The Heater Works again!

February 17, 2013
Heya family, friends, and other members of my own personal fan club!

This last week has been really good.  Our heater works.  Again.  Like it should be doing.  The consequence:  I've been sleeping a full 8 hours every night (a vast improvement from the 2 solid hours and 6 really perturbed sleep.  Just saying).  And, I'm way less tired and able to focus more in lessons (shocker, I know).  It's been nice.

Mom and dad... BTW, thanks for the updates and everything.  I feel significantly better about the 핵실험 going on up north.  It's true, however it plays out, it plays out.  The only thing I can do is just roll with whatever Heavenly Father sees fit and take the opportunity to learn and grow from it.  And that's one of the great things I've learned from serving thus far.  Just learn and grow from your circumstances, regardless of how difficult or impossible they may seem.  It's been nice just buckling up and learning how to learn.  I think UO v 2.0 will be much more productive than round 1.  PS, I know it's a little early to be thinking about it, but I really do want to do a double major.  Linguistics has crossed my mind, and so has computer science (but this idea will be explored more in-depth in about a year and a few months). 

Apart from the heater, I redesigned how I do studies.  And I think it's for the best (how can it not be.  It's the inspiration that came at church - which ironically had nothing to do with the talks or topics at church).  Basically, the thought came into my mind about how to make my studies last the entire day and not just for the two-and-a-half hours in the morning.  I've already got a system for language study (which, is being modified... language study v X.0 will be a vast improvement on v (X-1).0 - Elder Harvery, don't be afraid to modify and change up how you study every so often.  Chapter 7 in PMG is a gold mine for this), but I want a system that will help me think about what I studied in the morning.

Let me clarify real fast:

Studying roots in Korean has really helped me think about vocab and Korean throughout the day.  It's helped me pay more attention to what people are saying and to make connections to other words.  The key is to review, connect, take notes, and ask questions.  And it happens after logging in a good effort to have enough to do so.  I want to apply the same principles to my personal gospel study... throughout the day, I want to review what I studied, connect it to other things I've studied, to take notes as I make connections, and to be able to have a deep and abiding curiosity to ask questions that will help me learn or to solidify understanding.

What I've come up with... utilize the scripture bag for all it's worth and to bring along a travel size notebook for impressions and notes throughout the day.  During the course of the day, I want to review my notes, and ultimately, be able to present and organize my thoughts in a study journal.  Yeah, I realize it may not be the most in-depth plan, but, it takes time to develop.

That's another really important thing I've learned: to not be afraid to experiment.  Very rarely have I come up with a plan that was perfect at first.  It takes time, evaluation, and revision to develop a system that works for studying.  I'm starting to like having a scratch pad on hand to put all my thoughts down and organize them a little later.  In a few months, things may change.  I'll see how I like what I'm doing, figure out what I want to change, and then to change it.  And then after a little bit, evaluate, revise, and change again.  It's exciting.  I'm super stoked to see how it develops.  I'm hoping by doing this and focusing my thoughts, I'll be able to consecrate myself just a little more to missionary work.

I love every minute in South Korea.  It's a blast.  The people are super nice, the food is good, and the work is hard (I wouldn't have it any other way.  I like nice people, good food, and a challenge.  That's my idea of a good Friday night).  Yeah, there are some days where I'm super discouraged (some people aren't nearly as pleasant, and rather than say it, they show it by shunning you hard.  I had a man turn his head away from me - a full 180 degrees from my face - as he walked by me.  It seemed super uncomfortable to walk that way.  His choice, though), but then there are some days when you investigator just gets it and you can see it in their countenance.

I love you all, and I love hearing from you.  Mom, I will try to be more diligent in my picture taking.  It's something I would like to do for myself (is it bad that I have some selfish desire to do that?  I don't think so... but if it is, I'll change).  And I'd love to get the SD card in the birthday package.  I'm working on the 32 gig right now, so whenever won't be too late.  Glad to hear you got the letters though.  I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.  And the terribly out-of-date info on them. Makes me appreciate email so much more.

Elder Wedam