Wow!! So much has happened here, I've been dying to write all week so I can tell you everything that's going on! I had to bring my journal to the computer lab so I wouldn't forget anything.
The MTC is so amazing!! It was really overwhelming the first couple days, but the last couple I've gotten into the swing of the schedule. When I know what I'm doing every day, I'm a lot more comfortable. I love having daily planning at the end of the day, because I feel like I'm more in control of what's going on each day. We have time every day for exercise, meals, class, personal study, companionship study, language study, and teaching lessons. So much happens every day that I'm always happy to go to bed at night. I'm so tired, but it's awesome!! It just means I'm working hard.
It was a lot more confusing here the first couple days because we had mission president training going on until Sunday afternoon. We had to eat in the gym and we weren't allowed to go into 1M (the main building). It was really exciting though, because Sr. Neistadt had to return her borrowed iPad to the IT desk and we had be escorted there. On the way back, we got to meet Neil L. Anderson! He stopped to say hello to us and shake our hands. He asked about our names, where we were from, and where we were serving. It was such a cool experience :)
The language training has been going really well. The first few days were really overwhelming because I've forgotten a lot of the French I used to know. However, it's been coming back really quickly with all the practicing we do in class. My companion is super amazing because she's really enthusiastic about speaking French all the time, not just in class. We've been practicing growing our vocabulary and our skill at using different tenses by telling stories. I feel like I've told all of my good stories, so if you remember some about me, send them my way!!
We've now taught 5 lessons entirely in French to our investigator, Vai. They've gone so well!! The first couple times we would write out a script in French and we weren't very good at understanding and answering his questions, but by the third lesson we understood about 90% of what he said and were able to respond to his questions without any preparation. We've also been writing our lesson plans entirely in English and then adding the words and phrases we don't know on the side. I think it's helping to better teach by the Spirit to not have a script, but just an idea of what we want to say and what we want him to understand. After we finished teaching Vai (the person as an investigator), we were able to meet him as Frère Taua (as he really is, a member). He's going to be our co-teacher along with Soeur Cook. He told our district that every time we came back to teach him, it seemed like it had been two weeks in between our visits because of how much language and spiritual progression we had made in between. It definitely felt that way to me too.
My branch is super awesome. There are 56 people in it, but 41 of them arrived at the same time as me!! My district is pretty cool too. There are 2 sets of sisters and 3 sets of elders. The other sisters share a room with us, and we usually exercise together in the morning. The elders are all really awesome and hardworking, for the most part. One of the elders is amazing at French- he had 4 years of extensive study in high school and he's read the Book of Mormon in French. We don't know why he isn't in the accelerated program, but we're glad he's there to help us. We all did a "jaûne d'anglais" or an English fast. We spoke in English or franglais all day. It was so hard, but so worth it!!
I wanted to just finish with a couple spiritual things I've been learning. We had the opportunity to watch the Character of Christ by Elder Bednar on Sunday evening. It was such an incredible talk. He talked about how Christ set an example of turning outwards and serving others when the natural man would turn inwards and choose to be selfish. This principle is so applicable to missionaries because the whole purpose of a mission is to serve. If we are constantly worrying about our success, we won't get anywhere. I've been learning a lot lately that the people we teach are the people that God has prepared for us, so we don't need to worry if they're not ready. We just need to be willing to be instruments in the hands of God, and to open our mouths. We got to learn from Mervyn B. Arnold at our Tuesday devotional. He talked a lot about how missionary work is the work of the Lord, so we will be protected and helped by God. It was a really beautiful devotional.
I was also thinking about how my fast language progression has not been because of my studying alone. The Spirit has definitely been helping me to understand, and learn, and remember the things I've studied. The Holy Ghost really can bring all things to your remembrance, and help you to know the truth all things.
I'm also so grateful for my companion. Soeur Neistadt is so amazing and helpful to me. She's enthusiastic at exactly the right time, and always encourages me to work hard and to struggle with learning the language. Her testimony is so beautiful, and she teaches and testifies so powerfully. I can't remember if I said this already, but she's a convert and her family aren't members. I'm so impressed that she's here and grateful for all that she does to help me to be the best missionary I can be.
I would love to hear from all of you!! If you want to send me emails, you can do so to rogers.rachael@myldsmail.net. If you want me to get your letter the same day you send it, you can send it to dearelder.com. My unit number is 118. And if you want to send me packages (wink wink nudge nudge, packages are the best) you can send them to
Sister Rachael Rogers
Paris France Mission
2005 North 900 East
Provo UT 84602
Unit 118 8-1
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