10/20/2015 0 Comments The Best-Worst Week of my Life!Family!! (and friends, and all you lovelies reading this)
Holy smokes!! The past 5 days have been the best and the worst. I thought I was off to a really great start, you know...not crying and all...but, then I got into my classroom and realized--I am the only one in my entire district who has had less than 4-6 YEARS of French! Yikes. But, I kept my head up and immediately started writing down all the words that came out of my teachers mouth that I didn't understand...aka:everything, haha! Oh, and I prayed A LOT. I am sure my companions are already sick of me asking them to translate everything I see, hear, or say, into French...But hey, I'm trying to learn! My companions names are Soeur Hodgman and Soeur Landavery. There are three of us because Soeur Landavery is speaking Creole in New York and she is a solo missionary here in the MTC. But hey, I'm not complaining, I get TWO companions...pretty sweet right?;) Soeur Hodgman and I are both going to Paris and she is an angel. She is the most on task, obedient person I have ever met...Soeur Landavery is adorable too! We make a great trio! I'm not sure how I should format this letter because I have soooooo much to tell you about this week. So excuse any grammatical errors that you may (will) find in this email, I am just trying to write really really fast because I hardly have any time today! We had a little incident with the printer/computer today so the President is allowing me a little extra time to write now since I wasn't able to do so this morning. In the five days that I have been in the MTC I have felt just about every emotion possible. It is definitely "trying" but it is such a beautiful learning and growing experience that I know I will treasure forever!On the first day of the MTC the MTC President's wife shared something that really resonated with me and I wanted to share it with you today... "There is little growth in a comfort zone, and there is no comfort zone in growth." As I am working and praying to learn this language and teach lessons, there have been times when I have felt prompted to say something but I was afraid to speak up in front of so many people (totally not like me!). But, the times that I have listened to that prompting and spoken even when I wasn't necessarily comfortable have allowed me to grow and feel the spirit in ways that I wouldn't have been able to, had I not stepped out of my comfort zone. Same goes for learning the language! When I first got to the MTC I was surprised with how much we are taught in English, I imagined it was going to bee 100% French from the moment I walked in. But, I have since learned that the gift of tongues applies to everyone, whether we will be teaching in our native language, or learning a foreign language, we all need to learn "The language of the Spirit". This has truly saved me as I learn French because I know that as long as I keep working hard and being obedient, I will be able to speak and teach by the spirit and whether I am speaking in English or French, the Lord will help me to know what to say and how to say it through the gift of the Holy Ghost. My Soeurs and I are the only sisters who aren't lined up every night in the residence hall waiting by the vending machines for popcorn....we have decided to reverse the status-quo and refrain from gaining weight in the MTC. Honestly, it's really not too difficult if you really immerse yourself in your studies. You really don't even have time to think about food, even during meals! We have to eat so fast to get done in time for our lessons, I have eaten a salad for every single meal so far hahaha. That sounds uber-gross, but they have AMAZING salads, and they have a different salad at every meal. I haven't had the same one twice yet! My favorite so far is the feta cheese, cranberry, chicken, and candied almond spinach salad... YUMMMMM! The second morning I was in the MTC I decided to wake up 10 minutes earlier than mon soeurs because I wanted to have a little extra time to study the language. It is amazing how much you can learn in just a matter of a few days in the MTC! It is extremely stressful and the first few days I couldn't understand ANYTHING! I have wanted to cry quite a few times... but I haven't ;) ...Day 3 of the MTC was the worst, so I won't talk about it much haha but to say the least... learning a language is hard, conjugations suck, and I have a new respect for missionaries here in the MTC!... Day 5 (yesterday) was TOTALLY AWESOME! I studied conjugations all day and it finally clicked! Since then I am able to teach full lessons in the language and carry on full conversations with my companions, and I understand "most" everything in class. THE GIFT OF TONGUES...plus lots and lots and lots of prayer and studying! I prayed a lot before the MTC but holy smokes, nothing comes close to the number, length, and sincerity of prayers now... We need all the help we can get! I left my "Dork Dot" on for like two days after getting to the MTC (bright orange dot on name tag so people know you're new) because I keep getting lost! Your dork dot is basically a free friendship pass with anyone here because you're new and everyone is so eager to help when they see that baby, and I need all the help I can get! hahaha. Plus the nice "Welcome to the MTC!" whenever I thought my brain was going to explode never hurt ;). My companion Soeur Hodgman and I have taught 3 lessons in French now and our 4th will be on Wednesday! The women we are teaching is Camille and I had a really hard time understanding her French the first lesson because she speaks really fast! She assumed I was fluent because my companion pretty much is and so she spoke extra fast. But, since then it has been a lot better! Now we am able to understand most of what she says and we can teach and share experiences with no notes! After the first lesson our teacher Frere Adams said that we wouldn't be able to use notes once we got closer to the end of our time in the MTC, so we figured we might as well start early and learn to teach by the spirit first! It has gone really really well and I love teaching!...and I LOVE speaking French! My companion and I speak in French most of time because we love it so much and we really want to do everything we can to improve. We have also been reading the Book of Mormon in French, which is awesome but super hard! Haha! It took us 2 hours to read the Introduction and the Testimony of Joseph Smith...But--we learned so many new words! Plus, we got a good laugh as we stumbled through pronunciation of the most bizarre words! I have soooo much more to write but I only have 5 more minutes and I wanted to send some pictures so I will have to write it next week.... I LOVE you all SO much! I miss you and hope that you are all loving life and that you all know you have a loving Father in Heaven<3 Being a missionary is very trying but I know that "This is the place!"...where I am suppose to be ;) Being a missionary is the greatest! (can you tell I have some mixed feelings?... we all do!...IT'S THE BEST!) I can't wait to tell you more! Au Revoir, Bisous!! Avec L'amour. Soeur Wyson
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Tracie WysonI feel very honored to have had the opportunity to serve as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the France, Paris Mission. Archives
April 2017
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