Happy post Valentine's Day everyone! You should've seen the line of elders at the post office box on Valentine's day to get packages from their (ahem) friends. It was really long! Thank you Mom for the package.

I'd love to see pictures of Ruby...I'll vote for who she looks the most like! I have a feeling it might be Jenn (she does have brown hair, right?) And Dad, it's too bad I wasn't there for your cub scout cake activity, because I definitely would've had some of your cake! Make sure you tell Chris that! Plus, I also think it's funny how often you had pizza/sub/top ramen while Mom was gone. But who am I to judge? I don't lift a finger to make food around here! Sigh, only 6 more weeks of that!Our older districts and the Korean district left early Monday morning. We were sad, but happy to see them go to Korea! There was A LOT of picture-taking, memory book signing, etc. I love our zone! I really bonded with the Korean sisters too. On Sunday night, all the sisters (there were 10 of us- 5 leaving) gathered in one room. We said goodbye to Sister Stehmeier, Sister Musser, Sister Lee, Sister Lee, and Sister Choi. I love all of them! One of the Sister Lees was really shy when she first got here because she didn't know much English. But we got to know each other as we practiced bearing our testimonies and ate together. She is such a sweet girl! She got sad as we were saying goodbye and I said all the happy things I could in Korean, which was, "josumnida...gua...hangbok...gua...sarong." All that means is good and happy and love. But those simple words in my broken Korean and her response in English brought us together. It's amazing how you can communicate with so little spoken language! And then I said "gi gi myo myo," and we all cracked up because it's our new favorite Korean word. Not even the Koreans knew it! It's an old word for "wonderful" that we picked as the nickname for Elder Gygi in our district (for obvious reasons). Elder Gygi is on the short side, and that seems to be the reason why the Korean sisters have an affinity for him (besides his hilarious personality). They were always clamoring for a picture with Gygi before they left! In other news, we are going to teach the first lesson for the first time in Korean this Saturday! I am really nervous, but I spent a chunk of time today studying moonbop (aka grammar), so that I'll be more comfortable constructing sentences. SYL is paramount here. I don't do it enough! But I can see how much the Lord has blessed me. I still struggle with the language, but it's hard to believe all that I've learned in the 5 weeks I've been here!I also get nervous about teaching itself. They really emphasize teaching to the investigator's needs and being in touch with the spirit. When my companions and I stop worrying about the plan and try to understand what the investigator needs, we teach so much better! Last Saturday we taught a real investigator from Korea who did not know much English. Luckily, he was there with an American friend who helped us a little bit, but we were still nervous about teaching him. We talked about baptism most of the time. It was a great experience. We were by no means perfect, but I learned what it means to be teaching someone who really has little knowledge of ordinances, the Atonement, and things like that.Well, I have to go, but I'm sending a letter soon! I love you so much Mom and Dad! Thank you for being wonderful parents. And I love everyone else too!Sister Alyssa Linford