Week 4: HALO VON DER MTC!

HALO VON DER MTC!

Yup, still here just being awesome in the MTC.  German is slowly, but surely coming.  We are finally done learning new items and now is time for the review!  Halleluhia!!

Funny story for the day:  I saw an elder the other day talking to his companion  (who was on crutches) and I didn't expect him to sound like this, but when he spoke he sounded EXACTLY like "Bubba" from Forrest Gump.  He said, "Yo momma is gonna be mad when she hea what you done to yo leg."  I had to turn away so he woundn't see me holding back a laugh.  Made my day a little better.

We had a devotional on Sunday that was super awesome!  I cannot remember the speaker's name for the life of me, though.  President _____ talked about how one time he was getting a drink from the drinking fountain at church and a little boy who was probably 4 years old came up and stood on the stool next to him to get a drink.  Well, as the little boy got a drink, He noticed that when the boy pushed the button to get water, the water pressure in his own fountain went down.  So, as the boy leaned in for a drink (I think of my dad when I say this!), He looked at his own button and released it at the perfect time to see the boy's face get splashed.  The boy whipped his face around in shock, but then went to get another drink.  The water was high, so He pushed his own button down and the water lowered again.  The boy went for another drink and was splashed again.  Apparently they played this game six or seven times.  While He told this story, his wife was shaking her head ...

President _____ related this story to Satan and how he knows some of our "buttons" and does everything he can to push them, whether to tell us we aren't worthy of something such as serving a mission, or even telling us that we are good and don't need to repent.  It is so important to recognize when Satan is doing this and to not let him have the advantage.  We had another devotional (we have two devo's a week, so lots of inspiration for me) ...  They mentioned the difference between thinking, "I meant to do good" and actually going out to do good.  You can have good intentions all you want, but if you don't go out and do something about it, then it is pointless.

This week has gone by super fast and I am so beyond excited to go out and touch the lives of the people in Germany.  I know that there are people there waiting for me and I am so excited!

Before I sign off, here is my attempt to bear my Testimony auf Deutsch ... Hopefully nobody who actually reads/knows German reads this, because there are probably a few mistakes. :)

Ich habe eine Zeugnise das Gott leben Heute.

Ich bin dankbar fur das Evangalium, und fur die Liebe mienes Himmlischer Vaters.

Ich liebe Jesus Christus.

Ich weiss dass wir konnen durch den Heiligen Geist wissen, dass das Buch Mormon wahr ist,

und das Gott stellte Sein Evangelium Jesu Christi ist wahr.

Ich bin fur das Gebet sehr dankbar.

Ich weiss dass Gott leibt mir und wille hilfe mir mit jede frage ich habe.

Ich sagte diese Dinges in Name Jesu Christi Amen.

Well that is all I have for now ...  Ich Liebe Dich!!!

Sister Brown

Week 3: HALO from the MTC!

HALO from the MTC!

Lots has happened this week and yet I can't really remember much of it.  Lots of language studying happened this week, and I'm finally beginning to click in the language!  We had a 10 minute lesson with an investigator/German teacher and my companion was kind of out of it and didn't really know what to say, so I jumped in.  Yup, I know ... crazy, right?  I totally talked for the whole 10 minutes!  Holy Cow ... I didn't even know I knew that many words Auf Deutsch!  After that my teacher said, "Well, now you can't pretend like you don't know German any more, Sister Brown!".... NINE-NO!!  Hahah ... busted.  But, all is well.  I'm excited for how much better I am getting.

I've decided I absolutely love exercise time, and apparently I'm super awesome because I'm the only Sister who can do 10 pull-ups in a row!!  Say WHAAA?  Ya, I'm getting buff in here.  It's all thanks to rock climbing, though.

I think I am finally adjusting to the sleeping and eating in the MTC.  I haven't gained weight, so that is a relief.  Hopefully I keep it up through the mission.  It rained the other day and I hid from the rain and my companion was like, "Sister, you know you're going to Germany, right?  Where it will rain ALL of the time?"  Not so sure why Heavenly Father sent me to a rainy, cold place ... maybe he wants to have a good laugh at me on my mission.  I found out that when I fly out of the country we are stopping in Dallas, Texas for four hours.  So, that is one more state I can say I've been to!

The Young Women's General President, Bonnie L. Oscerson, came to a devotional Tuesday night and she was amazing!  She shared my favorite scripture, which is on my plaque ... D&C 18: 16-17.  Every day is just a reminder to me of my purpose here:  to bring people to Christ.  We are teaching children of God, not lessons.  It is so amazing that I get to have this opportunity and I know I will be blessed.  I'm already seeing the blessing, since I've heard Redskins won 2 games in pre-season. (You're welcome, Dad!)

Anyways, we think we know so much about the gospel, but while reading the Preach My Gospel most basic lessons, I still find stuff where I am like, "Wow ... really?"  It is so cool, and I can testify that every time you open the Book of Mormon you will learn something you didn't know beforehand.  SO COOL!

 

Something else that was great is we had a devotional on Sunday and it was all about repentance, which was really interesting.  It was a member from the missionary committee who spoke and he said,  "Once it is done, it is done."  Kinda struck me there.  I am not perfect and I make mistakes, but if you have truly repented, let it go.  Move on from it.  Remember it so that you don't make the mistake again, but there is not need to sit and dwell on it day after day.  Being here in the MTC, Satan is trying to make me remember all of my wrong doings to make me feel unworthy, but I know that I have been forgiven from Heavenly Father and that is enough for me.  Don't let Satan tell you who you are.

 

Anyways, I love getting packages from home; it's like a mini Christmas for me!  Thank you all for your support ... it means so much to me.

 

ICH LIEBE DICH!

TSCHUS!

Sister Brown :)

 

Week 2: My German is bad, but it's improving!

HALO!

Mein Deutsch ist Schelcht abur ist an Steigerung (My German is bad, but it's improving!)

Slowly I'm learning how to speak better.  Last night after a devotional, we were trying to speak in German and I was trying to say, "The gospel is so important," and the way you say "important" is: Wichtig.  It is kinda like (viktig),  but I said, "Das Evangalium ist so 'Fish-stick'" ...  I thought the elders in the room where gonna wet their pants.  Yup, I'm awesome.  Anyways, the Lord is truly watching over me here.  My companion has a nasty cold and I'm avoiding being too close to her without getting in trouble.  She sneezes; I hand sanitize.  Hopefully eating my vitamins will keep me strong and healthy (thanks mom).

Feeling the spirit 24/7 is exhausting.  I feel like it makes me so hungry and tired all the time, but it's a good kind of exhaustion!  The second week has definitely been so much better than the first, by far.  Studies have been just Wunderbar! (wonderful)  By the way, I've learned that, "Wonderbar" (vuhn-der-bar) doesn't actually mean wonderful, it means miracle.  So, when my teachers are complimenting my on my speaking Deutsch and they say, "Das ist Wunderbar," they are really saying it's a miracle that I got that.

Awesome experience this week ... We had a plan to teach an investigator, and 5 minutes before we went in my companion decided that we weren't gonna teach that lesson.  Ummmm, say whaaaaat?  I was really really mad.  But, anyways I said, "Well, what are we gonna teach then?"  We decided to talk about prayer. So I took a deep breathe, we said a prayer and walked in.  I bore my testimony right at the beginning because that was basically all I knew how to do.  Then my companion talked for a bit.  In my head a scripture kept coming up, and in my head was like, "Read this, read this now!"  So it was 1 Nephi 10: 17-19.  I just kinda blurted out in the best German I could, "I have a scripture I want to share with you ... will you read it?"  She kinda looked at me weird and then said, "Okay."  But as she read, something changed. The spirit just hit so beyond strong at the part of the scripture that says, "For he is the same yesterday, today and forever."  Man, I took the scriptures back from her, and repeated that to her.  I could barely breath; it was just amazing.  Then we sat back and I bore testimony again and some other things came out of my mouth that I'm still not sure how I said it or if it even made sense.  But, before I realized it, I was asking her to prepare to be baptized.  My companion jerked her head over to me like I was crazy.  But then something amazing happened ... she said, "Okay."  I still am not sure how I was able to say what I needed to, but she said, "Okay."  I know that I am struggling with the language, but this is testimony that the spirit is VITAL in converting people and when you have that guiding you, you will never fail to work miracles.

Back to more fun things ... We get to go to the temple once a week on P-Day.  I just love those days.  A cute little old grandma stopped me because I almost backed into aother little grandma and she said, "Now, just because you're tall doesn't mean you get to knock us little grandmas over."  Obviously she was totally kidding (haha).  Then she said, "I have a 6'7" grandson that really needs to meet you!"  It was cute.  We talked for a little longer, but before I left she said, "You're gonna get into trouble with those eyes."  I love little old grandmas ... they are so funny and so sweet!

One last funny item and then I'll close out my letter ... Sister Schuring (my neighbor who is coming to my same mission) is in the same room as me and she loves to talk in her sleep.  The other night she shouted out, "HIMMLISCHER VATER! Unser, wir, Glucklick!"  She said this kinda spread out, but the words mean, "Heavenly Father, our, we, happy!"  Lots of funny, random stuff for sure happens here.

P.S.  REDSKINS WON because I'm sending them blessings!

Well, that is all for now ...

TSCHUS!

Sister Brown

Week 1: German is HARD!

Halo!

Wie Geht es Ihnen??  (How are you?)

That's about all the Deutsch I've got for you right now.  MTC life is definelty different from anything I've experienced.  We get three meals a day and 8 hours of sleep, and still I am so hungry all the time and so tired all the time.  But, it is still good.  Everyone says, "Make it to Sunday!" and that is so true. Saturday night was rough ... I was tired and not understanding anything I was saying, and frustrated with what to say to our investigator for the next time.  I know that my teacher could tell that I was done, because he shook my hand and was like, "Very, very good job, Sister Brown ... you're doing great!"  In my head I thought, "Yay for pitty parties."  Shower time has become my favorite time because it is the time to get away from everyone and just breathe.  My companion's name is Sister Bates, she is great, but she loves to talk.  It's hard to get a word in anywhere.  It's a little frustrating, but I get to learn how to work with her, which is cool.  She knows a lot about the gospel and loves to organize the whole day planning every day, so that's nice that I don't have to.

 

We taught our first investigator on the second day here ... IN GERMAN!  Oh my goodness, it was so hard.  I had to basically read off of my notes and then she would say something and I would reply,  "Uh ... Ya das ist ser gut!" which means, "Ya, that is very good."  I sure hope she wasn't saying, "My dog just died," or something like that!  The next lesson I looked away from my notes, and then the third lesson (fourth day here) my companion decided to change the full lesson five minutes before.  We were just to wing it in German!  AAAHHHHH ... I had a bit of a freak out.  But, it went pretty okay.  I just shared my testimony a lot and asked my companion for words I couldn't remember.   Everyone in my class but me and an elder from New Zealand have taken German before, so they all understand how to speak a little, at least.  All I knew entering the MTC was:  Apfel = apple, Wasser = water,  Halo = hello and ... yeah, that's basically it.

Service time I decided isn't really service time, it's "Let's make the sisters scrub the bathrooms down ... Hurray!"  The food is good for the most part, but the chicken is really, really weird.  I'm not sure what they do to it, but it doesn't taste like chicken very much.  I miss my nap times, or at least being able to take a nap.  I don't get those, except maybe in devotional or firesides ... haha, BAD GUNNAN!  So, also we can't be called, "Schwesters," because that means, "Nuns" ... slightly disappointing.  I carry my Pocket German Dictionary around like my favorite lip gloss.  I need it very much!

Due to lack of time, I'll end with my short testimony in German:

Halo,

Ich Wollen zu tragen mein Assage

Ich weis diese Kirche ist wahr

Ich weis dass das Buch Mormon ish von Gott

Joseph Smith wiederherstellen das Evangelium

Ich glauben das ich bin ein kind gottes.

Ich glaube dass Gott und Jesu Christi sind wahr

Im Namen Jesu Christi
Amen