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July 5, 2013 (other letters are below)
Dear Family and Friends,
Mauri! This is my third day in the MTC, and it's like nothing I've ever experienced. It is SO amazing. the Spirit here is unlike anything outside the temple, and I love it. I feel like that's kind of something that's a bit cliche, but it's absolutely true. This is amazing.
I'm part of a threesome here. My companions are Elder Smith and Elder Kim. They're both from southern California, Clippers fans, and great guys. As it turns out, we all have something awesome about our names in Kiribati. Elder Smith is pronounced "Elda Smees", which turns into "Elda Smeeeees!" My name will be "Elda Mareko", which sounds like Elda 'Merica if you say it fast enough. Elder Kim, well, as it turns out, Kim means "your rear end", but not as polite. We'll see what happens when he meets natives.
Pretty much all the time, we've been studying language. Actually, yesterday was mostly "personal study," because they forgot to get us a teacher. We also watched "17 Miracles" for the 4th, which is AMAZING. Watch it this week! Anyway, back to language. We pretty much only learned stuff today, but we already know so much! We talked to some Tahitian elders, and they were very impressed when they found out it was our second day. We can bear testimony of a few basic t hings, like Iotebra Timiti (Joseph Smith) and Iesu Kristo lives. We can count to seven, introduce ourselves, say hello and goodbye, say a couple other random things, and we're working on basic prayers. The days seem like they last forever, and they are packed non-stop, but it is so satisfying to go to sleep knowing how much we've accomplished. I've never worked this hard in my lfie, and I love it.
I've seen so many people that I know! I've run into the Hiatt sisters, Sister Jacklin, and a ton of other people, it would take way too long to name them all. I see Sister Rasband all the time, and I ran into Elder Reinhardt the other day! I told him that basically everybody in Sandpoint said hi, sorry if anybody doesn't approve.
Oh, important. I get to start emailing next Thursday, but I'm only allowed to email immediate family. So if you want to contact me, use DearElder.com! I'm in unit 117, make sure to leave your address so I can respond. Sorry if leters are short or a long time in coming, it is insanely busy here and I need to get some envelopes and stamps so I can stop mooching off of Sister McBride (who is a saint. Just saying, we have two sisters in our district, and they are both amazing. We're lucky to have them.)
Overall, I'm safe, I'm happy, the food is great (but gives you gas, and our dinner time is 4:30, which is junk.) Other than that, I can't complain! I'm so excited for this opportunity, and I'm loving the MTC. I'll write more home as soon as I can!
Tangira (Love),
Elder Mareko
P.S. Kiribati fact--while most people in Kiribati don't live in huts, the doors will be about waist high on me!
[A picture of a house with the top of a door at the waist level of a stick figure was included, but I can't type that!]
Mauri! This is my third day in the MTC, and it's like nothing I've ever experienced. It is SO amazing. the Spirit here is unlike anything outside the temple, and I love it. I feel like that's kind of something that's a bit cliche, but it's absolutely true. This is amazing.
I'm part of a threesome here. My companions are Elder Smith and Elder Kim. They're both from southern California, Clippers fans, and great guys. As it turns out, we all have something awesome about our names in Kiribati. Elder Smith is pronounced "Elda Smees", which turns into "Elda Smeeeees!" My name will be "Elda Mareko", which sounds like Elda 'Merica if you say it fast enough. Elder Kim, well, as it turns out, Kim means "your rear end", but not as polite. We'll see what happens when he meets natives.
Pretty much all the time, we've been studying language. Actually, yesterday was mostly "personal study," because they forgot to get us a teacher. We also watched "17 Miracles" for the 4th, which is AMAZING. Watch it this week! Anyway, back to language. We pretty much only learned stuff today, but we already know so much! We talked to some Tahitian elders, and they were very impressed when they found out it was our second day. We can bear testimony of a few basic t hings, like Iotebra Timiti (Joseph Smith) and Iesu Kristo lives. We can count to seven, introduce ourselves, say hello and goodbye, say a couple other random things, and we're working on basic prayers. The days seem like they last forever, and they are packed non-stop, but it is so satisfying to go to sleep knowing how much we've accomplished. I've never worked this hard in my lfie, and I love it.
I've seen so many people that I know! I've run into the Hiatt sisters, Sister Jacklin, and a ton of other people, it would take way too long to name them all. I see Sister Rasband all the time, and I ran into Elder Reinhardt the other day! I told him that basically everybody in Sandpoint said hi, sorry if anybody doesn't approve.
Oh, important. I get to start emailing next Thursday, but I'm only allowed to email immediate family. So if you want to contact me, use DearElder.com! I'm in unit 117, make sure to leave your address so I can respond. Sorry if leters are short or a long time in coming, it is insanely busy here and I need to get some envelopes and stamps so I can stop mooching off of Sister McBride (who is a saint. Just saying, we have two sisters in our district, and they are both amazing. We're lucky to have them.)
Overall, I'm safe, I'm happy, the food is great (but gives you gas, and our dinner time is 4:30, which is junk.) Other than that, I can't complain! I'm so excited for this opportunity, and I'm loving the MTC. I'll write more home as soon as I can!
Tangira (Love),
Elder Mareko
P.S. Kiribati fact--while most people in Kiribati don't live in huts, the doors will be about waist high on me!
[A picture of a house with the top of a door at the waist level of a stick figure was included, but I can't type that!]
July 11, 2013
Anyway, I'm back!
The MTC is such a great place. You can definitely feel the Spirit, there are great people everywhere, and we have such great speakers all the time! George Durant and his wife spoke to us on Sunday! It was way awesome. We also had an Emeritus Seventy whose last name was Kendricks speak to us for the Tuesday devotional, and lots of people said it was the best devotional they'd ever heard.
It's great to hear about Kiribati from somebody who knows about it! So here's the lowdown on how it'll be. Most of the missionaries are on Tarawa (pronounced tah-rah-wah, slight emphasis on the tah) and live in apartment style housing, with electricity, email, and a lot of other good stuff. On the Outer Islands, though, you can occasionally get a light bulb for your room, and there is no indoor plumbing, so people use the beach. Our main teacher was there for 6 months, and he said that that was basically 6 months of no contact with home. The mission president WILL come out for transfers, and we're going to be really close to a lot of other missionaries on Tarawa. Apparently when our main teacher (Brother Grover) was there, the goal was to teach 7 lessons a day, and it was pretty easy. So I'm going to be busy!
Random thought! William! Saying "yoked" is totally a thing here!
The MTC has definitely been humbling for me. I'm realizing how much more I need to know and be able to do, and I'm definitely not as great as I thought. But if growth is going to happen, this is place it's going to happen! I've had good days, bad days, and freaking awesome days, but every day I'm seeing more and more growth in me and my district. I've prayed more sincerely than ever before, and have learned to love the scriptures even more. Which reminds me!
We gave our first lesson in the language on Monday. Usually it happens a lot sooner, but our district has had a hard time getting teachers, so they had to postpone. So we were feeling pretty high and mighty, having learned as much of the language as we had, and we were ready for the lesson. Had our lessons plans written out in the language and everything. The guy we were supposed to teach was in the next room over. The sisters went in to teach first, and when they came out, it was clear they'd been crying. They went into another room to pray. Then Elders Tait and Maisey went in, and when they came out, I remember the look on Elder Maisey's face. He's definitely the manly man of our district, he's the District Leader, and he looked very shaken. When Elders Loe and Sion went in, the three of us who were left were getting pretty scared. We went into another room to pray for guidance, courage, and the Spirit. We still got shredded. Our investigator wouldn't look at us, didn't seem interested, and we totally choked on the planned lesson. We kind of failed miserably. When we came out, we went into another room to pray. That was probably the most sincere prayer I've ever given with a group. Everybody was pretty shaken, but it was a humbling experience, and we've definitely redoubled our efforts on everything. It changed the district, and made the work we're doing right now a lot more real.
Anyway, I love it here, and I'm sure things are only going to get better. I'll write again next week! In the meantime, if anybody wants to contact me, use Dear Elder rather than email, because I don't have much email time, and they deliver the Dear Elders right to us!
Love,
Elder Marks
The MTC is such a great place. You can definitely feel the Spirit, there are great people everywhere, and we have such great speakers all the time! George Durant and his wife spoke to us on Sunday! It was way awesome. We also had an Emeritus Seventy whose last name was Kendricks speak to us for the Tuesday devotional, and lots of people said it was the best devotional they'd ever heard.
It's great to hear about Kiribati from somebody who knows about it! So here's the lowdown on how it'll be. Most of the missionaries are on Tarawa (pronounced tah-rah-wah, slight emphasis on the tah) and live in apartment style housing, with electricity, email, and a lot of other good stuff. On the Outer Islands, though, you can occasionally get a light bulb for your room, and there is no indoor plumbing, so people use the beach. Our main teacher was there for 6 months, and he said that that was basically 6 months of no contact with home. The mission president WILL come out for transfers, and we're going to be really close to a lot of other missionaries on Tarawa. Apparently when our main teacher (Brother Grover) was there, the goal was to teach 7 lessons a day, and it was pretty easy. So I'm going to be busy!
Random thought! William! Saying "yoked" is totally a thing here!
The MTC has definitely been humbling for me. I'm realizing how much more I need to know and be able to do, and I'm definitely not as great as I thought. But if growth is going to happen, this is place it's going to happen! I've had good days, bad days, and freaking awesome days, but every day I'm seeing more and more growth in me and my district. I've prayed more sincerely than ever before, and have learned to love the scriptures even more. Which reminds me!
We gave our first lesson in the language on Monday. Usually it happens a lot sooner, but our district has had a hard time getting teachers, so they had to postpone. So we were feeling pretty high and mighty, having learned as much of the language as we had, and we were ready for the lesson. Had our lessons plans written out in the language and everything. The guy we were supposed to teach was in the next room over. The sisters went in to teach first, and when they came out, it was clear they'd been crying. They went into another room to pray. Then Elders Tait and Maisey went in, and when they came out, I remember the look on Elder Maisey's face. He's definitely the manly man of our district, he's the District Leader, and he looked very shaken. When Elders Loe and Sion went in, the three of us who were left were getting pretty scared. We went into another room to pray for guidance, courage, and the Spirit. We still got shredded. Our investigator wouldn't look at us, didn't seem interested, and we totally choked on the planned lesson. We kind of failed miserably. When we came out, we went into another room to pray. That was probably the most sincere prayer I've ever given with a group. Everybody was pretty shaken, but it was a humbling experience, and we've definitely redoubled our efforts on everything. It changed the district, and made the work we're doing right now a lot more real.
Anyway, I love it here, and I'm sure things are only going to get better. I'll write again next week! In the meantime, if anybody wants to contact me, use Dear Elder rather than email, because I don't have much email time, and they deliver the Dear Elders right to us!
Love,
Elder Marks
July 18, 2013
Dear Friends and Family:
It's amazing how your perception of time changes at the MTC. The first week may have been the longest week of my life. I mean, 16 hour days with 45 minute
breaks for meals? Brutal, and definitely harder than anything I've ever done before. But it's getting to the point where the days are flying by. We've gotten
used to it, and are really starting to get cracking. Yesterday we had a brief get-to-know-you/mini-lesson between companionships, and it went super well! We
talked in Kiribati for 10 minutes both ways (them teaching us, and then us teaching them) and we all knew what was going on! It was amazing! I've gotten to
the point where I can start to string together sentences with words I know to meet different circumstances, and it's pretty exciting! By no means am I
fluent, but I'm able to teach much of the first lesson, and I can carry on small talk.
We taught Binoka (our investigator from last time) another lesson, and then he... left? He's actually a teacher of ours acting as an investigator, and for
whatever reason, we aren't teaching him any more. We've started another one, however, with another teacher, and he's much friendlier. We've had two visits
with him, and they've both gone really well.
I guess this week isn't quite as exciting as last, I'm kind of getting used to it here. I'm working my buki off to reirei Kiribati, and we've been doing a lot more SYL (Speak Your Language.) It's going great, and I'm loving it!
Oh! Thank you SO MUCH to everybody who's sent me Dear Elders! I'm trying to respond to them by hand, but until I can respond individually, thanks a ton! They make my day, and the day of any other missionary you send them to!
Love, Elder Marks
It's amazing how your perception of time changes at the MTC. The first week may have been the longest week of my life. I mean, 16 hour days with 45 minute
breaks for meals? Brutal, and definitely harder than anything I've ever done before. But it's getting to the point where the days are flying by. We've gotten
used to it, and are really starting to get cracking. Yesterday we had a brief get-to-know-you/mini-lesson between companionships, and it went super well! We
talked in Kiribati for 10 minutes both ways (them teaching us, and then us teaching them) and we all knew what was going on! It was amazing! I've gotten to
the point where I can start to string together sentences with words I know to meet different circumstances, and it's pretty exciting! By no means am I
fluent, but I'm able to teach much of the first lesson, and I can carry on small talk.
We taught Binoka (our investigator from last time) another lesson, and then he... left? He's actually a teacher of ours acting as an investigator, and for
whatever reason, we aren't teaching him any more. We've started another one, however, with another teacher, and he's much friendlier. We've had two visits
with him, and they've both gone really well.
I guess this week isn't quite as exciting as last, I'm kind of getting used to it here. I'm working my buki off to reirei Kiribati, and we've been doing a lot more SYL (Speak Your Language.) It's going great, and I'm loving it!
Oh! Thank you SO MUCH to everybody who's sent me Dear Elders! I'm trying to respond to them by hand, but until I can respond individually, thanks a ton! They make my day, and the day of any other missionary you send them to!
Love, Elder Marks
July 25, 2013
Mauri! (Hello!) E tikuaroi te wiiki! (Literally, It good the week. Not COMPLETELY sure that's correct grammar, but I think it is.) Sorry if I end up repeating things I've already said, but the days and weeks are starting to blend together, and it's hard to know what's happened when. But here we go anyway. :)
We're halfway done! Yesterday marked the first day of our 4th week our of 6 at the MTC! It's strange, because I feel like I've been here forever, but I also feel like I've barely been here at all. They say that at the MTC the days feel like weeks, and the weeks feel like days, and that is so true. It's funny how you can used to working 16 hour days if you do it for long enough, and you've got a loving Tamara are i Karawa (Father in Heaven) to back you up!
As far as the missionary work goes, it's about the same. Hard, but awesome. We're learning more Kiribati all the time, and starting to have hours at a time where we just TAT (taetae ara taetae, or speak our language) I've heard stories about other missionaries that had to SYL from the beginning, so sorry that we're wussies, but that's how it works here now. And it's exciting how much we can do.
We've gotten ourselves a new investigator, Terawaa. He's "played" by our new teacher, Brother Green. He's really friendly and receptive, and is willing to repeat himself or try to explain Kiribati words we don't know with other Kiribati words and charades, which is great. It's always great to talk to him, answer his questions, and help him come closer to where he needs to be. Tomorrow's going to be a challenge, though. We're teaching him the Law of Chastity, and he's living with his girlfriend. On top of that, they have a two-year-old son. So... It'll be an interesting lesson. Pray for us!
Speaking of prayer, I've learned a lot about prayers power this last week. Yesterday especially, it should have been a pretty tough day, but I was just super happy. I realized, for the first time, what people mean when they say that they can feel the prayers of other people. I never got that before, but yesterday, the Spirit testified to me that I was feeling the support of the prayers of those that love me. So thank you!
Just saying, my district rocks. The more I get to know them, the more I think they're just incredible, and I'm lucky to have been placed in such a great group of Elders and Sisters. I sent home a bunch of pictures that I took while we were in class, and I asked Elder Tait to send some that he took, because my camera battery was dead on our first picture day. Anyway, they're all in there, along with a short description. I wish I could give a page long bio on each of them, but time doesn't allow it. I guess that'll be a story for when I get back!
One cool thing. Elder Maisey, my district leader, was in Sandpoint a month before we came here! He stayed at the resort at 41 South, and ran across the Long Bridge every day he was there! I probably drove past him on the way to work, which is psycho!
Something cool happened earlier today! Elder Tait, Elder Kim, and myself auditioned the song "Where Can I Turn for Peace." Elder Tait and I sang a duet while Elder Kim played the piano. And we made it! We're going to perform at a Sunday night devotional, as long as they can get a slot open for us before we go to Kiribati. It was SO FANTASTIC, and I'm pumped to be able to perform that song for the MTC. It was a toss up for us, whether we were going to do Come Thou Fount or that one, and even though Come Thou Fount is an amazing song, Where Can I Turn for Peace is the song that we're supposed to sing. I'm looking forward to being able to do that.
Cool story that I keep meaning to tell, but keep forgetting. Here at the MTC, on our first night, we sang "The Army of Helaman." I've always loved that missionary song, and now it's even more meaningful. But get this. The format was kind of the usual general conference format, where there's video of the conductor and there are subtitles for the lyrics. The lyrics of the chorus went "We are as the army of Helaman, we have been taught in our youth, and we ARE NOW the Lord's missionaries to bring the world his truth." (Emphasis added.) SO FREAKING COOL!!!!!!!!! Chills ran up and down my back, and I realized, Holy Crud, I'm a missionary! Now is the time! All this preparation, and now it's time to do it! Wow! Way cool.
Anyway, my email time is almost up, so farewell! Thank you for all the Dear Elders, I can't say enough how much it means to the missionaries to get mail, and I appreciate everything I get! So thank you, I'm sending replies by snail mail tonight! Life is good, the Gospel is true, and the Sisters here are not available! (3 most important things to remember at the MTC.) I love you all, and I look forward to seeing you all again!
We're halfway done! Yesterday marked the first day of our 4th week our of 6 at the MTC! It's strange, because I feel like I've been here forever, but I also feel like I've barely been here at all. They say that at the MTC the days feel like weeks, and the weeks feel like days, and that is so true. It's funny how you can used to working 16 hour days if you do it for long enough, and you've got a loving Tamara are i Karawa (Father in Heaven) to back you up!
As far as the missionary work goes, it's about the same. Hard, but awesome. We're learning more Kiribati all the time, and starting to have hours at a time where we just TAT (taetae ara taetae, or speak our language) I've heard stories about other missionaries that had to SYL from the beginning, so sorry that we're wussies, but that's how it works here now. And it's exciting how much we can do.
We've gotten ourselves a new investigator, Terawaa. He's "played" by our new teacher, Brother Green. He's really friendly and receptive, and is willing to repeat himself or try to explain Kiribati words we don't know with other Kiribati words and charades, which is great. It's always great to talk to him, answer his questions, and help him come closer to where he needs to be. Tomorrow's going to be a challenge, though. We're teaching him the Law of Chastity, and he's living with his girlfriend. On top of that, they have a two-year-old son. So... It'll be an interesting lesson. Pray for us!
Speaking of prayer, I've learned a lot about prayers power this last week. Yesterday especially, it should have been a pretty tough day, but I was just super happy. I realized, for the first time, what people mean when they say that they can feel the prayers of other people. I never got that before, but yesterday, the Spirit testified to me that I was feeling the support of the prayers of those that love me. So thank you!
Just saying, my district rocks. The more I get to know them, the more I think they're just incredible, and I'm lucky to have been placed in such a great group of Elders and Sisters. I sent home a bunch of pictures that I took while we were in class, and I asked Elder Tait to send some that he took, because my camera battery was dead on our first picture day. Anyway, they're all in there, along with a short description. I wish I could give a page long bio on each of them, but time doesn't allow it. I guess that'll be a story for when I get back!
One cool thing. Elder Maisey, my district leader, was in Sandpoint a month before we came here! He stayed at the resort at 41 South, and ran across the Long Bridge every day he was there! I probably drove past him on the way to work, which is psycho!
Something cool happened earlier today! Elder Tait, Elder Kim, and myself auditioned the song "Where Can I Turn for Peace." Elder Tait and I sang a duet while Elder Kim played the piano. And we made it! We're going to perform at a Sunday night devotional, as long as they can get a slot open for us before we go to Kiribati. It was SO FANTASTIC, and I'm pumped to be able to perform that song for the MTC. It was a toss up for us, whether we were going to do Come Thou Fount or that one, and even though Come Thou Fount is an amazing song, Where Can I Turn for Peace is the song that we're supposed to sing. I'm looking forward to being able to do that.
Cool story that I keep meaning to tell, but keep forgetting. Here at the MTC, on our first night, we sang "The Army of Helaman." I've always loved that missionary song, and now it's even more meaningful. But get this. The format was kind of the usual general conference format, where there's video of the conductor and there are subtitles for the lyrics. The lyrics of the chorus went "We are as the army of Helaman, we have been taught in our youth, and we ARE NOW the Lord's missionaries to bring the world his truth." (Emphasis added.) SO FREAKING COOL!!!!!!!!! Chills ran up and down my back, and I realized, Holy Crud, I'm a missionary! Now is the time! All this preparation, and now it's time to do it! Wow! Way cool.
Anyway, my email time is almost up, so farewell! Thank you for all the Dear Elders, I can't say enough how much it means to the missionaries to get mail, and I appreciate everything I get! So thank you, I'm sending replies by snail mail tonight! Life is good, the Gospel is true, and the Sisters here are not available! (3 most important things to remember at the MTC.) I love you all, and I look forward to seeing you all again!