Kumusta Everyone

What a great week it has been! Thank you for all your letters, they make me smile a lot:) This past week has been amazing. Pretty much every day in the MTC is amazing, but this week was especially great because I am beginning to get the language pretty well. We have started working on grammar in class and it helps so much. Now I can make my own sentences!! Of course it takes me like 5 minutes to make one...but still!!! tagalog grammar is so confusing. whoever made this language was not in their right mind. But it is fun to learn ;) we are still teaching out investagator Mary Kate and last lesson we invited her to be baptized and she said she would!! that made us super excited!! We start teaching a new investagator tomorrow.

So i might have told you this but pretty much every day in the MTC is the same. we wake up, we plan, we eat, we study, go to class, study, eat, class, study, dinner, study gym, then bed. every day so sorry if my letters get to be redundant. haha!!! In class, this week aside from grammar we learned about how to begin teaching a lesson. We learned all the questions we should ask at the beginning of a lesson so we can get to know our investigator and all that jazz. We practice teaching a lot but the problem is, we practice in english!! then when it's time to teach I can't actually say what I want to say becasue I still cant speak tagalog very well. I will get it soon enough thou. I'm keeping my head up high.

So my zone has 4 districts in it with like 4-5 companionships each and they are all going to the Philippines. I love my zone they are all so fun and helpful. Our whole floor is going to the Philippines and it's like a big family;) for gym we all go to the field and play volleyball. I'm not very good at it but I still have fun. for meals we all sit together as a zone it's really nice. the food is alright most of the time. My favorite meal would have to be buiscuts and gravy. I eat well everyday but i feel like I should eat healthier.

So I still love my district! each day the elders get less and less scared of the sisters. haha!! we are the closest with elder Ha'o and elder sorensen. Funny Story time. So the name of the church in tagalog is Ang Simbahan ni Jesucristo ng mga Banal na Huling Araw, and the word for "forbidden" is "bawal. so elder sorensen was teaching an investagator and was bearing his testimony of the church. he accidentally said And Simbahan ni Jesucristo ng mga BAWAL! haha!!! he said the church was forbidden!! the investigator couldn't even keep from laughing lol. When he told us that we all laughed for like ten minutes.

I am very well and still sdjusting to the schedule. i love waking up early and starting the day but since everyday is the same, they all sort of blend together. I feel like each time we eat a meal is the beginning of a new day. so sometimes I don't even know if I'm eating breakfast or dinner. lol. ummmm let's see. I only have 2 mins left...I need to learn to type faster. haha!!

Oh ya!! it was good to hear that Coles talk went well :) tell him I say "HellO!" Ah and I'm so excited for melanie!! I need her adress so I can send her a letter!!

I'm sorry about the choir. that is very unfourtunate.

Mahal Kita pamilya ko!

sister stapp

 p.s. sorry for all the missed capitalizations. the shift key is ssketchy.

Kumusta Pamilya!!

I am here at the MTC which you probably already know...well of course you do:) I got all your letters and packages! they made me soooo happy! I will be writing everyone back today because it's my P-day...woo hoo! Anyway I absolutley love it here. It is the most amazing place I have ever been. I'm so happy I get to stay here for two months. My mga kasama (companions) are amazing. Sister Evans from New Zealand and Sister Palmer from Park city. We are like sisters already and I love them to pieces. My district is really awesome. We have 3 sets of elders, Elders Ha'o and Sorensen, Elders Perkins and Adams, and Elders Finley and Brown. They are all super nice and really funny. They first few days it seemed like they were scared of us sisters. But they are getting better at talking to us.Haha!! We all laugh a lot and have a good time. Elder Adams is out district leader and he is awesome.  He asks every night around 9:20 when class is over if any of us need a blessing. It feels like we are a family already I love it! I am so happy with my district and that I get to spend 2 months with these people!

All the Elders and Sisters in my zone are awesome as well. The ones that have been here longer than we have are always willing to help us if we need to know how to say something. They have all made us feel welcome and I feel at home how whenever I am on our floor.

 

Ummm Lets see... Oh! My companions and I have taught 3 Lessons in Tagalog so far! Amazing how much we can say in just 6 days!!The gift of toungues is real and I have been blessed by it so much already!  We can hardly understand what our investigator is saying back to us but we can still feel the spirit so strong when we testify to her that we know The Book of Mormon is true. That is the most important part, that we teach by the spirit and let the Holy Ghost testify through us. We can make all the mistakes in the world and not understand a word she says, but as long as we are sincere and the spirit is there that is all that matters. I have been able to feel the spirit so strongly since I have been here especially when we sing. Before firesides and devotionals all the missionaries sing like 4 hymns in a row. It is the most amazing sound hearing all those Elders and Sisters bare testimony through song. It's so beautiful that I can hardly keep from crying most of the time! I love the spirit that is here It is like none I have ever felt before.

 

These past few days in the MTC have been such a whirlwind and it started out to be a bit overwhelming. The very first day I was taken to my classroom by a host missionary and I was the first one there. I was the only one in my classroom for about 15 minutes while my teacher Brother Ah Mu rattled off phrases in tagalog for me to repeat. It was way intimidating! The next couple of days after that they just pounded the language into us and it was very tiring but exciting! I feel like I am getting the language slowly but surely:)

 

Ummmm I have three minutes left!! Lets see I am eating salad with every meal....But also like three cookies with every meal so I think those cancel each other out. 

 

Sorry if there are any typos in this email I was typing really fast! I love you all and tell all those who wrote letters aka Kara and Kate that I am writing back today!

 

Mahal Kita!!

Sister Stapp

She Made IT

Dear Flamly,
I don't have much time to write...but I just wanted to say that I made it to the MTC in one piece and I love it here :).  I have two companions.  Sister Evans from New Zealand and Sister Palmer from Park City.  They are lovely girls.  Started learning the language...it is super fun and exciting.  I feel the spirit so strongly here!!  Sorry this is so short I just wanted you to know that I am alive and well.  I will write on Tues.  I love you sooo much.  Julia