How are y'all all doing this week?? Well, as you can imagine I have had yet another wonderful week at the MTC!! Time seems to be speeding up, which isn't so fun. I hope it will slow down some in the field; otherwise these next 15 and 1/2 months will go by way way wayyy too quickly! Speaking of the field, did I mention that I only have 13 days left?? What about only one more P-day here? Did I mention that? Or that I only have to do my laundry 2 more times before I am completely packed!?! But hey, who's counting right =]
I think what made this past week most fun was having the natives here. When they first got here they were rather timid and quiet, which is understandable! Truthfully I'll probably be that way when I first go to Korea! Haha But now they are our friends. The sisters are fantastic and it is such a blast having them in our room. We have a good agreement going; we help them with their English if they help us with our Korean. For example, Sister Yoon will say an English sentence, we'll correct her if needs be, and then we will say the same sentence back to her in Korean. It has helped SO MUCH! I think this has been our best SYL week so far! (SYL= speak you language). These sisters are so much fun and have become dear to my heart. I can see what they mean when our teachers have told us, when you show love to the Korean people they will give you their hearts.
Something funny happened with me and Sister Park after gym one day. We were back in our rooms getting ready for dinner, when her suitcase started falling from atop the dresser!! I freak out and with my LONG arms grab the suitcase right before it hits her head. The two other Korean sisters started clapping, Sister Park gave me a huge hug and I was called "Hero" in Korean for the rest of the day! Hahaha It was fantastic!
I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been a little.... nervous... about going to Korea! I've never been outside the United States, so I'm a bit anxious about going to a completely foreign land. I like to have a picture in my mind of where I'm going and what I'm getting into. Haha It was so nice the other day because my teacher, who served in Busan, brought us a lot of pictures! He showed us the city, some of the churches and the mission home. Though I know it will be soo different when I get there, at least I now know what the place I'll be staying at the first night looks like! I was extremely grateful for those pictures.
Class this past week went really, really well. After a really hard night Heavenly Father, in all His love and mercy, gave us a fantastic teaching opportunity the next day. We taught our investigator Kim Haw Kee. He has been meeting with the missionaries for ten years and we have been trying to figure out what it is we can do in order help him. This past lesson went fantastic. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he really enjoyed it. At the end when we were asking him questions, and not only were we able to actually formulate the questions, but for the most part we were able to understand his answers!! We were then able to share our testimonies and calm some of the concerns he had and promise him that we were there to help him learn and grow. It was a wonderful teaching experience! And I know my companions really needed that confidence booster.
Though this past week was fantastic, today was the greatest. Every Tuesday we have the opportunity to go to the Temple. Well, if you remember a few weeks ago we were able to go to the Temple with Elder Hem from Cambodia, it was his first time going and it was such a neat experience. In Cambodia there is no temple and there are few members of the Church. Elder Hem and his younger sister are the only members in his entire family. Elder Hem had been working diligently before he left on his mission to gather his family's history so that he would be able to give his ancestors the same opportunity he has had to choose to follow Christ. So today, my companions and I were able to join Elder Hem and his district in the temple to begin the work of his family. Amongst the names were his grandfather and great-grandmother, and of course other relations. It was such an amazing experience to see the joy on Elder Hem's face as "the hearts of the children turn to their fathers". To hear the Cambodian names spoken not only by a Cambodian, but also their ancestor, is something I will never forget. I am grateful for Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness for every individual person, and the family unit as a whole. I am glad that we have the opportunity to be with our families for eternity!!
I enjoyed the Fireside this past Sunday given by Richard I. Heaton, the Administrative Director of the MTC. He topic was setting goals, but he took an interesting perspective on it. He shared scriptures from Jacob in the Book of Mormon. In chapter 5, verses 4, 11, 27, 53-54 it mentions over and over goals, but there is a particular word that is used that I hadn't initially thought as a "goal" word. When we think of setting goals, we think of the immediate and measurable success that will come from those goals. And if we don't see those successes we think that the goal was a waste. Well, Brother Heaton has us think otherwise. On our missions we will set goals. Such as: how many people we want to come to church, read the Book of Mormon and even be baptized. But those people we are inviting to keep commitments still have their agency. All the wishing and praying in the world will do nothing if the individual doesn’t decide to act for himself or herself. Just because we have to take into account another’s agency, or ability to choose, doesn't mean we should stop setting goals. The word in each of those verses is PERHAPS. The great missionaries of the Book of Mormon understood the agency each of us had, but their goals were still great and their faith was still great just because there was a Possibility that someone would accept their message and invitation to follow Christ. Brother Heaton said that as we set goals we need to have JOY IN THE MAYBE. We can't get discouraged; we can't stop setting our sights high, because even the possibility that someone might be able to come unto Christ is something to find joy in.
Thank you for all the love and support! Mom and Dad I LOVED the package with all the pictures and cards! It was exactly what I needed! Thank you thank you thank you.
Thank again to everyone!
Kiss Love Hugs!
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