Texan in Tahiti: Week 4

Ia Ora Na!!

Wow, this past week was a rollercoaster! I have had the best days and moments at the MTC and I also had my hardest day at the MTC thus far. My good days sandwiched my challenging day though, so that's a plus right?

I'll start off with probably the best days- this past tuesday!

First of all, it was Sœur Derrick's birthday! I LOVE birthdays so I had a fun time trying to decorate her bed at midnight without waking her up and stumbling around in the dark with only little flashlight! (Thanks dad! My flashlight is a LIFESAVER because not all of us wake up or go to bed at exactly the same time) Not to mention, Sœur Aniel like yelled in her sleep so I just about died laughing for 5 minutes and just prayed that I wouldn't wake anyone up. But nonetheless, I succeeded and we had fun throughout the day buying her candy and singing happy birthday in French and Tahitian everywhere we went! (Joyeux Anniversaire is Happy Birthday in French and Mahana oaoa no'oe or Mahana oaoa ya oa is Happy Birthday in Tahitian! I would type out pronunciation but that would take too long haha). In Tahiti when they sing happy birthday, they sing it in french, tahitian, and then sometimes in english or any other language that the family speaks. Super cool, right? It makes sense, but I thought that was neat when our teacher was telling us about it :)

Besides that, we had devotional and there were all these rumors that someone like a general authority or apostle was coming to speak because it was being broadcast to all the other MTCs around the world. We got there early and got super great seats and just waited anxiously to see who was going to speak! It seemed like forever, but finally during the prelude, we all rose (so clearly an apostle) and immediately when he walked in, the spirit FLOODED the room. Sœur Moli had to tell me that it was RICHARD G. SCOTT (because I couldn't see lol) that was there to address us at ourTuesday devotional. His spirit and the spirit he brought was INCREDIBLE. I wish all y'all could have heard him speak because it was really one the BEST talks I've ever heard. He talked a lot about prayer and gave a lot of comfort and advice to us missionaries learning a language and for when we have hard companions. What really got to me though was when he testified to us that God knows us. He knows our capability and capacity and fits the tasks he asks of us to our capacity. He will never abandon us when we need him. He inspired my call to Tahiti and he knows that I'm capable of not only learning and speaking two languages, but being able to teach in those languages as well. We don't start Tahitian until next Thursday, but even the thought of starting over with a new language is pretty terrifying. I still have so much more French to learn! Nonetheless, I know that I need to hear his talk because it gives me strength to know that I can and will be able to do it. The Lord did not put us on this earth to fail and I am SO grateful for that knowledge. I pray that non of y'all forget it either when going through trials and challenges life throws at us. The knowledge that God knows and loves me has really gotten me through all of the trials I have faced here at the MTC and I know that it can help you too :)
He ended his talk with just about the COOLEST THING EVER- An apostalic blessing to all of us learning a language. He blessed us to have faith and we will feel the power of the gift of tongues. He actually gave it twice in the course of his talk so we took it as one for French and the other for Tahitian :) It was great. As he was walking out and we were all standing in silence, he turned toward us and yelled- "Be good! Lots of love to all of you!" SO CUTE. I love Richard G. Scott.

After that, I want to share my experience teaching Friday that really was my hardest day at the MTC. We taught Hutia the plan of Salvation and it wasn't terrible (it's hard to completely bomb EVERYTHING in a lesson), but we definitely did more things wrong than right. We got some good, but tough feedback that really hit me hard. I'm kind of a perfectionist so failure (or what I consider failure) is a hard pill for me to swallow. I felt like I let down myself, our investigator Hutia (who is also my teacher Sœur Buswell), and most importantly- my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It was hard. In reality, I was probably just being a little too dramatic in how bad it went (my companion, Sœur Aniel, is the greatest for dealing with me :) ) , but it was definitely a very humbling experience and only fuel to be better. We both had to step back and really look at everywhere we needed to improve. We taught Veteaon Saturday, so we really wanted to do everything we could to prepare and sure the spirit was there and that we taught through the Spirit. I am so grateful that the Lord knows me well enough to know that my fragile heart couldn't take another failure because we really had SUCH a great lesson with Vetea. The best part- He committed to be baptized!!!! Sœur Aniel and I just about freaked out when he said yes that we almost didn't know how to respond. I wish I could've seen our faces. lol. It was the BEST and HAPPIEST feeling I think I've ever experience. I am BEYOND grateful for the Spirit and for the change that we've seen it make in Vetea. I am so grateful for my calling and for what I do :) It's definitely NOT easy, but COMPLETELY worth it. There is always somewhere or something to improve on and that has got to be one of my favorite parts of being a missionary.

Well I think that's about it, I just have a few side notes to add in-

- They are moving us to the west campus on September 14th! Not sure exactly why but everyone in our classroom building is moving so my teacher thinks and has heard rumors that they are going to eventually rip down and rebuild. Who knows?
The classrooms are smaller on west campus which is bad news because we're already crammed in our classroom here so we're all praying they don't split our district. I'm still pretty excited though, it will be interesting changing scenes!

- The temple opened last Monday! SUCH a blessing :)

- Guess who I randomly happened to sit down next to you yesterday at ourSunday devotional? Elder Kunz! So crazy, but pretty dang cool! I got a few (and by a few I mean like zero lol) details on the Idaho reception!! How was it?? Mom, did you write me?? I want details! And pictures!! But if you send pictures, mail them! I don't have enough time on the computer to get a good look at all of them!!)

Thanks for all of the letters/emails and for your prayers! I love y'all!!

Beacoup d'amour,

Sœur Taylor

Soeur Aniel and I are OBESESSED with tictacs. I can down one in like 10 minutes. Is that unhealthy?