Anyong hasayo!! Tonin Stagg Jangno imnida!! Tonin sangyosa imneda! (Hello! I am elder Stagg and I am a missionary!)
K so the first day I got here I
picked up everything and was way late to class! Then by the time I got
to class we were half way through language class and I walked in and had
no idea what anyone was saying cause she almost never speaks english!!
But then that night we had a activity where we group taught some investigators
and I felt the spirit so strong! It kept prompting me to stand up and
talk! I was nervous because it was my first day and it was in front of a
lot of people! I didn't even know what i was going to say but when i
stood up words just flew into my mind and i asked her this question that
came into my mind. She was acting kind of goofy and not taking it
seriously the whole time but when i asked her the question she just
stopped and really thought about it and said that she had never thought
about that and i could tell it really hit her deep! it was such a cool
experience for my first day! I understand know why they say receiving the
spirit is baptism by fire because that night i felt like my soul was on
fire and it was the coolest thing ever! I have never felt the spirit to
that intensity!
The
next day (day 2) I woke up at 6:30 got ready, and went to
breakfast,then we had classes some introduction to the MTC classes it
was all pretty new still and hard to know where everything was. But i
was still loving it! I seemed to be the only one in my district who
wasn't down!
The
next day (day 3) we woke up at 6:20 and went to do service which is a
nice way of them saying wake up early and go help clean one of the
buildings! Haha it was fun though me and my companion already feel like
we have been friends since high school so we can make anything fun! Then
we had breakfast and our first gym day! I played volley ball with a
bunch of other Korean missionaries and practiced what little I knew on
them! The older missionaries that are learning Korean are all really
awesome and have helped me out a ton with the language! Then we went to
our classes then lunch but after our language study our teacher told us
that we had to teach our first investigator
today!! I was all excited, then she said that it had to be in
Korean.... I thought she was joking!! I mean we had only been there for 2
1/2 days... but nope she was serious so me and my dong bone ja
(companion) prepared lesson! When we went in we read what we had in
written in Korean and whenever he would speak back we would just say Nay
Nay! which means yes, because we had no idea what he was saying and it
was very clear that he had no idea what we were saying!
I
left the feeling down depressed and very despaired, since I was feeling
down and sad I didn't really study and just wasted the next 2 hours of
study time. After I went back to our dorms I went out and was talking
with my companions and our Russian neighbors and we were joking around
and my spirits came up again! That was the only time so far I haven't
loved it here! From that day on everyday that we have a lesson so (mon,
wed, thurs, fri, sat) we need to teach our investigator and
its slowly gotten better! We make them more to the point and don't ask
questions that are to open ended, we make him read lots of scriptures so
he does most of the talking and always start and try and end with a
prayer! all in korean! Its really strange even though we have no idea
what he is saying and barely have an idea of what we are saying the
spirit is so strong in the room!! I love it!!
Everyone told us to just make it until Sunday! make it until Sunday! So we made it to Sunday, and after Sunday
I know why they all said that! You are always studying and memorizing
studying memorizing every free chance you get because they expect you to
do way more than is humanly possible in a day! haha but during
sacrament our president told us that in order to make the language
easier we need to give all of the time that it says to give studying the
gospel and not just focus on the language! That was exactly what I was
doing!! and I was still struggling so I would skip more gospel and
study more language, in all honestly for those first 3 days I would
spend at least 7-9 hours a day studying Korean and if i was lucky i
would spend 30 minutes on gospel study. After our President shared that
I've spent much more time on gospel and really going in depth in my
study! The language this week has just clicked and it all makes as much
sense as Korean can make! haha i can feel the gift of tongues working in
my life and definitely see it working in my companions! That made the
biggest difference!! Later on that night we had a devotional by the
National Tribute Choir and the spirit there was so strong!! I had been
praying the past couple of days and asking if I could feel the spirit
more during my time here and a couple other things but that Sunday
night I felt the spirit in a way I never had before!! and I am hooked!!
I have been trying ever since to get that feeling again which is really
good because our district gets along way to well and its hard to focus
and study at times when we all feel like friends!! But me and my
companion Elder Vongsayo usually leave the room for companion study and
go outside and face the temple while we do our companion study! and the
spirit is so strong!
I
love my companion he is a spiritual stud!! He sets such a good example
for me! whenever we have meals he always says a quick prayers in his
head and then I feel guilty for eating with out a prayer and he has
gotten me in the habit of saying a prayer before every meal! He likes
things being neat so he makes me make my bed! haha We get along very
well and its cool to see that we already feel like brothers and it has
only been a week!!
There are 9 kids in our district:
Elder
Vongsayo: Good voice, Amazing testimony, Amazing study skills, Very
devoted and knows when to mess around and when to study, Spiritual
Stud!! He is from West Vally Utah! Busan Korea
Elder
Minson: he has a really good voice and is always singing and has a
really strong testimony! He is from somewhere in Utah! Busan Korea
Elder
Golden: He is probably the funniest kid I know! anything that comes out
of his mouth is so funny! he is the most humble kid I know! He is from
idaho! Busan Korea
Elder Bunker: He is very fun to be around and is always positive! He is very tolerant! he is from ogden utah! Busan Korea
Elder
Johnsonn: He is so talented! he can play piano, pretty good at most
sports and is getting his degree in chemical engineering or something
like that! he is from somewhere in the middle of now where! Busan Korea
Elder
Mckendrick: He is our District leader and he has so much knowledge!
lots of scriptures memorized and very funny! he is from arizona and has a
football scholorship to Idaho State! Daejon Korea
Elder
Barney: He looks disturbingly similar to my cousin jonathan and acts
like him also! He knows so much about that gospel and is a stud! he is
from Huricane Utah! Daejon Korea
Elder
Zaugg: He doesn't like to join in, in any of our messing around! haha
he is very devoted and is always reading his scriptures! he is from
Syracuse utah! Daejon Korea
Our general schedule is
6:20 wake up
6:30 exercise
7:40 shower and get ready
8:30 Breakfast
9:10 class room study
9:10-10:10 Personal gospel study
10:10- 11:10 Companionship study
11:10-12:10 Language Study
12:20- 1 lunch
1:10-4:10 Language study with teacher
4:10- 5:10 prepare lesson for investagator
5:20- 6 dinner
6:20- 7:30 teach lesson
7:30-9:30 classroom study
10:30 lights out
All
in all I love it here! I am constantly happy even though this is
probably the hardest thing i have had to do! The spirit is always here
and i can see it working miracles in my life! I can see god answering my
prayers! sometimes its in ways that I don't expect but it always works
out!
Our
floor is having a competion to see who can get the most junk food and
snacks from our families so our room wants to win so please send food
snacks whatever you want whenever you want! Also there is this thing
called Dear Elder where you can write letters and then they print out in
the MTC and i get them that day! So if you are ever thinking about me
feel free to do that! Love you all so much! My P days are on wednesday
and I will usually be on around lunch time so if you are on we can write
back and forth for a little bit!
Sincerly
Elder Stagg
