MTC - Week 2

Hello everyone! 

Sounds like things at home are going pretty good! Dad told me that grandpa is currently number one again so I wore my Rush shirt the other day and told everyone about it haha! 

Yeah I will be honest this place is not fun at all and it's a ton of work! And the launguage is going to drive me insane! The teacher has not said a word of English still, but everyday as I learn more vocabulary or something new I can understand that much more. The teachers here teach a little Korean stuff but they teach gospel lessons in Korean mostly!  And really it's your own study that is really how you learn it! Me and Elder Dickman have gotten much better with the fake investigators. I feel like i do better everytime! It's crazy how much we have learned these 2 weeks! 

The MTC is really weird it feels so long, but then you look at how long you've been here already and it's crazy! I love my district, they are some of the funniest people and the whole branch is awesome! I feel super dumb with them, they were all comparing thier full-ride scholarships and 30+ ACT scores and I was like I got a 19 and they were like shocked haha. I will send a picture of my district if I can figure out how to. 

We have to prepare a 5 minute Korean talk every Sunday for sacrament meeting and then our branch president (who could be a vampire) announces who is speaking on the stand! Elder Dickman got picked last Sunday and gave a really good talk! But despite all the suckiness, the spirit really is so strong here. And I have this feeling of peace and happiness which has to be the spirit because I would be so ticked usually! 

It's hard seeing the mountains outside our classroom window every day! And I am so mad I have to miss the elk hunt! I think about you all during the day and miss you all! And good luck to Andrew and Melissa I pray for you guys every day! I'm so excited for you guys! Do good in school kids! And I will talk to you all next week! ​Love you all!

Elder Ellis

MTC - Week 1

Hey Everybody! 

Sorry its been forever, we got here on p-day and they wouldn't let us email. This place is crazy!! I kinda just put off everyone telling me how hard it was going to be and that I wouldn't have a break and now I know what they mean! Haha! I miss all of you so much! But I'm not too homesick, I just try not to think about all you guys. Every time i get a package it makes my day, so thank you for all the notes and packages!

I have been studying Korean non-stop since I got here and we are all learning a ton of stuff! I can read Korean pretty good now, and say little phrases. I did not know that the MTC was going to be like this. The spirit is here all day but we have very few gospel classes! We spend around 10 hours each day sitting in this little classroom learning Korean. A teacher speaks no English and does his best to teach us for 6 hours and then we study on our own and with our companions for four hours! Then every day but Sunday we teach a fake investigator for 30 minutes only using Korean! It's a super humbling experience, and it's hard to not feel discouraged about the lessons. My companion is Elder Dickman and he is 6 foot 3 and does not play sports. He's pretty shy but actually knows Korean really good and the teacher wants him to fast track and leave to Korea. But, he told me he wants to get better at teaching! In our investigator lessons he doesn't speak so I either tell him what to say in Korean or ask him how to say something in Korean. Hahaha I bet the fake investigator thinks it's pretty funny. But, sometimes in those lessons, even with minumum knowledge of how to speak Korean, we can still teach with the spirit. It's way cool! 

I love my district we are already like brothers, and we play beach volleyball every morning and I think by week 9 I might be good enough to walk on somewhere. Haha maybe not. But everyone is so cool. We call my companion the Dickman Dictionary because everyone asks him how to say things in Korean and he always knows how to say it! Haha I actually really care about my companion and I want him to do good. 

But I'm kinda running out of time! So I love and miss you all, and I'm doing great! 

Elder Ellis

MTC Korean Branch

Hello all!

Your missionaries are wonderful!  We welcomed them into the MTC on Wednesday, and have been so happy to have them in our branch!  They are already learning, teaching, and progressing so much.  We are so grateful to get to know them and to have their talents and strong testimonies in the Korean branch.  

Their P-Day is on Thursday, and they will be able to email and talk to you then!  We hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, the MTC Korean Branch 

MTC Drop-off

We dropped Conner off at the MTC on Wednesday. It was quite emotional and we're still trying to let it sink in over here! But, Elder Ellis looked happy and ready to go so that's getting us through!

From fox hunters to fishers of men

We haven't heard anything yet, but we did receive this picture from the Dixon's! Jake and Conner saw each other  that very first day and Jake said he's doing good. Happy happy!