Thursday, December 10, 2009
Land of the morning calm and the excited greeny
Dear family,
The plane ride was wonderful and I got to sit next to a man from China who was very curious about the gospel. If you can believe it, he still wasn't ready to be baptized even after our 12 hour plane ride together. However, he was still interested in learning more so I gave him the Mormon.org URL since there aren't any missionaries in China where he lives. (aka, he doesn't live in Hong Kong).
At the airport I was picked up by my wonderful mission president and his wife, President and Sister Perriton. Sister Kelley and I then stayed at the President's house for two nights where we received a lot of training about all the fun things we get to do and we even went down to a bus station in Daejeon and jundoed (proselyted). It was wonderful. Korea is a lot different than pretty much all of America. There is a lot of city, a lot. It reminds me of San Francisco, except for more buildings and Koreans. Also there are more street vendors. Actually, it kind of reminds me of some of the European cities we traveled to last fall, except with less neat architecture. In fact, I can't really think of much to compare it to.
My trainer, Sister Jung, is Korean, and is from Souel. She is absolutely wonderful and I love her. She doesn't speak much English, but she speaks more English than I speak Korean, so with our forces combined we have been able to get around and basically understand each other. I still have a long way to go before I will be carrying on many conversations with Koreans. I smile a lot and introduce us "Anyunhaseo! We are missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! I know the Book of Mormon is true!" and then at this point Sister Jung takes over because I can't really understand their response. Just about everyone is nice though and most of them are interested because I am a foreigner. Believe it or not, there are almost no white people here. The only ones I have seen are the other missionaries. So usually Sister Jung will say something about the church, ask them about their religious background, I will keep smiling, and then she will mention the fact that I just came from migook (America) a couple of days ago. Then we will give them a pamphlet, maybe a Book of Mormon, get their number if we can, and tell them about our free English class.
Tonight we are going to teach our English class and meet with the ward mission leaders from one of our wards (we have two). I am quite excited. It is mostly a blur, but a very happy blur and if nothing else I am super excited to be a missionary in Korea telling people about the church (even if it is only through my smile).
We ate at a neat Korean restuarant yesterday that had heated floors and on open pit like thing where they grilled our steak. I got to eat dunbuggee (pickled silk worm cacoons) and lots of kimchee, rice, and other splendid Korean dishes.
My trainer is wonderful, we have two baptisms lined up for within the next couple weeks, a few more that we are going to commit soon and she is just amazing with the people. Sure I have only known her for about 6 hours, but I can tell that she is amazing and if I can be half the missionary she is then I wil be a success.
Mail from the U.S. to Korea only takes 10 days, so feel free to send anything you like this direction, or if you prefer giving me money, you can give it to Anna who can put it in my account and then I can just withdraw it here. Again, you don't have to, but if you feel so inclined, feel free. I love you all.
-Sister Rebecca O'Bryan
The plane ride was wonderful and I got to sit next to a man from China who was very curious about the gospel. If you can believe it, he still wasn't ready to be baptized even after our 12 hour plane ride together. However, he was still interested in learning more so I gave him the Mormon.org URL since there aren't any missionaries in China where he lives. (aka, he doesn't live in Hong Kong).
At the airport I was picked up by my wonderful mission president and his wife, President and Sister Perriton. Sister Kelley and I then stayed at the President's house for two nights where we received a lot of training about all the fun things we get to do and we even went down to a bus station in Daejeon and jundoed (proselyted). It was wonderful. Korea is a lot different than pretty much all of America. There is a lot of city, a lot. It reminds me of San Francisco, except for more buildings and Koreans. Also there are more street vendors. Actually, it kind of reminds me of some of the European cities we traveled to last fall, except with less neat architecture. In fact, I can't really think of much to compare it to.
My trainer, Sister Jung, is Korean, and is from Souel. She is absolutely wonderful and I love her. She doesn't speak much English, but she speaks more English than I speak Korean, so with our forces combined we have been able to get around and basically understand each other. I still have a long way to go before I will be carrying on many conversations with Koreans. I smile a lot and introduce us "Anyunhaseo! We are missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! I know the Book of Mormon is true!" and then at this point Sister Jung takes over because I can't really understand their response. Just about everyone is nice though and most of them are interested because I am a foreigner. Believe it or not, there are almost no white people here. The only ones I have seen are the other missionaries. So usually Sister Jung will say something about the church, ask them about their religious background, I will keep smiling, and then she will mention the fact that I just came from migook (America) a couple of days ago. Then we will give them a pamphlet, maybe a Book of Mormon, get their number if we can, and tell them about our free English class.
Tonight we are going to teach our English class and meet with the ward mission leaders from one of our wards (we have two). I am quite excited. It is mostly a blur, but a very happy blur and if nothing else I am super excited to be a missionary in Korea telling people about the church (even if it is only through my smile).
We ate at a neat Korean restuarant yesterday that had heated floors and on open pit like thing where they grilled our steak. I got to eat dunbuggee (pickled silk worm cacoons) and lots of kimchee, rice, and other splendid Korean dishes.
My trainer is wonderful, we have two baptisms lined up for within the next couple weeks, a few more that we are going to commit soon and she is just amazing with the people. Sure I have only known her for about 6 hours, but I can tell that she is amazing and if I can be half the missionary she is then I wil be a success.
Mail from the U.S. to Korea only takes 10 days, so feel free to send anything you like this direction, or if you prefer giving me money, you can give it to Anna who can put it in my account and then I can just withdraw it here. Again, you don't have to, but if you feel so inclined, feel free. I love you all.
-Sister Rebecca O'Bryan
Safe and sound in Korea
Dear family,
After a long, but wonderful flight, I made it to Korea. I am sorry I didn't get to call you dad, my companion forgot her calling card and there was only enough money on mine to make two phone calls so I called mom and let my companion call her family. I figured you would be alright with is since I will be calling around Christmas time as well.
I love you all and I love Korea. My mission president and his wife are very nice and Korea is not as foreign as I had thought it would be. They have very nice heated floors which keep you warm at night and tonight I get to proselyte.
Love you all,
Sister Rebecca O'Bryan
After a long, but wonderful flight, I made it to Korea. I am sorry I didn't get to call you dad, my companion forgot her calling card and there was only enough money on mine to make two phone calls so I called mom and let my companion call her family. I figured you would be alright with is since I will be calling around Christmas time as well.
I love you all and I love Korea. My mission president and his wife are very nice and Korea is not as foreign as I had thought it would be. They have very nice heated floors which keep you warm at night and tonight I get to proselyte.
Love you all,
Sister Rebecca O'Bryan
Last week and then I'm in Korea
Dear Family,
Time has flown past and now I am about to go to KOREA! I received my flight plans and it looks like my schedule will be similar to:
Dec. 7
4AM- leave the MTC
7AM- leave SLC
8-11AM (California time)- be in the LAX airport. I will probably make a short phone call to both Mom and Dad during this time, so if you have a preference during these hours that you want me to call, somehow let me know before then.
11AM-5pm Dec. 8- FLY TO KOREA
Dec 8- Dec 10 (Korean time)-I will be in the Mission President's home and get oriented to Korea until I am assigned a companion. I will also be sending emails to Mom and Dad to let them know that I made it alive and love Korea.
So what has the past week held for me? All sorts of excitement. Last Tuesday we heard from Elder Oaks who spoke with his wife and then on Thanksgiving morning we heard from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and his wife and did service for the rest of the day. There really is no better place to be than the MTC during the holidays (except maybe with family or in Korea on a mission).
I leave in less than a week, so if you were inclined to mail me anything it needs to get here by this Saturday. No pressure, just a reminder.
I know you are very curious as to what apostles of the Lord had to say when they came to speak to missionaries, so I will share some of my favorites. They spoke a lot about what we can do to be better missionaries and Jeffrey R. Holland spent time answering questions that missionaries had asked earlier. I really loved when he was talking about us at the MTC and he said that he would hope we would all feel a little bit homesick. That homesickness, he reminded us, is what makes all the other holidays when we get back so great. That homesickness is also what God feels over us. As his children, God wants us to return to him and while we are here on this earth he feels that same desire to see us again and to have us with him in his Heavenly home. That analogy really clicked in my mind and I felt a great need to share with others his love and how they can return to him. I have such a great love for the Korean people already and I can only imagine what it will be like when I actually get there.
A couple of Saturdays ago while we were teaching in the TRC my companion and I got a referral from the man who came in for us to teach. We called up his friend who is from China and it was amazing. The first thing that happened after we introduced ourselves was he got excited and said he had been waiting for us to call. I guess he has already been meeting with some missionaries and he loves the Book of Mormon, but he has difficulty understanding it in Chinese because the translation is a little odd and the English version is of course in older English so he wanted to speak with some missionaries who speak Mandarin Chinese and he wanted to know how he too could come and volunteer at the TRC. So we got him in contact with some Chinese native speaking missionaries who will be helping to teach him.
I love being a missionary and seeing the Lord's hand in everything. I love serving others and I love you all. Tell me your plans for service this Christmas season.
Love,
Sister Rebecca O'Bryan
Time has flown past and now I am about to go to KOREA! I received my flight plans and it looks like my schedule will be similar to:
Dec. 7
4AM- leave the MTC
7AM- leave SLC
8-11AM (California time)- be in the LAX airport. I will probably make a short phone call to both Mom and Dad during this time, so if you have a preference during these hours that you want me to call, somehow let me know before then.
11AM-5pm Dec. 8- FLY TO KOREA
Dec 8- Dec 10 (Korean time)-I will be in the Mission President's home and get oriented to Korea until I am assigned a companion. I will also be sending emails to Mom and Dad to let them know that I made it alive and love Korea.
So what has the past week held for me? All sorts of excitement. Last Tuesday we heard from Elder Oaks who spoke with his wife and then on Thanksgiving morning we heard from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and his wife and did service for the rest of the day. There really is no better place to be than the MTC during the holidays (except maybe with family or in Korea on a mission).
I leave in less than a week, so if you were inclined to mail me anything it needs to get here by this Saturday. No pressure, just a reminder.
I know you are very curious as to what apostles of the Lord had to say when they came to speak to missionaries, so I will share some of my favorites. They spoke a lot about what we can do to be better missionaries and Jeffrey R. Holland spent time answering questions that missionaries had asked earlier. I really loved when he was talking about us at the MTC and he said that he would hope we would all feel a little bit homesick. That homesickness, he reminded us, is what makes all the other holidays when we get back so great. That homesickness is also what God feels over us. As his children, God wants us to return to him and while we are here on this earth he feels that same desire to see us again and to have us with him in his Heavenly home. That analogy really clicked in my mind and I felt a great need to share with others his love and how they can return to him. I have such a great love for the Korean people already and I can only imagine what it will be like when I actually get there.
A couple of Saturdays ago while we were teaching in the TRC my companion and I got a referral from the man who came in for us to teach. We called up his friend who is from China and it was amazing. The first thing that happened after we introduced ourselves was he got excited and said he had been waiting for us to call. I guess he has already been meeting with some missionaries and he loves the Book of Mormon, but he has difficulty understanding it in Chinese because the translation is a little odd and the English version is of course in older English so he wanted to speak with some missionaries who speak Mandarin Chinese and he wanted to know how he too could come and volunteer at the TRC. So we got him in contact with some Chinese native speaking missionaries who will be helping to teach him.
I love being a missionary and seeing the Lord's hand in everything. I love serving others and I love you all. Tell me your plans for service this Christmas season.
Love,
Sister Rebecca O'Bryan
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Week 9 in the MTC
Dear family,
The MTC is school good, as always. I love being here and there are only two more weeks for me to enjoy it, so I am trying to soak it all in. On December 7th I should be leaving on a plane for KOREA! Yes, I know, most of you probably think it is far past time, ready to kick me out of the country and all of that. But it still seems so surreal. To think, by this time in two weeks I will be speaking in Korean 24/7 and trying to understand when people talk back to me. I will be telling people about the gospel and eating kimchee for every meal and using chopsticks and all sorts of fun things.
This also means that if you wanted to send me anything before you have to pay for it to go international, now is the time. Thank you for everything you have sent so far, I really enjoy receiving things and knowing that people are still alive, that sort of thing. By no means feel obligated to send me anything, however, if you would like ideas, things that I enjoy include:
-pictures!
-those microfiber towels look really useful/compact
-shirts (usually size Medium, anything that is longer than cap-sleeve, high neck, machine washable, cute ^^)
-undershirts
-small snacks (chocolate, hazelnuts, skittles, peanut M&Ms, pretty much anything)
-True to the Faith book
Forecast of events for the next couple of weeks:
-Thursday: Thanksgiving! Elder Holland is coming to speak and we will have a fun filled day of service projects and sack meals!
-Friday: receive flight plans (find out how early I have to wake up to catch my plane)
-Next Tuesday: last P-day and last chance to check email and things like unto it until I reach Korea, so if you have anything important to say to me before I leave, tell me before then.
-Monday Dec. 7- KOREA here I come!
I love the Gospel and my Korean is improving every day. We have a native Korean sister that is kind of our companion and so we get to escort her around. She doesn't speak any English and so it has been helping our Korean improve as we take her around, explain what is happening, ask about her life, etc. I had to give her an orientation of the MTC all in Korean and it convinced me that I need to purchase a translator as soon as I get to Korea.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would love to hear what you are all thankfull for. My list includes:
*All of you! I love having the support of my family and knowing that you love me and that I can always count on you
*The restored gospel which gives me peace, confidence, joy, guidance
*The opportunity to learn Korean and just in general, can you imagine if you finished with school and just decided that you had had enough learning. How boring would that be!
*Office supplies- there is just something so wonderful about being able to use colored pencils and tape in your everyday life
*fresh fruit- nothing better than peeling an orange to wake you up and start your day.
And the best way to show that you are really thankful is to give. This thanksgiving I would challenge all of you to think of something you can do for others, do it, and then tell me about it.
I love you all,
Sister Rebecca O'Bryan
The MTC is school good, as always. I love being here and there are only two more weeks for me to enjoy it, so I am trying to soak it all in. On December 7th I should be leaving on a plane for KOREA! Yes, I know, most of you probably think it is far past time, ready to kick me out of the country and all of that. But it still seems so surreal. To think, by this time in two weeks I will be speaking in Korean 24/7 and trying to understand when people talk back to me. I will be telling people about the gospel and eating kimchee for every meal and using chopsticks and all sorts of fun things.
This also means that if you wanted to send me anything before you have to pay for it to go international, now is the time. Thank you for everything you have sent so far, I really enjoy receiving things and knowing that people are still alive, that sort of thing. By no means feel obligated to send me anything, however, if you would like ideas, things that I enjoy include:
-pictures!
-those microfiber towels look really useful/compact
-shirts (usually size Medium, anything that is longer than cap-sleeve, high neck, machine washable, cute ^^)
-undershirts
-small snacks (chocolate, hazelnuts, skittles, peanut M&Ms, pretty much anything)
-True to the Faith book
Forecast of events for the next couple of weeks:
-Thursday: Thanksgiving! Elder Holland is coming to speak and we will have a fun filled day of service projects and sack meals!
-Friday: receive flight plans (find out how early I have to wake up to catch my plane)
-Next Tuesday: last P-day and last chance to check email and things like unto it until I reach Korea, so if you have anything important to say to me before I leave, tell me before then.
-Monday Dec. 7- KOREA here I come!
I love the Gospel and my Korean is improving every day. We have a native Korean sister that is kind of our companion and so we get to escort her around. She doesn't speak any English and so it has been helping our Korean improve as we take her around, explain what is happening, ask about her life, etc. I had to give her an orientation of the MTC all in Korean and it convinced me that I need to purchase a translator as soon as I get to Korea.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would love to hear what you are all thankfull for. My list includes:
*All of you! I love having the support of my family and knowing that you love me and that I can always count on you
*The restored gospel which gives me peace, confidence, joy, guidance
*The opportunity to learn Korean and just in general, can you imagine if you finished with school and just decided that you had had enough learning. How boring would that be!
*Office supplies- there is just something so wonderful about being able to use colored pencils and tape in your everyday life
*fresh fruit- nothing better than peeling an orange to wake you up and start your day.
And the best way to show that you are really thankful is to give. This thanksgiving I would challenge all of you to think of something you can do for others, do it, and then tell me about it.
I love you all,
Sister Rebecca O'Bryan
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Week 8 in the MTC...not that I'm counting
Dear family,
News from the MTC. The food is the same as always (a little risky, but you can find things if you look for them). And the spirit is just as wonderful and permeating as ever. We were able to hear from a lot of great powerhouse speakers this week, including Elder Oak's wife- Kristen Oaks who talked about testimony. She was so fun and is so knowledgable. She talked a lot about how when we bear our testimonies we can keep it simple and let people know the core things we believe, that God is our loving Heavenly Father, that Christ is his son and that through him we can repent, that Joseph Smith was a prophet for our day and that he restored temples and the Book of Mormon, and that we have a prophet on the earth today to guide us. She then gave us these cute little "testimony gloves" that have pictures on each of the fingers of Christ, God, Joseph Smith, Thomas S. Monson, and the temple. So fun!
Then Sunday night we heard from Sheri L. Dew who talked about becoming a greater seeker of knowledge. I love that concept of continual growth, it seems the more I learn that instead of satiating my thirst I just want to learn more. She talked about how if we are to fulfill our missions, not just as missionaries, but in life, that there are three things she would suggest we all learn:
1. Who we are- D&C 138; we are God's children and he has a purpose for us
2. What the Savior did for us when he atoned and what He is willing to do for us now - She talked specifically about how she has felt the comforting and healing power of the atonement in her life and the promise that Christ makes in Luke 4:18 when he says that he has come to healt the broken hearted.
3. How the Lord speaks to and guides us- there are a lot of things that can distract us in life, but if we learn to heed what the Lord wants us to do then we can be guided in our lives.
I have realized while in the MTC that my sense of time has been somewhat diminished. Last Wednesday I was helping to host new missionaries (again) as they came into the MTC and I realized that it was Veterans day. Then on Friday we all realized that it was Friday the 13th, but we didn't realize until about 9PM at which point my companion, Sister Kelley, exclaimed "make sure not to pull any pranks, just because it is Friday the 13th." We had to remind her that that traditional is actually for April Fool's day. Who knows what I will be like in a year and a half when I come back from Korea.
I love my companions and they are a constant source of joy. One of my companions, Sister West, is a little bit hard of hearing and so although she can hear what people say when they are talking directly to her, she often has a hard time picking up on things around her, like if something is happening in the hallway or if someone whispers something under her breath. I think this contributes to the fact that most people think she has no sense of humor, when really she just can't hear them. However, the other day we were all laughing and I realized that there was no way that they were laughing at the same thing I was, so we went around and said what it was that we were laughing at and when it came to her she simple said, "I'm so used to not hearing things that I've learned just to laugh when everyone else does." It made us laugh so more, but the more I think about it, the more I realize what an eduring quality that is. Imagine if you could laugh at any time, you could lighten any mood.
Just a thought that my Branch President left us with this week:
"Let obedience be our quest. When obedience ceases to be an irratant then we know we have made a true change of heart." I think there's actually more to it than that, but I can't remember all of it. I just know that I realized the more that we align our will with God's then the more we are able to become truely free to be ourselves.
I love you all,
Sister Rebecca O'Bryan
News from the MTC. The food is the same as always (a little risky, but you can find things if you look for them). And the spirit is just as wonderful and permeating as ever. We were able to hear from a lot of great powerhouse speakers this week, including Elder Oak's wife- Kristen Oaks who talked about testimony. She was so fun and is so knowledgable. She talked a lot about how when we bear our testimonies we can keep it simple and let people know the core things we believe, that God is our loving Heavenly Father, that Christ is his son and that through him we can repent, that Joseph Smith was a prophet for our day and that he restored temples and the Book of Mormon, and that we have a prophet on the earth today to guide us. She then gave us these cute little "testimony gloves" that have pictures on each of the fingers of Christ, God, Joseph Smith, Thomas S. Monson, and the temple. So fun!
Then Sunday night we heard from Sheri L. Dew who talked about becoming a greater seeker of knowledge. I love that concept of continual growth, it seems the more I learn that instead of satiating my thirst I just want to learn more. She talked about how if we are to fulfill our missions, not just as missionaries, but in life, that there are three things she would suggest we all learn:
1. Who we are- D&C 138; we are God's children and he has a purpose for us
2. What the Savior did for us when he atoned and what He is willing to do for us now - She talked specifically about how she has felt the comforting and healing power of the atonement in her life and the promise that Christ makes in Luke 4:18 when he says that he has come to healt the broken hearted.
3. How the Lord speaks to and guides us- there are a lot of things that can distract us in life, but if we learn to heed what the Lord wants us to do then we can be guided in our lives.
I have realized while in the MTC that my sense of time has been somewhat diminished. Last Wednesday I was helping to host new missionaries (again) as they came into the MTC and I realized that it was Veterans day. Then on Friday we all realized that it was Friday the 13th, but we didn't realize until about 9PM at which point my companion, Sister Kelley, exclaimed "make sure not to pull any pranks, just because it is Friday the 13th." We had to remind her that that traditional is actually for April Fool's day. Who knows what I will be like in a year and a half when I come back from Korea.
I love my companions and they are a constant source of joy. One of my companions, Sister West, is a little bit hard of hearing and so although she can hear what people say when they are talking directly to her, she often has a hard time picking up on things around her, like if something is happening in the hallway or if someone whispers something under her breath. I think this contributes to the fact that most people think she has no sense of humor, when really she just can't hear them. However, the other day we were all laughing and I realized that there was no way that they were laughing at the same thing I was, so we went around and said what it was that we were laughing at and when it came to her she simple said, "I'm so used to not hearing things that I've learned just to laugh when everyone else does." It made us laugh so more, but the more I think about it, the more I realize what an eduring quality that is. Imagine if you could laugh at any time, you could lighten any mood.
Just a thought that my Branch President left us with this week:
"Let obedience be our quest. When obedience ceases to be an irratant then we know we have made a true change of heart." I think there's actually more to it than that, but I can't remember all of it. I just know that I realized the more that we align our will with God's then the more we are able to become truely free to be ourselves.
I love you all,
Sister Rebecca O'Bryan
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Week...7? in the MTC
Dear Family,
Life is going well here. The weather is getting cooler, but my excitement is not. It's exciting to think that in only four more weeks I will be headed to Korea. There are definitely times when it seems like the MTC is my life, always has been and always will be, but then you get those moments when you realize that you are here only as a preparation for something grander.
Fun story from this week:
While we were teaching about Knowledge to our district this week our Branch President's counselor, Brother Shin made a comment. He was reading from a scripture in D&C that discussed how when we obtain knowledge from God we are able to better understand the way to salvation and to receive joy. As an Asian, he explained, he and his wife are very serious people and the only thing that makes them laugh is when someone farts. For some reason everyone in my district looked at me and started to laugh. I suppose the O'Bryan curse is really more of a blessing, because at least if I can't speak Korean I can make them laugh and win my way into their hearts.
The more I do it, the more I love to plan. I have always like to carry around a planner with me and schedule things, but I am learning now more how to combine my goals, like my life/spiritual goals into my plans and not just to get things done, but to really accomplish things so that I feel like I am progressing in all areas. There is more of the Why behind the What.
Our new districts are great. We have five Sisters and seven Elders who came in last Wednesday which tripled our numbers. I think we are the only zone in the MTC that is almost half and half with our Sister to Elder ratio. I am alright with that. They are all very nice and wonderful and spunky. A few of the girls have already graduated from college and had careers that they put on hold in order to go on missions. One was a teacher and the other worked as an IT analyst in Washington DC for the Federal Reserve. Neat, eh?
While reading in 2 Nephi 25 I came across verse 26 which says:
"We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophecy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of sins."
Previously we had had a fireside by Richard Heaton who discussed the importance of remembering your purpose as a missionary. He explained that we do not share the gospel for the sole purpose of baptizing people, but for the joy that comes when they realize that they can receive a remission of their sins because of Jesus Christ and his atonement. Putting it into that perspective really helped me to realize that it is all about love. God put us here on this earth so that we could become better, so that we can return to him, but in order to do that we had to have the Atonement. We had to have Christ and because we do there is no end to the potential happiness we may feel. Doesn't that just give you hope?
I hope that we can all speak of Christ, write of Christ, rejoice in Christ and that it exudes from us in a way that people cannot help but notice.
Challenge for the week, write down how have you seen the Atonement of Jesus Christ work in your life? How have you changed because of that knowledge? I'd love to hear your answers.
I love you all, I hope you are doing well.
Love,
Sister Rebecca O'Bryan
Life is going well here. The weather is getting cooler, but my excitement is not. It's exciting to think that in only four more weeks I will be headed to Korea. There are definitely times when it seems like the MTC is my life, always has been and always will be, but then you get those moments when you realize that you are here only as a preparation for something grander.
Fun story from this week:
While we were teaching about Knowledge to our district this week our Branch President's counselor, Brother Shin made a comment. He was reading from a scripture in D&C that discussed how when we obtain knowledge from God we are able to better understand the way to salvation and to receive joy. As an Asian, he explained, he and his wife are very serious people and the only thing that makes them laugh is when someone farts. For some reason everyone in my district looked at me and started to laugh. I suppose the O'Bryan curse is really more of a blessing, because at least if I can't speak Korean I can make them laugh and win my way into their hearts.
The more I do it, the more I love to plan. I have always like to carry around a planner with me and schedule things, but I am learning now more how to combine my goals, like my life/spiritual goals into my plans and not just to get things done, but to really accomplish things so that I feel like I am progressing in all areas. There is more of the Why behind the What.
Our new districts are great. We have five Sisters and seven Elders who came in last Wednesday which tripled our numbers. I think we are the only zone in the MTC that is almost half and half with our Sister to Elder ratio. I am alright with that. They are all very nice and wonderful and spunky. A few of the girls have already graduated from college and had careers that they put on hold in order to go on missions. One was a teacher and the other worked as an IT analyst in Washington DC for the Federal Reserve. Neat, eh?
While reading in 2 Nephi 25 I came across verse 26 which says:
"We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophecy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of sins."
Previously we had had a fireside by Richard Heaton who discussed the importance of remembering your purpose as a missionary. He explained that we do not share the gospel for the sole purpose of baptizing people, but for the joy that comes when they realize that they can receive a remission of their sins because of Jesus Christ and his atonement. Putting it into that perspective really helped me to realize that it is all about love. God put us here on this earth so that we could become better, so that we can return to him, but in order to do that we had to have the Atonement. We had to have Christ and because we do there is no end to the potential happiness we may feel. Doesn't that just give you hope?
I hope that we can all speak of Christ, write of Christ, rejoice in Christ and that it exudes from us in a way that people cannot help but notice.
Challenge for the week, write down how have you seen the Atonement of Jesus Christ work in your life? How have you changed because of that knowledge? I'd love to hear your answers.
I love you all, I hope you are doing well.
Love,
Sister Rebecca O'Bryan
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