Bonjour Ma Famille!
Week 2 at the MTC izzle. I'm working on pics, but this computer's not working, so maybs I'll hop on another one, or one more week. Sorry!
So first of all, the subject line. One of my comps writes facts in her journal, like list style instead of writing in paragraphs. So, this week, one of her facts was something to the effect of, "Soeur Santos gets so excited about the gospel that it sends her into fits of nasal hysteria." Or something like that... Now, for those of you that know me well, which is all of the fam, you know what she's talking about. My little scrunchy voice that occurs every time I get overly excited, ok fine, even mildly excited about something. And now my whole district knows about it. hah. And the Elders think it's hilarious so they make fun of me like no other. But it's fine. I live to bring joy to people's lives... hah.
This week has included, workout classes in the morning at 6am with Soeur Lamb, my first day of no letters in the MTC (last Thursday), teaching at least twice a day, my first TRC (teaching with a member), seeing Sister Wilson and Hermana Duchene ALL THE TIME, (Both of them are leaving. I know Hermana Duchene from Women's Chorus, and Sophie's off to Missouri TOMORROW!), playing sand volleyball with the Portuguese Elders (and getting my comps into it,) and a couple tragedies... Like my camera is currently on the blink, and I spilled bleach on two of my skirts. (You'd think after being at college for 3 years I'd be able to do laundry, but apparently not.) Sorry mom. Like I said in the letter I sent though, the nude one's fine, there's just a lighter spot on front, the brown one's pretty bad though.
Other highlights from the week. Elder Grigsby and I (who were having a bit of a rough patch last week) are now bffs! So I'm now best friends with everyone in my district. And the Portuguese Elders, and the french building. Which is super fun! I got a new teacher for French this week too! He's teaching with Frere Blosil. His name is Frere Sybrowsky, and HE'S IN MEN'S CHORUS! He told us the first day he taught that he had a concert at BYU that night, so I inquired as to which one and he said Choral Showcase. Weirdddd not being there for that, but it's fine. There's nowhere else I'd rather be! Also, I got to go to the Brigham City Temple Dedication on Sunday! That was cool with a large room full of mishs! And, on Sunday, I got a hug from Sister Wilson and she said it was from Sister OSORIO cause she got to see her on Saturday for the visiting center training field trip to Temple Square. I am sooooo jel.
Teaching moments of the week. I taught my first TRC with Soeur Kailiponi on Thursday, which was great! TRC's are where you talk to members. So we talked to a rm that went to Tahiti. His name was Brandon, and we talked to him slash discussed prayer with him for 40 mins! It was great! I was in heaven! A room with two basically fluent french speakers, and I was just trying to keep up, but it was great! I also continued teaching Katherine with Soeur K and we also taught Manuel. I was feeling a little frustrated while teaching with Soeur K this week, cause I wanted to talk more during lessons, but I could never think of what to say, so she ended up talking for most of it. But, we had a pretty cool conversation after one of the lessons we taught, I was expressing my frustration with my teaching and french, and she gave me this advice, which really hit home. She challenged me to open my mouth or "ouvre la bouche" during the lesson, and she said that as long as I plan and study faithfully before, I will be given utterance. And as she was saying that to me, I just knew that that was true! The Lord will help us, and will even give us utterance if we are prepared and if we have faith in Him. So that is what I've been working on for the latter half of this week. And since then, we've had the most balanced and great lesson together! Monday morning, teaching my district's new "ami de l'eglise" or investigator. Also, Friday night, the best lesson to date in the MTC occured. And this one was actually with Soeur Lamb and Soeur Cuthbert. We were teaching Sister Scott, a MTC teacher, and we were trying to practice committing her to baptism in the first lesson, cause that's been a goal of this week. But as we were teaching her and testifying to her that this was the only true church on the earth, that other churches and organizations had truth, but that the fullness of the truth was found in this gospel and the Book of Mormon, we bore testimony in our broken french, me first, and then Soeur Lamb, and the Spirit just TIDAL WAVED over the room. It was incredible. It strengthened my testimony that this work is not about perfect language skills, or perfect lesson plans. This work is the Lord's. And that fact greatly comforts me, because I am not perfect. Not even close. But I KNOW that if I am obedient and if I plan and prepare and do all I can, the Spirit can and will testify of the truthfulness of the words I say.
I am so grateful for this calling and mantle. I am so happy and joyful to be here! I played cello this morning and it was wonderful, but there is NOTHING better in this world than sharing the good news of the gospel with others! Than inviting and helping those around us come unto Christ. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to share the gospel with everyone around me. Pray for the people of New Caledonia pleaseee! I love them so much and I can't wait to get there. But until then, I will do everything in my power to prepare and to try and prepare and be obedient, so that the people can hear and recognize how familiar the gospel is.
I love you so much! Thanks for all your love and prayers! Family, I want to hear from you! (Dad, Mele, Kalei!) And Travis and Ben and Laura. I want to hear about your lives!
Love you all!
L'evangile est vrai!
Love, Soeur Santos
Serving with Music
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
September 18, 2012
Ma chere famille!!
Je suis un missionaire pour l'Eglise de Jesus-Christ des saints des derniers jours!!
And I have never been happier.
Ok. So this week. I wrote a list down in my planner so that I could remember the highlights, but I didn't do it til this morning, so hopefully some of this will make sense. I'll try and take more consistent notes throughout the week for next week.
It's been a whirlwind of a week, and I have felt almost every level of every emotion, but I am so happy to be here. It honestly does feel like a dream some days, cause I just can't believe that I'm here! But I am! And I am very content. So lets see. To start off, day one. You get into the MTC, get your tag, do all that jazz, (I SAW SISTER WILSON FIRST THING CAUSE WEDNESDAY'S HER P-DAY AND SHE INTERCEPTED ME, THE BEST!), and then they throw you into language class. All french. No English whatsoever. Lucky for me, I understood it all, thanks to my previous, and very recent french classes. However, everyone else seemed pretty overwhelmed. Then. That evening, you get your first teaching opportunity. And that's the part that freaked me out. I don't know how to teach. (I also don't know french church vocab very well, but reading the Livre did help...) Anyways, that night, I get down on my knees, and ask Heavenly Father to, yes, help me with the language, but mostly, to help me learn how to teach with the Spirit as my constant companion so that I can teach with power and authority! (Like Alma and the S.o.M.) So here's what happens.
The next day, Thursday, we meet our real french teacher, qui s'appelle Frere Blosil, and he testifies, along with Soeur Cutler (our first day teacher,) that we have been called of God to teach and preach the gospel to the people in the places we are going. That really hit home. I have been called and set apart as a missionary for the Savior's true church on earth!! How incredible is that?! I am a representative of the Savior! And mon objectif, en francais, is to "inviter les gens a aller au Christ en les aidant a recevoir l'Evangile retabli par la foi en Jesus-Christ et en son expiation, par le repentir, par le bapteme, par le reception du don du Saint-Esprit, et par la perserverance, jusqu'a la fin!" (memorized that on Thursday!!) There is power in this mantle and calling. So even though, I am just me, Pono Santos, an imperfect being, I KNOW that I have been called of God and that as long as I always have the spirit with me and am obedient, I can do whatever the Lord wants me to do. I can invite people to come unto Christ, and the Spirit can testify, through my imperfect french, that what I am saying is true. Also, quote. "Obedience brings blessings, perfect obedience brings miracles." They reeeeeeaaally stress the white Bible at the start of the MTC (the handbook.) It's important to be obedience. And I want miracles! So I am trying my best to be perfectly obedient.
Friday, the jokes about me being district leader started. hah. It's just cause I know french. Everyone thinks I'm so smart. And it's annoying at times, cause I'm really not... But I am doing my best to try and help my companions and district learn with what I do know. I've gained a lot of Gospel vocabulary in this last week though! Which I am VERY grateful for. Cause I LOVE praying in french. AND testifying in French. It's just so exciting!! There is nothing better. It may be my new fave activity... (More than donating blood even!) My district! Soeur Cuthbert, Soeur Lamb, (my kind of comps... more on that later,) and Elder Grigsby (D.L.), Elder Bledsoe, and Elder Fletcher. So it's small. Which I love. 2 trios. We are already bffs. The girls are all going to new cal, and the boys, Elder Bledsoe and Fletcher are going to D.C. South French speaking, and Elder Grigsby's going to Halifax, CANADA (Where Maia's from!! and Paul, another cello studio friend is serving! We also taught our first lesson on Friday! en francais! to Chris! It actually went pretty well! And the spirit was there! I LOVE teaching in french! now I just needa learn how to!
Saturday the fun started. Careful what you pray for, cause Heavenly Father answers... So remember how I was praying to learn how to teach?! Well, my teacher pulled me outta class on Sat and Soeur Kailiponi was there with him (my other roomate who's also going to New Cal, but who leaves in 2 weeks. And Frere Blosil was like, "Soeur Kailiponi's leaving in 2 weeks and she's a solo sister, so she needs to practice teaching with a girl! Wanna teach with her?!" So, we taught a lesson later that day, after My trio taught Chris. We taught Katherine. But here's the thing. Soeur K can actually SPEAK french. So that was quite the experience! Our first lesson teaching Katherine actually went pertty well though. I spoke for some of it even!! The Spirit was there. It was incredible. Words were coming outta my mouth that I didn't even know I knew. The gift of tounges is real!!
And Sunday, we found out that we were comps. So now I kinda hang out with all three of them. Cause me and Soeur K are in different districts. But we teach together still. So I'm getting in twice as much teaching! Which is actually great. Though humbling. I am grateful though. Someone also played cello on Sunday. hah. I cried. But then I got a wake up call and watched the character of Christ by Elder Bednar. Great talk. Watch it if you get the chance. It talks about turning out. towards others, instead of turning inward. Especially when things are tough. So that is my new goal! Turning out. Cause, quite frankly, this mish isn't about me. It's about the people. And I needa get that into my head.
I got letters everyday this week! Merci a tous! (Mom, Amber, Becs, J-Dawg, Case, et Elder Woodward.) Dad! Pup! errbod else!
Everyone, use dear elder or handwrite please! I only have 30 mins on the comp.
I taught twice again yesterday! And I love it.
And Tuesdays are p-days. Gotta go to the temple, and I'm doing laundry and writing letters.
I'm outta time, so I gotta bounce, but I love you all!
This church is TRUE!! Oh man, I love it so much. Read the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 11. It's incredible. And the intro. If you read and pray about the book with a sincere heart and real intent, you WILL know of it's truthfulness. I know this to be true. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!
Thanks for your love and prayers. Know that I am praying for you!
Love, Soeur Santos
Je suis un missionaire pour l'Eglise de Jesus-Christ des saints des derniers jours!!
And I have never been happier.
Ok. So this week. I wrote a list down in my planner so that I could remember the highlights, but I didn't do it til this morning, so hopefully some of this will make sense. I'll try and take more consistent notes throughout the week for next week.
It's been a whirlwind of a week, and I have felt almost every level of every emotion, but I am so happy to be here. It honestly does feel like a dream some days, cause I just can't believe that I'm here! But I am! And I am very content. So lets see. To start off, day one. You get into the MTC, get your tag, do all that jazz, (I SAW SISTER WILSON FIRST THING CAUSE WEDNESDAY'S HER P-DAY AND SHE INTERCEPTED ME, THE BEST!), and then they throw you into language class. All french. No English whatsoever. Lucky for me, I understood it all, thanks to my previous, and very recent french classes. However, everyone else seemed pretty overwhelmed. Then. That evening, you get your first teaching opportunity. And that's the part that freaked me out. I don't know how to teach. (I also don't know french church vocab very well, but reading the Livre did help...) Anyways, that night, I get down on my knees, and ask Heavenly Father to, yes, help me with the language, but mostly, to help me learn how to teach with the Spirit as my constant companion so that I can teach with power and authority! (Like Alma and the S.o.M.) So here's what happens.
The next day, Thursday, we meet our real french teacher, qui s'appelle Frere Blosil, and he testifies, along with Soeur Cutler (our first day teacher,) that we have been called of God to teach and preach the gospel to the people in the places we are going. That really hit home. I have been called and set apart as a missionary for the Savior's true church on earth!! How incredible is that?! I am a representative of the Savior! And mon objectif, en francais, is to "inviter les gens a aller au Christ en les aidant a recevoir l'Evangile retabli par la foi en Jesus-Christ et en son expiation, par le repentir, par le bapteme, par le reception du don du Saint-Esprit, et par la perserverance, jusqu'a la fin!" (memorized that on Thursday!!) There is power in this mantle and calling. So even though, I am just me, Pono Santos, an imperfect being, I KNOW that I have been called of God and that as long as I always have the spirit with me and am obedient, I can do whatever the Lord wants me to do. I can invite people to come unto Christ, and the Spirit can testify, through my imperfect french, that what I am saying is true. Also, quote. "Obedience brings blessings, perfect obedience brings miracles." They reeeeeeaaally stress the white Bible at the start of the MTC (the handbook.) It's important to be obedience. And I want miracles! So I am trying my best to be perfectly obedient.
Friday, the jokes about me being district leader started. hah. It's just cause I know french. Everyone thinks I'm so smart. And it's annoying at times, cause I'm really not... But I am doing my best to try and help my companions and district learn with what I do know. I've gained a lot of Gospel vocabulary in this last week though! Which I am VERY grateful for. Cause I LOVE praying in french. AND testifying in French. It's just so exciting!! There is nothing better. It may be my new fave activity... (More than donating blood even!) My district! Soeur Cuthbert, Soeur Lamb, (my kind of comps... more on that later,) and Elder Grigsby (D.L.), Elder Bledsoe, and Elder Fletcher. So it's small. Which I love. 2 trios. We are already bffs. The girls are all going to new cal, and the boys, Elder Bledsoe and Fletcher are going to D.C. South French speaking, and Elder Grigsby's going to Halifax, CANADA (Where Maia's from!! and Paul, another cello studio friend is serving! We also taught our first lesson on Friday! en francais! to Chris! It actually went pretty well! And the spirit was there! I LOVE teaching in french! now I just needa learn how to!
Saturday the fun started. Careful what you pray for, cause Heavenly Father answers... So remember how I was praying to learn how to teach?! Well, my teacher pulled me outta class on Sat and Soeur Kailiponi was there with him (my other roomate who's also going to New Cal, but who leaves in 2 weeks. And Frere Blosil was like, "Soeur Kailiponi's leaving in 2 weeks and she's a solo sister, so she needs to practice teaching with a girl! Wanna teach with her?!" So, we taught a lesson later that day, after My trio taught Chris. We taught Katherine. But here's the thing. Soeur K can actually SPEAK french. So that was quite the experience! Our first lesson teaching Katherine actually went pertty well though. I spoke for some of it even!! The Spirit was there. It was incredible. Words were coming outta my mouth that I didn't even know I knew. The gift of tounges is real!!
And Sunday, we found out that we were comps. So now I kinda hang out with all three of them. Cause me and Soeur K are in different districts. But we teach together still. So I'm getting in twice as much teaching! Which is actually great. Though humbling. I am grateful though. Someone also played cello on Sunday. hah. I cried. But then I got a wake up call and watched the character of Christ by Elder Bednar. Great talk. Watch it if you get the chance. It talks about turning out. towards others, instead of turning inward. Especially when things are tough. So that is my new goal! Turning out. Cause, quite frankly, this mish isn't about me. It's about the people. And I needa get that into my head.
I got letters everyday this week! Merci a tous! (Mom, Amber, Becs, J-Dawg, Case, et Elder Woodward.) Dad! Pup! errbod else!
Everyone, use dear elder or handwrite please! I only have 30 mins on the comp.
I taught twice again yesterday! And I love it.
And Tuesdays are p-days. Gotta go to the temple, and I'm doing laundry and writing letters.
I'm outta time, so I gotta bounce, but I love you all!
This church is TRUE!! Oh man, I love it so much. Read the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 11. It's incredible. And the intro. If you read and pray about the book with a sincere heart and real intent, you WILL know of it's truthfulness. I know this to be true. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!
Thanks for your love and prayers. Know that I am praying for you!
Love, Soeur Santos
Contacting Sister Santos
Visit this link to get Sister Santos' current address.
Sister Pono Santos
Soeur Pono Santos
Bureau de la mission
BP 15 154
98804 Noumea Cedex
Nouvelle Caledonie
Just a heads up. We've heard that some postal office workers are idiots and will send the mail back if you don't write the country in English. All my stuff has been received just fine with the country in French, but just in case, you may want to write New Caledonia in parentheses after Nouvelle Caledonie.
Email: pono.santos@myldsmail.net
Bureau de la mission
BP 15 154
98804 Noumea Cedex
Nouvelle Caledonie
Just a heads up. We've heard that some postal office workers are idiots and will send the mail back if you don't write the country in English. All my stuff has been received just fine with the country in French, but just in case, you may want to write New Caledonia in parentheses after Nouvelle Caledonie.
Email: pono.santos@myldsmail.net
Off She Goes!
Well, Sister Santos officially reported to the MTC on Sept 12. I am Megan, her sister-in-law, and I will be in charge of keeping everyone updated on Pono's mission while she is away. Visit this blog to see her latest emails, pictures, and to find her current address. For those who may not follow her on facebook here was her final message (via her brother):
"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished,
and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."
Sister Pono Santos
MTC Mailbox #219
VAN-PV 1113
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
This is also in my info, and I'll (not me, see above) put my mission field address up later.
Write me (her)!! Thanks for all your love and support.
The Church is True!
Sister Pono Santos
MTC Mailbox #219
VAN-PV 1113
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
This is also in my info, and I'll (not me, see above) put my mission field address up later.
Write me (her)!! Thanks for all your love and support.
The Church is True!
Pono was beyond excited to leave. She actually squeaked in the car as we got close to the MTC because she couldn't hold it in. I was so amazed at the fact that she honestly wasn't nervous at all. She will be an amazing missionary and we look forward to hearing all of her experiences. I will post an announcement on her facebook page whenever there is something new to read.
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