Week: 4

Date: Sat, Jul 27, 2013 at 9:31 AM
Subject: Week 4...WHAT!?

" Can you believe it? Because I really can't. It technically have two more full weeks left. I also receive my travel plans next week, most likely on Friday. I AM SO STOKED!

This week has been one of the hardest weeks here at the MTC, because I got extremely sick. Also one of my kasamas was not feeling too good either. However, we got the rest we needed and the medicine we were prescribed...now we feel incredible. (:

 Although this week was a struggle, it was also one of my favorite weeks.

Sunday: every week we have a sacrament theme and every week we have speakers. however, we do not find out who the speakers are until after we have partaken of the Sacrament. So because of that fact, all of the missionaries must prepare a 3-5 min talk on the given subject. I really thought I was going to be called because the huge amount revelation i had received. it was pretty funny and cool at the same time. My District had about a paragraph, and I had about three pages. I literally could not stop writing. Come sacrament meeting, i was not chosen....but I was prepared.

Monday: My kasamas and i taught Ang plano ng kaligtasan (plan of salvation) and it was pretty sweet, until the sickness hit us. To be honest, there is a plague here at the MTC because everyone began to cough, have fevers and throw up. YUCK.

Tuesday-Thursday: I was very sick, attended the Doctor's Office, threw up twice and drank water like a school of fish.

Friday: Celebrated Elder Kikel bday (from my District) because he turned 19. His parentals send him a birthday box filled with birthday hats and the noise-blower-things, tons of candy and cake. It was pretty awesome (:

On the plus side, I had the opportunity to really, really, really study. I am progressing with the language; there are times that I will forget how to say certain words in English. The grammar used to be such a pain in the neck, but now i get so excited for grammar because it is all coming together and making much more sense.

I am also gaining a better understanding of my Missionary Purpose and of the needs of my Investigators.

Studying is one of my favorite things to do...not because it is all we ever do, but I just feel great when I get into the scriptures, into my Preach My Gospel, and when I read the tagalog version of the Book of Mormon. It's amazing how much peace I feel, even when I was feeling sick.

Quick Facts:

1. I received a Dear Elder letter from Miss Jocy Liporada.

2. I received an awesome candy package from Sister Johnson

3. I received a freaking super package from my pamilya (:\

4. I see Elder jason Ah Sue and Sister Caitlin Blickenstaff everywhere (:

maraming salamat!!!! MAHAL PO TAYO.

Alam ko po na totoo at mahalaga po ang Alkat ni Mormon, at Ebanghelyo at Pagbabayad-sala ni Jesucristo. Nagpapasalamat po ako para sa pamily ako!!! Nagpapasalamat po ako para sa patotoo ako.

Alam ko po na Ang Diyos ang ating Ama sa Langit at Mahal po tayo ng Diyos. Alam ko po na ipinadala tayo ang Diyos sa mundo, upang matuto at umunlad.

I really hope everyone is doing well.

Send me Dear Elders!!!! <3

Love,

 Sister Tatiana Escobar "

Week: 3

Date: Sat, Jul 20, 2013 at 12:41 PM
Subject: PROVO MTC week 3

" Kumusta everyone <3

I am so sorry for the way I have been trying to organize what goes on during my week in this letter. I am going to make it much more simpler....simple. -____-

So this past week was pretty difficult, meaning that I am have been getting extremely exhausted and a little sick. I forgot how cold and how hot Provo can be, as compared to Oxnard, so...it's been a little rough. I haven't gotten officially sick, but I had a sore throat this morning and my whole district was teasing me -_____-. For some "strange reason" (sisters taking extremely early showers) I have been waking up at least an hour earlier. It's a little annoying, but I actually have no problem getting up. So, I guess I am okay. (:

Anyways, the language has been getting a lot better. I have been catching on pretty quickly, but the grammar kills me. IT IS SO COMPLICATED...then again, so is English haha.

Honestly, reading and translating the scriptures from tagalog into english has really widen my perspective on the Gospel. It's incredible. 

I was able to see Jason Ah Sue again (someone tell AMANDA), actually, he saw me and peeked into my classroom. Sweet Guy. he is going to be so great in Panama!

My scripture study has definitely improved. There are points in the scriptures which stand out to me that I had never really realized before. It helps me a lot during my personal study and companionship study.

Our two "investigator" lessons have been a little rough. Sometimes my kasamas look at me for translations, but I literally don't know what to say sometimes. I only memorize phrases that I feel impressed to say, based on the needs of my investigators and based on what my kasamas have already said...that way I don't repeat too much haha. In all seriousness, teaching is a lot of fun! In class, we have "workshops" that help us teach to investigators better and the Spirit is so strong, every single time. I would like to have that feeling with me everyday because it makes me want to do better. When the Spirit leaves, I feel so lazy....and unproductive.

A few funny notes:

1. During one of my gym days, I wanted to run three miles again, but I had a foot cramp...so I sorta had this run-limp thing going on and I was only able to run two miles. Apparently my face was making some ugly pictures as I ran, according to some other sisters on the track with me. MY FACIAL EXPRESSIONS AT THE MTC ARE FAMOUS

2. i tried a grapefruit for the first time, in front of my district, in the cafeteria.......IT WAS TERRIBLE. I almost thew up. For those of you who enjoy grapefruits, cool...but I prefer bananas. I literally almost threw up haha. Also, there a lot of food items, meals that make my stomach hurt or just does not taste good at all. So my kasamas say that I am picky. Our teacher Bro. Mansfield would usually ask us how are meals were and sometimes i would say kadiri (gross/disgusting)...so when he asked, that is what I had said. My kasamas told him that I was extremely picky. SO NOW, whenever someone complains about something, big or small, Bro. Mansfield says "you just pulled a Sister Escobar" -______-. Both Bro. Mansfield and my other teacher Bro. Calder are pretty cool. White people speaking incredible tagalog...I LOVE IT hahaha. I LOVE MY WHITE PEOPLE so no offense <3

3. For those of you in the YSA Ward...there is an Elder here who looks a lot like PAT LYONS. The last two times I ran into him, I waited for him to burst out into a song...but no.

4. I had one day, where I didn't get enough sleep...as in I may have gotten four hours at the most (not sure why)...and during our three hour class in the evening, I was literally laughing at everything. Even when people were not talking, I was laughing so hard that a river of tears were literally flowing down my face. AND I wasn't the only one.

Anywho, I hope everyone is doing well. And thank you to those who wrote to me on Dearelder.com

I was so excited when I received the confirmation letters!! <3

write to me sometime!!! If you send me letter from dear elder, I get them faster and they are printed for me. it's pretty sweet. and someone should totally send me some almond joy, PEANUT M&Ms, and stuff. <3

I LOVE YOU ALL. THE CHURCH IS TRUE and if it wasn't, i wouldn't be serving a mission.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CHURCH and/or the GOSPEL, please ask the missionaries (:

Sincerely, Sister Escobar. "

funny faces :p

a day at the temple

Provo, Utah Temple

sitting with Sister Smith :D

Group Quezon City (:

Kasamas: Sister Judd & Sister Smith

Week: 2

Date: Sat, Jul 13, 2013 at 10:10 AM
Subject: PROVO MTC: Week 2

"So I totally just realized that I left out a few things from my first week. I was in such a rush to write everything! My first day at the MTC, I was called as the Senior companion to my mga kasama (companions). YAY haha

 

 

Sunday: Today we all fasted our breakfast and lunch. As soon as we woke up, we headed straight to class to study. Our District President came into pull me and my kasamas out for personal interviews. My interview with President is something that I will think about everyday. He asked me to look at the empty chair next to me and to picture me sitting there, after the end of my mission. 18months later. He told me to describe one thing about Sister Tatiana Escobar after her mission. I looked at the empty chair and felt a warm sensation in my chest. I said, "She loved the people before she met them"....and yes, I started to cry...but so did President. Other things were discussed, but President told me to never hesitate to ask him for guidance and love. I love the man! hahaha Before sacrament meeting, we all headed to another room for our Mission conference. It was pretty cool. A room filled with missionaries who are taking notes, singing and snoring because of how tired they are. During the conference, I accidentally sat right underneathe the Air Con...totally accidental. So throughout the first half of the conference...I WAS SUPER COLD and began to fall asleep. So I a prayer and asked Heavenly Father that I may be able to feel the warmth of the Holy Ghost as I paid attention to the conference and that I would have energy and not fall asleep. Literally 10sec later, I was not cold anymore. I thought the AC was turned off, but I looked at the button on the well and it said it was on HIGH. WOW <3. By the way, I saw Jason Ah Sue at the conference, but he didn't see me because he was a few rows ahead. SOMEONE PLEASE TELL AMANDA AH SUE <3. During out testimony meeting...the strength of the Spirit was so incredible. As people bore their testimonies in Taglish, you could just feel the realness of their words because they came from the heart, by the Spirit. I was asked to give the closing prayer, so I did it in Tagalog. I might have missed a few grammar words, but I felt calm and everyone knew what I was saying. It felt great. My zone leaders told me I did a pretty good job. AFterwards, we all participated in SUNDAY WALK, which mean that you can either walk around the temple or just around the MTC...of course we all went to the TEMPLE! haha. And guess who I ran into??? ELDER WINSLOW!!!! Thank goodness because he actually left to Bulgaria two days later. We finally took a picture together. All of our districts took some pretty awesome pictures. I'll have my momma post them on facebook (: Dinnertime was pretty sweet. Everyone's trays were filled...pretty high. I also saw Sister Blickenstaff! So we took a picture (: After dinner, we had a hilarious devotional given by Brother and Sister Durrant. I would go into detail, but I have not time haha. They basically committed us to be BOLD-sincere-quiet and to make covenants-keep covenants-keep commandments. BUSY BUSY SUNDAY.

 

Monday: Today was a little depressing. we taught out third lesson to Danilo, but we didn't prepare very well. I didn't feel the Spirit at all. Even though, we said what we wanted to say...there was no Spirit. The lesson could have been way better. Personal Study, for me, was even harder. I couldn't focus at all. My kasamas and I thought about studying three different topics for our next lesson...but it didn't feel right because the lesson would not have any unity. We were making things too complicated. In class, Guro mansfield reminded us of Brigham Young's conversion story. He was visited by two missionaries when he was younger. One missionary decorated his lesson with big words and the other missionary simply bore his testimony from his heart. He paid more attention to the missionary who bore his testimony. it gave my kasamas and I a lot to think about. Even if my testimony is the only thing I know how to say in Tagalog, it might be all the investigator needs in order for them to find out the truth for themselves. I also remembered what Elder Bednar had said, " Everything in the conversion process must happen to you before it happens to the people you teach." GYM time: I ran two miles (: Okay...almost two miles. I needed one more lap xD.

 

Tuesday: Today was so much better than yesterday. In class, we received direction  on the simplicity of the Doctrine of Christ, which helped us a lot with our fourth lesson. My kasamas and I felt confident enough, by the Spirit, to challenge Danilo to be baptized....and he said yes!!!! Even though the situation is simulated, the promptings of the Holy Ghost are so real! For language study, my kasamas and I were in charge of a Tagalog-learning game. So we played jeopardy. The elders got mad at us so many times, it was great (: We also had a sweet devotional today. We all headed to the Marriot Center and the gymnasium is huge!!!!! We were talked to by Brother and Sister Kendrick. It was extremely powerful.

 

Wednesday: YAY!!! I have officially been at the MTC for one full week (: Today was our "last appointment" with Danilo before he becomes our advanced teacher. I did not feel the Spirit at all during this lesson. Gahh, things will be better (:

Today, we also found out that Brother Masnfield will also be one of our investigators.....it is going to be so hard and awkward because he knows how much my kasamas and I laugh. Plus, Ever since I arrived at the MTC, Brother Mansfield totally caps on me in class. He knows that I know more Tagalog than my District, so he will direct funny comments to me in tagalog, about me, because he knows I can understand -____-. it's okay, because I make fun of him ALL THE TIME!!!!!! Overall, today was just me and brother Mansfield making fun of each other...and of course, creating more goals.

 

Thursday....we learned about TAGALOG GRAMMAR. kill me now please. We also met Danilo: aka Brother Calder, for the first time as our advance teacher. HE IS WAY PRO. Today I was reminded, that I have been called to serve in the Tagalog because Heavenly Father knows that I am capable of speaking the language, from my heart, by the Spirit.

 

Friday: This morning, we practiced on our kasamas for investigator-teaching practice. We learned how to simplify our lessons down to 2min. It was intense. We also did that with Brother Mansfield. In gym...wait for it....I RAN THREE MILES!!!!!!! wooo!!! And then I began to cry everytime I sat down or walked up/down the stairs xD

 

Of course I have plenty of other things, but I just have no time. I absolutely love my kasamas and my whole district. The Gospel is so true.

 

By the way DearElder.com is another way for people to write to me. It prints out the letter people write to me and sends it to my District group. SO...just incase you didn't want to hand-write anything to me, you can totally go to DearElder.com. All you need is my mission = Quezon City Philippines and my mission code (incase it asks) is PHI-QUE..unit 56. MAKE SURE IT IS QUEZON CITY, not quezon city north.

 

I LOVE YOU ALL."

Week: 1

Well. here it is! Tati's FIRST email! It was sent to my family and I on July 6; so here you go!


Date: Sat, Jul 6, 2013 at 10:16 AM
Subject: week 1

MTC: Missionary Training Center

PI: Philippines

Guro: Teacher

Kasama: Companion

"Hey everyone!!!!!

So, even though I haven't really had a full week at the MTC, I am still going to consider this as WEEK 1.

Right off the bat, I am going to tell you that the MTC is amazing. My Guro for my language class is super cool, because he is a white guy who speaks perfect Tagalog. It blew me away. If he can do it, so can I haha. Anyways, I have two kasamas: Sister Smith and Sister Judd and both of them are from Utah. Sister Smith is actually heading out to the Manila Mission, instead of heading with me and Sister Judd to Quezon City. Something happened with her visa, so instead of going straight to the PI MTC, she is here with us. I love my kasamas so much!!!!! Also, the Elders in my District are hilarious. It is only the third day, but we have bonded so much.

Wednesday: My first day at the MTC, many of the other sister missionaries were constantly asking me if I was nervous and I honestly wasn't. Today was made up of many orientations, but I did not fall asleep!!! Apparently my zone (People heading to the Philippines in total) contains almost 100 missionaries. We are the biggest....that's what they tell me, then again they also tell me that we are the best haha. In one of our meetings, we were introduced to Brother Power, who was the first missionary to the Philippines. He and his wife are amazing and they make me laugh so much. Also, for those of you in the Young Single Adult Ward,  I ran into Elder Kellen Winslow.

Thursday: This morning was pretty funny. Many of the Sister Missionaries were asking my me and my kasamas how much sleep we did not receive. On the contrary, we slept pretty dran great. In the cafeteria, there is an area where all of the Philippines missionaries sit, so that's where my District will be sitting until we head out, which should be in about 5-6 weeks? I also ran into Elder Winslow again!!! We haven't had time to take any pictures, so hopefuly I am able to see him again!!! The rest of today was huge jumble. We needed to squeeze many of our activities because the MTC wanted all of the missionaries to have a 4th of July type of conference and to watch the fireworks, since we are right next to BYU's stadium. During the conference, we sang about 10 billion sings, had a speaker, sang 5 billion songs and watched a movie called Seventeen Miracles. I urge all of you, even if you are not a Mormon, to watch this video. I cried so much and I had no problem with it because tons of Elders around me cried also haha. The fireworks will also very nice. We couldn't leave that MTC to get better views, which was perfectly fine. My kasamas and I were actually too tired to watch them, so we headed back to our rooms to sleep. I forgot to mention that there can be as many 6 sister missionaries to a room, but our room only has 3. THANK GOODNESS.

Friday: This morning was the first lesson we had the opportunity to teach, all in Tagalog. My kasamas and I, despite our nervousness, did farily well. My whole District know that I am the one to go when they do not know a word in Tagalog, but it makes me feel embarrased at time because I have so much more to learn. If they aren't asking me about translations, they are asking me about pronounciations. During the lesson, my kasamas and I realized that we had forgot to pray before starting, so we prayed in the middle. It was pretty funny. We got our investigator to commit to reading the Book of Mormon, but we forgot to give him, and we didn't realize that until our teacher pointed it out to us as he laughed at us -______-.  Also today, I ran into Sister Caitlin Blickenstaff! We didn't have any time to talk, so we hugged out the love (:

Saturday: For our first P-day, my kasamas and I were so excited to wear regular clothes on campus. It made us feel like we didn't look the "freshman missionaries" haha. The Laundry room is pretty crazy. It's kinda like waiting next to oven while you are in a line at Disneyland. My kasamas and I will be teaching the same investigator tonight, and we have more tagalog that we need to practice.

I am so thankful for my decision to serve a mission. I know that at any time, I can just give up and go home, but I know that I won't.  I know that this is where I am supposed to be. I am so excited for the Philippines.

(I am going to type a small testimony in tagalog without notes. I promies haha)

Alam ko po na totoo po ang ebanghelyo. Nagpapasalamat po ako ang Espiritu Santo. Alam ko po na buhay po ang Tagpapaglitas. Sa pangalan ni Jesucristo, Amen."

Hello, I'm Catarina (:

Hey everyone! This is Catarina, Tati's sister, in the polka-dot dress. I don't know why, but I felt like putting a picture of me on here, (even though there are probably pictures of me anyway) and this picture is the last that I took with Tati ): sadness. ANYWHO! She has given me the privilege to be in charge of her blog while she is away on her mission. I will be posting EVERYTHING from her messages to pictures and whatnots, so stay tuned! (: