10/30/12
Dearest, Funniest, Helpfulest, Loving, Good Family!
Here is my last letter from the MTC! Which, by the way, I still
love!
One night this week we walked into our room, all five of us roommates
and I said, “Let’s pretend this is a hotel!”
It was an absolute stroke of brilliance.
For the next twenty minute we gushed about this “amazing hotel where
they serve continental breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” and how, “it’s so
fancy that everyone has to dress up all the time.” We found so many funny little things to
love. Pretty sure I learned this trick
from watching, “The Little Princess” with Shirley Temple. Thank you, Shirley.
I’m learning a lot through being a companion. One thing I learned about this week is real
help. Soeur Barker had a rough night the
other night, feeling stressed about Tahitian.
She started to tell us how discouraged she was, and Soeur Green and I
did the wrong thing. We immediately
tried to cheer her up. Before she could
really finish her thought, we were saying, “Don’t say that! Think positive! Come on, you just need to
keep trying!” And we just said all this
blah, blah, blah and eventually she stopped talking about it. Later I thought about it and realized, “I
hate when people do that.” The truth is
that most of the time when you are discouraged, you know what to do. You know about being positive and keep trying
and all that. Sometimes you just need a
friend to say, “You’re right. That is
really hard.” I’ve been thinking about
the quote that says something like, “You can’t help someone up if you are not
on higher ground.” I think that’s
true. But you can’t just stand up there
yelling at them to climb out. What you’re
really supposed to do is bend down and give them a hand. My relationship with God has grown a lot
since I’ve been here, and one of the greatest comforts I’ve found is that I can
tell him how I really feel. I think I
used to feel a little bit like I had to be perfect in front of God. But, I’ve realized that, for one thing, he
already knows how I really feel, so there’s no point in trying to appear like
something I’m not. And for another, a
true loving relationship is one where you are comfortable enough to say, “I’m
struggling, will you help me?” and trust that the other person will hear you,
feel for you, never judge, and reach down with gentleness to pull you up. So I guess there are a lot of ideas in this
thought. It’s okay to admit
weakness. And if you’re the one on “higher
ground” in the situation, remember how it feels and bend down and give a hand.
One of our companionship’s greatest strengths is
song-writing. We have a couple of good
ones, but I think we just created our greatest hit. We wrote it while we were brushing our
teeth. It’s called, “That’ What
Colleagues Are For.” In French, you call
your companions, “colleagues.” That’s funny in and of itself. Anyhoo, this song is really good. The way it works is you think of a situation
in which a colleague really came in handy.
You sing about it. Then you
finish with the chorus. Example: “Remember that time when I borrowed your
toothpaste? (chorus) That’s what
colleagues are fooo-ooor!!”
French = great.
Tahitian = still really hard. But
I had a great moment last night. It was
our last class as a whole district with Frere Coulsen (teacher) because the
French elders are leaving tomorrow. It
was a strange moment because everyone could sense the reality of us actually
going. It was my turn to say the closing
prayer, and when I stood up, my heart was just pounding. I was amazed when I opened my mouth and said
a sincere prayer in Tahitian and truly expressed my feelings. It was one of the first times I’ve felt like
I was actually speaking Tahitian, not just stumbling through memorized
words. I can’t wait to meet the people
who actually speak this amazing language!
Yesterday we made some Halloween treat bags to give
away. Soeur Green’s mom sent us some
supplies and candy, so during our little break after gym, we all sat on the
floor and put them together. We’re going
to give them to our elders and I guess just people who look they could use some
Halloween love. And speaking of Halloween,
I would like to discuss something. One
thing I was excited about for my mission what the idea of not losing things. We all know how often I lose things. I figured that when I’m living out of a
couple of suitcases I wouldn’t have enough things to lose track of. Wrong.
I am constantly misplacing things.
I imagine it’s pretty obnoxious to my companions. Luckily they are kind enough not to make me
feel stupid about it. Instead, we blame
it on “All Hallow’s Eve”. We’ve just
decided it’s all a result of the spooky Halloween atmosphere, things just
disappearing left and right. Well,
tomorrow Halloween will be over, so I guess I had better get my act together.
Last night I was too excited to sleep. You know when you’re seven years old and you’re
sleeping at Grandma’s house on Christmas Eve and you keep curling up your toes
and squeezing the covers around your chin because you are simply too excited to
sleep? That was me last night! And all my roommates! Because Tahiti is in three days! It’s funny though, because we were all trying
to be obedient and go to sleep at 10:30.
So I’m just laying there silently on my bunk bed, not saying a word
knowing full well that there are four other girls lying silently on their beds
next to me, also too excited to sleep!
During gym yesterday, Soeur Green and I were running around
on our beloved field, and we decided to take a minute to just lie on the
ground. So we walked to the middle of
the grass and did that. And for a few
minutes we just felt the grass and stared at the mountains and breathed the
cool, dry air of Utah. I’m so excited to
go, but I’m going to miss home.
And I suppose it’s time to go. By the time you actually get this, I will
actually be in Tahiti, smack in the middle of the Pacific, maybe peddling
around in my skirt and helmet. So here’s
the last thing I want to write while I’m still here. This week someone asked us a really good
question. They were wondering why we
think we can claim that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the
only true church on the earth when there are wonderful churches and wonderful
people all over the world. I’ve thought
a lot about it and this is how I feel.
I believe in goodness.
I love good literature and art, I love good conversations and ideas, and
I understand that people all over the world believe in goodness too. People in Mozambique and Hong Kong and
Israel, who have never heard of the church, are loving their families, studying
scripture, working honestly, and successfully worshipping God. I realize that am from Cache Valley, Utah,
and I have only a very small understanding of religion and spirituality in a
world-wide sense. Sometimes I get a
little confused by this. Sometimes it
does seem a little crazy for me to leave my country and walk around telling
people that I, a little white girl from Utah, happen to know the truth. But the reality is, I’m not claiming to
personally know everything. I don’t
understand all things spiritual. I
frankly don’t know a whole lot. But I do
know that God lives.
I don’t know everything, but I can say with all my heart
that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live.
They love us. It is my personal
testimony that we lived with Them before, and that They sent us here with a purpose. We are here to learn and grow and become and
eventually return home, changed and saved by the Atonement of our Savior Jesus
Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is
not a good idea or another branch of American culture. It is reality.
I can speak for myself and say that the Book of Mormon is
true. I can say that because I’ve read
it and thought about it and prayed about it, and I know it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints was restored by Jesus Christ through a real prophet, Joseph Smith. And
because of that, I am sealed to my family forever. And I am a truly, truly joyful person.
So, here I go! I’m
gonna do it! I want all my family and
friends to know how much I love you.
Even when we’re not physically together, I am constantly blessed by the
relationships in my life. I’m not really
sure how the mail will be in Tahiti, so there may not be great communication
for the next 16 months. So if I don’t
really hear much from you, or you don’t really hear much from me, it’s
okay. I love you.
Alright, goodbye United States! See you soon!
All my love,
Soeur Mann
