HI EVERYONE!
Bula, It's me Sister Trammell. Have you forgotten about me already? Has Dean already moved into my room yet? Did you already adopt Chloe Robinette in replacement for me? If any of the above are true, just know I miss you guys a lot haha.
ANYWAYS, the MTC is GREAT! When I saw that my host was none other than the beautiful Sister Brooke Wolfgramm, I knew I would like this place. My companion's name is Sister Crowell, and she is from Hawaii. She is one of my favorite people, she is super funny, and we have the same sense of humor so we are always laughing (obviously only when it is appropriate to laugh). The other sisters in our room are way awesome! Sister Wright is from Southern California, and Sister T is from Tahiti. Her real name is Sister Tuahivaatutonihiti...say that five times fast...Tua-hiva-atu-tono-hiti. I learned it the second night we were here like a rap (of course) so it's really fun to say all day long. Since she is from Tahiti, she speaks Tahitian AND French, so her english is really entertaining...she tries really hard haha I love her. Also she speaks German, so soon she'll know 5 languages. My district is way cool too. There are 4 elders in my district, and one of them, Elder Moantewa, is from Kiribas! He is learning both English AND Fijian, so he's really smart. The other three are nice too, and the 6 of us all get along great. In the other district, there are 2 elders from New Zealand, one of them is Mauri! (SHOUT OUT TO MY AUNT LENESSA!) Also, we have just discovered that in every companionship in both districts (which equals our zone), there is one palangi, and one polynesian. It is really funny, because for all the devotionals and conferences in the gym, we sit in the international section (mostly because we happen to always come late even though we get there half an hour early, what the heck is up with everyone being so early) but it looks like all of us are meant to be there because everyone has one polynesian. We had a good laugh about that. Our whole zone is going to Fiji together, so that 's lucky for us so we don't have to be separated.
The Fijian is coming along. After the first two days, I could say my testimony in Fijian, which is pretty cool. And then we learned how to pray, and then on our third day they threw us to the dogs and made us teach a lesson in Fijian. It was to one of the teachers, but still IT WAS SCARY. The hardest part is trying to teach the person, and go off of what the Spirit is trying to tell you to say, except you can't say it because you still don't understand a lick of Fijian, let along be able to say what you want to say. But hey, it's okay now, I can almost understand half of what our teachers say. Our teachers are great. They are really helpful, and nice when we make mistakes or say weird things. Sister Crowell and I have now taught 5 lessons in Fijian, using notes obviously. But now they have recently informed us that we will no longer be able to use notes...(*^&&)W#%()6704...I'm scurred. But I guess that it will be a great learning experience...I'll be able to laugh about it later...
So lots of cool things happen at the MTC that I will tell you about.
- Thing 1 is that you see lots of people you know. I've seen Sister Wolfgramm, Sister Charters, Sister Hutchins (both from Jeru, SHOUT OUT TO MY JERUHOMIES!). I've seen Elder Ball, and yesterday I saw Sister Whitlock! It's really fun to see all these people you know.
- Thing 2 that is great about the MTC is devotionals and conferences. Elder Callister came to speak on Tuesday and gave a really great devotional about the Blueprints of the Church of Christ and how it is basically the New Testament. I left my notebook at my room so I can't exactly tell you all the nitty gritties, but it was pretty dang good so I'll have to tell you more about that later. Also, we had Mission conference which was way good. My favorite part about it was President Hacking of the MTC was speaking, and before he spoke, he addressed some missionaries that were sitting in the front of the audience. He introduced them by saying that they were called on their mission to the MTC for two years. Turns out, these Elders have disabilities that prevent them from serving outside of the MTC, whether it is a physical disability like being in a wheelchair, or something along those lines. It was really touching because he had a few of the Elders come up and bear their testimonies, and the Spirit was so strong because they knew that this is exactly where they were supposed to be because it was called from God. The scripture one of them shared is John 15:16, where it says "Ye have not chosen me, but I have Chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit..." I LOVE THAT SCRIPTURE. Basically it just tells me that Fiji is actually where I'm supposed to go. Even though Fijian is hard, and learning the gospel in a whole new language is a challenge, I know that it's where I'm supposed to go because it's where the Lord needs me to go. The Elders that serve in the MTC preach the gospel through the computer. They are online during the day on LDS.org and they chat with people who have questions about the church. In the past year, they had 110 baptisms! How cool is that! And all from serving right here at the MTC.
- Thing 2 that is great about the MTC is devotionals and conferences. Elder Callister came to speak on Tuesday and gave a really great devotional about the Blueprints of the Church of Christ and how it is basically the New Testament. I left my notebook at my room so I can't exactly tell you all the nitty gritties, but it was pretty dang good so I'll have to tell you more about that later. Also, we had Mission conference which was way good. My favorite part about it was President Hacking of the MTC was speaking, and before he spoke, he addressed some missionaries that were sitting in the front of the audience. He introduced them by saying that they were called on their mission to the MTC for two years. Turns out, these Elders have disabilities that prevent them from serving outside of the MTC, whether it is a physical disability like being in a wheelchair, or something along those lines. It was really touching because he had a few of the Elders come up and bear their testimonies, and the Spirit was so strong because they knew that this is exactly where they were supposed to be because it was called from God. The scripture one of them shared is John 15:16, where it says "Ye have not chosen me, but I have Chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit..." I LOVE THAT SCRIPTURE. Basically it just tells me that Fiji is actually where I'm supposed to go. Even though Fijian is hard, and learning the gospel in a whole new language is a challenge, I know that it's where I'm supposed to go because it's where the Lord needs me to go. The Elders that serve in the MTC preach the gospel through the computer. They are online during the day on LDS.org and they chat with people who have questions about the church. In the past year, they had 110 baptisms! How cool is that! And all from serving right here at the MTC.
- And thing 3 that I like about the MTC is service. On mondays, Sister Crowell and I have the privilege to vacuum all the entrances to building 1M. So there are 7. But guess what, our vacuums are JET PACKS! It's like ghostbusters IN REAL LIFE. Basically we just go around shooting each other with our vacuums and other lucky missionaries that just so happen to be in the hallway with us.
All in all, I'm really happy! Times are not always easy, but I know that the Spirit is there to comfort me when I need it. I miss you all a lot, and I wish you could all be here with me so we could hang out and participate in our priestly duties (or in my case, sisterly duties). Be safe, be good, and be a missionary wherever you go! AND SMILE :)
LOVE,
Sister Trammell
OH PS My address is JUL06 instead of 09. Don't worry, I got all the mail but i thought I'd let you know that now so that you can change it! That means we leave the MTC on the 6th of July, and i'm already sad to leave.
OH PPS. Here is my testimony in Fijian:
Au kila ni dina na kosipeli o Jisu Karisto. ( I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true).
Au kila ni noda vakabula o Jisu Karisto (I know Jesus Christ is our Savior).
Au kila ni tawamudu na matavuvale ( I know families are eternal).
OH PPPS: Thanks for the package of goodies, my roomies and i LOVED it! They say thank you too!
OH PPPPS: Thanks for all the letters from everyone!
