November 14, 2006 (MTC)

I don’t know what to say. I always think of things to tell you during the week and by the time I sit down to write I’ve forgotten everything. Oh well. Гоу саúxaн aop caúxaн. That’s the Mongolian equivalent of “Whatever floats your boat.” I realize that doesn’t really have anything to do with this situation, but I can’t help it. One of the elders in my district, Elder Loveland, uses that phrase 800 times a day, and usually only when it doesn’t make sense. It’s just fun to say and now we all use it whenever.

My roommate, Sister Mwatieta, was supposed to leave for Fiji last Thursday, but hours before she was supposed to leave they realized her passport and her visa were “missing.” I say “missing” because we can’t really understand her and the details of they’re last known whereabouts are sketchy at best. She’s from Kiribati, and she has never been to the U.S. before. She said once that she would rather spend the rest of her mission in the MTC. We all had a good laugh and then realized she was serious. She has been hanging around the past few days, waiting for them to decide what to do with her. She will probably get reassigned to a stateside mission. We’re just glad to have her around for a few more days. Sister Mwatieta makes the MTC fun, and by “fun” I mean “dangerous, but fun.” She loves to sneak in to other missionaries’ classrooms when they’re gone to lunch or dinner and prop chairs or poles against the door or trash cans above the door so they’ll fall on them when they enter. None of the missionaries on our floor enter their classrooms without cautiously kicking the door open first, and whenever we hear sister Mwatieta laughing we do a quick head count to make sure everyone is okay.

Remember how Elder Johnston, and I all have practically the same name? Well, we found out that both the elders go by Eric in the real world, and not only that but Elder Johnson’s full name is Christopher Eric Johnson, as in CEG, my exact same initials. Apparently this is just too much for the folks at DeraDlder.com to handle, because half the time I get a letter through their service, one of Elder Johnson’s letters is printed on the same page. When you get a package at the MTC you get a slip in your district mailbox with just your last name on it and then you go to the mailroom to pick up your package. I try not to get too excited when I get a package slip because half the time it’s actually for Elder Johnson.

Well, if you want an honest answer to how my Mongolian is coming along . . . I’m doing pretty well. It’s still very hard, but I seem to be picking the concepts up pretty quickly. At first I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be continuing on with Japanese or French or a language that I had at least heard of before, but I realize now that I wouldn’t have been happy without a challenge. If I had been called to a Japanese-speaking mission I might have been under the impression that I could handle the language, which is a ridiculous notion for any missionary to have. I’m grateful to feel completely inadequate, even with my ability to pick up concepts quickly here at the MTC. I know I will be relying heavily o the gift of tongues when I get to Mongolia. Having the gift of tongues does not mean that when I get there I will miraculously be fluent in Mongolian. It means that somehow, through the grace of God, the investigators will get the meaning of what I’m trying to say no matter how garbled my language is.

So, I was riding down university Avenue the other day in a car when the thought came to me, “What in the world am I doing riding in a car down University Ave.?” Then I was like, “Oh yeah, my companion has a wart on her foot that is spreading and the MTC Health Center recommended she see a podiatrist so they set up an appointment for her and arranged for the MTC shuttle to take us there.” So pretty much it was the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me. When we first went to the MTC Health Clinic and they asked Sister Balli if she would want to go to an off-campus doctor, we looked at each other, grinned, and said “Tuúm зз!” (“yes,” with emphasis). A chance to leave the same square ½ mile I’ve been in for the past month? To ride in a car, and see real people once again? We were so excited we practically ran back to our classroom to tell the elders the exciting news. They weren’t as thrilled as we thought they’d be, and instead they immediately began plotting ways to maim their companions so they could get a free ride to the outside world.

We were only gone a little over an hour, but oh how refreshing! I kept whipping my head around to see if I’d see anyone I knew, and even though there’s no reason why any of my friends would have been at a podiatrist’s office in the middle of the day. I was right across the street from where my friend Becky used to work and where her husband now works. (It’s still weird that my friends have husbands, by the way). It was enough just to get out.

I’m kind of excited for Thanksgiving in the MTC. They’re planning service activities all week and they’re putting up Christmas lights all over the MTC. I am so excited about the Christmas lights. Ridiculously excited! I’m giddy just thinking about it! I feel like I’ll be spending holiday at Hogwarts, which always means excitement. Christmas lights! No, I’m (probably) not insane, I’m just learning to enjoy the simple things in life. Stop and smell the sunset, people. Don’t take car rides for granted. Get excited for the holidays. Be happy that you know who you are, where you are going, and that Sister Mwatieta is still safe & sound in the MTC. When she finally gets her papers in order, however, I’d start checking your doors.

That’s interesting that you should suggest looking up “heart” scriptures because I recently finished looking through every Topical Guide scripture with the word “heart” in it and writing how it’s used in each scripture as part of my personal scripture study. It is used in many different ways, but I wanted to see what God’s definition of the heart seemed to be. It seems to mean your true self, your intentions and your desires, as well as being a receptacle for confirmed feelings, just as the mind is a receptacle for knowledge.

Remember, Joseph Smith said that the one major difference between our church and all the rest of them is the gift of the Holy Ghost. If you’re not feeling it in your life on a daily basis, see what you can do to change that. It’s nobody’s fault but your own. Read 2 Nephi 33:1. The Holy Ghost can only bring messages “unto” the hearts of the children of men. It’s up to us to have a heart that will let the message in.