Week two in the MTC -TODAY IS P-DAY... aka PANTS day

This week was a good one. Sunday meetings and Tuesday devotionals were so uplifting and exactly what I needed. On Sunday, Branch President Shin was released. Him and his wife are taking time to prepare to serve there three year mission as Mission President in Daejeon, Korea. They return to the MTC in June for training then will report to Korea in July. It was been pretty awesome getting to know him on a more personal level before he is my Mission President.

President Shin and his wife are both the cutest Koreans I have ever seen. They are always smiling and when they so smile... the eyes.. they disappear. I love it! Their English is awesome and President Shin has even taken the time to learn slang and clichés. It always catches me off guard but he makes me laugh.

After our normal Sunday meetings President Shin called all missionaries going to the Daejeon mission for a 'special meeting' haha. There are 23 native Koreans here in the MTC, 12 Elders and 11 Sisters. They are only here for two weeks then are headed back to Korea to serve. It is awesome having them here because now when we sing hymns in Korean in meetings we sounds SO MUCH BETTER. Anyway, President Shin talked to us about the areas in the mission and got us all really excited to see all the beautiful places. He promised zone meetings in beautiful places and cultural activities if we promised to work hard. I am excited!! Along with that he told us some statistics on the mission. The baptismal rate had been declining as well as the sacrament meeting attendance. We are going to change that. He is optimistic that if we do so, we will be blessed with a Daejeon temple haha. I am sure every mission president wishes for that but he is so cute with his optimism.

In class this week, I had a cool experience. We were having a spiritual discussion after we started reading 1 Nephi. We only got to verse 14 because everyone in the class had so many comments and things to share, it was awesome. For some reason in the discussion I felt prompted to share and invite my district  to pay attention to their dreams as we are focus on the gospel and drawing nearer to our Heavenly Father through our constant study and prayer. I had no idea why I felt like I should share that. Immediately after I finished my thought my teach, Brother Tanner who served in Busan, Korea (the mission East of Daejeon) thanked me for my comment and agreed. He said that Koreans are strong believers in dreams and the significance of them. He said they believe that their it is the most commonly recognized form of personal revelation. I thought that we pretty awesome because I know I have received answers to prayers in dreams that I have. Brother Tanner said that as we share our personal experiences with dreams, the Korean people will be really attentive.

Last week was a good week for the language. On Saturday I was able to memorize and retain the phrase, "We are missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." It took me a whole hour of repetition but I feel so accomplished!! Do you know how many times I will be able to say that over the next 18 months? haha I am proud. I wish I had a way to record myself saying it and send it to you. Is there a more modern version of a tape recorder that uses an SD card?

So last week went well with the language but yesterday was a train wreck. My companion and I have two new progressing investigators. Preparing lessons everyday IN KOREAN is tough and yesterday it was overwhelming. I cried. ...idk. After Sister Stradling and I taught a lesson that I think I blew, I mentally check out for the rest of classes that day. I was not interested in a new grammer form because I am still not retaining the first three we have been taught. I was super frustrated. I did get a few letters yesterday which helped but I was still sad. Today I am so grateful for no class. My brain needs a break from Korean. I am loving the language, I just am having an overload.

All in all I am doing great. I am now praying in Korean... or at least the beginning and end is partially memorized. Also, in all of my meetings I am reminded why I am here. I feel so blessed that I have The Lord on my side. I am here for Him. I wear my name next to His on my name tag, over my heart. What a fantastic reminder every morning when I put my name tag on. I know that He is laboring with me because I am doing His work. I have a testimony of His church and gospel. I love him and am grateful for all that he does for me. I wish I was on a Korean keyboard so I could type my testimony in Korean.. I will figure out how to do that soon enough. For now just look out for it in my letters. I love you all!! Thank you for writing and helping me stay positive.

FYI we are only supposed to write letters on P-day so I apologize if my letters take a while. I have SO many to respond to today so sit tight and don't stop writing!

xo,

Sister Sloan

PS. The picture attached is Sunday, ST. PATRICK'S DAY haha. My district is awesome!!