I can't even believe it!! Haha! We've done it!!
Weeeee... are the champions... my frieenndd....
Wahoo!!
This week, was.. well.. antsy. Haha. We are all freaking out and just absolutely ready to get out of here! How exciting it will be to be on a 14 hour plane ride to Korea on Monday! ..After a 3 hour plane ride to Detroit! ...Did I mention I get really motion sick..? ..Haha it will be an adventure nonetheless. I'm stoked out of my mind. A lot of our older group of Elders have emailed me back and are absolutely loving it there. It makes me even more excited to go knowing that they are all okay! The biggest events this week included Elder Shaver's 20th birthday, Skype-teaching a "real" Korean in Korea, and another really neat experience between our investigator Brother Kim and ourselves.
Shall we begin?
So first, Elder Shaver's birthday was on the 22nd, and it was absolutely awesome. We celebrated all day long, and his parents even sent him a whole birthday cake in the mail!! It was SO delicious. Family, please note that raspberry filled chocolate cake is now incredibly high on my favorite desserts list. He got some sweet presents, including a bunch of Canadian candy and sweet decorations. We sang to him in English, Korean, at Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, after hours, and pretty much just had a swell time. ..As you can see, we don't really get out much here in the MTC.. haha.
Also, throughout this week, Elder Grossgebauer lost his prized Sock-Monkey.. hahaha. Probably the cutest little sock monkey that he got from his girlfriend, and supposedly smells like her too. Hah. We looked all over for it, and decided to make "Wanted/Missing" posters for it. Too funny! We made 6 or so, and then the building administration got upset, but let him keep one up so that he could find it, and a day or so later this evil cleaning man came and yelled at Grossgebauer for the sign, so he decided to make 10 more. I was dying! The story of the sock monkey thief traveled at light speed from then on! The branch presidency was informed, and was then discussed among security, and ended up getting all the way to the MTC Presidents! Haha! The whole MTC is on the look out for this sock monkey!! Way too good. We're hoping it turns up before we leave!
In preface to this story, my "Pops" Steven Paul gave me a really special coin right before I left. It had the Armor of God on it, with correlating scriptures and sweet colors. It was honestly the coolest coin ever. Really big, kind of heavy, and super cool to have to carry around. He told me that he had quite a few of them, and that he wanted me to give them to people I felt could use that reminder in their lives. ..and so, this story was born.
Elder Shaver and I went in to teach Brother Kim on Saturday, and, like usual, decided to focus on him rather than preparing a full-out lesson. However, we studied the Plan of Salvation before going in just in case he didn't really have any needs to tend to this week. We went in, and started talking. Things were going really well as we just casually talked about work and life and such, and he started to mention a little bit how he feels lonely so often. ..This made me super sad, but I didn't really know what to say.. ..Instead (without really knowing why and feeling pretty inconsiderate) I switched topics and asked him if he was still reading the Book of Mormon, and he replied excitedly that he has. I asked him where he was, and he shared that he was in 1 Nephi, chapter 14. Elder Shaver then asked if he had a favorite scripture so far, and he shared with us 1 Nephi 14:14. It reads:
"And it came to pass that I , Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descends upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the Earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory."
We asked him why it was so special to him, and he started to explain how he loved the power of it, and how it helped him understand why the members of our church seem like they have so much more than everyone else. I immediately thought about the Armor of God coin in my wallet. ..Thinking about how I could even come up with the vocabulary to explain it, we continued talking for a while. We asked him if we went to church, and how he felt there. He said he loves it there, and feels like he has so many friends. I asked him if he felt alone there, and he said no. I then asked him if he feels alone when he reads his Book of Mormon, and he answered again, no. He explained that he feels really alone in all the time inbetween. When he is home, with no family, he feels alone. When he is at school, or doing much of anything else, since he doesn't have many friends, he feels alone, and at work, he especially feels alone. ..I took out my coin from my wallet, and gave it to him to look at. He held it in his hands, and I slowly started to explain that God is always with us. ..The spirit, the Book of Mormon, the Gospel, Prayer, friends.. they're all pieces of armor that we are given from him, to protect us from feeling alone and sad. I told him many times that we are never alone. ..He and I both started to tear up a bit (I'm the biggest cry baby ever, thanks mom..) and he offered the coin back to me. I told him it was a gift for him. I told him to keep it, and to always remember that he is never alone. ..It was pure awesome.
..About an hour and a half after the lesson, Brother Campbell (Brother Kim) had to conduct departure interviews, and had told us beforehand that he'd start with me. So, we went in to a room, and basically cried our eyes out. Typical. ..haha. He asked me about my family, and my MTC experience, and if I had any questions or concerns. ..I explained my feeling of inadequacy and how I felt like I was so nervous and scared to go to Korea, while at the same time knowing that everything would be alright. It was a really deep conversation, and he pondered for a minute and then said to me, "..I want to share with you something somebody just taught me," ..He paused for a moment with tears in his eyes and said, "..that we are never alone."
..He turned to 1 Ne 14:14, Hebrews 4:14-16, and 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, and I felt the power of each and every scripture. He explained to me that as I taught my investigator, the Lord was most likely teaching me at the same time. I was blown away, and so grateful. ..We concluded the meeting later, and as we walked back to class, he asked me if I wanted my coin back, and in turn, I told him that I wanted him to keep it, because it really was for him and Brother Kim. I told him (like, seriously commanded him in polite-command form) to always remember that he is never alone. He thanked me so much, and told me how special it was to him and that he wanted to keep it more than anything. What a rad experience.
Next week, I'll email you from Korea, and I wish you all the best in your endeavors at home! I love you all and want you to know that you are never alone! Steven, I hope you're okay with me giving him that coin! I love you all so much!! You can do anything!!
Elder DeMille
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