Half Way There!!

August 28, 2014

Holy cow I have been here for a month! It’s so crazy to look back on premission life and how far we have come in ALL aspects. Language, spiritually, friendships, I love it! One of my favorite things here at the MTC are the opportunities we have to teach our teachers as investigators. The Lord really does use this time as preparation for the field. We have one investigator named Brother Lee(sounds nothing like it but the darn romanization kills korean and I don’t have a korean keyboard on this computer). He is a buddhist, has practically no background on the church, and asks sooooo many questions! The awesome thing is that we can understand and give responses in both korean and scripture. After the first or second lesson we had still only talked about God and the Holy Ghost and touched on Christ because of all his questions. We asked him to pray as homework and when we came back the next time he said he had felt a good feeling. We had a whole lesson planned about Joseph Smith and the restoration but instead were prompted talked all about baptism! At the end we challenged him to be baptized and he said he would pray about it. He hasn’t even heard the name Joseph Smith but we'll see what happens!!

Yesterday we had the chance to teach another companionship. We choose someone we know and take on that character to be taught. It was amazing!! The words seem to just flow now, and I keep amazing myself with how much I can speak when I really try and push myself. We give over 30 minute long lessons with 0 korean help, in full korean. Everything!! And don’t even think that the teachers/investigators will listen if you say english. In those discussions, we are in korea and they do an awesome job of that. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I am loving my time here and thinking about leaving honestly makes me sad. I am best friends with my district and think that these friendships are going to last a long time. They truly are my best friends. That doesn’t mean we're without struggles. There’s one elder in particular who does not want to work and who has a pretty bad attitude. I can’t even imagine what his companion is going through right now. My mission has already started. The first lines in preach my gospel are "You are surrounded my people." How true is that! And all those people are God's children. Everyone here has accepted God and Jesus Christ once, and they can do it again. In fact, that is our entire purpose of existence! We are here to return to love with our Heavenly Father. My purpose as a missionary is to help people realize this. And our duty as people who know this is to help others know as well. I read Mosiah 2 and 3 yesterday and would invite you all to do so as well. The main points I got were that obedience leads to blessings, and once you have heard the word, you have a great responsibility. You always hear that sin corresponds with immediate gratification, however, there’s a verse in there that says when we obey, god will IMMEDIATELY bless us. We just need to look for these blessings. They are there, I promise. There’s now a big emphasis on leading investigators to enduring to the end. If they hear the word and are baptized, and fall away, it would’ve been better for them to not hear it at all. I love the people of Korea and I want them to go as far as possible. I am determined to teach the importance of enduring to the end and continued obedience past baptism. I love those people too much to let them fall.

That’s a lesson for all of you!! You know the truth, and you have been blessed with the chance to hear it. Don't forget your testimonies and continue to build them. Remember what’s important in this life. Study the scriptures, they have the answers to life's toughest questions. Listen to the prophet. He has been called of God and knows what he's talking about, even if he's an old man.

The church is true! Jesus Christ is the only way to return to our Heavenly Father and find true happiness. Good luck everyone!

 Donut parties

I Have Been Gone 4 Weeks!

Aug 21 at 9:22 AM

Holy moly the weeks go by so fast here. It feels like I was just at the computer yesterday writing home, and here I am again!! I can now say more complex sentences with more than one verb! Yay for teaching yourself! The lessons are going a lot better now, there’s a lot more conversation than before, and we aren’t using scripts! We just write points that we want to make and scriptures that would go along with it, and then some vocab that would be helpful. It’s really cool!  At trc last Friday they had real Korean volunteers!! I actually got to teach real Koreans for the first time and it got me pretty excited to go to Korea. Asians are awesome!

I think my favorite part of the mtc are the district review discussions we have after the devotionals. Those are the best most spiritual things ever!! So great! And it’s comforting to hear how many people have been through the same kind of stuff as me. My district is so diverse with personalities but they are the best people ever!

I’ve been learning so much here! Even though all the gospel lessons are in Korean, I still get so much out of it. I’ve really learned about the importance of studying the scriptures. I really admire those people who just know what scripture can relate to a situation and I really want to be like that. There are sooo many amazing lessons to be learned and help to be received from the scriptures. Right now especially, the scriptures teach a whole lot better than I do. So they have been a big help in the lessons. 

 
The gift of tongues is real. It is incredible how fast we learn!! I know that I have a looong way to go, but I’m happy with the progress I have made. Whenever I feel discouraged with the language, Heavenly Father seems to place someone in my path to help encourage me. It has been such a blessing to have people compliment me on how well I am doing, sometimes even people I don’t even know. It really gives a big boost. 
 
Elder Baugh told us a story in one of our reviews and I would like to give some advice to all of you. Follow all promptings you receive, even if you don’t know why and may never know why in this life. But by simply talking to someone, you could save someone’s life. Heavenly Father knows everything, surely His will is greater than ours. Please conform to it. Blessings will come. To you and to others. 
 
Thank you all for your support! The church is true and its message is beautiful!

Elder Anderson

 

 My stash

Me and my awesome teacher Chandler Hyeongjenim(Brother)

 

 

Week Whatever

August 14, 2014

Time really is flying by here at the MTC. I never understood what people meant by the days would be long but the weeks would go by fast, but now I do! It’s so true, they days seem to be pretty long, but it amazes me how fast the weeks go. 

 

I got to host the new missionaries yesterday and it was an awesome experience. It’s crazy to think that 3 weeks ago that day I was the one saying goodbye to my family. And now I am perfectly adjusting, speaking entire 30 minute long lessons in 한국말.(Hangukmar, Korean), It’s so fun and I love speaking it! It still amazes me how fast we are all learning. The Korean language really is so interesting and super fun. I love it and wouldn’t have it any other way. I know that I am supposed to be serving the people of Korea and there are people prepared for me. 

 

The mtc really is a special place. There’s just a different feeling here and everyone’s here for the same reason. And they’re all so friendly! Pretty much all, anyways. I had a tough time with some people, but after praying every day for charity, I have grown to really like and care for these people. Yay prayer! Oh! And the temple, the temple is awesome. If you ever have something that you are worried about or have a question on that you can’t find the answer to, go to the temple and pray about it! I had an awesome experience with that last week and it has given me a huge boost in confidence here on my mission. So if you’re having troubles in your life, go to the temple! If you don’t have time for it, you’re lying. Make time!

 I am doing great here! So no one worry about me, ok? I am being well taken care of and I couldn’t be happier. My district is super close and we all work well together. The language is tough but really fun, and to be honest it is coming along. I explained and invited to church yesterday in all Korean but 2 words and it was so cool! I can convey my thoughts and ideas in another language after just 3 weeks!! Nowhere else can you say that but at eth mtc. It’s a special place. 

 Thanks for all your support and prayers. 

 Love,
Elder Anderson

 

 

 

Week 2

Aug 7 at 10:28 AM

Annyanghaseyo yorobun! I would type it in korean characters but that would take the majority of my email time. But that means hello everyone! Yes, everything is much much longer in korean. It was really funny to watch Legacy with korean voices becuase the mouths would stop moving but the sounds went on forever!! But koreans coming along. THe last lesson my comp and i gave, we had a whole script planned out, but ended up just talking to the kudoja(investigator) and didnt use our script at all. The best part was we actually knew what he was asking us and could piece togehter rough responses. Its amazing how far we have come the past 2 weeks. 

This week was a little tough just becasue i was pretty sick. I feel like weve all been quarantined in here becasue now sooo many people are sick. Disease spreads like wildfire in this place!! But im finally getting over it. Yay!!!

My district is still great and im slowly learining to love all of them. Ive been praying for charity and the gift of tongues every day and i feel it coming. Thank you all for your prays as well, and the letters and packages!! I am the envy of my whole district! I get so many letters and i am so appreciative for them. And the packages!  I feel like i run a black market in the MTC with my stache of food under my bed. Thank you all so much, especially grandma for the thoughtful gifts. 

I dont really know what else to say. The food is alright, my body is still struggling to keep it solid until the end, but ehh thats alright. I cant really say what my favorite food has been, maybe just the little salads that you can throw together. Those have been nice becuase theyre just simple and fresh. I only have 7 weeks to go until im in the crazy country of korea eating live octopus and fermented everything, so i guess i should try to enjoy this food more while i can. Honestly though, i think ill love everything about korea, even the food, but especailly the people. We had some native missionaries come in and they are hilarious! Man, i just love asians. They are just so silly. Thatas the one word that describes tehm perfectly. I cant wait to share with them this beautiful message that we have on christ and our heavenly fathers plan. It is the most amazing thing to know, and i wish everyone knew of it. Im going to do my best to share it with those that i can, with the little korean that i know. Even if all i can do is say a prayer and bear my testimony, through the songshin(holy ghost) i can change lives and help more of Heavenly Father's children return to Him. 

Thank you all so much for your love, prayers, and support. Uou mean the world to me and i am so blessed to have had you all in my life. 

Love,

Elder Anderson

Nothing like a good joke

MTC Pictures

 Elder Tischner and Elder Anderson

Week One, Check

July 31, 2014

 

Well I made it through my first week and honestly it couldnt have been any better. My comp is ELder Tishcner from Mapleton and he is awesome! He's so smart and we get along great. Im really loving my district. Ive connected so well with my district, faster than any group before. We have a lot of fun together, but maybe too much sometimes. THeres just one elder who has a bad attitude about how much study time we have without a teacher and how we wishes he was going english speaking. I was surprised with how little time we have with a teacher but that time alone is soooo valuable and hteres so much to do. 

Korean is tough, but it really is coming along. On friday, 2 days after arriving, we gave our first lesson, all in korean. ANd it went soo well!!! I blew myself away. We have already given 5 lessons, all in korean, after just one week. We even got our first baptismal commitment, too bad it was fake. Even though she was acting i was still so happy to hear her so yes. I really hope that i can get the same feeling for real in korea. 

THe mtc has honestly been so great, i couldnt be happier with it. Only 8 more weeks to go until i am with the wonderful people of korea. WE had some natives come in yesterday, and holy moly its tough to understand them. I thought i was doing good in korean, but ive got a ways to go. Im happy with how far ive come, but not satisfied. IM going to keep working super hard so i can help these amazing people. 

I had a funny thing happen this week. I received a dear elder for a jacob anderson, and boy was it juicy! His girlfriend, "Blair BLiss" really really misses him and "holy hannah montana i cant wait until we are tangible again ;):):)" hahaha i shared it with my district and we were all dying!!! I got another one from her and took it to the mail center. THey said theres nothing they can do about it. So ill probabgly be gettign some more scandalous letters from this girl. Haha

THe gift of tongues is real for sure. After just 3 days, i can say my prayers in full korean. I put together the sentence "we will be resurrected because Christ overcame death" and our investigator completely understood! Korean is completely backwards. To say Christ atoned for our sins you say Christ our sins for atoned. THe greammar is definitely the hardest part. BUt we have an awesome teacher! Even though he hasnt said a lick of english, hes great! We also have great grammar books that help us put together sentences. 

Ive learned to appreciate little things here, such as the cafeteria people giving you a smaller portion, and actually taking a solid poop. WHich i have sadly only done once. BUt its great here!! THe days can seem long at times, but at night you look back and it flew by. It honestly feels like sunday was yesterday, but we're almost to the next one! SUndays are the best!! Ive been to the best preisthood meeting ever and sacrament meeting is great. I love singing in korean! Each week they pick an elder and sister to speak in sacrament. You get the topic beforehand, nbut nooone knows who will speak. So everyone needs to be prepared!! Luckily i didnt have to do it my fisrt week. 

THe korean branch is the biggest in the mtc and is known as the celestial branch. ONly the best go to Korea! OR so ive heard. Also all our classes and rooms are on the highest floors. Celestial!!! All the people here are so friendly and i feel more accepted than ever before. I only get this experience once, so Im doing my best to make the most out of my time. ANd i need to do a whole lot of prep for korea! Its no wonder why im in here for 9 weeks. I wouldnt change anything though, my mission, my comp, anything! I really do love it here and wish that the mtc had a better rep. 

The church is true!! And it is the only path back to live with and as our heavenly father. Im so grateful for the atonement and for being born into the gospel. I cant wait to share this beautiful message with the people of Korea. 

I love and miss you all.

Love, Elder Anderson