Okay MTC Report for Real.

Mauri!

I am glad you all are doing so well back in Folsom!

I am going to reply to Mom's letters as best I can over email.. 

1) How do you say your companion's name? Vaai = Va Eye   He is a great Elder and he actually reminds me of Jacob quite a bit. He has one of the strongest testimonies and he is really funny too!

2) What is your daily schedule? My schedule for the normal days consists of waking up at 6:30 am and then be at class by 7:40 . I will normally have class till 12 and lunch and gym time or sometimes class ends early and I go to gym and then lunch and then start class earlier on in the day. On a normal day though I will be back in class by 2 and then I'll have dinner at 5-6 then class from 6 to 9:30. Then an hour of personal/quiet time and then go to sleep by 10:30 and wake up and repeat. Most people don't like the strict schedule, but I am actually enjoying it. I get all the time I need for class and studying and then right when I can't go any longer we have a break and then back to class haha. I am learning so much! Mostly on how to be a leader (everyone was shocked when they found out I was the youngest person in the zone because they all though I was at least 19 if not 20) and lots and lots of Kiribati (pronounced keedibus)!

3)What do you like best about the MTC?  I like the fact that the MTC is built to allow you to progress as much as you are willing to A. work and B. put your trust in the Lord...since I feel like I have been doing nothing but both this past week and a half you can imagine how blessed I feel right now.

4) Tell us about your week. My week had been one of the most spiritual weeks of my life. After our devotional on Tuesday (Elder Cook came and spoke to us which was awesome), we had a District meeting about what we learned with a member of the branch presidency and his wife sitting in. That meeting was just full of the Spirit, in fact I found myself shaking and just pouring tears (yes I cried haha) as I received prompting after prompting on how the meeting should go and then bearing my testimony at the end. On the other hand this has also been one of the most exhausting and mentally challenging weeks of my life. There are just different trials with my district and companion going on, but the Lord is taking care of them one by one, usually through me which you can imagine how tiring that will be. I will tell you, the Spirit is one of the best feelings, but being extremely in touch with it 24/7 is exhausting. Haha I don't mind though it is worth it!

5)  Teach us to say something in Kiribati.   "Ko Uara?" Means "how are you?" and sounds like a mix of "cold water" and "Koala" as in a Koala bear. Then in response you would say "I Maraung, Ko uapa" which means "I'm fine thanks." That one you would say like "ee Madah oong, ko whapa" haha hopefully that makes sense ;)  Look up 'missionary speaking kiribati' online and you can hear what it is like.  

 For pictures I will have a lot more next week. I just need some of the Elders to send them to me or whatever cause I keep forgetting my camera, but this Sunday I will take some more. By the way, these are the two other white Elders in my zone. Who knows, there might be more next week because apparently there are a bunch of Fiji missionaries coming in next Wednesday so we'll see!

Anyways it has been great hearing from you guys! I love you all so much and I really look forward to hearing from you each Friday! Anyways I'll talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Pettingill (the younger)