Ioaranna!
So I am writing a quick last email from the MTC, because next Tuesday I will be arriving in Tahiti at 5 am and the preparation day will change for me. I will not get to email until that next Monday which is December 8 or something.
Elder Oaks came and spoke to us Tuesday for the devotional. It was so cool to be able to hear an apostle speak for our last Tuesday night devotional. Just like every other Tuesday night devo. we sang "Called to Serve." Tuahine Arbuckle and I have joked about how old that song has gotten old singing it so many times, but my heart broke a little knowing it would be the last time I would sing it as a missionary with 100s of other missionaries. We sat like 3 rows back from the podium. It was an amazing experience to be that close to an apostle. We also got to hear his wife speak, which was an awesome experience. We had our last lesson with Alan this week. It was kind of sad. We sure enjoyed teaching him. We all shared our favorite scriptures. I shared Helaman 5:12, which is one of mine. I love it because it pretty much is a guide to life. We are going to have opposition and hard times, but if we build a foundation on Jesus Christ and be converted to him and through him, we don't need to have any fear.
The weirdest and best thing ever was Thanksgiving here at the MTC. It was great because the whole day was planned out differently than it had ever been before, but so weird because every missionary in the MTC was like going kind of crazy because we weren't on a schedule. What made it even better was that the MTC presidency was so chill about it. We got to watch Meet the Mormons and they handed out bags of popcorn to like every one of us. It was so not MTC-like. Also, Elder Bednar (another apostle) came and spoke to us in the morning. Again we had really good seats, thanks to Tuahine Arbuckle. He was like super duper cool and brought his family with him and his wife pretty much said, "we are so happy to be your family today." I was like, "well thank you so much Elder and Sister Bednar, I am so glad you said that." Any-who, he handed out like several hundred cell phones and made his "talk" a Q and A session for all the MTCs throughout the world. Wow. My hand was trying to write so fast. One of my favorite things he said was about faith. The question was, "how do we not lose faith when we are going through a challenge or trial?" He explained that through trials you gain faith, so if you want faith, you are going to have trials. The rest of Thanksgiving was filled with lots of singing and service. After the movie, we got the best thing of all. They finally lit up all the Christmas lights that have been up since before Halloween. All of us Tahitians were waiting for that day and it finally came. We had a Thanksgiving lunch and I sat next to some Japanese sisters going to Nagoya, Japan (they will be serving with my sister, Erin) and I explained to them why we celebrate Thanksgiving. We had a sack dinner in our classroom with the other Americans going to Tahiti. It was an awesome experience. We all went around and said a family tradition and something we were grateful for. I was actually surprised how sincere everyone was. It was so nice to have Thanksgiving Day at the end of our stay, because it was such a pleasant surprise, almost like a vacation, in a missionary way.
Along with the last week, we had In Field Orientation on Friday, which was another day that we were in class. We spent all day doing role plays and what not. I loved it because that day had finally came for us 11 weekers. We had seen that go on for the past 10 weeks and now it was finally us.
This week I finished a journal I started while in the MTC. That goes to show how long we have been here. Also if you think about it I have been here longer then a summer term at BYU. I have really enjoyed it, but lets be honest. I am counting down the meals I have left in the cafeteria.
Also, I talked to Soeur Stevens yesterday and I ask her if she was still having the pain she was having a couple of weeks ago and she said no. This was a miracle because she had had this ache in her back and by her ribs for like the last 7 weeks. I was happy to hear this. I asked when it stopped hurting. She said after the zone fasted for me. Wow. That was a testimony builder for me. We all had fasted for her and it worked. Surely that is a miracle.
On a less serious note, I was joking around with her if she could carry water on her head like you see in documentaries because we were bringing our like 40 lbs off books back to the residence. Sure enough, she could. She put the bag of books on her head and didn't even have to use her hands to balance. She walked up the flight of stairs too without even hesitating once. It was sooooo cool. I took a picture.
Today was the last day of classes. It was sad, but not at all. We are all so excited to go to Tahiti. I am sure I will miss the MTC when I am in Tahiti, but right now I am just happy that come Monday I will get to make a phone call home and eat at Cafe Rio in the SLC airport.
So yeah you will probs hear from me in like a week and a half. Love life. Remember who you are!
-Tuahine Campbell
Sœur Stevens doing the balancing stuff on head thing.
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