February 12, 2015 (Week 8)

February 12, 2015
LAST WEEK!!! Week 8 has been pretty good to me.

Elder's Mortensen and Hansen

Last p-day I got my first haircut since day one, (it was getting pretty long), and so now I feel a lot lighter, haha, I still comb over my hair with my fingers like I still have long hair though, it's weird. For the temple, Elder Hansen and I just went and chilled on the hill for like 20 minutes, went to the temple, and then went back on the hill. We just talk, vent a little, then just discuss what plans for life are. It's a good time with Elder Hansen on the hill. Some people come over and talk to us occasionally, but they never stay around. The temple was good though, I received an answer to my prayer and question i had going in, and felt the power of the spirit there. I cant wait to go back today.

Friday we got our travel plans finally. We leave the MTC at 4:30am, leave Utah at 8:30am. We arrive in Seattle at 9:30am then wait until 11:30am to fly to Seoul, Korea. We will arrive there at 4:00pm the next day. Crazy how I'll basically skip a day. But ya, after that we were all stoked to go. We scrapped together a lesson for TRC, since we were kinda sidetracked and headed off to there to Skype. We Skyped an actual native who knew my teacher when he was there. She wasn't too fun. She didn't respond to half of our questions, didn't have scriptures with her, and never really smiled. So it was an awkward 30 minutes. That was the highlight of Friday

Saturday nothing too special happened. Our "new investigator" is basically the same person. She just accepts everything, no matter if it's like the Spirit World concept. It's kinda frustrating. I'm sure that's wonderful in the field, but here I wish she would challenge us a little.

Elder Mortensen and President Perriton

Sunday was exciting. I got released from Sacrament coordinator, which was a sweet calling, and got complimented by President Perriton. That man is a legend, I swear he has done it all. I'll have to tell you later. He is gone this week, so I got a picture with him on Sunday. Elder Cazier got called as district leader for the week, and he hasn't done much. I still think of Elder Hansen as district leader.  Because Elder Cazier is district leader, I'm now senior companion. I've kinda got him to focus more, and help plan and whatnot. It's helped out a lot. Kinda wish I was senior comp earlier. Sacrament meeting was pretty good. Nobody from our district has spoken yet, which is weird. Pres. Perriton was talking about thrusting in the sickle from D&C 4, and so of course he pulls out a real sharp sickle in the middle of Sacrament Meeting. We weren't even surprised, that's just who he is.  That was fun.   Later we went to temple walk, but instead of going there and just standing, Elder Hansen and I went to the hill. We could look out and see mountains, the lake, all the MTC, and it was pretty sweet. We even saw some guy just laying in the middle of the field looking dead. We went over there and just laid down by him for a minute, it was fun. Still don't know what he was doing though. It reminded me of Conner saying he saw drunk just laying in the middle of the road, haha.

Monday we learned middle form for class. That's all our teacher used, so it was super nice to learn it officially. You never use it in formal settings or with elderly, but everyday talk is mostly middle form. The natives always use middle form with us too, so it's nice to be able to understand it more.  I was reading Jesus the Christ, and I read the parable of the Good Samaritan. In it is said that excuses grow like weeds by the wayside, but the Samaritan did not have an excuse, because he wanted none.  That really hit me. He helped because he wanted to, not because he had to. I feel like I needed to read that for me going to Korea. Never find an excuse to give up.  That night it was Elder Lee and Elder Schilling birthday. Schilling is new and super chill. His family is rich, so they sent him all this stuff that he didn't want. He is kinda struggling, so he wants to just put his old life away and focus on the mission, which I respect. So he took all the balloons he got and banner and put them in Elder Lee's room. We surprised him and starting singing happy birthday to him. That was a cool experience, he loved it.   But ya, Elder Schilling is chill. He was a full on surfer dude before the mission, and he totally sounds like it too. You think surfer stereotypes, and he is it, except he has brown hair. But ya, he was saying all the things he did at BYU-Hawaii, and so I may just go chill with him after the mission for a week. He said he flew out friends for like 150 bucks on some small airline. He's funny, and probably the only one I'll miss out of the new group of elders.

Tuesday nothing much happened. We taught Brother Memmott's investigator for the last time, so we just bore our testimonies with him. We were the only companionship to get him to baptism, which was cool. I know it's not a race, but it was nice seeing we are not falling behind. The devotional was pretty dull, so for district meeting after, it was pretty quiet. Bro Lee (1st counselor) had both leaving groups together, so it was 13 people being really quiet. Brother Lee gave a speech about how he was an investigator for 7 months, and that he read the English Book of Mormon because Korean wasn't out yet. He organized a class as an investigator to read and understand the Book of Mormon. That man has so many cool stories like that. He is kinda hard to understand sometimes, but he is so spiritual and such a good example.

Yesterday Elder Hansen and I skipped gym and sitting around in residence to go up on the hill and watch the sunrise. It was cool to see the light on top of the mountains, then slowly give life to the rest of the world. That was a cool experience. For service we helped switch out crappy desks in all the classrooms for new ones. While doing this, I smashed my bad big toe and it started bleeding. So now anytime I touch that toe, it feels like the nail will rip off. Oh boy. The toe looks so bad. It has like three bruises on it, and looks weird. Hopefully it will heal soon.   We did traffic again, for the last time. During lunch before, a teacher sat with us to talk about what we learned so far. We all said patience and whatnot, and he told me that companionship unity is central. If you have that, miracles happen. I can attest to that already it seems like. When me and Elder Cazier drift away, we don't get much done, but when we plan and work together, we both grow more. That was a good lesson for me to keep in mind. Traffic was pretty relaxed this week, and it was a good break from the class. For class we just learn a couple minor forms that can come in handy sometimes and when we hear it.

Today we did laundry, then really started to pack. I can basically fit everything in my big suitcase, so I basically have an empty one to just take. I dunno if I should split that up though. But it's weird now it really feels super close, and I'm so ready to go. I can't wait for the culture shock and just everything there. The Ramen noodles that the Koreans brought with them are the best things I've had in 8 weeks. I'm so stoked for the food, and culture!! I guess you can buy a nice new suit, shoes, tie, belt for like 70 bucks there, so I may need a couple more suitcases.. haha, but yeah, one of the teacher came in wearing a pretty legit suit and said it was from Korea.... I can't wait..... so many suits... anyway..
But yeah, I know I'm not ready with the language, and this may sound weird, but I'm ready to struggle with the language. I just want to leave this place and grow.  I mean, we listened to a conference talk in Korean on Sunday, and I picked up about 40% of the words, mainly because its gospel terms. But then I realized I can't really do everyday talk... So that's going to be my biggest struggle, I feel. I can decently talk gospel, but I can't pick up every day words.

Elders Arredondo, Anderson, and Mortensen

Yeah, that's been my last full week at the MTC. Can't wait to leave and get to Korea.

Well, maybe talk to you quick email tonight, and hopefully talk on Monday,

-Love you all,
 -Elder Garrett "going to Korea" Mortensen