Elder Bee-gur-low

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had an awesome week!

The countdown to the plane ride is officially on. I leave to Korea a week from Monday, and I am so ready to go. You just know that you have been in the MTC for too long when you start to think that jeans are immodest... I need to get back to the real world. I should be receiving my flight plans and full Korean nametag tomorrow, and I could not be more excited. My last name for the next 22 months will most likely be  비글로, pronounced (bee-gur-low), I can't wait for people to call me that.

The language is coming, still slowly, but we're getting so much better at teaching. Korean is interesting because when you speak, you really cut the fat. Koreans don't have time to use unnecessary words like you, the, a, etc. For example, the sentence "I do not want to go to sacrament meeting" is 3 words in Korean.

If you don't like my tidbits of Korean language lessons, please also disregard this next paragraph. Because Korean pronunciation blows my mind and I've got to tell you about it. So this has now become an interactive email. Say the words "bad" and "pad" while feeling your throat. Notice that your mouth makes the same exact shape for the "b" and "P" sounds. The only difference is that your throat vibrates while you say the 'b' sound but not the 'p' sund. When your throat vibrates, it is known as a voiced consonant. The same principle applies to words like 'veal' and 'feel'. The 'v' consonant is voiced in the English language and the 'f' sound is not. Now, Korean does not have voiced consonants. So try saying letters like b,bb,d,dd,g,gg,t,n,s without allowing your throat to voice those consonants. Welcome to Korean class.

I do really love the Korean language though, it is so fun to learn. People at the MTC probably think I'm a weirdo because I talk to myself all the time now, practicing Korean of course. A fair warning though, please do not expect me to use "yes" and "no" in English for at least 2 weeks when I get home, I already have a hard time when I speak to non-Koreans.

One really cool thing that somebody from the older district gave me was a side-by-side English-Korean Preach My Gospel. On one page is the English, then the opposite page is in Korean. It weighs like 10 pounds but it is so worth it. I also somehow acquired a Spanish language learning book, which doesn't quite make sense but I'm going to keep it and maybe even study it if I'm feeling up to using a third language.

Luckily, the MTC is not all Korean, and we get to learn a language here that is much more important than Korean, and that is the language of the Spirit. I think part of the reason I'm learning Korean is because I needed a lot more than twelve days to learn how to be a missionary. I love all of the study and instruction we receive, and the teachers here do a great job of emphasizing that learning a language is not in our Missionary purpose, but inviting all to come unto Christ is. I've learned so much here about having faith in Christ and relying on the Holy Ghost, the MTC is such a special place. Thank you all for your prayers! The Internet at the MTC/BYU has been bad all day, so I was very worried that I wouldn't be able to thank you all this week. All of your emails and prayers give me strength and courage to open my mouth and declare the glad tidings of the gospel.

사랑해요!

- 비글로 장로

Korean word of the week: 침례 (cheem-nay) "baptism"