Sister Chloe Jacklin

Week 8 in the MTC

Here is Sister Jacklin's email from her 8th week in the MTC:

Hey family!!!

We have travel plans!!!!! We got them this morning and everyone has been freaking out all day!!  We fly out Monday July 29th and leave the mtc at 2:30 in the morning.  We will be flying to San Francisco then straight on to Seoul. And I have already gotten some of the elders to agree to take some of my stuff in their suitcases, haha!! I am such a girl! We are all so excited, it felt like this day would never come.  I am so excited to get out of the classroom and be out and busy everyday.  I am starting to get really nervous though because I feel so unprepared with the language.  I thought I was doing great but then last night we practiced street contacting in Korean, and I pretty much felt like I knew nothing.  I am trying to keep a positive attitude and realize I will learn so much faster in the field as I work.  And with just a week left I am going to be studying every chance I get.  Vocab cards pretty much go everywhere with us!!\

A few funny stories this week.  We were praying one evening at the end of class and Elder Lomiga was trying to pray for our teachers but he kept saying our teacher's investigator names.  Needless to say the laughing is contagious and every person in that classroom was busting up and we barely made it through the prayer.  We have had lots of moments like this lately.  I think it is time we all get out of the classroom because we just laugh at the littlest things.  Also, the other day after gym we were having a picnic in some of the other sister's room and our roommates left and locked the door.  Well, our keys were locked in the room so sister wadsworth threw on her sister's clothes, and I had flip flops, basketball shorts, and my nice shirts on.  We had to go to our classroom to get Sister Wadsworth's key and I felt like such a misfit with my crazy outfit.  It was definitely a comical moment!!  I love the sister's in our zone and we have all gotten really close it will be sad to all go to different missions.  We spend a lot of time with the other Sister Wadsworth and her companion Sister Johnson.  They are so great.  Me and Sister Johnson get along really well, cause we both talk ALOT and are crazy nineteen year olds.  Sometimes I think I drive my district and companions crazy.  But someone has to provide the entertainment, right?!!  I was able to see the Nielsen's on wednesday when they dropped Jarrett off. I was on the curb keeping an eye out for them.  It was so fun to say a quick hi, and hopefully I can host Jenn next week.  I have yet to see Jarrett again, but I usually always see the Japanese missionaries on sundays.

I wish I had lots of exciting things to tell, but here in the mtc it is the same schedule everyday.  We study hard and try and learn as much of the language as possible.  I don't necesarrily know any casual talking in Korean, but I can definitely bare you my testimony, haha!!  It is amazing how quickly we learn all these different languages and it is definitely a testament that this is the Lord's work.  It has sunk in that in one week I will be teaching real investigators.  It is such a mix of emotions, I am so excited and terrified all at once.  I know the next year will have so extreme highs and lows and I am just excited for the adventures.

Lastly, I thought I would leave you all with one of the thoughts that has me a bit nervous to join this unique Korean culture.  They eat live octopus and if you do not chew it fast enough it can suck to the side of your mouth or worse your throat, and suffocate you!!  Some of the korean teachers said we have to try it and it is not scary!!  But I am not convinced!!  I am going to stick to gummy octopus, haha!!

I am attaching a picture of me and my friend Zane at the temple this week (he is headed to argentina) and a picture of me and my companions with Sister Kim.  She is the Korean sister that stayed an extra week with us.  She was such a blessing to us.  She taught us so much and would come to our lessons and be a member.  She became our translator, haha!! We already miss her!!

I love and miss you all so much!!  But I know the next 16 months will fly by!!

Love,

Sister Jacklin

Week 7 in the MTC

Here is Sister Jacklin's email from Week 7 in the MTC:

Anyeong haseyo!!!

I can´t  believe it has been seven weeks already, and in 2 and half more weeks I will be in Korea!!  We will get our travel plans next Friday, yay!!  I have been waiting for this.  I have loved the mtc and learned so much but I am ready to actually be out in the ´´real world´´ being a missionary.  My Korean is nowhere near ready but I know I will learn so much once I am using it everyday.  In Korea we will be teaching lessons and speaking in Korean all the time, but in the MTC we teach a lesson a day in Korean.  So my learning will accelerate so much faster.  This is one of those weeks where I can hardly remember anything that has happened.  We had a small group leave for Korea this week, which means we are the oldest Korean speaking missionaries now and we are next to leave!! I can hardly contain my excitement.  I hosted on Wednesday because we had a new group of Korean missionaries arriving that we were so excited to meet.  Me and a few of the other sisters stood on the curb and asked everyone where they were going as they walked up, we may or may not have been a little obnoxious and loud...then a couple cars pulled up right by us and missionaries got out that we going to Daejeon, Korea!! We all started screaming and got really excited, I think we freaked them out a little bit.  And then later in class our teacher was talking about how to help the new missionaries and said not to treat them like zoo animals, me and Elder Lomiga just looked at each other and went "oops!!" haha, it was pretty funny.  All the new Korean sisters moved onto our floor so it is just a big party.  The first night pretty much all the sisters in our zone came up and we ate treats and met the new sisters.  They are darling and 6 out of 7 of them are going to Daejeon.  One of the Korean sisters that was supposed to leave Monday has had to stay an extra week because of visa issues.  She moved from Korea to Canada when she was nine so they thought she had citizenship but she doesn't.  We have loved having her here though, she has helped us with Korean so much.  We just keep pressing forward in class, though sometimes it is a struggle to stay focused.  I am looking forward to not being in a classroom all day.  Whenever I am starting to get tired or bored during study time or class I just remind myself of my purpose and why  I am here.  Everyone deserves to hear this message so they can have the happiness that I have.  Our lessons are continuing to get better and better as we use less scripts and let the spirit guide.  I have felt the spirit prompt me with what to say so much the past few days in lessons, it is so incredible.  The holy ghost is such an amazing tool for us as missionaries and for everyone in our daily lives.  I love you all and can't wait to talk on the phone in just a couple weeks!!  I hope Luke is feeling better and that Seth's basketball is going well.

I am attaching a picture of me and courtney wells from temple walk last sunday and a picture of me and cecelia, we thought it would be fun for the Wilke's to see!!  I saw her quite a few times while she was here!!

I love you all so much!!

-Sister Jacklin