Hello Everyone!
Wow, it amazes me how many adventures all of you have in just one week! Snow days in Alabama, crazy surgeries on the Michigan front, new job interviews on the Chicago front. Sometimes it really makes me miss experiencing all of these things with you. But know that I am always thinking about you and praying for the wonderful things you're doing! I love you and miss you all so very much!
This week at the MTC has gone by crazy fast. I only have about 10 days and then I'm legitimately in Korea! The days can sometimes be pretty routine here with studies and classes, but I have a feeling Korea is going to be absolutely nuts. And I can see it on the horizon! Get ready for more fun stories such as this....
A new group of native Korean missionaries came in this Wednesday. These are the missionaries that will be going to Daejeon with me when I leave March 9th. They are all so cool I can't even handle it. One sister has taken it upon herself to give us all Korean names. So last night, while we were at our residence sharing korean and american food with each other (Korean's don't love Taki's by the way. Or rootbeer) she starts naming us all. Some of the names included "Beautiful Pinecone" "Fun Spirit" and "Kind Galaxy." The way Korean names work, is by taking one symbol that represents something and then putting it with another symbol that also means something. Based on the example names I listed above, I've concluded that American's got the naming process all wrong. I wish my name meant beautiful pine cone or kind galaxy or something like that, haha. But alas, my english name actually sounds a lot like a real korean name pronounced yeh-ri-nah. So That's what I've kept it as :) I'm not sure what it means symbolically yet though... I'll ask tonight!
As we go through our days, even days in the MTC, we each have ups and downs, successes and trials. I've come to find out this week that the trials really do make successes so much sweeter. But sometimes, it's hard to equate whether or not the trials are worth it. I know we've all been there at one point. Let me just share an insight with you about that...
"If only you could see the end from the beginning, you would see an army of angels always beside you."
How often do we look back on our lives, especially the hard times, with nothing but a great sense of gratitude and accomplishment for what we went through and learned and succeeded in. I know that some of the most challenging time periods of my life: show weeks for orchesis, joining a sorority in Alabama, etc. have been the times that I've seen the most growth and I sincerely look back on them always with the most love in my heart for how I was stretched and changed and grown. I think God continually does this for all of us. He puts us in water that just a little bit deeper than we are tall, and gives us angels to help us learn to swim.
I'm so excited to keep learning Korean for the next week and a half, and then get out to the land of kimchi and spicy noodles.
I love each and every one of you more than my heart can bear. Please continue to keep me update on your adventures, they amaze me! Talk to you again next week!
love,
Sister Weston
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