Dear Fam and Friends,

     Wow!!  My time is winding down.  I can't believe I have just 7 days left before I will be in Korea.  I can't tell you how scared I am, but how excited I am.  I have so many emotions.  I am really going to miss the MTC.  I love the spirit that's here,  but I know Korea is going to be so much cooler than I could even imagine.  I hate saying goodbye!!  I have made so many friends and now I have to leave.  The person that I'm going to miss the most here is my teacher Sister Allen.  We are super tight haha!!  She's my favorite, and I want so much to be like her.  She has helped my testimony grow in ways I can't even tell you. 
     We got 3 new sisters last week and 1 new native Korean sister this week.  It's always so exciting to add to our group of koreans.  In the cafeteria we have 3 long tables where all the Koreans sit.  We call it K-town. haha! Our branch is pretty big.  We just had 4 districts leave so you can imagine how small our K-town was for a few days.  It was sad.  We all miss them, but we are happy to have it nice and full again though. 
     This past Sunday was fast Sunday and it was my last chance to speak in the MTC.  I got up again to bear my testimony in Korean.  And, it was pretty nerve racking let me tell ya.  One of the branch presidency members is from Korea so I was so scared to mess up.  I did fine though.  My legs were shaking and my heart was pounding but I ended up saying everything I wanted to say.  It was a miracle.
     Let me tell you a funny story this week.  It's one of those moments that you just had to be there.   My companion and I were going to teach our "investigator."  We came in the room and everything was going great.  My companion asked if we could pray and our investigator said, "Yes."  We wanted to kneel but didn't know how to say it.  So we awkwardly got up and gestured to her to kneel to the ground, and then we slowly/awkwardly knelt down.  My companion was trying to think of something to say, and mumbled in Korean, "I.....am...."  The investigator looked so confused so I decided I needed to say something.  I wanted to explain to her why we were kneeling.  The only thing I could think of was to say, "We love God."  She looked at me like....."Yeah.......We DO love God."  We finished and just laughed.  It was funny at the time, and I know I will be having lots of those moments in Korea.
     This past Friday we got to have a lesson over skype with a lady in Korea.  She was a member so it was a little less scary, but it was soooo fun!  She was so sweet and loved talking to us.
     I am not so sick anymore.  I am lingering with a small cold but it will be gone soon.  I just ate salads the whole week and drank lots of water.
     I got your packages.  It was the best day ever!!  I loved them sooo much!  I LOVED the photo album!!   Oh my gosh it was perfect!!  Thank you so much.  I also loved the owl earrings.  I am finally about to audition for the devotional today in one hour.  I've changed my mind about singing I Know That My Redeemer Lives. I am singing "Worthy to Stand" by Jennie Clark Funk.  Elder Crockett is playing for me and he's super good.
     My companion is doing great!  It's still hard sometimes because it's her way or the highway, and if I say my opinion I get in trouble.  So.....I'm learning how to work with her.  I also believe she is bipolar so I am learning how to work with that too.
     Someone asked me to tell them the top two hardest languages in the MTC program.  Number one is Finnish, and number two is Korean. (over Mandarin Chinese) This past week I have been working hard on memorizing the First Vision in Korean.  It has been taking me 3 weeks to get it, but I finally got it a few days ago.  It's like one big run on sentence.  I spent so much time just writing a phrase over and over and over again and then adding on to that, and then repeating.  It took me longer than others, but I was determined to get it.  Yesterday was my first time getting to say it in a lesson.  I did it!!!  I was able to look my investigator in the eye and say The First Vision all perfectly.  The spirit was sooo strong.  It was another little miracle that I accomplished that.  I was so nervous, but felt the spirit of God near me as I said those precious words.  I then sang to her, "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" in Korean and I was able to sing it all the way through without messing up.  Another miracle.
     I have learned a lot from my teacher brother Hone.  We have had a hard time with our investigator keeping his commitments and have had a hard time finding out his needs.  Our teacher asked us how can we show our love and care for our investigators without saying it?   He said, "Sister Elaine S. Dalton said to, "First observe, then serve."  We don't need to ask what's wrong to know what their needs are.  Observe then serve.  I love that!!  People will immediately have a bond with you when you serve them.  Don't even ask, just do!!  If we have the spirit with us we will be able to be a light to them.  If we have the spirit with us we can better observe them and find out their needs.  Why did King Lamoni, in the Book of Mormon, listen to Ammon and end up appreciating and loving him?  Ammon served Lamoni without even asking.  He just did it!!  They had a special bond because of that.  I want to be God's servant!!  I desire to observe, and listen to the special needs of the Korean people.  I am so thankful to be God's representative!!  This work is sooo IMPORTANT!!
     I am so happy to hear about everyone and how they are doing.  I love you all and am so blessed to have you in my life.  I look forward to hearing from you again!!!

     Love Michelle

p.s. Please tell Lauren and James I love them.  I wish I had more time to write them.