WOOOOOO!!!! I got my flight plans last Thursday! It was the most exciting day in the MTC by far! Unfortunately, silly me forgot them in my room and so I don't have them in front of me to give you the flight #, etc., but I do remember (I think) the times for the flights. We depart on Thursday, April 29th. We leave the MTC around 4:30ish pm, probably closer to 5. There are six of us going (the four Elders in my room and two native sisters). Our flight for LA leaves at 7:40ish pm and we get in around 8:45pm LA time. Then our flight for Seoul, South Korea leaves just after midnight and we get in to South Korea around 5:20am I think on Saturday. (Since we fly over the international date line, we miss Friday basically) Then our flight leaves for Vlad around 9:45am and we should get into Vlad sometime near 2:00pm. I have been informed (by both missionaries and leaders) that we are allowed to phone home while in the airport. I haven't really figured out the times when I'll be in the airport and if that would even be convenient at all to call you all and say hi. But if it works out, I'd love to hear you all. If not, I'll talk to you in a few weeks on Mother's day. :)
Love you, Mom. Thank you so much for the letter and your insights. Man, I love the Holy Scriptures. Answers are found in every chapter. And thank you, Dad, for your letters as well. I know the Lord will bless you and the family. As we act on the faith we already have, that leads to more faith. I know that you and Mom have always put your faith in the Lord so I don't need to tell you he's going to bless you. I've really had to learn patience here in the MTC, in many different ways. I've had to realize that the Lord works on his schedule, not ours. I've said that before but now I'm experiencing it, and I know for myself a little bit more what that means.
Yesterday was Brother Beck's last day teaching at the MTC (our old district was the last district he would teach), so we reunited and he told us some stories. One was of a man that baptized his brother. As he lowered his brother back into the water, he kept him under for 1 sec, 2 sec, 3 sec, 4 sec... Brother Beck looked at his companion after 6 or 7 and thought, is he going to drown his brother while baptizing him?! I'm sure that would be the first time that had ever happened. Anyway, he finally brought him up and his brother let out this huge gasp and everyone started laughing. The man later said, "My brother was extra dirty. So I just wanted to make sure he got all clean." Haha! We all thought that was pretty funny. The more I thought about it, the more I pondered on the symbolism of baptism and how amazing it is to be washed clean of all your sins, all your mistakes, and be pure in the eyes of God.
Then Brother Beck shared with us the 6 Scriptures to successful missionary work. I'll write more about those later. But it was a wonderful experience to see this man, our teacher, testify with power of the changing power a mission can have in the lives of the people served and in the life of the missionary. One last story... one day, Brother Beck came out of his apartment and just had this awful, evil feeling hit him. He notice 5 men in their twenties outside and he had the thought, "Run. Get away now." So he started to leave but his companion didn't follow. He went up to the men so B. Beck returned and these men were pretty drunk. They began asking "Who are you? Where are you from? You're the Mormons, right?" They clearly knew who the missionaries were and didn't like them. They started to surround B. Beck's comp and B. Beck tried to grab him and leave. All of a sudden, this other guy (a skin head, no shirt on, big guy) comes running out of nowhere and swings at B. Beck. He dodges, and starts to run. They chase after the missionaries and catch them and start to mock and verbally abuse them, spit on them, slap them, etc. They keep telling them "Go back to America! We already have our church." B. Beck's fists were clenched and then the guy said, "What are Prophets? Prophecy then." Which is exactly what the Pharisees said to Christ when He announced Himself as the Son of God. I'm almost out of time but it hit me as B. Beck spoke, that missionary work will bring me closer to the Savior in a way that I couldn't experience any way else. This may sound silly but I can't wait to get there despite the struggles I will encounter. I LOVE YOU ALL!
Love,
Старейшиа Буш
