Sunday, July 21, 2013

Oops!

I forgot to share with you Elder Oberg's e-mail from last week, so these are from last week and this week!

Magandang Umaga everyone!
 
So the beginning of the week was fairly hard, but trust me it's been so much better since Thursday and I've learned a lot! Tagalog is pretty crazy, but we finally started learning how to conjugate 'mag' verbs and 'in' verbs which is hard to keep track of, but it's making sense. The spirit here in the MTC is awesome, especially during Sunday and Tuesday night devotionals. Time is going by so slow and so fast at the exact same time, it's definitely a new experience for me.
 
Anyway, last week after we did laundry, I was walking with my companion, Elder Hinton back to our residence hall. At the end, he wasn't really paying attention and walked into a pole. It was pretty awesome and we still make fun of him for it. But we all do things that deserve to be made fun of. The elders in our district, (the sisters too, but the elders are more immature) have a stupid little joke. In Tagalog, 'mabuti' is good, and 'tubig' is water, so after we get a drink we say Mabuti tubig! If you don't get it, say it out loud.
 
We've been teaching Nila for a while. We taught her about the Book of Mormon, the Apostasy and Restoration, and about baptism and repentance. Then, we commited her to be baptized which was an awesome experience. We are getting a new investigator on Monday and we are going to start teaching two. It will be interesting, but my Tagalog is starting to get a little better so we'll see how it goes. Our teacher, Brother Kovach is flipping awesome and he said that his goal for us was that we'd be pretty much fluent in Tagalog by the time we leave the MTC on August 13. Of course, we'll have much to learn in the field though, especially because they say somethings a little different.
 
On Wednesday I was having a really hard time, but I had a good chat with Elder Finneman, one of the zone leaders. He leaves to go into the field on Monday which is awesome. Since then it's been pretty amazing. My district is really fun. Elder Finch, Elder Linstrom, and Elder Parry and I have been getting along really well. Elder Parry kind of reminds me of Brother Sigafus, which explains why I get along with him so well. I like my companion, his personality is just a little different for me to get used to. But of course, I have some things to work on, and I know I need to work on developing charity and patience. I'm working on it, trust me. The sisters in our district, Sister Keith, Sister Brewer, Sister Reed, and Sister Burnham are pretty cool too. We have a lot of fun in class, even though it's hard sometimes.
 
Thursday was awesome and I got a package from home! I actually just barely got a package today from the Hartley's, which was extremely kind of them! We have gym time everyday and I'm trying to start running. It's fun, and I'm trying to stay in decent shape, especially because of how much they feed us here. Oh and at lunch, I was walking to put my tray away, and I stopped to let someone pass by and my kosama (companion) didn't notice so he walked into me and bumped his tray so a glass fell and shattered on the ground. It was kind of funny, but I felt bad for the MTC staff. We helped them clean it up, but still.
 
Anyway, I don't really know what else to tell you, especially because I have such limited time. But I appreciate all your emails/letters and I hope all is going well for you!
 
Mahal ko kayo!
 
And remember, whatever it is: Kaya mo iyan! (You can do it!)
 
-Elder Oberg



.



Kumusta!
 
This week has been pretty crazy.
 
So on Saturday, after I emailed and such, Elder Linstrom, one of the elders in my district, went home. It was pretty sad and really hard for Elder Finch (his companion.) Elder Linstrom had been suffering from an emotional problem and so they prayed and decided it would be best for him to go home until it is treated. But he plans on coming back in a few years once it's resolved, and I really think he will. So now I'm in a threesome companionship with Elder Hinton and Elder Finch.
 
Pretty much everyday is the same, but it's awesome! In the morning we have class in which we talk about Tagalog, how to begin teaching, and other doctrinal topics depending on the day. It's pretty good, but three hours sometimes feels like a long time. Oh, and we're now teaching Nichole as well as Boboy and their super awesome. I'm still not fluent in Tagalog yet, but it's coming little by little. My verb conjugations are getting better, it's just difficult to remember which verb goes with which conjugation. But that really probably doesn't matter to you anyway.
 
On Tuesday, we had our devotional at the Marriott Center and my district made me sing with them in the choir. I basically mouthed the words, but it was still a really cool experience. It was broadcasted to all of the international MTC's and we took a picture of all the missionaries in there. It's super cool because they've only done that three times. And the talks were amazing. Elder Richard G. Hinckley of the 70 spoke with his wife.
 
Elder Parry is probably my best friend out here right now. We relate to each other and get along super well, which is pretty cool. I'm trying to work out my differences with Elder Hinton, which is slowly coming. Elder Finch is really helpful in our companionship. He's a good kid. So Elder Gallen is from Pompeii which is an island in Micronesia. He had to learn english, and now he's learning Tagalog from English speaking teachers, which is pretty hard for him. But he's really funny, he says the weirdest things and I don't know if he knows half of what he's saying. He's awesome, but he drinks probably 5 cans of soda a day, so we're trying to work with him on that.
 
I'm sorry I really don't have a whole lot of time, and I'm thinking that the majority of my emails will be the same and boring until I get into the field. Haha, but we'll see. If everything goes according to plan, I fly out on August 13
 
If you guys get the chance, read 3 Nephi 12! It's amazing! Also Moroni 7 is an awesome chapter and I read from it almost every day.
 
Mahal ko kayo!
-Elder Oberg

No comments:

Post a Comment