Day in the Life [생활에 있는 일]: Porter Jenkins advice comes in handy "It's whatever man"

Monday was an awesome PDAY! We had a zone activity in 평택. Most people bought cheap water guns and other brought water balloon. We ate pizza, played soccer, and had a massive water fight! It was a blast being able to douse all the missionaries! The gun I brought was only a few dollars but it was so powerful! It had such an awesome range! Anyway, it was so much fun. We were able to meet all the greenies that arrived last Wednesday and meet the missionaries that were transferred into 수원 area. I cannot believe that we will all be the new Seoul South missionaries! They are all fantastic missionaries.

When it was time to leave, most people had dried off thanks to the ridiculous humidity. I wore my 할머니 pants which are the best fabric for this weather! So my pants were dry but not much else. The subway ride home wasn't too bad but what did stink was that it took longer than expected. By the time we got home 윤 자매님 and I literally had 10 minutes to change and leave for an appointment. I tired my best to look presentable- doubt it was close but it was a whole lot better than what I started with.

This appointment was with a new family that was 소개ed by the mom and her two sons we are teaching. Side note, as a non-member that mom had 소개ed (referred/introduced) FIVE families! That is insane and so awesome! I worry that that mom and all the referrals are going to be primarily English interest BUT I am happy to report this family we met Monday night was golden. We taught a mother and her two daughters (6th and 4th grade). She had a young son running around too- he was so cute. The English lesson went really well. I mostly tried to gage their levels of understand and duh they are brilliant. To end we played the ABC game where you go in a circle and say a word that
starts with the letters of the alphabet, taking turns (the first person starts with A, next B, and so on). While playing I was writing down simple sentences and words for the little boy to copy. The kids
here are so smart!! When the 30 minutes of English was up we moved on our gospel message. This family has Christian background so they understood God, Jesus, prayer, ect. By the end I invited them to get baptized; three excited yes's quickly followed the question!! Wow! Miracles! It was a fantastic end to a great day.

Tuesday was a little weird. Typically we have district meeting but because we have a mission tour tomorrow, it was cancelled. Instead our day was dedicated to our 'Special English Class' that the ward helps the missionaries put on every month. Naturally the elders put me and 윤 자매님 in charge of baking banana bread and cookies. It was a fun day spent with my companion but besides bonding and baking... not much else happened. In order to bake we had to goto another sister apartment to borrow their oven (our oven is a combo with the microwave... lets just say I don't trust it yet). 윤 자매님 and I had some quality time to talk about everything. I really love her. She is an awesome missionary and an amazing person. I feel very blessed to have her has my trainer.

After baking for... you might need to sit down for this... 6 hours!! it was time to head home. On our way we thought we might attempt to at least visit a less active but we only have 10 minutes to spare. Instead we stopped to buy flowers to give to President and Sister Furniss tomorrow. The arrangements here are so over the top so we decided on the least ridiculous bouquet. But! after we paid we sprayed water on the too and sprinkled... scratch that... Dumped glitter on the too. I laughed and said thank you haha. Hijole!

When we got home we planned for the next day and stayed up a little late making bookmarks for a few people. Koreans are so crafty here! They are all about cutesy things and I maybe, kinda, sorta am getting into it. My companion is very proud that she is brainwashing- I mean teaching me how to be Korean. ^^

Wednesday was mission tour! You'll all be shocked to hear that we didn't have to rush to the bus or train station! The morning went smoothly and because we had extra time we were proactive and able to buy our returning tickets because we anticipated it being crazy getting back because we he had our special English class later that we could not be late for.

It was fun getting together with half of the mission before the split. I wasn't able to see all of my 단기 but I was able to see Elder Lee and Wager. They are hilarious! Also, the younger 단기 came! Again, it was just a few but I was able to see Elder Allen. He is my favorite from the younger group, too bad we'll be in different missions soon... wah.

Anyway the training was good. It started with all the new health advisers; first up, mental health. His and his wife talked all about positive thinking and not allowing yourself to think that things aren't fair and stuff. It was boring but I guess some missionaries really need their help. Next up, physical health! The mission doctor talked about how to prevent illness and what to do if you do get sick. To keep everyone awake they started having us stand one by one to read a slide from their PowerPoint, out loud. When it got to me guess what the slide was titled? "Diarrhea." My first though was accidentally verbalized as I said, "uhhkay" in my best Andrea Marks voice. People laughed. After reading I sat down and complained to 윤 자매님 (Sister Yoon- my companion) asking why I had to read the most disgusting slide. She looked at me and said, "Because life isn't fair Sister!" in her most excited voice. Haha she makes me laugh. If all else fails on my mission, I have officially taught sarcasm to a Korean. ^^ It's a bigger accomplishment that those in the states could ever understand.

Training continued until lunch. It was yummy food and I was able to talk with a bunch of people that I would later have to say goodbye to. It was fun. Next was a group picture- quite the ordeal every time!
After 20 minutes of getting situated, we took one picture... hijole! More training followed by President and Sister Furniss. They are awesome people! I'm glad I was able to meet them and serve with them even though it was only for a short time. Strong testimonies were born by the missionaries leaving (including President and his wife). I can't imagine what it will feel like when it's my turn to do that… 9 more transfers (not including the one I'm in) and I'll know!

The meeting ran late and my zone had to start making our way to the train station pretty quickly. Before I knew it I was running with 윤 자매님 out if the chapel and down the street to find a taxi. As we ran I was holding both 72 hour kit backpacks (we were asked to take back to our apartment) on my back, my purse strapped across my chest, and a few Book of Mormons in my hands... Sound fun? Haha WELL a miracle happened! It all became as light as a feather... -___- psych! But seriously a lady pulled over to ask if he wanted a ride (probably because we looked so pathetic). At first we just asked her to point us
in the direction to find a taxi. She did but also insisted she give us a ride to the train station. We didn't have time to waste so we hopped in. From the looks of the beads hanging from her rear view mirror, she was Buddhist. She mentioned that her son had been taught by the missionaries before (if I heard correctly) and he really got along well with them. As we talked, she was taking short cuts in tiny allies risking the well being of her fancy car for us!! She was so nice!! It was a miracle because we wouldn't have made it to the train station on time without her.

I was tired so, I decided to sleep most of the train ride home. Once we arrived at our destination we ran home for a quick dinner. Immediately after dinner was our special English Class! I was excited for all the games we prepared but unfortunately it didn't go as planned. Remember how I don't know all that much Korean? Cool, so with that in mind I was in charge of the kids class. 13 showed up with their parents. The moment the kids and adults separated (the adults had a different class downstairs), they went crazy! If 윤 자매님 couldn't get them to behave. I started to be flustered until some wise advise from Porter Jenkins popped into my brain, "It's whatever man." It's true! Who care that these silly games weren't being played very well? Not it! I decided to just enjoy myself, and I did. Afterwards there was food. Everyone loved the banana bread I had made (thanks for the recipe mom). I tried to socialize but there were only so many people that could understand my Korean... and those people also speak English haha. Anyway, I ended up cleaning up because talking to the adults was frustrating. It was a late night but well worth it because the members had brought friends! It was an awesome opportunity to get to know them and maybe be able to teach a few of them in the future.

Thursday was busy. We had scheduled 3 appointments throughout the day. The first being with the catholic lady. A member from the ward came and we were able to talk about the second half of the plan of salvation. There isn't too much to report but it was a good meeting. Next, the atheist. We always meet her at a cafe where she buys us smoothies- so nice of her! But because today was hot and humid she wanted to buy us 팥빙수! It's a special dessert here that is typically shaved ice, milk, red beans (which are sweet), and various topping such as rice cake. It isn't as gross as it sounds. The first time I
had it... it was awful! But this time I was able to try a few different kinds. This investigator bought an original (as I described above), a pistachio-whipped cream (still including the other ingredients), and a "five flavor berry" (I have to figure out the name of this berry because it is delicious and it really does have five flavors- it looks like a blueberry but taste sweet, sour, and bitter all at the same time- can anyone help me out?). They were all delicious. We got caries away in conversation for over an hour! She was so excited to tell us all about the new movies she had seen haha. We eventually got to the lesson. Again, it was the same old teaching style so there isn't much to say other than it went well. Last, was with the lady we contacted during street boarding. If all of the appointments that I have ever been in, this one took the cake for being the weirdest. For the 30 minutes of English she wanted me to help her understand a sermon she found online. It was titled, "Fix your contradictions so your soul can be raptured, it's the last chance!" Do you have a confused look on your face? I sure did. I explained what the words contradiction and rapture meant. She was excited to here what it was about. I felt weird translating a different religions sermon but I soon came to find out, she knew exactly what is was teaching. That sneaky mom was trying to teach us instead of the other way around. As we transitioned into the gospel message she said that she felt so sad that we so sincerely believed our message. She told us that she wishes we could recognize truth. In conclusion, she tried explaining this "new" religion she discover. It sounds like Scientology mixed with other bizarre ideas... Mostly I was speechless. This lady is very interested in religion and had read and learned so much (she is almost done with the Book of Mormon- ps I saw her copy and it is all marked up!). We left her with the challenge to read and pray with a sincere desire and real intent to know if what we are teaching is true. Besides that, we can't help her progress or do much else if she doesn't come to know on her own.

Friday was my first senior day... I decided I want to be an eternal junior companion! It was fun but also stressful at times. Like I have mentioned before, 윤 자매님 is the Sister Coordinating Leader which means she has to go on splits with every sister in each transfer. Today was the first split of the transfer. I stayed in my area of 곡반정 while she want to 신갈 with the senior companion there, Sister Hunt. The greeny 강세희 자매님 came with me for the day. I was in charge of planning, confirming, and taking the lead in all the lessons and visits. Stress! We split at 12PM just after weekly planning, so I had time to prepare. Sister Kang is from Busan, Korea and is a brand new missionary. It kind of made me feel old even though I am only 6 weeks ahead of her. I first showed her around the house and let her get settled before I told her the plan for the day.

First I decided to visit a less active member. 윤 자매님 and I visited her last week but she didn't come to church like she said she would. Also, she prefers English to Korean so I knew I could share a thought without any problem. ^^ When we arrived, her new born baby was sleeping in her arms. I felt bad so told her we would be brief. I brought banana bread as a gift and explained how it reminds me of my favorite story in The Bible. It is about the prophet Elijah and a widow found in 1 Kings 17.

Elijah was in the wilderness having food (*bread*) and water brought to him by a raven. He was later commanded to goto a city where a widow had been prepared to take care of him. This widow was poor and had only one son. When the prophet arrived he asked her to make him food (*bread*). Although it was the last of her food, she was so trusting in The Lord that everything would work out and be okay. And guess what? It was. She was blessed for her trusting in her Heavenly Father and her willingness to serve a prophet of The Lord.

That thought lead me to my favorite talk from this last General Conference, "For Peace at Home" by Richard G. Scott in the most recent (April 2013 General Conference). He said, "Strive to live worthily and place your trust in the Lord." I made a cute magnate with this quote for her refrigerator. She was appreciative but also had her hands full as her baby started to wake up. Both 강 자매님 and I bore a quick testimony and left. It was a good visit!

Next we head to an appointment an investigator. She is the lady that set a baptismal date just after this transfer ends. Since I was senior, I took the lead. Let me repeat, I TOOK THE LEAD! It was scary but it went really well. We taught the first lesson and I focused on talking about Joseph Smith. I recited his account of 'the first vision' and invited her to read from and pray about the Book of Mormon- she accepted!! Ahh it was so awesome!

For the last part of the day we ate dinner, 전도Ed, and bought some delicious ice cream to end our split on a good note. 강 자매님 is hilarious and we had a lot of fun together. Dispute the annoying phone that I never want to touch again (because I cannot speak to anyone who calls), it was a great day!

Saturday started less than eventful. The only lesson (that I was going to take the lead on) cancelled. I was bummed and relieved at the same time, but mostly sad. Instead 강 자매님 and I spent the morning studying and doing pass off (we are given booklets and expected to memorize lessons and vocabulary before we become eligible to be senior companion and train new missionaries). It was very productive. When 윤 and Hunt 자매님 arrived to unsplit, it was lunch time. So naturally we all worked together to make a delicious lunch. I had bought some pork the night before so we cooked that and ate rice, kimchee, and 멸치 (it's whitebait that basically looks like fried anchovies, just smaller). It was nummy!

윤 자매님 and I sat down and revised our game plan for the day after the 신갈 자매님들 (Singal Sisters) left. We went to visit my favorite member, 이정숙 자매님 to return some tupperware we had. Of course she made us sit down and eat with her. It was a famous red bean soup. It was okay. After we ate we shared a message about The Family: A Proclamation to the World. We bore testimony of it and gave her a copy. Consequently she had been trying to get a hold of one! The Lord works in mysterious ways and inspired 윤 자매님 to revolve our message around the importance of it. The church is true and I have the best companion! After our message 이 자매님 had to run an errand and figured we didn't have plans so she asked us to keep her company. We did. I love her. Today was complaining about the white hair she is getting. I told her that instead of being our mother, she can be our sister. She thought it was the cutest thing and kept saying how happy she was haha. ^^ Believe it or not I'm starting to develop a personality in Korean! It's exciting to be able to make people laugh again... but with me not at me hehe. Anyway, on our way back she insisted on getting ice cream because it was so hot. I definitely wasn't hungry but... it's ice cream! Of course I found room. ^^ She is an awesome lady and I love her so much! I cannot wait until I can just talk with her and tell her how much she means to me. For now, I will just tell her how delicious her food is and how much I love her.

To end the day 윤 자매님 and I tried to visit other less active or part member families. No one was home- bummer! Instead we 전도ed and head home. It was a good day.

Sunday! Is always the busiest day of the week! All of our investigators punked us for church today but it worked out because it was ward conference. The relief society works super hard to prepare A LOT of food for the ward and the stake leaders that came. 윤 자매님 and I volunteered to help them prepare and set out all of the food. It took us the whole second and third hour of church! I cannot even begin to
describe how much food there was but I will try... 10+ different kinds of kimchee (with two serving plates set out of eat, 8-10 meat dishes (with two platters of each), 6+ platters of fruit and salad,
and 6 HUGE rice cookers full of rice. I know I am missing stuff but that is sufficient. It is was insane. I was starving and when the time came for us to pray in eat, normally I would try and be at the front of the line but because I knew how much food there was, I took a seat and was one of the last haha. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. The whole time we prepared and cleaned up I was in charge of dishes. It was hilarious to hear all of the mothers try and decided on how to serve everything. Besides the bickering they kept yelling, "GOOD WORK SISTERS" in Korean. It was so much fun.

By about 3:30PM we were done cleaning up and the missionaries had to head to the stake center where the broadcast from the First Presidency was being played. I was so happy to find out that the foreigners could watch it in English! (We had to wait a week to watch it because they were waiting on the Korean translation) It had exciting news and it was awesome to hear the voices of our Prophet, Thomas S, Monson and his apostles.

On the way home I 전도ed for the first time by myself on the bus. It was just as scary as I thought it would be but I got my point across… I think. It was good practice with the phrases I have been trying to remember. Who knew speaking and using these phrases helps you remember and recognize mistakes? (Answer: everyone, and that is what people have been telling me all along but now I finally had to courage to try ^^) Once we got home we finished our studies that we weren't able to have this morning. As part of the Seoul South mission, our new mission president requires us to have all of our studies everyday (as opposed to W,TH,F,SAT in the Daejeon mission). It was nice to relax and just study. I focused mostly on pass off and I finished 3 whole lessons this week! I felt very accomplished.

Today is Monday. We are planning to meet up with some of the zone to do another "hike." It is near our stake center where a buddist temple sits on the top of that mountain/hill. It is said to be beautiful so
we are going to check it out.

I am have a great time here in 곡반정 and I love my companion, 윤현미 자매님. I am learning so much and feel so blessed to be in Korea on The Lords errand. I hope all is well with everyone back home.

사랑해요!

슬론 자매