Chase's "Crazy First Week"

Family and Friends,

Wow this week has gone by super fast, but the first few days were the longest of my life.  My companion's name is Elder Bluhm and he is from Kansas City.  I live with two other Elders who are Elder Manwaring and Elder Polincky.  They are from Springville and South Dakota respectively. We are part of a district that is going to Seoul.  Our district has eight Elders and two Sisters.  In the big group that came into the MTC on July 2nd, there were 34 missionaries learning Korean.  I am amazed at how fast I am learning Korean.  I can already read, write, pray, testify, sing, and teach in Korean.  However, it's not as fluent as I would like it to be.  We have taught four lessons completely in Korean to our "investigator." The first one of which was on our third day here.  It is truly astounding how much one can learn with and through the spirit.  Don't get me wrong though, this language is by far from easy.

I've had a lot of interesting experiences so far.  During class one day, I got a super bad bloody nose.  I'm convinced that it was because I was focusing way too hard on Korean.  Our district's teacher is Brother Christensen.  He is a returned missionary from Seoul and he brings the spirit into the room like no one else.  I feel constantly surrounded and uplifted by the spirit that is here. Elder Polincky got assigned as our district leader in our Zone that includes 79 Korean missionaries.  Here's a few highlights.  The 4th of July was great because we were able to hear so awe-inspiring music and watch 17 Miracles.  Afterward, we watched the fireworks and had an ice cream bar.  The National Anthem broke out among all the missionaries; it was pretty great.  I've played a lot of basketball during gym time, but the gym is closed down for about three weeks for resurfacing.  So, we have started to play quite a bit of soccer which is just as fun.

I can already tell that Sunday's and Tuesday's are the best days at the MTC.  On Fast Sunday, our meeting was entirely in Korean.  I understood barely any of it.  We then had a great devotional by Josh Wright, a concert pianist.  Afterward, we watched "The Character of Christ" by David A. Bednar.  Its an understatement when I say that talk was life changing.  On Tuesday, we heard from Apostle Neil L. Andersen as he talked about the Holy Ghost.  That was quite the privilege. 

Lastly, the food is pretty dang good for cafeteria standards.  However, I'm not too worried about gaining weight because I ate much more at home anyways.  Thank you for all the wonderful support that I have received.  I can feel your prayers as I put in some very hard work.

Your Favorite Missionary,

Elder Wheeler