Week 2 in the MTC

It's Missionary Tuesday! YAY! I'm not sure why the background is gray but oh well.


Hey everyone,

So this week has been pretty good. It sounds like you guys had a good time in Vegas and saw the Lion King. That's not a bad way to spend Thanksgiving. But I think I can top it. Elder Holland spoke to us Thursday morning. He brought his whole family with him and had his grandchildren sing for us. It was really cool. And since we were away from our families for Thanksgiving, he said we could be part of the Holland family for the day. So I have a new claim to fame. We did a big service project later that day as well. We put together backpack kits. We cut out the fabric for the bag and straps and all that. Between all the missionaries we made 33,400 backpacks. Not too bad.

I heard it snowed down there. That's awesome. It snowed up here on Sunday and all the snow is still on the ground. It was cool for about the first 10 minutes then it got cold. I think I'll need another sweater but don't send one yet because I think they sell them at the book store here and I get really good discounts. So I'll let you know on that. Gym is still awesome. I've moved on to playing volleyball. It's so fun. And I think my skills have gotten tons better since I played last.

Kadin. I'm sorry about your foot. That's rough. But those boot things look kinda fun. And I'm not surprised you missed the end of the Lion King. Hopefully you liked the parts you saw. I'm learning a lot of Korean words. Or at least I'm trying to. We're learning a lot of grammar rules in class. Korean is confusing. It's like a big math problem. But it's fun to speak some of it. I have heard of Unstoppable. It looked pretty intense. I'll have to see it when I get home. Keep a list of all the good movies that come out so I can see them when I get back. And don't hope for snow because that means ten times more snow up here and I don't want that. Haha.

Kylie. Way to go on the Geckathon! That's a good time. You'll have to keep track of your gloves next time. Just keep running and swimming and biking and you'll get better and better. Thanks for the delayed "Happy Thanksgiving" it was a good one. I'm trying to stay warm up here. Luckily I'm inside 98% of the day so it's not too bad. My big winter coat comes in handy for the other 2%.

Danielle. My day goes something like this. Wake up. Get ready. Go to class and read scriptures for about an hour. Go to breakfast. Go to class. Go to lunch. Go to class. Go to dinner. Go to class. Go to bed. Depending on the day we'll have a fireside or devotional. Oh and gym sometime between there. But that's basically it. For the next 10 weeks. It's...awesome. Haha. They give us 30 minutes to plan for the next day but it takes like 10 seconds becuase it's the same thing. But it's not bad. I at least know I'll have food to eat and have a place to sleep.

Mom. I have no idea what you're talking about with your elf guy. But that sounds tragic. Hopefully it all works out. We've learned a little bit of the culture but not much. If we go to someone's house to teach, we take off our shoes in a shoe pit by the door and then walk in and sit on the floor. I think that's pretty sweet. But I need to start working on my flexibility. We also learned that is it FREEZING cold. Everyone who has been there said they thought they were going to die. I guess the winds from Siberia blow down and make the humid air super cold. And everyone smells like kim chi. So basically I'll come back as a moldy block of ice that smells like kim chi. I won't have a social life for a couple weeks when I get back. But that's cool. It's all part of the experience. Oh we got some native Koreans yesterday! I haven't talked to them much but everyone loves them. They're only here for a few weeks then they head back to Korea for their missions. I'm excited to hear about your guy's Korean kids. That's going to be so fun. Well my time is about up. I'm still doing good. I'm working hard and learning a lot. Talk to you next week.

Love, Elder Dorius

First email in the MTC!!!

My mom just called and said: "I got an email! I got an email! I got an email!" We're all pretty excited, but especially her. Today is her birthday and what better way to celebrate than getting a letter from her missionary!



Hey mom and everyone else,

First of all Happy Birthday! I was so excited to find out I was able to email you on your birthday. Second of all use DearElder.com or whatever it is. It prints it off as a letter and I can read it during the week. Because right now I have 24 minutes to write this email. Everything is great! I love the MTC. The Spirit is so strong and you can feel it everywhere. There's about 30 new Korean elders that arrived the same day as me. Four are from St. George. Three of those are in my district and one of them is my companion, Elder Pulsipher aka "the kid from Bloomington Hills area." He's great. We get along really well. Elder Stanley is not in my dristrict unfortunately. But I still see him around a lot and he's doing good as well. The Korean Elders are seriously the best. They're all so friendly. After the first day I felt like they were all life long friends. We have the best teachers as well. Brother Ball and Sister Lloyd. They're so cool and they are so good at teaching the Gospel and Korean. I know how to pray and testify in Korean now. I feel so cool. But it's still a lot of work. My favorite part of the day is gym. I really enjoy the break from classes. Some of the cho-no-nim (elders) in my district have been doing some workout program things. Whatever they're called. I don't work out. Well I do now. And Dad, it is not true that I can fall asleep anywhere. It takes so long to fall asleep here. And Danielle, yeah you can babysit Launa for the time being. I trust you and Jesse. Just make she stays in tune and is in a comfortable place to sleep. That will make her happy. It snowed on like the second day here. I've gotten good use out of my winter coat and v-neck sweater. Those are pretty popular here. I took your advice dad and joined the choir. It's so fun. We're singing an arrangement of Come Thou Fount. It really helps invite the Spirit. Well I only have about 4 minutes left. I'm trying to think of more to say. Just because it's your birthday mom. However I don't know what else to say. Everything is good. I'm working hard and staying busy. Hopefully I answered all the questions. If not use dear elder next time. Love you all!

Elder Dorius

MTC Drop off

It could not have been a more perfect day to drop Elder Dorius off at the MTC. The sun was shining and it was even almost warm.

We somehow didn't shed a tear (today) but instead dropped him off with excitement for his next two years.

Brunch at Dennys

It was bright outside. We had a hard time getting a picture with all of our eyes open.

Hugs to last a couple of years.

Brad's Farewell

Brad's farewell was Sunday November 14th and he talked about how the Aaronic Priesthood has prepared him for a mission. He did such a great job and shared many examples in his life of how he has been prepared to go and serve the people of Korea. Our house was filled with family and friends afterward sharing their love and support. Brad couldn't have asked for a better support group.

Brad and his youngest cousin Easton who is 5 months old.

Brotherly love!

Brad and Jesse's relationship in pictures
We love you Brad!