Dobar dan ucitelj i prijateli!
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| Cassie at "famous" MTC World Map |
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| Sestras Pelton and Menjivar |
So this week it finally hit me that I was at the MTC--on Wednesday.
I saw all the new missionaries arrive,
and I realized that I wasn't one of them! I'm not new anymore! That was a crazy
realization. But it's fun. The time is so funny here (as I'm sure I've
mentioned before); the days are long, the weeks short, but when you look back
at all you've learned, it feels like months instead of weeks. I guess it just
shows that time is precious, and we can't waste it
So much happens during the week that I feel like I can't even
begin to remember it all! Some fun things were that Starjesina Stuart's
birthday was on the 4th, so we all gave him a card and learned to say
"Happy Birthday" in Croatian. That was probably his favorite birthday
present ever. (It's Srecna rodendan for those who are curious.) Other fun/funny things: in language class, we
were practicing to conjugate verbs. It was going pretty well, but there are
always those verbs that are irregular and you have to be extra careful. One of
those is "pisati" meaning "to write." When you conjugate it, the s turns into a
sh-sound, and the -ati conjugates like and -eti. (Sorry that's kind of
complicated). Anyways, two missionaries were up at the board conjugating it,
but they forgot to change the a to an e. Our teacher just started giggling and
giggling, and if you know our teacher, you too would've been dumbfounded like
we were. He is the most serious and intimidating person ever! Finally he told
us what had happened: there is a verb "pi(sh)ati" that just
conjugates normally, so when we wrote what we though was "we write",
we had actually conjugated it to be the other verb. And "pi(sh)ati"
means "to pee"!!!! So we had
written "we pee"!!! So
embarrassing!! He says it happens to
every new missionary when they get to Croatia. They go and stand up in church
to say something, and end up talking about relieving themselves. Good golly...
I pray that I will be spared from this humiliation.
Sestra Menjivar and I just continue to grow even closer in our
companionship!! She is truly a testament to me that Heavenly Father
knows our needs and places people in our lives for a reason. I have
learned so much from her already, and I love that we can help each other when
we struggle. She has already helped me become a better teacher, a closer
listener to the spirit, and more confident in my abilities. One fun thing that
happened yesterday was we got to chat for a while with some Elders from Mexico!
I mentioned before that Sestra M is from an El Salvadoran family, so her first
language is Spanish and she very much embraces the whole fun, loud, outgoing
Latin culture. It's so funny because all the Latin missionaries here just seem
to find each other and become best friends instantly. There were some elders
sitting by themselves in the cafeteria, and she said that we should go sit with
them. I was super nervous because I feel like my Spanish isn't very good
anymore, but I decided we could try. So we went over. They were so nice! Even
though I was nervous, I was able to follow their conversations well and even
have my own input. My proudest moment was when one of them told me my Spanish
was good :) gold star for me!
Teaching Marko was really great this last week-- we committed him
to be baptized! We weren't even planning
on it, and didn't prepare the words in Croatian, but Sestra Menjiver just felt
that she should, and I was so happy that she did! We were teaching about how Christ can
strengthen us in our lives by helping to take away our guilt and sins. Marko's
life is really hard, and I know that he needed to hear this message of hope. We
were just sharing our testimonies with him, then Sestra M did it! The spirit was so strong as
it was working on all of our hearts, and he accepted. It's funny to write about
it, because in reality, Marko is one of our teachers and is already a member,
but we still prayed for and about him as if he was truly an investigator. It was
one of the most powerful moments! We actually have stopped teaching him because
we'll be getting a new investigator this week. But I am thankful for the
experience that we had to teach him.
Wow, so I haven't even talked about General Conference. It was
incredible. People say that GC is the best when you're in the MTC, and it's
true. Never have I felt that every message specifically spoke to me in some way
like I did this weekend. I felt some very strong promptings from the spirit
about things that I needed to do and change to be the person that Heavenly
Father wants me to be. I testify that Thomas S Monson is indeed the prophet of
God on the earth today. His counselors and the 12 apostles are prophets, seers,
and revelators, declaring what the Lord needs his people to hear right now. I
am so thankful for that! I cannot choose a favorite talk, because they were all
wonderful, but I was especially touched by all the talks about the atonement of
Jesus Christ, and His infinite love and forgiveness. What hope and joy this
message brings. Sin, guilt and sadness can weigh us down so much, but if we
will just come unto Christ, he will lift our burdens. .I promise that this is
true, and I have experienced it for myself.
Last night we had a devotional by Vocal Point, the A Capella group
from BYU! It was so fun and very
spirit-filled. They had a few of them bear testimonies and do a hymn-share,
where they sing the first verse, and we all sing subsequent verses. They also
sang a few arrangements of sacred songs. It was absolutely beautiful. One song that especially touched me was
"Where Can I Turn for Peace?" I had never paid attention to some of the lyrics before: "He answers
privately, reaches my reaching." Heavenly Father does answer our prayers,
and he does answer them privately. He makes sure it's something we can
understand, and sometimes, ONLY we can understand it. We shouldn't have to
justify or explain the choices we make based on guidance from the Lord, because
we received our answer. It's between us and the Lord. I know that sometimes it
can be hard to follow what the Lord has told us to do, but I know that we are
always blessed for it. And I know that some people don't understand or
they judge our decisions, but that doesn't matter. The most important relationship
we can have is the relationship of prayer, obedience and revelation between us
and the Lord.
That's all I have time for right now, but I love you all!! I'm so
thankful for your examples. Keep writing to me!!! I love the letters and notes.
Stay strong!
Love,
Sestra Pelton
Only two elders in Cassie's District. How often are elders outnumbers by sisters?!
All of these missionaries will be going to Cassie's mission. Nine are learning Croatian and four are learning Slovene.
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