Sister Vanessa Ratunuman : WEEEEEK 1: MAMA I MADE IT!!!

Selamat pagi!!

Hello my sweet fam & friends!! Tis I, Sister Ratunuman! And I have made it through the first week of the MTC!!! Can I get an AMEN?!?!? Yeahhhhyaaa!!!!

For those of you who don't know what the MTC is.. It's the Missionary Training Center located in Provo Utah and all missionaries report here first. I'm here for six weeks since I'm learning Indonesian and HOLY SMOKES, MTC is so crazy/fun/happy. I absolutely love it!

1- Last Wednesday I entered the MTC.. That morning I missed my flight (hahahhahah California traffic is no bueno) and a then a miracle happened!! The lady at Delta Airlines was LDS and she asked me where I was going. Me, the hysterical weeper that I am, told her (in broken words) I was reporting to the MTC for my mission and she found the next flight, booked me on it, and WAIVED THE FEE!!! So I just hopped on that flight and maybe kinda arrived to the MTC two hours later than expected haha! Shoutout to my Ptown friends for picking me up & taking good care of me:)

2- MY COMP IS AN AUSTRALLIAN VERSION OF ME HAHA!!! She is so funny. Her name is Sister Nuku. We make fun of each other 24/7 and we have a ton of fun, we work really hard, and teach really well together. I am convinced we are soul sisters. We try to copy each others 'accents' and she's really weird/funny as well which is just what I need!!! She says the funniest things..and she gets confused with American money and the purpose of pennies and dollar bills. She always says "cheers" and I always thought she was randomly saying cheese all the time hahahahhaha

3- My zone is amazing! The group of missionaries in our zone are going to: cambodia, thailand, indo, vietnam, singapore!!! SO COOL AND SO FUN!!! My district is also hilarious. It has been a week and we feel like family.

4- I WAS REUNITED WITH MY BFF ZUNDEL SHIMAI IN THE CAFETERIA!! LEMME TELL YA, HAPPIEST MOMENT AND LOTS OF HAPPY TEARS SHED. also we were reunited with our Swig Regular- Chris the MTC worker!! Shout out to my swig fam- you know who I'm talking bout!

5- The Gift of Tongues is real!! I taught my first lesson IN INDONESIAN the third day i was here to an investigator (someone learning/interested about the church). And we taught out second, and third lesson this week too. The first time was rough.. but the second and third were amazing. I know that through faith and prayer, the Holy Ghost will inspire you and teach you the right words and phrases! it is magical!!! My Indo class is unreal too. I understand my teacher, but speaking and grammar is something I have to work on. It's only me, my comp, and Elder Nielsen, and we all help one another and laugh at each other when we mess up ;)

6- I have felt God's love so immensely in so many different ways. I know with all my heart that this is exactly where I need to be. I need to learn, work hard, study, read my scriptures, pray, and do more and more everyday in order to draw closer to my Father in Heaven. If you feel lonely or afraid, please get on your knees and pray! God will give you that peace and comfort! he is real, He knows you, and He loves you!!!

My time is running out, but I love it here. One thing I ask for you to do is take the time to do something more- read an extra chapter in your scriptures or pray a little longer and pour your heart out to Heavenly Father- and I know you will draw closer to Him!! I promise you that!!! This gospel is amazing!

Saya tahu bawha Yesus Kristus hidup dan Bapa Surgawi. Bapa Surgawi mengasahi dan tahu anda!!! Saya tahu bawha injil Yesus Kristus benar!!! <3

(Sorry Mom & Dad & Indo friends if my Indo is a little rough, IM WORKING ON IT!!)

Saya mengasahi semua anda dan SELAMAT NATAL!!!