Less Active - Papa's coming!

10/7-13
Monday was a fun day. All of the elders from surrounding zones rented a super nice soccer field to play on for the day. Initially, the sisters weren't invited until I received a call from Elder 김재겸. He invited me to join them on one condition, if I brought my nice Nikon camera. I started laughing and said, "Oh! I see! I'm not invited to play, but instead to take pictures of the games- bless your heart I see right through you." :P He laughed nervously as I hear the zone leaders yell from the background, "Come on Sloan, go easy on him." As soon as I heard their voices and smirks, I knew who put poor Elder Kim up to it. Despite the loaded request, I committed to come. It ended up being a blast taking pictures of the game. Koreans are so quick and good at soccer! It was very entertaining.

When the day was coming to a close, Sister Han and I paired up with Sister Yoon and Goodnough to eat dinner together. We decided on chicken and took it to a nearby park to eat. We had some strange people around that ended up that stealing half of the chicken we bought but overall I was grateful to spend time with Sister Yoon. I am really going to miss her when she goes home. She is an awesome example to me! After dinner was an uneventful FHE with the not-so-young YSA. It was fun but my favorite part was the ice cream at the end. ^^

Tuesday was a day dedicated to visiting less-actives. Most of our success resulted from confirming that we have very few valid addresses. It was quite disappointed which matched well with the rainy weather we were given to walk in. By the end of the day, I was happy to sit down and teach a lesson to Estee. She had just come from having a fight with her parents so the spirit was most definitely not present. It was a so-so lesson. Before she got back on the bus I asked if she would like to drink some hot chocolate with us before she left. We found a nearby cafe as I convinced her of the healing power of chocolate. It was nice being in a cafe just socializing- it made me really miss home. It reminded me a lot of the many Starbucks runs I would make with Chaya and Chelsea back in high school. Anyway, it was a nice way to end a gloomy day.

Wednesday consisted of more less-active... address confirmation. Nothing to report. English class was pretty good when it came time to start. It was my turn to conduct the meeting so I really tried to be energetic. I thought I was doing a good job until I recognized the confusion on most peoples faces. We always conduct English class, in English so what was I doing wrong? My companion was gracious enough to save me and translate what I had tried to convey. Once everyone was on the same page, I dismissed them to their classes. Our class was great! We had four new students!! I am constantly amazed at how much these little kids already know. They are far smarter than me, that's for sure haha. When class ended I took some time to talk with an inactive member that is a loyal English class attendee. Her English name is Julie. She is so kind but feels so lonely coming to church on her own since her and her only son is a member (and that son is away completing his required two-year military time). I let her go on and on about her family and work. I can understand her better than most people but I was mostly grateful that she wasn't looking to have a conversation but instead just someone to talk to. It feels good knowing that I still can help people here even though I don't speak this language very well.

Thursday was busy! It was another zone training meeting where the zone leaders asked me to prepare the lunch again. Earlier in the week Sister Han and I coordinated the food with a man in our ward who owns a little restaurant. I told him I had X amount of money and would leave it up to him what he cooked and gave us. He met us at the church this morning with A BUNCH of food. I'm pretty sure he went beyond what I paid him but I know the missionaries were grateful.

The training went well. Elders Keetch and Chow are polar opposites but their training is always fantastic. We focused on Chapter 11 from PMG- we invite, we commit, we follow up. It was great and I have a lot of new ideas of how to better commit people to read and pray as well as follow up with them. I had the privilege of sitting next to the senior couple in our zone, the Ridings. They had just returned from America escorting a blind member of their ward, home to his daughter in Kansas. It was on the news, you should look it up- I think the title goes, after 40 years a father and daughter were reunited...idk something like that (THIS IS PAPA SLOAN, I FOUND THE LINK.  HERE IT IS.
http://fox4kc.com/2013/10/02/father-and-daughter-reunited-after-more-than-40-years-apart/
Anyway they told me all about their experience, they are cool people.

Speaking of cool people, Mom! You're the best! After zone training they handed out all the mail that was delivered to the mission home. I know I told you that I was planning to share the candy with the kids of the ward... BBBuuuttt Halloween is a ways away so we'll see how much is ACTUALLY left when it comes time to share ;) Also, that cute faith sign is proudly hung above my desk. Love you momma!

Friday was a mundane weekly planning session which was followed by some boring errands. A couple times I was reminded that it was Friday by all the couples and people dressed up to enjoy their weekend. Everyone reading this, never take a weekend or day off for granted again! Thankfully Sister Han and I ended our day with a delicious dinner appointment at Julie's house (the woman mentioned from Wednesdays English class). She was home alone and whipped up a delicious Korean-styled spaghetti. It was really good. My poor companion was about to throw up by the amount of food Julie was expecting us to eat, so I took one for the team and cleared her plate for her. I deserve some serious blessings for that because that was hard to do but it was worth making Julie happy.

Before we left I decided to take lead in the spiritual thought. Even though she is inactive I was curious about her conversion story. I asked and then processed to ask what changes she had to make in her life once she made the decision to be baptized. After a fascinating story, I brought it all back to the atonement and how anything is possible through the grace and mercy of God and His son, Jesus Christ. I felt prompted to share a very personal experience of how the atonement was able to change me and my perspective. I was feeling the spirit pretty strong and I hope she was too. That isn't an easy story for me to tell so I pray that it or the principle of the atonement will resonate with her.

Saturday was an exciting morning. We had an appointment earlier than usual with our new investigator as of last week. We taught her the first lesson in her home with her six year old daughter. It went pretty well! I tried to memorize more vocabulary so I could teach more while looking into her eyes and guess what? I was blessed! I remembered more than just the vocab but also the grammar forms I have been working on! Booyah! Blessings are the best! By the end of the lesson we asked if she would being to set a baptismal date, hello November 24th!! Here we come!! She is so humble and willing to learn! I am excited to teach her next week too!

After our appointment, we met the other missionaries at the chapel to watch the recorded sessions of the Saturday sessions of General Conference. My notes are FILLED with new ideas for missionary work. One story in particular that I really enjoyed was by Timothy J. Dyches from the Quorum of the Seventy. The story he relayed about forgiveness was profound to me. I learned that even if you cannot find it in yourself to forgive someone, you can ask The Lord for His forgiveness which is given freely. I found it profound because you can apply that to yourself. For me, ever since I shared that personal experience at Julie's house, I haven't been able to shake the thought of how retard I once was. This talk helped me change my perspective. I am again reminded that we don't have to do anything alone, God will ALWAYS be there to help us because he loves us.

Sunday was another day filled with General Conference talks and inspiration. Where do I begin?! I loved so many talks and stories conveyed! I'll choose just one thought from Adrián Ochoa of the Quorum of the Seventy. I'm sure the title will be called "Look Up" when it is publish online if anyone wants to read it. The personal story about getting caught in a storm and having to find a place to stay for the night was pretty cool. I can imagine how terrified his family must have been when he and his friends did not return home after being sent to retrieve some groceries. I especially enjoyed the ending thought about the reaction he received from his grandmother and family. They had been looking for them all night and he described the relief and love that he saw in each of their faces when they saw that the boys were safe. I really loved this because even though he was just returning home to be with his family, it reminded me of missionary work. I look forward to that same relief and love that I will experience when I help some of my investigators progress and come to better know their Father in Heaven.

When conference came to a close we had a series of meetings which I conducted. I wonder when I am just going to be called as zone leader because I am pretty sure I do more than half of their jobs anyway hehe. After meetings, Sister Han and I went home for dinner. We kept it short so that we could have more time to attempt to visit less-active again. Sad to report all three houses are now offices... Fail. Maybe next week we I'll have some better success.

Today is now Monday, I'll give everyone a little sneak peak into what they can read next Monday... MY DADDY IS IN KOREA AS I TYPE THIS!! My mission president, President Morrise has granted me permission to meet him for lunch!! I AM SO EXCITED!! Well, I better to before I break this keyboard with how fast and hard I am typing hehe. I had a great week and I hope all of you had a change to watch conference; if you didn't you better catch yourself up. I love you all and miss you. I hope everyone has a great week!! ^^ 사랑합니다!

슬론 자매
Sister Sloan