I have one child who has not shown up on this blog yet. That’s because he is serving a mission for our church in South Korea. He’s been there since May of 2006, and before that he spent ten weeks at the Missionary Training Center learning the Korean language.
Me with Andy, one of the 500 missionaries that arrived at the Missionary Training Center on Mar. 1, 2006.
Andy with a young member in Korea.
We get a letter every Wednesday evening via email from Andy. He has learned the language well and is a sincere and dedicated missionary. Here’s a quote from a recent letter in which Andy is explaining why a mission is fun.
“A mission is a wonderful opportunity for learning. everyday we have three hours of study time. we study the scriptures, church magazines, the missionary library (Jesus the Christ, Our Search for Happiness, Our Heritage. etc.) and so on. but whats more than just learning things, is learning to love learning. As I’ve been able to really search the scriptures, I’ve learned a lot about the gospel and found a lot of spiritual strength, and because of this I’ve grown to love learning from the scriptures. It’s more than just a commandment or a nagging chore, there are wonderful benefits to be realized from reading the scriptures. This is also true with some of the awesome magazines and books the church publishes. The Ensign, Jesus the Christ, Our Heritage, and Our Search for Happiness have all made it on “must read” list. I’ve learned a lot from them. And i love that. I like being able to see that I’ve grown, learned, improved, etc.”
“But not just studying, learning comes from everything you do as a missionary. it’s up to every missionary to find the secrets to missionary work. And when it feels like you’ve found them, that feels good. There are so many phases and sides to doing missionary work. A missionary may be great at teaching, but horrible at finding, for example. Learning to be a great missionary in ALL of the different phases of the work is a long process, but when you see yourself succeeding in them, it’s a very satisfying thing indeed.”
“You also learn a lot about yourself; your weaknesses, your strengths, etc. and not just as a missionary, but as a human being, as a spirit son or daughter of God. You can recognize how you need to improve as a person in order to live more happily and benefit those around you. You have a lot of oppurtunities to break bad habits, such as using inapropriate slang, criticizing others, complaining, gossipping, and all the other easy habits so many let slip into their lives. You get a good outlook on the rest of your life and can see what you need to do right now, spiritually, to prepare for it. Once again, seeing yourself become better in these areas is rewarding.”
If you read all that, then you’ll realize what a great son Andy is. I really miss him, and the countdown is on until he comes back around the beginning of March ’08.
all the colors 