First Week!

I suppose now is the time when my typing skills will really come in handy.

The first week has been fantastic! Not to sound cliche, but the MTC really does have a spirit about it that no place else in the world does. Except for the temple of course. But it's so constant. I love it. I feel like I've learned so much here. And it's only been a week.

I'll try and go through these details pretty quickly.  My companion is Painter Cha-mae-nim (Sister) and she is from Chicago. She also attends BYU. She was a nursing major before she came to BYU. Our district is so big that they split us into two classrooms. And guess what? It's just sisters in our classroom! It's fun being around the Elders, but it's really fun being around all sisters. We laugh probably too much. All of the sisters in my classroom also stay in my dorm room. There are six of us together pretty much non-stop. But it's great! They're all pretty incredible. We just have one teacher, Wells Hyoung-jae-nim. He's nice. And really patient with us.

Which brings me to the Korean language. I was doing great last week! I felt so confident in everything I was saying, and the grammar. And then came the fateful moment when I learned the Korean alphabet. IT IS SO HARD!!!!! But I can read now, and things are slowly progressing. Wells Hyoung-jae-nim asked that we learn the characters without romanizing the sounds. It's been really hard for me to remember what all the vowels mean without associating an English sound with them. But Hyoung-jae-min promised us that that would be easier later. It's been really humbling. I just sit and STARE at the words. I can see what a consonant is, and what a vowel is in a syllable. But for the life of me, I can't seem to make the sounds go together. But I will very soon! It's already getting easier. Here was the first Korean sentence that Wells hyoung-jae-nim wrote on the board and I read (in romanized form): oo-ri-nun ki-do wa yo-sib sa-mi-se eh-dae-han na-nu-go-ship-sum-nee-da. Which translates to: We have a message about prayer and Joseph Smith we'd like to share. Great huh? We're already teaching an investagator (which is really just another teacher at the MTC). But he only speaks to us in Korean. This is another part of the MTC that's been really hard for me. We're taught to teach people not lessons. But it's hard to teach to our investigators needs when a) we don't know the language enough to find out their needs, and b) once we do find out their needs, we don't have the vocabulary to teach to their needs. It will come though. I have faith it will come.

My branch president's name is President Shin. He and his wife are from Korea. They are so sweet and Korean! I love it!

Let's see what else....

Oh, Dad! Heartstrings came in handy. And you thought watching all those Korean soap operas wouldn't be useful. It acutally has helped with the candance of the language and pronunciation. My companion actually watched some episodes before she left as well. We quote it all the time! (And by quote, I mean we actually just say "what!" really dramatically)

And now, a word about writing letters to me:

Dear Elder is THE BEST THING EVER! I highly recommend that to anyone who wants to write me. I get it the same day you send it. I, however, can only write back on P-day. But it does really help me out to receive letters throughout the week. There are a few people who wrote me(cough cough Jette) who's address I do not have. And there are also a ton of other people I would like to write, but who never sent me their address. :0( SO I NEED YOUR ADDRESSES! bitte! (i find myself reverting back to german a lot here being as german is TONS EASIER than Korean. You were lucky dad)

And now the part where I ask for stuff.... Sorry.

I somehow didn't pack sweats.... Could you send me a super cheap wal-mart pair. You can get them for like 10 bucks or less I think. Men's sweats are prefrable as they are much comfier. Also, I had to get shots! It was awful!!!! (not really) it just cost a lot. I think insurance might pay for it but I'm not sure.... You have to call this number 801-422-8940... Or I can just pay for it. It doesn't matter. Well I have three minutes left. So I have to get going!

But just remember, obedience begats blessings. but exact obedience begats miracles.

Love,

Westrup Cha-mae-nim.