Email #12

We have to smile as we know the reason Jordan took this picture.

A little over four years ago, when Jordan was 16 years old, he traveled to China with his dad and Grandpa Dave.  While they were waiting in the airport, Jordan's dad took this picture:

Little did we all know that four years later, Jordan would be serving his mission in Korea!

Dec. 2008 - Jan. 2013

Here's what Jordan has to say:

I'M ALIVE!!!!!! 

So basically, Korea is amazing. We got to the airport, met our mission president, they slapped new Korean name tags on us and sent us on the subway to go talk to people (전도 mission work).  Me and my companion from the MTC were a bit nervous but we talked to a few people while we traveled to Seoul. We got to the stop, took a bus, then walked to the mission president's house. 

We had a nice meal waiting for us there, some clam chowder and biscuits. That was basically the entire day, we spent so long traveling. So on Wednesday, we got dressed, had a Kimchi breakfast, and went to the church next door to have an orientation. We learned about finances here, how much money we get every two weeks, and things like that. 

Elder Witt & Jordan

We then met our new companions, and taught brief lessons with them. I got a guy who has been here for 3 transfers. I am his 4th transfer. A transfer is 6 weeks, so he's been here for 18! His name is Elder Witt and he is a red head! He's from Fresno California, and spent a year at BYU. I'm a little older than him, but he's much better at Korean. His dad went to Korea on his mission. In my branch, there were only 16 people, including me and my companion, and the branch president and his wife there, so it's a SMALL branch, but it's good. The people are really nice. I have my introductory speech, and bore my testimony. I think I said everything right. We haven't had a lot of time to take pictures, because we are always talking to people!

We are in 속초 (Sokcho), a place in the northeastern part of Korea. The Boonies, basically. Everybody took a deep breath and said, 'good luck' when I told them that's where I'm going but it's not too bad. It has about 80,000 people here, not much of a large city area, about a 10 minute walk to the ocean, and about 30 miles south of the DMZ. We'll go there sometime soon. 

34° and 93% humidity.  Baby, it's cold outside!

We don't have any investigators right now, we don't get many here. We talk to so many people though, all we do is 전도 (mission work) on the streets. We meet with a wonderful member once a week on Thursdays, 은실 차매님 (in the car), she's so nice and loved seeing the pictures of my family. We also had dinner with the Sorensens on Saturday, they're an American family from California and the dad is teaching English here. They have an adorable 1 year old ginger son named Hyrum. They can't speak Korean, but they made a wonderful pasta meal for us. 

 

Speaking of food, I MISS YOUR COOKING. The food here is.........very different. It'll take a while to get used to. Milk is about 4 dollars for a half gallon, cereal is 7 dollars a box, butter is 8 dollars a stick, and peanut butter is 10 dollars for a small jar. Food here is extremely expensive. So for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we usually eat rice and 김치 (kimchi). We have a little oatmeal, but it's expensive, and some pasta, but pasta sauce is so expensive. There's no Costco out here, but if we travel anywhere and see one, I'll be sure to stock up on everything.

I'll have to get used to the whole fish covered with chili paste. Also things like meat that doesn't look like meat, or potatoes with strange seasonings. But I'll get used to it. It's not so bad. But I have been SEVERELY ungrateful for the food you and mom cooked. I would give anything for bread, or a casserole, or basically anything you've ever cooked right now. Even the foods I didn't like before sound good. But I don't hate the food here, it'll just take some getting used to.

*GASP* $8 for a stick of butter?? That is unbelievable! Makes me wonder if it will be cheaper to mail food out to Korea....

**I don't have an address in SokCho, but you are supposed to send letters to the mission home, and about once a month, I'll pick up the mail.** I don't know if the mission home address is right, so maybe look it up on the internet or I'll ask my mission president and email it to you next week. 

The flight to Korea wasn't bad, a little long, but I'm just happy to be here in Korea. Korea is awesome. The people are so nice. They're always busy though. Or, at least that's what they say when we mention Jesus Christ. But the main way we get them to stop is say, 'May I shake your hand?' Or the literal translation is 'Even though I shake your hand, does it become?' Sounds SO weird in English, but they think it's normal. It gets them to stop, look at our name tags, and then we can introduce who we are and what we do. We've set up a few appointments, but none have showed up yet, but we have three promising ones this week. Last week we met a group of high school students and we started talking about ping pong (타구) and we set up a game next week at the church. We said we'd play a few games with them, since I'm the 타구 King, and then teach them about our message. They seemed a little interested in both. Our branch president is awesome, he's really nice, and REALLY good at ping pong. I made him work a little hard though, and he wanted to play an extra game because he liked playing with me. I lost both games, but not by much. My companion isn't bad either, he beat me the first time. I was just a little rusty though. 

So on Saturdays we teach an English class where we talk about a specific topic, like hobbies or something, for an hour, and at the end, share a short spiritual message. We also do a 30/30 class, where 30 minutes is english, 30 is gospel. Then we play ping pong after. But no one has come to the 30/30 in a while, and only 3 people usually show up to the english class. But eventually our efforts will bear fruit! There's a reason they paired two redheads up and sent them to the boonies where not much happens. I'm sure after my Korean gets a little better we'll see some results. 

Speaking of which, I can tell my Korean has grown a bit, but not much. It's more like a sunrise, where you can't tell the difference from one minute to the next, but over time it does get lighter. But yesterday I was teaching someone about our message on the street and after he goes 'WOW. You sound just like a native Korean!!' Then we laughed and I said, 'Well, I've only been here for 5 days.' (This was all in Korean, of course.) and he was just surprised. It was funny. Also, when I was talking to the Branch president and another member yesterday after sacrament, they knew I didn't understand much, but then the branch president, in Korean, tells me I'm handsome. I replied, no, you're much more handsome than me. They all laughed with surprise because I recognized what 'handsome' was, and I knew how to reply. They got a good laugh out of me. We built some 정 (spirit?) that day. 

All in all, Korea is awesome, and the language is too. It's hard, but I'll improve. 

한국어/조선말

(Korea) 

Here's some funny things about Korean:

the word for "missionary" and "sexual instructor/teacher" are incredibly similar. Sometimes people smile when you introduce yourself as a missionary. 

"Small" and "death" are all similar, so you have to be careful with those words.

In the MTC I asked my progressing investigator if he wanted to be stabbed like christ was, instead of wanting to be christ-like, so I hope I don't make that mistake here in Korea.

We haven't taught any lessons yet, just a bunch street contacts, but we have three lessons set up this week, so hopefully they show up.

There's not really much of a culture shock, I don't know why. But maybe it'll hit later.

Love you!

Jordan

Email #11

Jordan has arrived in Korea, safe and sound!!

We got an email, along with this picture, from the Korean Mission Office.  Jordan is pictured here with Pres. Brent James Christensen and his wife, Sharon Christensen.

"Just quick note to let you know your missionary has arrived safely. He was picked up by President Christensen his wife and a few of the Elders. He is safe, healthy and in good hands."

Office Elders
Korea Seoul Mission

His mission president is from Salt Lake City, Utah and worked for Intermountain Health Care as a general surgeon.

This is pretty cool, considering Jordan is wanting to practice medicine in his future!

Email #10

Woot!  Jordan's travel plans have arrived!

Yikes!  Reality is setting in and we are all SO excited for Jordan!  It is a looooooong flight and we are hoping that he will call while he is in San Francisco during a four hour layover.

He writes:


Majimak junbi nar!! It's our last P day here in the US!! I'm so happy to get out of here. It's not...horrible here, but I just want to get to Korea. 

Here's the low-down on the flight plans:

****I am the travel leader for our group, my companion isn't in our group. In my group I have: Elder Hendershot, Jenson, Elder Lee Seungbong, and Elder Kim. It should be fun! 

We leave the MTC at 3AM and our flight leaves SLC at 6, so I might call before then, but 5:30 might be a little early. We land in SFran at 7, and our flight to Incheon leaves at 11, so we have quite a bit of time to talk. We fly United Air the whole way, but some people in our district were lucky enough to get Korean Air. It's a lot nicer, but I don't care how I get there, as long as I get to Korea. I'm so excited!! So expect a call either in the morning early, or right before noon. I'll try the home phone, but I'll also call your cell. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten your number....yet. ****

In the news, the day after we received Jordan's last email, it was reported that over 250 missionaries in the MTC got the Norovirus.  With missionaries checking in weekly, and staff coming in and out daily, it was the perfect breeding grounds for the fast-acting virus, otherwise known as the "24-hour flu."  We waited, wondered, and prayed that Jordan did not get sick....



I have some stuff to send home because I can't take it all to Korea. I didn't really get sick from the virus, but my companion was one of the first, and one of the worse. He was throwing up violently and extremely loudly for hours, and had to stay back at the dorms while we went to class. He's doing much better now though. He was the only one in our zone really affected by it. 

Zach has grown up around cats all his life and Niki has had a small dog for most of her life.  To our surprise, Niki and Zach got a little kitten they named, "Lucy."  A surprise, because Niki is fearful of cats and hopes this one grows up to be a good kitty for their family.

I'm so happy that Nikki got a kitten!!! That will be great for Ollie. Email me a picture sometime!! Oh, speaking of pictures, the one of Dad walking Ollie in the snow is SO ADORABLE!!!! Thank you so much for all you have done for me, I really appreciate it.

Mom and Dad - Thanks again for everything you do. I love you so much and I can't wait to call!!

I love you and I'll talk to you soon!


Love,


Jordan

Email #9

Happy 2013!

Another email today, although it was short, it was FULL of pictures.  I have come to love getting emails just as much as getting pictures from Jordan.  It is SO great to see him having a great time in the MTC and know that he is healthy, happy, and still has his funny personality!

The first picture is one of my favorites of me and my companion, we're a funny bunch. Elder Hendershot, an Elder from our district got a few packages with food for new years and Christmas and one of the things in it was a pound of Reese's! Two half pound cups. So we all took pictures with them. They're so big. We all got a slice. 

The last picture is a kid from my high school. We didn't talk to each other much, but we knew one another and when we saw each other here we talked briefly. He left this morning, Tagalog speaking, somewhere in the Philippines. Anyway, I LOVE the pictures you sent, please print them out!!

Love you!

Jordan

Email #8

Merry Christmas!

We received two of the best Christmas gifts we could have ever asked for:  having Zach and his family with us, and a email from Jordan!  Oliver celebrated his first birthday on the 19th and Zach proposed to Niki the same day, to which she said, "YES!" 

From Jordan:

So I got up to do my laundry, it's not really a p day for us, but we still need to do laundry. So I'll write you right now and maybe check my email tonight if I can. I hope you, Mom and Dad, Zakk, Nikki, and Oliver all have a merry Christmas and remember why we celebrate it. Without Christ's birth, we would not have his example, parables, scriptures, and most importantly, his infinite atonement. Without that, this life is pointless. Through him, we can live with our heavenly father again. He knows our pains, sorrows, sins, and griefs so that when we are at our lowest points, he knows just how to comfort us. He is never the one that moves. He's always there, waiting for us. Because of him, I have hope in this life. I have joy knowing that even though our loved ones pass on, that misfortune afflicts us, sorrows burden us down, that Jesus Christ, our brother, savior, and beloved redeemer is right with us, offering his love now and for eternity. Through Christ, we can return to our father and have the opportunity to become like him. What a blessing.

Kitty puzzle, Snowflake from Emma for Christmas

And thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes! It was a good day. Thank you all!

I loved getting a package from Lloyd and Lauriann, the snowflake is hanging on the tree, and both pictures are hanging up. They're both awesome pictures! Thank you so much, I appreciate your love and support you constantly give.

I also got a letter from the stake presidency. Thank you so much, it was so nice getting a letter from you all. Thank you for your love and support.

I got a package from the Rogers, but I'll write them letters back sometime soon. Thank you so much for all that you and our neighbors do, mom and dad. I am so grateful for all of the support. 

I blessed the sacrament on Sunday, that was interesting. It was intimidating, because we got native Koreans last week so I didn't want to mess up. The prayer was long, but I read it all of the way through and didn't have to repeat it. I hope I can improve on the language more though. There's still a lot to learn.

I don't know what else to ask for, I don't really want anything for Christmas or New Years, but what you have given me is GREATLY appreciated. Thank you so much! I just want to hear from Zakk, Nikki, and Oliver so if they have any letters or if Ollie draws any pictures I want them! I miss that little chubby guy. I can't believe how much he's already grown in the time that I've been gone.

I don't really know what else to say, I'm at a loss for words. I'm so grateful for all you do, know I miss you and love you, and I'll be home before you know it. Don't miss me too much :)

Love,

Jordan

Email #7

The lights at the MTC

Christmas is just around the corner and I begin to wonder how it is celebrated in the MTC.  The above picture says it all.  Jordan gets to spend ALL of the holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve, plus his 20th birthday while at the MTC.

The holidays have been a whirlwind.  Zach got some time off, and we hurried and got airline tickets for him, Niki and Oliver to come and spend an entire week during Christmas with us.  Jaren, Jordan's cousin, is getting his papers together for his mission.  He turns 19 in January.  The local missionaries in Draper have been searching for a place to live and we have offered our basement.

Here's part of his latest letter:

Tell him (Jaren, his cousin) how wonderful a mission is. I'm still only in the MTC and my testimony has been strengthened so much already. I'm so happy that you could get Zakk Nikki and Oliver up for the holidays. That'll be so much fun!! Take pictures! And that's awesome you have the missionaries moved in!  Thank you for the addresses! That will help a lot. 

The Christmas tree we mailed to Jordan

Grandma and Grandpa Shell: I bought a Hymn book and the Children's songbook in Korean, and they are so beautiful. We sing a hymn twice a day to start our classes. It's wonderful. It brings such a wonderful spirit to hear sacred hymns and other songs. I don't think I'll be able to write next Tuesday, it'll be Christmas, so I'll say MERRY CHRISTMAS now!! I love you both so much, and I'll miss you this year and next. I can't wait until two years from now, when I come over on Christmas, and share some touching stories from my mission and listen to your testimonies and share about Christ and feel his spirit at this time of year. 

Grandpa Franchina: Thank you so much for your letters, and especially that scarf. You'll notice I'm wearing it in most pictures outside, it's quite a warm scarf, and it reminds me of you. Thank you so much. I'll miss you this Christmas and next, coming over on Christmas Eve and opening a present and picking out an ornament, but in two years, I'll be there and we'll have plenty of time to catch up. I know we'll both have great stories to share, and it'll be nice to feel of the spirit of Christmas. 

Jordan, Taylor Longmore, & Josh Powell...all three from the same ward!

Korean is an incredibly beautiful language, they express feelings so deeply and eloquently. Anyway, I love you all so much. I miss you all, but I don't want to come home just yet! I can't wait to get to Korea. It's a bit scary, but nothing that is of value is easy. Conversion isn't easy because salvation isn't cheap. Thank you for sending your insights and thoughts about the Book of Mormon, your love, and your testimonies as well.

Just a note about our progressing investigators: One is getting baptized on Saturday, he's really receptive to our message (the teachers act just like their investigators did in Korea, and one teacher is being one of his 'golden investigators'). The other one is having some other problems, but we set his baptismal date yesterday. He's planning on the 31. He had a few problems with the word of wisdom - cop-ee, nohk cha, and hohng cha (coffee, green, and black tea are essential to a Korean). But he agreed to try. My companion is wonderful, he's so sweet and has a wonderful testimony. The spirit is always there in our lessons. I love this work! 

Love,

Jordan

Email #6

It has been so nice to receive a weekly letter from Jordan.  It is truly the highlight of our week!

He writes:

Dad, thank you for your letter and insight on that place Ishmael was buried. That's just another testimony builder that it's true. One of the branch presidency members of our Korean branch gave a talk the other week on things such as this. He listed facts like, there are 500 and something mentions of Jesus Christ, written in 80 days without any revision, first copy, by someone with an elementary school education, and adding over 100 pronouns to the english language, and Shakespeare only added 40ish. There are so many facts, and if you can find a list and send it to me, that would be great. I didn't take notes, and he won't give it to us, because he says our testimonies shouldn't just be built on factual evidence. Mine isn't, but the facts just solidify my testimony. We also talked about the 17 points to the true church, where Einstein gave a lecture and admitted that there has to be a supreme being, and 5 students in that lecture studied the bible and came up with 17 criterion that the true church has to have, and after the war, 4 of the five ended up joing the church separately. They didn't know each other joined the church until they met up at a church meeting once. The 5th was dead from the war, but no doubt he accepted the gospel in the next life. I have a little business card size piece of paper with these scriptures and facts printed out and I carry it with me in case someone asks about one of these facts on my mission. If my Korean fails, then my testimony will come through. That's why they first teach you how to pray, then how to bear your testimony. Those are the first two things they teach you here, after how to read. Those are the two most important things you can do on your mission, pray and bear testimony. 

In an previous email, I shared with Jordan my testimony.  I also recalled the day when we had a family home evening lesson and Brad challenged both of our boys to pray about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  The next day, Jordan came into the kitchen, just beaming... a smile from ear to ear, and gave me a big hug.  When I asked him what was going on, he just said that he was happy.  Very happy.  Then I remembered what we did the night before and put two and two together, guessing that Jordan had indeed, received an answer to his prayer. Jordan was probably nine years old at the time.

Mom, I remember that day clearly. Except one part, wasn't it in our old house? I just remember being so happy. It's wonderful how an omnipotent being will answer even a small child's prayer.

Jordan & neighnorhood friend, Taylor Longmore, who is going to the NY mission

Our halfway point was this week. It seems to go by so slow but also so fast. The days seem like weeks but the weeks seem like days. Once we get the new Korean district tomorrow and 5 Korean missionaries next week it'll fly by. Yeah, one missionary in the other district is going to LA. I don't know much about what it's like in Seoul, but I'll tell you in a month!! Thank you for your story about your mission, I really like hearing stories from your mission and your testimony. Yeah, Mosiah 12:1 makes me laugh too, I highlighted that a few weeks ago when I read that. Also, I have come to the conclusion that Harry Potter was inspired. It could also be real. Think of it. The infinite monkey theory: Place a monkey in front of a typewriter for an eternity, eventually he'll type a novel. If God's worlds are infinite, eventually one world has characters such as Harry Potter and his two friends. And after an eternity of worlds, one has to be the perfect storm. In Helaman 10 it says the spirit carried Nephi from place to place - APPARITION. It's real. He apparated, so did Harry Potter. Anywho... Thank you so much for the packages I've received! I love carrying a package through the MTC bragging about how awesome my parents are. I'm excited to start opening the presents starting on the 13th. 

 In part, here is some of what Jordan shared in an email to his Grandpa & Grandma Shell:

Grandma and Grandpa Shell: You're right, I'm so busy I don't even have time to think it's December. We are singing Christmas songs in Korean, and now we are having devotionals with topics about Christ's birth, so Christmas is coming, but it's hard to imagine that Thanksgiving, black friday, and most everyone's birthdays in our family have already passed, and Christmas is almost here. I'm still impressed at how many languages you know, Grandpa. But I'm even more impressed at how much you value the scriptures. I have not truly appreciated them until recently. They are a wonderful blessing in our lives and we can all benefit from them if we utilize them. YES!! I get your dear elders, and I LOVE receiving DearElders from you. It's so nice to hear from you and know how you two are doing. Know you are all in my prayers, and I love you very much.


Love,


Jordan

Email #5

Oliver and Grandpa Brad

Here is Jordan's letter.  We mailed him some pictures of family and of his nephew, Oliver, who is growing every day.  Jordan doesn't want to miss a single moment of his growing up.  Pictured above, is Oliver dressed in a snow outfit that we purchased for Zach when he was the same age.

Hey!
Thanks for sending pictures my way, I'm SO EXCITED! I need to see proof he's walking. You're also more than welcome to email me pictures, but I won't be able to print them off, I can just look at them on my email.

As for Christmas......bad news. Since there's over 2000 missionaries here, no phone calls home. The phone lines would be tied up. But I will call you early in the morning on the 14th or 15th when I ship out. Some people are wondering when I will ship out, like my grandparents, so let them know that it'll be around the 14th, or whatever that Monday is. 

Food is a CURSE here at the MTC. You eat at the cafeteria, then you get food in the mail, but you're not that hungry so you have food piling up in your rooms. People go door to door looking to give the food away, but no one is usually hungry. But everyone seems to love your food, so they usually take it :)  

The older districts left yesterday (40 missionaries) so it's pretty empty on our floor. I got a LOT of food/candy, glow in the dark stars for our ceiling, and some detergent. We'll get new Korean districts next Wednesday, the 12th or something. I'm excited! Korean is amazing. It's nice to see Elder Powell and Elder Longmore every once in a while, there's a kid from my choir going to Calgary, Canada, and he got here last Wednesday so it's nice to see him around.

Elisse & Spencer

I'm SO MAD I'll miss little Noah being born! Make sure Spencer and Elisse send me pictures! I know they'll have an ADORABLE baby.

Grandpa Shell -
I hope you both are doing well, I'm praying for you both. I love you both and I'm so grateful for all you have taught me and for the great example you have been for me. And happy birthday Grandpa! Sorry it's a little late, but I was thinking about you on your birthday, along with every other day I'm here. I love you and I am excited to come back and share all of my wonderful experiences with you all.

Mom and Dad - Thank you SO much for the packages, I love the Rubik's cube   I love the flag, we'll proudly display it in our class! Thanks for the muddy buddies!! My roommates and I love them! That's one thing they would like for Christmas (my roommates became zone leaders, by the way. They won't tell me what they want from you but I know they like muddy buddies.)
I don't know what to ask for Christmas. Food is kind of a burden, but snacks are welcome. Mainly, letters from you are wanted. I want to hear your testimonies, cool stories from your mission, awesome stories, stuff like that. and PICTURES! I love pictures. and your support. I don't really know what else to ask for.

My oven overheated during a cleaning cycle the day after Thanksgiving and I had to get it repaired.  Also, we dropped Jordan's cell phone number on our cell phone plan, then changed our family plan.  According to T-Mobile, the new plan went into effect before the Jordan's cell phone was dropped and we were charged a $200 fee for dropping his phone "while still in contract."  After a couple of hours on the phone and talking to a supervisor, we got it worked out.

I'm sad to hear about your oven and the ordeal with the phone, but at least you're not struggling to make my monthly payments and still trying to pay off the house and not having enough food on the table. There's so many blessings we have that I haven't even thought of until being here.

As for your birthday/christmas gift, it isn't a big thing that needs a package, so don't expect anything in the mail, but I do have something in mind. It won't come until late after christmas, but you'll get it eventually!:)  Speaking of gifts, THANK you for the tree! We can't plug it in, the outlet is too far away, but that doesn't matter, we won't have it turned on at night anyway. You don't need to send an extension chord. Thank you so much, it's nice to have it in my room!  (We sent him an extension cord in his next package!)

Tell the Bishopric THANK YOU for their letter!! When they have Camp Alma, I'm willing to send a letter home, so let me know about a month before and I'll write one.
I can't believe it's been 4 years exactly since we landed, (in Korea, on the way to China) that's crazy. That was so much fun!


I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

Jordan has pretty much given me all of his passwords to his email, Facebook, Paypal and access to his bank.  It feels weird having access to what is his "private stuff."

Here's a good post for Facebook: TRC's (Training Resource Center) are amazing! Once a week we teach a volunteer (who's sometimes a real investigator) about a certain topic. This last week my companion and I taught 2 high school aged Korean girls, and it was so great! They understood everything we said, and the lesson went great. They are getting ready to turn in their papers soon, so that's exciting. The TRCs are a great way to experience part of the mission field even before you leave the MTC. The spirit always accompanies lessons, and the volunteers love to practice their Korean! I love Korea and the people of Korea. Their culture is incredible, and their people are wonderful. I love Korean :)

Love,

Jordan

Email #4

Today is Zach's 24th birthday.  Jordan sent his brother a letter, wishing him a happy birthday.

Today was a hard day for me as a mom.  Two of my boys, so far away!  I am proud of both of them for what they are doing in their lives.  I just wish I could give them both a hug!

Another great gift in the email box:  A letter from Jordan!

He writes:

 It's another beautiful day here at the MTC. Well, that's what they tell us to say. But it really is. I'm no longer district leader, the companionship that rooms with us became zone leaders, and we are all having a great time.
Thanksgiving was good, the food was nice as usual, and we got to have Elder Holland speak here!! Me and my companion got up at 6 and waited in line to get front row seats (well, third row, the first two rows were reserved for family).

He gave a great talk about gratitude, and even quoted his previous talks about missionary work that he's given here in past years. He's a great speaker. He said: THIS IS NOT A 2 YEAR MISSION THEN YOU RETURN BACK TO REAL LIFE. THIS IS REAL LIFE. THIS IS AS REAL AS IT WILL EVER GET IN THIS LIFE FOR YOU. Great talk, really motivational. I will let you know how my first Thanksgiving in Korea is, but it was great here. I hope we get another good talk from an Apostle on Christmas! Thank you thank you thank you for the rolls, all of the elders loved them (including me)!

He continues.... (He tried Korean food at a couple of places before he left for the MTC.)

Korean food is the most delicious and most healthy food on the planet! It's wonderful. I can't wait to get to Korea. The older district is leaving next week, leaving us alone for a week, then they'll get fresh new Korean missionaries in! We are now done with 4 weeks, starting our 5th week tomorrow, so we aren't quite halfway, but we'll get there. 

   Mom and dad: THIS IS IMPORTANT! Know how much I love you. I just got your package this morning, and it was nice to get coffee cake!

  Wow, it's been almost a month since he's been gone.  So happy to know that he is doing well!

Email #3 & Pictures!!

A wonderful surprise came with this email.

Pictures!!

I love getting pictures, especially if Jordan is in them.  I can actually see for myself that he is doing well, is healthy, happy, and having a great time, just by looking at the pictures.

He writes:

     Thank you for your package! I got it Monday night. The rolls are FANTASTIC! Thanks for the ties, and tell Grandpa F thank you so much for his ties and the scarf. I LOVE that scarf. It's so cool to have that with the story behind it.
Jordan's Grandpa Franchina sent him a scarf that he bought in Russia many years ago.  It still had the tag on it and never got used, so maybe it will be used in Korea!

    I want to see pictures of Oliver SO BAD!!!! I can't think of anything that I need at the moment, I have basically everything I need, thanks to you guys.
 
Okay, Jordan.  Here's a picture of Oliver for you.

Oliver is Jordan's nephew.  Here he is, at 11 months old.  Look at those baby blue eyes!

Here is Jordan's room.  I didn't realize he would be sharing this space with three other people!

Jordan's desk.  Looks like he needs some pictures on his wall....

 This is not everyone in his district, but I am assuming this is during one of his Sunday temple walks.

 

This is a great picture of Jordan with his companion, Elder Smith from Kaysville.

This is an elder from Florida, who had never seen snow before...

 Although this was a brief, wet, snowstorm, Jordan is hoping that it will snow again soon!

Jordan has always loved to do origami, especially with dollar bills.  It took one of the Elders about 45 minutes to fold this dragon.  Impressive, huh?

What a great email.

Email #2

Getting an email from Jordan at 8:35 in the morning just makes our day!  There are still many things we wonder: Did he get the package okay?  Did he like the scarves?  Was there a lot of snow?  How is the language coming?  Who is your companion?

Fortunately, Jordan is able to email us a nice long letter and answer all of our questions!  He is lucky to be able to get letters in the mail or through DearElder.com every day, but emails only come once a week, so they are a treasure to us.

These emails are a source of love and support from our missionary ~ It is nice to know that he is in a great place, surrounded by the Spirit and other Elders who are studying the language and the Gospel.

He writes in part: (I have added my thoughts in italic parenthesis)

--> "Thank you so much! I really appreciate the package. The scarves are great. I will definitely get more when I get to Korea, to match the ties I have. (Jordan is a collector.  Sunglasses, ties, and now it will be scarves)  Scarves and sweaters will save me. I haven't used a sweater yet, but I know they'll be good. The coat I use is great, and I am staying warm, so don't worry.

Also, thank you for for the food, belt, and everything else! I really appreciate it. Food seems to be a curse here. You're never really hungry because they feed you so much during lunch, but everybody gets food in the mail, so people will walk the halls at night offering food to everyone. Usually people turn down the offer, but when they see your food, they quickly change their mind. They LOVE your cooking, and of course I do too. I told them to wait for thanksgiving, your rolls are to die for. (Sweet! It's nice to know my cooking is not only being appreciated by Jordan, but other Elders as well!  Rolls are definitely going into the next package!)

My companion is great, Elder Smith is from Kaysville, and he is great at memorizing vocabulary, so when I fail to remember, he's right there to remind me. (I'm so grateful he has a companion that helps him!)  We get along great, he's really nice. He's a little quiet, but he's opening up. He's sassy, which is hilarious. (Jordan is a social and fun person, so I'm glad he and his companion have hit it off well.) 

This will be a great 12 weeks. My district is great, there's just a few elders that aren't as focused as they could be. But we're only 2 weeks in, they'll find their focus. (He is already showing signs of a good leader; recognizing the potential in everyone.)  I haven't taken many pictures yet, but I'll send them probably next week.  (Please, please, PLEASE send pictures! I am crossing my fingers big time....)

Our whole building is Asian [speaking] (Chinese, Korean, and maybe some Spanish elders, but I don't know why they're in our building.  And we got some good snow too. An Elder in my district hasn't seen snow before, he is from Florida. (It would be fun to see this Elder's reaction to snow!)  We got around 7 inches maybe? It was nice. I hope it snows more down here. "

His schedule?  He writes in part to his Grandpa the following:

--> "My activities are generally the same from day to day: Wake up at 6, shower, study, eat, study, study, lunch, study, study, study, dinner, study, gym, study, bed at 10:30. Those study times are either Gospel study (studying the scriptures), or studying Korean. It's about half and half. They definitely keep you busy here. I can't wait to get to Korea. My Korean is going well, I am able to read at a slow rate, introduce myself, pray fluently, and bear my testimony. I just wanted to let you know how much I love this gospel. I'm so glad to have your support, and I appreciate everything you do."
Love, Elder Jordan Franchina

Jordan's 1st Email & DearElder.com

While I was in a Relief Society presidency meeting, I got a text message from Brad, "Did you see Jordan's email?"  I rushed home to get to the computer and there it was ...  the email/letter that I have waited for alllllllll week!

Missionaries only get 30 minutes per week to read and write emails on their P-day (Preparation day, a day set aside to do laundry, planning, letter writing, and personal study).

Jordan writes:

Mom and Dad,

Emails are great, I love to hear from you, but DearElders** are fantastic! Thank you so much for sending them. Please post on my blog, facebook, and other things to encourage people to write me every once in a while. During lunch and dinner times it is my responsibility to check our district's mail, and it just uplifts my spirits to see a DearElder. I don't need one every day, but they are nice to get. 

Oh, my district is awesome. 10 guys, three going to Teijong (still working on the spelling), and the rest are going to Seoul (no sisters in our district). The other new district has two sisters, and total we have 20 missionaries, one going to LA, 6 Puson, 6 Teijong, and 7 Seoul, all Korean speaking, obviously. 

On Thursday we had a meeting to get acquainted with our branch presidency, and they interviewed all of us. I GOT CALLED AS DISTRICT LEADER!! Yay. It's great, not too many extra responsibilities, but sometimes it's hard to set an example. A few elders and I get along really well and sometimes during Korean study time we can get distracted easily, but I'm working on it and doing better. I have to remember that we are representatives of Christ, teaching His gospel with His name on our badges. 

I have come to realize that Korean is truly a Celestial language. If they didn't speak the language that God uses, they would speak Korean. Our branch president calls the Korean branch 'The Celestial Branch'. 

The first day was CRAZY. And so has every day been after that. After we said goodbye, we dropped my luggage off at my residence after picking up my badge, then went straight to Korean class. He only spoke Korean. I suppose complete immersion in the language is the best way to learn, but yesterday he spoke English for the first time because he needs to start explaining grammatical rules and such to us, which would be difficult to understand in Korean. 

Day 1 we learned to read in Korean, day 3 we taught an (mock) investigator who didn't speak any English, and yesterday we taught him a third time, and he already read the Book of Mormon, and he will come to church with us on Sunday (not really, he's a mock investigator, but he's making it as much like real as possible - we knock on his door, he talks to us, invites us in, we teach him, and leave, that sort of stuff). 

The MTC is great, I'm always full, the food is good. I need to make sure I don't eat too much. But it's NOTHING like your cooking Mom. Thank you SO much for the cookies!! They are delicious and my companion and roommates enjoyed them too. Thank you for your DearElders, they are really motivational. I'm highlighting parts to read when discouragement comes, or when I just want to read, 'I love you', and I'm saving them all. Also, thanks Dad for your letter in my luggage. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. The days feel likes weeks, but I hope the weeks feel like days. That's what they say here, at least.

I am soooooo happy that Jordan is doing well!  I believe he has answered many of my questions!  There was a little more to this letter, which included a list of things he needs sent to him in his next package.

**For those of you who don't know what DearElder is, it is a FREE website that you type your letter on and the site will print a hard copy, put it in an envelope, and stick it in a pouch with other DearElder letters, and take it to the MTC the same day ~ as long as you send your letter by noon, Monday - Friday.  You can send letters to multiple missionaries, read, edit, and print off any letters you send!

It is very simple and easy to do and the Elders at the MTC LOVE getting them!

1) Go to DearElder.com (click on the gray link and it will take you there)
2) Create an account with your name, address and password
3) Make sure you have "Provo MTC-FREE" selected from the drop-down menu.
4) Click on the grey box: "Write a Letter"
5) You will be directed to a window where you will fill in your info and Jordan's info. This only needs to be done once.

 

6) In the blank white box is where you will type your letter.  

7) Once you are finished, all you need to do is click on the gray box, "Send Letter" and you will get a confirmation asking if you are really ready to send.

The date Jordan is expecting to leave the MTC is January 14th, so there is plenty of time to share a thought, message, and your love to Jordan through this fabulous letter writing service!