Talofa lo'u aiga!!!!!!! (hello my
family)
So obviously this is the first email
and first Pday i've had! My grammar and spelling and capitalizations will be
bad today because i have a TON to tell you all (and i think i've forgotten how
to type) so here goes, and try to keep up :)
-I LOVE YOU ALL!
-I miss you guys a lot, but i am
happy doing what i am doing.
let's start with my soa (companion/s)
I have TWO awesome comps! Sis. Pe'a, and Sis. Lasike! sis
pe'a is from cali and sis lasike is from southwest idaho. sis pe'a is
Samoan, and sis lasike is 1/2 tongan! So i'm definitely the Palagi-white
girl! (Said: palangi) i've learned so much already from those two, and im
sure i'll continue to.
my room/residence has 6 sisters.
the other three are sis chammings (from Australia and has a BEAUTIFUL
SINGING VOICE), sis. tafili from Samoa, and sis Temou from Kiribis (not sure
where that is, but i think it is close to all the Islands like Samoa, tonga,
etc.) They are great too! those 3 are serving in the Marshall
islands speaking Marshalise (Spelling?). SO COOL HUH!?
the food here is pretty good, we have
meals at 7.00, 11.30, and 4.30 so all pretty early but its all good - i enjoy
it enough. Definitely not a homecooked meal tho! they always have
good varieties too!
i am100% busy all the day long.
(for DAYYYZZZZ) typical day is as follows:
6am wake up get ready by 7
7am, breakfast
7.30 study lang
8.30 personal study
10. gym time! (my soas and i usually
go to the gym and play volleyball with my district, it so fun and we all laugh
the entire time.)
11.30 lunch
12.15-3.15, classroom instruction
3.15-4.15 lang study again
4.30 dinner
5.15 another classroom instruction or
study the lang on the computers with a program that you can record your self
and listen back - its really helpful!
then more studying and planning for
the rest of the day til 9.30 then we go back to the residence and
shower and get ready for bed by 10.15 where we are supposed to have quiet
time to write in our journals and read scriptures and pray personally, and
lights out at 10.30. This is the hardest part of the day because i feel
so rushed to get it all done and ready for the next day but then run out of
time to read and write in my journal. its stressful when i know it shouldn't
be! but i am TRYING TO BE obedient and still get the lights out by 10.30. :/
its a process...
for the last week things have been
CRAZY. A TRUE emotional roller coaster if there ever was one.
generally speaking ive had good and bad days.... but i've noticed that
each day is better and better. they told us once you get past sunday, its
smooth sailing. i thought, "okay sure..." but it is TRUE!
SUNDAY was AWESOME! (btw we didnt watch the RS broad cast on saturday, we
will watch the recording while the elders watch priesthood session this
saturday. and no i was not in the choir b/c we got there too late for
rehearsals). back to sunday - it was awesome, started with church at
SEVEN THIRTY (just sacrament meeting... not awful... but early. testimony
meeting was good then we just studied until mission conf. then more studying
then dinner finally at 6 pm (a true full fast) and then a devotional that
evening. ALL the meetings went well and i have never felt the spirit so
strong. its awesome to be living here and to be surrounded by the spirit
and others who are there to lift you up.
i'm sorry this is all so random,
seriously the last week was a lot of info and new things and i want to tell you
as much as i can so hang in there with me.
let's talk about the language....
first'a all... I LOVE THE SAMOAN
LANGUAGE! It is so beautiful when my teachers speak it. I dont understand
most of it, but it is beautiful. that alone is enough motivation to try
and learn it ASAP. I have three teachers that teach my class regularly on
a rotation. They are Bro. Blaser, Bro. Duke, and Bro. Tolley. All
very funny and love their job. Bro blaser is on the BYU RUGBY TEAM and
knows kyle and amanda!!!!!!! (AH, i was so pumped when we found that out! so
amanda - say hi to bro blaser when you can! idk his first name... but
kyle should be able to figure it out.)
the language is HARD. and that i
think is an understatement. i've come to gain a better testimony of
"faith without works is dead." because i DO Have the gift of tongues
with me but i also have to WORK at it. haha.. i've been grasping that lately.
what helps me the most is repetition. we try to do prayers,
testimonies, spiritual thoughts, scriptures, as much as we can in Samoan.
We also teach an "investigator" (played by brother duke) every
day except sundays. It IS IN SAMOAN so that is the hard part b/c we have
to understand what he says back to us when we've arranged a lesson based off of
the script we created in class. So each lesson gets better i think but
i've learned a lot of what to do and what NOT to do in lessons. I
wish i could recall all the things i want to, but it is hard to be specific of
a time crunch.
I SAW AUSTIN ON MONDAY! monday
was a GREAT DAY. my best day so far. started as a basic day then during
class we watched a video from the district show and it really touched me. I was
SLAPPED IN the face by the spirit. i knew, right then and there that I
WAS A MISSIONARY. I WAS TO BEAR JESUS CHRIST'S NAME WITH HONOR AND
RESPECT. What i am doing is not to be taken lightly, it is serious, and
of eternal worth. It is my purpose to bring others unto Christ through
faith in the lord jesus christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, the gift
of the holy ghost and enduring to the end. with out missionaries our
family would NOT BE where and what we are today. We all should be
eternally grateful for that, and my heart was full durring class when i felt
all of this. I shared most of it with my class after the video becuase i
couldnt keep it in. (my class = my district so me, my soas, and 6 other
elders.) i mostly cried, but i know they all felt the spirit and
what i was trying to say. i've been so humbled lately and it has taught
me a lot. after class we were at dinner and i got the TWO dear elder letters
from mom and i was so happy! ( i was saying my personal prayer for dinner and
they were on my tray when i opened my eyes - the District leader picks up the
mail and gives it to us each day) So i cried happy tear when reading
them, then my soas and i were sitting out side our classroom building after
dinner enjoying the nice day when AUSTIN walked out of my building with a
big smile! I instantly cried b/c it was such a surprise to see him and i
was so happy. Heavenly Father works in funny ways, and know what we need
when we need it. I honestly have been so stressed and busy that i havent been
THAT homesick - or so i thought. but Heavenly Father knew i needed to have all
3 of those things happen on Monday. And i am grateful.
the language is taught during class
room instruction at least 1, 3 hr class a day, some times 2 classes a day. and
we teach out investigator at the start then we learn sentence structures and/or
vocab. then practice. seriously so hard - the Samoan language kicks my
butt most days. :D
i love the people that i am
surrounded by, and the things i am being taught language wise and spiritually.
it is stressful, but it pushes me to be better and to learn and grow.
i love what i am doing and i'm starting to feel a love for the people i
will serve, i just hope and pray i can get the hang of this language. i'm
gonna try to upload some pics too!
Thank you for your words and prayers
of encouragement! I love hearing them and your testimonies as well!
Thinking of you all makes me happy and full of love. i wish i had more
time, but i'm kinda pushing it already.
testimony:
'Ou te iloa o lo'o soifua le Atua ma
Iesu Keriso. 'Ou te iloa e iai le fa;amoemoega mo fanau 'uma a le Atua. 'Ou te
iloa fa'atau'nu'uina e Iesu Keriso le togiola mo i tatou 'ona o lona alofa mo i
tatou. 'Ou te talitona o le Talalelei e suia ai ologa o tagata. 'Ou te
iloa e molimau le Tusi a Mamona ia Iesu Keriso. 'Ou te fa'afetai i lo'u
Tama Fa'alelagi mo Ana fa'amanuaiga. I le suafa o Iesu Keriso, 'amene.
(also. when i am in class, i can not
tell you HOW MUCH SPANISH comes to my brain - i feel near fluent in spanish
with how desperate i am for words in another lang. hahahaha it makes me laugh
so hope it make you all laugh too. :D)
I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOO STINKIN' MUCH!
MISS YOU, talk to you soon. enjoy the pics. :D
Love you forever,
Sista Camilletti
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