Sorry these emails might be getting longer and longer. DADDY. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY. Wow I love you so much. Behind the frame in your office (the Fed. one) I left something. No opening 'til Sunday! Love you! I wish everyone in the world could have a dad as great as you.
An FYI to all- we print our emails in the morning on P day, read them in our res., then get to reply to them later. So if you send a long email it's fine but if you get a short reply I'm sorry we still only get an hour to write back! Dad I already wrote you a letter about this but the Sister Christiansen that was in the NPR broadcast you sent me is going to my mission! She is so sweet! I gave her the article. It was awesome we were all so excited to see that. She is a solo sister because she's learning Slovene.
I'm feeling so much better. Thanks everyone for your concern and love and prayers.
My English continues to get worse as my Croatian and Serbian get better. I only share the funny/weird things I learn but I promise I am learning how to teach, how to communicate like a normal person, etc. I learned to puke translates to "to throw the iron." Šišmiš sounds so weird and literally means "the hissing mouse" but it's bat. I sometimes forget to switch my brain back to English phrase and structure mode and say a sentence like, "How do you need what is time?" Or something. I also accidentally asked how cows meow in Croatian.. hmm. I don't know if I mentioned this before- but I realized you wouldn't know that our teachers speak in ONLY Croatian. With the exception of Brat West, who slips out a phrase here and there. Since day 1 orientation that's all we hear. Even lessons you think we'd have in English are in HR. (Croatian (CR) and Hrvatski (HR) mean the same thing) like when they teach us how to have effective daily planning, etc. I picked up on them calling me OCD the other day because I like the board to be wiped off perfectly clean and I called them out on it.. Da razumijem!
THE LORD FAVORS: hard work and obedience and wow it shows. I know when I get into bed at the end of the night and I have been faithful and diligent in my studies and actions, prayers and example I can even sleep better!
I read all of the book of Mark this week. (28 chapters of course) The Savior lived an amazing life. I am so happy when I think of him and his example and that he died for each of us because he loves us! He is the ultimate example and I am proud to be a part of his church.
We got 5 new Czech sisters this week and 1 Elder. As the STL, I bore my testimony and gave them a tour and all this fun stuff. (missionary= ambassador) We are no longer the gušters! Literally means lizard.. but means greenie. I am so excited to have them! They are all so sweet. It's cool to see each reason sisters chose to serve.
Some words in Croatian just don't have vowels. It is so strange. Like prst (finger), smrt (death) and čvrst. (firm) To countdown instead of saying "3,2,1" they say "tri, četiri, sad!" Which means 3,2, NOW! One of my teachers sneezed and I said, "You're welcome!" instead of "bless you!" Ah, the days go on.
DOBRO STORY: when changing for gym time one afternoon, I had this feeling I needed to wear the mission shirt I bought.. even though it was dirty. So I did. My companions thought I was crazy.. I told them I had a feeling I needed to wear it and they were just like k... just wear it? Anyways so we were walking to gym and this girl stopped us and was so excited and her great grandparents were from Croatia and she was a visitor, her name is Jamie. She is not a member but visits the MTC to have lessons taught to her. We talked for a while, went to gym (I WAS SOOOOO GIDDY ABOUT AN ENGLISH SPEAKING INVESTIGATOR) and then later taught her a lesson about the plan of salvation! She asked a lot of very specific questions and was very knowledgeable so we feel like she's probably a member/ actor that comes to the MTC, but nonetheless it was amazing. I am so glad a wore a smelly shirt to gym. :) We will continue to teach her! Sestra Mahabier prayed that night, "Please bless Jamie, whether she is real or whether she is not. We still love her so much and we know you love her and want her family to be able to return to live with you forever."
Random question: Is the weatherman Eubank in MoTab or not? We get to watch music and the spoken word svaki njedeljak and I swear he is. Someone please google this since I cannot. Also the Spurs are beating the Heat? Here at the MTC, the heat is winning wow everyone just sweats so much hahaha happy summer from Provo, UT where the sun is blazin'. (I'm sorry I'm not even funny anymore I need to end this email) Also my eye keeps twitching randomly? The left one?
The whole MTC is prepping for the first presidency to visit for mission president training in late June- we are all so excited! They are literally scrubbing every inch. I've scrubbed men's toilet stall walls, the underside of ceilings, stairwells, etc. It will be so cool though. Look for me (if they somehow publish them) in the choir for the Tuesday night devotionals- they're always broadcast to all the other MTC's! It's crazy all the prep that goes into everything here. They even have this mirror on a pole thing and someone goes around before the devotional starts and checks under all the chairs, stairs up to the pulpit, the stand, etc for bombs. Crazy!
Quentin L. Cook spoke to us this week and casually ended his talk with, "I know the voice of the Savior, and I know that he is at the head of this church." Wow. Powerful. I know that the Lord loves us and he wants us to return to him. I know that WE ARE HIS CHILDREN. We are a family and we should treat one another like a happy family would.
I love and pray for you all. Thanks for the letters, DearElders, postcards, and packages. #blessed
Love,
Sestra Richardson
Yes, Mark Eubank is one of the announcers for the Tabernacle Choir. He is one of four who speak to the audience in between our run through and the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast. He's one of our favorites!
ReplyDeleteLove, Aunt Nola