Last Week In The MTC !!!!!

August 10, 2010

MOM and family!
These past few days have honestly been the best of my entire mission thus far! I gave the best lesson ever on Saturday and just understood everything the sister was saying to me it was insane!!! I talked like the whole time. I'm so excited to leave I can't even begin to tell you!!! It's going to be so awesome! but I know it's going to be super hard and I wont understand anything but I feel prepared to do anything! so ya I got my travel plans :) :) :) best day ever!!!!!!!!
Here is what's going down! I leave the mtc Monday morning at like 600 I think, we fly out at 830 from SLC, so I'll probably call you from there for a little bit, how many minutes did you put on the phone??? Oh and I can only call immediate family.  So we get to L.A. at 9:30  and have a 3 hour layover, that's when I'll be able to call so make sure everyone is around!!!! After that we fly out at 1230 I think it's a 16 hour plane ride or 14 depending on the wind, and we are scheduled to arrive in Korea Tuesday night at 5:30. crazy right???? I'm so excited! I can't even remember what it is like to not be at the mtc, I feel like I have always lived here! It's going to be horrible to leave all of my new close friends that aren't going to Seoul! like elder Farrell and some of the younger district I like a ton!!! but were finally doing what we have been called to do so I'm super, super, super, excited!!!!!!! Mom, I can't find my patriarchal blessing so if there is one thing I need in a package it's that!!!! oh and I could use some return labels for my mission address if that's not to big of a problem?? I can't believe school is starting already! hopefully the pud master likes his new school, that's pretty cool! I'm going to be sending a package home of stuff I don't need, and also I heard that your not allowed to wear boots in Seoul so those ones we bought would be worthless! if I send them home trade them for those ones at Adrians that just stretch over your shoes so I can keep them dry!!! actually I think I will send them home so try to get those for me! I'm going up to the temple today around 3! So feel free to pass that message along to ANYONE that would like to know (cough, cough) Ha I loved that picture with the C full!!! that is insane! I think you were behind quite a ways when I got it too!!!!  I got a package from grandma Frei and Winn with cookies and popcorn balls they were delicious! I have so much extra food though!! oh ya tell Hurst to write me back!!! I'm way mad at him! I'm so excited to get to Korea! I hope I get an awesome trainer that isn't lazy :) just sayin! pray for me cause I started about a month ago (for my senior comp) other than what I said I don't really need anything else in packages that I can think of just be creative I guess if you really want to send me one!! I promise I don't need it though :) the next email I send I will be in Korea!! that is insane!!!!!!! well, that's all of I've got for you! seems pretty detailed! mom, I expect detailed dear elders back just so you know!!! I love you all! can't wait to talk to you !!! 6 days!!! I hope dad can be around when I call? or maybe I could call him at the office? When does his hunt start???? Love, Elder Frei

Only one more P*day

Hello everyone!! This past week has been pretty much average except for a couple of things! Hosting was pretty awesome!!! We get to do it again tomorrow also, it was kinda sad though because it reminded me of when I left! But it was a good experience! I didn't host anyone I knew but I ran in to a bunch of people! one night after dinner I ran into Justin Ence!!! His visa got delayed so he came here!! I got a pic with him so I'll have to send it home!!! also, I got a picture with Haden Hawks cause he leaves this week!! oh and Jake Cannon  lives on the same floor as me! I see him all the time!! I'm excited to get that phone so I can talk to you! it's going to be so awesome!! I thought of  a few more things I could use.. in my bathroom in like the 2nd draw on the left side there should be some cartridge cleaner refills for my shaver cleaner, if you can't find them it's fine. one other thing that would be sweet is some pictures of my pots that I made! Just to I can show people! Chase has taken ceramics in college and high school and is very good! Koreans are very good a ceramics also. I've been working really hard, I'm so excited to get out of here! I only have 1 p day left here after today! wow I'm so excited haha! how was the past week back at home? i can't believe that Mitch gets married this weekend and that it is almost Hayleys birthday!! Her letter got sent back to me so I have 3 for her now! I'm sending them to the house so just give them to her! I'm excited to get some kimchi though! I've had it a few times while I've been here and it seems to get better and better every time! oh I forgot to tell you! I saw this kid that went to dixie that just graduated, he does service with me twice a week! I can't remember his name, Zack would know it he played basketball he's going to South America somewhere! It's good to get to see people that you know! it makes it seem more like home! ha but my district and my zone definately seems like my family and my brothers! I love them. we've all grown so close to each other over the past 2 months/ 9 weeks! I've learned so much from them, it's crazy though because it feels like I've always know some of them!!! and i know were going to be friends when we get back! when i pray and throughout the day I can feel every ones prays for me because I always feel comforted and so spiritually strengthened in such a short time! I've realized that I've already changed quite a bit! it's crazy! Ha and I forgot to tell Mitch when I wrote him back but  I’ve definitely lost some muscle! not a ton though! that's about all for this week! i love you all! have everyone write me!   DAD, thanks for the letter! i can't believe it flooded a little that's crazy! When is the Henries hunt? I can't wait to see what you get! that will be awesome! i can't believe that it's already time for that hunt! You'll have to tell the Ences that i ran into Justin a few times! he left for brazil today! but it was pretty sweet! I love you!  

Love, Elder Frei

Hurray for Tuesdays!!!!!!

I got those packages on Friday I think!!!!! They were all so awesome!! Thanks!! The shoes are exactly what I wanted they're perfect!! Ha I forgot to bring the letter with me that asked questions but I think I remember most of them.. I've lost probably like 10 pounds. The food isn't horrible I just don't eat very much of it that often. Sometimes its really good though!!! umm I thought of a few more things I need that you could mail or drop off on Mitch's wedding, oh ya I leave on the 16th which was three weeks from yesterday everyone thinks I only have two weeks left! but I have just under three now! it's pretty crazy!!! anyways I guess they don't have deodorant or toothpaste over there so get a couple of big tubes of it and like 8 sticks of ban deodorant that's my favorite kind. I think it's for girls but it works the best! also I need another sd card for my camera!!! and when you come up for the wedding you should try to find so kimchi so we can all eat it! that would be sweeet! The temple opened up yesterday so we get to go today at 330 I think!! I'm pretty excited to finally get to go back!!! oh and we get to host tomorrow because I guess over 500 new elders come in!! so we should get to do it for our last 3 Wednesdays here!!!!! I'm super excited for it!! it should be pretty sweet!! did Andrew get his call?? did any of my other friends? tell Haden that I wrote him a letter and he should get it tomorrow! we should get our travel plans in about a week!! I'm super excited for those!! that will get everyone so pumped to finally leave because it still seems pretty unreal that we will ever leave the mtc!!! about leaving, one thing that I heard was really good to have was one of those cheap pay as you go phones and put a couple hundred minutes on it and send it to me so when I'm in the airport I don't have to spend time looking for a pay phone or anything! let me know what you think?? how's everyone doing?? Hayley told me about gabe. i'm still pretty sad about it. I loved him so much. I'm sure Haden and Pud took it bad. He was such a great dog.. Don't worry I cried with you all about it. I was really excited to see him when I got home but life goes on. This week was pretty normal, we taught the 2nd lesson on Saturday and I didn't use any notes or anything!!! It was crazy!! I didn't think I would be able to do it!!! It turns out that our fake investigator was something Gubler!! I can't remember her first name but she has almost been home a year and she served in Seoul! after we got done teaching she asked me if a knew grandma and grandpa! I guess she knew they had a grandson that was going to Seoul!!! so that was pretty awesome!! I can't remember what else you asked me so I'll write a letter home if a left anything out!! only two p days left after today!!! that is so crazy I'm so excited to get to Korea!! oh yeah I got a letter from elder Bishoff this last week! he said it's so much more fun once you get out of the mtc and he said to be prepared to sweat more than i ever have in my entire life!! haha. we miss most of the summer but i guess were getting there in the hottest part of the entire year!! so it should get pretty interesting!! they have these awesome dress pants that are super thin that you can buy for like 10 bucks a pair and they are super nice!! Korea is so awesome! ha I can't wait! that's about all I have for this week, I can't wait to hear back from everyone! let me know what you think about that phone and don't forget about the ban and toothpaste! I love you all! tell Mitch to write me back!!!! I'm writing Blair a letter today and sending it home so make sure you get it to him for me!

Love, Elder Frei  

 Dad, good luck with your hunt! when does it start? I'm excited to see how it goes! I'm sure you'll get a big one! How is Zack doing in sports? When does he start practicing? Hopefully he has a good year! and hopefully he's not still slow ;) Maybe he'll learn how to tackle someone this year!! haha jk that's funny that Mitch and Scott lost to Bishoff's brothers team.. Bishoff is a baller. I'm sure they got all the calls, none of them are as good as Scott or Mitch! I don't remember who else you said played with them though!

Message from Chase

Chase emailed me and Hayley wondering why we hadn't written him back. I guess some of his letters he sent last Tuesday still have not been delivered. He said that he was not very happy with the postal service. (Just thought someone might want to know if they haven't heard from him.)

Another letter From Elder Frei :)

Hello family!! This week has been awesome! The new missionaries came in on Wednesday (to our zone) and they are awesome! I really like a lot of them!! wow. less than four weeks left now!! crazy crazy! I can't wait to get out of the mtc, I love it here but it is so repetitive and I hate the food!! it gets old!! Blairs wedding is on the 22 right?? I need an invite!! Why haven't I got one yet?? When you come up I have a few things I need that you could drop off for me! (at the byu place) I decided I want my electric razor, sometimes I'm in a hurry and don't have time to shave so please bring that, also my yoyo broke!!!! it's fun to play with at nights, if you can get me another one I would like that!! this week has been pretty normal, it flew by though!! were learning the 2nd lesson in korean now, it's pretty tough but it gets easier every day! after tomorrow I only have one Wednesday left until iI get to usher!! I'm excited for that!! it should be fun!! what's going on at home?? school is starting up in a few weeks right?? like three?? how is Zack doing in football?? when is his first game?? is he starting??

oh ya my ankle is slowly getting better and better. maybe it will be normal by the time I leave. I can run now and stuff with my brace on but it's still just weak. it's really nice to be able to run though!!!! I took a funny picture of Sunday with two of my favorite elders, elder Farrell and Hatch. Hatch just got here, they are both Jewish and they call me German so I'm in the middle of them it was funny. I love them.
I was suppose to tell you more about elder Babcock i think, he is awesome. were a lot alike. We get a long very well were like brothers I guess!! but anyways I have a pretty good story to tell I guess, we all sit around the jung box at night and tell stories and it is really awesome I started the tradition like a month ago. We included some of the new Elders and I guess it made one of  them decide not to go home, just because I invited him and included him with us! Now he loves us all. It was way awesome

Do you think that these two will stand out in Korea?

Lots of MTC pictures!!

Elder Frei is doing awesome!! check out some of his happenings at the MTC :D

Another update

Mom, I tried to get on right at 12. I was in my p-day clothes so I could only go to the laundry room to email. (everywhere else you have to be in missionary attire) almost all of the computers are down in the entire mtc!!!!! I was so mad!! but I'll get on at 12 next week for sure!!! how was your week?? what's going on back at home?? my week was awesome!! it was by far the best week so far in the mtc!!! Sunday i gave a talk in Korean in sacrament meeting!! the branch presidents wife (who is Korean) told me that she understood every word that i said to her!! it was awesome cause i thought i was butchering most of what i was saying!! This week was a very good week. i realized why i would come to miss the mtc! it's because here you have a lot of people that you become so close to, in the field it's just you and your companion!! but that's ok!! Me and Elder Babcock decided that were going to room together when we get back from Korea!! he's awesome! I'm not sure if I told you about him yet! that's about all that happened this week really.. except on Saturday we taught the first lesson in Korean!!! it went pretty good!!  Love, Elder Frei

MTC Update from Elder Frei

how was the fourth?? the tie that i got is so funny looking. it's black and has all these colorful peace signs on it! it's funny! saying good bye to them was pretty hard!! especially Elder Bishoff, cause i liked him the best he was like a brother to me! and he is one of the four elders not going to Seoul so i know i wont see him until we get home!! less than six weeks left in the mtc! so happy about it. i emailed you what i wanted in the newsletter! did you not get it?? oh and did you look for any of those slip on shoes?? i found out a few days ago that we get to take a carry on and a backpack on board so i shouldn't have to send so much stuff home! it still seems like i'll never leave the mtc but it's kinda not that far away! the next district comes in a week from tomorrow. so we are officially the older district. this week is tough because we can only speak Korean during classes and all of the teachers speak only Korean.. if's really frustrating and discouraging but it's slowly getting better. on Saturday we teach our first lesson in all Korean. (they have been in English so far) but i think that it will be fine! i memorized the first vision in Korean! it's pretty crazy that i did! Gift of tongues!! i got the 4th package on the 3rd i think!!!! it was an awesome package!!!! thank you so much :) :) i loved it! i we started having jung parties (jung is a korean concept that is how you know when your close to someone. it's hard to explain) every night so i take my huge box of food in there and everyone eats it and we tell stories!! it's awesome!! I've gotten to know some elders in the other district very well the last few nights!! Hayley will like this.. one of them (Elder Farell) has a picture of him with serena and dan from gossip girl!! i guess his family knows them way good because they live in new york! ha he said they spend Christmas in midway and they are always there! he invited me to go with him when we get back!!! hahaha
So when are the weddings?? send me there wedding invitations! i want to see them for sure!! I'm excited for both of them that is awesome! oh and thanks for getting that ring to me!! it's awesome to have!!

Ha about the Korean natives, they were playing with one of the elders from the older districts belly. it was so funny! but before they left we were all talking one night and i said Elder Lee Flex for us!! and when i said that i flexed for him and he went crazy when he saw my arm! he felt it for like five minutes!!! (like i said they are super super touchy) he couldn't get over it!

Dad, that sucks that your deer got shot!! I’m sure that there are plenty more up there though!!! when does the hunt start? it's not too far away!! so you fixed up the yo?? does it still squeak?? it was pretty bad! Zack is probably ripping it up!!  that's funny about prime and pud master!! maybe they'll be able to shoot like me when i get home! (probably not)

Pud! thanks for the letter and the drawing! i loved it! keep writing me!! how is your summer??
 oh and mom, tell lib when he turns is his papers i'll send him some shoes and jerseys!!!

one thing that i finally realized this past few weeks is why i was injured twice while i got my call. and they were both the two worst injuries of my life! i realized that is was so that i would be able to humble myself and understand how much i need heavenly fathers help! when i first got here i was thinking i can do this! it can't be that hard, i thought i could do it all by myself. that lasted about two days. my prayers have been answered in so many ways in the short time that i have been here. it is so crazy! every time I need something to help me out or anything else it always seems to happen and i'm always just like wow. did that really just happen?? it's crazy! i know that i must be so humble in order to learn this language and to excel in Korea!! because it is so hard to learn this language and they are the most humble people ever!! i can't wait to get over there!!!

Week 4 MTC :D

hi! i love gabe {Gabe is our dog}! i miss him so much!! you better train him right so when i get back he's awesome! haha i got the package you sent it was my favorite!! and i share everything i get! im losing weight because i'm losing some of my muscle.... there aren't heavey weights here so hopefull i don't get to small! the older district leaves on monday! it's sad! i don't want them to leave.. but i was looking at there flight plans and they have a two hour lay over in la so i'll get to call you then! six weeks from monday i'm out of here! crazy!! The new mission presidents were here this week as you know, it was so awesome!! on friday Elder Oaks talked to us at a special fireside!! and there were 7 other apostles on the stand with him!! it was the coolest thing every i enjoyed every second of it!! also i saw mr jensen (the girls basketball coach from sc) parents and they asked me where i was from cause of my name then they told me all of that and stuff!! a couple more people came in last wednesday that i knew so that was pretty cool! i get to host my last two wednesdays here{"Host" is the missionaries that pick up the new incoming Missionaries on the curb}! i'm pretty excited for that!! it looks way fun! oh and when we cleaned the temple we were ripping up carpet cause the are renovating the whole thing!! it was for almost four hours! it was pretty fun though! Answers to your other questions are elders flake and mccorsitin leave a week before us because the transfers are a little different so they got lucky!! and i'll send another email for that newsletter thing! when it comes out email it to me and i'll print it off so i can read it! this week was great it went by so fast! I learn so much every week it's amazing! i have a huge chain of vocab words that i'm memorizing, i'll have to send a picture of it home it's pretty cool! we taught the 2nd lesson this week at the trc! it went so good we tore it up! i'm in helaman now in the book of moromon i love it! and i'm almost done with the pearl of great price cause i never read all the way through it before!! ha so the 2 native korean elders are so funny! i've gotten to know them a lot more this past week! they love me! they say that we have jung now! haha :) i taught them some slang it was so funny!! they are ok at englsih but koreans can't pronounce some of our letters! it's so funny! since everyone in korea is skinny they are fascinated with fat peoples belly's! they call it jelly and they'll just start grabbing it and squeezing it like it's no problem!! it was the funniest thing i've ever seen!! can't wait to hear back from everyone! i love you all!   Elder Frei

Pix from Elder Frei!

Elder Frei's District

Elder Frei, Elder Bishoff, some random Elder :D

MTC Update from Elder Frei!

{For a little background, Chase hurt his ankle and both his wrists between the time he got his call and left to the MTC}

hello everyone!!! i have a lot to tell you this week so i'm sure you'll be happy mom :) first of all i would like to say happy fathers day to dad and tell him how much i apprecitate all the sacrifices and time and effort he has put forth for me to be able to have this opportunity. that story you told me about is crazy! i can't beleive you and pud master went and hauled that thing out! i can't wait to see pictures of it. that's sweet! ha i'm sure the hay hauling isn't quite as good as when i'm there but someone is going to have to step up i guess!!! i love you dad! thanks for everything :) .... i learned so much this week! it's so crazy! i memorized joseph smiths first vision! (all of it in english and almost half of it in korean!) it's awesome! i can read so much better now! everything gets better everyday! earlier this week we taught a lesson to one of the teachers at the mtc.. they pretend to be investigators it's pretty funny! anways we gave him an awesome lesson and he asked me some hard questions and i totally dominated them.. like how could god appear to joseph smith and some other stuff like that it was funy! then at the end we taugth him about prayer and i went to say the closing prayer! when i bowed my head to start to pray i realized that he was just sitting there! we forgot to tell him to fold his arms and bow his head!!!!! i couldn't stop because i had already said a couple of words when i realized it! it was so funny afterwards!! the older distric that came in six weeks before us leaves in about 12 days!! i don't want them to leave! i like them way better than mine haha! but i'm sure i'll be friends with them when we get back and some of them are going to seoul! my hands are pretty much back to normal now, which is awesome!! and i'm trying really hard to get my ankle better.... i do drills every morning and night and try not to run at all! ha so my district did a musical number in sacrament on sunday! we sand nearer my god to thee in korean!! it was awesome! we sound way good! Elder Johnson has a way good voice! I call him Elder Fergie becuase he sings so good! everyone else calls him that now too! haha i make up nicknames for a lot of them! all of the new mission presidents are coming in today and tommorrow!! which means that the apostles will be here all week to teach them and stuff!! and they eat in the cafeteria with us so i'm pretty pumped for that!!!! and also, the temple closed on saturday but my district got asked to help clean it!! so were going up there at about 12!! it should be pretty fun! ha since my ankle is still hurt i stopped playing as much basketball and i just play volleyball instead! me and elder bishoff always team up and kill everyone! it's funny! i love it.. there aren't very many ahtletic people here! oh ya and the older distirc has determined that i am there favorite so when they leave i get the district tie!! haha it's supposed to be pretty sweet and your only allowed to wear it once! and thanks for the package!! that one is the best! it has so much good food in it! so while i was wiating for my laundry to get done, this sister came up to me and asked me if was related to mitch! i said yes.. she said oh! i'm Cardin's cousin!! ha it was crazy because there are like 2,000 people here so the odds of that aren't very good! she had just got here on wednesday and she said cardin told her to look for me! ha so you'll have to tell them that! and tell mitch i love his tie! i get a lot of compliments when i wear it! tell him he has some ties coming his way when i get to korea! well that's about all for this week! the gospel true! the mtc is sweet! i'm almost done with alma! the gift of tounges is real! and teaching with the spirit is one of the best feelings ever!!! i love you all!!! have everyone write me! Love, Chase

Elder Frei's second week in the MTC

family! what a great week this has been! thank you for the packages and letters and pens! it is so nice to have tons of support!!! if your sending me a package i could use another pair of my jordan shorts.. any of them work and some pictures would be sweet.. just like of the bear hunt and anything else!!!

this week i learned so much! i restarted the book of mormon when i got here and i'm halfway through mosiah. i can't put it down! Kyler and trevor leave today! i was sad to see them go but it's sweet at the same time! i would see kyler everynight though! this week i learned how to say this is korean "we have a message about jesus christs gospel, god is our heavenly father, the gospel has been restored, a prophet exsits, and jesus christ lives. i can also introduce myself and ask simple questions like "how does your family become? or name or hometown or things like that! it sounds weird to translate to english! we get so many opportuities to teach here, i'm getting really good at the lessons! that's awesome that Dan Frei got called as the stake pres! sweet! ha and that made me laugh what haden said about me being gone!! the temple closes next week so today was our last time going for over a month! it's ok though!

Elder Bodily is from boise idaho, i've gotten to know him very well. the other two Elders in my room are Elder Flake and Elder Mccoristin. they are both serving in california korean speaking!! elder flake is from horse shoe bend idaho and elder mccoristin is from eagle mountain utah! i love them!

I've gotten to know Elder Stephenson way good, he went to pv and played against me.. he was the kicker! he's so good!! and his companion is Elder Bishoff from richfield!!! i love him too! he's way nice and he gave me a huge ring of notecards with vocabulalry words on it that is so good!!

i don't know how but i've lost like 5 pounds since i've been here! it's pretty weird cause i don't eat very good!! the bookstore here is way awesome and missionaries get 40 percent off so i can get alot of stuff i need there! i hope you all have a great week!! i can't wait to hear from everyone! i love you all!! and i'm so greatfull for this opportunity! thank you Mom and Dad! i love you both so much!

Love,

Elder Frei

Our first letter from Elder Frei

family! i can't remember our home email address so i decided to write to zack because i only get thirty minutes. the mtc is awesome! the first two days were the hardest days of my life and i honestly just wanted to go homel. but it is getting so much better now! my companion is elder bodily and he is awesome!! he's like six six and weighs like two seventy five. thanks so much for all the packages and letters you guys sent me!! it makes every day so much better when i get a letter or package! i love it. keep dear eldering me because it makes it so much easier to use all my time when i get on the computer!! i love you guys and i miss you all so much!! the first two days seemed like they were two months but every since then it has gotten better every single day! the spirit is so strong here! its unbelievable! i have never prayed so much in my life! but god truly does here all of our prayers and answers them.

a typical day for me goes like this: i get up around 6:15 so that i can shower and do everything else that i need to do, then and 7 we go to our classroom and do personal study for an hour then go to breakfast. after that we usually have a three hour class until lunch! then we go to lunch and come back to another class until dinnner! finally after that we have MDT or missionary directed time when we do compainion studay and language study! we have gym five times a week and there are also other meetings to break things up. sunday was an awesome day! we had a really good fireside about music it was great! but they are also way relaxed because we don't ahve teachers on sundays!! i loved it! today is my p-day and i'm only aloud to email and write letters today! that is why gettting dear elders throughout the week is so much better so i can use all the time i have writing!

one of the hardest things for me this past week was to realize how humble you must be. so that is the christ like attribute i strived to attain. you must be humble if you want to learn anything while you are at the mtc because everyting we learn here comes thorugh him! i have honestly learned so much already! i love it! the first two days i felt like my head was going to explode but now it's getting way better! i can pray and bear my testiomony in korean already! this is how i know that the gift of tounges is real!! last night me and elder bodily were doing language study and i made about 40 flash cards with words and phrases on them and out of nowhere i knew everysingle one of them!! then, right after that i was able to give my testiomony in korean which is pretty hard and then i said the prayer and i could do it all!!! i couldn't believe it. we both felt the spirit so strongly. it was one of the best experiences i have ever had!! zack, keep workin hard! i love all of you! you never realize how greatfull you are for such an awesome family like ours until you leave it and realize your not coming back to it!

mom, i saw Ian on the very first day and gave him a huge hug and said this is from your mom!!! i've only seen him a couple other times beside that though. kyler is in my building with me and on the same floor!!!!! it's so sweet! i see both of them everyday! clint grecko is also on my same floor so i talk to him all the time too!! Elder Bishoff from monroe is here and in my zone!! he's way cool and is always helping me with the language cause he's been here for six weeks!

love,

Elder Frei

p.s. i'm going to write home and send you some picutres because i don't have time to hook up my camera!