Worn out shoes...

Monday was the most uneventful PDAY yet- and I loved it!! The zone planned to go ice skating and I thought that sounded lame. Instead 윤 자매님 and I spent the morning cleaning the apartment and writing letters. After emailing, we ate some delicious 팥빙수, then hurried home for the best nap I have ever had. Missionary work is exhausting and that nap definitely helped me recharge for the week! To end the day we visited a partially less-active family. They were so nice!! My initial thought of the husband, when I met him at church, was he was a weirdy. I still think that, however, he is more normal than I expected. When I admitted this to 윤 자매님, I told her that I actually really like him, she started laughing pretty hard because she had that same thoughts! She is far too kind to ever admit anything like that but I am starting to rub off on her haha. Anyone that knows me, knows that my opinions are not typically kept to myself... sorry!

Tuesday started off with a lot of stress. 윤 자매님 asked if I would take lead in all of the lessons today. I immediately told her, "Uhh... I don't think that's a good idea." Let me tell you why, 1. I don't speak Korean, 2. When I do speak I sound like a 3 years old, 3. I have never practiced teaching the lessons that we planned to teach, and 4. When I speak I mostly get looks of 'awe, you're trying so hard' not, 'wow I'm touched by that thought...' STRESS! Despite my bad attitude, I prepared. The lessons weren't perfect, but that's why we invite the spirit right?

My kind of kid!

사랑해요!

Our first stop was to a part members house. The wife is a solid member and her husband has been labeled an 'eternal investigator' by our bishopric. We really want to start building a relationship of trust, so that later missionaries will have the opportunity to teach her husband. He was at work so we chatted with the mom and played with her kids. The kids brought out this cool magnet- lego-ish set. I built three cars with them until I started organizing all of the pieces by size and color. The boys thought it looked so cool- duh, so they followed my lead. In no time everything was organized and we were all pleased with our work. ^^ The mother was amazed and thanked me for setting a good example haha. Those kids are adorable! To end we gave her a miniature 'The family: a proclamation to the world' magnate that we made to hang on her refrigerator. She was grateful and we went on our way.

Next stop, a lesson with the son (김동은) and mother (최윤저) again. They are so great! Just as we planned, I took lead. It went alright. We taught the lesson about Jesus Christ's Gospel. I covered faith, baptism, and enduring to the end while 윤 자매님 spoke about repentance and the Holy Ghost in between. They both were engaged- asking questions and contributing their thoughts and comments. I taught a lot by reading scriptures which I think helped a lot. So overall- it was great. The mother expressed her concern that she has so much work to do because she is only on the 'first step' which is developing faith. It reminded me of a quote that my MTC teacher, K. Benson Tanner said, "It doesn't matter where you are on the path, it just matters that you're on the path." So true! When I had that thought it was comforting because I need to keep that same thought in mind when I get frustrated with the Korean language. It was a learning experience for everyone.

Our last stop for the day, Krispy Kreme! Last week a member offered to buy us some doughnuts and today we took her up on the offer. She ended up buying two dozen! She asked us to give a dozen to the elders... that was a bad idea putting me in charge if that exchange haha. Just kidding, we delivered them... eventually. She was so generous to buy us such delicious food. I am not ashamed to admit a couple were gone before our bus arrived and a few more before it started moving, once we boarded. 윤 자매님 was embarrassed because we were eating them right in front of the door where people exit the bus. She asked, "why didn't we sit second row?" in a cute embarrassed voice while a number of people stared as they passed us to got off the bus. They were just jealous and I told her not to be ashamed haha.

Wednesday was our first and last district meeting with Elder Erekson as DL. He transfers up north Thursday (7/11) to become a zone leader. His training was amazing! We talked about a couple points of how us foreigners can fit in, here in Korea. His perspective was very interesting. The first point addressed rank in Korean society. A good illustration can be seen as you congregate the following words:

I > I am                    난 > 난이다

You > You are          넌 > 넌이다

He > He is                그 > 그이다

In Korean, it is all the same- the only thing that changes is the honorific that you can add. Just like everything in Korea, it is stacked vertically, such as all the buildings, the people are no different. Everyone has a 'rank' or place where they fit into society. A higher 'rank' comes as you either get older or as you gain wealth/power/respect. Because everyone is addressed the same way, it has become important to dress well and uniquely in order to stand out. Us as missionaries stand out with our name tags and the Book of Mormon that is constantly in our hands. How people address you is not only based on age but also based on the level of respect that they have for you. Even if someone is older than you, if that person honorfies your title, that is a clear indicator of their respect for you. In church, for example, the men and women always honorfy the missionaries with '님' (자매님- Sister, 장로님- Elder) but most of the time, when addressing other members, they use plain titles (자매- Sister, 형제- Brother). In conclusion, we need to be respectful to earn respect. As we teach people older than us, it throws off the norm here that older people are more wise and knowledgeable. So to counteract that we have to be respectable for others to listen to our message as well as take it to heart.

Next point: In America we all have personal bubbles, right? "This land is your land, this land is my land- from California..." We are self sufficient and are clear about what is our and what is someone else's. Things are separate, that's how we feel the most comfortable. In Korean culture, if you are true friends with someone- EVERYTHING you have and they have is pooled and shared evenly. Of course Americans share, but not like Koreans. Therefore, as Americans we need to be aware of this idea. Not only with our companions but also with our investigators. Giving and sharing is an easy way to show your love and friendship for someone.

There were a lot of good points from the training but I'll spare you the details. Directly after we took some parting pictures and head to our next appointment with 김선혜S. We met her at the youth center again. She is so nice! Today we taught our message first, per her request. She loves English but is clearly more interested in the gospel portion. We taught her the lesson about Jesus Christ Gospel. I took lead again. This time around it was a little more brutal haha. She is patient with me so it was okay. 운 자매님 eventually saved me from drowning in my thoughts and words. By the end we invited her to come to church. She really wants to come and bring her son! We were excited but she told us her son likes to attend a different church with his friends. I suggested they bring his friends too. She laughed- even though I was mostly serious in that request haha. She promised to come soon.

English class was the last lesson on our agenda. We continue to read 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.' The kids enjoy it and this time we split into groups to act out chapter 8. This chapter is about Charlie opening his birthday present (a Wonka candy bar) and not finding a golden ticket. One of the kids in my group was so disappointed that Charlie doesn't have a ticket. He looked at me so seriously and said, "you lied to me!" Haha it was hilarious how sad he was. I told him, "just wait a few more chapters." He muttered an "okay" with a very sad voice. Poor kid haha.

Last on our list for today: Goodbyes. All of the Elders were leaving to spend the night at the mission home before transfers the next morning. It was actually really sad! We took a couple more pictures and headed home. Bittersweet way to end the day and our mini (3 week) transfer.

Thursday was another day for a split. Once again I stayed in 곡반정 and I was expected to take the lead in the lessons scheduled. I was very grateful that the two appointments were with women who were fluent in English. I prepared to teach mostly in Korean but it was comforting to know I would be able to use English if I needed to.

When we met up to split, we didn't have much time so 한다솜 자매님 (Sister Han) had to say a quick goodbye then come home to prepare. Our first appointment was a lunch (식사) at 배정희 자매님's (Sister Pay) house with our atheist investigator, 서은영S (Soh uhn yong). The food was delicious and the message went well. I invited 서 자매님 to begin reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning and as she does, also to pray to know if it is the word of God. I could tell she was feeling a lot of pressure. I told her to just take it a chapter or so at a time. Eventually she committed and we left. It was a fun appointment and I was proud for how I handled the lesson. I'm learning!!

After a day of study, we had one more appointment scheduled with 김정원S (Kim johng wahn). This is the catholic lady that deflected my baptismal invitation. She is also planning to study at UC-Riverside in the fall (leaving for California 8/26- my birthday! haha). Anyway, we also taught her about Jesus Christ’s Gospel. It was an awesome lesson and I spoke 90% of the time!! She loved the scriptures I share about faith. The idea of acting on a belief seemed to have finally clicked in her brain. I subtlety brought up the idea of following Jesus Christ example the way she follows her catholic saint, Margaret. She got excited and said, "Yeah!! And those saints followed Jesus so I'm indirectly following Him too!" I smiled and said, "Yeah, that's exactly right." She smiled and leaned back in her seat as if she was very pleased with her new found realization. As we continued she was really into it. By the end I invited her to continue reading the Book of Mormon (she is already in 1 Nephi 15!) but to also pray and ask if this is the word of God. She agreed. I also asked if she was available on Sundays to attend our church services. She isn't free but she was very grateful for the offer. I told her if anything ever fell through, we would love to she her there. It was a great lesson. As we walked away I was very pleased with how everything went.

On our way home I made a retarded mistake... Instead of waiting for a bus I knew went to our apartment, I thought I found one that was arriving earlier. Err!! I was wrong. I read the sign wrong- it had already picked passengers up at our destination and was instead heading north towards Seoul. Cool. With that said we got home at 10:30PM. Because I knew I would be getting home late I called Sister Han's companion, my district, and zones leaders to give them a heads up. I was told if it was after 10PM I needed to make the AP's aware. When the time came, I made that embarrassing call. They were understanding and gave me all the numbers to call for the police and such. Lastly they informed me that since we were expected home late, I was required to personally call President Morrise when we got home. -______- I all but ran home to get to my old planner where I had Presidents number written down. When I called I said something like this, "Hello President, this is Sister Sloan from 곡반정, 수원 area. I'm acting as senior today because I am on splits with 한다솜 자매님 (a greenie). I was in charge of putting us on the right bus to get home and I didn't do a very good job because we just got home." He laughed and said he thinks I'm funny. He was grateful to know see were home safe. It was a painless call but also embarrassing. I hope I never become senior or a trainer or anything. I always lead people the wrong direction! I mean most people understand because I'm reading and trying to understand Korean to get us around... but still. It was a damper on a pretty awesome day.

Friday was an easy morning of study before we unsplit. The sisters met us at our house where I prepared lunch for us to eat together. After we ate, 윤 자매님 and I cleaned up before we had our weekly planning session. Planning went well. We have so many goals and things to talk about- we ended up running out of time before we had to leave for a lesson. It was with 문혜정S (Moon hay johng), this is the lady we met while street boarding and who showed us that weird slide show last week. I really felt like she wasn't progressing so we planned to teach our lesson about Jesus Christ Gospel as well as set new exceptions. As we taught, it was tough. She was pretty argumentative. 윤 자매님 did a great job of using the scriptures to teach. Sister Moon has read the whole Book of Mormon and she believes that it is the word of God, so there wasn't much more for her to argue about. Anyway after struggling through that we asked her what she wanted to learn from us. She didn't have an answer so she essentially 'dropped' us, which means she doesn't want to meet with us anymore.  As she offered the closing prayer, she began to cry. It was really sad prayer and sad way to saying goodbye- we told her to call us if she had any questions but I don't know if she will.

On our way home we decided to visit a less active member, 헝수히 자매님 (Sister Hohng soo he). It was a short visit but we got to know her and her two kids. We said a quick message about faith. We gave her a copy for the hutch magazine, The Liahona. We shared Alma 37:38-41 where Alma and his family use the liahona-compass to guide them. Since it is contingent on faith, we bore testimony of the simple acts of trusting and acting on our faith. She was touched and committed to coming to church with her family next, next week when they would all be in town. I cannot wait to meet them all, they are an adorable family!

When we got home, 윤 자매님 and I finished our weekly planning in our sweats. It turns out we should never leave the house without umbrellas... When we left 헝 자매님'a house, it was pouring! We got soaked and changed the second we got home. This acid rain is really going to do a number on my clothes.

Saturday we were planning to take a field trip and picnic to some famous tombs here in 수원 with the mother and son investigators, 김동은B 최윤저S. Guess what? It was raining too hard so we just met for a picnic in the local library instead. It was fun talking with them but I was bummed. This dumb rain is the worst! It's on and off showers and thunder storms allllll day. It hasn't stopped for over a week and the forecast doesn't look any better. It's a major bummer. The rest of the day was mostly uneventful. Since missionaries were asked to stay in meeting houses to give anyone an opportunity to tour our buildings, we finished our studies at the church. Members including most of the youth were there playing ping pong and each in snacks. Naturally we joined until it was time to leave.

Sundays was a good day. Since there are some members of the ward as well as investigators that attend our meetings, that don't speak or understand Korean, they tried using a translating system today. I volunteered to try it out. I was finally able to understand everything haha! It was a great meeting talking all about the importance of families. Besides being able to understand, when I walked into the chapel this morning, I felt a strange level of comfort. I've always loved this ward but today I really felt like I belonged. Anyway, after sacrament meeting we had Sunday school and it was great. I was given the opportunity to bear my testimony of my love for my Savior Jesus Christ. If I didn't love him as much as I do, I would not be here on a mission, inviting others to build a stronger relationship with Him. I felt the spirit a lot- it was great. Last, we attended the Young Women's meeting. Being back in that kind of class reminded me of when I was in Young Women's. Julie Daley and Christine Hermansen were my laurel class teachers and boy did I miss them today. They made a huge difference in my life as I was struggling through the last months of my senior year of high school. Today in class we focused on the scripture found in Doctrine and Covenants 82:10 which reads, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." It sounds like an odd scripture to teach a lesson about but as the teacher went on she emphasizes the promises we have made and He has made with us. It reminded me of the two verses that my dad recently pointed out to me; the first scripture is found in Alma 12:34 where we are told we can claim mercy- it is already a blessing given to us, we just have to ask. The second scripture is in Mormon 5:19 where it talks about blessings that have been reserved for us. This all related because I know that God wants and has promised to bless us, all we have to is ask and be worthy of them. It was an awesome lesson. After church ended we had a new member meeting with 이윤지S and 이종혁B since they were baptized a few weeks ago. It was a fun lesson with their home teachers and their little sister. When that ended we wanted to go home for lunch but it was raining really hard... and yes, we forgot umbrellas again. Instead, the the new zone leaders, Elder Chow and Keetch, shared their roman noodles and grapes with us. Once the rain let up we went home to complete our studies. We ended the evening with 전도. The rain chased everyone away so we didn't have too much success but at least we were out working. We were soaked! But it was fun. Korean weather is bipolar but somehow I have really come to love being here.

Thank you all for your love and support. I have finally learned how to say that in Korean for my prayers haha. I love you all and I miss you too. Thank you to everyone that writes to me. It means so much!!

슬론 자매

High-tech!  Coordinating district meeting with Elders Erekson and Schofield on our wannabe-smart phone.

Goodbye to 손훈식 장로님

My "step-father" is leaving!! Goodbye to Elder Erekson too :(

Working out in this humidity makes me look like I'm working out 10x harder.  haha

Typical dinner! 김치찌개 (kimchee soup), 멸치 (similar to anchovies), and salad with pepper sauce!

Shower 전도! We are SOAKED if you can't tell 💧🌂☔🚿

최윤저S and 김동은B at our picnic in the local library

Tradish Korean family pic. Except I have a new DL... So Elder Erekson is no longer my mission "step-father"

The whole district after Elder Erekson's awesome training.

Last P-days delicious 팥빙수. It's shaved ice, red beans, fruit, nuts, and ice cream!! It's so yummy!!