Last Days in the MTC

Wednesday was good. In the morning we actually did not have scheduled class time; however, Brother Tanner happened to come by. As a class, none of us wanted to leave. We just wanted to learn from and talk to Tannuh (that is how it sounds in Korean). So we decided to practice proselyting. It was awesome! It was fun being myself and just practicing approaching people to share a brief message then ask for their contact information to meet with them again. Brother Tanner made us feel so good about our progress. I am SO stoked to practice in Korean later and find so many people to teach this awesome message. After "class" it was time for gym and duh I did not want to miss that.. plus Tannuh had things to go do.

At our last gym time, all of the Sisters and Elder Graf (you'll hear more about him below) decided to join in on the games all of the native Koreans were playing. It was hilarious and fun. I love them. After we were all able to shower then host again! There were a lot of missionaries hosting so I was only able to help two sisters. They were both so cute and fun to show around. The new missionaries are always so amazed that I have been here so long. It makes me feel so experienced. haha. Bless their hearts, because in reality I've only been here a couple of months.

Thursday was a busy day. From 8AM-5PM we had a series of back-to-back classes called, In Field orientation. I anticipated being really bored, because it was an ALL DAY thing, so I brought a few things to entertain myself like memory books to sign, Korean to study, and a finger skateboard to play with. Turns out, they all stayed in my backpack while I took a lot of notes and learned so much about what I will be doing on a daily basis in Korea. Not only did I learn a lot, but I am so pumped to finally be in the field in THREE SHORT DAYS! It was pretty awesome. There what one thing that happen that was crazy embarrassing...

So let me introduce you to one of my Zone Leaders, Elder Graf. He is awesome and definitely one of my favorites here in my zone. The other day he accidentally left his camera in my classroom. At the end of the day, I decided I would steal it for the night and photo bomb the crap out of it. Needless to day it was a good time. Sister Cheney and I filled that camera with some less than attractive pictures and videos. To end the photo bomb attack I took one last picture of a poem I wrote.

You could say I was pleased with a job well done. ^^ So it was Thursday morning that I returned it to Elder Graf. That same morning, he decides to leave it in the cafeteria. Since we were busy all day with In-Field orientation, he did not notice. In the larger meeting a MTC employee came in, interrupted the speaker to announce, "Is there a Sister Anne Marie Sloan going to the Daejeon, Korea mission in here?" To my horror, that was my name... I slowly rose my hand. I forgot how short I was so they were not able to see me. Again they said, "Is there a Sister Anne Marie Sloan going to the Daejeon, Korea mission?" This time I decided to stand up with a bright red face and say, "I'm right here" in a timidly embarrassed voice. The employee was an older man that was stocky and looked the opposite of happy. He said, "Okay, can you and your companion please come with me." I tried to duck out quickly, but I literally had to crawl over at leave 20 people to get out of the row I was sitting in. Everyone saw how embarrassed I was, it was the opposite of awesome. Once Sister Stradling and I made our way out into the hallway, to meet the man sent to find me, he said, "Did you happen to loose your Canon camera?" I took a deep breath because now I knew I wasn't in any kind of trouble. After my sigh of relief I said, "No sir but I think my zone leader did. I am sitting next to him, would you like me to return it to him?" Like I said, this man was not happy but somehow his face managed to look even more upset than it was before. He replied, "On your next break, I need both of you to come to the front desk."

Remember that relief I felt? Well, after I heard that, I started to freak out again. Then, it hit me. Thinking out loud to Sister Stradling as we made our way back to the meeting, this is what came out of my mouth, in this order:

"Why do you think they thought it was my camera?"

"Oh my gosh, the poem!"

"I signed my name at the bottom..."

"Wait, it was in Korean..."

"Awesome, they had to have a translator translate it for them!"

"Oh no, there are pictures on there too... from last night..."

"Sister Stradling, I'm scared!"

She proceeded to laugh at my reaction. I knew that nothing was inappropriate but still 99% percent of the things on the camera were not flattering in any way, shape or form. When I was back in the meeting, I punched Elder Graf in the shoulder as I walked passed him. He looked at me and asked what happened. As I proceeded to tell him, he started dying laughing. He kept talking about all of the pictures and funny videos of me... I maintained an annoyed face kind of like this -____-

haha it was funny but it was embarrassing.

After we were released for a break Elder Graf, both of our companions, and I made our way to the front desk. Mostly Elder Graf was questioned why he had pictures of a Sisters residence hall. It wasn't bad when we explained the harmless joke I was trying to pull... So all in all it is just something to laugh about. THE END.

After that long day we had class with Brother Wade. Just as we did on Wednesday we practiced proselyting and contacting. But this time it was in Korean and to the native Koreans! They all pretended to have heard weird things about the church, or nothing at all. It was up to me and my companion to figure it out share a brief message, bear testimony, and get their contact information. WE GOT 4!! It felt so great to have success! Not everyone said “yes”, but every time Sister Stradling and I approached someone, I was able to recite things faster and more confidently! I struggle with speaking with confidence in my Korean, because it isn't great. HOWEVER both Sister Stradling and I felt so much more comfortable with our ways of communication. It was amazing. I am so ready to go to KOREA!!

It is finally Friday and we can finally have a normal P-day! Our plan is first to head to the temple to do a session as a district by 10AM. When we get back we will do some laundry, then we all need to start packing. The MTC recommends that we are 80% packed today.  I don't think that will be an issue for me. I am fairly organized slash have been living out of my suitcases for 10 weeks now, so it shouldn't take me long. It will however be an issue because all six girls in my room are going to be packing at the same time... I'm let you know how that goes. I'll even add pictures of the nightmare I'm anticipating. After all of that we will hang out, email, and write letters until dinner at 5:40PM. Immediately after is class with Brother Wade, YAY!

A bummer about a sister in my district, Sister Burgoyne, she has been pretty sick lately and today they informed her that she need to get her tonsils removed. That means that on Sunday night she will temporally be released as a missionary to go home for a month. What a bummer! It will be better in the long run so she won't get so sick in the field. Pray for her! (Emily Burgoyne)

All is well with me!

Just packing and getting stoked to go!

LOVE YOU ALL!! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!! Teaching makes me so happy!!

Sister Sloan

Just a pic to put a face to a name. Elder Graf is 3rd from the right. (the tallest one)

PS. In Korean the G's sound like K's and F's sound like P's.

 

^^ AKA Elder Graf will be know as Elder Krap ^^ imagine my excitement when I figured that out!!