KOREA!

The enthusiastic Sister Pearson!

Hello friends and family who are oh so dear to me. Forgive me if this email is shorter than I planned, but I am just a newbie at this missionary thing and am still figuring out how to prioritize my time well. If there is one thing that I've learned already it is that planning is the key to efficiency! The MTC is nothing I expected and everything I dreamed- sometimes I forget that I'm in the heart of my beloved college town of Provo because this is a world of its own. It was really gloomy all last week and I was caught off guard by the surge of happiness I got when the sun finally came out on our walk to the temple on Sunday. WOAH. I told my companion to hold me back before I headed for the mountains because they were right in front of me and were calling my name. I'm always blown away by the majesty of Utah's mountains. Nature is neat. It has been 6 days since Anne and Ben dropped me off at the curb on that fateful Wednesday. I've decided that I will forever celebrate Abraham Lincoln's birthday, not really for him but for me as a missionary since February 12th was both his bday and the day I entered the MTC. Sorry Abe, no cake for you. In order to pack a punch in this email, it is time to engage MISSIONARY EFFICIENCY: (and when I say engage I do NOT mean in the way of marriage, I gave that up for 18 months)

Companion/Roommates

Sister Tew: My wonderful companion from New Hampshire. If I had to describe her in four words it would be confident, headstrong (in a good way), sarcastic, dyslexic. I couldn't count on one hand how many times she lets out a frustrated but comical "I'M DYSLEXIC DON'T JUDGE MY READING" everyday during our many hours of studying. God blessed me with her so we could both stop biting our nails together because It's unprofessional and I've been trying to stop for way too long. I sound like an addict. I CAN STOP ANYTIME I WANT. She also sings and crochets. Fate? I think so.

Sister Callahan: The sweetest little southern belle you'd ever be blessed to meet from Alabama. She is just a ball of sunshine and as our Sister Training Leader, she is on top of things and keeps us in line. She has a brother here who likes to show off his southern pride by saying "Dagum".

Sister Fortin: A kindred spirit who loves to cook, is majoring in special Ed, and loves baseball. She is a kindred spirit and we love to exercise together and laugh  A LOT. I'm glad someone appreciates my dumb puns and sense of humor.

Spiritual Thoughts

We watched a devotional called :The Character of Christ" on Sunday that was given by Elder Bednar a while ago, and really reminded me of why I am here. It was all about how the only reason Christ could do what he did for the world was because of his character, which was to ALWAYS turn outward towards others rather than inwards like the natural man or woman. He told us to get over ourselves when things don't go the way we want, because we are not here to serve ourselves, we are here to serve God. The single most important relationship I can have in the world is one with my Savior Jesus Christ. Without him, there would really be no point to this life. I am so excited to increase my relationship with Him over these next 18 months and forever. The atonement is a miracle, and I am so grateful for the deep understanding of that infinite act that the Book of Mormon provides. I love the Book of Mormon with all my heart.

We were able to go to the temple this morning and I felt so much peace there. It truly is a refuge from the
world, and I got some much needed quiet time where I could just be with myself and God. I read about the abrahamic covenant and was reminded of how just being a descendant of Abraham doesn't ensure the blessings promised to his seed, and that all can become his seed through believing on Christ's name. The Bible is so cool. I feel like such a nerd in the best way possible because I LOVE having 5 plus hours to study scriptures and effective ways to teach everyday. All I can say is that this is the life, and God is REAL. He is in the details of our lives.

I will try to give more details next week, but I love you all and will update you when I'm in my first mission area! Salt Lake, I can't wait. :)

Love,

Sister Pearson

P.S. Title Explanation: There was this giant group of asian elders who needed translators and the teacher of the class asked them where they were from. They said (very enthusiastically) "KOREA!" He said "where are you all going?" In unison: "KOREA!" I love asians. I love them even more than caucasians, though I guess we kind of count as a type of asians based on the spelling, but let's not even try to compare the two.

Helaman 5:12