One month and 3 days to go in the Empty Sea

Hello!!

This has and will be a week of change around here.  Right now there are just 6 Korean speaking missionaries--four sisters and two elders.  This week we will get twelve new missionaries--six sisters and six elders. Go sisters, right? One of the sisters is coming tonight. She is from Mongolia and apparently already speaks Korean. SYL (Speak Your Language) will be an absolute must with her, I suppose. We are excited. We made their beds for them today. It will be strange to be the "older" district, but it means that time is moving and progress (hopefully) is being made. They are starting a more intensive language training on August 1st that we will be subject to. Should be interesting.

I came here (the MTC) with a bit of a cold. This cold has somehow made its way around our district and now mutated just enough to get me sick again. It hasn't been too bad, but last night I was coughing a lot and decided a bathroom trip was in order. It was about 2 AM. I walked out the door, took one step into the bathroom and the fire alarm went off. It felt like it may have been my fault, but I just moseyed(sp?) back into my room, grabbed some shoes as we all sleepily shuffled out to the parking lot last night. It was quite the scene. Apparently it wasn't a drill. Everyone blamed me for pulling the alarm. I wish I would have thought of it sooner...anyway, we got back in the building about 2:35 and back to sleep we went.

We've been playing basketball a lot. Sister Brady, my companion, accuses me of using my elbows. She's about 5'8" and my elbows are at about gut height for her. I don't know. Maybe I do. Short people can get away with anything. It's all in good fun. I learned all I know from my father, king of the elbows. Maybe I learned a little from wearing that Karl Malone jersey all the time too--by osmosis or something. Needless to say, our companionship is better when we don't guard each other. Ha.

Korean is still hard, but still fun. It's essentially a puzzle or math equation, neither of which I'm really all that predisposed to be good at, but the beat goes on. Some of my favorite things I learned this week are "suffer much," a saying Koreans say as they depart from one another. It is supposedly a great honor to suffer...somewhat humorous, but I enjoy it. Also, in our TASK for the week (a meal with someone interested in the church), we learned how to say a funny popular Korean joke: Two people are eating, (in this case, my companion and I) one person dies (my companion), I will not know (because I will be too busy eating the delicious meal you prepared). I can't wait to learn more quirky jokes like these. Morbidity is a major plus in my book. Keep it coming, Korea.

Yesterday, we helped our third companion, Sister Richardson, take all her stuff to the bus headed to the airport. It was the first time that I realized one day I'm actually going to leave this place...reality set in a little bit. Sister Richardson was really fun to get to know and she will do well in Korea. She has the habit of courteously picking up trash wherever/whenever she sees it. It will be a little more challenging to do so in Korea. I am excited to go. We leave August 29th, which really isn't all that far away.

Although Korean is still hard it's getting better. I think it is especially fun to sing the hymns in Korean. They try to make words like "alleluia" phonetic in Hangul, but since they don't really have an "L" sound, it turns out like "arayrooya." Basically it just sounds like Scooby Doo is giving the hymns the ol' college try.

We got to go to the temple again today, which was nice. It was closed last month for cleaning. It's always good to be back there. I'm surprised at how much I can know/feel there.

I guess I'm short on words today. A few to each of you:

Mom: I don't know if Laura sent you an email about your letters to me--I hope it wasn't construed as offensive--I was under the impression you were writing frequent online updates and I didn't want you to have to write them twice if you were too busy. I have loved your letters and the amount of detail you put into them! I just didn't want to be the cause of excess work. Love you. Thank you for your thoughtfulness!

Dad: I love how your letters seem to cover all the bases--humor, spiritual insight and vigor for life.  Thank you for writing in spite of your busy schedule.  Here's to smothering the homebody-in-bed-by-10:30 right out of you, one red-eye island flight at a time.

Nick: I hope work and prep is still going well. Thanks for writing to me often, I love hearing from you!

Megan: I will write you later today! Here's to hoping zig-zag is not a solo affair this week.

Charlotte: Thank you for both your email and the pictures you sent this week. I love them!! Can't believe Bennett is already one year old. He is a dream boy in the cake pic. Good luck with the prep to move to Calgary. Tell Matt hello and kiss the boys for me. Also, DearElders come daily and they print them out and give them to us.

Matt: Hope work is going well. You look really happy (what's new?) in the pics Charlotte sent. I hope appearances are true. I hope you're enjoying work and are excited about the new project!

Laura: Baby time!!! Getting so so close. Are you done with work yet? Thank you for doing all the errands I ask you to do. You are a gem. I thought about you in a very specific way today (as vague as that sentence is). I'll try and write you later today.

Robert: Are you ready for school or what? How much more time at work? I hope things are going well and you've kept up the tradition of fairway lawns at the Mecham abode.

Love you all very much!

Sis. Julia Mecham

20 seconds remaining

Hello to all!

 

This week has been an interesting one--a little more variety than I'm used to here at the MTC. The first big surprise is the TRC (Teaching Resource Center) experience we had. Usually on Saturdays, volunteers (who speak Korean in our case) come and act like people who may be interested in the church and allow us to practice teaching them. Usually these volunteers are LDS, usually BYU students or Koreans living in the area. When we walked in the room we saw a Korean guy in his 20s--nothing atypical. Initially we had to do our TASK, which this time was to teach someone in Korean how to pray and why we pray. As we taught, although we didn't understand everything, we could tell that this guy was much more intent on knowing why we believed these things than a "fake" investigator might be. Actually, I couldn't really tell (ha), but Sister Brady, in her discerning way, was piecing things together. He wanted to know how we knew that and why he hadn't received answers to some of his prayers. When the TASK is over, we're given about ten minutes to prepare a lesson based on the needs that we assessed from the TASK. In that time, Sister Brady asserted that he might not actually be Mormon. When we went back in to teach the lesson, we expected him to play the role given to him by the TRC--a Catholic, not really interested in the message of the restoration. Luckily we could talk in English during the lesson. We discovered he is from Korea, that he is studying at the English Learning Center that is somehow associated with the BYU campus. We found out that his dad passed away not too long ago. We also found out that he served a mission for a year, but had a really hard time with his companions and felt like he was lying to people when he told them the church was true. I guess he had this breaking point where he prayed for over an hour and felt absolutely nothing. It was about then that he decided to go home. His name is Tao Ni (sp?). He will be in Utah for about two more weeks. Instead of playing his normal role, ('initially he said, 'I think I'm supposed to be Catholic?'), we told him he could be himself. He said, "Okay, then I'm Jack Mormon." A first for us and a rarity for the MTC. We told him about our experiences with prayer, why we as individuals pray and how that helps us. He said he doesn't think feelings are a reliable source of knowledge, but let us share our thoughts openly. He says that everyone has feelings about the religion they're attached to. When I asked him what he thought the purpose of life was, he said happiness...in my head I later thought, "Isn't happiness a state of being based on the long term feelings and emotions it sustains? How can we find truth/happiness if we are not willing to trust feelings?" We asked him to pray this week. He said he would try. It was not a contentious lesson, though it could have been if we had taken a different approach. I am not really into contention, as many of you know. We asked him to come back this week, he said maybe. We're hoping that's not the polite maybe, but that he receives an answer he can trust enough so we can talk to him again.  It was really quite cool. I have a hard time role playing and felt the spirit more strongly because it was a "real" situation. TRC in a few days. Hopefully Tao Ni will be there.

 

It is hard not to compare yourself around here. I have promised myself I would avoid it, but the temptation to do so inevitably creeps in every now and then. One of our teachers at zone conference had us read 1 Cor. 12 (read it!), that talks about the gifts of the spirit and how they cannot be compared because they are all needed.  Sometimes I can be a little insecure about what I have to say or how I can help, but I love verses 19-22:

 

"But now are they many members, yet but one body.  And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.  Nay, muhc more those members of the body which seem to be more feeble, are necessary." 

 

Comparison is not possible when we are united in purpose and love. It was reassuring for me. It is helping me rejoice in the success of others and see my own success more readily and gratefully.

 

The older districts left to go to Korea/Vancouver yesterday. It made this entire experience more real. The Koreans that were here for three weeks were so funny about it. They said that their love for the MTC was greater than their love for kimchi--quite the feat. It is interesting how my perception of age and time are so skewed here, that people seem older because they have more experience/knowledge, even if it's just 6 weeks more than I have. Once the elders put on gym shorts they look 19 again, which is bizarre. It was sad to see them go and to realize that we are now the older district....in fact, the only district. Currently there are just 8 of us going Korean speaking who are here. Missions are a string of hellos and goodbyes, for us, for those we teach. We have to say hello and goodbye to people, weaknesses, trust, familiarity, etc. over and over. But it is good. I like the cyclical nature of it thus far. 

 

After church this Sunday, I accompanied the older districts, including the native Koreans as they sang a native Korean folk song called "Ari Rang." It is beautiful and pentatonic, as you might expect. Koreans sing with reckless abandon. It is not pretty in the conventional sense of the word, but it is pretty because they are so convicted and committed to the songs. I love that they don't care how they sound. It makes singing with them really fun. I have missed that abandon that comes with singing in a large unabashed group. I think it is indicative of the way they live. Simply and convicted.

 

This week we heard from a few interesting speakers who told us that a good missionary is a tired missionary, and that we need to continue to serve with unwearyingness. Oooph. I do miss my naps, but my faith has been strengthened by the way I have been sustained in my tiredness.

 

We went to the doctor with one of the sisters that had to stay back this week. Her name is Sister Richardson. She will be our companion this week. I feel badly that she had to stay behind. Hopefully she will get to go by Monday.

 

Dad and Mom-

Thank you for your letters. Mom, thanks for the watch! I love it. I forgot to tell you. I'm glad you are doing well and gaining many National Geographic experiences...

 

Char and Matt-

Hope you are well. Thank you for your notes along the way. Keep me updated on the boyzzzz

 

Nick-

Thank you for your letter! I will do my best to write you back today. Sounds like you are doing well. Glad you have a little more time to study for the bar.

 

Meg-

Hope going under the knife went okay. I forgot to thank you for doing my errands (watch, shower sandals etc.) You are a gem.

 

Ladi-

Baby time! Thank you for your notes always!

 

Bob-

Sounds like you're still holding down the fort. You are great.

 

Love you all!

Julia

almost one month down...

Hello family and anyone else who happens to come upon this!

 

This week was the first week I really had to think about what I wanted to tell you. In other words, it was the first week every day felt very, very similar. I have to make a conscious effort to note how I'm feeling and what sets days apart from each other now. I like it better when I make that effort, but sometimes 6:30 in the morning comes too soon and it feels like 6:30 all day long. It was nice to hear from so many of you this week. Thank you for your notes, insight, encouragement and love. You help me keep the days straight and my heart full.

 

On a particular day that I had been more flustered than normal with Korean, I sat in the lobby of our residence hall so I could study and try and clear things up.  I was with my companion, Sister Brady (who is still as patient with me as ever). One of the Korean sisters, Sister Jeon saw that we were studying and offered to help us immediately. I'm sure she had much to do herself, but she graciously offered her personal time to help us. I know I'm not supposed to have favorites, but she is a favorite. She is the kind of person that beams contagiously. She spent a year at BYU studying English before she came on a mission, so she has been a nice liason between the two groups. I hadn't gotten to know much about her prior to her helping us with our Korean. This is what I wrote in my journal about her:

 

"What a day. Just when I thought to throw my hands up in frustration, I learned ye another important lesson.  After a day of completely massacring Korean in both teaching lessons and class, I came back to the residence hall flustered and uncertain of myself. 

 

Brady Cha Mae Nim and I went to study in the lobby, where Jeon Cha Mae Nim offered to help us. Her faith is so apparent to me.  I am always impressed by her disposition and beaming spirit.  She is good to always speak to us in Korean first and then translate into English if we don't understand.  I asked if her family was LDS.  She said no, that her father doesn't have religion and her mom is Buddhist.  Jeon Cha Mae Nim is a convert to the church of just two years.  When she studied Chinese in China she met some BYU students who were also studying there.  She took the missionary lessons in Korea. Her parents didn't and still don't understand her at all. Recently, when she expressed desires to serve a mission they thought she was crazy.  As she carefully explained that doing this would mean a lot to her and bring great blessings to her and their family, they consented. She talked about how she decided not to go back to Korea after school was over because she was afraid her family might convince her not to go on a mission. She told me how this first week has been a lot of realizing how little she knows as far as facts and doctrine, but how much she knows in her heart, how strongly she feels. I could tell that about her, from the beginning.

 

How refreshing to have my sorry, mopey concerns put in perspective by someone with such great faith and optimism. I feel rejuvinated by her, her story,  and her determination to preach what she knows and know that is enough for now."

 

 

I am so happy she is going to Busan too. I know her sincerity will transcend any doctrinal barrier she encounters, and that people will feel that. A good lesson. It's interesting to meet someone whose course seems to be diametrically opposed to mine. I love learning how we got to the same place by a different route. She knows Korean/English, is a recent convert, has some insecurity about her knowledge of the fundamentals, but knows what she feels. I am a lifetime member of the church with a family who are also lifetime members of the church, I don't know Korean and feel insecure about that, I feel okay in my doctrinal understanding, and I hope that what I feel will transcend language barriers.

 

It broke my heart to hear about Michael's struggles this week. I love him very much and I'm grateful that he has all of you to help him through this. I'm going to send him a letter today, but if it doesn't get there in time, please let him know of my love. I think it is no coincedence that we have been practicing teaching lesson two (The Plan of Salvation) this week. It has been a great source of comfort to me. Our pains and sorrows, even the grave, shall have no victory.

 

This week Sister Brady got called to be the new coordinating sister (sort of like a zone leader for sisters), as the "older" group is going to Korea in six days. I had been teasing her that I thought she might end up in that position--she just has the skills/demeanor for it. When the first counselor in the branch presidency pulled us aside on Sunday, I thought I knew what she had coming. He then proceeded to call me to the position--yes, disorganized, unaffectionate me. I accepted and figured that things would work out. Sister Brady told me that's what I get for teasing her about it. Five minutes later we were once again pulled aside as the second counselor apologized and told us that he had accidentally mixed us up...and Sister Brady accepted the call. My five minutes as the coordinating sister were pure bliss. Ha. Sister Brady will do well and I look forward to supporting her in her call (what is this, marriage or something? companionships are weird.)

 

We played kickball yesterday, as the gym is closed so they can refinish the floor. This place is a lot like elementary school. Sister Brady nearly got mowed down by a huge Elder as he ran to first base after a toe punch kick to left field. It was hilarious. Everyone still goes dead silent when a tray is dropped in the cafeteria. And chocolate milk for every meal is fine with me.

 

I'm still doing well. I have felt some pressure to study everything NOW. But I don't work like that. I do more thinking than reading and I get more done that way. I learn a lot from a little when I let the spirit pass through me. Luke wrote me a letter about his skin being permeable, like it's a dotted line. When I think of my soul that way, so much more gets to me, passes through me. I am taught so much. This is a good thing I am doing.

 

I love you all!

 

Sis. J. Mecham

another one down

Hello choae gajok!

 

Well, it certainly has been nice to hear from a few of you this week. Thank you for writing to me! It is often a nice treat at the end of the day.

The biggest news of the week has been hanging out with the native Koreans. There are three sisters and eight elders. They are quirky, energetic, affectionate people. I love them, even though I have no idea what they're saying and vice versa. Most of them actually know a lot of English, but they're trying to let us use our Korean. It's a struggle.  One of my favorite things is that they are so expressive. Two hands for everything: waving, peace signs, giving you something, using their fork and knife to eat doughnuts, etc. They are just such kind and gracious people. They compliment us on our Korean if we can even say hello. They are sweet.

The other day we taught the Korean sisters how to play frisbee. I guess we taught them two things: charades AND frisbee. We don't have the frisbee vocabulary down quite yet. It was really funny. They get so embarrassed when they can't throw it well.  Funny how simple games become complicated when you've never played them before--it's probably a similar sentiment for them regarding the Korean language. 

It has been fun to watch them attempt to enjoy our food. Food is a big deal in Korean culture. You eat what you're given and you compliment the chef extensively. We had pizza at the cafeteria the other day and one by one the elders tried the pizza. Each of their reactions were subtle, unique but demonstrated their distaste for American pizza. It is especially fun to try and figure out personalities without knowing their language very well.  We also gave the sisters some Sour Patch watermelons the other day. They hate sour things! Not quite as subtle as the elders, but they faithfully finished their one piece of candy...

Fast and testimony meeting was incredible. I understood every twentieth word or so. Is this really the language we're trying to learn? Even with the language barrier, I could feel the spirit, the sincerity of testimonies gained in a distant country, and in that way I felt unified with these gracious people who know what I know. The language of their hearts is both the same and different. It was a lovely feeling. I got to play piano for sacrament meeting, which was surprisingly fun. I miss music.

Speaking of food, the MTC is rocking us. Church jokes get really funny on your mission. Three weeks in and I've already decided that. We have coined the phrase "there is apostasy going on in my stomach." Needless to say, we can't wait for each new dispensation. To be blunt, there have been far too many false prophets doing their thing lately.

This Sunday, Jenny Oaks Baker came and played violin/spoke at the MTC devotional. I didn't realize the extent of her music education background (Juliard, National Symphony Orchestra etc.) It was really great to hear an incredible performer. Instead of hurried, scribbled notes, I got to close my eyes and feel something without trying to capture it immediately. That's part of what I love about music. You can feel it, know that it's moving you, and be okay with that moving. You don't have to define it right away. It feels good to feel. This was the first time that I had time to miss playing music.

This last Saturday we had some 4th of July festivities. It was kind of ironic to spend Independence Day with a companion attached to my hip. Dependence Day, really. But, in seriousness, this Independence Day is what gave us freedom of religion and ushered in what I know to be true. In a display of mercy, the MTC held a fireside about liberty, spreading the gospel to the world complete with bagpipes, singing (You're a Grand Ol' Flag!, Yankee Doodle etc. Did not really make me miss music), bagpipes, key note speakers and ice cream bars. They even let us stay up past our bedtime, eat ice cream bars and watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks that were going off at Lavell Edwards Stadium down the street. It was actually pretty fun, as any break from routine tends to be. Rumor had it that they wanted to shield us from any semblance of worldy entertainment, including lo-fi echoes off the east mountains of  performances by David Archulleta of Brad Paisley....but rumor always has it, doesn't it? I think I'll be begging for another break from the routine in a month or so.

Charlotte sent me a letter this week that has helped me begin an important shift of thought. It contained no new advice, necessarily, but as I told her, when someone close to you tells you something it takes on more meaning. I think God puts people in our lives so he can speak to us through them, knowing we would hear him more clearly--knowing that perhaps they are the only person we would be willing to listen to, as they say things so bluntly. I am grateful for Charlotte and her boldness. Her lines that may very well become my mission motto:

"If you focus on yourself and how good you can/should be instead of how good you can help others become, you will have a headache your whole mission."

Lovely simple truths that resound.

Learning a language by way of a specific topic is crazy. I can bear my testimony, pray, invite people to make commitments, schedule appointments, but common conversation lacks deeply. I miss the stupid phrases we learn in Spanish 1, like "my dog eats faster than your cat." Or even, "How was your day?" Soon enough. It forces me to be simple in a way I don't believe I could be in my own language. Maybe that's why I'm learning a new language. Simplicity. It is both frustrating and refreshing.

My favorite spiritual insight of the week is that Christ is both the author and finisher of our faith (Moroni 6: 1-4). He is the reason we can have faith, and he also makes up the difference for us when we exercise that faith. Pretty cool.

Love you all! Thank you for loving me

Sis. Julia Mecham