Monday, April 23, 2012

Hanguk! Oo Nee Nah Rah!!


FAMILY!!!! HI!!!


Oh man, thank you thank you thank you for all the fun emails this week!!  I loved them all!  I'll have to sweet talk my way at the pone-boo (office) to let me print some of them!  They were great!  This week I also got y’alls postcard from NYC (though I saw it was sent from SLC Hahaha) AND I got Katelyn's wedding announcement and pictures of her wedding dress!! Both totally made me cry.  She looks gorgeous and the two of them look so happy.

So this week went wonderfully!!  First, it's official!! I AM AN ALIEN!!! YEAH!! Haha It's so much fun to say! Lol But the dumb part was it took 5 hours of waiting for 5 min of talking to the people to get registered…silly. (But we got 2 contacts from having all that time to talk to people, so that's good!)  Luckily, President loves us and gave us permission for P-day Part 2! (We just needed to get some shopping done...)

This week we had a really neat experience.  Wednesday morning during our study time we get a phone call from a member.  She tells us that a lady called her last week saying that she wants to come to church and learn about our religion. Before we even know it, 20 minutes later we have an appointment set at the church with the member and her new friend.  The girls name is Kim Su Cheen.  After getting to know her we found out that she met with the missionaries 10 years ago, but due to the busy life as a student and study abroad programs, she had to stop meeting.  She explained that whenever she would start to forget or not think about our church she would meet a Mormon and make friends (including while in America).  Right now she is at a deciding point in her life…choosing jobs, desire for marriage, possibly moving to America…etc.  She had realized that she wants God's help and guidance.  That's where we come in!!  At the end of the meeting, she not only accepted the Book of Mormon, but she also practically invited herself to church on Sunday!  My companion and I are really really excited to continue to meet with her.

This week we were able to do the Koo Yuhk Jun Doe (district proselyting) down by Busan National University.  Again, we asked the question "If you could ask God one question, what would you ask?" This week went really well and we got a lot less silly questions from the people we talked to. Also, in giving out copies of the Book of Mormon, we glued in the front cover the "questions of the soul" page from Preach My Gospel.  It is the frequently asked questions: "Who are we? Where are we from? Does God know us? Does He answer our prayers?" Things like that with scriptural references in the Book of Mormon and where to find them.  It was really neat.  And we got two contacts! (To explain contacts: it's when someone is interested to learn more and they give us their contact information)

Friday was the next super fun day!  It was my first round of President Interviews!!! We have them about every other transfer.  It was so great.  We began with a prayer, ended with a handshake and in between we just chatted.  He asked me how I was and how things were going and then we swapped stories.  You can tell that he sincerely cares for us missionaries.  We should never be timid or afraid to talk with him; he wins your trust over completely.  I asked him what is one thing he would advise missionaries to do now... and he said to not be afraid!!  Just because you might say something wrong shouldn't keep you from opening your mouth.  Get to know the people, talk with them. Even if they aren't interested in the church, doesn't mean you can't brighten their day with a message about God's love.  When he shared that with me I thought of "The Standard of Truth" given by Joseph Smith that we recite every morning.  One part says: "…the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly and independent". I cannot help the truth of God go forward if I am timid and afraid.

After interviews we had a day planned out to visit some people (no promises though) but Sister Gilbert needed our help again and you can't really turn such a happy, bubbly woman down!!  We helped her some more with scarves that will be given at sisters’ conference. We cut fabric and lace and ate lots of chocolate! Haha Then they fed us some food... a peanut butter and banana sandwich! yummm.. With Root Beer floats haha (I just had some ice cream!)  We just sat there in the kitchen, my companion, the Gilbert’s, and me just eating and talking. It was SO NICE!! Made me miss just sitting in the morning room or around the kitchen table with all y’all.

Saturday we survived our first rainy day!! Our feet were wet and our umbrellas were well used, and though no one answered when we visited people, it was still a fun day and you couldn't help but laugh!

The Food this week wasn't anything strange.  I had both Chinese and Japanese style fried pork (both delicious). I ate Kimchi Bogum Pop and my mouth was on fire!!  It was the kind of thing that you just had to keep eating or else you would die! Haha, the interesting thing with Koreans is they don't really have drinks at the meals. You have a soup, pop (rice), lots of side dishes and then a main dish. I think the hardest things this week was a lunch with a member!  She thought it would be fun to see how brave us missionaries were and gave each of us piece of raw fish (that's normal) wrapped in lettuce (also normal) with a big chuck of wasabi! (NOT NORMAL!) BLEHHHHH!!! I hate horseradish and that's what it is... ugh so gross!!! My companion (a Korean!) almost died lol!

Overall, this last week was a building week.  Setting us up from some really amazing teaching opportunities this next week. At church we had two investigators come and a young woman brought her friend, which makes one new investigator to teach.  I'm excited for this next week and all the lessons we can have! Also, this next week marks our 1-month in Korea (can you believe it!?!?) and we have a meeting with everyone from my dongee (MTC group).  It'll be fun to see everyone and catch up!!

I love you all.  Thank you for the constant prayers and love.  I miss you like crazy! But I’m loving it here too!

Kiss Love Hugs

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