P-Day Email 2/24/09

RoseE writes:

"Dear Mum, Dad, and All,

Thanks for the e-mails and news, and particularly Dad's letters. They are the best parts of my week, hands down.

It's been a quiet week here in Lake Woebegon*, my hometown. Really, not much very interesting has happened. The older sisters and Korean sisters are gone, leaving just the five of us girls and a total of four Korean districts. Elder Conley (the brightest and least grown-up of our districtmates) has been called as the new District Leader, stepping in for Elder Kerrigan, the oldest and most mature of our districtmates. So dynamics are changing a little bit. We're all getting used to it. Also my good friends the Thai sisters are leaving a week from today, which is sad. Sister Crepse is about my best friend here at the MTC. She and I are going to get English Master's Degrees together when we get home.

A week from today I will have a very good seat for the devotional. A very good seat. President Carlson asked me to offer the closing prayer. He had to interview me before he asked, mostly to make sure I knew the proper use of the language of prayer, the archaic informal. "President Carlson . . . I have an English degree." "Oh. Well, that's fine, then." They seem to be rather worried about an unanticipated 'you' slipping out on camera in front of several thousand missionaries worldwide.

Saturday, we taught in Korean for the first time. It was hard on all of us, in different ways. For me, it was once again lesson organization and flow that was my problem, although we did much better than we had in previous lessons on that. Being forced to simplify does wonders. My biggest problem right now is that I just don't have the vocabulary to understand what anybody says to me. And the vocabulary that I do have, I keep forgetting how to use. Playing an investigator on Saturday morning, I tried to say "I worry about my family" and ended up saying "I get nigh-on-homicidally frustrated with my family", which made my teacher convulse from shock in his chair. Yesterday, I left the classroom without my scriptures and had to run back for them, explaining breathlessly to my perplexed teacher, "My testimony does not exist." "Your what?" "Um . . . Scriptures! My scriptures do not exist!" "Oh, good. I was going to say, we can help you with that . . ."

Korean is a tricky language.

Tuesday night, Elder Ballard** came and spoke to us. I knew it was an apostle because everybody stood up in the middle of the hymn, which we have been strictly admonished NEVER to do unless a. the presiding authority tells us to or b. an apostle or higher enters the room, but I couldn't figure out who because a. I don't know Elder Ballard by sight very well and b. he was the only member of his party wearing a gray suit. I have never seen a Twelve wear a gray suit. My eye skipped right over him. But I was sitting in the front row of the choir, and we sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" and did a pretty good job. It's nice having all those basses and baritones. This week we're doing "Come Thou Fount" so I'll finally know all the words to that one, thank goodness.

The big news on campus today is that IT'S SUNNY OUTSIDE! AND WARM! It's cause for MTC-wide rejoicing. We haven't seen any significant amount of sunshine for sooooo long, and it's soooo depressing and sludgy and awful. MTC in winter is about the worst idea ever. But once we get into the field, it will be great. Sis. Copeland assures us we'll be arriving just in time for the cherry blossoms, and we will only have to endure one humid August and one freezing winter, enjoying the benefits of two lovely springs and two lovely autumns. Ha!

Our two new districts come tomorrow. It is very freaky that we're going to be the 'older' districts now. It's also freaky that we have nearly a month of training left. I am starting to get antsy. I want out of this MTC. I want to go to Korea. I want to talk to people about the gospel and stare blankly at them when they respond to me, and sleep on a mat on the floor and eat rice and kimchi every day. But I have at least another month to go--possibly a month and a week, if they decide to keep us here through conference. I wonder how flights to LA are going to be that week. Probably not so good.

So anyway, that's life these days. My pool of corresponders seems to be shrinking, so if anybody who's reading the blog had been intending to write me a letter while postage was still cheap, now-ish would be a good time because in a few weeks I'll be in the midst of prepping for departure and won't care quite so much. But right now I'm rather bored. And I'm having to learn to stop bouncing my knee when I think, because apparently this drives Koreans nuts.

So . . . the Church is true, Talmage is a good writer, Korean is fun to mess up in, my stockings have holes in them but so do everybody else's. Anybody found tag magnets yet? My un-magneted tag's pin-clasp is broken, so I only have one tag I can wear, which is a hassle in very variable weather. I love you all . . . write me letters or the wrath of God shall come down upon your head . . . it's true, I read it someplace . . .***

RoseE"

* Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, fictional town created by Garrison Keillor.

** M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been serving as an Apostle since October 6, 1985, traveling throughout the earth to instruct Church members and direct day-to-day affairs of the worldwide Church. http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/background-information/leader-biographies/elder-m-russell-ballard

***BlogMom note: RoseE can get snail mail any day of the week, but she can only get email on Tuesdays, and she doesn't have much time to read it, nor can she print it out. So sit down and write her a letter! It's good for you!

Email from 2/17/09

RoseE writes:

"Grandma & I already worked out that my Elder Gygi is Heather and Hank's* Cameron Gygi. He knows the cousins' names better than I do, and we have decided that we are sort-of-adopted-cousins-ish. Hey, works for us. I've sent G&G** a picture of my district, an an update on his family, so ask them.

Do we have a Costco membership? Pres. Carlson says a Costco card is a very useful thing to have in Korea.

Our "older" Koreans left yesterday, plus our "real" Koreans . . . all except Sister Lee and Elder Rodrigues, who, for reasons I do not begin to understand, are leaving on Wednesday and are traveling to Korea TOGETHER, BY THEMSELVES. I think they will be mistaken for Jehovah's Witnesses at least three times during the trip. Sister Lee has told Elder Rodrigues that he has to sit at the front of the plane, while she will sit at the back . . . far away from him, but well positioned to keep an eye out for trouble.

I am learning the first Vision in Korean. It is crazy. This is how it translates:

"I my head directly above sun more than more bright light pillar saw and, that light pillar gradually came down a bit and to me arrived . . . this light me above rested when I literally express ability does not exist brightness and glory emitting two personages me above air middle in stand ing thing saw. That middle one person my name call while me to speaking semicolon different one person point speaking--this my loved son is, his word hear! said."***

Needless to say, it's going to take a while.

Yesterday, we were supposed to get a new elder in our district. However, nobody knew about it but President Carlson, and he didn't show up, so we're all a little perplexed and miffed that maybe we made a pretty welcome sign for nothing.

Melanie from camp and her daughter Sarah sent me some toe socks. They are joyous to my soul. :-)

My mission scripture (finally) is D&C 11:8. It's not listed in any index, more's the crazy.

I am thirty pages into the Book of Mormon in Korean. It is abso-dratted-lutely incomprehensible, but on we slog nevertheless. Last week we learned to conjugate adjectives (yes, conjugate adjectives), so that was fun, too.

I am Not Sick. I am Well Rested. I am generally happy and productive. This is good.

Dad, everybody in my district loves getting news of North Korea. I love getting your mission stories. Please keep them coming. Where is that stationery coming from? My companion would like to know what our new president is doing to pass the time until the next election.

Um . . . yeah, that's the news. I love you all!

RoseE"

*RoseE's aunt and uncle on her Dad's side.

**Grama and Grampa Hadden

*** English version of the First Vision: ". . . When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" Joseph Smith, History 1

12 February 2009

RoseE writes:

"Dear Family,

I hope you get this soon, or the enclosed Valentines won't be any good  (they had boxes and boxes of them in the health clinic, up for grabs, so I got a whole sheet of Star Wars ones for my district and these for you.  I don't know how appropriate it is for sisters to give Elders valentines, but none of them actually say "Will you be my Valentine?" so I guess it's all right.)*.

Anyway, I hope you had fun in Europe!  I can't wait to hear all about it.  Not much happened while you were gone--I worked hard, listened to some good speakers (none with a name worth dropping, though--mostly missionary department leadership), spoke in only Korean for an entire day and hit Elder Conley on the head with a hymnal.  I am NOT sick, but Elder Gygi is pale and shaky with 'flu so we are praying for him while warding him off with garlic and crosses.

Our senior and Korean sisters are leaving early next week, and we have heard tell that our incoming missionaries will be few in number, so we five sisters may be the only Korean sisters in the MTC for the rest of our stay.  Freaky.  Sister Bergeson next door is our new coordinating sister, thus answering the prayers of we three who have quite enough responsibility to be getting on with, thank you very much.

Try putting peanut butter cookies in the microwave for 15 sec--Sister Linford tried it and it's really good.  Try leaving a peanut butter cookie in the microwave for 60 seconds--I tried it and it caught on fire.**

Love,

RoseE"

*  The idea is to NOT have missionaries fall in love while they are on their mission, as it shortens the mission, diverts their minds from what they are supposed to be doing,  and tends to have deleterious effects on the teaching and learning.  Much effort is made to keep this from happening, including always having your companion with you, no hugs, etc.  Valentines might be frowned upon in this light.

** This would not be the first microwave RoseE has destroyed by fire.  She put a whole raw egg in one, and blew up both the egg and the microwave.  We now have a shiny new microwave.

30 January 2009

RoseE writes:

"Dearest All,

Most pressing news First:  we have three sisters here from Korea 'cuz the Seoul MTC got shut down.  They're great . . . but the whole floor smells like KIMCHI!!  They smuggled it through CUSTOMS!!  Fortunately, somebody left a packet of hibiscus cherry tea in the giveaway box, so I'm breathing the steam as I write.

The tea's just for being delicious, because my cold is easing off, almost gone.  I'm still hacking a little, but not nearly so bad.  I am, however, humming in my sleep.  I can hear myself doing it.  I'll be mostly asleep and then I'll hear this "Mmmmmm" right next to my head and it wakes me up again.  Weird!  Did I ever do this before?

Korean is coming along swimmingly.  Swimmingly upriver, of course, but I'm having a much easier time of it than some of the others in my district.  Avatar* is helping a lot.  Really.  The word for 'Dad' is 'Appa' . . . and it's written in Hangul like this:  [sorry, I can't duplicate it, but it has six sticks that stick up throughout the word]  If you turn it upside down, it has six feet.  I don't know if this is an inside joke or what, but it's helping me remember.  Also, I think 'Haru' means 'day'.  I think.  Unfortunately, Koreans can't say z's, so the names of the entire Fire Nation are out.*

Bit [Bethe] and Bug [Teancum] have asked what the MTC is like.  Well, I'll tell you.  You get out of bed at EXACTLY 6:30 (a minute early is selfishness, a minute late is laziness) and have half an hour to get ready (stockings on) and get up to your classroom to quietly study your scriptures for 45 min.  Then down to the cafeteria for 30 min of breakfast.  Then (if it's Friday, which it is), you go change into pants and do 'service', which means 'chores'.  (stockings off!)  Service is great; you can let your brain disengage for awhile.  Then back to class (stockings on) for lessons with Sister Lebaron until lunch.  Korean practice all through lunch.  Then four more hours of class with Brother Thiel.  Then an hour of gym time (stockings off!) practicing Korean while doing two miles on the elipticals.  Then dinner (stockings on) and hours of study, on Korean, teaching, and teaching in Korean, until planning at 9.  From 9:30 to 10:30 is 'prep time', which today is a letter and a cup of tea (stockings off, set on fire, and thrown out the window).  10:30 is bed, on pain of eternal damnation if you stay up.  So I hum myself to sleep.  It's sooo crazy, but I'm starting to enjoy it.  At least there's a cup of tea and a cookie at the end of the day.

I'm faithfully taking my vitamins, though the new ones are a little bit sketch (the Market Square sticker made me laugh my head off).  And drinking lots of water and eating lots of salad.  Sister Lee, Sister Choi, and the other Sister Lee liked the chocolate chip cookies and were very excited that my mom had made them.  (This took some explaining; I'm still shaky on verbs like 'make' and I can't do past tense at all.  But we got there in the end.)

I'm reading Jesus the Christ before bed.  After 12 hours of reading Preach My Gospel, the complicated sentence patterns and fascinating, grandiose words are nourishment to my poor brain, which is swimming with Korean and has not been denied literature for more than twenty-four hours its entire life.  Thank goodness for [James E.] Talmage.  It's amazing how action-packed Jesus the Christ can seem.

And there's 10:30.  I love you all!  Have fun in Europe!"

*Avatar is an animated series about many things, but including a flying bison named Appa which has 6 legs. Involved in the plot are four nations:  the Air Nation, the Earth Nation, the Water Nation, and the Fire Nation.  Each nation can manipulate their own element.  Of course the Fire Nation are the bad guys, and all their names have z's in them.

Letter dated 25 January 2009

RoseE writes:

"Chere Maman,

The Milanos went over well. My companion and coordinating sister are [?]ly devouring them as I write. I'm most excited about the Vitamin C--I've been chugging two orange juices a meal to dose myself, and it was becoming very old very fast. (I'm eating a lot of salad. I don't know why. I'll be so healthy I won't know what to do with myself if this keeps up.)

I'm glad that my blog is so successful, but unfortunately I can't read a word of it. The computers here will only access lds.org and myldsmail.net, and missionaries are no longer allowed off campus except to go to the temple. Maybe I'll have a little more freedom in S. Korea, but I doubt it. Word on the street is that President Jennings is very strict--nylons-in-August strict.

If you want to send me my blog comments (and I'd love to read them), try dearelder.com. It's a website where you can type out an e-mail to a missionary, and they'll print it and deliver it to the MTC free of charge. Save you all that wrist cramping.

I'm feeling better, though my head's still feeling a little pressurized, partly from the Korean and partly from the cold or whatever.

Sister Copeland's sinus infection is starting to recede due to the Super!antibiotics she got from the clinic here.

I'm reading History of the Church in my 4.5 minutes of pre-bed free time every day.

My district has taken to singing four-part acapella harmonies late at night when we're done studying. Elders Gygi and Lalatin started it--they're excellent singers.

Today we did our first stint in the phone center, following up on folks who have ordered free Books of Mormon or DVDs or such. I didn't achieve much or talk to anyone interesting, but Elder Conley got three referrals and Elder Gygi one. . . though he also got chewed out about polygamy by someone else.

. . .

You have no idea how hard it is to finish a letter in this place. It's now Sunday. I'm coughing constantly, like the tragic heroine of a Victorian novel, despite eating decongestants and Vitamin C like candy. But other than being on the verge of death, life's good.

I need to inform Bethe and Bug (and Nora) that the Korean word for gibberish, like "blah, blah, blah," is Momo. Let them make what they may of that.

Dad, write me again and tell me about your mission--your investigators, your companions, your adventures. I'd like to know. Maman, tell me about the missionaries who taught you. One was called Elder Garfield, right? I remember so little of that story.

When I get to Korea I'll get new tags, entirely in [Korean], so my current super-handy magnetized tag will no longer be useful. So if you would keep an eye out for those magnets . . .

Et Maman, il y a une petite boite que j'ai oubliee dans le WC des filles--creme de jarelle pour le visage. Puis-je l'avoir? Merci mille fois.

Pictures are included. I love you!

RoseE"

I was going to make digital images of the pictures RoseE sent along with this letter, but last night I dropped my (new) camera on the floor and broke it. So that will have to wait until I can get the warranty people to replace it.

2nd P-Day: Email to Todd

We got up early this morning to do a session. We were late, so we did the NEXT session, and I had such a goshawful coughing fit in the middle of it that I almost had to leave. Some sweet sister gave me a cough drop, though, and I was only a mild annoyance after that.

But Sister Linford made me go to the health clinic anyway. Someday we will have a P-day that does not involve an hour in that clinic doing puzzles. (I'm fine. Just a cold. Don't have strep. Am hopping myself up on Ibuprofen to keep the swelling down in my throat so I can sing in choir tonight.)

Yes, we finally made it to choir. It's phenomenal. I love it. Do the MTC devotionals get broadcast anywhere? It's not like I can check my local listings anymore . . .

I will not buy the carryon. I will happily squander my allotted money on Reese's.

Did you write me another letter? Really? I'm so excited! (No, really. I think getting that first letter from you was the best moment of my mission so far.)

Tuesday, 20 January 2009

RoseE writes:

"I have made it to my first P-day [Preparation Day, sort of a day off].  Yeah, Tuesday.  It was a long week.  I'm in okay shape, though.  My companions are having trouble with the ten-thirty-to-six-thirty sleeping schedule, but 6:30 is not far off where I was used to getting up, anyway, so that hasn't been too much of a problem for me.  Despite the insistence that "you will never sleep in once on your mission," it is 6:39 and my companions are still out.  Sister Copeland has the mother of all sinus infections, poor thing, and has barely been sleeping at all.  Sister Linford is also pretty drained.  I'm defying mission rules by letting them sleep late, but this is one defiance I don't feel belligerent about.  Unlike all my other minor rebellions, like bringing a shoulder bag to meetings where shoulder bags are forbidden but you're required to have PMG, your scriptures, a notebook, pens, and your planner--without a bag to carry them in.  However, I'm a little tired of being belligerent--it's not cheering me up or helping me feel the Spirit or learn Korean--so I'm trying to pipe down and do as I'm told.  My attitude issues are not helping the people in Korea who need the gospel.  Plus I'm sick of crying, either from the Spirit or from frustration, without Kleenex handy.  

I'm doing really well so far with Korean.  I was the first person in our district to pray in it--I'm sure I slaughtered it, but whatever.  Our teacher insisted we say all our prayers in Korean.  I was strickly obedient to this rule until I collapsed into tears on Saturday night and prayed in English (to blazes with Brother Thiel, I needed to talk to my Heavenly Father) and Sis. Steinmeyer (our coordinating sister) told me that, um, you can't take everything that Bro. Thiel says too literally.  She also fed me lots of twizzlers, which helped.  But I can now pray from memory, without notes, so some good came of it, I guess.

   

Our district is wonderful.  There are three companionships of elders, all of whom are good sports about landing in a district that's one-third girls.  They're endlessly popping up out of their chairs when we enter the classroom or sit down at their cafeteria table--I'm trying to coordinate things so we make them stand as little as possible.  They're mostly mature and focused for nineteen-year-olds . . . mostly . . . and some of them are remarkably good singers.  They're all going to either Busan or Teijun--Elder Draper has made up a Busan dance, complete with mission gang sign, that he busts out whenever he feels it's appropriate.

I think I'm getting a sore throat.  Dang it all."

.

.

.

.

"Okay, so I thought of some more stuff to say.

Please send Cat's address.  I don't have it.

Most of the other sisters here are sending home long lists of things they forgot to pack.  I am reasonably well-supplied, being an excellent packer due to the training of my excellent-packer parents, so I do not have a huge list.  But I do have some care package ideas, if you needed some.  The tag magnet I bought on Wednesday is sheer genius, so if you happened across another one for my other tag, or two more for my companions, or both, I would be pleased.  Not a crisis, though, just an idle thought.  Chapstick is never a bad idea.

My other concern is this:  carryon.  With all my Korean books, if my bag didn't clear 50 lb before, it most certainly does now.  Plus the sisters here inform me that when we go to Korea, we'll stay a couple of days with Pres. [and Sister] Jennings training and recovery from jetlag while our luggage is shipped out to our areas.  So a carryon-sized bag would be a good plan. . . .

In response to Mom's questions, I have two RM [returned missionary] teachers:  Bro Thiel (like Teal, the color) and Sis. LeBaron.  I like Sis. LeBaron best.  Bro. Thiel is scatterbrained in the extreme.  One or two of the cafeteria full-times [employees] remembers me, which is nice, and my knowledge of the cafeteria systems and layout has been helpful to my companions.

You'll have to print and send pictures to me--unless you post them on LDS.org, I can't read them.  I'm making some prints today, and I will slip them in with my next letter.

Dad, I'm keeping your letter in my journal forever and ever.  Just so you know that.  

Our district leader, Elder Kerrigan, is wonderful--very considerate and responsible.  I'm doing my best to support him.  Rules are a lot easier to follow when it's just poor Elder Kerrigan squirming as he tries to hide from us when telling us 'no' about anything.  He's keeping an eye on sick Sister Copeland, too.

I have a sore throat and am chugging industrial quantities of orange juice.  Once again, that work schedule shot my immune system all to heck.

I'd love to keep writing, but P-day is very short and I have to go wash my clothes.

Love you

RoseE"