Vietnamese Ladies

Hello!

 

This was the week of Vietnamse ladies who are married to Korean men. I met 2 of them!

 

The first one spoke Korean. But with a super thick Vietnamese accent. I about died when she talked to me in Korean. DIED!!!! It was so cute. Hahahah. If I could replicate it in an email, you know I would! It was the best! BEST! 최고야!! Anyways. Yeah. Her husband used to meet with missionaries, so he invited us over. Apparently he just hung out with missionaries. So yeah. We'll see what happens with him.

 

The second Vietnamese lady. I played at a wedding. I played piano at a wedding as a missionary. Did I tell you about this already? What the heck. The bride was Vietnamese. It was the biggest waste of time. It was all the way in a city called Taebaek. I have told you a little about it already. It is the smallest little city in our mission nestled in the mountains of Korea. This wedding was crazy. No dress rehearsal. I had three songs to play. The Wedding March, the Bridal Chorus, and one other just little pretty piece - Bach Prelude in C. Anyways. We just came to the conclusion that they would cue me when to play. 3 songs. 3 cues. Sounds simple.

 

BUT THEY CUED ME FOUR TIMES! What was I supposed to do but just play?? I don't know. I may have started playing the wedding march in the middle of the ceremony. But it was their fault! Haha. But it doesn't matter. Apparently they actually got married in Vietnam a year ago and this was just a Korean service. And she is pregnant already. Yay! Haha. I thought I ruined it. But it's their fault!

 

Anyways. I am over it.

 

I went to a terrible public bathhouse. Have I told you about these yet? Korean culture. I have been a couple of times. Basically you just get naked and shower and stuff with a bunch of Korean dudes who stare at you. And you sit in pools of varying temperatures. And Koreans literally care 0% about being naked. Literally. But I went to one in the little town of Taebaek. It was scary. Hahaha. But I have moved on to bigger and better things.

 

Things are going well. We have 2 investigators that will probably be baptized, but they are moving back to Seoul in a few weeks. So, it won't be us that do it. But that is fine. Haha. They are college students. I'll let you know if they get baptized, of course! Haha.

 

The Atonement is real. It really can change us. It just takes some time sometimes. As we rely on Him, we can become better. Through pain, and sorrow, and whatever else. It is slow mostly. But it comes. The help comes. 

 

This spiritual message is short. But I know it is true. 

 

I love you all!

 

Pray for me. I pray for you in korean! Haha.

 

Love, 

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Yo.

This week was really interesting. Happy Thanksgiving!  추수 감사절 축하해요!

 

I spent mine at a meat buffet. And then for dinner 2 of our investigators took us to another meat buffet. Yes. I ate at 2 meat buffets in one day. Don't worry. I am still alive. I exercised quite well after, too. Ha.

 

And those investigators came to church! Haha. We had 2 investigators to church and the sisters had one. It was a great week for that. They actually randomly texted us for the church address and said they were going to come.

 

I learned about some Canadian bloggers who say funny things about Koreans from a Kenyan man I met. You guys should go look him up. I can't believe I said you guys... Ya'll should look 'em up. Tell me if they be funny. Simon and Martina. It was really hard to understand the name Martina through a Kenyan accent. So. I hope that is right. Haha. The Kenyan is a potential investigator. We may meet this week.

 

It snowed a tiny bit! On Wednesday. It was still fun, though. Apparently it will snow lots in January.

 

A recently reactivated member bore his testimony yesterday at church. It was very cute how worried he was beforehand. Haha. But he did well. He sure knows the Book of Mormon is true!

 

This same man fed us this week. It was not very good and very fishy. But whatever. It is Korea! Haha.

 

I have been thinking about the willingness of the Savior a lot this week. Willing to forgive and willing to do. And even willing to enable us and strengthen us. He isn't just willing either. He wants to. It is His desire. He wishes to heal us and help us and push us along the path to become more like Him.

 

I think that the more we realize this, the greater our desire will be to rely on Him. And there really is nothing better than that. It is the purpose of being here. All of our trials and weaknesses are to push us to Him.

 

I downloaded every conference talk on adversity for the last 3 years. Get ready for some strengthened faith! Haha.

 

I love you all! Keep me in your prayers.

 

Love,

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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. :)

사라으로

렌프로 장로 

Elder Renfroe

하나님 아버

Hello Everyone!

How's life? Mine is good. 

Well, this week I saw/heard the cutest thing in the world. Have you ever heard a 5 year old Korean girl pray? I almost died from the cuteness. Especially because her prayer went like this...

Heavenly Father

Please bless the Elders 

Baby jibberish

Umm

ummm

In the name ummmm Jesus Christ Amen.

The Cutest thing in the world!!!!!

But on a completely different note. Me and my companion may have accidentally walked down an alley of prostitutes. We thought it was part of the market! But anyways. We made it out fine. Don't worry. 

This last week, we went to one of the prettiest places in Korea! It is a little valley thing with a waterfall. I took pictures. I'll probably have to send them later. But it is fall in Korea and the leaves are absolutely beautiful! Reds and yellows and even maroons! This country is so beautiful!

Guess what! I found a less-active on the street that hasn't been to church in like 20 years. And he has started coming back now. He was baptized in another city, so no one knows him, but now he is coming back! His wife is Japanese and doesn't speak much Korean, but we will see what we can do... haha. She is very sweet and very Japanese. So, we at least have one more member of our little branch here in 동해 Donghae.

We are meeting a lot of people that want to meet! I don't know how we will fit it all. But it is a good problem to have. Haha. They just can't resist my perfectly shaped eyebrows. Haha. 

We go into Seoul this week and stuff. And it is midterms, so a lot of the students don't want to meet right now. But next week, hopefully we will have a lot going on! 

I think I might be lactose intolerant. I don't know! Maybe the lack of milk here has caused it. President told me to keep a meal diary. Haha. And see how I feel each day. Then try to connect them. 

So this week. I was reading in Mosiah. Abinadi. He has a line that I think is so striking. "Have you applied your hearts to understanding?" It pierces me when I read it. Have I? Is my heart soft enough for the Truths I know to freely flow into it? Understanding is great, but the larger beast is application. Sometimes it feels so easy to know, but applying is such a different task. Do I live? Do I feel? That is the task. It is the true test of our faith. It isn't about how much we know, but it is about how much we become. It is about how much of our understanding has become a part of our hearts. 

I love you all! Send me your Prayers!