Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Dear Everyone,
I can't believe I'm leaving in 6 days! This will be the last e-mail I send. Time goes by really fast at the MTC. It really does. But at the same time, my companions Hadden and Copeland and I have gone through three sets of roommates! Our first set went to Japan, second to North Carolina (they were in and out in 2 1/2 weeks), and our third set ARE Korean and they're going to Korea with us! I've seen friends come and go here- like Sister Borders, Elder Lindsley, Sister Willardson (YL), etc. I can't believe how many sisters I know going on missions! At one time, there were five of us here from my ward at Roman Gardens (I was there for about two years). Isn't that crazy? Bishop Crandell would be proud! I have had such an amazing experience at the MTC. Yes, it has been hard, and that has gotten to me a couple of times (Korean! It's awesome/difficult! All at the same time!). But overall, I have grown so much closer to my Savior. I have grown to know and love my 2 companions (have you ever spent 24/7 with two other people before? It's a talent, and we've got it down!), and I love my district. I am sad when I think about us all parting ways. Half of my district is going to Taejon, and half is going to Pusan. The people leaving in my zone are going to Taejeon, Pusan, Seoul, Seoul West, and L.A. (As in L.A, California- isn't that cool?)Our flight leaves on Monday morning. Mom & Dad, I'll probably call you from the L.A. airport. That will be between 11-12:30 PACIFIC time. (So 12-1:30 your time). Then after that, I'm off to KOREA! It's a 12-14 hour flight. Woohoo! We'll see how that goes. All 38 of us are going to be on the same flight. And we'll see how THAT goes! I've learned a lot about 19-year-old elders since coming here. Wow. Sometimes I'm really grateful I'm a girl!Thank you so much everyone for supporting me! I love you so much. Alyssa
P.S. This will be my new address:
Sister Alyssa Linford
Korea Busan Mission
Dongnae PO Box 73
Busan-Si
Busan-gwangyeoksi 607-600
SOUTH KOREA
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Okay, so the real stuff. We leave for Korea in two weeks! Scary thought? Kind of, especially since we heard about an "interesting" North Korea situation. What's going on with these so-called satellites? I hope nothing happens and it just turns out to be another Cold War like situation. That would be ideal. :) But if worse comes to worse, I'll be on the opposite side of Korea. So that's good!It has been SO much fun getting to know our Korean roomates, Sister Lee and Sister Jung. The other night I came into the room and Sister Lee and Sister Hadden were singing "Eidelweiss" together. It was so cute! I had no idea they'd know Sound of Music! And another night, Sister Lee and Sister Hadden were studying vocab together: Sister Hadden was learning the Korean side and Sister Lee was learning the English side! I am so glad that we get to be exposed to a little bit of Korean culture before going over there. It has been amazing getting to know these wonderful people. I love them!I have to go, my time is up.
Okay, so the real stuff. We leave for Korea in two weeks! Scary thought? Kind of, especially since we heard about an "interesting" North Korea situation. What's going on with these so-called satellites? I hope nothing happens and it just turns out to be another Cold War like situation. That would be ideal. :) But if worse comes to worse, I'll be on the opposite side of Korea. So that's good!It has been SO much fun getting to know our Korean roomates, Sister Lee and Sister Jung. The other night I came into the room and Sister Lee and Sister Hadden were singing "Eidelweiss" together. It was so cute! I had no idea they'd know Sound of Music! And another night, Sister Lee and Sister Hadden were studying vocab together: Sister Hadden was learning the Korean side and Sister Lee was learning the English side! I am so glad that we get to be exposed to a little bit of Korean culture before going over there. It has been amazing getting to know these wonderful people. I love them!I have to go, my time is up.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Tuesday. March 3, 2009
Hi everyone!Wow. The weeks go by so fast here! We usually have the same routine every Preparation Day (by command of the MTC President, it is no longer P-Day), but this week we switched it up. They wanted us to go to the temple at 3p.m. instead of in the morning because it was getting too congested. And that ended up switching the whole day around! The day still went by quickly, but it was nice to have a new schedule for a change.
Speaking of the temple, my companions and I love to go there every week! I never appreciated the Provo Temple so much until now. It is such a blessing to have it right across the street. I love the spirit there. I can feel strongly Heavenly Father's love and it helps prepare me for the rest of the week ahead. Tonight, my companion Sister Hadden is giving the closing prayer at Devotional. So my other companion Sister Copeland and I are excited for her, but we're also excited because that means we get to sit on the stand! Oh, the things that excite us these days.
Also, we got new missionaries in our zone this week! They're downsizing all the missions in Korea because of the low birth rate (wow- I wonder who researches these things). Only 11 missionaries came in, compared with 30+ missionaries who came in January with me. But we got two new sisters! Sister Peterson and Sister O____ (I can't spell her name to save my life!) are such great sisters. We're up to 7 sisters in the zone now! (My low was 5, high was 10). The downside to less missionaries is less room in the cafeteria. We used to be the largest Asian zone, and now the Japanese (missionaries going to Japan) are taking over. No, seriously. Everyone always sits in the same areas of the cafeteria, and the Japanese are right next to us. We love them though, because we're gym buddies. It's great.And Korean is...well, Korean. Chonin saronghamnida! (that means I love). As usual, I need to SYL more. I realized that as a learn-by-the-book person, I tend to concentrate too much on the written aspect and not as much on the speaking part. And the speaking part is definitely more important! We only have 4 weeks left but I am devoting myself with the Lord's help to this. It helps that we're teaching the lessons in Korean. Even though it's painfully slow and difficult to say, it forces us to Speak! And be understood! That helps a lot.As I study the Book of Mormon, I've started noting what happens in the chapters in my scripture journal. It has helped me so much to understand the timeline and bring it all together. I love reading about the peoples of Zarahemla and Mosiah being united and understanding what happiness that brought to the people. And then I feel even more devastated when I turn to the next chapter and see that people began having problems again. It helps me to imagine what our prophets must go through.
I have to go! Bye! Alyssa
Hi everyone!Wow. The weeks go by so fast here! We usually have the same routine every Preparation Day (by command of the MTC President, it is no longer P-Day), but this week we switched it up. They wanted us to go to the temple at 3p.m. instead of in the morning because it was getting too congested. And that ended up switching the whole day around! The day still went by quickly, but it was nice to have a new schedule for a change.
Speaking of the temple, my companions and I love to go there every week! I never appreciated the Provo Temple so much until now. It is such a blessing to have it right across the street. I love the spirit there. I can feel strongly Heavenly Father's love and it helps prepare me for the rest of the week ahead. Tonight, my companion Sister Hadden is giving the closing prayer at Devotional. So my other companion Sister Copeland and I are excited for her, but we're also excited because that means we get to sit on the stand! Oh, the things that excite us these days.
Also, we got new missionaries in our zone this week! They're downsizing all the missions in Korea because of the low birth rate (wow- I wonder who researches these things). Only 11 missionaries came in, compared with 30+ missionaries who came in January with me. But we got two new sisters! Sister Peterson and Sister O____ (I can't spell her name to save my life!) are such great sisters. We're up to 7 sisters in the zone now! (My low was 5, high was 10). The downside to less missionaries is less room in the cafeteria. We used to be the largest Asian zone, and now the Japanese (missionaries going to Japan) are taking over. No, seriously. Everyone always sits in the same areas of the cafeteria, and the Japanese are right next to us. We love them though, because we're gym buddies. It's great.And Korean is...well, Korean. Chonin saronghamnida! (that means I love). As usual, I need to SYL more. I realized that as a learn-by-the-book person, I tend to concentrate too much on the written aspect and not as much on the speaking part. And the speaking part is definitely more important! We only have 4 weeks left but I am devoting myself with the Lord's help to this. It helps that we're teaching the lessons in Korean. Even though it's painfully slow and difficult to say, it forces us to Speak! And be understood! That helps a lot.As I study the Book of Mormon, I've started noting what happens in the chapters in my scripture journal. It has helped me so much to understand the timeline and bring it all together. I love reading about the peoples of Zarahemla and Mosiah being united and understanding what happiness that brought to the people. And then I feel even more devastated when I turn to the next chapter and see that people began having problems again. It helps me to imagine what our prophets must go through.
I have to go! Bye! Alyssa
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