Dear Family, I'm still doing excellent. My study become more diligent all of the time. Still loving the scriptures and still loving Korean. Last Friday night, we had a skype TRC lesson with a member in Korea. His name is brother Park and quite honestly I barely understood anything he was saying. I had to sit and think about every sentence he gave us and even then, I could only understand very little of what came out of his mouth. None the less, I tried my best to understand, and I bore my testimony of the true and divine nature of Christ's gospel. I'm excited to go to Busan. I'm excited to struggle with the language, but I'm more excited than anything to bring the gospel to the Korean people. Especially the families. This gospel has the power to strengthen and heal our familial relationships. The love I feel from my family is something I hope everyone can one day feel. As of recent I've gained a stronger testimony of the power of repentance. I know, and I use the word know because I've experienced it, that through the atonement the burden of our sins can be taken from us. Christ bore all things for us, and because of that, we don't have to. God would didn't send his son to earth to condemn us, but to save us. He has faith in us, and in turn we must have faith in him. Christ taught to love our neighbors as we'd love ourselves. That goes both ways. When someone trespasses against us, we don't hold that sin over their heads for time and all eternity. This same teaching commands us to forgive ourselves. The atonement is real and for our own good, we should apply its power in our lives.

Spencer: I haven't been hearing much from you, bruh. How's the pool? and school? and Tanika? How big are your arms? Can you toss a horse? Also, I printed out the Why Was I Born A Train picture and posted it up in the dorms. One Elder is deathly afraid of it. In fact, when no one was around, he crinkled it up and threw it away. It was okay because I had five extra copies which I proceeded to pass around the zone. It's a big hit among most of the missionaries here.

Brooke: How are you guy? Did you win anything at Shakespeare? Who are you hanging out with? Are you reading the scriptures? Can Brodie Ripple toss a horse? 

Eliza: Thanks for writing so much, dude. I definitely agree with what you said in your letter. If we pray for help, the Lord will offer us ways to learn/help ourselves. One of the best ways to receive personal revelation is through scripture study. I want you to try your best to read at least fifteen minutes a day from the BOM or The New Testament. Also, are you sure your choir teacher is picking on you? Maybe he asked you to sing a solo because he realizes that 1. You have a good voice 2. You're ten times more mature than other middle school kids and would not cry if he critiqued you. God Speed, Little Sister.

Katie: Hey, dude! What's up with you as of recently? How's Ballroom going? Last I heard from you there was a little bit of friend drama. I hope it's cleared up! The best way to handle that kind of thing is to ask yourself "How can I do this in a way Jesus might?" and then do it! 

Lilly: I heard you have a backflip. I'm so jealous. I met a boy named Elder Cowden this week. He's going to Japan and he's very good at martial arts tricking and doing flips. How is school going? Are you having a fun time with your friend and teacher? How are Emmie and Suede?

Mom: I'm glad you're doing well. I hope you've been sleeping better. I want some pictures of everyone's Halloween costumes. I think I'm going to dress up as an investigator of the church for Halloween. Thrilling, right?

Dad: Glad to hear you're keeping your hustle one, bruh. Thank's for helping Dave out and being a friend. Yet again, I'm so thankful for the example my parents have set for me. Believe it or not, I'm on time to stuff and I keep my living space clean. Sorry to hear about your tooth. I bet if you did Yoga, your teeth would be less brittle. Maybe you should give that a try?

Anyway, I love you all tons. I'm so excited to go teach the gospel in Busan. The Church is true. God loves us and will always be there for us. No matter how many times we screw up, because of the atonement, we can be forgiven and move on.

Now, here is a list of funny things that happened this week that I feel I should share (Please edit for the appropriateness of the blog post):

-There is a new Elder here named Elder . He is very short and looks incredibly similar to none other than Mr. Bean. When we speak Korean to him, he gets frustrated and usually says something to the effect of "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? I'VE ONLY BEEN HERE FOR THREE DAYS!

- A certain Elder who will go without being named really enjoys the sound of his own voice. He often offers monolagues (spelling?) about his conversion story and how much he misses his parents. Very rarely are they relevant to what we're talking about. It's an excellent opportunity to practice my quiet dignity.

- We watched The Mountain of The Lord on Sunday night. It's a movie about the building of the Salt Lake temple and it's particularly bland. The only part that caught my eye was when two men were climbing the mountain in the rain with dynamite in their bags. One man slipped off the cliff, and rolled off screen. The other man then yells "JIIIMMMMM!", as an explosion happens off screen. Considering that this was the only part of the movie I really watched, I bust out laughing and struggled to re gather myself.

- The word for Plan of Salvation in Korean sounds like "Goo-wan-eh-ke-hwek". This inspired Elder Harkness and I to dream up a film of the same title about a Mexican family who tries to build a mini mall on an Indian reservation. There's conflict, but when the daughter of the Mexican business man falls in love with the Indian Chiefs daughter, they put aside their cultural differences and are able to live together in harmony. The film ends with the Mexicans and Indian doing a line dance on the reservation as the Goo-wan-eh-ke-hwek dance remix plays

That's about all for this week. Love you tons! Strength and Honor!