Week of Wind

Hello, World!

 

Well. This week was cold and windy. This morning was super windy. I felt like my contacts were going to fall out. But thankfully, they did not. I wish I had squinty Korean eyes, they would protect me from the wind. But alas, I do not. But seriously! This morning was crazy! I thought the trees outside would fall over.

 

Anyways. Crazy lady came back to English class. And drew me a map to her house. And asked why I haven't answered her calls. Because you have called me 50 times and you are crazy! That's why. The Korean sister said this to me in her broken English - "She is a sexual person." Yay! We have a prostitute attending our English class! I don't know. But she's a weirdo. She wouldn't leave the building. So we had to all pretend like we were leaving and locking the building. We had a lesson there at the church as this was happening, so our investigators just hid in the church and we made a lap around the block to successfully swoop around the crazy lady. The mission was accomplished. Don't worry. I'll let you know how next week goes. Oh, by the way, we call her Africa because she wears weird shawls. Anyways. 아무튼

 

Things are going well. I met a Korean who spoke English with a Russian accent. It was quite odd. And then some crazy Russian lady interrupted my conversation to ask where a restaurant was. Since I am white, I guess. Then the man just walked away because of her scary Russian-English? Lots of Russians come to Donghae because of the port.

 

Did I ever tell you that Koreans carry their babies on their backs in a sort of a sling thing? I was reminded because I saw a commercial for a kid version for the baby dolls. It was great!

 

I got all of the packages from you family people. Haha. Thank you! My companion and I are in the process of building a balloon statue from the bubble crap stuff. Too much fun is had sometimes.

 

Also, my companion got a giant thing of Jelly Belly jelly beans. I have nearly memorized all of the flavors by sight. I will acquire many skills on the mission.

 

This week I have been thinking a lot about acceptance. Just sort of giving up and trusting the Lord. Just realizing that He knows better. That there really is no other better way. Our desires don't really matter.

 

I feel insufficient a lot. But as I rely on Him, I don't.

 

Pray for me! I love you!

 

<3333333

 

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It is cold!

Well. Winter has come. It is blowing some crazy wind out here on the Coast. My ears may fall off. But I bought a winter coat, don't worry. This will be the coldest winter of my life! I am slightly scared.

 

The leaves have turned colors. They done. Now they are on the ground. Lots and lots of gingko leaves.

 

Anyways. I went to Seoul this last week for a combined Mission conference with the South Mission. It was great. I got to see some of my friends from the MTC. I miss them! But it was nice. Elder Evans of the 70 was there. He spoke to us. It was great. Nothing too extraordinarily special. He told us to not tell you a lot of the stuff he said. Like details about what could be happening with missionary work in the near future. None of it is really set in stone yet anyways.

 

I saw a guy run into a door. Face first. Poor guy. It was glass. He thought it was open.

 

I think one of our investigators is a pathological liar. He likes to talk about his girlfriend from Puerto Rico. And he had one from England the other month, even though he has been dating the Puerto Rican for 5 years? Ha. We'll see. Let's cover the commandments.

 

I have been thinking a lot about Faith lately. And one of my favorite quotes is from Joseph Smith about faith. He says that we have to have 3 things to have faith. I won't say all of them, but I will say my favorite one. He says that in order for us to have faith, we have to know that our course of life is in line with what the Lord desires of us. It is very interesting to me. But it rings so true. As we choose to disobey and to not live in alignment with God's commandments, it is in those moments that we can't have faith. We can not trust the promises of the Lord when we choose to not live in a way that He may bless us.

 

I don't want to talk about not having faith. What I am talking about is the blessing of faith. This principle teaches me some great truths of the nature of faith. Living the life the Lord wishes brings blessings on so many levels. We may have confidence in our decisions. It brings a hope that can't be found anywhere else. So when we choose to not obey, or to just not do those things He would have us do, we forfeit those blessings, that hope, that confidence. This isn't just about actions and consequences and reputation. It is so much more.

 

I love you all! Keep in touch! Write me letters! <33333

 

Love,

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22 in America, Still 23 in Korea

Hello!

 

Hello world. I'm in Korea and 1 year older. I celebrated with pork spine soup and kimchi, of course. And some members got me a cheesecake. And then I proselyted. Ha. Just a normal day in the mission.

 

So I have started getting a new compliment from Koreans about my Korean. You ready? Haha. They say, you are like a Korean! But they are obviously being really generous. Because I still am nothing like a Korean. Haha. But maybe in a few months it will actually come true. I am pretty good now. As proof, I have a story.

 

We were knocking some doors. We really don't knock very many doors. Only sometimes. But this man came out and told us that we sound because it was so late at night and everyone hates it because it is so late and blahblahblah. But basically I don't have to take people's crap anymore. Ha. I'm not rude. But I can speak my mind. Haha.

 

It is getting cold here. Real cold. Ha. I need to buy a scarf and gloves. Don't worry. I will right after emailing.

 

What else happened this week? A grandma tried to get me to take a shot because it was my birthday. I mean alcohol for any innocent minds out there. Haha.

 

I forgot my planner again, so I don't remember what things I meant specifically to write you. Haha. So, maybe next week will be better. Sorry.

 

Oh I remember. Dreams. The sisters in my area keep having dreams about me. Haha. They are really funny. Ha. Maybe I'll tell you later.

 

But yeah. We got 4 new investigators this week. That is pretty sick, just so you know. Haha. It is going well. We taught a lesson just about everyday! It is great to finally see some growth from finding activities.

What have I been learning about this week?

 

Hard times. Even though this week was really great and had lots of miracles. Sometimes even if you aren't walking in hard paths, it still is hard to digest it in your mind, to live with it afterwards, to come to terms with it. To have a correct veiw of why things happen. Why does adversity have to exist? What was the purpose, and do I still trust my Heavenly Father?

 

What I have consistently learned through my life is this. Not only is the initial natural thought of man wrong, but it is completely opposite to the truth. Satan completely opposes that which is true. To every extent. He wants us to get as far away from the truth as possible. And sometimes he does that by making truths murky, but he really just wants us as far away from light and goodness as possible.

 

Those hard and dark times. They seem so hard. Too hard. Not worth it. Like those are the bad times of life. But that isn't true. When we walk a path of difficulty and trial, it is in those times that we are given the divine privilege to walk the life the Savior did. To learn first-hand from His example. It is the very plan of salvation in action. Lightened by the ever-present assistance of our Savior. Yes, it is hard. It never is easy. But it is why we came here. And He never leaves us. The path of difficulty and trial in which we may stand side to side with the only perfect life that has ever lived.

 

I don't have much time! But I love you! I think of you always.

 

Oh, and the inactive, that we reactivated. His wife is the Sister's investigator now. And his son is 8 in American age. Let's baptize! Haha.

 

Bye bye! 빠이!

 

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여보세요?

Hello! 

I haven't said the word Hello all week! Just kidding. I say it all the time. All the time. Koreans Love it.

Guess who has a baptismal date? This guy! Haha. He still has a long way to go. He has a job that makes him work all the time and can't really come to church yet, so we have to work around that. But he will get baptized sometime. At some point. Hopefully while I am here! His current date is November 30, but we may have to change that. 

This week we threw a Halloween party. Because we are cool. It was quite a hit, we had a lot of less-actives come and even some nonmembers. A lot of them, actually. They loved all of our games. 

We went to Seoul this week. So that ate 2 days of the week. But yeah. It was fun. And I ate Taco Soup. Look. I eat everything now. I'm not a picky eater. Haha. There may be some faint remnants of the disease, but I think it is gone. 

Oh. I have been called fat like 8 times. I don't understand. I haven't gained any weight. Koreans just literally think everyone is fat I guess. Haha. Anyways... It is pretty sad. If you ask Koreans what they think the weirdest thing is, if they have gone to America, they always say Big people.... 

This week, I went on exchanges with one of our zone leaders. It was really good and I really was thinking about somethings...

The Lord wants all of us. ALL! Every single ounce. Every desire and thought and characteristic and action. He even wants the righteous desires we have. It is not good enough to do things for ourselves. Really for any reason besides the will of the Lord. That is the type of person he is trying to help us become. One who relies on Him and does as He would do. It really is our only hope. 

I guess what I am saying is that sometimes, we may have the same desires as the Lord, but it still isn't acceptable because the Lord wants us to do it for purer motives. He wants us all! 

There is a talk about having the faith to not be healed. And I really like it. Do we have faith to not see results. That is so much harder than having faith to see them. It really is an interesting concept! Think about it and apply it. Also. The power that comes from weakness. That is a good study topic too.

I love all of you. And this email isn't very exciting. I'll try better next week! Haha. I'm really hungry, so I need to eat a bibimbap. Haha. My birthday is this Sunday. Treat yo' self, right?

That may be an omen for the bank account, momma. :)

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Elder Renfroe