bad for President Brown and also embarrased at the image we were giving ourselves. He was treating the meeting as a Q&A type meeting and one time he asked who could quote our purpose.  Several people raised their hands and had the microphone brought to them and tried, and failed.  I felt bad that I wasn't even confident enough in it to raise my hand.  President Brown is always stressing for us to have our purpose memorized... I have it memorized now though! (:  Other than that, the meeting was really good.  His wife talked about love and how we should love our investigators and think of them as though they could be our brother, or daughter, or aunt.  They really are part of our family.  Elder Christofferson talked about the Doctrine of Christ, which is something I have been studying up on a lot more lately. 

 

So, kind of funny... but not really... the MTC is starting an Illongo Program in July, just after we leave.  So... we will be the last group of missionaries going to Iloilo that learns Tagalog at the MTC.  I know that learning Tagalog will be so helpful though, even though we will have to learn different dialects when we get out there.  We just lost most of the people in our Zone to the Philippines, so as of right now, there are only 2 districts still here that are going to the Philippines. But, there is a new group of missionaries coming tomorrow that will take their place. 7 new sisters and 9 new elders. Crazy! Only our district is going to Iloilo. 

 

FYI, I am scheduled to go to the Philippines on June 25th, so you guys can notify the bank.

Oh! And I have an awesome bruise on my arm from volleyball (:

 

Ah, that time really goes down super fast! Bummer! Have a good week everyone!

Thanks for your letters!

 

Heidi 

Week 2

Salamat everyone for your letters! I love them so much! I am so excited to be a missionary! You all have no idea how amazing this experience has been already. I shared my testimony on Sunday during Sacrament Meeting in Tagalog... the language is coming so quickly!!  Before I talk more about that, I have to say how good a day it has been already.  We woke up early to go to the temple and that experience was of course amazing... then in the dressing room, I saw my old roommate Sister Melody Smith, who has been serving in the Provo, UT mission and is going home tomorrow! We ate breakfast in the cafeteria and the elders in our district paid for us.  I had waffles and the worker behind the counter made a smiley face with the whipped topping for me :)  Then Elder Hidalgo gave me his rice crispy treat... such a wonderful morning! :)

 

Anyways, the lessons we've taught so far have been... interesting.  Yesterday we got a new "investigator" and it was the funniest thing ever.  We were trying to keep the spirit there, but right from the beginning it was a challenge.  Sister White accidentally asked him "Do I have a family?" instead of "Do you have a family?"  and he turned and asked me, "I don't know, does she?"  I burst out laughing... I was trying so hard not to though.  I taught and recited the first vision, which went pretty well, but at the end when Sister Bowen asked him if he would prepare himself to be baptised, he asked her to repeat the question.  The second time she said it, he cut her off short right after she said "Ihahanda mo ba" which means will you prepare and he said "Sure, what would you like? Adobe? Biscuit? Donut?"  We didn't really understand what he was asking though and had him write down his question on a piece of paper so we could answer his question later.  It was pretty funny when we realized he didn't understand at all! (of course he did, but he was giving us a really hard time).   We learned though that we need to be super clear and make sure investigators understand what you are asking them. :)  The elders who taught him after us had an even harder time.  They couldn't even get in the door.  They didn't know how to ask to come in, so they taught their whole 25 minute lesson out in the hallway.  We were lucky.  He was outside when we got to the room, so we went inside and had a seat.  When he came in, he asked if his wife had let us in.  We said yes and all was good :)

 

I am actually loving teaching... for the first time in my life.  There's an art to it... to figure out what their needs are... to get to know them and try to help them in the best way you can, by just trusting in and following the spirit.  I am definitely not fluent in the language yet, but I have found that it's easier for me to testify in Tagalog than in English... and I think that is because I have been called and set apart to serve in the language of Tagalog, not in English.  I am being helped so much more than I ever expected when I got here.  Every day the spirit is just so strong and I love it.  The church is true!  I know that God and Jesus Christ really did appear to Joseph Smith and that through him, Christ's church was again restored to the earth.  We have a true and living prophet today on the earth and his name is President Thomas S. Monson. 

 

I was totally going to send pictures today, but there isn't a slot for a memory card on these computers... and it says I'm not authorized to access the device when I plug it in the USB... so I'll have to see what other missionaries do.  One more thing, they have informed us that we will not be able to call on mother's day.  I didn't know if you guys already knew that, but I didn't.  I'm pretty disappointed about it, but I did just see you a couple weeks ago.  So, Happy Mother's Day Mom, I love you so much!  I am so grateful for all that you have done and do for me.  I really appreciate your prayers and support.  I love you!

 

Mahal Kita! Magandang Araw! Ingat! (:

-Heidi

May 1, 2012

Congratulations Kristy! I can't wait to meet Dallin!  I'm so excited for your family!  Dad sent me the newsletter and I got to see the pictures.  I was especially excited to see that they were all wearing the tie-dye shirts I helped make. (:  James is perfect for a middle name, you chose well (:

 

I think any of my family is allowed to have my email address... the only problem with that is that if everyone sends me emails, that will take away from the time I have to write my letter.  But an occasional short email for some exciting news or something would be great!  I should be able to use the computer every Tuesday while at the MTC. 

 

I have some pictures I would like to send, but that will have to wait until next week as I don't have my camera with me.  It's difficult at times having two companions because we all have different ideas of what to teach and what to do and where to go and when.  We've had a few challenges, but I love them both and it's been good.  Yesterday was our third time teaching Queen, our investigator, in Tagalog.  I'm pretty sure that she is a real investigator, but I don't know.  I don't know why she would be here, being taught by so many brand new missionaries over and over again if she was, but if she isn't, she plays the part very well.  The language has been so much fun to learn.  I think by the end of this week, we will have caught up and past what I had studied beforehand.  I know a lot of grammar we haven't covered yet, but I have learned how to properly say prayers, say a testimony, conduct a meeting, give committments, introduce and explain scriptures, and tons of other stuff.  It's been really fun. 

 

My district had their first temple walk the other day and I had my first-ever stab of homesickness. I never have felt homesick before, but just not being able to call someone up and share my feelings and my frustrations and never being able to be alone... and realizing how close I still am to family, hit me hard.  It didn't last long, but it was a feeling I had never felt before.  It has brought me closer to God though because I have had to go to Him instead, which is something I should have learned a long time ago.  (to always go to Him first and not as a last resort).  This morning was our first temple trip!  Elder Hidalgo from our district received his own endowment.  We were planning on going through with him, but a mistake was made and we missed it, which was too bad, but I'm excited for him anyways.  I love going to the temple.  The more I go, the more at home I feel there. 

 

Thanks for the Rice-Crispy Treats Aubrey!!! They totally made my day!  I only got them two days ago, but I couldn't eat it until yesterday... I'm pretty sure I was going crazy!  My companions would agree.  I also got your letter Jonathan.  Thanks!

 

I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I now know that the gift of tongues is real!  I have seen it in myself and so many other people around me.  It is so incredible.  Being a missionary is hard work, as I have already noticed.  It hasn't even been a whole week, and I am so exhausted... and there is no way to catch up on sleep.  The work still goes on.  You probably want to know more details, but my brain is fried.  I can't think, haha.  If there is anything you guys specifically want to know, just ask me and I'll make sure to share it next week.  I hope you all are doing well and that you are happy!  I love you all!

 

Mahal Kita! (:

Sister McClellan