CRAZINESS!!!

So this week, my district has determined that we're having one of the most crazy MTC experiences possible. First off, we were here for Christmas and New Years, with their celebrations and shenanigans that come along with them. Then, the "who's our teacher?" fiasco. We've gone from one amazing teacher, Brother McArthur who, due to unforeseeable circumstances, had to quit out of the blue. We haven't seen him since, and we're still heartbroken, because he was super-awesome. But it's alright, because we got an equally awesome teacher to replace him. This teacher, Brother Campbell, was a volunteer "investigator" for us since day one, and was hired as a teacher after our first one had to go, so we love him because he's been, and I quote just about all of us; "the one constant of our MTC lives."  Plus, he's one of the most straight-up and spiritual men we've ever met, and he NEVER slips up when it comes to speaking Korean to us like all our other teachers will sometimes do. We're really impressed with that.  Now we have Sister Allen teaching us half the time as well. She kind of came out of the blue, but she was so open and friendly that we all warmed up to her in ten minutes or so. MTC teachers are the best. I just might apply to be one when I get back from my mission. On top of those two, we've had several zone resources come in to sub for the teachers over the holidays! That adds like, three more teachers that we've had! One of them deserves special mention, though, and that's Brother Wade, who's actually been assisting our teachers since day 1, so we love him. He's super passionate about Korea to the point where he has to think harder to speak English than he does to speak Korean. He's had the best language study-tips for us so far, but it's hard to match his zeal. Nonetheless, he's one of our favourites.

Back on track: the third thing making the MTC crazy is the fact that our schedule is getting switched around, which doesn't usually happen to people. It doesn't bother me, personally (though I might discover otherwise when it actually happens, so who knows?), because I like what the switches will mean for us.

But anyways, Korean is still super fun. I'd write some here, but apparently this computer is dumber than the rest and won't let me, so whatever. Fun fact: if you're not being careful, you might be trying to say "Do you feel the spirit?" but could easily say accidentally "Is the dragon greasy?" Serious. It's only a slight sound and a syllable difference. So funny when we stumbled upon that.

It's getting harder and harder to think of things to write. At this point, nothing is really new and exciting in the MTC. All of us in my district are just dying to get out to Korea, because we're so sick of the limbo your life gets put in in the MTC. I seriously envy those who only have to be here for two weeks, because I've only just hit the approximate halfway point, and I'm going BONKERS! My district and I are so out of it, either we're super-tired, or super-hyper and giddy, and sometimes, when we try really hard, we're quiet and focused. We're still learning lots everyday, though, and we're surprising ourselves all the time. Thank goodness for the Spirit's help. We'd be doomed without it.

We're so excited about Korea and actually BEING there in a month. So far, the only weird foods we've heard of are kimchi, and live octopus. Everything else sounds DEELECTABLE! But then, that might be because we're getting sick of the MTC food. Seriously, we've seen everything that the cafeteria serves at least twice, and most of it is so fatty that it's just unappealing after you start to realize how fast you can put on weight. But back on track: Koreans use chopsticks that are long, skinny and metal, which is awesome, because I don't like wooden ones. They use a spoon to eat their rice (HALLELUJAH!!), and it's super-important to eat every single itty-bitty grain, because if you don't you're being super-rude. They sit cross-legged at a table that's pretty much at ground-level, and they eat food right off the platter. Except for their rice. Everybody gets a bowl of rice to themselves. It sounds super-awesome, and I can't wait.

Also, we've learned that our mission is the wealthiest area in Korea. I'm pretty stoked about that, because I was worrying a lot about being sent somewhere third-world when I was waiting for my call. I'm grateful that the Lord  didn't put me in that kind of situation.

That's all I've got for now. I can't wait to be in Korea and to actually have real-life super-awesome experiences to talk about on these blog posts. Oh well. Just one more month to go!

Without Wax,

Elder Shaver