MTC Week 2: Naps And Baths

I suppose that since I've told you all how great our district is, you may want to know who these terrific characters, in fact, are. So here are two:

My companion, Sister Berrett, is from Pocatello, Idaho. Yes, she likes potatoes, no, she does not like the potatoes at the cafeteria. Except sometimes she eats them anyway. And she has openly proclaimed herself as a proponent of taking antibiotics, especially after having had a sinus infection for 15 days at the MTC. Poor girl, she's had a rough start to the MTC, but we went to the health center again a couple days ago, and she finally convinced the doctor to give her something. The doctor also told her to sleep whenever she needs to, which I was kind of excited about, but then we both remembered we're also trying to learn Polish.

Sister Lueck, from Las Vegas, loves Pocatello, Idaho, even more than life itself. I suppose she holds Pocatello so close to her heart because it is the city where Sister Berrett used to live. While we're walking around outside, she'll often yell "POCATELLO!!" desperately hoping she'll meet another person who used to live in Pocatello. She also used to be a lifeguard at Cowabunga Bay in Las Vegas, and she's got her little lifeguard schpeel down to a science. You'd have to meet her to understand :) She's wonderful.

This week was phenomenal. But first I want to tell you about a couple dreams I had. First, about a week ago, I dreamed that Sister Lueck was telling me I needed to take a bath because I hadn't bathed in five days and I stunk. It was hilarious because Sis. Lueck is the nicest sister ever and wouldn't say I stunk even if I did. But I will have you all know that I have a good sense of hygeine, and I bathe regularly per the White Handbook.

The next night I dreamed I was in Costco with the whole fam, and we were all getting samples. Including one that was a little cup of Cheerios with Gatorade poured on them. Then some Costco worker lady, clearly angry we were taking so many samples, started asking me about Dad. She asked me how many dependents he had, and whether they really were all that dependent. I saw right through her, though. She was accusing Dad of evading taxes! So I told her she'd have to talk to dad to get that information. I was so proud of myself for seeing through her plot.

I guess I couldn't truly say I'd gone to the MTC without getting a sickness of some sort. Well, I woke up on Saturday without my voice, or rather, the voice of one of our little ribbety green friends, the frogs. At first I was afraid to use this new voice which had been given to me. But then I remembered that people are nice at the MTC and won't make fun of you even if you suddenly become really good at accidentally yodeling. Meaning, your voice cracks, and that's the only thing it does. So I had a lot of fun the next few days exploring the parameters of this new voice. I shared a video for your entertainment (not your pity. I thought it was hilarious. I never really felt super sick except for the not-being-able-to-talk part).

With both Sister Berrett and me sick, we became the zombie companionship of our zone. So much so, I suppose, that on Sunday, one of the branch presidency members took a look at both of us, and told us we didn't look good. And then I tried to say "I feel fine," in my croaking voice and that sealed the deal. He basically ordered both of us back to our rooms for a nap. We also got priesthood blessings, too, which helped.

Things are looking up, though, because Sis. Berrett has her antibiotics, and I have my medicine (water), and we're both starting to feel a lot better.

I'm sure you are wondering about the Polish. It is really cool. 2 weeks here at the MTC, and I know more than I ever learned of Mandarin or Spanish. That's not saying a lot though, a fact that was illustrated by our FIRST TRC yesterday!!!!

Me: *fumbles her notes* "Jestesmy misjzonarkami Kosciola Jezusa Chrystusa Swietych w Dniach Ostatnich."

Sis. Berrett: "Mamy przeslanie o nadzieje."

TRC volunteer: "lj;lkfajd adlkfjoae eiajpoijsav  akjdsafkj;dskfj eapoiew a fdj fjadk apepa fa djf;a  asdkfal;sdjfa s f ad aoueuo pp gap gd afphp dfi ajpfdpfjajdjfpoajaposajfkda dajfj a sa a a aefsdfa" *continues for five minutes in this way*

Me and sister Berrett: *blankly stare back at volunteer*

That's probably what it will be like for the next few weeks, and again when I get to Poland. But it's really cool to be able to express *some* of the feelings of my heart in Polish. I love this language, which is good, because I'd be learning it either way ;)

Love you all!

Love,

Siostra Eberting

Pictures:

-Left to right: Sisters Emett (Tooele), Carroll (Boise), Me, Berrett (Pocatello), Elder Olschewski (West Valley), Cheal (Heber), Sisters Lueck (Las Vegas), and Webber (somewhere in CA by Disneyland where the sun is always shining and it's warm).

-After today's temple trip.

Week 1 In The MTC: Old Poles, Apostles, Etc.

Hi y'all! At this point, I'm sure many of you are wondering if I'm still alive. Well, I am pleased to say that I am alive and doing well! SOOO much has happened this week though. Hopefully I'll have time to tell you all a little bit about it.

1. The Old Poles

So technically our whole district came a week early (since they didn't want to separate people the day before Thanksgiving). This has two ramifications: one, we stay in the MTC an extra week (*halfhearted attempt at a cheer*), and two, we overlapped five days with the old Polish district (*enthusiastic cheer*). Man, they loved us a lot right when we arrived, and we hadn't even met each other yet. It was so fun to have twelve older brothers and sisters for a few days. They passed on a lot of traditions that the teachers aren't too happy about, like saying "czesc" about everything. "Czesc" means hello, but we all have been using it to say "That was SO czescy" and "I feel czesc right now." Also, saying "czesc" to everyone we pass. I'm a little sick of it, but I think the whole MTC knows "czesc" now.

Anyway, the old Poles left us on Monday morning. Some of the sisters will probably train us, and we'll all get to see each other for zone conferences. We all miss them, though :)

2. The outside world

My companion has had this cough going on for a while, so on Monday we went to the health clinic, which sent us *gasp* across the street to the BYU health center. It was very worldly. There was a TV playing commercials and game shows, and people weren't wearing church clothes. I read my Polish Book of Mormon, though, so that was okay. In all reality, though, it really did feel much different from the MTC. Less peaceful.

3. A Spooky Halloween

This Wednesday, I guess someone crashed into a power line or something like that, because the power went out throughout the MTC for about 4 hours in the evening. I'm sure the cafeteria had a lot of fun with that. It began to get dark, and spooky shadows kept jumping out at us. But since the security at the MTC is so tight, I was pretty sure ghosts wouldn't be able to get in, so I wasn't too scared.

4. Thanksgiving

Drumroll please........we got Elder Uchtdorf! I thought he was perfect for Thanksgiving, since he has given a few talks on gratitude. He and Sister Uchtdorf spoke about gratitude (what a surprise, right?). Afterwards, they started shaking missionaries' hands. My companion and I were sitting up on the tippy top of the choir stands, as far from the center aisle as possible, with a deep chasm to my left where I could see a sliver of basketball court. We were pretty sure he wouldn't make it up to us. But he kept going, shaking hand after hand after hand. And he got to the top of the elders' side and reached across the chasm to shake my hand! So. Cool.

After that, we ate Thanksgiving lunch, which was edible. Then we went to the garage where you dropped me off and assembled food kits for the food bank. 350,000 total meals, I believe. I got really good at putting "Best by" stickers on."

After that, we watched "The Other Side of Heaven." Aliah, I remember you mentioned doing that once, and thinking it wasn't missionary appropriate, but I guess they decided it was. :) And let me tell you, there's nothing quite like watching the kissing scene with 1,500 missionaries cheering them on. Haha, that was great. And apparently, they're making a sequel???????

They turned the Christmas lights on after the evening devotional, which in my opinion should've waited, because it was still Thanksgiving. But I heard y'all already got a Christmas tree, so you probably would support the Christmas lights decision here.

Polish is coming along as well as it could. Obviously, it's a lot of work, but we're praying in Polish now, and we have our first TRC on Wednesday. Let me just say, though, the gift of tongues is real, and prayers really do help. I love our teachers, I love my companion, and I love our district. I can tell we're all going to get really tight. I already feel like I've grown so much. And of course I miss you all, but I know this is where I am supposed to be, and I am really happy. My testimony has already grown a lot, and I'm beginning to see how much God loves all of His children. Thank you so much for the packages, and the letters, and the emails! Seriously, you all are the best family ever. I love you all!

Love,

Siostra Eberting

Having Fun

(Right after arriving at MTC)

Doing great. Apparently our district is 6 sister/2 elders. There was a little bit of ice in the middle which will get me used to Poland. I met a few people I know, which was fun!!! And Dad, I tried to get my bearings and have a sense of direction, but I probably still won't for a while. We're going to meet the district we're overlapping with soon.

Love you guys!

-- 

Siostra Eberting

MTC Day