Dear Pamilya,
Thank you for your email Mom! I just told my kasama (companion) that story and she thought it was so funny. I love it when they'll say big anatomy terms! I know what you mean about thinking "oh I'll just go ask Danai...." I catch myself all the time thinking "Oh, I'll just text so and so..." or "Oh I should ask Mom..." and it's been hard not to have a phone to check the time! (Which by the way, I need a watch sent to me. I want the brown one that is in the first or second drawer in my jewelry box....I hope that it's not dead.)
So yeah, the first day was kind of a blur. We got sent to our classroom and our teacher was already talking in Tagalog. He never speaks English to us unless we ask him to translate a word for us. Let's just say we've gotten really good at saying "Ano po an ______ sa Ingles?" In my district, there are 8 sisters and 4 elders and all of the elders are 18 except for one and all the sisters are 19 except for 1. So I'm old!!! They didn't believe me at first when I said I was 21....one elder asked me when my birthday was to check.
After being in class for a few hours, we then had a big group teaching experience where they brought in investigators and let us talk to them and ask them questions. It was actually really frustrating because there were about 50 missionaries in the room and so the topic and conversation went everywhere so nothing really got done. Oh! And, when we met the MTC presidency, they told us that the special broadcast on Sunday will be at the Mariott center and all the apostles and Seventy will be there. AND the entire MTC is going there!!! They said this is the first time this has ever happened in MTC history so that will be neat. They've really been emphasizing our dress code for that day...very conservative since we'll be on world wide television.
Then, we were taught how to pray in Tagalog. We also were introduced to our first investigator that we had to teach night. Bawal notes. Bawal Ingles. (Notes and English forbidden) Yep. So we all panicked a little because what the heck were we supposed to teach her??? We only knew how to pray and we couldn't remember it! So all of my RM friends that told me I would have a few weeks to teach in English were WRONG. We had a day. We were taught how to bear our testimonies and then the commitment pattern. The words in Tagalog are super long and there are lots of p's and a's and k's so it is super hard to remember. For instance ipinanumbalik is restored. And saying the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a mouthful! We then went to our lesson and it was rough. We did good when we were practicing together but forgot so much when we were actually talking to her. I think that's to humble us and make us realize that we need the help of the Holy Ghost. We're supposed to teach again tonight and We're not really sure what we're supposed to teach because it's our P-day and we haven't learned new things. I'm pretty sure that Becca is going to have the same schedule as me becuase my schedule says Tagalog/Spanish on it so we'll have P-day on the same day which will be cool and we'll probably see each other.
My kasama is Sister Howlett and I love her! She's from Delta and trains horses and is very fun. She's kind of the opposite of me becuase she doesn't like school and rules and she only went to one semester of school and then decided to do independent study because she doesn't like the school setting. But I think that's good for both of us. We're in a room with 4 other girls so it really feels like girls camp. And we have those community bathrooms which is super exciting. But I guess I never had dorms for school so I get a chance as a senior in college! My kasama talks in her sleep which has been entertaining and yes, someone does snore but not too much so I haven't freaked out yet. And the food isn't that bad. The fruit is actually really good and they have Fuji apples here!! I've pretty much lived on them and honeydew and pineapple. They must cut a ton of those everyday. I've seen a lot of people that I know here. I also am playing a musical number on Sunday for Relief Society. One of the girls in my district plays the violin and grew up with a girl who I know from the BYU school of music and plays violin. The music major leaves for japan and they wanted to play something together and needed an accompanist. So of course I'm doing it :) And I'm pretty sure I'll be the Sacrament pianist. Yesterday we got to play kickball as a Zone which was so nice to get out of the classroom and not think about Tagalog. But you know, it's amazing to see how much the second week district knows so I'm sure that it will come. We just may have headaches for a few more days.
Well, I need to go study some more Tagalog for my lesson tonight. Everyone pray for the gift of tongues for me and my kasama....
Alam ko po na totoo po ang Simbahan ni Jesucristo ng mga banal sa mga Huling Araw!
Mahal kita!
Sister Sirrine
PS you say mga like "manga" (stress on the 'man' part) and ng like "nang"
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