Coucou mes amis!
I’m in person at the Provo MTC now! We were supposed to go to the England MTC, but they had some plumbing issues and kicked out all of the French missionaries (of course the English decided to get rid of the French!) I’ve still been enjoying the Provo MTC. My grandmother worked here for 22 years, so it’s been fun to get a sense of the place. It’s been so much better being in the MTC in person. The best part has been getting to be with all my new friends from my district. We’ve mostly been getting adjusted to life here and taking our classes as normal. It hasn’t been bad; the hardest part so far has been figuring out how to use a Samsung (not a fan at the moment.)
Unfortunately, I haven’t made any real progress with French (Here’s what happened if you missed it.) If anything, we used less French in class this week than last week. At least I finally have all of my language study materials so I can also practice more effectively on my own time. My district has also gotten a lot better about speaking French with each other, so I’m not completely starved for French practice anymore. And even though the French hasn’t gotten better yet, I’m feeling better about this whole situation. The emails you guys sent—full of support and great advice— have strengthened me. You’ve all inspired me to really try to make the best of these frustrating circumstances.
I also watched this great BYU devotional called “Be 100% Responsible” by Elder Lynn G. Robbins. The part of the talk that really helped me was him talking about how even when our circumstances are not our fault, it’s more effective and rewarding to focus on being responsible for your own self. He says, “Excuses keep you from taking control of your life. It is self-defeating to blame, make excuses or justify mistakes, even when you are right.” So sure, it’s not my fault that I’m not learning much in French class, but I can still be proactive and take responsibility for my own learning.
Honestly, I don’t get angry that often, so it was sort of fun to be mad at the world last week. But this isn’t summer camp and I’m not here just to have fun. I’m here to learn how to be the best missionary I can be! So while it hasn’t been as much fun, it’s been much more effective and rewarding to work on having patience, taking responsibility for my own learning, and trusting that this is where the Lord wants me to be.
Hope you’re all doing well. Je vous aime!
Sœur Peterson
