Eβδομάδα 3: wishy washy week

Time in the MTC goes by so fast… I think that’s a good thing though because we still get a solid 6 weeks of this haha.

Each night we personally read the Book of Mormon in Greek. Even though I am far from understanding this foreign language, my testimony is strengthened, especially when I am able to recognize some of my favorite scriptures. The same message and Spirit can be felt every time I study from it, that's the best part about it!

Anywaysss here’s the down low of week 3!

TUESDAY 2.26.19

We got to do another session at the temple this morning and did more family names! It’s crazy how old some of the names Grandma and Grandpa Chan find are... an ancestor from 510 was really cool for us to see! Some fun RANDOM facts from Greek class tonight… 1. The National animal of Scotland is a Unicorn?! 2. Greece is full of cockroaches :’((( not gonna lie that one freaked me out

WEDNESDAY 2.27.19

Αμαρτία (sin) and μαρτυρία (testimony) are way too similar! Same with μέοω (through) and μισώ (I hate)! Some accidental sentences… “The Book of Mormon gives SIN of Jesus Christ” haha… όρα! (whoops!!) AND… “ I HATE the Atonement” … big whoops! Lesson learned: accents are WAYYY important. The weather here has been pretty great, nice and SUNNY! With a occasional rainy day but still.

D&C 60:2 is a powerful verse. Our own personals fears aren’t worth the salvation of people. It’s not our choice to decide who of God’s children is ready to hear the gospel. We must be BRAVE, READY, and WILLING to open our mouths and shared the gospel, because that’s the only way for the Lord’s work to come about. Every one of God’s children deserves to know they are LOVED.

THURSDAY 2.28.19

We got to teach a lesson in ENGLISH! With a little in Greek but mostly just English! That was a relief and so much easier. But afterwards we discussed what category we’re struggling most on in our SYL (speak your language) scores… and our exercise section was pretty bad. So we figured out some phrases we could say in Greek during sports. My favorite phrase Brother Craig taught us was “Θα σας καταστρέψουμε!” TRANSLATION: We’re gonna wreck all of you! We’ll be using that when we play fútbol against the German speaking missionaries ;)

FRIDAY 3.1.19

Really quiet and empty at the MTC today since the English speaking missionaries all went on a church tour. We started a 24 hour Greek BLITZ @9pm to see how many words we could learn @ max effort between classes and in any downtime we have. So RIP my social life for a day :(((

SATURDAY 3.2.19

In class we discussed how powerful our testimonies are and how we should share them FREQUENTLY. We taught 2 more lessons today, mostly in English again but with some Greek. They were awesome and we had a fun time with our teachers who were acting out the investigators’ part. We did a role play in class where Brother Craig and Elder Pascuzzo taught me the 1st lesson of PMG and afterwards Bro C complimented Elder P and told him he had a good flow with connecting my questions with important points of the lesson. Elder P, of course with his amazing Italian accent responds “ahh..yes,yes” *pauses and looks at Bro C* them says “umm…what is “the flow??” we all cracked up haha (:

Dinner was bomb tonight, we had the good chef in this week, I guess he’s training to be a pro chef. He made a really yummy steak stir fry and everything about it was so SO good. And then red velvet cake for dessert. So glad I’m not at Provo haha, Elder Hawkins said between the 2, England MTC food is WAY better.

SUNDAY 3.3.19

During our district meeting we made a few goals for the week, they were pretty sweet. 1st goal was to be nice to the new missionaries coming on Wednesday… but not too nice (; we gotta have some privileges for being here for 3 weeks already right!? but anywayz we’ll definitely make sure they know the mtc is awesome and we’re really glad they’re here.

Take away from Elder Christofferson’s Provo MTC devo: “Is the law of God written in your heart?” so really, if our roots don’t go deeper then our outward devotion, then we got work to do.

Take away from Elder Bednar’s Christmas MTC devo: there is no atoning sacrifice except for the character of Christ. so…

What is the CHARACTER OF CHRIST?

The Savior turns out in compassion, in service, and in love when you and I would turn in. You never find Christ being selfish, He ALWAYS turns OUT. *(MATTHEW CH 4)* the primary temptation is "IF thou be the son of God". He could have used his godly powers to satisfy his own personal appetites and desires, yet, in the midst of his own adversity, the Savior sent angels to minister to John. He continued with his selfless acts and remained strong when He had every excuse to be weak. When the natural man would turn in, the Savior turns out. Every single time. As we choose to put off the off the natural man, we can become a saint through the Atonement of Christ. If we are in continuing conversion to Jesus Christ, we will NEVER fall away from the church.

MONDAY 3.4.19

Elder P learned how to say "I'm a winner" right without his Italian accent getting in the way too much lol... hope ya pick up on what I'm meaning cus it was hilarious when he was innocently repeating it so many times! Said bye to the English speaking missionaries, that was sad... I'm really glad I got to get so close to Sister Smith and Sister Wixom while they were here! I love them!

There’s lots to learn and I am so grateful for every day I have in the MTC!... even when days feel like they’ll never end.

Thank you for the love and support you constantly give me, love you all!!

Love,

ΑΔΕΛΦΗ ΓΚΕΪΛ :)

*How about the Elders? Seems like your district gets along well. They’re hilarious! I don’t think we can go an hour without laughing

*Who are all your teachers and when did they serve in Greece? Brother John Craig (Aug ’16- Aug ’18), Brother Richard Scharff (June ‘15 - June ‘17),Sister Holly East (Birmingham 2 months, then mtc July ‘14 - Nov ‘15), Sister Gaia Hladky (July ‘14 - Jan ‘16)

*If the English missionaries went on a church tour, when does your district get to go on a church tour? Right before we leave the MTC sooo in another 6 weeks or so

*I was thinking that your p-days were maybe spent going on church tours, but it's during the week then? Does that mean that you're just hanging around the MTC on p-days? Laundry, eating, writing letters, studying? Yupp! After temple it’s free time and we do whatever we want… go to town, shopping, go to a restaurant, play sports, email, call home, etc., as long as we’re back for dinner we’re free to do whatevs… it’s nice

*Sister Smith and Wixom leave this week? Yeah :’(

*How many missionaries are coming in? 44 incoming missionaries! More elders this time too

*What fun things have your learned this week? A unicorn is the National animal of Scotland and apparently chocolate is America is nasty compared to here... I'll test that out to make sure. None of the English dudes pull their socks up, they say it's an American thing to do, but I thought that's just how you wear socks... weirddd

*What's been the hardest thing this week? Saying bye to the English missionaries… it’s weird how good of friends you become with everyone after 3 weeks

*Do you do the Come Follow Me stuff in the MTC too? Nope, a lot of MTC devotionals tho

**Videos: Walking back from MTC; tour of her classroom; Elder P heard Kaylee say "wishy washy" and thought it sounded funny. So, he kept repeating it; Elders having fun (??) in another district.