Namaste, Tapai Kasto Hunuhuncha? (Hello, how are you?)
Thought I would throw some णएपलि at you guys today! It is quite the exciting language, and these Nepali people speak it so so so fast! I'm literally out of breath by the time I finish speaking ONE sentence and by that time the Nepali people have already told a WHOLE story 😉.
Alright, so on to the week full of blessings, miracles, and me being an English teacher (I now know that I for sure don't want to do this for my professional career).
Tuesday I slept in til 7 am, because I had taken Nyquil the night before and was completely out for what felt like forever. But, I felt so much better on Tuesday morning. We all watched The Best 2 Years while we were getting ready and eating breakfast, and laughed the whole movie. Glad I'm learning a language in my home country and not in a foreign one, like Elder Calhoun.
Elder Sirrine posted on his facebook Nepali page, and we had over 200 Nepali people respond saying they wanted to learn English and some of them said they wanted us to teach them the Gospel too! Is this anything short of a miracle . . . Behold, I say unto you: Nay, it is not. And so we were able to have close to 15 english lessons this week with people from ALL OVER THE WORLD . . . Literally everywhere!
Rocky: He is from a small little town just north of Nepal. He is so cool and wants to read the bible while we call with him on messenger, and we met his whole family too. They are all awesome and so kind in every way! Rocky speaks a little English, so it was fun to talk to him. What me and Elder Sirrine have been doing is we ask questions in English and then have the people answer in English, and we ask them things like:
- How long have you lived in ____ for?
- How big is your family?
- What's your favorite food?
- What's the weather like?
It's super fun to ask them all these questions, because they always get the biggest smile on their face when they don't know how to say it in English, and they say, "मलाई थाहा छैन/ malai raha chaina. Which means that they don't know. They are the most humble and sincere people ever!
Pusba -- She is so cool! She lives in Cyprus (and I have no idea where it is, other than it is a small island in the ocean :)). She also loves to read the bible and she wants us to call her everyday, literally. She is super smart and loves to talk with us.
We met with about 12 to 13 other Nepali people from India, Nepal, and South Korea. All of them weren't too interested to continue learning English/the gospel. But, it was so so much fun to talk with them. It was good for me as well, because I would listen to what Elder Sirrine would say in Nepali and then he would translate into English, so then I would just cross translate it back into Nepali so I could understand it. The language is coming along, and a small miracle comes later on in this story of the week of my adventures.
Thursday was kind of just a regular average day in the life of a quarantined missionary, which means study, pray, workout, eat, study, workout, and then study again :). But it's so good and it has given me plenty of time to ponder and think and become a stronger ME. I'm so grateful for this time I've had to grow my talents, strengthen my testimony, and grow my relationship with our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ.
Friday was awesome! We met with Rocky and Pusba in the morning and their lessons were amazing. They shared with us some of their beliefs on God and this life, and then we were able to teach them some new English words, and then also share both of our testimonies; ah so so cool! We had Zone Conference via zoom call on Friday afternoon. It started at 1:30, and at 1:28 the AP's texted us and said, "Can Elder McEwan give the opening prayer? and say it in Nepali?" Well, let's just say I learned a valuable lesson, that the scout motto, 'Be prepared' is VERY essential. I have a lot of my first prayer memorized in Nepali, but not the whole thing yet so Elder Sirrine quickly wrote down my prayer and added a few words onto a piece of paper. Then ZC started, and I looked down so no one could see the paper, and I proceeded to say the whole prayer in Nepali! While it wasn't memorized and was instead
written down, I truly felt the Spirit in me as I said it. I also learned something else too. "God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called. And He makes weak things become strong unto them who believe." I felt this scripture touch my heart this week. Heavenly Father has humbled me with this new assignment of language, and He has taught me how important and crucial it is that we truly have our "eye single to the glory of God" at all times and in all places.
Saturday was pretty regular and average again. We taught a few English lessons, did weekly planning, played some frisbee at the park, and made some food. I've gotten pretty good at cooking lately. With all the time we have, why not cook some food right?! :)
Sunday was THE BEST 😁😁 We started the day off with personal study, and then we went to the church. We had decided the other day that we wanted to do a Zoom call with all the Nepali members and people in Reynoldsburg and Akron areas so that they can still be getting some sort of Gospel learning right now. So we had a Come Follow Me lesson with 7 or 8 Nepali people, the group leader for Reynoldsburg, and a few RM's from this mission over zoom. It was soooooo much fun! I haven't met any of the people IN PERSON and so it was fun to meet them over video call and hear their beautiful and powerful testimonies. It was so good! And then I read in the Nepali Book of Mormon and that was a blast! I am getting better at reading more fluently on the sounds of the characters and what they all look like.
So I heard that Utah is starting to lift the quarantine/stay at home order a little?? It sounds like we will be quarantined at least until May 1. At that point, Governor Dewine is doing an evaluation. IF, we are allowed to start going outside, President Stratford said it'll most likely be that we can only do service for a few weeks and that WE WOULD HAVE TO wear masks anytime we stepped outside. Thank you very very much for sending me masks! They will help me so much :).
It was a really great week, and besides my mind/brain thinking it's Tuesday (of the previous week) and my legs are getting anxious to be moving more, I'm doing pretty good. I do have to say though, this is going to be a great mission story to tell yrs from now, that I was quarantined for 2 months and did lessons, etc from the apt with my phone :). Just like Elder Utchdorf said recently, "missionaries are the pioneers for what's to come" 😁.
So for the invite for this week, I've been thinking of what to do for it. I decided that I wanted to switch it up a little for this week. I invite and challenge all of us to:
- Write in our journal 3 times this week
- Read a General Conference talk from a past conference
- Apply the talk to your life, and how you can be stronger and more like our Heavenly Father with it.
I promise we will be blessed as we do this. I know it's not always easy in this life, and that sometimes we may have hard"er" days. I know that sometimes we may want to give up, we may want to stop trying. But, I promise you in the name of Jesus Christ, that He atoned and suffered for YOU & for ME. He suffered so we didn't have to do it alone. He loves me, He loves you, and He loves everything we do in our life. The past 5 weeks, I have thought a lot about why Heavenly Father allows things to happen to people and why somethings just don't quite make sense in the moment. But, I also know He has a PERFECT plan for each of us. Just act in faith, continue to hope for great things to come, and be the light that somebody else needs everyday 💛.
स्वर्गीय पिताले हामीलाई प्रेम गर्नुहुन्छ, किनकि उहाँ हामी सबै उहाँ र उहाँको छोराको साथ उच्च राज्यमा बस्न सक्षम भएको चाहनुहुन्छ। उहाँ हाम्रो ख्याल राख्नुहुन्छ, र हामीलाई सान्त्वना पनि कम गर्नुहुन्न। उहाँ सँधै हाम्रो लागि र हाम्रो साथमा हुनुहुनेछ, जब हामी उहाँलाई दिनहुँ फर्कन्छौं, र उहाँको मार्गनिर्देशन र मायालु सहयोगको लागि उहाँलाई सोध्छौं। उहाँ परमेश्वर हुनुहुन्छ, र उहाँ सबै कुरा जान्नुहुन्छ, सबै शक्तिशाली, र सबै मायालु। म भन्छु कि येशू ख्रीष्टको नाममा, आमेन।
Heavenly Father loves us, because He wants all of us to be able to return to live with Him and His Son in His kingdom high. He cares for us, and he doesn't leave us comfortably. He will always be there for us and with us, as we turn to Him daily, and ask Him for His guidance and loving help. He is God, and He is all knowing, all powerful, and all loving. I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I heard that Utah schools will be closed the remainder of the school year! Mom, that's good because then you truly will get to be in your most favorite place . . . HOME 😁😉 #thebestplace
I pray for you guys everyday, and I miss all of you so so much ❤ I'm so grateful for all of you, and I'm even more grateful and happy that you guys are doing amazing and having so much fun with all the many wonderful/incredible adventures you have going on :) Continue to work hard and put forth your very best effort everyday :) Just like Coach Grant Taylor says in Facing the Giants, "Your very best, your very best! Don't give up on me Brock, you're not finished yet! You keep going, you keep going!" That's my motivational quote for everyone this week! 😉😉
I love YOU Forever and Always!
Elder Dylan
No comments:
Post a Comment