Magandang umaga!

My P days are on Friday, so I know I just sent out an update but you'd be surprised how much can happen in 2 days! My companion is Sister Gee (as in Gray starts with the letter Gee). She's from Kentucky and is going to Naga with me. She is super sweet and we get along really well.

There are 6 sisters staying in our room: Sister Cox and Sister Terry who are also going to Naga and Sister Jacobson and Sister Tatafu who are going to a new mission in the Philippines which opens in July.

Naga Sisters

Yesterday, Sister Gee and I picked up 12 pounds of Tagalog study materials. A lot of missionaries have been really overwhelmed with how much they want us to memorize in the first 10 days, but I have been oddly calm. The language has been really fun so far. I can already pray in Tagalog and Sister Gee, and I speak Taglish 24/7, which is just us speaking English with all the Tagalog words thrown in there even if grammatically doesn't make sense. I also throw some French in there just for variety's sake.

While reading Ang Aklat ni Mormon (Book of Mormon), I have found 2 awesome words that I thought I would share:

pinakamakapangyarihan which means "almighty,"
and Bumubulung-bulong which means "murmuring."

All the words are really fun to say, but you can see how it's a little overwhelming to be learning words that are 21 letters long.

Ang Aklat ni Mormon

Tagalog is an 8-week long language at the Mission Training Center. In comparison, Mandarin, Russian, Vietnamese and other languages that require learning characters require 10 weeks here. We will be spending 6 and a half weeks in the Provo, MTC and then fly to the Philippines to spend an additional week and a half in the Manila, MTC. That's only if we get our visas in time which might not happen due to the political goings on in the Philippines.  

Surprisingly, a large percentage of the missionaries in my zone are going to Naga. Some are going to Quezon City or Manila, but most of us are going to Naga. I love everyone in my district. The missionaries who have been here for 3 weeks seem like old, wise monks compared to us newbies. 

I met my twin! Her name is Sister Gray, and she is also going to Naga. We wore the same shoes yesterday. I hope we become companions in the field just to confuse people into thinking that we are actually sisters.

  

2 shades of Gray

Overall, I am so, so, SO maysaya (happy)! The environment at the MTC is like nothing I've ever experienced. The spirit is so strong here. On the first day, we had the privilege of teaching 3 real investigators. One investigator really left an impression on me. His name is Jose, and he is so ready to hear the Gospel. I can't even describe what happens in a room when everyone is feeling the spirit witness the truthfulness of what is being said. It is pure love. 

I love being a missionary. I feel confident all the time. Not confidence in myself but in God and what he can help me become. If I could describe perfectly what it feels like to be a missionary, it would be pretty darn close to this verse in D&C 121:45:

"Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God, and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven."

I'm so grateful to be here.

Love you all!

-Sister Gray