Saturday, October 18, 2014
Monday, October 13, 2014
MTC Life
Dear Family,
I hardly know where to start right
now. These last 6ish days have been crazy. The MTC is interesting. I
guess I'll start with Wednesday. So it was so great to have Bill and
Linda drop me off. Please tell them Thank You from me. They are
seriously the nicest people ever!! That feels so long ago now. Funny
thing about the MTC, it feels like I've been here for WEEKS. The days
are long and my brain always just feels like its exploding. My khuu
(companion) is Sister Remington though! Isn't that crazy?? She is such a
sweet girl and a great companion! So a total of 12 Nong Thai's came in
the same day as me and we are split up into two districts. In my
district is, Elder Sun, Elder Webb, Elder Graham, Elder Darby, and then
my khuu and I. We have already gotten so close. We are with each other
SOOO much you kind of have to. My teachers are amazing though. I have
Brother Chamberlin and Sister Painter. They only speak in Thai so it's
hard to have meaningful conversations with them, but what we can have
conversations about is great!
So I am going to break this up into Language and Spiritual.
Language
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It's
been difficult, but I absolutely love it. We study for hours on end
each day and sometimes it just feels like I am learning nothing, but
when I reflect on the day before I realize I have learned something. So
my attitude is that I'm not going to let myself get overwhelmed because
honestly all I can do is take it one day at a time. I can pray in Thai
now though! That is so exciting and something I have been wanting to be
able to do for a while now. So that is so nice! The studying I did the 4
months before coming here helped TREMENDOUSLY! I can't even tell you
how grateful I am that I had an understanding of the language before I
came here. We taught our first Investigator Friday and Saturday, his
name is Phii Bcc. I'm pretty sure it's Brother Yuen though. Our other
teacher (khruu) but he acts so much like a real investigator it's crazy.
The first lesson started out rough but as I stopped trying to preach
our scripted lesson and just try to intently listen to Phii Bcc to try
and understand him something incredible happened. I actually started to
understand. I actually understood the Thai he was speaking. The words
just started flowing in my head and I was able to actually teach by the
spirit. For the first time since I've been here I finally felt like I
could actually do this. It's hard not to get discouraged but honestly
praying works. Meditation works. When you actually believe what you are
praying about, and actually have faith that you can be comforted through
prayer, you will. I am a living witness of that.
Spiritual
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So
something my khuu and I have decided is that each day is like a
rollercoaster. Sometimes you're up and sometimes you just feel down.
It's like a concentrated version of life every single day. I seriously
feel bipolar sometimes. I never doubt my purpose being on a mission
though. This is still exactly where I want to be, but the culture of the
MTC I just do not like. I love the spirit of the MTC. That is POWERFUL.
But the culture is just not me at all. Sometimes I feel out of place
and I just want to go study alone to regain my motivation. Now I know
why a mission is hard. The gospel isn't hard. The gospel is simple. It
is imperfect people that make it hard! People complicate things. The
only thing I have learned to do about it though is just love them. I
can't let myself get frustrated because that will just add to the
complicating. It takes a lot of will power but I have found a good
median. Patience is a MUST when you're on a mission. And not just
patience with the investigators. It's patience with yourself, and all
the other missionaries. We are all on different levels and we all have
different understanding. You truly have to rely so much on the spirit
because of that very point. I love it here though. I honestly would not
want to be anywhere else.
I love you all and should be able to send pictures in a little bit.
The
church is true. The gospel is true. I've had that confirmed to me way
too many times to count in just the last few days to doubt that. I love
my Savior, I would not be here if it wasn't for Him. Chun rak
Prayeesukhrid.
Love,
Sister Burbank
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