BYU Mens Choir Visits MTC ---Luckyyyyy Scottyyyyy

                                                      Scott Singing for Sam at the MTC

                BYU Mens Choir Devotional at the MTC -- Scott and Elder Sam Chamberlin

                                              Scott's Selfie with Sam and his companion

                            Sunday December 14, 2014 After Fireside with the BYU Mens Choir

Week 4 at the MTC -- Another Day in Paradise

                                                       My Zone Leader ---  Elder Shipp

                                                  Temple Morning with My Companion

                                                                 Provo Temple Picture

                                                            Inherited Basketball Hoop
                                         Must be a Story Here Only Missionaries Can Tell

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

 On Dec 15, 2014, at 12:07 PM, "Samuel Chamberlin" <samuel.chamberlin@myldsmail.net> wrote:
> 
> 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! 
> 
> 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. 
> 
> 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 :)
> 
> 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. 
> 
> 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!
> 
> 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!
> 
> 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. 
> 
> 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!!! 
> 
> Elder Chamberlin
> 
> ps. a photo book of family, friends, good times, etc would be awesome!! love you!
> 
> MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

From Bach to Berlin & Bangkok

Elder Jake Clarke and Elder Sam Chamberlin
9 years ago at recital

From Bach to Berlin & Bangkok

Pictures for Week 3 in the MTC

Brother Callister - My favorite

Elder Galbraith 

Thai Flag

Looking Thai Fly -- Okay my Momma came up with that one  -- Sam will probably want me to edit the commentary

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

My companion's desk

Week 3 at the MTC

This week has gone so fast its crazy. Since its the first thing on my mind- our phii thais left this morning (the group ahead of us heading to thailand.) it was pretty sentimental... but yeah this week has been awesome!

so i guess to repsond to your questions first:

i have not got your dear elder yet, those always come around dinner time (4ish our time), but i DO love getting them. they always make your day so much better. for exercise i normally ball out with the cantos (cantonese missionaries) hmongs, and thais whether its basketball or volleyball. most people dont really know how to play volleyball so basketball is usually a better time. occasionally we'll go play soccer, but it can be pretty cold sometimes. I see Torra Ming pretty often, Sister Allen from mission prep, and another sister i served in the temple with, but not gonna lie it gets kinda awkward everytime we see eachother bcuz she knows me on a first name basis and im too embaraseed to ask her her name... and her name tag is always covered by her hair, so yeah. As for chores- just keep your room clean, your own laundry, shower, brush your teeth, the regular stuff. we do have service projects, i mean "service opportunities" haha. we do those for 2 hours every thursday morning which is just like different cleaning stuff around the MTC. Pianos are everywehere so i do get to play a lot actually. pretty much every mormon person plays the piano though so its not rare just to here people going ham on the keys. Yes i got the thai flag thank you sarah i love you!!! megan sent me one too, and now we have a bunch so we are feeling pretty cultured over here. As for the temple- we go on temple walks on sunday and my comp and i go every monday morning. today we did sealings, but we can do initiatories, endowments, etc. As the District Leader i basically just report to the Zone leaders how we are all doing. i interview senior companions in all the companionships and just make sure everyone is doing well, and happy. then hold district meetings and what not. nothing too crazy. very heallthy very warm. (especially bc of the nice blanket thanks momma<3) What makes me the most happy is when we get to teach our investigators. We had whats called TRC this week for the first time where we teach people that arent role playing as investigators. There normally members of the church that served in thailand, and so we get to know them and teach them a short message in Thai as if we were teaching a member family in Thailand. Elder Dunnaway and I had a reeeeeallly good lesson, and its just so surprising how much Thai we know, and you dont really realize how much you know until youre teaching and just have to go for it. 

So what i did this week: We had a devotional by Elder Evans of the quorum of the 70 on tuesday- we watched the "He is the Gift" video onchristmas.mormon.org and it was SOOO GOOD. anyone who hasnt seen it should go watch it right now. God's love for everyone is so real. One thing really hit me after the devotional too which i thought was cool. I've spent so much time growing up preparing for my mission. then in the MTC we spend all our time for being out in the mission field (thailand), and then we hear that the MTC is really just preperation for the rest of our lives. Then i read the scripture in the book of mormon: Alma 34:32 "this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God". It's like we're never done preparing. everything we learn, and everything we do is to help us grow and become someone greater- the person God knows we can and must become. 

This whole week we have been singing christmas songs and its such good vibes i love it. sometimes i start to miss home, especially memories of going to "follow the star", and just being with family, but it is so awesome! Jesus Christ really did suffer everything for us, and i am so grateful for him. I love being able to really focus on the reason for the season, bc alot of times we can get caught up in all the hussle and bussle of christmas time (all pretty well explained in the he is the gift video). yeah so i love it here. 

We have been keeping our "wall of quotes" in our room bc so many funny, and or spiritually strengthening things are said throughout the day. One i really loved was something Elder Galbraith said (hes our cripple... he tore his miniscus and is on crutches. he actually has to go back to california for surgery most likely so not exactly sure whats gonna happen but our district had the awesome opportunity to give him a priesthood blessing, and hes recovering really well, so hopefully he will be able to work things out and still go to thailand on time.) but yeah anyways he quoted someone in saying "there is no growth in the comfort zone, and no comfort in the growth zone". it sounds a lot like something megan said to me this week, that if things werent hard, God knows that we wouldnt grow. Its so true that trials really do help us to grow- even if we dont understand right now why or how. God knows and when we put our trust in him, he will never forsake us. 

Like i said this week went by so fast i cant believe ive been here 3 weeks already. cant really remember everything that went down but just know im happy and doing well! Gods looking out for me and i know hes looking out for each and every one of you. 

we set up a christmas tree in our room and i put my presents (from thee one and only megan) around it. its pretty cute ill send pics. 

love you guys and miss you! i love hearing about how well you all are, and all your missionary efforts. especially love all the emails i got this week from the non-regualars you guys make me so happy to know people remember me <3 Love you all and remember the reason for the season! 

Week Two and It Seems Like Month Two // December 1, 2014

Week two and it seems like month two! This week may have been the best week of my life. So it started off with Elder Oaks making a surprise appearance at our devotional Tuesday night and it was really good. He talked about losing yourself in the work, and he made an analogy of us being an instrument in the Lords hand. We are like a pen and if we dont have ink (testimony, language skills, teaching skills, etc) then we cant work effectiviely, and God needs us to always be ready when he needs to use us. Oaks was awesome. Then for Thanksgiving i was starting to get a little bummed and missed being with the fam but the MTC takes good care of its sheep. We broke some service records this week and packaged 366,000 meals to send out to people in need around the world. It was really cool to do service on Thanksgiving... something i haven't neccesarily done before but it made the day so much more powerful and meaningful. Elder Bednar wanted to come hangout with us so we got to kick it with him for a bit while doing the service project, and i guess he just couldn't get enough of being around us so he came to speak to us that night. It was so powerful. He and his wife did this cool experiment where they passed out cell phones to the whole audience and people could text in questions they wanted to ask an apostle of the Lord. It was so amazing. One thing i loved that his wife said was that when we go to serve our mission we only have two years to give it our all, but we have the rest of our lives to look back and think about how we served. Got me super stoked, and then i loved how Elder Bednar said when we are released from our service as a full-time missionary, we become life-long missionaries. I felt like a main point of his message was that the gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, etc) isnt a list of things we do and just be done, but its principles that we live by to become. Each week every missionary has to write a talk on the MTC-wide topic which this week was endure to the end. Then two or three missionaries in our zone get picked at random to give talks during sacrament. It is super cool, and i felt like Elder Bednar's talk was so in line with my talk that i wrote. I just love it here.

Days can defiinitely be long here... we do so much in a day its crazy! Sundays are such a day of rest and a day to reminisce on the week. so peaceful. Mondays are amazing though, i have loved reading letters and seeing how everyone was doing. Blake (mista steal yo girl and steal yo jacket) hahaa i miss you so much. Julie of course has been a faithful and loyal writer. Letters from my family of course are the best<3 i miss you guys. Highlight of today was by far reading about bekah's week! so sad i couldnt be there for it. I felt like a goob in the laundry room reading all of the wonderful letters sent to me, and im laughing out loud one moment, and the next im about to tear up because of how happy i am! Life is so good. I am so glad i have the opportunity to do such a great work. 

Favorite thing about the mtc... "Elder Dunnaway" - elder dunnaway, haha but for real i think its being with such awesome people 24/7. its super uplifting and just such a good time. Some people complain about the mtc, but it makes me think of something Mr. Harnett always used to tell our class: "only boring people get bored" and i feel like it applies here too: "only lame people, think the mtc is lame" becuase it really is whatever you make of it. Days are long and hard and exhausting, and its non stop studying and spiritual feasting, and language learning, but with the right attitude its the best time ever. 

As for how ready i feel for Thailand, not ready. Haha the language is coming fast but its definitely a process. Teaching investigators here is so awesome and we picked up 2 new investigators this week that we teach for the first time so we are excited to see how that goes. there names are คยยงค ้ and ค้้ คั or something like that. neen and naang. I love how as i become for familiar with Thai i can follow the spirit, remember words i learned what seems like forever ago, and really teach with power. such a good time. 

I thought being here i would miss my bed, a nice bathroom and shower, being able to jump in the pool and sun bathe, hit the beach, etc. but really i havent missed anything like that a bit. It also helps that i pushed two of the bunkbeds together in our room and elder dunnaway and i both get queen size beds. But i think i miss most my Makenna, jackson, holland, lukey, mason, baby jesse, and little rowen the one year old. Pictures are so nice, and bring me back to being with the familiy. so its cool to see whats really meant the most to me. and of course Megan<3 

So proud of Zane and cant wait to hear from him and micha chenga... someone tell that kid to write me. 

Packages and letters are thee best thing in the MTC it gets you so pumped to work hard when you feel love comin from home<3 so thank you to everyone who sends goodies, you really keep me workin hard!

I miss and love home, but being here is the most amazing experience. I feel so blessed to have the companion and district i have. I think i told you i was called to be the district leader and its been an awesome experience. Our branch is cool, our district is full of love and a desire to work hard, i just really feel so blessed. God is so good, and i know Jesus Christ atoned for our sins, and through him we can have peace, joy, and direction. Life is SO good, and i want everyone to know of the amazing life changing message the gospel is! Love you family and friends i can feel your prayers and love for me thank you! 

                                                           My Roomies at the MTC

                                              Movie Night at the MTC - Meet the Mormons

                                      Thanksgiving Service Project - Preparing Meals to Share

                                        My Companion - He Ain't Heavy - He's My Brother

                     
                                              MTC Roomies - We love to see the Temple!

                                                           Christmas lights at the MTC

First Week in the MTC // November 24, 2014

ท้้ ตี้งมม นีอ้ิ! Hello world I've missed you so!

So the MTC has been one of the craziest experience, actually thee craziest experience. I've been here for what like 5 days now and its felt like 5 weeks... i guess I'll start from the beginning. My companion is elder Dunnaway from Kansas and he's a stud. We're getting along really well and he likes to work hard which i like. Our roomies are Elder Bingham (Brooks, the guy dad set apart that is in our YSA ward) and Elder Morley from Utah somewhere. We honestly have the best room, district, zone, etc in the MTC. The only thing that can be an issue for some of the missionaries in our district is focusing, because we all love being around each other so much, and are constantly having a good time. I got called to be the District Leader on Thursday by our Branch President, President Jackson. He's a nice man. I have never worked so hard in such a short period in my life, but im gonna be honest, adjusting hasn't been as bad as everyone said it would be. I got a little sick on friday, and was getting some chills and headaches throughout the day, but all in all the food is good, and being here is just awesome. Our thai teacher is Brother Thrap and he's a boss. He reminds me of a gentler Ben which is nice because i feel a little more at home. We spend most of our time in the classroom and are learning Thai at a crazy pace. I probably know more Thai then i do German and Chinese combined. I can simply teach the first lesson, bear my testimony, and pray for the most part in Thai already, which doesn't seem that crazy because it honestly does feel like i've been here for over a month. Time goes pretty slow but at the end of the night it's crazy and cool to see how much we were able to accomplish. I met ben's Thai teacher friend yesterday too, but i forgot his name. I think my favorite part about being here is the spirit that you feel all the time. Whether we are in class, a devotional, at the temple, wherever, its just always good vibes here... if you have the right attitude, which our district does. Our teachers speak zero english which is crazy, and we got thrown into teaching an investigator just my companion and i on our second day hahahaha. needless to say it wasnt very good. but we taught her the next day and it is literally insane how fast we grow. Her names Molly, and she isnt a real investigator but she acts like one and only speaks thai to us, so it feels pretty real. A cool experience was our second time teaching her, i was able to look up from my paper of lines that i was trying to memorize and i just spoke to her in thai, and it was crazy the words that will be put in your mouth as you testify of truth with the power of the Holy Ghost. I was remembering words that i never really studied and long story short it was a cool experience. Sundays in the MTC are amazing. I had Leadership Training Meeting with the Branch Presidency and the other District Leaders and Zone leaders in our zone, and i learned a lot from it. I feel so prepared out here. Greiner's scripture list makes teaching with the scriptures too easy, and I feel comfortable teaching in english so my biggest challenge is really just learning thai, its made me really grateful for all the times i went out with the missionaries, went to mission prep, etc. A lot goes on here i cant write it all, but in short its amazing. So so amazing. I've thought a couple times to myself that Blake would just LOVE it here... i was talking to my companion and we started getting pretty real and we talked about some serious gospel stuff and i felt like i was talking to blake back at home it was pretty weird. But yeah, the MTC is what you make of it. With a good attitude it can be some of the best weeks of your life. Mom ive written in a journal for the first time in my life, and ive been filling it with experiences and memories i can look back on and smile at :). I went through the temple today and it was an awesome experience. I am warm (in this terribly cold weather), happy, and stoked to continue to serve the Lord. One thing has always stuck with me that i think about when i get tired or feeling like just kickin back and relaxing: I only have two years to give up everything to serve the Lord, so give up everything and dedicate myself 100% to my holy calling. Anyways i love it here, and i miss you all at home<3 its weird how long its felt like to me. I know that this is where i am suppose to be and i wouldnt want to be anywhere else. I love my God and my Savior and know through them all things are possible. Tell my priest boys i love them, i definitely miss being with them. Love you all and see you in 2 years - 5 days!

<3

Elder Chamberlin 

P.S. like in the best two years, it really does brighten your day soo much when you get mail so thank you for all you loving people who send me things, it makes the hard work so much more worth it!

Sam's Mission Call // July 13, 2014