Making progress

9/23-29
Monday felt a little weird having another PDAY only a few days after the last one... I feel lazy but no worries! It is the last week of the transfer and I'm ready to kick it up a notch. Today was not only my father's birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!) but it was also Sister Yoon's 24th bday! In order to celebrate I bought the cutest cake! When I went to pay for the adorable bunny-strawberry cake, the lady working asked, "How many candles for the birthday girl?" I smiled and said, "24 please!" Haha the friendly smile quickly turned into a look of shock and confusion. Apparently she was a little confused about my choice in cake for an adult's bday but naturally I didn't care. Instead of 24 candles I settled for five.

My companion and I made our way over to the 곡반정 church were we met most of the zone to play games and socialize. I have really come to love relaxing PDAY's. Maybe I'll be more motivated to go sightseeing when I transfer out of Suwon because I think I've seen all there is to see here. It was really fun.

While emailing home I was able to update my iPod to the new iOS7 software- it's awesome! I spend a good amount of PDAY exploring the new features with a couple trunky missionaries (meaning they are nearing the end of their missions and are ready to go home ha). I miss technology. When it came time to leave, my companion and I head home for dinner then the YSA FHE. I'm not totally sure if it can technically be called YSA (young single adult) because the members that come are nearing 40... They are really fun but are not the normal "YSA" crowd (18-29 years old). Regardless, we played games and had fun.

Once home, I started noticing all the mosquito bites that seemed to be appearing all over my body. Summer is over and the cool autumn weather is coming fast- so why aren't these bugs dying?? I have a nice bite on my right eyelid, six fresh bites on my ankles, two on my right hand, and half a dozen on my legs. Gross right? Sister Han is convinced that the mosquitos here love foreign blood because she has zero bites.... Not fair. So as I type this I am covered from head to toe in hopes of avoiding these pesky bugs. Night!

Tuesday was relatively slow. Most of our day was open so it was the perfect time for more tracting. Today we chose to go door to door in a 동 called 평동. It happened to be raining again and we had little success. By the time 4:30PM came around, it was time to leave to meet our first appointment for the day. The two ladies names are 조은선S (Sister Cho) and 최민서S (Sister Choi). They we pure gospel interest investigators, which is awesome however the bad news for me was that they speak zero English. It was a hard lesson to sit though. I tried to participate but as usual I failed. I tried to keep up but to me it sounds like they were bible-bashing with my companion. I starts finding the scriptures they were reading and it seemed that they actually have similar beliefs. Anyways, I'll spare the details of the back and forth and just say that they are seriously searching for the truth. The current church that they attend asks for money not faith (their words not mine). So they are in the process of meeting with several members of different churches to really get to the bottom of things. Next week when we meet them, I plan on having a little more control of the conversation so Sister Han and I can start answering some of their questions.

Our last appointment was with Estee. We invited a member, 임전숙S (Sister Lim- a YSA) to join us for 팥빙수 and a brief lesson. Of course the dessert was delicious and the lesson went well too. We taught the first lesson really simply and invited Estee to start praying. She accepted and we all walked to the bus stop together. It was a good day- despite the rain and cold weather started to sneak up on us.

Wednesday was zone conference. We received training from President and Sister Morrise, the AP's, and our zone leaders. It was an awesome day! My favorite quote from my notes: The goal of mountain climbing, is mountain climbing. Don't over complicate or over analyze your goals and/or results. Step back and realize your efforts.

Maybe that isn't profound but I really enjoyed the training. Oh!! I almost forgot the best part. In President Morrise's training we watched an episode from The District. In this video one of the sister missionaries was frustrated and complaining about learning Spanish. In the middle of the rant, President Morrise paused it to say, "When you hear someone whining about learning Spanish, does anyone else think, 'What a baby!!'?" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Sorry to anyone that might think Spanish is hard- but President Morrise has a point, Korean is WAY harder hehe. I love my mission president!

After the meeting ended, it was time for another split! This time I went with Sister Goodnough to 곡반정! Sister Yoon is so good to me- she lets me visit my favorite ward alll the time. I love her and I love coming home. Tonight we had our normal English class. Since they began reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the class has gotten pretty far; to celebrate, a member provide the new Johnny Depp movie to watch! Booyah!!

Before heading to class, Sister Goodnough and I were running home to grab some dinner. As we walked, we met three middle school girls. I approached them and asked them where they were going and if they liked English. They all flipped out trying to prove who was better at English haha. One of the girls kept saying, "I.. Uhhh. English.. Uhhh. Good!! I, English, good!" Haha it was hilarious. We eventually made plans to meet them near the church later, in order to direct them to our class. About an hour later, guess what?! All three of them were sitting and waiting for us to show up! Miracle! During class the kids were rowdy, the movie was great, and just like last time- the members made me feel loved and missed. It was a crazy yet awesome night!

Thursday was great. First on our agenda was an appointment with 서은영S (Sister Soh- the atheist) again. This time we decided to keep it a secret that I was visiting again hehe. We arrived a few minutes late so Sister Soh called just as we were walking towards her. She didn't see us yet so Sister Goodnough said, "Yeah, Sister Sloan and I are walking up right now." What happened next played out like a movie; she turned (it felt like dramatic-slow motion), I had a huge cheesy grin on my face as I waved with both hands, her jaw dropped, I started running towards her, she starts running toward me, we hug, she's shocked, we both can't stop smiling- scene! It was the best. We found a cute coffee shop to settle down in and catch up. From previous experience I knew our appointment might run late so I made a conscience effort to stay on schedule with the 30/30 program.

After talking all about her family and how she spent her holiday, a little over thirty minutes had gone by. There was a perfect moment that I took advantage of to transition into gospel time. We had planned to teach about the Ten Commandments and the law of chastity. But, after introducing the topic of the Ten Commandments, our conversation took a shift. We began talking all about faith and how we can receive guidance from God. She had so many questions and I did my best to answer them all. Honestly I don't remember half of the things I said, which actually brings me a lot of comfort because that means it wasn't me talking- it was the spirit. I do remember sharing the verse Ether 4:12 which says,
"And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good; he that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent me. For behold, I am the Father, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world."
She is in the middle of making some pretty big decisions for her family. She is contemplating moving abroad to continue her studies and to immerse her son in another culture. She knows how huge the decision is so she is super stressed about it because she want to do the right thing. Amidst all of her thoughts, she hasn't been able to differentiate what is a good things or selfish desire- so I though this verse might help bring clarify. Also, over and over I shared experience reiterating how I was able feet answers through prayer. Eventually she said, "Well, it looks like I should pray before I go visit some potential places." After she said that I felt promoted to invite her to church. I told her that it was a perfect place to receive an answer to a question she has prayed about because it is such a peaceful place. Immediately she said, "Okay, maybe I should talk to my husband and we'll find a church to go to." Miracle! This woman has come so far and I feel so blessed to have been able to have witness such a huge change in her just these passed few months. Anyway, my time management went out the window because two hours of gospel discussion went by before we finally left.

There wasn't time for much else before the unsplit, so we head home to meet Sister Yoon and Han.We made dinner together then went back to our assigned areas. Once back, we met up with the elder to prepare the new English flyers. It was boring but I was still in such a good mood having had such an amazing lesson with 서은영S.

Friday was a slow day. A couple days ago I started feeling under the weather but this morning was the worst. After exercising I started noticing how weak and achy my body was feeling. I took an extra long-hot shower but that didn't help much. I later took my temperature... 100 degrees! Not a fun way to start my day. I called Sister Yoon, who had been sick too, to ask what her symptoms were- they were the same as mine. She told me to get back in bed immediately. Maybe I'm a bad missionary but I was obedient and didn't wake up again until about 4PM. That was another 7 hours of sleep after a full 8 hours the night before! If that's not a clear indicator that I was sick, don't know what is. Anyway, I woke up to the phone buzzing. Estee misunderstood our new appointment time and she was apparently waiting at the church for us. I quickly got dressed and prepared some material for lesson. It ending up going really well! We had invited her to pray, and she had! She even prayed a few extra times when she was feeling scared and alone; when she shared that I was blown away! Miracle!

When our appointment ended, Estee wanted to treat my pathetic-looking self to dinner. It was yummy but all I wanted to do was change back into my sweats and go back to sleep. When Sister Han and I went home, I refrained from sleep and decided to finish the day with our much needed weekly planning. The timing was perfect and I was in bed  by 9:30PM.

Saturday I was feeling much better! All that rest really payed off and I'm grateful because today was busy and we couldn't afford to stay home again. After studies we left to visit the less-active, 박순애S whom we visit every Saturday. Like last week, her daughter and nephew stopped by while we were there. When they arrived the boy, Hong Sungbong quickly sat down and informed us that he had a question. He said the following, "So, last time when we were talking about your missions and church, I felt really good. I also really enjoyed practicing my English. So, I see this as a good opportunity. You see, I know a lot about Korea and you know a lot about church and English. I think it might benefit both of us if we became friends." Haha he's adorable. I introduced the 30/30 program and English class. He was very interested.He went on to say, "Oh! I forgot to mention that I have about five other friends (all boys) that are interested in being your friend for the same reason." MIRACLE!! I received his cellphone number in order to refer him to the elders- it was so exciting! As the conversation evolved, it turns out that his mother was baptized when she was little. She told us that when she moved she just never found the ward building and slowly became inactive. She went on to say, "But when my work starts to let up, I would love to attend church again! And I would also love you two over sometime to talk about church with my husband." On the outside I was calm and responded, "We would love to come by some time, can we give you a call later this week?" But on the inside all I could imagine was the Andrea Marks happydance haha. HAPPY DAY! Before we left, I shared the spiritual thought about a favorite scripture then we were on our way.

We met up with the elders to make name tags for all the members of the ward. Our bishop really wants to missionaries to know all the members names, so this was his idea. I think it's a little silly but its sole purpose is to help me so I can't complain. To end the evening, Sister Han and I had a meal appointment with 김영애S and her family. I had a lot of fun! Her daughter, son-in-law, and their three children (all girls- one was 4 and the other two were 7 month-old twins) were there. They are fluent in English she I was really able to get to know them well. They have SUCH an adorable family. To end our visit, Sister Han shared a thought about prayer. We them made our way home in the rain. What a great day!!

Tonight was supposed to be transfer calls too... But because of all the temporary grandpa phones that were distributed, the AP's didn't get a hold of us until super late! When I finally called them, they inform Sister Han and I that we were staying. Six more weeks in 신풍!

Sunday was a great day too! It is a blessing that our church starts later now because we have the best investigator whom we meet each Sunday morning now. Her name is 심성경S (or Bible for short... 성경 literally translates to bible hehe) and she is the best! She did have of her "homework" and prayed. She said she had a good experience, so that's awesome! The other half of her homework was to read then Book or Mormon introduction and Alma 34. Instead of moving on, we just sat and read it together. We might have been able to teach something if I still didn't take so long to read... :/ but that's okay it went really well and she understands things so well! Oh! Did I mention a young woman from the ward came too? She bore a pretty strong testimony of the atonement after reading Alma 34- it was perfect!

Soon after the appointment, all the missionaries greeted the members and suck name tags on everyone. Everyone's response was, "왜요?" (Meaning- why) haha. They were all pretty on board with the idea after we explained ourselves. Some members even ran up to us, demanding a name tag, telling us that we forgot them haha. It was fun. The meeting went well and after, dinner was served. Sister Han and I were not planning to eat at the church because we had a dinner appointment a couple hours later with a less-active member. But I was dying, so I ate haha.

When we arrived at our dinner appointment, I was grateful for the modest amount of food. This members name is 김자영S (Sister Kim) she is single, a nurse, and such a sweet lady. She shared photo album after photo album with us. I think she is lonely, so we just let her talk and go on and on about every thought that came to her mind. I understood a little bit of what she was talking about- but that wasn't the point. I think we were just there to listen and be with her. Before we left, she shared a Liahona article about faith. I bore a simple testimony that Sister Han and Sister Kim said was powerful but like I said, it was just simple. On our walk home, I was reminiscing on the week we had just had and I felt so grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary. I'm already considered an "experienced missionary" according to the greenies but I just feel blessed to have been able to learn and grow so much, and to be able to apply all that I am learning. Being a missionary is the best!!

This week was so great and filled with miracles. It was an awesome way to end my first transfer here in Shinpoong. I hope you all had a great week too. I love you all and miss you so much. Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement. ^^ 사랑합니다!

슬론 자매
Sister Sloan

Happy Birthday Sister Yoon!

100 degree temperature

My favorite student from English Class.

What's Cooler than Aliens?!

9/16-22
Monday (월요일) was the start of a very, very slow week in terms of missionary work. The big holiday of 추석 (Chusak), the Korean thanksgiving was coming up so everyone was busy and preparing to travel to visit family. As such, our normal PDAY was moved to Friday. Today was supposed to be a regular proselyting day but it is unreal how deserted the streets already are. After emailing home, we received a call from the church headquarters informing us that we needed to receive a temporary phone from our zone leader ASAP. I'm not totally sure what President Morrise has decided in terms of upgrading phones but for now our "temporary phone" is the biggest piece of crap. And when I say biggest, I mean it's even bigger than the Zoon-iPod-wannabe. It's really crappy. Anyway, once we received it we spent the day proselyting. By the time 4PM rolled around we met up with the elders in the district for a meal appointment.

Our appointment was with 안기훈B (Brother Ahn), a recent RM from the Seoul mission. He texted us saying, "If you want to be a good missionary, come to my house at 4 for some training." Haha bless his heart. He made us ramen noodles and taught us about the importance of being spiritually prepared at all times. He is adorable because he misses missionary work so much. Even though we don't really need his help, Sister Han and I always find some excuse to call and ask his advise or opinion on something to keep him in the loop- he loves it. After our "training" ended, all the missionaries made our way to 임은미S (Sister Lim's) house. Her and her two young sons are members but their father is not. She invited us over to have a FHE (family home evening) activity. We played pictionary and ate some delicious food- it was a fun time. By the end of the night, the two sons decided they wanted to nickname me, Alien because they thought I was crazy... And probably cool too because what's cooler than aliens? Haha that activity was a good way to end a not so productive day.

Tuesday (화요일) was another one of those 5 hour proselyting days. Sister Han and I found a little town called 입복동 that was pretty far away and secluded. I was curious to know if anyone had ever gone tracting there, so instead of wasting time in the records, we set out and made plans to walk every street. First, we tried door to door approaches but failed because most of the apartments were locked and forbid all uninvited visitors. We were able to find some smaller apartments where we did talk to a good amount of people. Unfortunately a majority of those people were half naked, drunk men. I put my poor companion through so much. I felt bad so before we head home I bought a bunch of these delicious little yogurt drinks. They are a MUST if you ever come to Korea. Anyway I bought like 30 for only ₩1,200 (about $1.20)! What a steal! On the long bus ride home, we were able to finish l of them between the two of us and with the help of a few people sitting around us. We made friends pretty quick when people saw what we had haha. The rest of the evening was spent trying to visit some less-active members and passing out English flyers with the elders. No success yet but at least we had a busy day.

Wednesday (수요일) was the first day of the Korean thanksgiving holiday. Similar to America, today is the preparation day set aside for cooking, cleaning, and preparing for family or traveling to family. As for us missionaries, we just had our normal district meeting. Elder Benson trained on faith. It was good. It made me really reflect on the prayers that I offer everyday. In my notes, I ended up only writing questions for myself to answer: Do I have faith that God is listening? Do I have faith that He hears me? Am I focused? Am I specific? Do I listen for the spirit? Do I wait for an answer?

I guess I have been working at such a fast pace that I think I have forgotten to really stop and reflect on the prayers I have been offering. It was a good training. When the meeting ended it was time for me to teach Elder Benson the first lesson- all by myself. I have little faith (ironic considering the training we just received) so I withheld the pass-off book from him that he was supposed to sign if I passed. I proceeded to teach and it was okay but no where near where I want it to be. His one piece of advise after was to just speak with confidence. He said he understood the idea and felt the spirit- I was just lacking conviction. Ugh! Next week I'll do better!

When Sister Han and I finally left the chapel, it was almost time to meet with Estee, one of our investigators. She arrived late but it worked out because we were able to grab dinner with her just before English class.

Since it is a holiday we didn't expect many people to come to English class. Instead we decided to combine all the classes and play games. It was super fun! We started with hangman. Everyone took a turn and somehow a few of the Koreans stumped the Americans- EMBARRASSING! It was fun though. Next we split into teams for pictionary. The Koreans would not stop making fun of how competitive I was... It's like Ricky Bobby says, "If you're not first, your last." right?

Thursday (목요일) HAPPY 추석 (Choo soak)! To celebrate this important holiday, we gathered as a whole mission for an all-day activity. We left the house at 8AM in order to arrive for the activity at 10AM. First was a training from President Morrise and a testimony meeting. Next was lunch, then a number of demonstrations of tradition cooking and games. It was semi-interesting. Then it was time for the real fun!

We were invite to change into PDAY clothes (the part I had been waiting for all day). First we all hopped on the subway to head to a nearby park. It was quite a sight seeing ALL the missionaries crammed onto the escalators and on one subway. When we were all accounted for, we made a circle around a huge flag pole with a huge Korean flag wavering proudly in the air. There we all sang the first and forth verse (and chorus) of the Korean national anthem.

Next, President Morrise had an idea of assigning each district a scripture story. We then were challenged to try and tell the story in only three still images. Later we gathered together to guess who had which story. Maybe that sounds lame but it was a lot of fun! After taking our pictures we had about an hour to walk around and play basketball in this park. It was SUCH nice day. I decided to take a seat on the warm asphalt- talk about relaxing. I was on the verge of a nap when the time came to pack up and head back to the church.

Dinner was served and we ended our day with a talent show. At first it was more like a concert with all the singing and piano playing. But no worries, it then livened up with some hilarious skits, a traditional New Zealand song/dance, numb-chucks, and an amazing gymnastics performance by an elder training for the upcoming Olympics. It was the best way to end the day!

Before we head home, we were asked to change back into missionary clothes and get home as fast as possible. At that time, it was already passed 9:30PM and most everyone had to travel over an hour to get home. My companion and I finally arrived home by 11:30PM! I was so ready for bed, it was one of those times when my head hit the pillow and that's the last thing I remember... It was an great day!

Friday (금요일) was a very special PDAY... Drumroll please... Yay for deep cleaning day! -___- After our normal studies, my companion was allowed to call home for an hour in spirit of the Korean holiday. Me on the other hand, I had no choice but to start cleaning... By the time she got off the phone I had already attacked the bathroom and bedroom. The last two rooms to clean were the kitchen and changing room. It went by pretty quick once she started helping. After cleaning, Sister Han wanted to go shopping. I followed her around for about two hours then we finally came back home with two more PDAY hours left- perfect for a glorious nap! The house reeked of bleach so before I unfolded my mattress, I opened every window in the house and grabbed my comfy Texas sweatshirt (thanks again Andrea!) to have the best nap ever! Even though I don't feel very productive this week, I'm exhausted from all this running around trying to stay busy and boy was I rewarded with an awesome nap.

By the time it was 6PM my companion and I were headed out the door to meet the elders and a couple members for dinner. It wasn't delicious or fun. The members were much more interested in talking to the native Koreans.  So us Americans and one German elder were left to entertain ourselves. After dinner we went to eat ice cream at Baskin Robins- a popular place here. It was yummy and probably the best part of the night.

Saturday (토요일) was a weird day. For starters; it is my 200th day on the mission- crazy right? Also, since the normal schedule was a little out of order, today we were supposed to have our weekly planning. Instead of planning in the morning, we decided to end our day with the allotted 3 hour block. Before we did, we attempted to visit three less-active members. With our luck, only one was home to let us in. We spent about 2.5 hours at her house. She is very old and not able to make it out to church due to her physical state. She has 5 children (4 daughters and 1 son) whom all live near by but unfortunately only one visits on a regular basis. During our visit today, one daughter happened to stop by with her son. She comes over daily to check up on her mother and clean things up. She is very sweet. Her son happened to be the same age as me and was completely fluent in English. His grandmother commanded him to practice speaking to me haha. It blew me away hearing him speak- he has perfect pronunciation and absolutely no accent. It was fun to have a normal conversation for once. After we talked for a while, it was time for him and his mother to leave. When they did we asked this grandmother if we could practice teaching her the first lesson. She accepted, so we proceeded. I tried really hard not to use any notes but that caused most of my sentences to sound like questions. I also kept looking at my companion for reassurance that I was making sense. I'll just end by saying, it was a good idea in theory. I felt that I did well, considering the Korean I knew, but after we left I was grilling my companion to figure out what she understood. Fail. At least I'm trying right? Once we were back home we ate dinner, made cookies, and planned for the coming week. Not much else to report.

Sunday (일요일) was a good day. Since church changed to 2PM we had an appointment with our only progressing investigator! Her name translates to literally mean bible. She is 18 (Korean age) and a junior in high school. She is adorable! Today we taught her the first lesson about the restoration and it went really well. My language skills are improving little by little!! When it came time for me to teach about Joseph Smith, with zero notes I recited his account of the first vision. I was proud and she even clapped her hands while saying, "woahh!" I think she was more amazed by my Korean than what I actually said but hey, she was amazed nonetheless.

Directly after, we met at the church for our normal street boarding with members of the ward. It was okay. Next was church. The speakers spoke super fast and used huge words so I literally understood nothing- it was a bummer. After church we ate dinner as a ward- delicious. Our evening consisted of visiting less-actives again. One was home and actually let us in! She was really sweet except for the fact that she doesn't have much interest in talking to foreigners. I sat quietly while Sister Han and her had a fun conversation ha. I tried to jump in but she pretended not to understand me. Oh well. Overall it was a good day.

Well, that's a I've got for this week. Sorry if it was boring. Looking back, the only fun thing was the celebration of the Korean thanksgiving. Well, have a great week! 사랑합니다!

슬론 자매
Sister Sloan

On our way to the Korean Thanksgiving celebration.  Look alive Elders.  Haha

The mission gathered to sing the Korean National Anthem to celebrate Korean Thanksgiving.

Elder Brekwoldt from my district.  He's German, if his name didn't already give that away.

Sister Hendricks and one of President Morrise's assistants.

Elder Payne...aka the 7th best gymnast in the world.  He has special permission to continue his training in order to prepare for the upcoming olympics in Brazil.  Cool, huh?!

Suwon 20!  All the missionaries that started their mission in the Daejeon Korea Mission and are now in Seoul South Korean Mission.

Splits with Sister Yoon

9/9-15

월요일 (Monday) started like any other except for the fact that it's my greenies 12th week in the field! Happy Senior Week to 한다솜 자매님 (Sister Han)!! Just like my senior week(s) I handed over the phone and all planning responsibilities to her. She is quiet and shy so she didn't seem too thrilled but I'm sure she was... Anyway, after studying and emailing, we met up with most of the zone for a PDAY activity. This week the majority of the group wanted to walk the Suwon wall. Even though I did this once before, I was excited to do it again and maybe walk the whole thing. It was fun but there isn't much to report.

By the time 6PM rolled around, Sister Han and I were at the church waiting for an investigator to meet us. Like every Monday night, we had FHE. This week it was a single adults FHE, meeting at 이상훈B (Brother Lee's) house. It ended up only being all 6 missionaries, 이상훈B, and our investigator that goes by the name of EsTee- couldn't tell ya why. Anyway, Sister Han and I shared a spiritual thought found in John 15 about becoming a strong 'branch' or follower of Christ. Then we played games and ate chips and salsa. It was a fun way to end PDAY.

When Sister Han and I got home I was preparing for bed while she was responding to all the texts that were coming in. As I was unfolding my mattress she laughed and said, "The 영뎡 elders texted us." Since I have become friends with these elders, they started sending a 'fun fact of the day' every night. Sounds lame but I really enjoyed the useless information ha. So I said, "Cool, what did they say?" Sister Han quickly responded saying, "No, no, no" as she typically does and went on to say, " I'm going to respond and tell them to stop but I want to do it in a mean way." I laughed and asked why she wanted to be mean about it. I was ignored while she typed a long message. I later found out it said, (in Korean of course) "Thank you for the fun facts but they are not enjoyable. Trivial things should not be texted to missionaries. Only those things pertaining to missionary work should be communicated." Harsh right? My poor greenie is on a power trip but I hope it doesn't last all week- I will pray for her.

Tuesday (화요일) was a bummer. In the morning we prepared to teach two really awesome lessons but by the time the afternoon rolled around, both were cancelled. The rain wasn't coming down too hard but I've learned that Koreans use the weather as an excuse not to do anything haha. It all worked out though because my companion and I visited a less-active member and had time to redo a majority of our area book. Besides that, we spent our time doing pass-off and we practiced teaching for future lessons.

Wednesday (수요일) was mission tour! This morning we had to wake up at 5AM in order to be ready and make it to the mission home by 9AM. The subway rides were less than pleasant but we had the elders guiding us so it was much easier navigating through all the transfers and subway lines. We arrived early and helped set a few things up. Soon everyone arrived, including Elder and Sister Ringwood. Elder Ringwood is the North Asia Area Seventy. He, his wife, and youngest son currently live in Japan- pretty awesome. I have had the privilege of hearing from Elder Ringwood before in the MTC (in sacrament meeting) so I was excited to hear from him again.

First, we received training from President and Sister Morrise. They are hilarious! They mostly trained about 'Being of Good Cheer' and having a good attitude. It was really good. After lunch, we heard from Elder and Sister Ringwood. They first had us separate- the sisters were asked to go into the other room where Sister Ringwood would train us. Did you know that Sister Ringwood is the daughter of Russell M. Nelson? Pretty cool! She trained us on Christlike attributes and how we can acquire them. She seemed super nervous but it was a great training. Next, we came back together where Elder Ringwood trained us some more. His training focused on enduring "All the Remainder of Our Days." It was awesome! He taught from the scriptures most of the time and also explained the meanings of some Korean words which had a lot of significance and symbolism. It was cool. All in all, it was such a great day of training.

When it was time to leave and head home, guess what? It was time to have my first split of the transfer! I think it's funny that even though I transferred, I am still in the same zone as my trainer, Sister Yoon. She is the Sister Coordinating Leader, which means she goes on splits with every sister in the zone each transfer. Anyway, today was my turn and I was so excited to be going home!!

By the time we arrived back to 곡반정, it was time for English class. Sister Yoon is the BEST for scheduling our split for this time- she knows how much I miss my students and the ward here. She also kept it hush-hush that I was coming so I could see the reaction on everyone face when they saw that I was back. It is needless to say that everyone was so happy and surprised which of course, made me the happiest I've been since coming on my mission. ^^ The class went well and time came to say our goodbyes again. On our way out of the building, the bishop was on his way in. He too was shocked and said, "Ah! Sister Sloan! Please don't leave again!" I melted.  As I smiled and laughed I said, "I won't!" He too smiled and said, "Okay, I'll see you soon then!" as he proceeded to walk to his office. This ward is THE BEST!

To end the night, Sister Yoon and I had so much to catch up on. She told me all about the progress of the investigators here and the ward members as well. We talked about home, boyfriends, her new release date (November 18th I think!) blah blah blah- girl stuff. It was so much fun. It was so nice to be back. She kept saying over and over, "I just feel so comfortable with you, why did you have to leave?" Haha I love her!

Thursday (목요일) was another AWESOME day. I was scheduled to stay and serve with Sister Yoon until about 7PM. Our day was off to a good start when we met up with one of my favorite investigators, 서은영S (the Atheist)! She knew I was coming and insisted that she take us out for lunch. When Sister Yoon told her I was coming back for a day she said, "Yay! For me? To see me?!" Haha of course she told her about splits but also whispered that she was strategic about planning the day. We went to a restaurant called Mr. Pizza and we sat and talked for 3 hours! We talked about many many things both gospel and just life related. I find her opinions and points of view fascinating. Anyway, it was so nice to be able to catch up and talk with her again.

When we realized the time, we had to say our goodbyes and boarded our separate buses. It was really sad. The last time I said goodbye was when I called her from the subway as I was leaving to transfer. She was crying and very sad she was not able to say a deeper goodbye. I'm grateful for the chance to see and talk with her again. She made me promise it wouldn't be our last goodbye- even though it was a sad moment, I could not stop smiling. I really do love her.

As if the day couldn't get any better, it did. Our next appointment was with 김동은B and 최윤정S, the mother and son. When we arrived, I hid behind Sister Yoon as she knocked on the door. As it began to open I tried to stay hidden. They both said their normal hellos, then I stood up and said, "안녕하세요!!" 김동은B (Brother Kim's) jaw hit the floor. Over and over he kept saying, "what?! what?!" Once we were all inside I finally stopped him, grabbed him by his shoulders and asked what was wrong. He replied, "Nothing! I'm just so happy!" I laughed and said that I was too haha. The English portion was fun as usual. The following section in his book was all about school (like related vocab and questions about being honest in our school work). The final question was an assignment to write about a favorite teacher. I jokingly said he could write about me but he stopped me middle thought and said, "Yeah! And I have a lot to write!" Cute! I hope I can read it haha. He's adorable. For the lesson I just shared what I had been studying in the Book of Mormon lately. It was all about prayer which was consequently where Sister Yoon and her new companion left off. It was fun being able to teach them again. This family is so amazing! It was sad to leave but again, it was most happy because of course this isn't goodbye.

I feel like nothing can compare to how happy I was while on split, so the rest of the day is a blur. We eventually unsplit and went straight to the church to meet the elders. there they wanted to coordinate upcoming events. Like I said, nothing noteworthy.

Friday (금요일) was a good day. My companion and I decided to wake up an hour early in order to have more time to tract. We got straight to work as soon as we finished our weekly planning. We spent just over 5 hours tracting in a 동 (similar to a suburb I think) that we had never been to. I think we knocked a million doors and even spoke with a good number of people on the street but we have zero success- bummer! Also I thought it was hilarious because we somehow picked the rainiest day to be out on the street ha. We got soaked even with our umbrellas. Also there was one house (which is rare to find because either super rich or super poor people live in houses) in particular that I felt we should visit. It was apparent that this was a really poor area because all the other houses- or shacks were being leveled to probably make room for nicer apartments. Long story short we had to walk across a long stretch of what looked like rocks.. ERR! Wrong! It was mud. My shoes were already muddy so I walked on and knocked on the door. After I made it to the doorstep, I turned around to see if my companion made it. Haha she looked like she wanted to die after taking one step into the mud. I knocked and yelled "게세요?" a couple times to make sure no one was home before turning back to save my companion. We found a puddle to clean off our shoes and feet then we were back on our way. Like I said, we didn't have any success but somehow had an enjoyable day together.

Saturday (토요일) was fun. It started with us attending the Young Women's activity at bishops house. I'm not totally sure why the activity was there but we invited ourselves and got permission to bake cookies using his oven. It turned out to be a good time- I built some serious 정 (which means like a positive relationship... It makes more sense in Korean). Anyway, I got bishop and his family laughing and we left them with a bunch of delicious cookies- winner!

After that, my companion and I tried to visit a less-active member but failed... There are so many buses so we may or may not have gotten confused slash lost ha. We ran out of time so had to head to the church for the ward sports activity and BBQ. It was fun and one of our investigators even showed up! We introduced her to a few single adults similar in age so she really enjoyed herself. She even left with them to go to a 노래빵 (singing room or karaoke). So much fun! When they left, the missionaries stayed to clean up. It took the rest of the evening. Cheers to the good life haha.

Sunday (일요일) was an interesting day. First of all, one of the buildings in our stake is being remodeled so the wards that attended that building have to meet elsewhere until February. Our ward got the short end of the stick and now have to not only share our building but also give up going to church at the best time, 10AM. So today was off to a slow start as we had church that began at 2PM... Gross huh? It wasn't all bad because we received a new investigator today! We met her at her house, talked to her briefly about the first lesson, and mostly set goals for what she wants to learn about English and the gospel. It was a good lesson.

When we got home we only had an hour for lunch so we ate and I multitasked by making peanut butter cookies for a proselyting activity with the ward- scheduled for after church. After making about 100, we head out the door for church. The meetings were okay. I was excited for the last hour because my companion and I volunteered to teach the Young Women's class this week. The lesson was all about how our words effect people around us. My companion and I both practiced beforehand but it didn't go as planned. It went well, I was just never given the que to say my parts. I was a little annoyed that I literally participated 0% but oh well. Do you mind if I share my thoughts with you? Okay here it goes:

So, most of the lesson asked for examples about how our words can be harmful or hurtful. I wanted to be a little more positive. I have recently began reading the Book of Mormon again, I read something I wanted to share. The other day I read 1 Nephi chapter 2, specifically verses 9-11. A little background, there is a family, (father- Lehi, mother- Sariah, and their sons Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi) they are commanded to leave their home in Jerusalem. As they obey and find a place in the wilderness the father is speaking to his eldest sons. So the whole trip Laman and Lemuel had been complaining and wanting to go back home. I can't really blame them but anyway despite them being annoying, Lehi takes the time to compliment their faith and righteousness, in these verse. I was curious as to why Lehi chooses to compliment his eldest sons when his youngest, Sam and Nephi, traveled willingly without complaining. But this was my thought pertaining to the lesson; our words can also be encouraging to lift and motivate others. It is better said in a quote by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: "If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay as he is, but if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be." Profound right?

Anyway, when church ended the missionaries helped serve dinner to the ward with the relief society. It was delicious as usual but also made a huge mess in the kitchen. I don't mind washing dishes but seriously there has got to be a better way! After cleaning up we had our proselyting activity with the ward. No one realized that by the time we actually got started, it was too late and there were basically zero people on the street. It was bad timing but we still tried for about an hour. All the cookies I made disappeared but about 90% of them were eaten by the ward members that were helping. To end the evening we had our usual FHE with the single adults... aka only 이상훈B and the missionaries ha. 임종우E (Elder Lim) shared a thought about obedience and then we played scum. It was fun. The elders walked me and Sister Han home after, because the ward so generously gave us boxes full of food- yum!! The elders didn't believe me when I said I was more than capable of carrying the boxes but they insisted. Too nice!

Today is an not a normal PDAY for most of the missionaries in Korea. Later this week (9/18-20) is the Korean Thanksgiving called, 추석. Because it is a big holiday here we will meet at a whole mission on Thursday to celebrate, have a regular PDAY on Friday, and then proceed to have our normal Monday PDAY's. Anyway, you'll hear about it next week. For now, I hope you all have a great week! Write that quote down somewhere and try it out. Have a great week! 사랑합니다!

슬론 자매

Sister Sloan

Suwon Wall

Prepared lunch for me and my companion, but she's still sleeping.  Cheers!

Dinner.  Isn't she adorable.  Sister Han.

My friend, "The Atheist"

Surprise visit.  Don't they look excited!

Torrential downpour from the other day when we tracted for 5+ hours.

The "Letter"!

9/2-8

월요일 (Monday) was so busy! Even though it was PDAY, it was filled with missionary work. 한 자매님 (Sister Han) and I were asked to participate in a stake relief society service project at the local community center. Our task was to help serve lunch to the elderly people of the community. I enjoyed myself a lot, a lot more than I thought I would. I was able to stand in the serving assembly line with a few of the women from 곡반정 ward (the last ward I served in). After serving food for a couple of hours, almost everybody that came through the line recognized that I was a foreigner and say, "Ooo a pretty foreigner finally came to Korea!" Haha old people are so cute and funny. Some of them even practiced saying some simple English phrases like, "Hello, thank you, bye, have a nice day!" all slurred together as one sentence haha. It was hilarious.

As the line of people began to die down, there was a familiar face smiling back at me- it was Rachel (not sure of her Korean name) from English class! She said that it was a pleasant surprise to see my companion and I volunteering there. She made me promise to find her before we left so she could give us her address to visit later today. After cleaning up and getting on a few wrong buses, we finally arrived at Rachel's house. She is not a member of the church, nor an investigator, however she is a regular student at our weekly English class. We got to talking and apparently she has been attending English class for years and years (around 15+). She first started attending after her second child was born. She saw it as a good excuse to leave her kids with her mother while she had some "me time." She went on to tell us that she honestly believes English class kept her sane and saved her life. All I could think was, 'umm, maybe the church saved your life....?" I don't know just a thought haha. All in all we had an awesome conversation and build a solid foundation for a pretty awesome friendship. ^^

When we finally left it was 4PM! Goodbye PDAY! We headed to the church where the elders from our district had been waiting to play cards and board games. When we arrived they were in the middle of some lame war board game. I mostly just sat back and watched to try and soak in the free time we had left. It didn't last long because then I had a few phone calls to make to finalize plans for the week. Speaking of which, I wonder what the office thinks of our phone bill... Haha I literally call all of my leaders at least once a day. And today I spoke with my zone leaders, every companionship in the zone, the senior couple, the office, the AP's, and even President Morrise a few times each to coordinate different things. Teehee AP here I come!

The last thing scheduled for the day was a ward family home evening (FHE). Only a couple families showed up but we had fun anyway. We played a combination of jeopardy and charades. It was a blast! When the activity ended, everyone stayed to play ping pong, catch, and badminton- also a lot of fun. I am trying really hard to be better at using the Korean ping long paddle and so far, so good!

Tuesday (화요일) was pretty standard. Like usual, 한 자매님 (Sister Han) and I are still working to visit less-active members of the ward. We called over a dozen and went to a couple houses- still no success. But that was not the end of our disappointment.  All of our appointment's cancelled one just after the other for various reasons. How am I supposed to stay busy under these conditions? Haha, hijole. We were able to join the elders and a few single adults for an English flyer activity. It was fun, all we did was walk around for an about and a half handing out flyers to advertise our awesome English class. Again, little success but at least we were working and talking to people.

As a reward afterwards, 이상훈 (Brother Lee) bought everyone 팥빙수 (my favorite shaved ice dessert). After we ate, it was time to call it a night. We said our goodbyes and walked home. Not even 10 minutes after being home, I received a call from 이상훈B. He was calling to coordinate English class but it didn't take long for him to get sidetracked... Somehow he got on the topic of bettering my relationship with my companion. He recommended that I tell 한 자매님 (Sister Han) that I love her everyday. I said "no" but he went on to tell me why. He said, "Okay I'm going to say something and you're going to tell me how it makes you feel." Imagine my face looking a little something like if maybe you saw a llama with six heads.

"I love you Sister Sloan" were his next words that were followed with, "sooo, how does that make you feel?!" I didn't miss a beat before saying, "That is so inappropriate, you better not ever say that to me again haha." He then said, "Noo! Come on, I'm just trying to prove that it makes people feel happy." Again I said "no" and said I had to go. Talk about a weird situation! When I reiterated the conversation to my companion she just laughed at how awkward Brother Lee is.

Wednesday (수요일) was busy. It started with zone conference. Again, Elder Keetch put me in charge of organizing and ordering lunch. None of you will be surprised to find out that I ordered pizza- 20 boxes for 24 people. By the time it arrived, so did the zone leaders and they had mail! I received a package and two letters. I was happy to open the package and the first letter but then there was the second letter. Dun dun dun.... It was from 김천 (Sister Kim), my last companion. To bring everyone up to speed, we didn't get a long too well. We worked hard together but our personalities really clashed. While being companions she would always correct me and give me "suggestions" of how to work harder and how to be more obedient... In short I'll say that many deep breathes were taken to try and practice my least favorite attribute of patience ha.

Initially when I saw the letter I thought, 'oh, maybe she wrote something for me to include in my memory book that she didn't have a chance to sign.' Errrr! Wrong! It was a small piece of notebook paper where she took the time to write yet another thing she feels I need to improve on. My face looked a little something like... -___- by the time I finished reading. The zone leaders saw my reaction and begged me to read it out loud (since they had witnessed previous "corrections" by Sister Kim). As I read, all they could do was laugh hysterically... I won't quote the note but I will say that the things she accused me of and pointed out were very much wrong and out of line. What gives?

The second 윤현미 자매님 (Sister Yoon) walked in the door, I grabbed her to help me prepare fruit for dessert as well as to talk. She was able to calm me down and reassure me of Sister Kim's misunderstanding. I'm glad I have Sister Yoon here because without her I pretty well could have been in an annoyed mood the rest of the day. Once my attitude changed, we went on to talk about more important things and all was well.

The day that followed consisted of a lot of running around, a few appointments, and English class. Probably the only thing worth mentioning is the cute little girls that now attend the kids class Sister Han and I teach (~8-13 year olds). Three girls consistently come now and they are adorable. For some reason today they were not really into the book we were reading so instead I attempted to teach them 'head, shoulders, knees, and toes' in English. It worked pretty well because they think its really funny to mimic everything I say haha- jokes on them right? Anyway it was great. To end the evening we quickly hurried to the Subway station with the elders in order to make it to the mission home before 10:30PM.

Thursday (목요일) was temple day!! If staying in an air conditioned house with beds wasn't enough- today we were able to attend a session at the temple with a couple zones. It was amazing!! I had decided to fast in preparation for the temple and it made for a really awesome experience. I was able to feel a lot of clarity and much needed peace of mind. When the time came to leave I definitely did all I could to delay- the Seoul temple is beautiful and even though it is literally surrounded by buildings and the crazy pace of Seoul, the temple grounds are always to peaceful and I never want to leave. Eventually, we had to head home to have time to study and prep for a few meetings we had later. The rest of the day was pretty monotonous.

Friday (금요일) was a bummer day. We had weekly planning which really opened my eyes to see that Sister Han and I really had nothing to show for all the work we had put in for the week. Of course most things were out of our control but I was still disappointed. To make the day worse both appointments cancelled super last minute. We were prepped and ready to teach awesome lessons but were never given the chance. After eating dinner we just spent our evening proselyting. Even though we didn't see a whole lot of successes we were able to invite one grandmother to sit down and listen to the first lesson about the restoration and Joseph Smith. She didn't care too much but that was a pretty random tender mercy! Also, before we called it a night we were talking to this young middle school girl and invited her to take a tour of our church. She came and even played the organ for a little bit. Before she left and we said goodbye, she said, "my fathers church has eight floors but maybe I'll come back." Haha

Saturday (토요일) started earlier than normal but I felt okay skipping some study time to put some real missionary hours in. We met at the chapel just after 10AM when the young women of the ward were meeting to have their weekly activity. This week they were making lip balm! We invited our cute 14 year old investigator and she came! She had a blast too- the young women in this ward (though their numbers are few) they are amazing and so nice to everyone! I tried talking with the young women but it turned out to be ineffective so I retreated and played with the young women president's two year old son. We had a blast.

After the activity, my companion and I grabbed a quick bite to eat before leaving to visit a less-active grandmother. I don't know why she is considered less-active because she is literally too old and fragile to even try walking or even try getting on a bus to come to church. Poor lady. We taught her the 5th lesson about laws and ordinances. She really enjoyed it. She told us that she is sick and tired of her visitors only trying to engage in small talk haha. I'll be honest in saying, I was happy to hear that because I was considering asking her if she might be able to help me out by letting me practice teaching the lessons to her. Phew, she was so happy to receive such a request. After we said goodbye we head back to the church for an appointment with a potential investigator. I was excited to meet her because she was referred by the Atheist investigator I taught in my last area. When she called she asked for me personally to begin teaching her! I was flattered but when the time came for the appointment, she canceled and said, "I'll call you back in a few days." AKA that means never, but lucky me because I have her number haha she will be receiving a call from me in the near future. ^^

The day ended taking a trip with the elders to visiting a youth single adult in the hospital. He had just received surgery on his foot and when we called earlier in the day to ask if we could visit, he politely declined. Even though he didn't want visitors, I felt that all the missionaries from the ward should make a trip anyway. When we arrived he was pretty surprised. It was a sketchy hospital and it was pretty vacant so I'm sure he was happy to have some people to talk to. We stayed and talked for an hour. It felt more like a training from a district leader since be was still in the mode having come home from his mission only a few months earlier. He had a lot of really good ideas and insight for us.

Sunday (일요일) was a good day. One of our investigators showed up to church! She is 14 and super cute! We taught her a short lesson and set goals for what she wants to learn from us (both English and gospel related). After church ended the ward prepared for lunch together- every week they make a huge meal to eat after church... Every Week! I love it. Anyway, I quickly ate so that I could beat everyone to the kitchen to begin cleaning. This ward is a little more adamant that sister missionaries shouldn't help so I am trying to find a loop hole so I can still help. I worked for about 10 minutes before the men of the ward strapped on their aprons and demanded I hand over the sponge haha. Even though I semi understood them, I still plaedy the, "oh I'm sorry I have no Idea what you're saying" face haha. I found other ways to help before I was almost kicked out of the church by the relief society women haha. LET ME HELP PEOPLE! It was funny.

Here in Suwon, they are having a month long festival called "EcoMobility" where they block off a lot of streets to encourage people to use other forms of transportation like bikes. The city has A TON of bikes available all over town. The Korean culture is super trusting so I think this is the only place in the world where they could pull something off like this ha. Anyway, the heart of the festival is held in a plaza literally across a very small street from the church. Our bishop wanted to use this to our advantage so this afternoon the missionaries and a handful of members set up a table, street boards, and some free water. It was UNREAL how many people it attracted. I had just over 100 conversations alone! It's really really awesome. After doing that for a couple of hours, the missionaries head to a dinner appointment. Of course it was delicious. I cannot wait until I am back home and I can attempt to make all of this delicious food for everyone!

Welp, that was my week. I don't have much to show for the long hours my companion and I spent working this week but I am happy and exhausted. I am grateful it is PDAY and I can finally relax for a couple hours before we are back on the streets later tonight. Keep us in your prayers and hope we find some of the elect to teach. Refer a friend or two to the missionaries in your area that might be interested in the gospel- they need your help. I love you all.  You are ALL in my prayer constantly! Have a great week!

XO,
Sister Sloan

Oh, "Hi!" disgusting line of pigs heads.

Temple day

Me and Elder Kim

Me and Sister Han

Me and Sister Morrise

Suwon Wall

Happy Birthday to Me!

8/26-9/1

월요일 (Monday), happy 22nd birthday to me!! I was in such a good mood today- all smiles, all day. I was so grateful to have my birthday on a PDAY so I could hear from and talk with my close friends and family. After email, my companion and I left to meet most of the zone for another activity at the 수지 (Suji) church building. We arrived last so we walked in on a group of sweaty elders playing basketball and the sisters just watching from the sidelines. As soon as I walked in I had quite the welcome of everyone screaming "Happy Birthday!!!" It wasn't even close to being in unison but I loved it. The game was put on hold as a few companionships left the room. Apparently people didn't coordinate very well because three companionships each brought in a cake for me haha. They all had candles lit as they sang me the happy birthday song half in English and half in Korean. It was sweet of everyone!! As we all sat to dig in, a few of the elders kept repeating, "Thank you for having a birthday!" with mouths full of cake. It was pretty funny; this group of missionaries is an entertaining group.

After cake, the basketball game resumed. 윤현미 자매님 (Sister Yoon) quickly ushered me over to a box with my name on it. My first birthday present! She was so eager to have me open it that she pulled back the first flap of the box and said, "Look inside!" I smiled as I discovered two Nutella jars, a set of bedazzled hair ties, and a pile of letters. Among the letters from people in the zone, was an accordion-folded 5 foot long strand of paper with paper hands on either end. As I stretched it to see what it was, I soon discovered that it was a giant "hug" from all the elders (since elders can't hug sisters). It was adorable. I gave Sister Yoon a big hug- she is seriously the best. I love her so much!

Time flew by even after the basketball game ended. Most everyone grabbed a chair and sat in a circle and just talked. The elders are hilarious. I kept requesting that someone sing me the Taylor Swift song, "22." Unfortunately, everyone has been on their missions too long so they don't know it yet.. wah! Anyway, it was an awesome PDAY. When it was time to leave, 한 자매님 (Sister Han) and I changed back into missionary clothes and went to our dinner appointment. We arrived just as the elders from our district were walking up. The relief society president had invited us all to dinner for pizza- yum! 한 자매님 had bought a cake earlier in the morning (before emailing) and had been carrying it all day. She didn't open it with the zone... because we already had three ha. So she decided to save it for the dinner appointment. The family wasn't aware of the special occasion but they were informed quickly, don't worry. :) It was a lot of fun.

We left later than we were expecting which made us late for the FHE we were having at the church. When we finally arrived we discovered that 이상훈B (Brother Lee) and one of our investigators, ESTEE (no idea what it stands for but she prefers it over her Korean name) waiting for us. Apparently they were planning to just celebrate my birthday so they didn't get started until we arrived. I felt bad but it ended up being a lot of fun. Guess what, Brother Lee brought more cake! AND along with that, he had downloaded the Taylor Swift song and had been practicing all day haha. When it came time for the performance, it was H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S! For some reason Koreans love karaoke and Brother Lee is no exception. Despite his total lack of talent, he sang it as loud as he could haha. It was awesome. I recorded it so hopefully it can be on YouTube or Vine soon! It was the perfect end to the day. I was still all smiles even after I was in bed for the night.

It's hard to believe that I am already 22 years old... Thinking about this caused me to reflect on where I was last year for my birthday, and the birthday before that... This is my forth birthday AFTER high school. Boy, things have surely changed since then. I'm pretty grateful for all I've learned over the years. Being here in Korea is surreal but I am learning so much about myself and working hard to become the person God needs me to be.

화요일 (Tuesday) was a busy day. The morning consisted of three less-active member visits until it was time for a couple of appointments with investigators. The first appointment being with 이도경S (senior in high school who wants to become a flight attendant). Last week we taught her about the word or wisdom and really focused on not drinking black tea and alcohol- since those are things she struggles with. I am very proud to report that she kept her promise! It was cute because it was somewhat debated between her and Sister Han if the tea she liked was green or black. By the end of that lesson she prayed to close and specifically asked Heavenly Father to make the tea she loved green haha. It was cute and she told us that she would try and find the ingredient list before she drinking it again. Since she was never able to find the ingredients, she didn't drink it even though she said she saw it everywhere and it was teasing her. She's the best! This week we wanted to spend time discussing the concept of God and prayer again with her. The lesson was a little rushed and cut short because our next appointment was scheduled too close- that's my fault dang it. Anyways, it was an okay lesson.

We arrived pretty late to our next and final appointment with 김소연S. She is 27 years old and has about a year left of school before she graduates with a degree in biology. She is really smart and has literally done everything! For example, she started traveling the world when she was 20! Every year or so since then she has done a pretty elaborate backpacking trip by herself in various parts of the world- she's awesome. Anyway, since this was my first time meeting her, I wanted to spend more of the time getting to know her and seeing what she remembers from the past missionaries that have taught her. She first claimed to be Atheist and also couldn't recount much of what was taught. Dang it. I specifically asked her what she thinks of God or the concept of a higher deity. She said, "I feel like there is more evidence that there isn't a god (referring to all the evil in the world)." Than thinking about her major being science related- I asked if she had ever looked for any evidence. She responded, "Do I have to?" Uhh, yeah!! Haha it was a puzzling moment for me but I continued asking questions. Soon it was time to leave and I told her that the best way to learn would be to set a goal of what she wants to accomplish from learning from us. She didn't know of anything yet so I will follow up when we meet next week. I'm excited to teach her because we are basically starting from scratch- should be an interesting experience for all involved.

수요일 (Wednesday) was an okay day. We started with our first district meeting since transfers occurred. Not only did I join the mix but the ward received an additional set of elders! That's a total of 6 missionaries as opposed to 4. For lunch we normally go out to a restaurant but today was different because we were asked to attend a funeral of a family member in the ward. It was interesting attending my first Korean funeral. When we arrived we were taken to a mantel covered in pictures of the man that passed- we paid our respects by taking turns laying a flower in the center of all the pictures. Then we stood there for a solid two minutes. After about 30 seconds of just standing and starring at the pictures I started to feel pretty awkward... All the Americans were looking around like, 'what do we do next?' Haha bless our hearts. We were eventual escorted to a table of food where we ate lunch together. We didn't stay very long because our meeting was scheduled to start soon.

Once we were back at the chapel and the meeting started I started missing 곡반정 a lot... I miss my old district and the leaders there because for some reason this was the most unproductive meeting yet. Oh well, I guess I just have some elders to whip into shape. ^^ After the meeting we left together to sign up at the local civic center to be service volunteers. It took forever but we had time to kill before our next appointment.

On our way to the appointment it was cancelled. Bleh! Instead we got ahold of 이상훈B (Brother Lee) to determine what kind of book we should buy for the new class Sister Han and I would teach at English class. We met him at a near buy book store and made a decision pretty quickly. The rest of the time he was lecturing us about not wasting our time as missionaries haha. Hijole! He is a really awesome guy and is still so involved in missionary work- I admire him but that lecture was annoying ha.

English class was good. The new class Sister Han and I are teaching is for kids 8-13. We bought a simple story book to begin reading with them. Even though it was simple, it was too difficult for the three little girls that came. After reading the first page, we worked on phonics and the alphabet. They all know the song however they had trouble identifying the individual letters- hmm I'll have to be more creative with games to help them learn. Overall though it went well. I'm excited to help these girls and hopefully more students that will come in the future.

목요일 (Thursday) was a slow morning. We had a few errands to run so we decided we would proselyte on our way. Turns out it was pouring rain- we still did everything we needed but we didn't run into a single person to talk to. Eventually we began to make our way toward the members house who had just became the new Young Women's president. We hung out with her (이은해S), her son, 강인경S and her daughter who were over for a play date. We shared our testimonies of becoming strengthened through The Lord and offered our time and services to help them better magnify their callings- hopefully this means we can teach the Young Women one Sunday!

Last on our list of things for the day was of course, dinner! 이영구B invited the missionaries to come by his restaurant tonight. In the past, when we are invited to members restaurants they are indoor... sounds pretty standard right haha? Well apparently everyone forgot to mention his restaurant was more like a stand on the side of a road. It was good but I was just caught off guard. He served us a lot of fried who-knows-what and giant 만두 (similar to dumplings). I felt gross after but it's impolite to leave anything left over... even though the elders did most of the work, I still had to do my part. Bleh! It was very generous though so I am grateful!

Once home, we completed our daily planning then as I was preparing for bed the phone would not stop ringing. Six different missionaries were calling to request me to make them a workout plan... I'm not sure who people think I am and how much free time they think I have. You know how gossip works? Well let me tell you, somehow the simple fact that I like CrossFit evolved into the idea that I'm in fantastic shape and a certified trainer where I trained athletes in an elite gym haha. Bless everyone's heart, I was flattered but honestly, I am in no position to give anything but personal opinions and suggestions. BUT seriously it was mostly annoying because I was given a laundry list of things that people want and some even said they would be expecting a plan in a week... Rude. Ain't nobody got time for that!

금요일 (Friday) was a pretty lax day. After studying and planning out our week, 한 자매님 (Sister Han) and I heard a knock at our door- it was a 택배 (home delivery) for our new map!! You know the feeling you get when you hold the newest iPhone in your hand and you get to explore and look through everything? Well a sneak peak into missionary life- that's what it's like when you get a brand new map for the area you are in. Seriously though its an awesome map. Anyway, we wasted no time hanging it up on our wall.

After leaving the house for the day, we had planned to spend a majority of our time proselyting before our appointment at 7PM. Seeing as it was Friday afternoon, we didn't have a ton of success but we were able to hand out a lot of English flyers to students. Once at our appointment, we quickly got down to business. And by that I mean we had a game or two prepared and it was a lot of fun. This was an appointment with a mother and two daughters (김승지S-11 and 김승현S- 9). The mother doesn't technically join our lessons but she sits near by and makes comments throughout the whole lesson- so we know she's listening. After the English games, it was time to teach about prayer. These two little girls are so smart! They already pray really well but today we wanted to explain why and how we pray to receive comfort, guidance, or help from our Father in Heaven. It went really well.

When I first entered the mission field, I had a tough time adjusting to the hard work we put in every single day of the week. Weekends don't exist for missionaries and it was difficult seeing the whole world carry on like normal without me. But tonight, I didn't feel like that at all. On our walk home, 한다솜 자매님 (Sister Han) and I were able to enjoy each others company and just talk. Typically Sister Han doesn't have much to say but tonight I felt like she really started opening up to me. I would say it was a pretty good way to spend my Friday night.

토요일 (Saturday) seemed to start earlier than normal- even though it didn't. It was hard to get up and ready for the day. It was a strange morning because instead of studying until lunch time, we had an appointment first thing with 이도경S (high school senior). Today we focused mostly on the feelings of the spirit. I tried to explain the idea of God to her but mostly failed. The only thing I could do to save myself was to testify- hopefully I didn't sound as retarded as I remember. As we ended I asked to her sincerely pray to know what kind of goal she wants to set. Hopefully next week she'll have something for us to begin working towards!

We came back home for lunch and studies then quickly left again to visit a few less-active members and an investigator. The evening ended with a 식사 (pronounced sheek sah- meal appointment) with the elders at the home of 돈경화S. She was so generous with the amount of food she gave us! Her whole family was a lot of fun to talk to and spend time with. Time apparently flew by because we stayed for 2.5 hours! Whoops haha. When we finally left we had to go straight home. Even though we missed out on some prime proselyting time, I was grateful to be able to lay down soon after such a big meal- it is needless to say I wasted no time falling asleep. PS, happy birthday to my older brother and sister!! How does it feel to be 23!!?

일요일 (Sunday) started off as an awesome day. Since it was the first Sunday of the month, it was fast and testimony meeting. I was happy to fast and pretty excited to bear my testimony in sacrament. When it came time for testimonies in the meeting, I wasted no time getting up to the stand. I took my Korean Book of Mormon, my faith, and no notes. I shared the scripture 2 Nephi 28:32 which says "...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." I bore my testimony that I knew this was a promise to us because I know God loves us. It was short but I was proud of myself for being able to do that. After the meeting a lot of people said they enjoyed what I said. But  in actuality everyone lied to me because I later found out that I didn't make a whole lot of sense... This is where the day took a turn for the worst. I had really thought that I was getting better at speaking Korean. I was happy with the courage I had to speak with people. But today my confidence was shot and I felt like throwing in the towel. On top of the mood I was in, the bishop of the ward had apparently announced that the missionaries volunteered to plan a number of activities for the coming week- all I could think was, 'Wow, thanks for asking if we had time or were even available.' Ugh, I tried to suck it up but when Sister Han and I went home to complete our studies, all I could do was cry.

I locked myself in the other room and just pleaded with my Father in Heaven for something... anything to comfort me. Nothing came immediately because then the phone buzzed. It was Elder Benson (the district leader) asking if I would give the spiritual thought at the dinner appointment the missionaries had in a few hours. I said yes and started preparing. Instead of feeling comforted, I was humbled yet again. I took a deep breath as I sighed and said, "Sister Han... I need your help." We planned the thought together and headed out the door.

The dinner was delicious as usual and also a lot of fun. This family has two sons that are extremely talented. One has paintings hung all around the house that are unreal and the other came out with his guitar to play us a few songs. It was pretty cool. When it came time for the thought- don't hold your breath because it was awful. I said exactly what I had practiced but somehow I was yet again misunderstood. Why? Why is this so hard? I felt like I had been working even harder at studying and I was literally getting worse... My companion re-said everything that I tried to say and then we left their house with a word of prayer. I was annoyed and told the elders that I was getting on a bus to the airport haha. It's probably a good thing I don't know how to get there because I very well could have been on my way home by the time the night ended. So instead of the airport I just went back home with my companion. We were pretty quiet the rest of the night. Just before it was time to turn off the lights for bed, the phone rang. It was 이상훈B (the single adult that is always with the missionaries) from the ward. He was calling to make sure I was okay and to offer some words of consolation. That was literally an answer to the prayer I offered earlier. Typically on days like this I miss talking to my parents and getting reassurance from them but since I can't call them, this was the next best thing The Lord could do for me. I am so grateful for everything The Lord does for me. To so say the least, the day ended the same way it started.

Reflecting on that phone call I received last night really made me excited to be an effective instrument in the Lords hand. Maybe Brother Lee doesn't know how meaningful that phone call was but The Lord did- I always want to be worthy of His guidance to help those around me that need help even if I'm not aware. Anyway, today is PDAY again and I'm getting this email off late- sorry. It was a busy day but you'll hear all about it next week. I love you all! Have a great week ^^

사랑합니다!
슬론 자매  

Preparing my own Kimchee