Week 7 - MTC Update

Floral ties with my two companions (Smith & Maio) and Elder Ha (the original roommates!)

안 녕 하 세 요 !!!!!

Where has the time gone? I can't believe I have just 12 days until I head off to Seoul! Even though this week felt like a day and a half, I have so many amazing experiences I have no idea where I even want to begin.

My new all Korean Name Tags!!!!!

This week was our first week as a trio companionship and it went really well! Elder Smith's mom is Korean and so he understands and can hear Korean really well, which helps a ton during our lessons and T.R.Cs. Our new room is 1000 times better than our old one too, and so even though we had to move twice it worked out well! The new Korean Elder, Elder Kim, Is totally awesome. He likes to work on his English so we talk to him in Korean and he responds in English! His English is way better but it's still a ton of fun! It's his first time ever in America and so he has so much fun learning about every little thing! We talked about computer games we played, sports, school and about some places and cities in America and it was hilarious. He said the mountains were so pretty but he was worried there would be gangs up there. 😂 Because of Elder Kim, I definitely love the Korean people so much already!

Elder Kim (left) Elder Maio (middle) and Elder Dygert (right)

The Language is getting a little bit tougher as we learn new forms and try and retain them, but I feel like we've all progressed so much over the last week. I have the opportunity to be the District Leader for our last 2 and a half weeks and it's already been quite a blessing in just a few days. I decided we should all try and do a full day where we speak no English! And so yesterday was a complete English fast! We were so worried we wouldn't be able to say anything but it turned out we knew a lot more than we thought we did. It was super nice to practice and learn which common verbs and nouns we didn't know, and I feel like we all benefited greatly from it! It's just quite amazing to see how much you can learn in just 7 short weeks when you’re doing it in order to help and serve others!

We also have had some tremendous luck here at the M.T.C, the last three devotionals we've had have been Apostles!! No JOKE! We had Elder Christofferson last Tuesday, then Elder Ballard on Sunday, and then we were even more shocked to find out Elder Cook was our special speaker last night! They were all such blessings to hear from!

Elder Ballard talked about the impact and everlasting touch of our missionary work. He said "When we die, there will be so many people there to rejoice and embrace us for the work and love we did and showed them during our missions and our lives". I just can't even imagine how excited I would be to meet just one person, much less tons of people that I help and showed love to in my life.

Elder Cook talked about the atonement and our purpose teaching others about the Plan of Salvation. He said " The Atonement of Christ covers everything unfair that's happened in the world". Tough trials and obstacles come into people’s lives and our purpose is to help them understand that Christ's Atonement makes up all the difference. He loved us so much and sacrificed it all, so that we can overcome these trials and live with him and our families again one day. I hope all of you can recognize what an incredible blessing the Atonement is, Moroni 7:41 helps me recognize that and feel our Savior's love each time I read it.

Both of these amazing Apostles left us with such powerful and impactful testimonies and blessings, and I've never felt so sure that I'm really doing what I'm supposed to.

I Love this work and I love growing so close to our Savior and I'm already so thankful for how much I've grown and learned in 7 short weeks. I can't wait to leave in 12 days and I hope everyone back home knows I love and miss them so much!

Thanks for the motivation letters and prayers!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Burridge

Elder De La Bruere (left) and Elder Taylor (middle) from my District

Temple Selfie with Elder Folkman

 "Squad"ing

  Elder Ha's Birthday

Elder Ha and Elder Periera

P-Day, Laundry room Elder Smith, Elder De La Bruere and Elder Maio