More Than a Mountain

Family! And others.

I don't even know what to say about this week. It was so good though, but Sister Matsen and I just got back from hiking Mount Nejang (내장산) and we are darn.tired. I forgot my planner, so I'm not too sure what happened this week so I think I'm just going to talk about my year-in-the-country mark and then leave you with a ton of pictures. 알았지?

I've lived in Korea for a year! WOWOWOW. I made a list about the effect it's had on me.

1. I am so good at making rice now. So good. I know how many times you need to wash it before you can cook it, what kind of nuts to cook with it to make it taste even better, and even what to do when the uncooked rice gets infested with bugs, which happens a lot more often than I am yet comfortable with.

2. I like sharing now! In case you didn't notice, I wasn't that big of a fan of it before. But a huge part of Korean culture is sharing things with others, especially food. At first I thought it was weird when my Korean companion would not only share her food with me, but literally feed it to me. But it's just the Korean way of showing extra love. So if I ever physically put delicious food into your mouth, don't be alarmed, it's just love!

3. I think I might have forgotten how to use a fork.

4. I've eaten so much ramen. SO MUCH RAMEN. I don't even like to think about what a dent all of it has made in my life expectancy. It's been delicious though.

5. I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to get out of the habit of bowing. Once I come home, it's going to be such an awkward problem, I just know it. I'm sorry in advance.

I know there's more, but I forgot my actual list at home. Maybe next week though.

But to tell you a little more about today. It was incredibly, incredibly beautiful. I wish every one of you could have been up there with us (but also kind of glad that you weren't because there wasn't exactly a ton of room up there). Once we made it to the top we said a prayer, sang some hymns (because that's what missionaries do!), and just gazed at all those green mountains. But the best part wasn't even the peak, but before, at the base. There was this little Buddhist temple there and we stopped by to look around. The sweetest little old man (with the cutest little-old-man nose) popped his head out of the gazebo overlooking the view and invited us in. He was pleasantly surprised that we spoke Korean so he showed us the secret of the mountain. He had us lie down on our backs and look at the mountain upside-down--it made everything was different! Instead of a big, scary mountain with cloudy skies above, we saw a sky of rock and trees and the most perfect mountain of puffy white clouds. I can't really explain why yet, but I think it was one of my favorite moments on my mission. Then, as we continued to talk to this sweet Buddhist man I had the most wonderful realization. Heavenly Father loved this little old man more than the whole mountain. This one little, old man. He loved him more than all the mountains (cloud-filled or otherwise) because he was His child and he had the potential to become so much more.  Surely God's grandest creations are His children. 

Love, 

Sister Arvanitas

The Stream

Waiting to renew our visas

Also it poured while we were walking home. But at least I saved my scriptures.

We did clay masks

One of our members gave us all these crabs. We tried (and failed) to cook them.

 There are these picture places here that you can go and take pictures with your friends. Sometimes they turn out like this.

Happy Year Mark to me!

I was trying to make my arms wiggly like the tree.

The lake. All of those trees are maple trees. Will we be coming back in October? YES.

The Entrance

 The most terrifying buddha of our missions. Also there were three more of them.

 We took a break and ate some banana kick (like cheese puffs, only banana-flavored and a thousand times more delicious).

Made it to the top!

So tired.

"I can see America from here!"

But so cool!

Sister M.....

 I think I'll always remember this country looking just like this.

And then some meditation.

Korean Thanksgiving

 It was a year ago, today, that Sydney called us from the airport.  She was off to Korea that day!  I can't believe a year has passed since she went to Korea.  Time has flown by and yet, some days, it seems to stand still.    I know she has loved her mission, even the hard days.  It's hard to believe that in a few short months, she'll be back on that plane and headed home.  

추석이다! Happy Korean Thanksgiving! Last year on 추석 I was watching my trainer Skype her family while simultaneously  trying to learn the Korean word for "house." And now my trainer is at home spending the holiday with her family and I know two Korean words for "house!" Isn't it strange that life just carries on? This year, Sister Matsen and I are celebrating Korean Thanksgiving by refusing to wear makeup and watching Mormon Messages at the church. We're excited.

 

This week was the week of miracles! 

 

1. I renewed my visa without my passport. This doesn't sound too amazing, but believe me it was a miracle. It was such a big deal that I didn't have it (I'll tell you the story once I return to the faraway place called "home") and I was silently praying the whole time that the man at the international office wouldn't notice and he didn't. While he was stamping my visa for another six months, I felt like I was flying.

 

2. My companion and I finished weekly planning within the allotted three hour time limit. Thank. Heavens.

 

3. Yesterday we were invited to two meal appointments because it was a holiday (Korean Thanksgiving lasts for three days. Isn't that the best?) and we had to eat so. much. food. Between an enormous lunch and an even bigger dinner I prayed that the four missionaries in our ward would be able to be hungry again and that none of us would throw up. And we didn't! Though there was a scary moment when it looked like the greenie was almost definitely going to. But he pulled through.

 

4. On Saturday we were finally able to meet with this less-active woman in our ward who we haven't been able to meet for the past two transfers. It went so well. We ate lunch, talked about her new boyfriend (the sort-of reason why we hadn't been able to see her for so long), and we shared my message about how the Book of Mormon testifies of the Bilble (see my email from a couple weeks ago). This less-active absolutely loved it and said that she felt like she finally understood the Book of Mormon. Considering that she's never actually read the Book of Mormon, I was very pleased! Baby steps. While we were leaving, she invited us back for next week and we considered it a very successful meeting. But we weren't sure just how successful a meeting until she called us the following morning (Sunday) and said that she and her boyfriend would be coming to church. WHAT. My brain was like, "Jubilation! They're coming to church! I'm down on the floor and I'm laughing!" But seriously, what a miracle! And an even bigger miracle is that they actually came! Just like they said. It was beautiful because I'm pretty sure this less-active hadn't to been to church in ten to twenty years. (Ha. I'm not sure on the numbers.) But the members welcomed her back with joy and warmth for they loved her still. They sat next to us during the meeting and her boyfriend was so nice and humble. He sang all the hymns (which is good), bowed really low to everyone he was introduced to (even better), and looked through the Book of Mormon (best!). There was this really cool moment when his less-active girlfriend even explained the Book of Mormon to him. I was so happy, I wanted to weep. Hopefully they come back next week.

 

Before I go, I want to share this scripture: D&C 67:13-14 "Continue in patience until ye are perfected. Let not your minds turn back; and when ye are worthy, in mine own due time, ye shall know." I know so much that God knows the end from the beginning! Our perspective on his plan is so short and so narrow, but He has it all worked out and if we trust Him and are patient, one day we too can know. 

 

Okay, this PC방 is too hot and I have Mormon Messages to watch!

I love you!

Sister Arvanitas

Some of my favorite things

FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

Thanks for all the emails! I love emails! There are so many things happening with your lives! I'm so happy!

I don't even know what this week was so I'm just going to start by sharing an excerpt from my journal.

Five people came to English class today and they were all adult men. We made them play musical chairs.

So yeah. The week was pretty much just like that.

A Question From My Mom. "What are some of your favorite things about being a missionary in Korea?"

1. People are nice here! Seriously, if you're afraid of cruel rejection and hostility as a missionary, then pray you get called to Korea. People won't listen, but they won't throw rocks at you either (like you, Daddy)! I can think of only a handful of instances in which people here have been downright rude to me and none where anyone has been hostile. I mean, they call us 이단 (cult) a lot, but it's more like a half-hearted, automatic thing than any expression of real hatred. So that's good.

2. As I mentioned before, I love how small the wards are because it gives missionaries a chance to really get to know all the members really well. We visit the members a lot here and it's such a blessing because it gives us the opportunity to get to know their families on a very personal level. Some of the most valuable things I've learned on my mission, I've learned from the members!

3. The apartments we live in are really nice and really peaceful. It's kind of silly, but it's so important for missionaries to live somewhere peaceful and clean! Especially when they're always trying to feel the Spirit, especially during personal study.

4. We don't have to drive a car! Walking and figuring out the bus system is hard, but driving a car would stress me out like nothing else.

Book of Mormon Testimonies

Recently, every time Sister Matsen and I do FHE with a family in our ward, we've been bringing Book of Mormons and asking their children to write their testimonies in them and then either give them to us to give away on the street or, even better, to give to their friends! Their testimonies are just so wonderful and so cute that I wanted to share some with you. ^^

HyunAh age 7 (American age)

"I love the Book of Mormon. I know it is true. My name is HyunAh and I am nine. When I want to say a bad word, I read the Book of Mormon. So that's good. I know I need to love my parents. It would be good if they never died. 아빠, 엄마 파이팅! (This part is just too cute to ruin with English)." Also she wrote this in rainbow colored pencil.

HyunJun age 9

"If you read this book, you can understand God and Jesus Christ. Even though this book is long, if you read it a little every day you will one day have read it all. It's like how a speck of dust eventually becomes a mountain. Even if at first you can't understand this book, if you read it all you will understand. The end."

HyunOo, age 11

"Hello. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Our family reads this book every night. If you read this book you will have a good feeling and your heart will feel peace. Please definitely read this book."

Aren't they cute?

Our Bishop

...is the greatest. Ever. I don't know if I'll ever be able to adequately explain just how wonderful he is so that all of you can understand. You'll just have to meet him in real life. But here's a list. Lists help.

1. His motto: "The more investigators missionaries have, the more happiness they have. You don't look happy enough. We'll find you more investigators."

2. Once in ward council he said our phones weren't suited well enough to missionary work and then he promised to get us iPhones.

3. He loves this ward and wants to see it do well.

4. He's so calm and gentle. Like a lamb. Which is probably why his last name is 양. Bahahaha. Korean joke. I just high-fived myself.

5. Yesterday, in the combined meeting with the ward third hour, he talked only about missionary work. What he said went something along the lines of: "Look at our beautiful sister missionaries, Abba and Matsen. They are more beautiful than all the other sister missionaries in all the other areas. We are so lucky to have them. But do you know how many investigators they have? Zero. The sisters have no investigators. This ward fought so hard to get sister missionaries, but now there aren't enough sisters in the Daejeon Mission and we may lose sisters from this ward. Our sisters may disappear because they have no one to teach. And why don't they have anyone to teach? Because we haven't been sharing the gospel with our friends and then referring them to the missionaries. So let's start referring. Also go to English class because we love Matsen and Abba and want them to stay forever."

Ha. The thing is we do have investigators. None of them are progressing right now, but I promise we are teaching someone. But what the bishop said is 100% true. The steady wave of new sisters coming into our mission abruptly stopped a while ago and we haven't had many greenie sisters since. Sister missionaries our being pulled out of a lot of the areas and 정읍(Jeongeup) is definitely on the chopping block. It's terrifying. I mean, I think we're like third or fourth in line, but if we don't prove that sisters here are necessary then I'm afraid we'll be one of the first to go. 

Miracle

But we did see a miracle this week! A new investigator! We were just walking home from district meeting and then this old man starts walking with us and we get to talking and it turns out his daughter just came back from America a year ago and needs someone with whom she can practice English. Well guess what, we're good at English! Also the gospel! We met her last week and she so cute. Her English name is Chloe and she believes in God. YAYAYAYAYAY. We can work with that!

Okay, gotta go.

Love you, bye.

Sister Arvanitas. 

Another week gone

Another week gone (said in my best Dumbledore voice). Also, I'm almost at my year-in-the-country mark. Thinking about it kind of makes me start to hyperventilate. SO WEIRD. But anyway, before I begin COURTNEY. I got your package! I love you I love you I love you! I know you said it's supposed to be a makeup bag, but it's too beautiful to ruin with makeup so I'm using it as a scripture case and I love it. And I love you too, so THANK YOU.

Okay. Now.

Korean Fun Fact #12

Produce! We eat a lot of it, but we almost never buy it. Especially fruit. I remember when I first got here and I saw the prices for fruit and I nearly fainted. So expensive. (If Korea is like Japan, fruit is definitely expensive.  I remember paying 25 dollars for a watermelon and 2.50 for one apple.  Sydney was just little then.)But luckily Koreans always eat fruit after dinner so whenever we have an appointment with members we can eat fruit for free! The funnest thing about produce in Korea is that we eat it strictly by season. If it's not in season, you just don't eat it. When I first got here, all we ate were grapes and pears and peaches. It was a delicious way to start off my mission. And then the rest of the year went a little something like this:

September - grapes, pears, peaches

October - pears and APPLES. so many apples.

November - apples, apples, apples. and sometimes still some pears.

December - still apples, but now with tangerines! and persimmons. Fun fact that I didn't know about myself until I got here--I do not like persimmons.

January - tangerines

February - bananas? I don't know, there wasn't much because it was winter. We still ate apples sometimes though.

March - strawberries! and we ate oranges in here somewhere. This was my favorite time of year. I love oranges.

April - 잠외 (sp?). it's this Asian yellow melon and like most melons, i do not find it delicious. but still oranges!

May - these weird berries called 오디. I don't know it in English, but it sounds exactly like the word "where" and so when people would offer them to me I'd be like, "I'm from America." facepalm.

June - tomatoes (Koreans consider tomatoes a fruit and sometimes Korean grandmas would try and make me eat the cherry tomatoes like they were sweet and delicious. I promise I tried my best to always eat them, but sometimes I would just hide them down my shirt instead.) and tiny plums! I never knew, but I love plums! 

July - watermelon, watermelon, watermelon. and still sometimes tomatoes ㅠㅠ  

And now we're back to grapes and peaches. The pears are coming soon. I'm so excited. ^^

The Jehovah's Witnesses

I met them at last! I've been waiting my whole mission for them and finally this week, while Sister Matsen and I were doing companion study, two of them came knocking on our door. They were just two little old grandmas and they were so nice! They saw that we were Mormon missionaries, but they still gave us a pamphlet and tried their best to tell us in English about the kingdom of God. In my head I was kind of like, "But you can say it in Korean! Words about God and His kingdom are definitely one's I understand the best." But they tried their hardest to share their message in our language and I respected them for it. And then we all bowed goodbye and that was that. Though we probably should have given them one of our pamphlets too. Whoops.

A Question From My Mom

Thanks for sending questions Momma! I'll try to answer one every week. This week: what are some differences between the Church in America and the Church in Korea (but obviously not doctrine-wise)? Well, lemme tell you. For one thing, I think members in Korea are so much closer than in America because there are a lot fewer of them and usually the ward you're born into/baptized into is usually the ward you stay in for the rest of your life. And because these members have pretty much know each other since before they can remember, they're really, really close. And the missionaries are no exception. Even though missionaries are obviously temporary in the wards in which they serve, they're still very much members of the ward. Like last week, going on the ward camping trip wasn't a suggestion. It was a command. But I love it! It's like living in a Korean riceball of family and love. Also, every Sunday after church is over, we eat lunch together! That's one tradition I'd like to bring back with me to America.^^

A Miracle With Grace

Friday night we took the bus to the other side of Jeongup in order to visit some less-actives. But since I'm still having trouble finding my way around this place (and obviously my companion doesn't know because she's new) we had to get off at the stop in front of Grace's house, since that was the only one I recognized, even though I'm pretty sure it was nowhere near any of the places our less-actives lived. As usual I really had to pee, so we decided to stop in at Grace's and use her bathroom. Thank heavens she was home. After I used the bathroom, we chatted for a bit and while we were talking our seven o'clock appointment canceled (because her "hip hurt." Random). But it actually turned out to be such a blessing because we were able to talk to Grace for a while about her new calling in the Primary presidency and also just how she's been doing in coming to church in general. We had actually already met with her earlier in the week, but it hadn't gone very well. Even though she's been a member for almost a year, she still doesn't have any testimony of the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith so we've really been trying to help her with that. Anyway, when we saw her on Friday, the conversation eventually turned itself to the Book of Mormon. 

I asked her, "Grace, do you even know what the Book of Mormon is about? Do you know anything about the story?" 

"Um...is it about a guy named Mormon?" 

"Well, maybe like ten pages of it, but in the grand scheme of things, no. No, not really."

And then we began telling her the story of the Book of Mormon. From the very beginning (she liked when we shared 1 Nephi 3:7 so much that she marked it!) all the way up until King Benjamin. So, not very far, but it was a good start. And since we had assigned her the week before to try and read Mosiah 2, but she had forgotten, we decided to read that out loud with her as well. It was so good! And by the end, she was beaming with the a greater understanding of the book we've encouraged her so much to read. One thing about Grace, like so many others that I've met on my mission, is that she loves the Bible. So much. And she should! The Bible is wonderful as it testifies of Jesus Christ and includes many accounts of His life and ministry on the earth. But one thing that makes me so sad is when people's love for the Bible stops them from ever even attempting to read the Book of Mormon because the Book of Mormon has the same purpose: to testify of Jesus Christ. 

As it says in Mormon 7:8-9, "Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record shall come from the Gentiles unto you. For behold, this (the Book of Mormon) is written for the intent that ye may believe that (the Bible); and if ye believe that ye will believe this also; and if ye believe this ye will know concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous work which were wrought by the power of God among them."

Did I use enough italics and bold letters? So read it! Nothing in it takes away from the Bible. It only adds to its witness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Love,

아바 자매

I'm Okay!

FAMILY! And other people too. I'm back! I'm sorry I skipped out on the email last week, but I promise I'm feeling much better now and I'm ready to continue to tell you about my life as a missionary. But first, CONGRATULATIONS ASHLEY AND SHUPE! The wedding looked glorious and it was so fun to see seriously an individual shot of every member of my family. You all looked beautiful. I mean, Ashley obviously looked the most beautiful, but Max was a close second (um, has anyone thought about getting him into modeling? He'd be huge in Korea.)

 

Also, whatthewhat WELCOME HOME ANA! AND KAREN! And like half of my mission. So many people left this week, it made the rest of us feel nervous and antsy. My trainer dying-called me this week.(dying in the mission field means to finish your mission.  Sister Lee was Syd's first companion in Korea)   Sooo depressing, but we talked in Korean and I finally understood all of her words. It was fun to finally be able to speak to her in the language she worked so hard to help me learn. 엄마...그립다. ㅜ ㅜ

 

Anway, let's talk about transfers! I have a new companion! AND SHE'S FROM AMERICA. KLASkdfjASOIfdasdfaslkdfj. Can you believe it? I still can't. It's so weird. Like missionary work in Korea has a whole different side that I never even knew about. Her name is Sister Matsen, she's from Arizona (she actually went to the same high school as my college roommate. Weird...), and I knew her in the MTC. Which means we're already friends. Which is kind of wonderful. Also, did I mention she's a 외국인. I feel like I'm not even living the same mission.

 

To illustrate...

 

PROS

• People are so much nicer! Like, they go out of their way to help us and make sure we know where we're going and what we're doing.
• People look at me when I talk now. It's so weird. Since they no longer have a native speaker to rely on, they actually have to listen to my words. And I actually have to listen to theirs. It's so much better all around, really.
• Everyone speaks so much slower and more deliberately. And I can understand!
• I feel more involved in missionary work and just in life in general. I feel like a person doing something useful, rather than an obstacle watching other people do something useful.
• I feel a lot closer to the members and I feel like they're trying to become a lot closer to me.

CONS

• Ward council is slightly more of a challenge now because I have to pay careful attention to all three hours. Just in case something important gets said (which unfortunately it rarely does...).
• Interacting with other people, like doctors or cashiers or picture printing people (we see them a lot) has become more challenging.
• I get lost a lot more. Okay, maybe all the time. It's kind of a problem.
• Apartment announcements. We have PA system in our apartment complex that sometimes garbles out announcements for the whole apartment, but we can legitmately understand none of it because all it sounds like is, "안녕하...아......우........시........이.........드립니다." So hopefully that never ends up being important.

But of course being with a Korean companion has about a billion good things about it too. It's just different. I'm just grateful for the chance to see the other side of things.

 

Anyway, this week not much happened. The elder in our area got a new greenie companion so we ate with them at the bishop's houseThursday night. The greenie bore his testimony to us and the bishop's family before we left and it was pretty much the best thing ever. Greenies are amazing! When they speak it's just like BAM THE SPIRIT. At dinner that night the bishop also informed us that we would be going on the ward camping trip. We just assumed that there was no way we could go because we needed an investigator to go with us, but the bishop was pretty much like, "No, you're going. Be at the church at 8:40. See you tomorrow." And that was that. It was so fun. We played games and caught crabs and dug for clams and went to the beach. Like, I stood in the ocean and looked towards China. Living in Asia is so cool sometimes.

 

And then, to top off such a great week of transfers and fun times and change, 박진희 자매님 (Jin Hee Kim? I'm sorry, I don't know how to spell it in English...) came to see me! And Ryan! It was amazing. They stood on a train from 대전 for two hours and came all the way down to tiny, little 정읍 just to see me. It was the craziest thing to see my home people and my mission people mix together. Like an episode of The Twilight Zone. But they came and it was wonderful and we spoke Korean and Sister Kim made sure I was healthy and happy (I am! 자매님 감사합니다!) and then she gave me a bag full of dark chocolate and treats. I LOVE YOU.(Sister Kim is a friend of ours in Pennsylvania.  She is from Sydney's mission area and was kind enough to see Sydney while she was on vacation.)

 

I just have felt so blessed lately by all the experiences I've had with just incredible human kindness. From  the members caring for me while I was sick to my companions (both past and present) helping me in every way imaginable to my familiy supporting me forever and always. Just wow. I know that God really does show His love for us through other people and that He hears our prayers and answers them always. I'm so grateful to be a part of a family and a Church and a gospel in which I know that I never need feel abandoned or forgotten because I never am.

 

Thank you all for your love and prayers. Truly.

Love,

아바 자매

District

New District Leader. This transfer is going to be great. ^^

Old Companions.  New Companions. 

Companions!

 A wasteland of mud!  It was sooo deliciously squishy.

Sister M..... found this shrimp and made me hold it. In this picture i'm saying, "just take it! just take it! this is wriggly and weird!" But I look happy, right?

Me and some of the Young Women.

Remember those pictures of me digging up sweet potatoes from almost a year ago. This was the same thing! Only muddier and we were looking for sea creatures.

CRAB

Clams

 Just a girl in a muddy wasteland, searching for crabs.

The ocean! I saw it!

 If only this were me. Our recent convert, 박유진.

The members kept trying to get us to drink this so we finally did. It tasted like carbonated bacon and it was not delicious.

 Watermelon and OCEAN.

Rice and sunhat.

 AND THIS! THIS HAPPENED! I promise I don't always look this ugly...
Sister Kim and Ryan came to visit!

A Rough Week but lots of Pictures

So this week, Sydney asked us not to share her letter.  She had a really bad week and was really sick.  She did say her companion and the ward took very good care of her but she was in bed for four days.  She didn't feel like writing very uplifting things and it's just been a rough week.  I did pull a few snippets from her letter that she would be okay sharing.  She also did send several pictures.  This is late because my nieces wedding was today!  Have a great week everyone!



 I kept dreaming about who my new companion would be and I was right! Her name is Sister M..... (AN AMERICAN. WAHT????) and she's totally awesome and hard-working and bold and funny and I knew her in the MTC and AMERICAN.

OH YEAH. How about I thought that Ashley's wedding was Saturday and was SO DISAPPOINTED when there were no pictures waiting for me this email

Also pray for me this week because I've never introduced an area to anyone before and I have to for the first time ever and I have a terrible sense of direction. It's gonna be bad. But I'm excited for things to change.

 We went to a "Wicked" cafe! I took about a million of these pictures...

A fun rooftop shopping place!

Seriously, visiting this church was like going to Europe. It was the weirdest thing. I knew so much information about the architecture (thanks daddy) and the stained glass! and yes I did get the irony of being a Mormon missionary in a Buddhist nation admiring the beauty of Catholic church. It was awesome.

 A famous church in Jeunju

 Adorable baby is adorable

 Mountain. Jealous, Nicky? ^^

We went to this seriously beautiful ravine in Nejangsan ( really famous mountain) for youth activity

 Me and the bishop's son. I love this kid. 

A week in the life.......

I'm so sorry, this is going to be a short one because we're going to 전주(Jeonju) to play today! YAYAYAY! Hopefully I'll have fun pictures to send next week.

 

And since I'm too lazy to form an actual connected train of thought today, I'm just going to go through my planner and tell y'all about my week. So if you're anyone other than my parents, this email will probably not be very interesting to you...I'm sorry!

 

MONDAY

FHE with the youth. So much food. So much. The member who made it all kept bringing it out in courses (Daddy)--떡보끼, watermelon, strawberry shakes, 국수(noodles), pizza, 라면. It was insanity. And then we all sat in a big circles and played a bunch of games. Koreans are so good at making up fun games with nothing but their brains. I have so many ideas now for BYU game nights.

 

TUESDAY

We met with our investigator 정준형. Our only boy investigator! He's our age and we teach him a little bit of English and then a lot more of gospel (which is so great). Last week during English we talked about movies we've watched recently. Since the last real movie I watched was The Princess Bride, which I watched the weekend before I entered the MTC, that's what I wrote about and he had to practice his reading comprehension by reading what I wrote. Then, half-jokingly, I gave him the assignment this week to watch The Princess Bride and then write about it in English for me to read when we met him again. I only half-expected him to do it (I mean, honestly, has anyone in this country ever seen The Princess Bride?), but then when we met with him on Tuesday, he had actually watched it! I mean, he hated it, of course, but he watched it! And not only that, but he burned it for me onto a DVD. I had to tell him that missionaries actually couldn't watch movies, so I would have to watch it after my mission, but I was so touched!

 

WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY

Eh, no time...

 

FRIDAY

I went on a split with our sister training leader, Sister King! It was great, she really helped me put my mission into better perspective and be not so panicky about what will happen next. Also we talked about classic Hollywood musicals and she used the word "zeitgeist" in a sentence so it was pretty much the greatest split ever.

 

SATURDAY

We skyped the Philippines! That's a sentence I never thought I'd say.

 

SUNDAY

We 가가호호'd some apartments and this sixteen-year old girl just opened the door and just listened to me ramble on in Korean for like a full fifteen minutes. And then a giant centipede fell from the ceiling and she slammed the door closed with a squeal of fright. Satan...

 

I'm sorry, no time! But I love you all! And I know so much that this work is good and true and it's what I'm supposed to be doing right now, right here, in the absurdly humid Korean countryside. In a lot of ways, my mission is none of what I thought it was going to be, but I'm starting to realize that it's a lot more of what I needed it to be. I know that God lives and He loves us, not because we're perfect, but because we're His children. I know I've certainly made a lot of mistakes on my mission and I haven't always succeeded when I've wanted to, but I know God still loves me for trying. And I think that might be what I needed to learn the most from my mission--I am not perfect, but God loves me for trying. 

 

And I love you for trying too.

Sister ABBA.

This happened a couple Sundays ago, but it was so funny. hese are our ward mission leader's kids. They live right next to the church and they brought their dog 투부 over after church was over. They were all trying to get her to come to them, but she would only go to their daughter. It was like that scene in Bewitched. (does anyone know the reference i'm making?) Anyway, then it ended like The Lion King. I just thought it was funny.

 I like to think that this is 정읍's memorial to The Breakfast Club

 Is this why they're called eggplants?

 Caught the elders 전도ing like champions.