Long flights, love the MTC, Tagalog is hard and Peanut Butter & Rice!

Hey guys!!

Ok, so I got 14 emails to read this week, and I have 45 minutes to write every single one of you... So I decided to do a mass email instead. Maybe later I'll get better at using my time wisely.

So first, as you have probably noticed, my P-Day is not on Monday. It is on Friday. So, you'll get my emails on Thursday. Or maybe Friday morning for Matt? Anyways. Sorry if that made you nervous or anything (Mom...). =D Just one thing before I get started. Mom, my alarm clock is not working? It works, but the alarm doesn't go off in the morning, and I have no idea why. I've tried taking the batteries out and everything and it just doesn't go off. Ok, let's get to the good stuff.

So the flight was good! It was very very long, and I didn't get to sit by any of the missionaries that we met in Seattle, so that was kind of boring, but it was fine. I sat next to a really nice old lady. When we got to the hotel, it was so hot! There was actually someone who met us, but we did walk to our hotel because it would have taken a long time to get a bus over there to take us all over to the hotel. It was crazy. (And there was a monkey outside of the hotel. Like a real live monkey, chained to a tree. It was very strange.) There was traffic and people everywhere. But the hotel was only a short walk away, so it wasn't that bad. We got to bed that night at about 2 in the morning, and then we got up at 5 to get to the MTC on time. It was a very long couple of days. It took a while to get used to the time change, but we're good now! Here, we get up at 6 and go to bed at 10, so that's a little weird but it's all good!

Now the MTC. I love it here!! My kasama (companion), Sister C, is amazing!! She has the greatest testimony every, and we get along super well. She doesn't even really need to be in the MTC. She could out and preach right now! If she know Tagalog that is. Our district is awesome! We're not with any of the guys that we flew with, except one. They're all in the other language training district that just came in. But ours is awesome. There's 6 sets of missionaries, and we are the only sister. Half of us are American, and the other half are Tongans/Samoans/Canadians/Austrailians. It's great. We have so much fun together, but when we get serious and spiritual, it is powerful! The Elders in our district are Elders O and G, Elders B and V, Elders L and L, Elders E and J, and Elders P and L. Elder G has come up with nicknames for all of us. He calls my kasama C Kent, and I'm Wil-Wander around/Willy Wonka/Walla Walla/Harry Potter/ Pinky Promise.... So it's a lot of fun. Our classes are also a lot of fun, but we study by ourselves a lot more than I thought we would. We taught our first investigator on day 4, and he (of course) hardly spoke any english. The only things that we had learned in Tagalog were hi and how are you... That's about it. So we can just say that out first lesson crashed and burned. Hard. That day was waaaaay hard. My kasama and I came back and were so disappointed. The Elders tried to make us feel better, and a set of Sisters took us aside and talked to us. The next few lessons with our investigator, C, were way better! We really learned that we had to rely on the Lord for everything!! I mean, we say so many prayer. We say them before and after everything, and sometimes even in the middle of things. It's great =] 

Tagalog. It is so very hard. It is somewhat like Spanish, which almost makes it harder. A lot of the time I want to start speaking in Spanish to everyone... Also, the language is nothing like english, and the words are hard to prounounce a lot of the time. But! I can say a prayer in Tagalog, and bear my testimony. (I mean what else do you need right?) So we're working on it. It's definitely getting better, but it's not an easy language. I pretty much have the baptismal invitation memorized (since you're supposed to say it word for word), so that's cool!!

So there lot's of Tongans and Samoans and Filipinos here. The Americans are very outnumbered. Sometimes it's hard to get used to their cultures, but we love them anyways. Sister C and I have a set of Filipinos in our room and a set of Samoan sisters in our room, and sometimes it is very strange. But the elders seem to flock around the American girls, especially the Samoans and the Tongans. It's fun. My kasama and I also met two elders from Pakistan, who don't speak very much english. But, whenever they see us, they are also very excited! So it's really cool to be able to see all kinds of different cultures here.

What else... So gym is kind of lame. My kasama isn't really a runner, but she puts up with me for a little while. We usually run for 10-15 minutes, and then go do something else. The one time that I got to run with another Sister was great, until she tripped on some steps and rolled her ankle... I think I must be bad luck ;) So we usually play ping-pong for gym with some elders from another district. Also, I made 2 3-pointers while playing basketball one day! My first (and probably last) 3-pointers ever. I was very proud.

Food. We eat rice. All day, every day, every meal. No joke. It is an oddity not to have rice. And when we don't, people still go ask to see if we can have some rice. It's gross. But seeing as that makes up the bulk of our meal, I have to eat it. But it's really good with peanut butter.... We haven't really eaten too many weird things yet. We've had fried eggplant, and whole fishes. Actual fishes. My kasama and I did not even try those. Mom, you would have hated it. Dad, you probably would have loved it. You had to take off the head, and peel the meat off the bones. But other than that, everything has been fairly normal....

I only have a few more minutes, so I'll kind of bear my testimony here. Alam ko po na, totoong propeta si Joseph Smith. Alam ko po na, mapahmahal ang Ama sa Langit. At, alam ko po na, buhay si JesuCristo. Alam ko po na, totoo And Aklat Ni Mormon. (I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet, I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father, I know that Christ lives, and I know that the Book of Mormon is true.) This week, I had an amazing experience with scripture in class. Read and ponder 1 Nephi 1. Like really read it. It is an amazing chapter, like I've never read before. It was awesome. It talks a ton about missionary work, and I've never even realized it. Have pananampalataya! (Faith). I love you all, and I miss you all! I hope you all have a great week!

Paalam!

Love,

Sister Wilwand

Sea-Tac Airport with her travel group

Thanks to a kind stranger who took a picture and emailed it to the families!

Tokyo Airport with her travel group

Another kind stranger took the photo, emailed it to his wife, who sent it to the families.