Sara is in her 3rd week.  A comment from her:

"Language-wise, its coming along.  It's hard to feel anything but excitement and enthusiasm; or, on slower days, I'm a little overwhelmed; but it's possible, due to our teacher.  Bro. Mickelson's the greatest.  Three hours go by in one because he speaks only Cambodian, so it forces him to go slow and it engages us in a game of charades."

"Good news, we Sisters of the MTC will be singing in the choir at the General Relief Society broadcast!  So, look for me!"

Third Week

For most people, Preparation days or Sundays are their favorite. I do appreciate P-days, and Sundays are still my favorite days, but the days we get to be in class with Bro. Mickelson are my favorite because that's where I learn the most about my purpose here and get a better handle on the language. Plus, three hours go by like nothing when Bro. Mickelson teaches because of his enthusiasm for the gospel, language and love for us really shows.

Last Wednesday I accompanied an Elder singing the piece "My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee" for the 400 new missionaries coming in. It went really well and I found it SO hard to give the music back to him because of how much the message became a part of me. I didn't even consciously listen to what he said, but now I sing it all the time to myself, it's such a great song. Now I'm practicing with an Elder in my zone for a cello/piano arrangement that's also gorgeous. We'll probably audition for an MTC performance as well as perform the musical number at church it's simple enough to be ready by then.

During the week we are given a certain subject to study and prepare because on Sundays our Branch presidency will randomly select two missionaries to share what they learned/prepared for 5 minutes before the next speakers. It's suppose to help prepare us to be ready to "give a reason for the joy that is in us" and, I have to admit it's really effective. But my first Sunday I was so nervous they would pick me I didn't really enjoy the sacrament until after they called out an elder and sister to talk before I could breath normally again. This past Sunday's topic was on recognizing the Spirit so not only was it a topic I really liked but I found a lot of material on it and wrote a really nice outline. Between my preparation and desire to be more calm during Sacrament meeting I felt unusually calm as we waited for church to start. In fact, I actually wished they would call me so I wouldn't have to worry about them calling on me in the future, although they still want you to prepare so there's still a remote chance you may be called on, but they want everyone to have a chance. That said, they still have the first group of missionaries to finish calling on so I wasn't sure they would start calling up my group of missionaries (ones that just arrived). Still, when my name was announced over the pulpit I whispered to my companion "I knew it, I knew it!". It went really well and even though the chances I will be called on again are remote, I wouldn't be surprised if I got called on again to prove that you still need to prepare every Sunday, even though they want to give everyone a chance to speak before you leave.

Overall, compared to the first four days here, this week went by in a flash and I hate to say we're theoretically in our 3rd week. In truth we just finished our 2 week mark, but the MTC  counts from the beginning of the week, so we'll be starting our "4th week" on Sunday. Most people rejoice at the prospect, but I don't want it all to go too fast. I love my zone, my district, my teachers, and I want to get the language down before I set foot on the plane. My teacher promised me during interviews yesterday that if I worked hard I would get the language down before I left. It's a simple and seemingly obvious promise, but I felt the power behind it that helped me choose to listen to a General Conference talk in Cambodian and do my own exercises while others watched Mormon Messages when we found out the computer program for our language wasn't working. It was awesome and eyeopening to hear how many words I recognized! So while it's a little slow in progress, I'm getting somewhere. :)

Love you!

- Sara Dunster

Second Week in the MTC

Dear Family and Friends,

It's nice that mom emailed my first letter out to everyone so I don't have to write everything that's happened this week, and a lot has happened.

I love my companion and roommates/fellow zone sisters and our whole zone! I love meeting new people, but it's even better when I get to associate with the same Elders and Sisters in all our activities so we get to know them better. So far there are 14 sisters in our entire zone vs....... I don't know...32 elders?? Our zone covers different languages like Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian, Thai and Vietnamese. Cambodian's the only language without tones, so even though we have characters, I'm happy to take that over tones. :) And we love our lookruu (teacher) Mickelson!! He's awesome!! He has such a passion for the language that when I repeat words the same way he does, I feel the same enthusiasm he put in when he said it. And I love that in the MTC we aren't graded; it helps alleviate the stress and focus your attention on learning what you can to help your investigator rather than learn the language to get good grades which makes a world of a difference.

In our class room (or district) we have Elder Jones and Elder McGavin who are both serving in Cambodia. McGavin's like the sports jock who goofs off a lot but can be level-headed when he wants to and Elder Jones is quieter, but still really smart and kind.

Elder Marriott and Elder Yu (he's Korean) are serving in California, and are like the leading companionship in the circle of Elders in their level of Cambodian as well as how seriously they take their call. They're really good elders.

Then there's Elder Choi and Elder Duffy. They are both serving in Cambodia as well, Elder Choi is Chinese and a goof-off (but really nice), and Elder Duffy is our district leader. He makes a really great district leader through his very official business-like manner, but at the same time can throw you off with his theater-show bizz flair every so often. He's also the smartest when it comes to the language, so fortunately Sister Walker and I share a table with them and can ask them for an answer to almost any question. They are a hilarious pair though.

The work is coming along really well. We're finding the balance between studying for what we need to teach our investigator, vs what we can actually say to him and have him understand us. I think we really hit the mark though when Monday we decided to keep it simple and teach with love. I felt we really got the message across.

Also, as they say, missionaries love getting letters, so if you don't like to write, you can use dearelder.com. Simply use the following address:
NOV05 WA-TAC
2007 N 900 E. Unit 37
Provo, UT 84602)
Then write an email, and they will print it off and give it to us in person. As I said, we LOVE letters!! :D 

I wish I could write more, but I want to let you know I love this gospel, and there's nowhere I'd rather be in my life right now than here!!

Have a great week!

- Sister Dunster

First Day in the MTC

4 Sep 2013

            There’s not nearly enough paper to record everything I want to say, and I had to use a piece from my companion as it is--I thought I’d have time to grab one from the bookstore beforehand.

            During the time we killed before the MTC we went by Jan’s place and saw Jonathan just before they started pulling out the driveway, so we got to chat for a bit before heading out.  First thing after Jess and Anthony dropped me off, a sister “host” took my luggage and showed me the way to go.

            I got my nametag, keys and important documents, got my heavy bag of books; and, fortunately, was the second person to arrive, so I didn’t get completely over-whelmed like my companion did coming in as the last person.  But seeing a white person speaking fluent Cambodian makes it seem a little more possible.  And that’s all my young, very enthusiastic teacher spoke was Cambodian.  He had sentences on the board and half-readable transliterated words for us to practice on one another.

            My companion is Sister Megan Walker, and looks like me in size, height, hair color and length, and is very easy to get along with for which I’m grateful.  She’s going to the same place, and according to our teacher, we are the 2^nd ever call Tacoma WA Cambodian speaking sister missionaries.  We are the only girls in our district/class.  (Oh, and you can type and save my letters.  It’s bedtime and I haven’t even written in my journal!!) 

5 Sep 2013

            We room with a Sister Litchfield who has graduated and studied in Cambodia when she got her call there--but speaking Vietnamese.  Sister Egelund (egg-lund) is her companion with the same call, plus she’s half Vietnamese, so she’s pretty happy with her call.

            Our district consists of 8 missionaries, or, our whole classroom; Elder Jones and Elder McGavin are going to Cambodia/Khmer speaking, Elder Yu (Korean) and Elder Marriott (?) are Redding CA, Khmer speaking, then Elder Chiu & Elder Duffy (our recently appointed District Leader whom I would elect for any voice recording--he has the perfect voice for business man or an instruction video).  Our teacher (look-ru in Khmer) is Brother Mickelson and when he does speak English, he only does so with a Cambodian accent.  He has such a ready smile and enthusiasm I swear he is the best teacher in the school, even though I haven’t seen other teachers teach.

            After class was lunchtime in a packed cafeteria.  Insane.  But we managed to eat, Sis. Walker & I.  Then we went into 3 different rooms, each one with a different acting investigator which we had to ask questions and teach as a group of 40-50 people.  They were not sympathetic and bashed missionaries very realistically if they said something dumb or laughed at something that wasn’t supposed to be funny.  I managed to say a few things here and there fairly successfully, and Elder Engle was there too.  :)  I’ve actually seen him pretty often surprisingly and today when randomly passing he said “Oh, Hi, Sara! - I mean Elder D...er...”  I never heard him say my name right, for the group of missionaries around him busted up laughing.  That was funny.

            I have 20 mins left to write and I haven’t written in my journal, yet; but I wanted to let you know, that the fact the MTC is selling skirts for $17 is false.  They may have had a sale that went really well, but they have only Mikarose now, so I had to buy their cheapest black skirt for $30.  And it will do, but for a basic I’d rather have more durable material.  Oh well.

            We’re teaching our first investigator tomorrow--in Cambodian!  Yeah, There’s no taking your time here, it’s all business.

            Oh yeah, something I wanted to say really quick (sorry for rushed handwriting but I figure you’d like to get a letter sooner than later), today I went to try out for a musical number.  I didn't know you had to have something prepared, so after a bit, I went up to ask where I could get music.  Just as I went up, though, an Elder came up and realized he needed an accompanist for his solo.  So the sister in charge told me, “Well here, could you be his accompanist?”  I said, “Sure!”  We found a room (with our companions), practiced twice, performed our audition...and made it!  I love the piece as well, it’s beautiful.  (“My kindness shall not depart from thee)” 

6 September 2013

            I saw Elder Twede, too!  First day, in that crowded classroom I spotted him getting food.  I went up, said “Elder Twede?” cause his face was turned away, but when he turned around, there was an awkward pause of smiles and stiff arms as we both fought the impulse of a hug before admitting it out loud and settling for a handshake.

            I really enjoy it here.  The schedule is given to us, outlining everything we do which is nice, and there are plenty of opportunities to fill your time otherwise.  Today (the 6^th) we go to the gym for the first time.  That’ll be interesting.

            The only drawback is I underestimated the number of outfits I have.  I have about 6 cardigans, 5 skirts, 1 pair of shoes with another on the way via order, 3 short sleeved tops (2 the same color) and about 2 long-sleeved tops that are plain, so I don’t have a lot of variety, yet, especially as I’m in the middle of changing black skirts.  I hate to do it, but the $30 skirt is a bouncy/heavy fabric that’s a plain tube skirt and bouncy skirts that show every crease and wrinkle underneath them are uncomfortable to me, so I’ll have to switch out for the $40 black skirt.  Ugh.  But it’s better.

            Today’s the day we teach our first investigator in Cambodian!  My companion and I plan on drilling each other on sentences first, so hopefully it’ll go well enough for a first time....

            Love you, and enjoy your week!  I look forward to getting letters from you or anyone else.  If he wants, Dad can go to DearElder.com, send them an email, and they will print it out to give to me, for free.  :)  So he can do that if he doesn't want to write.

            Again, I love you, and thank you for your prayers.

ÏSara