First week at the MTC

September 13, 2013

How are things going at home? Today is P-day at the MTC and we finally have time to study and prepare for tomorrow. The past 2 days have been a bit of a whirlwind. Immediately after you dropped me off, I was taken to a classroom where the teacher only spoke Korean. It was like being in Hong Kong all over again. I am slowly picking up Hangul, but prayers would be greatly appreciated.

My companion is Sis. Rose from SF, Utah. She is very sweet but also very young. This experience is definitely teaching me patience and relying on the Lord. My roommates are Sis. Stout and Sis. Carter. Sis. Stout grew up in Japan and Sis Carter in Maryland. Sis. Carter is actually half Cantonese. I try saying things to her, but my accent is very bad. Who knows, maybe I will pick up some Cantonese.

Tonight the Korean teacher wants us to teach an investigator in “Korean.” We will see how that goes. This is definitely a humbling experience. I truly am enjoying myself. I even get up at 6:30 without any complaints. Today we had to wake up at 6 a.m. to clean bathrooms. Who would have thought that I would think 6:30 a.m. is late.

Thank you for everything. I love you and miss you a lot.

Love, Chao 자매

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 It is so very nice to hear from you! The past two days at the MTC have been insane! As soon as I arrived at the MTC, I was immersed in the Korean language. I thought i knew a little bit of Korean, but I found out that I only understand Korean if there are subtitles. Unfortunately, those are not provided in real life. Oh, so my P-days are on Friday. Just in case you were wondering :)

 The Korean language is incredibly difficult to learn, but i have continually remind myself that I have only been learning the language for 2 days. In total, I think I can say 10 words, but not make a full on sentence yet. I am hoping that fluency comes with practice and time. A scary thing is that my companion and I have to teach a Korean "investigator" tonight. I don't really know how we are going to do that... So we may have to pray in Korean and then call it good.

 In my residence hall, I share a room with Sis. Carter, Sis. Stout, and Sis. Rose. Sis. Carter is actually half Cantonese, so there are moments where we speak Cantonese or make jokes about our upbringings. They are surprisingly very similar...tiger moms :). My companion is Sis. Rose, she is 19 and from a small town outside of Spanish Fork. Having a companion 24/7 has it ups and downs, but I am enjoying it for the most part. There are times where I wish I could just go by myself to ponder, but I am glad to have someone else to talk about things. 

   One of the weirdest things to get use to is waking up at 6:30 and being ready to go by 7. Thanks for taking the time to help me prepare for the MTC. I definitely have a lot of things, but it is making my transition from regular to missionary life a lot easier. 

Well, i will chat with you soon. I love you a lot and cannot wait to hear more about your wonderful life in California! 

Love,

Sis. Melanie Chao