Week 4

Hey All!

I can't believe I'm coming up on my 4th week already! It's kind of overwhelming how fast my time at the MTC is flying by. It's even more overwhelming to realize I still don't know heck about Korean... haha. This has been a pretty decent week. It was hard to say goodbye to all the missionaries who left this week, but we've already got a new group here. They are still pretty fresh and aren't sure what's going on. I definitely remember feeling the same way!

On Sunday we had an awesome devotional by Vai Saikehema, a retired NFL player. He was really funny and it was great just to sit back and relax. Afterwards we watched the character of Christ again- seriously, anyone who hasn't read it yet I really recommend it! It was even better and more inspiring the second time.

One Elder in my district, Elder Saxton, is really good at Taekwondo and gave me some lessons this week. It was way fun (and way hard!) It's basically a lot of kicking and punching.. can't imagine me doing that? Haha I couldn't either, but I tried anyway and had a blast! Let's just say I was 'going ham'. I'll probably go professional... look for me in the next Olympics!  

The language has really been tough this week. It's really hard not to compare myself to the others, or to not get frustrated when I can't remember how to do something. Yesterday as Elder Wilkinson and I taught our investigator, I had a breaking point. I struggled to say basic sentences (ones I had even practiced before), yet alone understand the response. It was even harder because Elder Wilkinson felt it was the best he'd ever done. He did awesome at understanding and pulling from his memory what he needed to say. I guess I just didn't understand why the Gift of Tongues wasn't working for me, why I wasn't doing as well as I should've. Back at the dorms I went down and visited Elder Mansell (a friend from Brighton) and expressed the frustration I was feeling. He gave me some really profound advice that helped a lot. He said that to access the Gift of Tongues, there has to be a struggle. We have to work and feel the lowest parts in order to gain the highest. As I pondered that, I realized it's just like the Atonement- you can't just have faith and expect it to work magic. You have to really feel what it's like without it so that you truly desire the change, to match the works with your faith. I'm learning to turn everything over to the Lord, and just trust that it'll come in His time. In fact, I think it IS the Atonement you have to access, to learn a new language or go on a mission or anything really. Funny how it all circles around to the same thing. 

The rain is a wonderful change of scenery down here. It smells so good and just kind of lifts my spirits. It reminds me of a song we listen to sometimes down here- "Little Things" from the EFY cd this year (you can listen to it on youth.lds.org). You can guess what it's about by the title- finding little things all around you to be grateful for. I've really been trying to find little things to be grateful for, because sometimes the big things can get so overwhelming that if you don't keep a little peace of positive you'll burn out pretty fast. I'd just like to share some of those little things I've found this week: 

The smell of the rain

They had Kiwis one day in the Lunchroom

Not having to wait in line for the bathroom

My blue utah-state pen (it's literally the best pen I've ever used!)

How everyone says hello here

Saying "Welcome to the MTC" to missionaries who've been here for weeks, then watching them get mad... haha

Being able to pray before every study time

singing in the shower and having everyone join in

the taste of my toothpaste

How sweet my shoes look after I polished them

Okay, so some of them may seem pretty silly... but you'd be amazed how well it works! I encourage everyone reading this to really try to find little things to be thankful for this week. The big problems may still be there, but it certainly helps with keeping a happy attitude about it!

Well, not much else to report this week. Thank you again to everyone sending me letters and notes. It literally makes my day to get them! I'm sorry I'm behind in responding but I'll do my best. Just want you all to know I love you and I love the Lord! It's challenging, but at the end of the day I'm glad that I'm here. I'm so thankful for the church, for trials, and most importantly the Atonement so I can become a little bit better each day. 

Sarangheo!

Elder Easton