Weeks 2 and 3 in the MTC

Note: Excerpts from Elder Michael Han's letters to home the last 2 weeks from the MTC

Week 2 letter

Hi family!

I love you all so so so much.  Words can't describe how much I miss you, and the feeling I had at home was awesome. 

Things at the MTC life are okay.  We have 5 hour classes and in between we have personal study and additional study.  I have been reading the BoM so much, and it is such a wonderful book. 

The good news is that I am at 3 Nephi 15!!!  

The  spirit (song shin) is so great here.   ( I am typing in Romanization only because I have little time, and much to say).  A few days ago, a sister in my district asked me to give her a blessing because she was concerned that she didn't know why she was here.  Because I was the district leader, I did it along with two other district leaders.  The spirit was so strong I almost cried!  I had no idea what to say, but the spirit came over me, and I could feel Heavenly father working his power. 

New missionaries from Korea came two days ago and they are super funny.  They live in Seoul and they are going back after two weeks.  Also, we taught our progressive investigator who is very (nomu moshisoyo) stylish.  I am getting so good at my Korean.  It is so fun, and I kind of wish I was going to Korea, because all my friends are going there now.

We have GYM time everyday.  Meaning VOLLEYBALL everyday, and Four square.  I told everyone I was super good at four square so we play, but I actually Kind of stink.  hahaha. 

We are allowed to watch Mormon Messages and probably my favorite one right now is Mountains to climb.  I almost cry every time!

My companion is such a wonderful person and has an awesome spirit.

This week has been a blur, I feel like I have been in the MTC for 3 years!  Also, the outside world is no longer known to us, which is so weird.  I think this is a wonderful place and it is super awesome.

I am watching what I am eating, because I want a 6 pack.  I am almost getting there... haha psych! 

One thing that I wish I changed when I was at home, was going to the temple EVERYDAY!  What a blessing it is to go every week, but I wish I could go all the time.

I miss you dad, mom, chris, james, and kara!!! But I know that we will see each other soon enough. 

  

Thanks for being such a great family!

P.S. It would be kind of cool to get some letters here at the MTC, but if you don't have time that is ok.  Because, I only see emails once a week, but I have the opportunity to read letters every day!  DEARELDER works or personal letters. 

  

Love you!!

Week 3 letter

Dear Family and Friends,

What a blessing P-day is.  I love my companion and my district so much.  It is awesome to see how much I have learned and how much they have learned.

Life in the MTC is fantastic.  Except this week, I got a little sick.  I finished strong and only once did i have to take a nap, because I was exhausted.  However, I know that Heavenly Father helped me through it and what a blessing it was to hear from you and get that wonderful package!  I was sick and I ate Kimchi, Gim, and Rice.  I almost cried because of how I actually missed Korean Food and the family.  Sometimes I can get a little impatient but then I realize that I either need to pray or read the BoM.  I had a chance to hug Elder Allen and Elder Lewis before they left for Germany.  You tend to see that a lot in the MTC, BroHugs is what I call it.  I love the opportunity to serve the Korean missionaries and it is exhausting, but it is fun.  It is amazing to see how fast my district is learning things.  My Korean is getting so much better.  I understand almost everything, but I still have to practice reading and speaking.  Sometimes the MTC feels like a spiritual dome, where outside life doesn't matter.  All of us are laugh at the most random things because we are either super tired or just waiting to get out to the mission field.  English speakers are so lucky!  They can convey their message so easily, and also be able to teach it well, and also they are only in here for 10 days.  Sometimes we get jealous, because the English buildings have awesome desks, whiteboards, rolly chairs, and other cool things.  However, in the Korean building, we are the ghetto life.  It's okay though, it feels kind of homey which is good.  The Korean missionaries came and it is SO FUN!  I TALK TO THEM AND THEY ARE SO FUNNY.  They go up to all the people in our zone, and they are like "YO WHATS UP DOOD?"  Exactly like that.  A ton of our people in the zone are leaving on monday, so we will almost be technically the old people in the zone...  Weird.  Can't wait to see Jun, because he will be in the same zone as us.

There is something that is super cool about the MISSION LIFE that cant be explained.  The only thing is that Heavenly Father blesses us if we stay worthy and preach his gospel.  Gospel study is probably my favorite part about the day.  I am getting so close with my Heavenly Father, and it is crazy how fast I am learning.  I finished the BOOK OF MORMON, and now I am restarting for a missionary emphasis.  It is crazy how if you ask questions and write them down, where you will find the answer and how you get closer to him. 

I teach to our progressive investigators everyday ( they are our teachers).  It is hard but super awesome, and although we can't speak that well the spirit is so strong it helps us.  Sometimes I forget a couple of words, but if i do I just start bearing my testimony, and the spirit is so awesome it does the rest. 

I love you all,

Mom: Again, I loved that wonderful package and it has been useful to me.

Dad:  Fantastic job on the Marathon, I am glad that you finally got to where you wanted to be.

Chris: Thanks for the letter, and be careful.

James:  Did Choir go well?  and how's the summer?

Kara:  How's dance? 

I just want to bear my testimony that I know that this wonderful gospel is true.  I know that through Jesus Christ we could live with him again.  I know that our loving Heavenly Father is the reason why we are in the earth today, and it is awesome that we are able to choose to return with him once again.  The Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith and I know that to be true.  Without the Book of Mormon, we would not have the fullness of the gospel and I testify of that. 

If you see Logan, tell him I saw Aaron Williams.  It was pretty cool to see high school people a year younger than me to serve missions.  I am glad that I have the opportunity to serve, and I hope that you will strive to be closer to Christ.

Love,

Elder Michael Han

P.S. I saw Elder Allred come into the MTC two days ago.  It was awesome.  

First letter from MTC

Note:  Michael asked me to be his editor so he could write fast without worrying about grammar, etc.  - Vince Han

Dear FAMILY!

So the past few days were insane.  My district is so awesome.  My companion's name is Elder Clark, and he is from Cedar City, UT.  He is also going to Australia Sydney, but I don't know if it is north or south.  My other elders are going to Busan and Daejon.  I am so excited that I might be able to serve the Lord.  It is such a great blessing.

That is so awesome that James is the new ward choir director.  He will do fantastic.  I also want to challenge you, because it is the summer, to have one week designated for Korean.  Only read in Korean, watch in Korean, speak in Korean, and work Korean.  I know that will be super hard, but I wish I had done that during my life.  Even if that means not hanging out with friends, but hanging out with family and learning the language.

In my district there are four elder companions including me and elder clark, and two sister companions.  What is so awesome is that there are 104 elders and sisters that are Korean speaking!  YEAH!  My friends are Elder Wilson (he is 6' 6" and just graduated from high school!), Elder Jackson (plays soccer AWWW YEAHHH), Elder Hansen ( Really funny, and farts a lot, we call him bangu haha), Elder Carter (half Japanese, and is awesome), Elder Sorenson (Going to California ARCADIA!), and Elder Blake (Half Korean, doesn't know it at all and is also going to California Arcadia!). 

Wednesday was so tough!!!  We came in and had a four hour class, and it was insane.  Inside the class, there was an investigator in every room who invited us to come in, and boy was it hard.  It gave me perspective that we can't just give them the Book of Mormon and say you will love it.  We have to follow the spirit, and feel their needs and what is the best thing to say to them.  Also, I learned that day that it isn't only through hearing that they may receive the gospel, it is through doing service for them, or feeling the spirit and acknowledging that.  This week we realized that our teacher would only speak Korean to all of us, so basically I was the translator.  It was funny, the first thing in class and our first lesson was Hello formal, Hello, and Pleased to meet you, and everyone was saying it so wrong!  I was like, no its like this.  I felt bad because I already knew most of the things.

Wednesday was so intense, I was tired when we got home.  And I couldn't even sleep.  However, I know that the Lord helps in amazing ways, because during the day I was never tired, and I kept wanting to learn more. 

About my zone leaders:  Elder Khan, Elder Manasefjlks (don't really remember), and Elder Allan. 

Elder Khan is so cool!  He is from New Zealand and is speaking Korean. 

Ok, so Thursday was packed too.  We had some stuff in the morning about how we can recognize other peoples' needs and what we need to do to ask the right questions.  Also, we went to our 5 hour class!  It was about the missionary purpose in Korean, and learning the alphabet.  Later on, my teacher told me and my companion to go to a different room, and she wanted to know how good my Korean was.  She asked me to speak about Joseph Smith, and I was so informal it was bad!  But it was an awesome experience, because it taught me I still need to learn a ton.  My Korean has improved so much and I know it is because of the wonderful Lord. 

I keep seeing Elder allen, and Elder lewis, but not Elder crowder enough.  Last night we went to our branch meeting, and I SAW PRESIDENT LEE AND SISTER LEE.  It is funny, because he was like anyong haseyyo, I'm president lee, who are your parents?  At first, I didn't understand so I was like, "Hi, I have a father and a mother..." and he was like, "no, who are your parents, (in english)", "I said yun hyeonju, and han wonki."  and he said, "Your Dad was my AP."  And I was like BOOYAH My parents are awesome!  But when we sat down he kept looking at me and smiled, I was like uh oh, something weird is going to happen.  All the presidents stood up and introduced themselves, and President Lee came up introduced himself, and basically introduced me!  Everyone looked at me and now almost everyone knows me.  Weird.

During the meeting we introduced all of the missionaries, and what mission, where you were from, and a brief testimony.  I could tell from the spirit, everyone was so ready to prepare speaking korean, and that they knew that this gospel was true.  It is amazing in the MTC how much you feel the spirit.  I mean I thought BYU was awesome, but the MTC is so awesome. 

Ok I only have 5 minutes left, but we got interviewed with the presidents one by one.  Afterwards, the zone leaders were speaking to us, because the presidents were still talking outside,  I kind of had a clue what about, but when they got back they called DISTRICT LEADERS!!  It is way too fast, but I am a DISTRICT LEADER!  I am so excited!!!  I also started teaching my district Korean before korean class because I wanted to help them.

I just want to end with my testimony,

That this wonderful church is true.  Heavenly Father will help you in every way possible if you ask him.  I know that to be true. 

Sorry it is brief, but I also want to say that every week, everyone prepares talks every week, and they randomly call people.  cool, huh?

Anyways, I also want to say to MOM: 

I love you, and I know that you are sad that I'm gone, but I want to let you know that my room is clean, nothing is wrong with me, and I am doing well.

K  BYE,

LOVE YOU GUYS

Elder Han