Another Day in Paradise...Week 4 at the MTC

 On Dec 15, 2014, at 12:07 PM, "Samuel Chamberlin" <samuel.chamberlin@myldsmail.net> wrote:
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> whats good fam! this week has been really good, atleast i think b/c its so hard to seperate days and weeks at this point! 
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> So starting from the beginning of the week- Tuesday was so insanely good. we have devotionals every sunday and tuesday night from a gen authority or we have some performance or something, and on tuesday we heard from Elder and Sister Zwick of the 70, needless to say they were both powerful speakers. We also were priveleged to listen to Lexie Walker, who is a singer that has performed in front of the President, at Carnegie Hall, performed with David Archuleta, performed for Mitt Romney, etc etc, so yeah shes pretty accomplished, but the craziest part was that she was 12 years old! crazy i know but it gets even more wild here... so shes singing "i am a child of god" like an angel with the voice of a woman much older than 12, and she gets to the second verse, and she starts singing in some strange language. She said "phraphupencaw" (God) and thats when all us thai missionaries realized she was singing in Thai! haha she was speaking better than we could, but singing it! We went up to talk to her and her mom after the devotional and turns out her brother just left the MTC for thailand, and her dad served there and is the bishop of the Thai/Lao ward in SLC. pretty cool experience. We could definitley feel God's love for us all. 
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> This week we set a goal as a district to choose one christ-like attribute to work on each week. This week was Obedience/Diligence and we had some awesome experiences as we all focused on be obedient to all the rules with exactness. Definitely saw some miracles come with learning Thai script (esp cuz its crazy hard) this week. I am able to read it for the most part and writing is a lot harder but thats coming along too! i feel like a child but its so much fun its like addictive. We'll joke around sometimes like we're gonna stay up all night partying (as in studying thai all night) bc writing script is for real such a blast haha. Its like a secret code language its so much fun :)
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> This week i also had a special appreciation for our teachers. Since the older Thai group left last week we got all their teachers so now we have a total of like 10 teachers so its practically like one on one tutoring every day. Its crazy how close if grown to some of them. Brother Thrap, Hunsaker, Kao----something (we just call him brother kao, but it sounds like gao) and Bruther Yuen are my favorite by far. Super tight with them, and Brother Yuen is from Irvine and knows ben super well. Needless to say my teachers love me as much as i love them. Its nice that that crazy thai script card President Senior sent me before the mish actually makes sense now. Thai is so much fun. 
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> Some days are hard here but all in all it is such a good time. A big shoutout to Sister Draper for coming thru on some very tasty cookies this week! Miss that family<3 Julie with some goodies and a little christmas present that is being saved for christmas (which is in 10 days what????), Mama Roche with a verrrrryy nice package love you guys!, and Sister Jensen with a very nice letter. Sorry if i forgot other main packages i have an awful memory! Just to fill you in on how the Dear Elder thing works- they print them out at around 4 right before dinner so i get them at 4 each day. But they dont come saturday or sunday, and so i dont get dear elders from friday night through monday afternoon. It is also good to here from some homies from home this week! i cant believe its already been a month!
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> so Scott came to the MTC last night and their performance was super funny and really enjoyable. My companion is practically tongan bc he was just going crazy for the haka and african american songs they did hahaha. It was good to catch up with scott and here about everyone! Weird seeing him, bc it made me realize how short the time has been that ive been here.... glad aeveryone is doing good though!
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> Our cantonese missionaries left this morning :( ill send pictures. that includes our zone leaders and so it was a pretty sad day. I got super close with Elder Shipp and Powell. Gonna miss those guys and there examples. Everyone has such a strong love for their Savior here, and i just love the MTC atmosphere. I can already tell i'm gonna miss it, its flying by so fast it seems. 
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> So grateful especially this Christmas season. I think sometimes we forget that our focus really is all on Jesus Christ. Everything we teach in this church is all centered on Jesus Christ and his Atonement. So grateful for our savior and redeemer. I know God is real, that he is literally our heavenly father who knows us and loves us. "For God so loved the WORLD, that he gave his only begotten son". I know Jesus Christ lived and still lives, and through him, only through him can we feel free from sins, live again, and more importantly live with our heavenly father some day. I am so excited to share the message of our savior because he really is so awesome. So much of the world is missing out on so much joy and peace that can come through Him. I love this season and wish i could spend it with you guys- but at the same time not really, i know and you know this is where i am supposed to be. We have brothers and sisters around the world that are waiting to hear about Jesus Christ. Not just in Thailand but at home too!! Don't be scared to share what you love! it only shows how much you care about others. love you all, and hope you all have another great week!!! 
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> Elder Chamberlin
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> ps. a photo book of family, friends, good times, etc would be awesome!! love you!
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> MERRY CHRISTMAS!