Cumriabsua!!!
Man oh man. Can you believe I have
less than 2 weeks left at the MTC?! That's cray. Though I'm definitely ready to
get out of here. It's not that I don't like the MTC - I've learned so many
great things and have made so many awesome friends - but I can't wait to go to
Cambodia to actually do the things I came here to do! It's time for me to
actually fulfill my purpose as a missionary: "Behold, I am a disciple of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word
among his people..." (3 Nephi 5:13)
Remember Elder Lao? He was in my
district but ended up getting fast-tracked to Cambodia because he was already
proficient in Khmer. Anyway, he's been in Cambodia for a couple weeks now and
he's emailed our district here in the MTC telling us to appreciate toilet paper
and showers. Definitely showers. So I'm.......excited? No, yeah I'm excited.
But crazy nervous. CAMBODIA!!!!! What even is that?!?! I'm going to Cambodia!!
Okay cool experiences from this
week: Do you guys remember me telling you about TRC and how I got to teach that
Cambodian woman? Well, a reminder: her name is Om Meak (that means "Aunt
Meak") and she's 60 years old. I got to teach her again again on Saturday
with my comps and we basically just asked her to tell us about her life. So she
goes off for a while about her life story and SHE IS INCREDIBLE. She lived
through the Khmer Rouge when she was married with 3 children in Cambodia. She
told us how on October 10, 1975 she watched the Khmer Rouge soldiers cut open
her husband's stomach and put glass in it. They didn't even kill him, they just
tortured him like that. And then the same exact day the following year, they
came back and took her husband from her and she never saw him again. She told
us that every single night, she would pray (at this point she had never even
heard of our church) and say, "Heavenly Father, help me. Give me strength
to get through this and somehow make it to America. Help me find that
freedom." She prayed every night and kept her faith despite all of her
struggles. I couldn't believe it. What a lessong for us when we complain about
our own minor trials. Well, obviously she and her kids made it to America, she
was baptized in Boston, and now she lives in Utah, as do all of her children.
And she's just the sweetest little woman in the world. I told her (in very
broken Khmer) that her faith is so strong and that I can see the light in her
eyes and that I know that Heavenly Father loves her so so much. I am going to
hear so many stories like Om Meak's when I'm in Cambodia. Our teachers tell us
all the time about the generation that had to live through the Khmer Rouge.
Most of them can't read because the government basically suspended reading and
the language. A lot of them are raging alcoholics (one of our fake
investigators is modelled after a real guy like that) or have broken families
and heartbreaking stories. And they have no knowledge of God or the fact that
He watches over us. I can't imagine how much joy I'll feel when I get the
opportunity to look someone like Om Meak in the eye and tell them that there is
a God that loves them and that they can be SO SO SABAY (happy) through Him.
Dang, I'm so excited.
Any-whoodles, sometimes I shy away
from writing you guys those spiritual lessons because lets be honest, some
people reading this email/the blog probably don't care about that stuff. But
you know what? This is my life now! That's my job! And I know how true it is
and how important it is for people to hear that. Henry B Eyring said, "You
begin by holding up the Lord's standards clearly and without apology. And the
more the world drifts away from them and mocks them, the bolder we must be in
doing that." So there's my self-righteous thought for the day.
What else is new? Not much. The flu
is going around. Sis Litchfield got it first and then Sis Walker was puking all
the next day. i think it's a 24-hour thing. But know this: my immune
system...remains....strong! (that was a Harry Potter reference for anyone who
may not have caught that. kudos if you did.) So for a while when everyone was
sick we were doing less going outside and running around and more staying
inside and eating. Main reason I must leave the MTC ASAP is to lose all the
weight I've gained. Sis Egelund referred to the MTC as the "Home of the
Perpetual Food Baby." Maybe I'll get an amoeba or a tapeworm or E.coli or
something in Cambodia. Fingers crossed!! (just kidding....)
We actually have left softball
behind and are more into kickball now during gym time. I can promise you I have
never laughed so hard at the MTC as when I played kickball with our zone.
Nobody takes it seriously, but we all pretend to take it wayyyyyy too
seriously, and it has resulted in some pretty off-color and hilarious comments.
Most of them from Sis Litchfield. That girl slays me. Elder Flint accidentally
slipped because the grass was a little wet and didn't catch the ball as a
result. So from across the field everyone hears Sis Litchfield yell
"FLINT!!! What are you doing?!?! Is this a slip n slide?!! Are we at a 4th
of July barbeque?! Is this a 'WARD ACTIVITY'?!?!" Kickball games are
literally just 45 minutes of that and I can't handle it. I almost peed my pants
I was laughing so hard.
Oh also guess what I found out? (get
ready to laugh): Because my last name is first in our zone for the Cambo group,
I get to be the travel leader when we fly!!!! Woot woot. That means I keep the
travel plans and itineraries with me and hold onto everyone's tickets and
stuff. So that's pretty hilarious. I know that if you all were to take a bet on
which missionary is most likely to lose their ticket, it would be Sister Davis,
for sure. SOOOOOOO we'll see how I do with like 15 people to keep track of. I'm
probably going to end up accidentally getting our whole zone sent to customs.
Okey doke, here are some scriptures
from this week that I'm lovin: Matthew 9:22 (this is the story of the woman he
heals and I love this verse from it); Doctrine and Covenants 122:7; 3 Nephi 11:39;
John 16: 22-24; ALSO reread the story in Matthew 14 about Peter walking on
water. It is my absolute favorite Bible story: "O thou of little faith,
wherefore didst thou doubt?" I love that verse 31 says, "And
IMMEDIATELY Jesus stretched forth his hand." IMMEDIATELY. He is always
stretching forth his hand for us. I promise.
Okey doke well I love you all
thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssssssssssss
much!!! I think about you all day, erry day. Srolan meinteen!!! (Dang I wish I
could write in Khmer script on these computers. romanized is so stupid). No but
really, I love you and I'm so grateful for all of my friends and family and
their support. Keep on keepin on!
Love, Sistaa Daivee
You know, just playin in the autumnal scenery. (it's nothing
compared to the CT leaves though.) This literally happened like 20 minutes ago
so that's a live update right there. As live as it gets at the MTC anyway.
Elder Yu creepin in the background.
This is from last P-day. So what happened was Sis Thain
crawled into one of the rolling laundry carts. Then Sis Litchfield crawled into
the other one. And then Sis Walker and I raced them down the laundry room hall.
Shortly
thereafter, we were mildly chastised by the laundry room attendant.
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