Frequently Asked Questions

We got Sydney's letter later than usual and it's short.   I don't think she had a lot of time today.  She did send a picture from the cafe where she writes so she could show us her new glasses.  Glasses are cheap in Korea.  She only paid 53 dollars for them.  I might have to send her all of our prescriptions and have her get some for each one of us.  

My faithful readers!  Thanks for continuing to care enough about my life to read about it in these brief and rather rushed letters. I'm sorry if they ever don't make any sense. I'm doing my best. Since things are finally beginning to settle down here, I feel like it's time that I actually give you all some information on the ward I'm in, the people I'm working with, and state of the missionary work in my area. So, if you've felt confused or out-of-the-loop thus far, fear not--I come equipped with answers.

So here we go. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Are there elders in your area?

Yes! We share our area with Elder B... and Elder C...They've been here three transfers, I think. They're pretty cool, but I still miss my dear MTC elders more than anything.

2. How's the food? Have you thrown up/had diarrhea/died yet?

No! The food has been great actually! No sickness thus far, which is great news because, honestly, I'm not sure how I would cope if I got sick here. Fingers crossed that that never happens.

However, I do have one story about the food this week in which it was not as delicious as I wanted it to be...

Disclaimer: I am not a vegetarian. In fact, I really like meat, but there is a certain point at which I draw the line.

Eating food that still has it's face. No. Just...no.

And this week, not once but twice, there it was--cold dead eyes staring up at me accusingly from a serving plate. In no circumstance should the eater have to meet the eyes of the eaten.

3. How is your ward? How many people? Are they nice?

There are about 70 people in the ward here, but only about 50 of them actually come every Sunday. For Korea, this is really good. The ward here has a great balance of adults, youth, and young children, so things never seem unbalanced and sacrament meeting is always a little loud. The bishop here is wonderful--really helpful, really personable--and the whole ward just acts like one enormous family. They try and go to the temple all together at least once every month, they eat lunch together every Sunday after church, and every fifth Sunday, instead of RS/Priesthood and Sunday School, they gather all together and talk about...missionary work!  Just yesterday, we received two referrals from our members. Needless to say, they are incredibly wonderful. 

4. More about your companion!

My companion is from the city of Yeoju, which is about 40 minutes north of where we are now, so she is serving her mission really close to home.  Both of her parents also served missions in Korea and her younger brother is currently serving in the Busan Mission. They were in the MTC together just like Nicky and I, so in that respect we are same-same! My companion has been on her mission for six months. This is her first time training, her first time opening an area, and her first time doing missionary work without a phone (yeah, we still don't have a phone, but hopefully,hopefully today). Also, this is only the second area she's ever served in on her mission, so we're both new at this whole experience, but luckily we get along great, so we're, albeit slowly, figuring things out together.

5. Do you teach English?

Yes! Our English class is every Saturday at one and then we meet people outside of class for 30/30 lessons (30 minutes of English and 30 minutes of gospel). Before we got here, the elders didn't really do much with English class, but Sister Lee and I think it's a really great way of finding investigators, so we've been putting a lot of work into advertising and improving our English program. Already we've found a mom and her two kids who we taught a lesson to last week and just yesterday another mom and her kids called us and set up appointment for later this week. Success! English class really does work! Hopefully good things will follow.

Other than that, our work here continues on, even if it continues on a little slowly. Our members are really starting to trust us (well, at least they trust my companion. I still don't say much), so hopefully we'll be able to do them proud and find some new members for them to welcome into their wonderful ward family.

I love you all and I hope you have a beautiful week.

Step on some crunchy fall leaves for me.

Love, 

Sister Arvanitas