July 14, 2014
Dear Family and Friends,
I never thought this time would come, but I leave to Cambodia TOMORROW! I am so terrified, but I know the Lord will take care of me and wants me there serving the humble Cambodian people. I actually have a funny story about being scared to go to Cambodia. So on Saturday in class, our teacher finally told us more about Cambodian culture. While we are at the MTC, they like to focus solely on how to teach, and talking about cultural things is like forbidden! (Not really, but it's just not the main focus). Anyway, our teacher let us ask him any questions we wanted to about Cambodia. He gave us an outline of what a normal day in the field would be like, which was super helpful! Anyway, after he had told us a few crazy stories about bike/car accidents (VERY common in Cambodia), he told us that he had recently talked to a returned sister missionary from Cambodia and asked her if she knew what she knows now about how her mission would be, would she still go on her mission and she said NO! haha. And then he went on to say that just thinking about doing his first transfer again makes him nauseous! Everyone was just shocked, but he then went on to talk about how much he learned and how much he loved his mission. It was a little bit of a wake up call for all of us, and kind of put things in perspective. Even though this is going to be crazy and fun and exciting, it is going to be the hardest thing we have ever done!
Anyway, this past week has just flown by. The week started off with skyping a member in Cambodia! My companion and I skyped this lady named Sister Loy. She has been a member for a while and actually translated for Elder Oaks once when he came to Cambodia. She was SO sweet!!! We had major technical difficulties so we only had about 10 minutes to share a thought with her. We focused on testimonies and each of us shared our testimonies. The spirit was undeniable! It was amazing because for the first time (while skyping) I felt like I understood everything that she said. Part of her testimony was about how impressed she was that we were learning Cambodian! It was so sweet to hear and made my companion and I a little emotional! It was amazing! We challenged her to share her testimony with a nonmember friend and she said she would. It was so fun to tell her that we would be in Cambodia next week and possibly serve in her area!
On Tuesday we had the privlege of hearing from Elder Anderson of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles! We thought that July was their month off, but it was awesome that he was able to come! He gave a powerful testimony of the Gift of the Holy Ghost and all of its many roles. He said that as missionaries, we represent the things that are unseen but are REAL. He said that in the moment that our investigator feels the spirit they CANNOT deny it. They may deny it moments later, but in that exact moment, they cannot deny it. His wife talked about how lucky we are to have a member with the Godhead with us (if we are worthy). She said that when we are faced with temptation to make a wrong choice we need to think about if that choice is more valuable to us than having that member of the Godhead with us. That really put it in perspective for me.
One of the highlights of the week for me, was the day I finally finished memorized Joseph Smith's first vision in Cambodian!!! Let me tell you, memorizing things in English is difficult, but memorized things in Cambodian is impossible... if you don't have the help of the Lord. It was a cool experience memorizing it because it was only when I prayed that God would help me remember the words so that I could share this with others, that I was able to do it. I haven't shared it in a lesson yet, but I am excited to share it with a real investigator in Cambodia!
We had our last lesson with our investigators this last week and I actually cried saying goodbye to one of them! Oh my goodness, I have grown to love them so much. That is something that I have learned in the MTC. That the Lord loves all of his children SO much and wants them to come unto him!! One last thing I want to share is probably the most important thing I have learned while I have been here at the MTC. I have really come to recognize spirit and how it guides and directs me. It is different for everyone, but as I have acted on promptings that I have had, I have felt that I am doing what the Lord wants me to do. Dad always says that a lot of times there isn't just one big "voice" telling you what you should do or where you should go, but rather it is when you are doing everything you are supposed to be doing, and acting in faith that you will find you are following the promptings of the spirit. I am so grateful for this MTC experience. It has been challenging and I have felt homesickness, but as I have relied on my Heavenly Father and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I have felt more love than at any other time in my life. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have SO much more to offer us than the world does, and I am so grateful that I have come to realize that.
Thank you so much for all the love and support!
Love,
Sister Lindley
No comments:
Post a Comment