A sweet departure from Suwon

Senior week continued...

Monday was a good PDAY. After emailing home we hopped on the subway to make it to the 수지 (Suji) church building. When we arrived, we discovered that only the elders from our zone showed up. They were really into their mini basketball tournament which meant us sisters wouldn't be able to jump in. I had previously planned to play, but instead I was much happier relaxing and cheering from the sidelines. Since being here, I have quite a reputation for keeping up with CrossFit.  My companions tell everyone I'm scary during our morning workouts haha. I'm not scary, maybe my voice is a tad louder but I'm just trying to help them finish... Anyway, the elders get a kick out it and constantly bug me to make them a workout plan. Today was no different. They told me if I was cheering from the sidelines, I better be yelling something useful to improve their form or help them play harder. I am by no means a certified anything when it comes to CrossFit- I just love it! They are a bunch of weirdos.

By the time it turned 5 o'clock, we all packed up and locked the building. Just as we were leaving the church, guess what? Our only appointment cancelled again. :( With that news there was no sense of urgency to get home and change. Because we had previously planned on leaving for the 본부 (mission home) directly after our appointment, we had an awkward hour to spare before it was time to head up north. We all agreed it would be best to visit the second counselor to the Young Women, 류지헤S. In my first transfer 윤 자매님 (Sister Yoon) and I visited her and challenged her to think of someone to refer us to teach. We first called to make sure she was home then quickly headed over. She is a return missionary so we admitted our time was limited and she completely understood. Right away she ushered us in, sat us down, and dropped a pizza box on the table and said, "Eat, fast!" It was pretty funny. As we talked she told us that she really feels like she needs to focus on her husband first, who is not a member. We challenged her to maybe start praying together. I bore testimony of the power of prayer and she was touched. When we committed her, it was time to leave so she walked us out and told us to be safe. This trip to the 본부 (mission home) took longer than usual. I was worried about that so I brought along my handy Rubik Cube to fill our time. I took turns between teaching each companion. They both want to learn, but 김 자매님's (Sister Kim's) interest faded as 윤 자매님's (Sister Yoon's) grew. It was fun teaching them. I kept looking around and a majority of the subway car were intently watching as I taught. I felt pretty awesome for a moment or two.

We were the first sisters to arrive and be greeted by Sister Morrise. It didn't take long for the other 수원 자매님들 (Suwon sisters) to show up. Since 수원 존 (Suwon zone) is the only zone that moved from the Daejeon mission to the Seoul South mission, our area is the furthest south and takes the longest to travel to the mission home. As such, we have had so many opportunities to spend the night in the Morrise's home. They are so generous! I love them.

Before heading to bed, everyone strapped on their 할머니 (grandma) pants and gathered in the kitchen for a "midnight" (more like 10PM) snack with Sister Morrise. It was fun talking and joking with everyone. Especially fun for me. Sister Morrise laughs at all my jokes which I appreciate because my sense of humor and sarcasm isn't well received by Koreans here haha. One of the last things Sister Morrise said before heading off to bed was, "I hope you won't take it the wrong way tomorrow because part of my training advises again being sarcastic..." We all laughed and admitted we could try harder to be nicer haha. It was funny.

Tuesday was a fun day. Like before, it was strange going about our normal routine in the Morrise's home. Most of the sisters followed me outside for a WOD (CrossFit workout of the day). As missionaries we are only given 30 minutes a day to workout but for some reason most sisters don't take advantage of that time. Needless to say, the pace was slow despite their best effort. Once done we all showered and gathered for a big companionship study with all three companionships. We started by singing the hymn, "난 하나님의 자녀" (I am a Child of God). We later found out that Sister Morrise was listening from the other room and it brought her to tears. I do admit that I absolutely love singing hymns in Korean. Even though I don't understand the lyrics fully, I think they sound so beautiful. If you'd like a recoded solo- just ask :) haha just kidding I'm an awful singer. Anyway, the study and meetings/training that followed went really well. This was a follow-up training for all new missionaries and their trainers. Even though I'm not technically a trainer, President asked me to attend- which scares me for the transfer calls we will be receiving on Saturday evening.

When it came time to head home, instead of rushing, we decided to take our time again. We figured it would be smart to take advantage of talking to most of the people we came in contact with. After de-boarding one of the subways, we had to wait for the next line to arrive. Anticipating a long wait, I took a seat on a nearby bench. It took all of two seconds for the old man sitting next to me to make it very obvious he was trying to read my name tag. As a newly formed instinct, I grabbed a corner of my tag and angled it up asking, "저희같은 선교사들 보신 적 있으세요?" (Have you ever seen missionaries like me before?). He shook his head no and in perfect English asked where I was from. As the conversation evolved he told me that he was Catholic, but was curious to know why our church was so different from others. In my hands I was holding a Korean Book of Mormon, so I held it up and said, "This book right here." He smiled as if waiting for more of an explanation. I went on to teach him the whole first lesson about the restoration of the Book of Mormon; including a brief timeline of the
Bible, Chirst's earthly ministry, the apostasy, and Joseph Smith. As I taught I asked him to read a few paragraphs from the introduction of the Book of Mormon. I offered it to him and as he accepted I asked him if he would be interested in learning more from missionaries that lived near him. Without missing a beat, he said yes. Just as I finished adding his number into the companionship phone, the subway-line had arrived. We parted ways with big smiles of both of our faces. Boy was I proud of myself! I love teaching this gospel- and in English!? It was a breeze!

We spent the remainder of our evening with 박치우S, a young woman from the ward. She spent time proselyting with us as well as visiting the less active member, 남궁희정S and her son. We talked and ate 밭핑수 (Pop Bing Sue) together. Between playing with her son and laughing together, it was an awesome night.

Wednesday was another District meeting and split day. When our meeting ended 윤 자매님 (Sister Yoon) stayed with 강 자매님 (Sister Kang) and Sister Hunt came with me and 김 자매님 (Sister Kim). We immediately had an appointment with 김동은B and his mother, 최윤정S. We mostly talked about the commandment of following prophets. We brought a Liahona church magazine for her to read. They both really liked it and thanked us for the gift. This family continues to progress and I love them so much. As we were walking out, 김동은B was walking very close behind me. His mother laughed to herself and said, "He loves you!" I smiled big, grabbed his shoulder while facing his mother and said, "I love him too!" Everyone laughed, but seriously this family is amazing and by far my favorite investigators that we have taught so far.

English class was the last thing on our list of appointments. Sister Hunt and I taught my regular class were we continued to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This week only two kids showed up- one being the young woman that spent a few hours with us Tuesday and the other being her brother. Normally they are both the opposite of energetic. However, since having spent time with me yesterday the girl at least warmed up to my humor. She was laughing and participating- I had a lot of fun as did Sister Hunt.

Thursday was a holiday! Korean Independence Day from Japan. I'm sure it was an exciting day for most but not for me... it was pretty standard. The morning consisted of studying until 윤 and 강 자매님 came to unsplit. As always, we made and ate lunch together before seeing them off. Our appointment with 김선혜S was cancelled yet again. We had scheduled a less-active couple (김광석B and 강소진S) to join us so when we called them with the news we suggested just dropping by their house to visit them instead. The wife loved the idea and told us not to be late. That immediately meant their was food involved haha. When we arrived there was an enormous pizza and a ton of fruit waiting for us. It was all very delicious! As we ate both the husband and wife shared their conversion stories with us. It was hard for me to understand the husbands, but I think he just had a really good example in his life- a guy he thought was so cool, so he followed his example and joined the church. I also he later served a mission, so that pretty awesome!

Anyway, the wife started attending church with her aunt when she was young. No one else in her family was a member of the church, but regardless her mother would always wake her up early in the mornings every Sunday to make sure her daughter got to church. One day 강 자매님 (Sister Kang) didn't want to go and her mom was still strongly encouraging her to go. She asked why she was pushing her if she didn't even attend church herself. The mother replied, "Because you've a lot changed for the better since you've been attending that church." And it's history from there. Her mom today is pushing her to come back again since she had been less active for a few months. However she did share that that is the anchor for her testimony in this church and that she is going to start coming back each week. She explained everything a lot better than I did but just know that it was a really moving story.

Soon it was time for us to make our way to another appointment with 김동은B and 최윤정S. We normally meet them twice a week and this week it just so happened to work out to be two days in a row haha. Today, the mother had a lot of questions about the article she read in the Liahona as well as where she is reading in the Book of Mormon. The whole lesson time was spent answering those and bearing testimony. They are so awesome. I really hope to see them baptized soon. They would be a great addition to the 곡반정 ward!

Friday, was another weekly planning session. As senior, I decided that we would go to the church for our studies today. The heat was unbearable and our four fans were not keeping us cool. So we packed all of our books, got on a bus, and arrived at the air conditioned church in no time. We unpacked and got straight to work. It was a pretty effective planning session! At the end we are always supposed to conduct weekly companionship inventory. Sounds scary right? It isn't too bad because most of the time it consists of constructive criticism, but still I get nervous when it starts every week ha. Today 김천 자매님 (Sister Kim) asked us to be honest in telling her what she could do to be a better missionary. After 윤현미 자매님 (Sister Yoon) asked the same thing. I felt obligated to do the same since I had just made a few suggestions for both of them. I told them I wanted to know but I cautioned them to be nice haha. Sister Kim and I work fine together but outside of missionary work, I struggle getting along with her so I was mostly scared about what she would say. Surprisingly they both had a lot of really nice things to say. Their suggestion was for me to smile more. They said that the days where I do smile a lot, is when we see the most miracles. That made me feel pretty good!

Our final appointment for the day was with 이상훈B and 영미완S. This is the son and mother that we met for the first time last week- his mother is really interested in helping her son improve his English skills. Anyway, last week I explained our program and this week we began. The English portion was fun. I feel like I act like an idiot most of the time, but so far it has helped the students feel a little more comfortable about talking to me. When it came time for the gospel lesson, we taught about the restoration. I introduced the Book of Mormon and explained that today we were would talking about the history of it and how it came about. 윤 자매님 taught about God and Christ. I talked about prophets, the apostasy, and Joseph Smith. And 김 자매님 ended with the importance of the Book of Mormon and prayer. It went really well! By the end, the son recognized time was up but was curious if next time he could ask us some questions. We said of course and when we did he sighed and said, "Good, I have a lot!" What a good kid. We challenged them to begin reading and praying about the Book of Mormon and they said they would. I'm excited to see them next week!

Saturday was an okay day. We were finally able to meet 서은영S (the Atheist) again. Her son was on vacation so she was preoccupied entertaining him. Today we decided to focus on studying the Book of Mormon with her. I know how influential this book is and how important it is for people to read and study it; so I felt strongly to address this topic again. Thus far, 서은영S doesn't like reading it because she says it's boring and confusing. I don't blame her but today we presented her with a few different ideas of how to approach reading and studying. She was very interested and we committed her to begin reading a simplified version called, The Book of Mormon Stories. Typically that book is used by younger children and at first I was apprehensive about offering it because she is so highly educated. I was worried about offending her. Instead of being offended, she told me she was really excited to show her son and maybe start reading it together! Bonus! It was a great lesson.

Next, we met most of the youth for their weekly activity. They told us they were excited about bring friends to the activity that they wanted to introduce to us- the missionaries. So.... we joined them for a couple games of bowling. I was one of the highest scores (which means everyone was pretty horrible) but that's just about all I did. My companions tried hard to get to know most of the friends that came to
the activity but mostly failed because the kids were so rowdy. All in all, I feel like our time could have been better spent but if anything, I hope the kids had a good time and have a good lasting image of us missionaries.

The day was essentially over by the time we left. We took a long bus ride home which got us home right on time. After we planned, it was time to wait for transfer calls from President Morrise! Big news! I am a trainer!! I'm not going far- only to 신풍 (Shinpoong) which is in the same stake as my current area of 곡반정 (Gokbanjong). I will be finishing training a native, 한 자매님 (Sister Han). I think it's pretty funny because I lived at that missionary apartment when 윤 자매님 (Sister Yoon) and I arrived.  I've been on splits with Sister Han, and we have been in the same zone all transfer haha. I'm excited!! I'm training!!! I know it puts a lot more pressure on me but for now, I'm stoked.

Sunday was amazing. When we arrived to church I was asked to speak since I would be leaving the ward. I quickly brainstormed a few sentences with 윤 자매님 (Sister Yoon) before the meeting began. All I said was as follows:

저는 곡반정 와드 아주 아주 사랑합니다. (I really really love Gokbanjong Ward)
저는 신풍 와드 로 갑니다. (I and going to Sinpoong Ward)
제가 받은 사랑에 감사드립니다. (Thank you for all of your love)
제가 여러분들 절대 잊지 않 겠습니다. (I will never forget you [everyone])
저는 하나님께서 우리에 아버지 라는 것을 알고 있습니다. (I know God is our Father)
저는 몰몬경 이 하나님의 말씀 다는 것을 알고 있습니다. I know the Book of Mormon is God's word)
저는 이 교화 쵬되다는 것을 알고 있습니다. (I know this church is true)
예수 그리스도의 이름으로 간증 드립니다, 아멘. (In the name of Jesus Christ, I humbly bear my testimony, Amen)

It was short but to the point. After the meeting a majority of the ward came up and gave me hugs goodbye. I feel very loved here. When people said that they would miss me, it felt and sounded so sincere. I was on the verge of tears. When the normal meetings ended, I hung out in the hallway saying more goodbyes. I tried to take pictures and compile as maybe addresses as I could. Soon I had to join my companions in a ward council meeting. My Korean mother, 이정숙 자매님 (Sister Lee Jong Sook) waves me over to an open seat next to her. As the meeting went on for an hour, more than once I would hear 이 자매님 (Sister Lee) sigh then she would reach over into my lap and grab one of my hands and squeeze tightly. I tried hard not to let anyone see but I admit a tear or two formed in my tear-duck. I love her so much. Once the meeting ended, she turned to me and asked, "What am I going to do
without one of my daughters?" She looked so sad :( I forced a smile and told her I wasn't going far. As people lingered and I took pictures with various people, she just sat and watched from a distance waiting to see us off.

Making our way out of the building didn't take too long but I did stop to talk to the Bishop, 이권태 (Lee Gwon Tay). He had a lot of really nice things to say to me. He has seen and observed the love I have for Korean food, culture, and especially the people. He sees all I have done for these people as well as the different ways I have served them. He reassured me that I am an excellent missionary as he thanked me profusely for the work I have done. All I could do was smile and fight the tears. This ward is so blessed to have him as bishop, he is a great man. The last person I ran into as we were exited the building was the first counselor in the bishopric, 이원의B (Brother Lee Koan Eui). He too said some very touching things while also encouraging me to really focus on loving the people. He promised me if I do that, then my desire to learn and excel in Korean will increase. This time the tears were coming and I couldn't hold them back. I sincerely thanked him as I bowed to him and the small crowd that had gathered to see us off. Luckily I was waving my last goodbyes, walking out of the church parking lot when the tears came pouring down my cheeks. I kept a faster pace than my companions hoping to get myself together before we reached the bus stop- unfortunately that didn't happen ha. I couldn't help but cry. I was so sad to leave, grateful to have served, and mostly just crying because of all the love I felt from everyone today. I never thought it would be this hard saying goodbye, but that just reassured me that my heart and soul were invested in this ward. They will always have a piece of my heart no matter where I end up here on my mission or even when I go back home.

The rest of the day was a blur. We met with two part member families and taught brief lessons. The last being with 홍수희 자매님 (Sister Hong Su He) and her two kids (황운섭B and 황혜정S). They are absolutely adorable. After we ate fruit together and had a fun FHE (Family Home Evening) the little girl quietly asked me if I used pencils. I smiled and said yes. Her and her brother quickly ran to the other room and came out with a pencil they had made especially for me- it had a doll glued to the top that was supposed to look like me. I was very touched by the thoughtful gift. Before leaving they asked us to write our missionary address down so they could write us- so cute!! Again, this ward is the best and I am so sad to be leaving these people. I love 곡반정!!!

This week was great. I cannot believe I will be training... starting WEDNESDAY! Super scary! 윤  매님 is doing all she can to get me ready. Since we are still in the same stake and zone, I will have the opportunity to go on splits with her so I'm not loosing her yet! ^^

I hope you all have a great week!! LOVE YOU!

"A big bug that was crawling toward me."  See the coin in comparison.

View from the 66th Floor of a Metopolis tower (apartment building).

남궁희정S and her son

Bishops wife (정준녀S) and two of the young woman (백지아S and 박주연S)

Japanese couple! I love them 가지마 노부코S and  이도헌B

이정숙S my mother ^^

남기환B and 김천 자매님

윤현미, me, 남해리, 김천

Bishop, 이권태B

Last FHE with 홍수희S and her two kids 황운섭B and 황혜정S.

Last time meeting 김동은B and 최윤정S. I love them!! The son gave the closing prayer and got teary eyed when asking God for the opportunity to see me again :( he's the best! I will miss them.