Austin's 6th Letter from the MTC

It's always amazing how we continue to progress in Korean. A few highlights from this week are "I think" (it seems) form, and "I have never/have you ever?" form. Aside from vocabulary, which is a given in any language, basically we're just learning tons of forms, which just stack on the verbs. It's crazy how long a single verb can get! Practically everything is communicated in the verb. 

We hosted again, which is always fun. I got to do two of them, both going to West Campus, (where all the Spanish speakers go) so that didn't take long. We only had around 250 missionaries this week. In a couple of months after school ends, they get around 600+ every single week. We got 5 Sisters and 1 Elder this week. We haven't talked to any of them for more than a few minutes late since our schedules are different, so impressions haven't really sunk in yet. 

The weather here has been picturesque, almost too warm at times. We study outside a lot, and one of our "investigators" was "evicted" so we teach him in a "park," outside now! You can tell he loves the weather as much as we do. :)

To Nick: I did wear your tie! And one of the Korean Elders (Elder Ha) really, really liked it... and... we traded ties. So now it's chilling in K-Town! I got a really neat tie in return, and it bonded us. On the back of his tie, he wrote "I <3 Y," which I thought was hilarious since we write "U," for phonetic reasons. 

On our last night with the Koreans, they sang the EFY medley in Korean for us. It was so good. Afterwards, as is our tradition, we sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again," (in Korean, of course). It was difficult saying goodbye to the great Elders and Sisters after only a few weeks. We all write in each other's journals whenever a group leaves, and, after some meticulous translating, I discovered that one of the Sisters said I was like Winnie the Pooh, which another one of them had said (in English!)! 

On that same note, the other day, in between Conference sessions, some of the Sisters and Elders from the other side of the hall (which is pretty much the rest of East Asia) said that my voice reminded them of Baluu the Bear, from the Jungle Book! I sang a couple bars of "Bear Necessities" for them, and they loved it. Interesting, huh?

I cannot emphasize how great Brother Egget, our choir director, is. I am so excited for our Easter Devotional. We'll be singing a selection of songs, for a general authority! All of you should recognize Brother Egget... he directed at conference! Wow!

Last Sunday, for our Sunday evening devotional, you'll never believe who sang: Vocal Point! I had no clue who they were, but apparently they're pretty big. They're a BYU Capella group, and they were incredible. 

After that, we watched the long version of the "Restoration" movie, and it was so spiritually powerful. I received the strongest witness that I ever have received about the divinity of Joseph Smith's call to be a prophet when I was watching it. It was after that film that the Koreans performed for us, so it was extremely emotional. 

I don't think it'd be very useful to share all of my conference notes, but here's a few highlights for me: 

Elder Rasband's story about the Elementary School girl, Tory, hit me with the spirit really hard. It went really well with a story Brother Egget shared Sunday night, which was "when we're in danger, we think 'Who can save me?' Children always think, 'God can save me. Let's pray.' As we get older we start to think, 'the medicine can save me, I can save myself,' etc." It's the heart of that childlike prayer, "Let it be over soon," that hit me so hard. God's will be done, but let the bad pass quickly, and prolong the good. I want to implement that prayer in my life. 

Elder Nelson's talk, about 'religion' was really good. I liked how he said that we cannot separate "spiritual truths" from other truths. I also thought of dad when he said that all truth emanates from God and is a part of the gospel. I also thought that it was very interesting how he drew the conclusion that man's quest for knowledge, kept outside of the gospel, reaches the same results as the gospel, but with far more pain and suffering in the interim. He said that you cannot be your best, truest, self if you "compartmentalize" yourself. You are who you are, as a whole.

I won't quote President Oaks' talk, because the whole thing was pure revelation. I learned more about priesthood keys, priesthood authority, and priesthood power in that talk than I think I ever have before in my life. It was an excellent response to "Ordain Women," and a powerful talk that will surely be a go to about the priesthood for years to come. 

I really enjoyed President Uchtorf's "Don't Sleep Through the Restoration," as well. I love that short story, and that was a brand new twist on it. Priesthood session in general was INCREDIBLE this year.

President Eyring's talk about heroes also really got to me, because that's a concept that's always interested me. It got me thinking about who my heroes are, and what Christlike attributes they embody that I want to emulate. 

President Monson's address was also, obviously, fantastic. It was very interesting that he said "You can't stand upright, rooted in shifting popular opinion and desires." You see it all the time in the world, but, as he said, "Courage [and the gospel] brings peace of mind."

President Uchtdorf's talk the next day, about gratitude, was also a stand-out talk for me. It really stood out to me when he said, "Endings are not our destiny." He talked about how we're divine beings, and that's why we don't like endings. It made me reflect on leaving. We need to look past disappointing endings to the bright future Jesus has prepared for us. Mortal endings are only temporary stops in the eternities. 

One last note: when President Monson shared the story about the injured 2-year old boy, and the generous people onboard that plane, the spirit walloped me so strongly. It was such a powerful lesson.
That's all for now, folks.

Faithfully,

Elder Lynn

5th Letter from the MTC

This week has been fantastic, as usual! The biggest highlight is certainly the Sunday Evening Devotional. We were graced with the presence of Brother David Archuleta and Brother Richard Elliot! Richard Elliot is an accomplished organist, and plays for both the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and his own performances. David Archuleta is David Archuleta. They both shared some of their talents, bore their testimonies, then performed together. It was incredible.

In other news, since three weeks have passed, our District Leader changed. The first three weeks it was Elder Ostermiller (the tall one), then it was Elder Ely (his companion) and for our final stint at the MTC, it's me. As District Leader, I check mail, lead the District in discussions, attend Branch Councils, and Leadership Training Meetings. It's been going well so far. We have a wonderful branch where everybody clicks well and gets along. The Branch Presidency constantly comments on how we have such a special spirit, or how well we're put together. I know I certainly consider myself blessed.

I finished the Book of Mormon last Sunday, and now I'm moving on to D&C! Hopefully I'll be catching up to the family soon.

We hosted again on Wednesday, and it started snowing! That's actually happened a few different times since I've arrived, but it always melts by the end of the day.

It's absolutely ridiculous how much Korean we learn each week. There are days when my head feels like it's just going to blow up from all the new information it's taking in. It is truly miraculous.

Our lessons with our progressing investigators have improved, mainly because we've learned how (literally, we've learned more about how to use the language to) teach from the Book of Mormon. 

I've been practicing piano a lot, during my additional study times, and I'm going to be playing for our Priesthood meeting in two weeks (two because General Conference is this Sunday, then we have a special Easter Morning Devotional the week after). I wish that I had been more diligent about keeping up with my piano playing (I can hear you saying, "I told you so," from here). But, I will be musically fit by the time I leave the MTC!

It's funny how we have so much going on every week, but when I look over my journal and go to write, there's not a lot to share. I suppose that's mainly because we spend hours and hours in class studying Korean and the gospel. A lot of my insights are short personal ones, but there's a topic that I've been drawn to lately.

It reminds me of an analogy our teacher, Sister Allen, used after Korean class. 

You're going to the party of the century. As you're walking up the block, you see two people. You tell them, "The party of the century is right over there! Just go to that corner and turn three feet! It's the best thing ever!" And then they go, but they only turn two feet. You tell them, "Why didn't you turn three feet?! The party of the century is right there! You just have to turn one more foot!" 

Of course, the metaphor is obvious, and similar to one Christ used, when telling the Parable of the Marriage Feast. The frank truth is that the things that are helping me, the things I'm learning, the things that are preparing me for the future, are gospel principles. When I live the gospel, I feel better about myself, love others more, am more willing to sacrifice for others, and am more driven to improve. It improves my life in every aspect, because that's what it's meant to do. 

It's a gospel of improvement, a gospel of action. In 1 John 4, near the end of the chapter there's a verse that basically says, "Whoever says he loves God, but hates his brother, is a liar." If a person truly loves God, then they will love their 'brother,' because we're commanded to love each other, and when you really love God, you'll love the things He loves, which is all of us, His children. Sadly, there are lots of hypocrites and liars in the world. It depresses me that there are people who profess to be Christian, but only attend church on Sunday. That's not being Christian. A true disciple seeks to be like their master, and lets their teachings change their life. Those false followers are an embarrassment to those who truly are seeking to live like Jesus, and live the principles of love and service He demonstrated. We watched this fantastic video by Elder Bednar called "The Character of Christ," and he stated it really simply: "Christ turns outward when others would turn inwards." I want to be like that. 

One of my favorite topics to learn about lately is the future, in the sense of building a better future. I was reading this old conference talk from the 70's, and the man (Paul H. Dunn) said that, "We who are older speak of building a better world, but our progress is slow. Real generosity to the future lies, then, in giving all that we have to the present." 

I thought that was genius. If I want to build a better tomorrow, then I need to do everything I can today. That's why I'm here! I finished reading the Book of Mormon last week, and found a great scripture in the Book of Ether, 12th Chapter, 4th verse. Paraphrasing, it says that those who live the gospel "have hope for a better world." In D&C 25:10, it's said that we "seek for the things of a better" world. It really reinforced to me that this is a gospel of hope. Anybody who reaches out to Christ can find their heart's deepest desire fulfilled, so long as they obey His commandments. 

And really, if you love God keeping the commandments will follow. He gives them to us because He loves us. Everything boils down to that. In 1 John 4, it says quite frankly that, "We love him because he loved us first." We're not exercising mighty faith and believing in an unknowable god, but we're returning the feelings of devotion and care we've already received from him, of which all things bear testimony of, as Alma said. Heavenly Father sent Jesus, who volunteered, to die and suffer for us, so we could come back. God is, above everything else, love. Heavenly Father loved us enough to risk losing a few of us, and giving us the chance to make our own choices. I have been learning so much about the characteristics of Christ, and of God, through both my personal scripture studies, and reading "Jesus the Christ" at night. It's incredible. I love the way Christ treats children, and how he talks about them in Moroni Chapter 8. It's really one of my favorite things about the gospel. Little children are "alive in Christ." They don't sin, and they have no need of baptism or repentance, because they're not accountable for what they do. Christ used His strongest language in condemnation of those who harm children: "And whosoever offends one of these little ones, it would be better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck and he be dropped into the ocean." That's a paraphrase, but the basic ideas there. He says it'd be better for a massive stone to be hung from their neck, and to drown in the ocean. Christ is constantly demonstrating his love for children, such as when he blessed them one by one when he visited the Nephites. 

I had a massive epiphany regarding God's treatment of children: He teaches us to care for them, and emphasizes their importance, because all of us are *His children.* He's teaching us to treat children the way He treats us, and He's telling us how He feels about us! He wants us to raise children right and protect them, because He went through that same process with us, so long ago! He's teaching us by example! It humbles me so greatly, and I'm filled with gratitude when I think that one day Heavenly Father will put a few of His children in my care. It's also distressingly sad to imagine how He feels when children are so grossly mistreated. It's no wonder there are so many talks about "Saving the Children," "Thinking of the Children," "Helping the Children," and a multitude of such things. However, those sad events are only temporary, because all people will one day stand accountable for every tear they caused another to shed, every injury they caused, every hurtful word they spoke. At that time, they will be judged by the God of justice, and those who withhold mercy will similarly be denied mercy themselves. All things will be made right in the bright morning of the Second Coming, after the dark night of iniquity. That's the wonderful catch-all of God's plan. 

Until next week, 

Elder Austin Lynn

        

4th Letter from the MTC

As you know, we get to go to the temple at 7:20 on P-Day. As we were walking to the temple this morning, it started hailing! We were soaked by the time we made it in. It's been raining and shining sunbeams on and off today, so that's been interesting. I do love the weather though. It helps that most of the places we walk are covered. 

I read the Book of Mosiah this week, and found a scripture I'd been looking for -- Mosiah 28:7, a promise from The Lord to King Mosiah, though it wasn't addressed to the king of the Nephites, but the father of missionaries. What He says to one, He says to all, so I think it's appropriate to think of it as applying to all parents of missionaries. 

I've been reading the Book of Mormon like I never have before, in part because of a commitment I made to Brother Snow, a member of our branch presidency, during my half-way interview. Half-way! Can you believe it? The time is passing so quickly, it reminds me of a phrase from Jacob 7:26: "...the time passed away with us, and it were like a dream unto us..." Time really is passing like a dream, and I'm sure it'll feel like a dream when I get back. 

Back to the interview: he asked me about my goals. One of the goals I mentioned was to finish the Book of Mormon before I left the MTC. At the time (last Sunday), I had just started 2nd Nephi. He nodded, then asked me how long I had left in the MTC. I realized I only had 4 weeks left, and has just committed to finish the Book of Mormon. He told me he'd commit to that same goal, and would use me to pace his reading!  I'm happy to report that I'm in Alma 37 now, having read like crazyyyyyyy. It's been a huge blessing though. I'm excited to finish it in the next couple of weeks, so I can take up Elder Holland's challenge from "The Character of Christ," (which we watched last Sunday; it's incredibly powerful) and read through a small paperback Book of Mormon focusing on one topic, question, or thought.

We watched a fantastic Mormon Message, titled "The Will of God," that I am thinking about constantly. 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-01-014-the-will-of-god?category=mormon-messages/mormon-messages-2012&lang=eng

On Wednesday, we had the chance to host new missionaries! I had the chance to host two of them, and we'll be hosting for the rest of our stay, if we desire to. The feelings of joy and nostalgia were so strong hosting, that I will definitely be doing it for the remainder of my stay here. It was a wonderful opportunity.

We got 9 natives this week! There are 4 Elders and 5 Sisters. They're very fun to talk to, and just generally excited to be around us. We love them already. We memorized our purpose as missionaries in Korean this week, and that was really cool! 

Finally, shout out to Sister Shelley Jackson and Mariah for sending me a package! Thank you so much! 

Faithfully,

Elder Austin Lynn

Pictures from MTC

Austin's District

 The elder on the left is seriously tall!

 Austin and his companion.

 Elder B and I after "Pass-Downs," which you can only understand if you've been to the mtc for a long period of time. Elder B's gone now, he was the bomb though. We also got a minifridge at the time of pass-downs, which has been mega-cool! 

This is where Austin spends most of his days...in the classroom!

Austin's 3rd Letter...for real!

**OK this may be a little confusing. I messed up and posted his 4th week letter before I even posted his 3rd week! So now we have the real letter from week 3 and everything is in order now! Whoops! :)

Our older group left on Monday. It's been really odd with them gone... It was just the 9 Elders (four from my District; B, and five from District C) but then on Wednesday we received our new group! ...which turned out to be two Elders strong. Having spent a total of ten minutes in their presence, I'm not exactly sure what to think of them. 

In other news, we committed our first investigator to baptism, after getting them to commit to go to church! It felt incredible, even though it was a 'fake' investigator. The Spirit was real regardless. Our other investigator, who we're nearing double digits in terms of lessons (our investigator being baptized is 4 lessons in) is much more difficult. He doesn't feel, doesn't believe, and isn't happy. It's difficult to communicate through the language barrier that the gospel can bring him happiness, and he just has to push through and have faith to believe. 

Today I started working on "Personal Scripture Mastery." Ten scriptures that have great personal meaning to me. The first, and my current favorite, is Alma 5:26:

26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now? 

Do you remember when you were baptized?

"Can ye feel so now?"

Do you remember when you were married?

"Can ye feel so now?"

Do you remember how you felt when your first child was born?

"Can ye feel so now?"

Do you remember how it feels to abide in Christ?

"Can ye feel so now?"

I've also been playing around with switching hymn tunes and lyrics. "How Firm a Foundation," and "Away in a Manger" are legitimate examples of this, but I've been enjoying "Praise to the Man," and "The Spirit of God." I've been practicing piano a lot during personal study, because there's literally two other pianists who are male in our branch, and one can't read sheet music, and the other has no interest in playing, so I'm the only one available to play in Priesthood meetings. So, that's been an experience. I've been going to choir practice, and that's AWESOME! We sang "Where Can I Turn for Peace?" last Tuesday, and I realized just how powerful that song it. The first two verses are pleading, questioning, and the final verse is a powerful and true answer to all of life's questions. We watched this video during the devotional last Tuesday with Bradley D. Foster (of the 70) and I almost started crying. The Spirit was just so powerful that night. 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-07-129-the-joseph-millett-story?lang=eng

In Doctrine and Covenants, God says more than a few times, "What I say unto one, I say unto all." Thus, when He speaks to one person, you really can replace their name with your own. 

Elder Lynn

Austin's 2nd letter

Here is Austin's letter from last week hopefully, I can start sending these out when I get them instead of a week later! :)  Thanks for helping support our missionary. 

Technically, we're in our third week at the MTC! Isn't that crazy?! I still haven't figured out how to upload pictures, but I'll give it another go next week. We got our first investigator last Friday, and taught him about 4 lessons, before we had an evaluation. We loved him so much. It turns out, that he's our second teacher (you get a second teacher two weeks in)! Now we're teaching him (Brother Campbell) role-playing as a different investigator, and our first teacher, Sister Allen, as another. They speak only Korean, so lessons were very, very basic (God, father. Jesus, brother. Book of Mormon, true. Feel happy? Feel Spirit of God), but now we can teach more complex (but still basic) lessons. We're always learning new grammar and increasing our dano (vocabulary). During our first lesson with Sister Allen (as Yusoyang) I felt prompted to speak about prayer and the Holy Ghost. We taught her how to recognize the Holy Ghost, and we prayed with her at the end! It's incredible how excited you get over the progress of a 'fake' investigator. Let Brother Wofford know that we use the phrase "God is our father. We are His children. He loves us." ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL the time! He'll get a real kick out of that. I sang in the choir for our Tuesday Night Devotional (the ones that always have a general authority (usually a 70, which it was that night)) and everybody's telling me I ended up on the big screen, like at Conference! That was cool, and we sang this incredible song titled "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." It had some extremely high notes for the baritone section in the last section, but I was blessed and I hit them! 

In other news, I've become really good at 4-Square. I'm probably close to reaching "Master." (This is really funny because anyone who knows Austin knows that he isn't the most sporty kid out there) It's so exhilarating, but it can also be really frustrating. When I get back, I will take on ANYBODY in a game of 4-Square. 

Funny language incident: 

In class, Elder Ely (he's in the other companionship in my district) dropped something, so I said "Trouble Cause Hapshida?" The thing is, I meant to say "Hamnida!" "Hamnida" means to do, and hapshida means "lets"! Instead of saying something that basically amounts to, "are you causing trouble?" I said, "Let's cause trouble!" The teacher, Sister Allen, just deadpanned, "What." I just started cracking up right after, because I immediately realized what I said. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I felt really good afterwards. It was very cleansing. It snowed Tuesday morning, and even though it all melted in the afternoon, it was beautiful. 

I had an incredible spiritual experience last Sunday. On Thursday, while I was working on this poem, I prayed, asking for revelation, essentially "challenging God," or "testing Him." I wrote down a few thoughts that came to me, then went to sleep. Then, on Friday, during personal study, I was reading the Bible Dictionary (which has taught me SO much! It's incredible), and I came across Nicodemus. He's the man who, in John 3, asks Christ about baptism. It said that he defended him to the Sanhedrin, and gave spices when he was buried. The poem I've been working on is about how those whom the Savior healed/taught/changed their life in a massive way must've felt as they watched him be taken by the mobs, condemned before Pilate, try to carry his cross down the roads of Jerusalem, and be crucified. One of the thoughts I'd written down was, "Nicodemus tried to defend Christ to the Jews, and did so in vain." God truly answered my prayer, and I'm making an effort to be more conscious and faithful of that, rather than that attribute it to my own errant thoughts. 

I suggest watching "The Other Prodigal Son." It's a Mormon Message about the other son mentioned in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Having always been curious about that, it was really interesting to me. It bears a powerful message. 

Sometimes I feel like Dallin, in the sense that it can be a struggle to stay awake sometimes, when things are slow. It can be tough, and it happens to all of us.

I bear testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is a real, powerful thing that changes lives. The Spirit of God strives among the children of men, and it is there, ready to testify of truth. I testify of our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and the rest of the apostles. I testify of the restoration of the gospel. Heavenly Father truly does answer prayers, and he answered Joseph Smith's. I know that God is the literal father of my spirit, and that Jesus died, and lives once more. I stake my family's name and reputation on them. 

Love, 

Elder Lynn. 

MTC Week 1 (Feb. 26-March 6)

I had this massive insight regarding the first few chapters of 1 Nephi. If you think of it like a parable, it represents people's quest for the gospel, or truth. Nephi and his brothers are sent to retrieve the Brass Plates (scriptures, which represent the gospel). They try to ask Laban (who represents the world, or the Natural Man) for them, but almost die (spiritual death). They try to buy the Brass Plates, but they almost die (you cannot buy truth). They're discouraged, and some (Laman and Lemuel) are bitter and angry about their failure to retrieve the gospel. It isn't until they receive a message from the Lord (an angel, symbolizing the Holy Ghost) that they get back up and try again. Nephi, following the Spirit, slays Laban, despite his reluctance to do so (he purged himself of the Natural Man, or Worldliness), and is now able to receive the Brass Plates. 

I've also heard some fantastic new scriptures, like D & C 121: 9 (my friends stand by me!). I don't have the time to quote all of them, but I have them in my journal. I forgot it, so you can expect more next week. 

I was reading my Patriarchal Blessing one night, and I realized that it said I will be blessed with the Gift of Tongues! It specifically says I'll have that gift so that I can share my testimony! That's something I want to do really badly. It's hard to believe I've only been here 8 days... we've already learned so much Korean. My district can pretty much read and write it, and we can teach very simple lessons. Our Elders were right; we started teaching (in Korean) on Friday! It's incredible how blessed we've been. My head constantly feels like it's going to explode because we're learning so much. I'll have to write some Korean sentences in my handwritten letter home so Brother Chun can read it for you. I'm loving the MTC. There's such a strong spirit here, it's no wonder we're being blessed so powerfully. We're all so united in purpose. I cannot thank Mission Prep enough; I must think back to those lessons everyday. I have a strong testimony of that class now -- stronger than before. They really know what they're doing. It's given me such a leg up on everything. It's hard to not get discouraged about your Korean, but we have to remember the advice of our teachers -- don't compare to others, but to your past ability. And when I think back a week, I couldn't do virtually anything in Korean. I've been so blessed. All of us have been. We say prayers before class, before lessons, before meals, in Korean! They're basic sure, but we're learning. Did you know, we spend over 12 hours in class most days? My first day here, they got me my language materials, processed me, then BOOM! I was in class. In the MTC we "SYL" meaning Speak Your Language. Whenever we know the Korean for something, we say it in Korean. It really helps us get a handle for the language. Our teacher, Sister Allen, speaks almost exclusively in Korean. That was difficult at first, but has since become a blessing to our district. Something we had to learn early on is that we're not learning Korean -- we're learning the gospel in Korean. We're not learning Korean so that we can speak the language, we're learning Korean so that we can share the gospel. I don't know the word for car, or house, but I already know Holy Ghost and Fullness of the Gospel. My studies in Japanese have also helped me, because they use the same Subject Object Verb sentence structure, and the particle markers. I love all of you, and want you to know I am thriving in the MTC. My testimony and conversion process has progressed in leaps and bounds. I pray for all of you (in Korean!), and love you so dearly. 

Until next week, 

Elder Austin Lynn