Hello Family and Friends!
My first week at the MTC
had definitely been full of ups and downs. The first couple days were
definitely pretty hard. It is frustrating not understanding most of what is
being said to you. Then after barely learning a new alphabet, being asked to
teach lessons in Korean by basically reading really slowly from notes you bring
in feels uncomfortable. I have very
little time to actually learn words and sentence structure. Especially because
every hour of our day has something scheduled. So if I want to find time to try
to learn things by myself it has to be the hour before going to bed or during
other things like meals. So yeah we have given a lesson every day since our
second or third day, other than Sunday. But after Sunday we started learning a
little bit about grammar which helps. We
just are slowly adding to our vocab. I still feel like I can't really put many
sentences together.
My companions are both awesome guys. Yes I am in a threesome.
Elder Rees is from Texas and is just really good at learning words and grammar
quickly, it is really impressive. Elder Litster is half Korean and his mom
would speak to him in Korean a lot. So he basically understands most of what is
being said to him already, and has a head start in being able to speak Korean
as well. I feel like most people prepared more than I did as well for Korean,
so it is definitely hard to not compare myself to them, but I am working on it.
The MTC, I think, is made to humble us and teach us. And that is
a good experience. I think I am starting to realize what 2 years actually
means. It will be a marvelous and hard experience. Matt I really appreciated
your thoughts on the pioneers and I always appreciate everybody's love and
updates. Danielle, what happened to writing me every week? I have two pretty awesome
teachers. One is Korean but grew up in America. Brother Sung is his name. He
gets off topic pretty easily and speaks more English with us. I love Brother
Driggs. He is majoring in Korean and is just an awesome guy. My district is
pretty great. There are some kids I would have judged/did judge, but as I have
gotten to know them they are all willing to be humbled and taught. And that has
made me love them all the more. We all have basically committed to work hard
and try to be obedient, which is really nice. It was cool to hear everybody's
testimony at the end of class yesterday. We all talked about how the first week
was humbling and good. Sometimes they intentionally try to get Brother Sung off
topic, but that can be a nice break from class.
I have been reading a
little in the Old Testament and in the Doctrine and Covenants. As I have been
reading in Genesis, the song God Moves in
a Mysterious Way kept coming to my mind. Especially considering modern
sentiment which I have grown up with, a lot of what happens is weird and seems
immoral or something. However as the story continues things are righted, people
are humbled, and God's work progresses. And the story is beautiful. Then in
D&C, I was struck with the fact that God is really repetitive. As people
come to him and ask what they need to know most in their lives, his answer is
almost always the same. Preaching my gospel is what will be most important to
you right now. And as Joseph Smith attempted to do God's will, God keeps
telling him repent, humble yourself, and don't sin any more. And he says these
things a lot. Anyway, I thought those both related to me now. I often feel, as
those in the Old Testament, Joseph Smith, and the saints in all dispensations
feel, that I don't understand completely why God works in the way he does, through
prideful 18 and 19 year old boys and girls. I don't always understand why I go
through what I go through. Why I was assigned to Korea, or to my companions who
both learn Korean quickly. God truly works in mysterious ways. However the
story is beautiful. I have been humbled, things are and will be good, and God's
work progresses. I will trust in God despite my lack of foresight and
understanding. And that is all he asks us to do.
Another thought comes
from Preach My Gospel. In the atonement section I believe, it says that we are
cleansed from sin through the Holy Ghost. That surprised me. But I thought
about it and decided it is beautiful. If repentance is turning towards God, and
not just away from sin, then it makes sense that the Holy Ghost is the one to
do that. He is the one that can change our hearts, and thus cleanse us from
sin. And we are baptized with fire: fire being a great cleanser. Christ paid
the price for our sins and the Holy Ghost can help us turn towards God. Anyway,
I love you all so much and would love any thoughts you have. I don't know how
dear elder works. You may call the MTC, or I can try to figure out this week. I
am working hard and am happy, even though it is hard.
Hurrah For Isreal!
Elder Sabey
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