Last Week in MTC, First Week In Korea

 Well, Jaden's time at the MTC came to an end last Monday morning.

He's grateful for the experiences he had while there,

and learned a lot about the gospel and Korea.

He grabbed a few shots last Sunday night.

The missionaries were able to walk around the Provo Temple grounds each Sunday,

so he took the picture above last week.

They had a fireside last Sunday evening, and he saw his friend, 

Elder Hansen, one last time before leaving.

It's been such a comfort to know that he had such a good friend at 

the MTC for almost the entire time he was there.

Elder Hansen flies out this morning for Japan.

They also took a picture with another friend from school,

but I don't know him.

And of course, he needed to get a shot with his MTC district!

 

He sent this picture to inform me that Korean isn't the only thing he learned in the MTC.....

Let's just hope he doesn't decide to use this skill too much while on his mission!

He woke up at 2:00a.m. last Monday morning to get ready for his flight.

He told us he would call at 6:00a.m. from the airport!

It was like Christmas morning at the Roskelley house!

The call finally came around 6:35a.m.

Talk about a long 35 minutes!

He had about 12 minutes before he needed to board the plane,

so we each took a minute or so with him.

It was good to hear his voice!

This was his first commercial flight, and he was excited to get the seat he wanted!
He flew out with about 40 other missionaries.
30 were going to the Seoul Mission, and the others to the Seoul South Mission.

Here's the shot he got leaving Salt Lake!

Around 11:45a.m., I received another call!

Jaden had some minutes left on his calling card, and a three hour layover in Detroit,

so we talked again for about 30 minutes or so.

It was fun to have him all to myself for a little while!

And then the waiting began....

I was hoping to hear from the mission president by the time I woke up on Tuesday morning,

but no e-mail.  I checked all day long.

I hadn't heard of any plane crashes, so I assumed he'd arrived safely,

but I was sure anxious to hear!

Then on Wednesday, we finally received an e-mail from the Korea Seoul Mission.

He looks so happy standing next to his mission president and mission mom!

He spent the first two nights at a dorm on the grounds of the Seoul Temple,

and then was assigned to an area two hours east of Seoul.

He and his companion (who happens to be the district leader),

and another set of sisters are the only missionaries in the area.

They have one investigator, but mostly have been doing a lot of street contacting.

He's hoping to get more investigators this week.

 Below is a picture he took of Seoul.  He would have arrived around 6:30p.m. Korean time,

so I assume that's when he took it.

His first meal was ramen noodles and some "fruity pebble like" milk.

He said it was delicious!

He said the food so far hasn't been too different except for the kimchee, 

and he hasn't had enough of that to get sick,

but he has the Pepto nearby just in case!

He seems to be doing well.  The first few days were a little bit hard,

but he's starting to adjust.  Hopefully, he'll get busy and go to work,

and time will fly for him!

I'm just glad he made it through the long flight,

and arrived safe and sound in the Korea Seoul Mission!