Crazy week. So much to write about it's not even funny. And from the looks of it, I won't be having a whole lot of time for a while. Going off of my notes (this is how hard it is, I have to take notes to write this fast enough.)
Being here as long as I have, you really start to pick up the tricks to making life easier. The funny part is I've been here so long that I don't even think about a lot of them.
The best one, I think, is on Sundays. During the week, get a sack lunch for breakfast and grab some of the boxed cereal as one or two of your items. There's plenty to eat, even giving up a little, and building up that stockpile is important. You see, on Sundays they do cold cereal for breakfast, and the lines are crazy. But, if you bring some from your reserves, you can save a good 15-20 minutes of your day. Here, that's gold.
Also, bring note taking/study material everywhere. No telling when you'll get a spare moment, and you can't aford to waste them.
Know when to do things on P-day. Go 10 minutes before the regular time, or the cycles. For us, laundry hits 6:00, 6:40, 7:20 - ish. You hit the cycle 10 minutes before the new one starts, you're set.
Use gym time. Play volleyball. Study when you rotate out, practice memorization during running. It keeps your mind focused and uses time well.
Take two column notes. What they say, what the Spirit says. I started doing it, and I've gotten a lot of things to work on from it.
There are more, but I don't want to waste much time here. Lots more to get to.
For instance, the new districts are here! And holy cow, are they fast. Day three they were asking about indirect questions. I think they were mostly just trying to figure out a line for their lesson, but we didn't even know about that when we got here.
Anyway, they're pretty cool, too. A pair of Elders visits our classroom a lot and we get along really well . Ambitious guys, though, I tell you.
As for our Korean, things are getting a ton better. We had a lesson where I actually understood half of what was being said. And it turns out that was critical. Our investigator is trying to give up smoking, and really, he's been doing great! But this last time he told us that he was nervous to be baptized because he was afraid he'd smoke again when he went back to Korea. I wasn't able to say everything I wanted to (for time and knowledge restrictions), but I bore my testimony to him. I told him how God has helped me as I've tried to follow Him. How He's helped me put mistakes behind me, and that I know He would do the same for
I'm beginning to understand Korean. I do about 30 vocab words a day. 150 a week, with two days for review. It's rough, but I'm learning. And it's helped me understand what people are saying more, even if I'm still not very knowledgable about it. (That makes no sense, does it? Man I'm tired.)
Some more fun things: using grammar cards as bookmarks -- bad idea.
I was thrilled though. This week I impressed Petersen
I modified a template he gave us to use in my testimony, and it worked great! We try so hard to do our best for Petersen. He's taught us a lot.
But it's hard to learn about the mysterious life of Petersen
We've probed him, but with little success. What does he do? How does he live? He's a ROTC, going to BYU, a genius at speaking Korean (correcting native Koreans on grammar on a regular basis), but what is his life? One day we will know.
Wadsworth
is awesome, too. Lots more expressive. Always happy. Encouraging us constantly, and she's got the best Korean accent I've heard from a white person. She seriously reminds me a lot of Miriam. If Miriam served in Korea, I'm pretty sure she would be similar.
Anyway, last week was killer, it was so good. I gave a blessing again for the first time in weeks, and it felt so good to use that priesthood again. I can't wait to give one in Korean. I can't even imagine it. There's a real power and feeling to it that's impossible to understand until you've felt it.
TRC was incredible, too. It's in the email, but between the Spirit I felt sharing the First Vision from memory, and hearing about Quist's and Gerszewski's experience, it was incredible.
Then Sunday I became District Leader. I guess these high emotion experiences come in waves.
All my life, I've accepted postitions to serve and be a leader, but I've never desired or pursued them. I feel more useful as a follower. Supporting those who lead, and doing what I can one on one for those who can use a lift.
The weight of leadership even just here in the MTC, it's hard forme to take in sometimes. I always wonder if I'm good enough. I don't want to let these missionaries down. They're my friends, my family here. I want this to be the best district it can be, especially with the new districts here and us being the examples we are. I've prayed a lot since Sunday.
I love the Gospel. It's my life. It's my joy. I'm sharing the Gospel and beginning to understand a language I've never ever thought about until six months or so ago. The only question I have is how can this not be true? I've seen so many testimonies, so much evidence that this church, this Gospel can't be false. And if it was, life wouldn't be worth living.
The message I carry is true, even if my Korean sucks. I want to teach. I want to share this love with someone who needs it. But before then, I have to know this language. And that starts here.
I love you all, more than you'll ever know. I'll write again soon, but until then there are a lot of people who have wirtten to me that I need to reply to. Until next time.
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