We want to be here, we love you!

Monday was a very rainy pday. Did you know that the rain here is acid rain because of all the pollution? Yummy huh haha! Today we met at a chapel in Seoul to play sports and games with the surrounding missionaries. People mostly played basketball and ping pong. I decided to write letters and socialized instead. Guess who showed up?! Elder Light from the MTC! Remember, he was my favorite missionary in the group that left right before mine? It was fun swapping stories and catching up. Before we knew it, it was time to leave.

The AP's were on splits with our elders so we all went out to lunch. The food was yummy as usual. After lunch we got on a bus. It was packed and just before boarding Elder Arnett challenged me to 전도 by myself! I told him, "absolutely not!" But guess what? A young girl, probably in her first year of high school stood next to me. Once I saw her, I looked at Elder Arnett (who was smiling at me like an idiot), sighed, and started talking. Turns out I know more than I give myself credit for. I didn't have much time before our stop so I introduced myself, introduced a short message, and gave her a pamphlet. Elder Arnett greeted me with an huge obnoxious smile as I walked off the bus. He was waiting for me to tell him all about it but instead of saying anything I flashed him a cheesy smile with asian eyes and through my teeth said thank you. We both laughed and dropped it.

We quickly stopped by the elders apartment so they could change into missionary clothes (윤 자매님 and I never changed since we didn't play sports at the chapel). Once they were changed, we followed them to a less active members apartment. They informed us that she was recently divorced, lives alone, and when they went to visit her the day previous she was drunk. Since they could not go in, they 소개ed (introduced/referred) her to us. As we knocked, she eventually answered. It was very apparent that she was drunk again. Not only did it smell like alcohol, but she also resorted to talking to us in the famous Koran 'kimchee squat' (google it) as we stood outside her door. She invited us sisters in and the elders left. Her apartment is literally one room with a tiny bathroom. Her bed (which was just a heated blanket) was laid out on the floor (that literally took up the entire floor). She immediately collapsed and appeared to be falling asleep. 윤 자매님 was very sweet to her and was scratching her back as she asked her questions about what was going on. The responses were short, quiet, and slurred. I didn't understand anything, but I did feel the pain she was feeling. Eventually she sat up and asked us to run to the gas station to pick up some water. We did. When we returned she told us that it had been over a week since she had left her apartment. We offered to take her out to eat some delicious food, but in her drunken state she hated the idea. We didn't stay too much longer, because she seemed so exhausted. As we stood up to leave she kept apologizing for wasting our time. I didn't want her to think that she was a burden so I knelt back down in my knees, looked her in the eyes, and said, "we want to be here, we love you." She teared up a little, smiled, and thanked me. 윤 자매님 knelt down to my left, raised her left arm above her head and signaled for me to raise my right arm to create a heart with us in the middle. Haha it was cute and it made the sister smile. We left quietly and headed home in the rain.

For the first time since being here I had felt sincere love for a complete stranger. Of course I have come to love the members in the ward but the difference is that I was at least able to have a conversation with them. With this sister, I knew nothing except that she was having a hard time. That's all I needed to know and I just wanted to do what I could in that moment. She was in so much pain and 윤 자매님 and I just wanted to help her feel loved again. We plan to go back next week to finally take her out for some delicious food.

Tuesday started with district meeting. We always begin with a quick lunch at Toy 김밥. After we ate, we went to the chapel for our meeting. Elder Cho went over stats and had us watch the conference talk, "I'm a Mormon. I know it, I live it, I love it!" by Sister Dibb. Before watching I was assigned to give a thought about the section, 'I live it.' In the talk she specifically says that we need to be doers. Like yesterday when Elder Arnett was encouraging me to just start talking to people- I thought, I know plenty of Korean to have a simple conversation so I need to use what I know and do what I came here to do. When it came my time to share my thought, I did and after saying it out loud, I felt pretty pumped to just go and talk to more people. Overall, I thought the meeting was pretty motivational.

When it ended 윤 자매님 and I had a few errands to run. As we went around town, we 전도ed. The first girl we talked to was surprisingly so open and respective to our message! She mentioned that the other day she decided to start looking for a church to join, so she was excited to give us her number so that she could learn more. It felt good to finally have someone listen and even be excited about setting an appointment.

After errands were over we head to our first appointment with 김지혜  (the 11 year old). JUST as we walked up to her apartment building we got a text saying her dad didn't want her to meet with us. Apparently he had talked to a preacher or two and they didn't have very nice things to say about the Mormon church. She was walking home from school with a few friends so they came over to talk to us. 윤 자매님 asked if she could call her dad to try and clear up some of what he heard. As she talked, I played games with all of the girls. It was fun. After my companion got off the phone, the father had concluded that he couldn't make these assumptions about The Book of Mormon without reading it. His daughter, 김지혜 asked if we would mark our favorite scriptures before we gave her a copy. We did and one of her cute friends wanted one too. I marked a few scriptures in one and 윤자매님 marked some in the other. I hope everything works out. We ended with our simple testimonies and a prayer together. As we parted ways I felt pretty sad. I am rejected all day long but this time it hurt. Hopefully we'll be able to teach her and her dad again soon.

Our next appointment was a 소개 (referral/introduction) from the Elders. The Elders couldn't find a priesthood holder to come with them so instead they introduced us to the lady and had to leave. This lady is purely interested in English but is very accepting of all other churches and curious to learn more about them. Since this was just an introduction we just freely talked in English to get to know each other. Her speaking ability is awesome! I was very impressed. While we were talking she brought up a lot of questions about our lifestyle as missionaries and as members of this church in general. She also gave us the opportunity to talk about how we became members and why we are serving as missionaries. It was awesome bearing my testimony in English, it's so much easier!! Haha. Last, we set another time to meet and headed home... (An hour bus ride wah) so on our way to the bus station we grabbed some KFC for dinner. It was a good way to end a cold and rainy day.

Wednesday was interesting. Since my companion is the Sister Coordinating Leader, she has to go on splits with all of the sisters in this district. Today was the first of four that will take place this transfer. A split means that she spends at least 24 hours with a sister from a different companionship. So for me that means I'm living out of my suitcase again... ugh I can't catch a break. Anyway, today I served with Sister Hendricks. It was so great! She is from Idaho and so funny! It's pretty neat because 윤 자매님 was her trainer too. Sister Hendricks kept telling me to take advantage of her while I can because her other companions have been tough and 윤 자매님 is amazing. Also, she has only been here for 5 months and her Korean is awesome. She gets along with the people really well because of how much she loves them and Korea in general- she is proof that if you love the people, they will love you and be open to helping and listening to you. Simple lesson but it was much needed. So today we taught a lesson, had English class (we shared a spiritual thought at the end about Joseph Smith and the first vision), and 전도ed. I learned a lot from her and how to study and be consistent with the language. I get along with her really well so we had a good day together. Oh! Did I mention we went to Baskin Robins to make the split fun and we got it for free! (probably because we are Americans and we spoke Korean- the lady working was so impressed haha) It was great. I love her.

Thursday we woke up, did a quick workout, and got ready. After an hour of personal and language study, it was time to meet up with our companions to "unsplit" haha. The bus went by fast. Once I was back with 윤 자매님, we ran some errands then went back to our house to finish study time and planning. By 1PM we were in the other side of town for a lunch appointment with a member. She is so cute! Her and her husband had us over for dinner my second day here in 곡반정. This time it was only her and she prepared all kinds of food- including a squid kimchee. Tasty right? It was okay once I got over the texture of the millions if suction cups in my mouth. While we ate she told us all about her childhood. It turns out that she was born when the Korean War began. Her father was one of thousands that died fighting. It was a very sad story. She literally grew up with dirt floors and no food. She didn't even finish elementary school because her family needed her to work (even though she is the youngest after two older sisters and two other brothers). Despite all of the hard times she endured, she assured us that she is living her happy ending; her and all of her siblings are living comfortably with happy families. She is one tough lady and a very devoted member of the church! When it came time for us to share a message, I felt a little inadequate haha. How do you teach someone like her? We taught her anyway and she loved it. She told me over and over how pretty I was. I am pretty bashful here when all of the old ladies touch my cheeks and hair because it is not only a compliment but it also means that they like me and think highly of me (if its repeated). It's an honor to have her think highly of me because she is amazing! Anyway on our way out she gave up like 20 nail sticker kits. Haha I thought it was so cute. I ooo'ed and ahh'ed and told her wow, now I'm going to be pretty forever! She laughed and gave me a big hug. I love 김경지!!

We tried to visit some less actives that lived near by but no on was home. We left some cute notes with scriptures and headed home. On our way we picked up a package from my family!! and one from the mission home (we finally have pillows and a DVD player to watch 'The District' as part of my training). Also on our way to our apartment we stopped at our neighbors door (they have 5 kids!) we asked to borrow some measuring cups. (We very well could have bought some but we instead wanted to get to know them to maybe potentially teach them or invite them to our English class haha) they were very giving and we promised to get them back ASAP. With the measuring things 윤 자매님 and I made banana bread, following my mothers delicious recipe. It took a while but it was fun. Side note: of all the appliances in our apartment the weirdest is the microwave/oven... I was a little skeptical about baking in a microwave... Wouldn't you be? Turns out, it works okay- not awesome but okay. We had fun baking and talking. Time got away from us and we went to bed about 11PM (typically we are sleeping by 10:30). It was a lot of fun.

Friday started on a good note. We got up and worked out for the full time allotted. While I was running my normal laps around the park by our apartment, there was a lady with her dog. It was a corky- it reminded me of Chelsea Kantaris and her dog Cujo... No idea how to spell it but I tried haha. Anyway he started running alongside me. I didn't want him to leave his owners sight so I started zigzagging around to confuse/play with him. He thought it was fun until his owner wanted to play. She tried getting the dogs attention and copying me- obviously it wasn't as cool so he wouldn't leave me. I felt a little bad but hey, sorry I'm more fun #sorrynotsorry haha. Eventually she distracted him long enough so that I could finish my laps around the park. It was fun.

Once 윤자매님 and I showered and studied, we were able to prepare for the appointments we had for the day. The first was with a catholic lady. We teach her 30/30. Her interest mostly stems from English but she is also full of good questions. We planned to teach her the first lesson and invite her to be baptized but instead she had so many questions that we only discussed prophets and a little bit about Christ and his earthly ministry. It was a bummer because I had memorized and was prepared to extend the invitation but it didn't work out this time. Maybe next week (we meet with her twice a week).

Our next appointment was scheduled to be in our chapel. We waited for an hour but they never showed. While we waited I read and my companion fell asleep as she read haha. By 5:30PM we were supposed to meet a member at the near by bus station. Before we met her we sat down for some dinner. I'm not totally sure why we were meeting but we went to a 'rose festival' with her. I still couldn't tell you the reason of going because she sat down to make a flower arrangement at a booth and sent us away to eat and socialize. It was awkward. We wandered, started some conversations with a few teenagers, and before we knew it- it was time to leave. Instead of going straight home, the sister insisted on us coming to her house so she could feed us dessert (fruit) and give us food. Naturally we didn't refuse haha. She gave us pots, pans, mixing bowls, and a bunch of food. So generous! I know for a fact that no missionary called to Korea will ever starve or go without because the members and people in general will literally give the clothes off their backs if they think you need them. There is an amazing humility and willingness to give here.

Saturday started like any other- running and getting ready. We had three appointments scheduled so we planned for all of our lessons then head out the door to tackle the day. The first appointment was with a mother and her son in their home. It was the first time meeting so we got to know each other then started our 30/30 lesson approach. Their English was awesome so it made conversation easy. The son is 15 (Korean age) and is teaching himself English- very impressive. He has a shy personality but also had a very respectable and loyal feeling about him. I admire him a lot and his mother is very proud. When we moved on to the lesson we discussed the 'how to begin teaching' portion of PMG. They were interactive throughout the whole lesson. The son especially was quick to agree and accept what we were saying. Finally it was almost over and I invited them to be baptized. The spirit was strong and what made it even more awesome was that I didn't use any notes! I was looking both of them in the eyes as I posed the question. Immediately following the question the son said, "Yes!" The mother was hesitant but the son was persistent in said, "come on mom, say yes! It sounds like a good thing." Haha it was cute. Unfortunately we weren't able to set a date to work towards but instead we gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon. As the meeting concluded we asked the son to say the closing prayer. He didn't know how so we briefly taught him and he did awesome! It is pretty cool to be part of these lessons where people learn so much and are so accepting and love the message. Hopefully the mom will be able to read and pray like we invited her to do.

Next we head to an appointment with the bishops son and his girlfriend. She is a nonmember and semi interested in the church (maybe just her boyfriend though). We met at a park to play badminton... It was okay. We weren't able to share a message because she had to run off to a tutor sooner than we expected.

Next we headed home to eat lunch and prep for our next appointment. This was a last minute referral from our elders. We planned to BRT (build relationships of trust) and understand her religious background. After meeting her, she took us to her favorite coffee shop and bought us smoothies. So nice! She is a fascinating lady. Very open, loving, and respectful. She made it clear that she was mostly interested in practicing her English with me and not so much our message. However she had some awesome questions about the meaning of life and such. It was a great conversation (which all happened to revolve around religion). I was feeling the spirit pretty strong. A few times I just blurted out some things without any forethought. Hopefully it was applicable to what was being discussed, I think it was... Soon it was time to go and we set our next appointment and parted ways.

It turns out our next appointment punked us so we just head home for dinner and study time. Not much else happened.

Fast Sunday was a fantastic day! It started earlier than most... 5AM to be specific. Our ward mission leader asked all of the missionaries to meet at the chapel at 6AM. Upon arrival he asked all of the foreigners (Elder Arnett, Sorensen, and me) to share a five minute testimony in our native language. Between each testimony he had selected hymns to sing. The spirit was strong. When my turn came I spoke about how I am constantly amazed of the perfect plan that God has prepared for us. I spoke about the tools we are given and how they have helped me to become the person that I am today. I related our lives to being on an escalator... If we are walking up an escalator that is moving the opposite way- it symbolizes our progression. We have so many things against us, that is represented by the escalator moving the opposite way that we are moving. As soon as we stop moving forward or progressing and learning, we are automatically moving backwards. I testified that when I have struggled in my life, I don't just decide one day that I want to be a different person. Instead it happens very gradually as I stop doing the things I know I am supposed to such as praying and reading my scriptures. I testified of the atonement and shared the following scripture:

"Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts." (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi, 2 Nephi 28:32).

This scripture is a promise that God will always be there for us even in his anger towards us or disappointment in us. We will always be His children. He will always want to help us succeed.

It was an awesome meeting. We ended with a prayer by each of the Korean missionaries (since each companionship was praying for something specific). After we started our normal meeting with him discussing our investigators and recent converts. It was in Korean so I don't have anything to report haha.

By 10AM it was time for church. Testimonies were awesome! (윤 자매님 translates for me) In the other meetings I just played with the kids that were distracting their parents. Since I don't understand anyway, I figure it's the least I could do to help. I was prepared with coloring books and cars. It was a lot of fun. The kids here are SO CUTE!

When church ended 윤 자매님 and I had an appointment with a member and her three kids. This is the family where their oldest are over the age of 8 so they have to opportunity to be baptized. We talked to them about prayer in a fun way then talked about how we want to follow Jesus Christ. Again, I was able to extend the invitation for them to be baptized. They said yes!! The mom looked very proud. Next we set a date (6/19)! To close the meeting we asked the son that barely turned 8 to pray. He did so great. Even though these kids are so young, the spirit was strong and it was a happy way to end a day at church.

Next, all of the missionaries gathered hopped on a bus to Central Park where we had planned to 전도. My companion and I talked to over 100 people. Guess how many people were interested? Zero :( On our way to the bus station to head home, we ran into a member. Him and his kids insisted that we sit down and eat some watermelon with them. We quickly said a prayer together to break our fast and then we ate. It is starting to get super hot and humid so the watermelon tasted heavenly! When we got home, we made a less than exciting kimchee and rice dinner, and finally had our study time (that we missed this morning because of our meetings). It was the first relaxing Sunday that I've had here in Korea.

Now it is Monday again. Today our zone plans to go on a hike! I forget the name but I will tell you all about it next week. I love you all :)

Shout out to my baby sister Danielle for graduating high school last week!! Class of 2013 FTW! I am very proud of you. XO

사랑해요!
슬론 자매

PS. Note to the family- thank you so much for the package!! Silk and mesh garment shorts are THE best especially in this humid Korean weather. The skirts are perfect!! The Nutella will be put to good use... Duh :) and the DO is awesome. Thank you! Next package could you add normal toothpaste? I still have a tube that I opened a week ago- but the toothpaste sold her is nasty! Anyway, thank you SO much. And let me know if you want anything :)