We hit a couple of milestones this week that we're really proud of. First, we hit one month on Friday (not that anybody's keeping track). And then, on Tuesday, we hit HALFWAY!!!!!!!!
It's funny to meet people and have a conversation something like this:
"Hi, what's your name? I'm Sister Eberting."
"I'm Sister So-and-so. Where are you headed?"
"Poland. How about you?"
"I'm going to (insert English mission). How long are you here?"
"10 weeks."
*eyes bulge*
We still have plenty to do here, though. :) And I still love the MTC, so I should be good for a while. I've heard from plenty of returned missionaries, though, that the MTC is like the pre-earthly existence for them once they've been in Poland long enough, and they don't really remember it.
People this week: Sister Webber hails from Orange County, California. She loves Disneyland, and one of the things I love about her is that she thinks my jokes are funny, even when no one else laughs. She has an identical twin who is also here at the MTC right now, going to the mission right next door to us (Germany Berlin). We're still working on convincing them to trade places for a day before Sister Webber #2 leaves the MTC on Dec. 31. She did a year at UVU studying Elementary Education, which fits her personality so well.
Sister Einfeldt is one of our teachers. And I love her SO MUCH!! I could talk about her for a long time. She has a fiery passion for Poland and missionary work in Poland, and she loves all her missionaries like they're her own children. She treats us like equals and really listens to us. And, what's super exciting is that in May, she and her husband are coming to Poland for internships, and they're going to visit all the cities which have missionaries. So we will get to see her again after the MTC!
One thing I've definitely noticed about teaching people is that we do a lot better when we're not focused on ourselves or the things we want to say next. Rather, really listening to the people we teach is extremely important. If I lose focus even for a split second, I miss half of what they say. So that is definitely something Sister Eberting will be working on for the next 18 months. For example, last Wednesday one of our TRCs was a big failure. We both just left if feeling kind of heavy and depressed. We realized it was a failure partly because we didn't really invite the Spirit into our lesson, and we were more focused on the things we were saying than listening. In stark contrast to that was our lesson on Friday with Mariola (AKA Sister Barney, our teacher). We both tried to listen, and the lesson went so much better. That experience reminded me of Doctrine and Covenants 42:11 "And the Spirit shall
On Friday Sis. Berrett and I went to the Health Clinic again because she was having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic she was taking. So we're pretty much regular customers there now. She says she goes pretty regularly to her doctor back home, so I guess things are pretty normal here too. ;)
Our whole district has started reading our copies of the Book of Mormon in Polish, and I am definitely learning a ton from it. It takes about a half hour to get through 10 verses, but it's really good.
On Monday, we had to say goodbye to 4 different groups. Definitely the hardest goodbye was to our Finnish District. I might have even cried a tiny bit, and I still cry inside every time I see a picture of them. So good for them for being in Finland now, but we all really miss them.
With the various districts leaving on Monday, our district and the Bulgarian district are now the oldest in our zone for the next 5 weeks. And Sister Berrett and I got assigned to be the new STLs (Sister Training Leaders)! So we're going to try to take good care of our zone, like the old Finns and the old Poles did to us. One of the perks of this is that we get a phone. A flip phone that can only call the information desk and mostly receives junk calls. And we also got to welcome our new Finnish district last night and help them work through all of their emotional trauma. Our district in general is going to try really hard to connect with others in our zone. We will be their mamas and papas.
Thank you all for the letters and packages and prayers! I love this gospel. It brings me happiness every day, and it can bring each of you happiness and lasting peace if you sincerely try to live it. But, I guess I'm preaching to the choir here. ;) I'm so grateful for this time I have to serve as a representative of Jesus Christ, and I'm so grateful I get to teach others about Him.
Love you all! See you in a few days!
--
Siostra Eberting
Pictures:
-Decorating our classroom Christmas tree
-Sister Mittens, the MTC cat
-Us stalking Sister Pickett (one of our teachers)
-Us with some Oklahoma-headed missionaries the night before they left
-Us and SISTER EINFELDT!!!!!
-We all got Poland shirts
-Thank you SO much for the bread! It made our district's night. It's the tastiest thing I've eaten since I've gotten here.
-Sister Carroll looking at pictures of the Finns while we all cry inside.
-Our beloved flag
-Sister Lueck and Sister Berrett always plan matching outfits.
-Our zone on our temple walk
-Group at the temple: Us and the Finns the day before they leftBack row L to R: Elders Robbins, Lebarone, Harlow, Chugg, Kimball, Vawdrey, Hall, Ormsby, Cheal, Olschewski: Front row: Sisters Carroll, me, Webber, Lueck, Broderick, Allen, Emmett, McCammon, Godfrey
-Find the two sister Webbers
-Find them again. Sister Broderick pictured front
-Us and our mints. We have a pretty good stack going for us. We're trying to beat the last Polish district.
