8/5/12 first letter from Korea!!!

WEEELLLLL yall i am here in the land of asian peersuasion!!!!! sayyyy whaaaaattt?/????!!!!!???? !!!! i know crazy right, and so much has happened in this first week of being here....i don't even know where to begin but it's ok because i brought my journal (which i write in nightly0-trying to be like my amazing older bro brons) so i'll tell you all my great experiences. well the travel to here was crazy. sorry the phone call at the airport was cut soo short. We were all just paranoid about misssing our flights. flight to san fran was good, i sat buy 이 장로님 and 이 자매님 (elder and sister lee, not related....there's like4 last names in korea: lee, shin, park, cho...they aren't very original) it was great sitting by them and just talking to elder lee in my broken korean. but i was jealous because i wanted to sit by someone non member so i could put my missionary skills to the test!....stayin in th mtc for as long as i did made me so excited to bring souls unto christ and heavenly father. but i bore it with patience. Well in san fran we had a bit of a lay-over so i splurged and had some real food....aka some pizza from this lil cafe. korean air was amazing and so nice. except like all other vehicles i didn't fit....so not a single minute of sleep happened. but i ate some korean food and the stewardess loved me/ hated me because i guess koreans drink out of like midget sized cups. so i had to just walk to the back of the plane and just keep asking them for water refills! ha while they filled my water i would do some squats and calf raises. each seat had a personal tv screen with tooooonnns of choices but we could only 1) watch documentaries 2) play chess... so it was a bit rough. especially for me since im so tall i could see like every screen and man there were alot of good movies going on. my eyes would start to wonder then i would be like "what would the savior think! or what would president christensen think!" so i would just pull out my book of mormon and read. or just talk to the missionaries sitting around me. i played some pretty intense chess games anyways ok this is taking such a long time i'll summmarize more. got to korea. met pres and sis christensen along with ap's and office elders. went to mcdonalds then put our stuff into the van and we all got books of mormons and got on the subway and did our first proselyting activity! boy i loved it! ha the korean people or so loving and kind. I placed 3 book of mormons on the subway and bore aton of testimony. well so my Trainer is Elder Warren, brons you may know him. He went to springville high, he hungout with alot of timpview kids. he's awesome, he's also our district leader and i have to do "language pass-off" with him. Pass off is where you have to know and teach so much about each lesson. you like have to know a ton of vocab, memorize scriptures in korean and stuff. When you pass off you are able to go senior companion. usually people pass off in lik 5 transfers but i know through the help of the lord i can do it all in this transfer or maybe next. Anyways. korea i hot....like blazing i sweat like none other! our house is in a place called 내봉 (nay-bong) and it's a four man house. it is aweesome!....like not because it is nice but i feel so much like a missionary living here. well it's like almost 100 degrees and the humitity is like 80% so yeah it's hot! we don't have ac, just some fans and so literally you constantly sweat. I sleep on just a yo on the floor and your lucky to not just sweat all night. ha and even when i take the coldest shower possible im sweating... but it's ok, i lvoe it here. and yes dad i drink a ton of water! i go through like maybe 4 liters a day of just water. Well ok now to my official mission work.

I baptized someone yesterday. It was my first baptism and im so grateful to the lord and to elder warren for giving me the opportunity to do so. his name is 홍정민 (hong-jung-meen) he went to byu and is majoring in business. He's really shy but he took lessons in provo and came and said he was ready for baptism. Elder warren really wanted me to have this experience so he let me perform the baptism. elder warren is so christlike and we work so hard. it's great. im so blessed by the lord! o and president christensen and his wife came to the baptism and the church meetings. Everyone stares at me because im so tall. ha got some great lesssons for this weeek and i love proselyting on the streeet. i can meet alot of coold people but back to 홍 so i want him to stay strong in the church. and he returns to byu on the 23rd. brons could you maybe find him and befriend him when he comes back to provo? koreans have a huge problem with going inactive when they get baptized. I know if you helped him get settled in his ward i and the lord would be very appreiciative. We went and had dinner at his house and his mom isn't a member. but she is a millionaire that does...guess what....nuskin hahahaha she gave elder warren and i facials all yesterday after dinner because wshe felt my skin and was lik "so oily..." so for 20 minutes this korean lady forcefully gave us facial washes and the whole shebang. She was just like :"oooo so handsom, so stylish, skin like a baby!" hopefully we can get her interested in the church and what not. well i have spent wayyyy to much time on this already. mom here are some emails to president shin and sister menlove (my mtc branch presidency members) they want you to forward stuff to them Yongin_shin@yahoo.com tmenlove@mcfoods.com Everyone sounds great. mom if daryl's knee hurts you better give her the pain killers because she shouldn't have to suffer through without them like me!!! haha ;) brons you better work your tail off at football, because i don't wanna have to come home and put you in your place. devin.....yolo. daryl, stay strong and be positive, i pray for you every night to heal. Lex, be a good girl! tell porsche i love her. and please keep me updated on everything! Mom and Dad i love you! i know that i am where i am because of both of you. Im extremely blessed. keep working hard in the gospel and all other aspects of life. stay strong! i willl work harder and harder so that you can recieve more and more blessings.

LOVE ELDER KAUFUSI

ps. dad do you put any money on that wells fargo card for money like brons or whatever?....because i could use it to do some major grocery shopping or something. Gotta keep eating out here haha if not don't worry. just let me know.

July 24, 2012

Hi Family! ah I can't believe it. it is my last week here in the mtc. ha 6 days from today i will be flying to Korea! it's so crazy to think about, i love it! but i gotta stay focused. it's so hard to stay focused knowing ill be in Korea in like a week! ahhhhhhhh. I just can't wait to do the Lord's work over there. it willl be great. I love the Korean people so much, i can't wait to be surrounded by them and see them and just attempt to speak Korean to them. Well there's so much going on. K so how excited is everyone to get bronny boy home? mom just hug him and don't let him go hahaha. i got my note from the front desk yesterday that i will get to see him at 2pm tomorrow.....i don't know what to do when i see him! it says only 20 minutes and i don't know what we will talk about. will i cry? will he? should i just pick him up? should we shake hands and smell each others souls poly-style? i just don't know what is going to happen! have him bring in a camera so that we can take a picture together k? oh and some other things....if possible have him bring in some In N' Out burger :)(: that would be swwwweeeeeetttt! also, i have some stuff i need to send home, like my box of letters that i want to keep ya know for a possible scrap book in the future hahaha. but yeah and i need to send home my side bag because it doesn't do me any good...it kinda hurts my shoulder and i think a backpack would be much better. So could you send me a good sturdy backpack ASAP so that i can get everything packed and ready? maybe send brons in with a backpack and have In N' Out in the backpack! brilliant! ha i can't wait to go to the airport and eat whatever i want.... i might splurge because man i love my food!!!!! O so i leave the mtc at 8 a.m. on Monday morning then my flight is from salt lake to San Fran at like 11ish then from San Fran i take Korean air at like 1 or 2 or something like that. so i will probably make my call from the salt lake airport between 9-11ish because we probably won't have enough time to in San Fran. want me to call mom's dad's or Alexis' cell phone ;)

So some things that have happened this week here hmmm well i was released and i now have time to study and stuff haha. Today is supposed to be our "bonding P-day" with the younger group because they are freaking out that we leave so sooon. Ha o funny experience, i had a mom moment. so elder Julian is very....messsy and just leaves his side of the room a mess, so finally i confronted him about it and i swear all the words i said were things that you've told me mom! hahaha and he ended up cleaning everything and now i live in a stress free clean enclosure hhaha. Hmm also this week, i got to escort a bunch of senior missionaries. o and elder tempest has left for Mexico! o it makes me so happy for him, i just want to jump for joy! i know he'll do so great. o Daryl ps. some people from my zone are plotting to write you.... um what else.... this timer in the corner is soooo intimidating.....well how is everyone. o dad, what happened with Joshua Quezada?! i heard he is transferring and my heart dropped. what happened. did he ever get baptized?..... You should let brons talk to him, cuz even if he leaves i know that he believes in the church and that he has a testimony.

haha well it's actually happening. I'm going to Korea to preach the gospel. I am humbled and honored for this opportunity and i know it is once in a lifetime. I pray that i can serve with all that i have and will become. I know that i will face trials and whatnot but the lord will bare me up. he has bared me up so much here in the MTC. ha my Korean isn't perfect, or even great but i can teach. and that's what i will do, teach teach teach. I will hug every Korean in sight (except the gals). I will try and be the best representative of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has suffered for us all and I owe my life to him.

LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLL

July 17

Family

how is it going family! i love you all so much and i can't tell you how much you mean to me! ha DAD! it was so good to see you and mom on saturday or whenever that was ha. i have seen everyone but you! so now i can go to Korea in peace hahaha. You look so dark?! it's almost like you are Polynesian or something! haha i can tell you've been doing summer camps that's so awesome!. and Wyoming sounded like a blast! I'm happy no one got injured rafting the rapids like bear grylles. I love the packages. Everyone here that i share food with just thinks you are all the best cooks to set foot on the planet. I'm so blessed. OK dad so I'm gonna try and get my card done today so that you don't have to worry about it OK? and don't be afraid to take money out of my account for my mission! that's what it is for. When do our triplets come in?! that's so exciting for Hillary. I loved the pics lex sent of the little girls they are so cute.

OK so a lot has happened this week and i don't even know where to begin. um so our native district has come in and i love talking to them and i feel so blessed to be going to korea. It truly is the place i need to go. I feel like the lord has blessed me with the ability to love them because man i just want to hug those lil cuddly Asians all day! ha i just pick them up and what not whenever i can. i'll send you my memory card with all my pics with them right before i leave. which is sooooo soon! ha we get our travel plans in like 3 days....so weird, i can't even imagine being out of the mtc but i can't wait! i know i don't know a lot of Korean but i can preach the gospel and that is all that matters! i hope north Korea captures me so i can open that place up as a mission. but probably wont happen.... so brons gets home so exciting, is he still coming in to see me? i would love to give that lug a big hug and say "it's my turn now" haha that would be a classic one liner.

I was so sad to hear about Papa Covey. I was sitting out doing some planning and Kinner was walking to her class and came up and told me. Then after she left christian was on his way out to gym and we talked a little bit and my heart just sunk. he cried into my shoulder and i just felt so much sorrow. when he left i couldn't hold back my tears. I just can't stand seeing one of my best friends in such distress and pain. I couldn't stop thinking about christian and the whole covey family the rest of the day. that night i went with Boden to visit him and we talked some more and even though there were no words i could say, i knew that the spirit would comfort him. they are such a choice family of the lord. i couldn't help but think of the verse that is near the end of Alma that talks about how the people died in happiness because of their faith. I know that covey family has nothing to fear because god has received another child into his rest. My heart goes out to all the covey family and I will continue to pray for them.

Another spiritual experience i had was during the Tuesday devotional sister (oaks) baker (elder Oaks's daughter) played the violin and it was so beautiful. she's like really famous and the spirit testified to me through her music and talent. mom as soono as i get home i'll take up piano again, because for goodness sakes it is such a good talent to have!

Well my time is running low, sorry this isn't super long. i love you all so much and know the lord is blessing you each day. his hand is in every bit of our lives, every hour every minute every second. Embrace the savior, he is waiting for us all. Twins keep on the straight and narrow. Devin no girls ;) Daryl no boys! lex go to church! (take Porsche) mom keep being beautiful and amazing. and dad keep being the worthy priesthood holder you've always been :)


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Corbin at his finest...

July 10, 2012

ELLLO BABIES!!!!!! how goes it man so much to tell you and not enough time haha well lets cut to the nitty gritty....i leave in like 3 weeks, what the bum im so scaredd and excited! ha im scared because im gonna have to push to learn as much as possible between now and then... ha mom you'd be proud, im finally pushing my brain tothe limit, i'm memorizing like 20-30 vocabulary words a day and lik 2-3 grammar forms, it's rough but the lord is baring me up! how was/is jacksonhole?!!!! that sounds like so much fun, you'll have to send me some picks or something. that's in the south right? go gator fishing? or eat everything deep fried and ssmothered in gravy? all i eat here is the deep fried stuff, you'll be happy to hear that i weigh 251lbs but im afraid it is fat....should i try and lose all my fat? idk ha o well, i still workout alot though, pushups/pullups/dumbells twice a week or more. i wish i had tony horton here, he would keep me in the best shape. I'd hate it but i'd love it. Ok about the week, so on thursday I was snooping around and found none other then baby boden boy!!!!!! hahahahahah i love him so much, i felt like ammon reuniting with the his brothers. it was great, tell  his fam he is doing wonderful! can't wait to get christian in here. i love seeing people i know, but it's weird because everyone  brown seems to know me. and almost everyone from newzealand knows bronson. all i hear is " ay ees elda kaufusi! maaaan yous looks just likes yur bro, ee's da man!!!" haha then i take pics with these random newzealanders haha i love them. but more importantly i love my bro! i can't wait to see him, however....what are we gonna talk about for 15 minutes??!! that's like hardly enough time to share a spiritual experience! maybe we'll gain the gift of discernment and he can discern all my thoughts and things that have happened for the past 2 years. ok what else, o the koreans that are leaving at the same time i leave just arrived last night! mannnnn do i love thme.! there is this one that has these big lips and just laughs all the time just like brons!!! haha his name is 박 장로님 like how i used some character ;) well ok so i had a bit of a rough spot this week because on sunday i was talking to a member of the district presidency and he was like "so is it your sister that was cut from the women's basketball team, man im so sorry, how is her health?" that statement hit me like a ton of brick.... but i kept my composure and was like "yeah, that's her. she's doing great." then liek 3  other people asked me the same thing, and so if possible could you maybe send me a letter or something quick so i don't have to hear from other people about something like this? i know it is kind of selfish of me to ask but i would appreiciate it. But it also turned into a spiritual experience. becaause after i heard it sunday night i was angry and so sad. i just had so much sorrow for you lex, and i wanted to cry because i didn't want you to be hurt or anything. but i just kept to the schedule and i decided to go to a talk by elder oaks about having righteous desires and during that talk the spirirt enveloped me and i fel the lord comfort me. And i know without a shadow of a doubt that you're going to be ok lex. And that the lord really wants you to stay close to him. While im on my mission i know the lord will bless our family because i have prayed to him and the spirit has manifested it unto me. Anyways instead of moping that night i changed my attitude because the spirit and i was happy. ha i love the spirit it helps me everyday! ok um times almost out, but lets see umm mom could you maybe see if you could find that mini preach my gospel that they gave us last year during the priesthood activity? they are a pretty hot item and it would be so much easier insteady of luggging around my big one. twins! i loveyou! dev, get stronger, daryl get uglier (because i will kill any boyfriends you have) lex....adopt another cat hahahahaha dad i love you and thanks for you email! and something i was wondering is if you could maybe send me a little paragraph or something about our name, "kaufusi," like the background and the meaning of our last name because president brown asked us to do it a while ago but i just remembered now. i wanna represent our family the best i can in my service to the lord! mom I love you and i promise im will eat eat eat. i love you alll soooooo much!  :) 사랑합니다

Happy July 4th!!

choay kajoke! how goes it! it sounds like you've had some really busy times up in canada! steph and trav are such a cute lil couple. but did any of yall go horseback riding?!?! dad tell me you rode the white horse ;) banff is great ay?! o and thanks for the shirt fus! i loved it i put it on today and my canadian companion thought that it was awesome! anyways, i wish i could've gone but there are sooooo many things i have to learn in the next 4 weeks before i go to korea, it's unreal. sometimes i feel like i haven't learned anything but then the lord always finds a way to pick me up and say "look here ya big brown bum, you can say.........(lots of korean)...... so stop being discouraged and work twice as hard!" ha i love when i get that feeeling like i just wanna learn a bajillion times more, and i need to because my days are number, ahhhhh!!! anyways, i loved your emails, if you could maybe just send them as dear elders so that i don't have to use to much of this computer time reading them. im trying to be as obedient as possible. o and fus, the best way to get in n' out into the mtc.....would have to be through christ dever, give it to him and he can drop it off in my room he said. my rooom is building 14M 4th floor and room 409. my bed is the closest to the door on the bottom bunk. ;) ok so now i can tell you alll the great things that have happened this week. well, where to start.... o yeah i totally got to say a prayer in front of 10 apostles! i don't say that in a prideful way but because it was such a blessing from the lord and president brown ( maybe send him a thank you card please, i will too) when i walked up i looked into the eyes of bednar, holland, nielsen, oaks, christopherson and some others but i can't remember. i'll send you a little copy of my journal entry, it's kinda spiritual so i hope you like it. welll also the next day i got to take care of our 26 new missionaries that came into the mtc. it was soo weird because now we are the older district.....we leave so soooon!!! ha i try to help them all by being a good example. in fact i was reading in helaman the other day and it had some great scriptures of being like your dad and i was like i hope i am being like my dad! i was reading about the story of nephi and lehi (the son of helaman....who is the son of helaman or something like that) and wow i wanna serve with the power they had! i could totally like convert all of asia if i were like them. What else.... oh we totally had to move buildings, kinda a pain but kinda fun because we get have a new change of scenery but our old building is turning into a all girls building. our new building is actually still under construction, haha we couldn't even shower on our floor after our workout today, and the showers in this new building have seperaters between them that go up to my shoulder....so everyone thought that i was just the biggest creeper in the shower ever hahaha but they need to get over themselves, because i aint peekin! hahaha we had an awesome experience teaching a lady that is a member that was converted six years ago in korea, we had an overview of the whole restoration that was 40 minutes and at the end all of us bore testimony and she did too, and she started to cry and i was on the verge of tears but don't worry i kept my composure but it was such a spiritual experience. it really made me so excited to go to korea and start pickin up all those lil panda bears and love them! i love hearing bronson's letters, it's weird to think that he gets home so soon. mother when he gets home then i guess you'll finally know the church is true and that mission work isn't too shabby! dad i meet so many poly's that are "cousins" i tell them that i'll ask you if you know any of their parents but i forgot them alll ooooops. but just know i have so many cousins in here it's awesome! sad that the temple is closed till right before i go. P-day just isn't the same without the spirit of the temple and the oppportunity to remember covenants and help those on the other side make them. Yall better book it to the temple one of these days!... but not provo.... hmm what else ummmmmm idk, ha i've almost finished all of the food in that huge costco box, i just eat like a crazy man! my teachers call me the "food bank" so thanks :):) I'm so excited for the 4th! i got picked to be in this flag bearing cermony then our new residence is the furthest one in the mtc so we get a good view of the stadium. So i tell my districts "can't wait to hear the beach boys and see a little firework action!"  well i love you all sooooo much, and because of yall i can feel the lord blessing me! love the packages, and letters :) fly high like a goose! o boden gets in this week and i can't wait to see that luggg haha when does coventry enter? BYE!