Hello hello!

 

Wow, I've made it through my first full week! I feel like my last letter was sent fifty years ago, because everything has changed. One correction needs to be made: our Branch President is in fact President Yost, who is not from New Zealand and doesn't speak Korean. The New Zealander is our 1st counselour, and he and the 2nd counselour both served together in Korea. Pretty cool! My first Sunday was Fast Sunday, so I don't know the regular Sunday schedule, but I'd say Fast Sunday was one of the best/worst days! Best because it was so spiritually uplifing with the Missionary Conference, Korean testimony meeting, etc; worst because I am not used to fasting for so long. And the chairs are very hard in all of our meetings. But I am so happy that I was able to fast my first Sunday. It really was a great experience, and I was so proud of myself afterwards! Fasting has always been a weakness that I have, but this time it was a comfort to be able to make that sacrifice for the Lord and for those I love.     

 

The rest of the week has been full of highs and lows. But one thing I know for sure--in the moment, the lows feel like they couldn't be any worse, but looking at it afterwards when I'm writing in my journal it just all turns to good! Like just yesterday, I started writing about how terrrible of a day it was, but then all I wanted to write about were the good things, and I realized it wasn't a bad day at all! It's just all about the outlook. I know that if I want to have the best time in the MTC, it's up to me. No matter how tired I am, I do not have to be an angry troll! haha

 

Brother Sung has tauht us a TON, enough to fill five brains. So my one brain seems to not always cut it. But wow, I can't believe how far I have been able to progress already! I know the Korean alphabet and can read, albiet slowly. But I'm getting better, as is our whole district. We now can sing hymns without sounding like a funeral progression, which is much more encouraging. We have learned a few forms and can make our own rudimentary sentences. Bro. Sung informed us that Korean has an INFINITE amount of grammar forms because that is how they express themselves, rather than using tone of voice like we do. The next two months will be dedicated to learning 40 or those forms, and he said that we will probably learn another 60 in the field. D: How are we going to remember all that?? --Through God is how. There's no way we could do it without him.

 

Some Korean missionaries just got here this past week, and all of K-town (the Korean branch) treats them as superstars. They are so... fashionable! And their Korean is incredibly fast. And they are just awesome. Us newbies are too scared to talk to them, mainly because we don't exactly know Korean. But I hope to be able to understand them a little before they leave in two weeks!  

 

Learning 단 어 (vocab) is one of the most important things we can be doing, and we figured out a way to make it fun! Coming up with little ridiculous phrases in order to remember. For example, 알 다 (pronounced al-da) means to know, so "I know all." That's the one that makes the most sense. The rest are just nonsense like for 병 화 (pyong-hua) meaning peace, we say "Punks want peace."  One thing that is a little frustrating is that the actual pronunciation of the words is often not the same as it's spelled. So even though I know how to read, I'm pronouncing everything wrong. But Korean is seriously SO fun to learn! It really is just like math. I shouldn't have stopped taking math classes. i probably would be getting this faster haha But it's still enjoyable and I can't wait to study it everyday!

 

My companion and I get along really well, and haven't really had any bad experiences with each other. We are able to talk, joke, laugh, make fun of ourselves, have spiritual moments, etc. And we have also been able to really get to know and connect with the other Sisters and Elders in our district as well as a few from the other districts. I love them all! They are so fun, and we all have different strengths so we can help each other out.

 

We taught our investigator four times this past week, and met our new teacher yesterday. Lo and behold, it was our investigator, 채 강 덕. His real name is Brother Campbell, and he is awesome. I already knew that he would be our teacher from everyone else's MTC stories, and it was funny how hard everyone tries to keep it a secret. But yeah, he is a great teacher! I already can tell that he will have a huge influence on our learning Korean and becoming better missionaries. I'm so happy that we are going to be taught by two extremely kind, intelligent, and spritually powerful people! The next two months are going to be great. As far as the lessons go, our Korean was terrible. haha we don't know enough Korean to do it without a script, but we read so slowly that it's just really choppy. But even with that  challenge, the Spirit still presented itself in our lessons! It truly showed me that any and all truth, know matter how poorly it is presented, will be affirmed by the Holy Ghost.

 

I know that this is where I am supposed to be and where I am supposed to be going. Every day I get more and more thrilled to be learning about the Korean people! I love you all, and can't wait to hear from you.

 

Love,

Sister Christina Segovia