Last MTC Week!

Well the MTC is slowly coming to a close!! I have exactly a week from today until I leave for the Philippines! I got my flight plans this week! January 22nd at 5:30 I will be on a shuttle bus on my way to SALT LAKE INTERNATIONAL!! I can't WAITTT!!! haha I seriously have never been this excited it is like CHRISTMAS!! at the same time though holy cow I am about to leave on a plane to a third world country where everyone is living in mounds of garbage ... I like me the sound of that!! Yeah well i guess from the stories I have heard ... I am going to really smell what gross is. But I can just see those people smiling when they see me and I can't wait to see how clean they seem after they recieve baptism! Man who cares what smells bad when you can become clean from within! Right? Anyways this week is going to be crazy!! There is a lot of stuff going on in my district. So a new MTC president is called and we don't know if we will meet him tonight at devotional or later. Our class this Wednesday thought gets to meet with him and he is going to practice being a good president by teaching us something. So I mean pretty exciting right? WRONG!!! because the next day, the ambassador of the Philippines for the United Nations is coming to sit in one of our classes... WHAT!!! Crazy that guy is some big shot from the Philippines haha! Anyways that is not even the cool part. Elder Richard G. Hinkley of the Seventy, A.K.A Gordon B. Hinkley's son is also coming in that day! I am pretty stoked! haha I don't think I have ever been that close to a General Authority but man can't wait to see what that is like. Haha maybe I am making it seem like a bigger deal that it is but the MTC is finally not just another week! We are preparing to leave and it is so sweet that all our hard work is finally paying off. My Tagalog isn't very good still... Well in a sense it is not perfect. I think in my Zone I am the better of the Average... if that makes sense? So there are people who still haven't grasped the concepts, than there are the average ones, than there are the brainy elders who have the gift of tounges! haha Anyways though I can get my point across and hopefully the spirit will guide my words to peirce the heart of others! I can't wait to get out there and tell everyone with conviction that I know Jesus is the Chirst and God is our Heavenly Father. Man I wish everyone knew that.... Anyways I am excited! but Next tuesday will be the last day I will spend in America! SO SWEET! Well see ya!

District Leader!

Well today has been a normal week with kind of a twist I would guess. We have officially reached our 9th week! I am so closed to getting out of here! It is RIDICULOUS! anyways.. though, there isn't much going on. We are slowly trying to survive boredom and it just becomes weird. The MTC makes you weird! I say the weirdest things to people and it is because we have already talked about all the normal stuff! haha Anyways though we learned a lot this week about things. I think I would like to share an experience I had during my studies. Bearing your testimony is something some people think needs to be filled with a lot of eloquence and spiritual uplifting stories. Those things are good but nothing can beat your testimony as long as you say it with conviction. As long as you know the truth and you say it like it is something you have known your whole life and it is the principle of gravity than your testimony is STRONG! haha Anyways Sunday was kind of a surprise! I was called as a district leader... Dang! haha Responsibility is kind of hard because I like to goof around and now I am the one who has to tell people hey... maybe that is not the best use of our time. I am not going to say I am a good district leader because I already have slacked off haha! but, it is weird I was called because it will only be fore two weeks. For some reason God had a plan for me no matter how small or insignificant it is. I wish I could see the big picture of things, but as for my life I'll leave it in the hands of God and do whatever he asks of me. I can't help but feel guilty about being ungrateful for the blessings he has poured out unto me. I didn't notice them before, but now as I look back on my mission I can see he has been there every step of the way. I know God lives and he loves us. I know he knows each of us by name. No matter how hard and how much things don't make sense in your life, hold on because you'll see that God was just leading you to the greatest blessings ever. He will never fail you. I know that he won't. So yeah anyways I wish cool things happened in the MTC but they don't. I fell on my face today though. I broke the glass on my watch! haha well more like cracked. It still works though and I'll get it fixed maybe in the Philippines or something! anyways I love this Gospel and I can't wait to serve! Mahal Kita!

Happy New Year!

Well this week was probably the longest ever! My P-day landed on Christmas so it was almost like we didn't get a P-day for 2 weeks! So today has been such a relief! Anyways I can't believe how much time has passed by! I will be in the Philippines on Jan. 22 and today is the 1st! So HAPPY NEW YEARS! Man I am so excited to get the heck out of here! I can't stand the MTC anymore! I keep hitting days where I don't want to learn anymore I just want to sit in a land where people speak Tagalog and I have to be forced to learn or not know what they say! Anyways I don't know what to really say. Everyday is way hard to stay focus and I'm not going to lie I probably and the worst Elder in The MTC! I get so bored here that I goof off too much! haha I'm just kidding I goof off but in a obedient fashion ... haha! Well my best friend in my district named Elder Christiansen dislocated his knee. So pretty much I went to his physical therapy the first time and we told his companion that the doctor requested I come back over and over again so that I can help him with the workouts he taught us. Haha so I go on an exchange twice a week with him! It is so fun. Besides that everything else is getting way slow. My companion and I have a hard time teaching! In all honesty we have no chemistry in teaching and It is frustrating at times. . I am just going to not complain though .. haha this is probably my worst blog entry but I am just frustrated with being stuck here this week. Anyways Tagalog is actually coming along pretty well. I am really comfortable talking nonsense now. In reality I think I am doing OK i'm like not the worst but I'm definitely not the best in my zone. But Yeah Not much to say so sorry but I am so excited! haha I love ya all Pray hard and really pray investigators are prepared! This week was really boring and I really don't have much to say but hopefully next week I'll bounce back!

Christmas!

Welp this week has been hard to focus!!! CHRISTMAS!!! I feel so loved because a lot of people sent me packages haha. But besides that its been another week in the MTC! I can't seem to get enough practice with Tagalog ... I can try to speak but I just want someone to tell me that is wrong or right and tell me how to say it. I am really struggling with practicing by myself as you can see. Hopefully I can get to the field faster! Anyways some cool things that happened this week ... My district had this testimony meeting and it was so spiritual everyone told their story about how they gained their testimony. It was really nice and I love hearing their stories ... I realized though that I was enjoying theirs so much that I really didn't say mine. But I really found way more respect for my district .. even though I respected them so much already! Anyways I realized everyone has their own story, their own trial. Through that trial I have seen how much people have grown in their own ways. I have also seen how God helps them through those trials! Never forget God when things get hard. Anyways my companion and I taught the lesson in District meeting on Sunday. I learned something about the Spirit during my preparation that I thought was so powerful. The spirit is God's "Earnest" to you. If you look up Earnet in the Bible Dictionary it will explain it better. It is basically God's promise that the Gospel is true. But in the Bible Dictionary it says it is a "Foretaste" of Heaven ... or something to that extent. Maybe I am being a bit liberal in how I translated it but I though of a big Bowl of Ice cream. When you feel the spirit it's like you get a little bite of it. Think about it though that bite was sooo goood! and if you wait faithfully you can have the whole thing! I love food ... but I love the spirit more haha! I can't wait to have that "BIG BOWL OF ICE CREAM!" Anyways besides that noting cool ... ever happens at the MTC! well i mean in a more worldy sense.. So I wish I had more to say but I don't! Well Today is Christmas Eve so Marry Christmas everybody who reads this .. and if anyone reads this. .. haha but Mahal Kita and Maligayan Pasco. Oh cool thing realy quick ... tomorow for Christmas I think President Monson is coming .. So all the Missionaries get the best gift for Christmas! I love Chirstmas!

Dream Come True!

It is really starting to feel like Christmas! I am so excited! I love the Gospel so much! The birth of Christ is the most beautiful thing in this whole world! Because he came to this Earth we have the greatest gift of the Atonement and his Gospel. I love the snow too! The MTC is crazy when it snows because there are so many people who have never had snow and they turn into little children and lose all composure! haha so funny! Anyways this week was really good! As a district we decided we would choose 3 days out of the week and only speak Tagalog that day.. I really suck at normal talk! I can somewhat get through my lessons but besides that I have nothing. Haha But this week we committed our fake investigator to Baptism! WOW it was fake but I still wanted to jump up and down! I love when things go right.. our second investigator however is very stubborn in her ways and it is very hard to change her ways and help her accept the fullness of the gospel. We will try harder next week. Anyways I don't know what else to say. Classes are the same and I am progressing in baby steps. I can't wait to be fluent but I am getting better everyday. Spiritually I have grown so much. I know where a lot of the doctrine is in scriptures. I have read half the Book of Mormon in the time I have been here. This second time around has been so spiritually enlightening. I have never noticed the simple doctrines until I realized I need to know that stuff! Anyways I miss everyone back home and I get a little homesick sometimes but It's ok because if anyone hasn't watched the Mormon message this month or week. Christ is literally holding us and he knows our pains and our trials. He can get us through anything. I'm so blessed to be able to go to the Philippines and invite others to come unto Christ. I had a dumb! but a kind of spiritual thought. We as missionaries are like Santa! We go around the world and Share the Gospel, also known as the GREATEST GIFT FROM GOD. Missionaries are like Santa Claus ... THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE! I've always wanted to be like Santa! haha Anyways thanks for the support everyone! Mahal Kita! Oh and as a missionary I feel obligated to tell people to Pray often and read their scriptures. I promise if you do you will be blessed! like the Heavens will open up and POUR out blessings if you do these things .. I PROMISE! P.S. Miracles can happen! I've lost 7 pounds in the MTC! ... It took a lot of hard work but I'm trying to leave 25 pounds lighter! Mahal Kita! Elder Jeong

MTC Week 5!

I think this is my 4th week here in the MTC! So it is my 5th MTC week which means I AM FINALLY HALFWAY DONE! I am so bored of this place ... it is a prison! haha just kidding It is a nice place I am just getting restless and I am hitting a brick wall of non progression. It is very frustrating because my first 3 weeks I was learning way fast but now I am slowing down so I need to work harder. Anyways There really wasn't much that happened this week. We didn't learn much in language because of one thing or another. Sometimes someone was sick and we would have to switch things up. Other things is like we were really unfocused and we couldn't get anything done. Our district is so full of love and fun people that sometimes it is a curse because we can't focus. Well the good part is that I am determined to do much better. I can't wait to get to the Philippines soon. The district who came before us left this week. I grew up in Kansas with one of them, Elder Kunz. It's funny how we are going to the same place on our missions and that 8 years ago we were in the same ward in Kansas. It kind of tells ya how much connection we had with these people in the premortal life. It's sad he was only here for a little bit though. Hopefully we will keep in touch. Our zone is kind of empty now and we aren't scheduled to get more missionaries until January 5 or something like that. Anyways I wish more things were exciting but they aren't. Anyways Mahal Kita world See ya in 1 years 11 months haha! Not that I'm counting I just thought about that.

Same Old Thing

Alright I have been in the Mtc for about 3 weeks and It has been quite an adventure! I am no longer sleepy ... all the time haha and I am finally starting to understand the language some more. It is so weird because during my lessons with my investigators I can speak to them for fluently than when I am just practicing. It is so weird how the spirit grants us the gift of tongues! Anyways I can't believe how far I have progressed since the first week when I was super tired and spiritually deaf! haha It is definitely such a blessing to be here in the MTC! Anyways I have no idea what to write about anymore ... I wake up and go to class. I eat and I sleep. Some of the cool things this week was we had a mission conference on Fast Sunday. A lot of the focus was on the B.O.M. I really enjoyed the talks and it really confirmed my feelings about it. I also really enjoyed President Mciff shared with us. "Here am I send me" Just like Abinadi and other Prophets of old, I feel this statement is really important. As missionaries here we are willing to leave everything behind to be sent to preach the gospel to others. It might not be so profound but it really hit me about the willingness to serve. I know so many great people here in the MTC and out in the field who have taken upon them that same statement, Here Am I send Me. Anyways that was such a spiritual conference. Also we watched the Christmas devotional. I am determined to meet the prophet and apostles one day. Man they are cool! haha Anyways I just would like to say that the spirit of Christmas is alive and we should really be good receivers and well as giving good meaningful gifts. Haha I love CHRISTMAS! Anyways I have no idea what else I did in the week. We do the same thing everyday and nothing seems way important to share so until I get to the field .. this is about it! haha! Mahal Kita, Elder Jeong Here are some pictures of my district and my companion.