Week 1
Written by hwilkes on August 23rd, 2011Apa Kabar Keluarga!
Wow I have been waiting all week to send an email to tell everyone
what has been going on! My list is long and I only get 30 minutes and then this
closes (which I could totally see that happening after I’m completely done with
my letter) So I am just going to write as fast as I can and not worry about
spelling or grammar. Heads up
what has been going on! My list is long and I only get 30 minutes and then this
closes (which I could totally see that happening after I’m completely done with
my letter) So I am just going to write as fast as I can and not worry about
spelling or grammar. Heads up
First off the MTC is amazing!!! AHHHHHH….I get so excited. My
companions as I mentioned in my first letter are Sister Burtis and Sister
Gopinath. They are amazing. Sister Burtis is from Utah and she is such a
sweetheart. Very patience, kind, helpful, and she is fluent in sign language.
Sister Gopinath is from Tennessee and is wonderful too. She’s a little softer,
and quite, she keeps to herself and often I find her in deep thought. She
always seems to have this look on her face like she is thinking really
hard…(or she is daydreaming ha-ha.) We all three get along very well and
already have a strong love for each other. We share a dorm room with another
trio who are in our district, Sister Kennedy, Salmon, and Manwell. They are
wonderful and all so VERY normal One is a soccer player who reminds me of
Tiff.
companions as I mentioned in my first letter are Sister Burtis and Sister
Gopinath. They are amazing. Sister Burtis is from Utah and she is such a
sweetheart. Very patience, kind, helpful, and she is fluent in sign language.
Sister Gopinath is from Tennessee and is wonderful too. She’s a little softer,
and quite, she keeps to herself and often I find her in deep thought. She
always seems to have this look on her face like she is thinking really
hard…(or she is daydreaming ha-ha.) We all three get along very well and
already have a strong love for each other. We share a dorm room with another
trio who are in our district, Sister Kennedy, Salmon, and Manwell. They are
wonderful and all so VERY normal
One is a soccer player who reminds me ofTiff.
Our District is the best district in the MTC. No joke. There were
about 15 Singapore missionaries speaking Malay that came into the MTC on the
17th. We were all together the first day and clicked immediately….but because
we were so large we were split the 2nd day and were SO sad. There is an Elder
from Australia (Elder Miester) and one of the Elders in my district Elder Trotter
(the one the Barnes knows) tries to talk like Elder Miester all day long. It’s
hilarious. We all think he sounds exactly like him….except for Elder Miester.
He says it’s a horrible accent. Then we also have an Elder from Tokyo, Japan
who is fluent in Japanese and English. My district after the split is not four
other elders and my companions. Elder Trotter, Steadman, Wilkes, and Swingle.
They are the best. Elder Wilkes and I haven’t figured out if we’re related yet
our not…I showed him my pedigree chart and he doesn’t recognize any of the
names, but he’s from Alpine, UT…any chance we are? I wouldn’t mind, Elder
Wilkes is definitely the comedian of the district. So I think funny runs in the
family. He gets us rolling on the floor, grabbing our stomachs laughing. He
reminds me of Connor because he’s so quick and doesn’t try to be funny he just
is. It’s also his facial expressions. OH MY! So great. That’s half the funny
part. Elder Trotter is a hoot too. VERY LOUD. And often gets the rest of us off
topic. Hopefully we’ll be able to ring him in more ha-ha.
about 15 Singapore missionaries speaking Malay that came into the MTC on the
17th. We were all together the first day and clicked immediately….but because
we were so large we were split the 2nd day and were SO sad. There is an Elder
from Australia (Elder Miester) and one of the Elders in my district Elder Trotter
(the one the Barnes knows) tries to talk like Elder Miester all day long. It’s
hilarious. We all think he sounds exactly like him….except for Elder Miester.
He says it’s a horrible accent. Then we also have an Elder from Tokyo, Japan
who is fluent in Japanese and English. My district after the split is not four
other elders and my companions. Elder Trotter, Steadman, Wilkes, and Swingle.
They are the best. Elder Wilkes and I haven’t figured out if we’re related yet
our not…I showed him my pedigree chart and he doesn’t recognize any of the
names, but he’s from Alpine, UT…any chance we are? I wouldn’t mind, Elder
Wilkes is definitely the comedian of the district. So I think funny runs in the
family. He gets us rolling on the floor, grabbing our stomachs laughing. He
reminds me of Connor because he’s so quick and doesn’t try to be funny he just
is. It’s also his facial expressions. OH MY! So great. That’s half the funny
part. Elder Trotter is a hoot too. VERY LOUD. And often gets the rest of us off
topic. Hopefully we’ll be able to ring him in more ha-ha.
Our Zone is awesome and made up of 5 languages. We have Mongolian,
Indonesian, Malay, Samoan, and English. Our zone leaders are wonderful and VERY
helpful. They and two other indo elders have been helping us a lot with all of
the low down about the mtc. They have been helpful with 26how I said that our teachers
the first day were only speaking Malay?? Well I found out the 2nd day that our
teachers must not know English because they always only speak Malay!
Ugghhh…sometimes it’s VERY confusing, they are very expressive to help and
use lots of hand motions. The first day we learned how to bear our testimonies,
the second day how to pray. They just dive us right in is crazy! And whoever
told me I wouldn’t be speaking much Malay was VERY wrong. I will most likely
ONLY be serving in Malaysia and so that is all I’ll be speaking. Again, the MTC
doesn’t have many resources in Malay so we are pretty much learning Indonesian.
We have 2 books in Malay and that’s it. The English-Malay dictionary and
another teaching book. Everything else is Indo. So I’ll probably come back
fluent in Malay, Indo, and then they say most likely you’ll know Mandarin as
well. Elder Trotter picked up on a phrase that we have all adopted which is
“Maaf…Saya tidak faham” which means…Sorry, I don’t understand. We
constantly say it and it gets us laughing because half of the time it really is
true. But the way we say it is in a deep voice REALLY fast. It’s great.
Indonesian, Malay, Samoan, and English. Our zone leaders are wonderful and VERY
helpful. They and two other indo elders have been helping us a lot with all of
the low down about the mtc. They have been helpful with 26how I said that our teachers
the first day were only speaking Malay?? Well I found out the 2nd day that our
teachers must not know English because they always only speak Malay!
Ugghhh…sometimes it’s VERY confusing, they are very expressive to help and
use lots of hand motions. The first day we learned how to bear our testimonies,
the second day how to pray. They just dive us right in is crazy! And whoever
told me I wouldn’t be speaking much Malay was VERY wrong. I will most likely
ONLY be serving in Malaysia and so that is all I’ll be speaking. Again, the MTC
doesn’t have many resources in Malay so we are pretty much learning Indonesian.
We have 2 books in Malay and that’s it. The English-Malay dictionary and
another teaching book. Everything else is Indo. So I’ll probably come back
fluent in Malay, Indo, and then they say most likely you’ll know Mandarin as
well. Elder Trotter picked up on a phrase that we have all adopted which is
“Maaf…Saya tidak faham” which means…Sorry, I don’t understand. We
constantly say it and it gets us laughing because half of the time it really is
true. But the way we say it is in a deep voice REALLY fast. It’s great.
We have been teaching an investigator, Juni. We have taught him
three times already. And after those experiences I definitely know why I was
sent foreign. I needed to be humbled big time! I came into the MTC thinking I
was a great teacher and could formulate my words really well when talking about
the gospel…yeah, now I speak like a 3 year old in Malay. Actually Landon is
almost three and he can talk better than me…so we’ll say a 2 year old. ha-ha.
But it’s coming along a lot better than I thought and i LOVE the language. I am
so grateful for the spirit helping us so much. The indo elders say that you
catch on a lot quicker that you could ever do on your own. It’s amazing.
three times already. And after those experiences I definitely know why I was
sent foreign. I needed to be humbled big time! I came into the MTC thinking I
was a great teacher and could formulate my words really well when talking about
the gospel…yeah, now I speak like a 3 year old in Malay. Actually Landon is
almost three and he can talk better than me…so we’ll say a 2 year old. ha-ha.
But it’s coming along a lot better than I thought and i LOVE the language. I am
so grateful for the spirit helping us so much. The indo elders say that you
catch on a lot quicker that you could ever do on your own. It’s amazing.
Gym time and meals are pretty general and not too exciting.
Oh!! I don’t have much time…but i learned a WHOLE lot about my
mission. I TOTALLY wasn’t expecting it but I will be almost in like third world
stuff. Jungle, heat, wood shack/huts that are on stilts, lots of dirty water,
and VERY exotic. YAY! hah…I’m kind of nervous. I heard it’s a strange
adjustment but the people are very humble in Malay and the gospel is
thriving…which I hope with the Malay BOM coming out it will just make the
progress boom even more. I also was told we’ll be traveling back and forth to
Singapore to renew our visa which we are to tell them we are “visiting a
friend” ha-ha. Um….what else?
mission. I TOTALLY wasn’t expecting it but I will be almost in like third world
stuff. Jungle, heat, wood shack/huts that are on stilts, lots of dirty water,
and VERY exotic. YAY! hah…I’m kind of nervous. I heard it’s a strange
adjustment but the people are very humble in Malay and the gospel is
thriving…which I hope with the Malay BOM coming out it will just make the
progress boom even more. I also was told we’ll be traveling back and forth to
Singapore to renew our visa which we are to tell them we are “visiting a
friend” ha-ha. Um….what else?
I received the letters from Dear John from mom and dad yesterday.
LOVED them! Mom your letter was perfect…keep telling me everything that is
going on with the family. I get the letters on Dear John that day so that would
be the best way to write me or handwritten because of the limited time on the
computer. I hope you are all doing well and I am grateful for your prayers…I
can feel them
LOVED them! Mom your letter was perfect…keep telling me everything that is
going on with the family. I get the letters on Dear John that day so that would
be the best way to write me or handwritten because of the limited time on the
computer. I hope you are all doing well and I am grateful for your prayers…I
can feel them
LOVE LOVE LOVE
Alma 26:12
Sister
Wilkes
Wilkes
