Another week gone by. Ever since that first week time has started to fly by! I had friends that came in the same day as I did and they are leaving already! So weird. Only 8 more weeks right? I had a really good week. I'm used to living here now and have my routine down.
My Korean is getting better. On Saturday we had to meet with Korean investigators and contact them in Korean and talk to them about families and how they are important to God's plan. Then we had to set up an appointment with them. All of it was in Korean. I seriously understood everything that was said in Korean and I said a lot of things back in Korean. Then we taught the first lesson to them in English. It was really cool and I felt really good about it. We had four Korean girls and we spoke as much Korean as we could throughout the lesson even though the bulk of the lesson was in English. It's crazy that in 3 weeks I'll have to teach the first lesson all in Korean. I can't wait. That will be soooo cool. Korean makes more and more sense everyday. I just have to study like crazy to be able to remember vocabulary and use it. We have some missionaries from Korea that are here for three weeks then head back to Korea. They are way cool and it's good to practice my Korean with them. I have a bunch of pictures that I will send next week. If you could scan them into the computer and put some of them up on the blog that would be sweet.
Brother Gilbert got released on Sunday and gave his last lesson to us in Priesthood. He talked a lot about the amazing habits we create in the MTC and in the mission field and that we need to keep those habits even after our mission. Just because we aren't in full time service doesn't mean we should change our habits of reading the scriptures often. We need to always feast on the words of Christ. I know that Mom has shown an amazing example of CONSISTENTLY feasting on the words of Christ. I don't think she's ever missed a day of reading in her entire life. I want to keep my good habits that I've created in here.
I have grown to love the Book of Mormon so much. I read about ten chapters every day. I'm already in Alma just since I've been here. In chapter 11 it talks a lot about the resurrection, when we'll be reunited with our bodies after death The same body that we have now. It just makes me think. There are so many people who don't take care of their bodies. If we are going to have our bodies for forever shouldn't we take good care of them? That's what my passion is. I want to help people to take care of their bodies. Especially if they are going to have their bodies for forever. Anyway, like I said, I have really grown to love the Book of Mormon. I wish I had feasted on the words of Christ more in high school and even right before my mission. You can never be too prepared for a mission.
I'm glad that I decided to stay with my group. The 8 of us in our district are so close and get along so well. We're always laughing so hard. My companion is always doing something ridiculous and funny. Yesterday he was sitting in a chair with his feet on the door so the sisters couldn't get in. Then they opened the door when he wasn't expecting it and it pushed him backwards and he did a back flip off the chair. It was seriously the funniest thing I've ever seen.
The other day one of the elders in our district had a little meltdown. He started crying and was saying it's too hard and he doesn't get any sleep and he feels like he's going crazy. It just made me so grateful for all the hard things that I've been able to do in my life up to this point. People who haven't really done hard things in their lives have a hard time when the first hard thing they do is go on a mission. Moving to Korea when I was little, playing sports, backpacking trips, weightlifting, and going to Hawaii for school. I feel like I've been blessed with so many opportunities to grow and that being on a mission would be so much harder for me if I hadn't had all the experiences I had before coming here. I realize that when I get to Korea it will be a lot harder than it is here and that I will be tested and have trials, but I know that I can handle anything that is put in my way. Something that dad said really stuck out to me. "If you can learn Korean well then you can do anything." I really think that's true and I am putting so much energy into learning Korean.
Anyway, I'm thankful for all of you guys. I'm so thankful for family. When we talk to Koreans about their families and I get a chance to talk about mine it brings me so much happiness. I can't imagine what it would be like to not have the support of my family while I'm out here. It would take so much faith and so much determination. Thanks to everyone who writes me! Keep the letters coming. I promise I will write back to everyone. I love you guys and think about you often! Thanks for including me in your prayers.
-Elder Rife
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