Thursday, December 10, 2015

"Fighting" to Learn the Language! 화이팅

Hiii hello! I love Pday!! Happy today because 1) we went to the temple this morning and 2) at the temple we ate REAL food (waffles and bacon) - slowly dying from bananas with honey and peanut butter. This week was great! We've officially grown up from the baby district in Ktown and got 3 new missionaries yesterday. Also sad/exciting news, the oldest district left on Monday to Korea...including Woo Chamaenym (We miss her!!). The MTC tradition is for the middle district (3-6 weeks old) to write a Disney parody for us to sing for the leaving missionaries. They did the Tangled song, "And at last I see the Light" (I don't know the name - floating lanterns...you know). Then we all sing "God be with you ‘til we meet again" in Korean and cry. Out of ALL 15 missionaries that left, only one is going to Seoul (represent!) The rest are in the Seoul South Mission. Also this officially makes us the middle district…WHAT? Time goes so fast!

So you asked why Sister Mulitalo took Korean for a year before her mission...Kpop. She's obsessed. I've been introduced to a whole new world of music that I need to listen to when I get home. Also a growing list of about 8 series of K-dramas (suggestions from an ELDER in the district...no joke lol) that I "MUST" see when I get home. Soooo...extending the invitation 17 months in advance for Cupbop and Korean drama marathons!!

This week our district is focusing on exact obedience...specifically to the schedule (surprise! I'm always late). On Sunday we watched a talk by Elder Holland where he said that an obedient missionary will have the spirit in all things and be able to call down blessings from God....obedience = miracles. The hardest thing for me is going to sleep by 10:30 every night. 1) Because I've always have had sleeping problems in life/college (self-diagnosed insomnia) and 2) Because even though I am awake more hours of the day than ever in my life...I feel like I never have enough time at night to get everything done. My teacher promised us that if we sincerely try and ask, God will help us to be able to be obedient. Every night this week we have turned off our lights at 10:30 and every night I have been able to fall asleep right away. I know that I will be blessed as I try to be exactly obedient and I need all the miracles I can get learning this language.

So with that, another week of studying and Korean grammar/sentence structure continues to blow my mind. I've pulled out the 10 lb. grammar book this week...crazy stuff. I love it though! It's challenging...but fun! I get excited because it's kinda like a math equation (math nerd) putting all the pieces together with conjugations, tenses and forms. Good news! Our district made up dance moves to remember our favorite words. Also a cute thing we all say is this Korean word "화이팅" that sounds kinda like "fighting" (in a high Asian voice). It kinda means… "You got it! Good luck! When we are going into a lesson or learning something hard, everyone just says "fighting" and shakes their fists. Also, last night everyone found out I can't say my "ng"s, which is literally an alphabet letter in Korean. SO, the "hanger" and "hane out" joke is back. Ahh working on it! Fighting!

We had an AMAZING devotional on Tuesday by Bonnia Oscarson, general YW President. She talked about how God works miracles in the lives of His children to accomplish his purposes..."Is anything too hard for the Lord?" We have to have faith and with that always remember the source of our help. Also, she showed us the video of the current bush, which the gardener trimmed down its’ branches so it could become something stronger and greater. I know in my life (especially last year) there were so many challenges that were really hard for me to understand. What I couldn't see at the time was that all those disappointments and hard times would lead me to decide to serve a mission. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father loved me enough to cut me down. God can make so much more of us than we can possibly understand. I know there is a purpose in everything we go through and experience. The good news is...as God cuts us down, He will never leave us alone as we build ourselves back up and become even better and happier than we even thought possible. 

I love you all!! Thank you for the letters and packages! Have an amazing week...Fighting!!

Davis Chamae

We love our temple walks with K-Town

I love Brittface!!! My favorite Great Harvest pumpkin bread - (sent in the package with her noodle handwriting)

Giant Christmas package, BEST MOM EVER!!   행복합니다!!