Last email from the MTC

Hello Pamilya!

This will be my last email from the MTC (yay?! I dont' know I'm not excited to leave my district and maybe not see some of them ever again, but I realized after proselyting again this week that I don't want to be stuck here forever.) and you probably won't here from me for a little over a week.

Well, this week was pretty kawili-wiling (interesting)...I actually wasn't feeling good at all Friday evening. I had a sore throaght, a headache, and pretty much everything didn't seem as appetizing after I ate it...yeah. So on Saturday, Sister Davis and I went to Sister Eves, the MTC nurse, and she gave me some stuff for my throaght and headache and a mask to wear so I didn't spread whatever virus I had. It wasn't a couple hours later though, when poor Sister Dalley came down with pretty much the same symptoms I did and she was also given a mask and same medication I was given. It was rough Saturday and Sunday, I stuck to fruit and pb and j sandwiches, since that was the only thing I felt like eating, and trying to understand what teachers were teaching us and trying to focus on preparing lessons to teach our investigators wasn't exactly the easiest experience, pero I felt good enough on Monday that I took off the mask and have fully recovered from whatever it was I got.

Anyway, to the good part of the week. We had our last grammar lesson this week (yay!!!!) and are doing reviews now. We went out proselyting again and it was really cool. The companion they assigned me to while we were out this time was a native and we taught four people and I hardly understood anything that was going on. The only things I was really able to understand was when my companion made a comment about how tall I was or when one of the investigators said I was pretty...mainly because it was said in English or my companion translated for me. We were in the poorer section of the Manila mission so people spoke less English than the area that we went to the week previously. The people here are so understanding though when I did rely on my English more than my Tagalog, I guess it's easier for them to understand it than it is for them to speak it. I was suprised though: missionaries, when they come home from their mission, talk about how much they come to love the people that they are serving and teaching the gospel to. I figured I would eventually feel the same way, but not as quickly as I had when we were teaching this last week. 

The Lord has blessed me so much I can only begin to tell you all that He has done for me. He placed me in THIS MTC, of all places, to learn a language and how to teach people about His love and how to return to Him; He blessed me with such a wonderful kasama, who patiently sits with me and comforts me when I feel insecure about myself and my ability to do the things He wants me to do; He made sure that I got the Dear Elders that mom had sent us for Christmas to bring smiles to all of our faces; He put me in such a loving district while I'm here away from my pamilya so I felt like I had never left home, but was just ariving; He restored the gospel through Joseph Smith so that we could have the many blessings that we have like the Melchizedek Priesthood and the ability to have eternal mga pamilya; and He sent His Son to suffer for us, every pain, sickness, sorrow, and sin so that we could return to Him agian. I'm going to miss my district so much. They truely have become my brothers and sisters and I am going to miss them terribly, especially Sister Davis, as we go out into the mission field, but they are going to be amazing missionaries.

Look for the Hand of the Lord in your life, always. Out of time, will send pictures soon though.

Love,

Sister Jones