Despite having avoided even thinking about going on a mission up until about nine months before leaving, once I accepted that, I was sure I would speak a language.
Language has always been my thing. At that point, I had studied French, Spanish, and Italian, and knew bits of Norwegian and German. None of that prepared me for Lao.
It was just so different as a language. There were no cognates that were easier to remember, so everything sounded so different. The spelling was consistent, but the alphabet was much longer, and there were tones. The grammar is simpler, but that was about it.
I remember practicing in the Missionary Training Center and thinking how much better I could do in one of the languages I already knew, and realizing that was the point. I needed to be humble, and not lean in my own understanding, but it was hard. Also, working with refugees in the States, there was never that immersion that you get when you actually go to a foreign country. Yes, there were areas where you could feel like you were really in Laos, but we never were.
It wasn't just that learning the language was harder, though it was, but I found that my usual ways did not work. Sometimes I would get lax in my studying, just because everything felt so ineffective. That didn't solve anything though. What ended up working for me was writing words out with repetition. I know, that sounds very much like something you would have little children do. In my case, I think the reason it helped was that it engaged the kinetic, because the visual and auditory alone were not doing it.
What is really important with that, however, is that it required trying a lot of things that did not work before I found the thing that did work. That's a discouraging process, but you have to have faith that there will be something that does work, and be willing to try different things.
Faith is also important for remembering that it is not just you there. You are doing something important, and there is help available.
It was getting close to Stake Conference in Modesto, and Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, an apostle, was coming. My companion was relatively new, and worried about translating, and I was worried about it too, but I knew it would fall on me. We fasted together, breaking our fast just before conference.
I know I spoke smoothly and clearly and rapidly, keeping up with the talks for most of the conference, and only stumbling towards the end. I remember that because the story that I stumbled on is the only one that I had any recollection of when it was done. It all passed through me, and I could not say that I used any of my own power in doing that. I did know that my prayer had been answered.
Learning another language allows you to connect with more people, and it helps you understand your first language better. If you haven't already done so, it's not too late. Maybe you think you are already past being a missionary, but you don't know what work lies ahead, and how possible it will be to increase the good you can do for your brothers and sisters. Writing this, I realize that it is time to learn more.
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