11/18-24
Monday was a fun PDAY. While the soccer game was in full swing, guess what happened..... It starts snowing!!! Most people told me that it wouldn't start snowing until January! Noooo! Most people were jumping with excitement but I was a little less than pleased haha. The snow didn't last long or stick to the ground but it definitely made our walk to dinner a tad colder. Our district plus some stray companionships crammed into a restaurant called Pizza School and enjoyed some warm pizza. When we finished eating we needed to head to the church for YSA FHE. I made a game to help kids learn the commandments... I was out of ideas for the YSA so we played this game haha. We made it interesting though with a penalty for the loser... They had to buy hot chocolate for everyone. Elder Jung lost and he was so bitter that it would cost him a little over $20 so I took pity on him and paid for myself and Sister Hammerl haha. It was a fun night, although it felts the opposite of productive.
Tuesday was my last full day serving with Sister Hammerl. It was pretty standard with less-active visits and having conversations with people on the streets. Standard except an experience we had as Sister Hammerl and I were waiting at our bus stop. There was a group of old men who were on their way to lunch. Of course we said hello and they freaked out about how well we spoke Korean.. all we said was hello haha. Anyway, they were pelting my companion with questions while I was trying to find which bus to take. I felt bad leaving her to fend for herself but she did really well and enjoyed the conversation haha. After they left, a crazy man, who I think was drunk, came over and asked us where we were from. He seemed to be in a hurry and kept walking while he spoke to us. It was strange to begin with but then he stopped in his tracks and asked why we weren't walking with him. He said hurry up and pointed to a yogurt stand as if he wanted us to go with him. I was only about 10 meters away, so we looked at each other and began walking ha. He kept asking the same question that I literally could not understand so I just kept agreeing with him until we gave up and bought us yogurts. Once we received the yogurts, he told us to go back to the bus stop and have a nice day- so we did haha. Strange but funny.
Soon it was time for English class! I love my class so much, the kids are adorable and brilliant. I'm sure I say that a lot but it's true every time. Today we reviewed the story that we read about the Three Billy Goats and then played games. It was a small crowd today but still it was great. On the way home someone had just taken out their trash and they threw away a perfectly good table. There were several people around so I had too much shame to pick it up but Sister Hammerl said that we couldn't leave that blessing behind haha. We picked it up and carried it home- score!
Wednesday was district meeting. Previously, Sister Hammerl had wanted to make me Phad Thai but we never found the time so literally her last opportunity was lunch before the meeting. She kindly, or should I say naïvely volunteered to make and serve lunch to everyone. Bless her heart for having good intentions, but it took her forever and everyone was getting restless for food. When everything was finished and served, it wasn't even close to being enough but everyone had to keep their complaints to themselves because my companion was so proud of herself- she is so cute.
The meeting was okay. I have to admit that I was a little antsy, because right after the meeting I was scheduled to meet my new trainee!! I was excited but also dreading having to lug the biggest suitcases I have ever carried almost two hours away by subway- not fun. It was hard but when we arrived I met my new companion, Sister Tovar right away. She seemed less than pleased with me as I walked in and greeted most of the missionaries in maybe a loud and sarcastic way... Her half-hearted hug said it all haha. Soon we grabbed her things and were on our way home. It was fun feeling like I finally knew something about what I was doing. Lately I have been having trouble recognizing how far I have come since arriving but just guiding Sister Tovar home and answering all of her question made me realize I know a lot more than I thought. It was a fun night introducing her to the area and letting her get settled.
A little bio on my greenie- she is from Nevada but is currently living in Utah. Her parents are from Mexico, she is 5-foot nothing, 23, Utah State graduate in psychology, and more talkative than anyone else I have ever met. She also is not afraid or embarrassed to do anything... So far we get along but I also foresee pros and cons to our vastly different personalities. 재미겠다! It will be fun!
Thursday was my greenies first day and we wasted no time getting straight to work. When the alarm went off in the morning my poor training struggled to get out of bed and ready for our morning CrossFit routine. I'm determined to help her become spiritually strong as well as physically... hehe. Our morning studies and training went well. It was weird having to explain every aspect of missionary work/ missionary life because I realized how much advising I went through and how much my greenie will have to embrace. When it was time to hit the streets, we set out to visit some less actives and a former investigator. No luck, but we were able to start talking to people. Sister Tovar we has no fear talking to people. I mean I'm proud of her but it's also stressful because I have to keep track of her and try to translate her broken Korean into proper Korean for the person she is talking to. I have a lot of teaching to do in the next few months...
Luckily time came for English class and I was so excited to greet my students. Sister Tovar and I prepared some comprehension activities to help liven up the class. Originally we had been expecting out normal 5-7 student range BUT instead 15 showed up!! What the?! It was awesome!! There were three new mothers who were referred by our current students and they brought their kids. It was a little difficult getting all of the new students up to speed on the book, but by the end they were all involved and having fun. Seriously my greenie was spoiled for this being her first class, I hope next week doesn't disappoint!
Friday was a really hard day. When we left the house we were still waiting for our appointment to confirm that we were meeting at his grandmothers house for a lesson. I figured that it would all workout if 홍성봉B didn't show up because instead we could just leave his grandmother, 박순애S with a spiritual thought. When we showed up the grandmother was pretty frustrated about us coming and her nephew not being there. She went straight to her phone to call and ask where he was. When she got off she tried to reiterate what she just learned but I wasn't understanding. I quickly called him and found out that he didn't want to come today. We rescheduled and hung up. I told the grandmother and she was annoyed. She went on to ask some questions but I wasn't able to understand her. She then became furious and started yelling at me. I have never seen or so much anger in my life. Even though this woman is old and can't move very fast, I was literally scared that she was going to hit me. Ironically I wasn't able to understand her calm questions but as soon as she began yelling, I started to understand. She said the following, "Why can't you speak Korean yet?! How are you supposed to teach my nephew if you can't say anything?! How are you supposed to teach anyone?! Why are you here?! I forbid you from ever coming into my house ever again!!" Things like that. As she continued to yell, her eyes began to water and spit began to spew from her mouth as her yelling increased in volume and intensity. I stood and told her I was sorry and that we had to leave. She yelled at me until the door closed behind us. I was close to crying the whole way home. I really thought I was improving and I really have come to love that grandmother but now I am too embarrassed to ever show my face there.. Not that she would let me in again. As we rode the bus home, I had a feeling to get off the bus and try visiting a former investigator. When we got off, Sister Tovar didn't follow me but instead insisted that I walk into a nearby bakery. She sweetly asked me to grab a treat because she knew it had been a hard day (mind you it was only 11AM...) so far. No success came from our visit so we began walking home for lunch.
On the walk to our house, we were maybe two blocks away when we saw a group of people starring at us. Of course that is super common with a Mexican and American foreigner walking around together. We both bowed and said hello as we were walking past but as we did they stopped us and began asking a bunch of questions. They were super impressed with our Korean so they asked us to join a little marketing meeting that was taking place just inside from where they were standing. I said no thank but then I found myself being pushed and dragged into the marketing scam haha. It was really strange because they had me and my companion sit front row and as we did a bunch of people started taking pictures of us. I didn't know what to do so I reflected back on something that President Morrise encourages us to do, which was to help as many people as we could walk away from an exchange with us with positive thoughts and feelings. I figured walking out of the meeting would be rude so I thought we would wait it out. It only took about 20 minutes and then a fairly big lunch was served. It was delicious and I was even given an opportunity to talk about out church to over 14 people. Still I was slow in speaking but they understood. It was a huge confidence boost after having been torn apart by an 80+ year old woman.
When we finally arrived home we made time to do our weekly planning. When we finished, we ate dinner then hit the streets for the night. Nothing noteworthy happened except for receiving a huge hug from a random drunk lady on the street. Maybe it was an awkward hug but after it happened I was pretty grateful for that tender mercy from Heavenly Father. It may sound like a stretch but today was rough. I was really wanting to throw in the towel so I could go home and be comforted by people who actually love and care for me. My companion was too new to feel comfortable hugging me and I wasn't about to ask for a hug from anyone. Instead, Heavenly Father sends me this crazy drunk lady who hugged me as tight as she could and told me I was the best haha. It really was an awesome end to a crappy day.
Saturday was an annoying day. Have you ever had to read, understand, and speak Korean? If your answer is no, then my follow up question is if you had to would you been successful? ME NEITHER! Today I learned the word for misunderstanding because I had to apologize at least... 5,000 times for messing things up. I swear we haven't has a formal appointment in forever because I have become really good at misunderstanding and having to cancel and/or reschedule appointments. I'll spare you the details of what was supposed to happen and just say what actually took place. Our investigator, 신숙희S and her six year-old daughter showed up to the YSA American thanksgiving party that I understood was a ward party. Eventually relief society began showing up to greet her but for the first hour it was pretty awkward with all the singles.
Next, an appointment fell through. Sister Tovar and I went home to make up some of the study time we missed in the morning. When we were about done, Elder Gamble and Jung called. They invited us to a dinner appointment with a member from Elder Gamble's greenie area. We didn't have plans so we accepted. This man traveled over an hour by subway to arrive and see Elder Gamble! To make the visit more convenient, we had dinner together at Suwon Station. Brother Hoon is very old, funny, and a little crazy. His wife divorced him years ago and at dinner he began complaining that he just wanted to go to a singing room (karaoke is pretty popular here) with a pretty girl. That is when he would look at me and wink... I know this man doesn't have bad intentions but it was weird ha. What made it weirder was when he was going on and on about my "pretty hair" and would tuck some of my hair behind my ears. The elders about passed out because they didn't know what to do haha. As soon as Brother Hoon realized that probably wants the best thing to do to a sister missionary, he shrunk in his chair and said as if talking to the ground, "I'm just an old Asian man who is lonely." No one knew what to say until he looked back up and started laughing hysterically and said, "Got cha!" It was a strange dinner but definitely entertaining with Brother Hoon as well as Sister Tovar trying to get the handle on chopsticks and spicy food ha. All in all it was an interesting day.
Sunday came and it was raining like crazy!! First was an appointment with Bible... 심성경S (Sister Shim). She had read what she promised so the appointment consisted of small talk and reading the Book of Mormon. It was boring and took forever as we all took turns reading a verse. She quickly realized that her reading assignments would be much easier in the future if she just read quickly on her own instead of waiting for us ha. When we left we went home for a quick lunch before church began. Church was awesome! After the sacrament was passed I was surprised to see all of the primary walk up to the stage, it was a primary program! Since the primary is a little small, each child would read a part then have a solo. Maybe it was painful for these kids to sing by themselves but it was uhh-dorable! Some songs were sung all together and those were the most beautiful. These kids are so precious. I really love them.
When sacrament was over, Sister Tovar and I attended Sunday school for a little until it was time to set up the cultural hall for dinner together. We worked with a member to set up the chairs, tables and all the food. It was a decent meal. After we helped clean and had our missionary coordinating meeting. Our new ward missions leader, 이재현B (Brother Lee) is AWESOME!!! He cares so much about us and our investigators! This is going to be a good couple of transfers. When it ended, we walked with the elders home and Me and my companion went home to hand out a little gift we had baked for our neighbors. It was perfect, because the rain was coming down harder than ever and we still wanted to reach our goal of talking to some more people. Only a few of our neighbors came to the door to greet us and the other yelled through the door that they were busy ha. Hopefully they enjoy their bag of treats as well as the message card that I attached- it had Mark 12:30-31 on one side and on the other is said, "...so, we love you! If you need anything we are in APT 303! Love, the Sister missionaries!" I thought it was funny- hopefully they will too ha.
As the rain continued, we had about 20 minutes left of the day. I thought I could get a few more conversations over the phone but after five minutes of calling everyone I could think of, no one was picking up. I shrugged and told Sister Tovar that we needed to finish our week strong- so we needed to hit the streets hard for the last 15 minutes of the day. She whinnied and said no one was outside, as if that wasn't common knowledge considering the rain. She eventually agreed when I told her that we are blessed when we sacrifice. We were only able to talk to about three people, but it was worth it!! I felt good about working hard until the end which will hopefully be a trend with Sister Tovar throughout her training.
Today is Monday and it is still rainy. We have left the house early in order to receive Sister Tovar's foreigner card. I am hoping to have a relaxing PDAY inside and maybe enjoy a nap... Exciting life of a missionary ha. I hope all is well back home. I love you all!! Have a great week!
슬론자매
Monday, November 25, 2013
Letter from Sister Morrise (Mission President's Wife)
Brother and Sister Sloan,
I hope you and your family are well. I took a picture of Sister Sloan with her new companion, Sister Tovar, a few hours ago and I thought you might like to see it.
I also wanted to tell you how much we love your beautiful daughter. Sister Sloan is a wonderful missionary. She works so diligently and is a natural leader. The missionaries respect and love her. She has been asked to do hard things--like having to wait a week for her new companion to arrive, and traveling long distances to pick her up (twice)-- and she never complains. We feel so blessed to have her in our mission. Thanks for sharing her with us for a little while.
May the Lord bless you and your family.
Love, Sister Susan Morrise
Moving Apartments & Mihwa!
Mnday was strange. It was PDAY and most missionaries had to buy some appropriate clothing for the fast approaching winter. Our district met for lunch and shopping. I mostly wandered as everyone took forever! I eventually bought some awesome wool leggings to wear under my skirts. Maybe it sounds dramatic, but they are the coolest things. Even though everyone was taking forever, soon hunger got the best of us. Because half the missionaries were going to a meal appointment later, we didn't eat together; instead we left to be back in our respective proselyting areas. After 6PM Sister Hammerl and I hit the streets hard and talked to so many people! I am getting a lot better at having more natural conversations. After exceeding our goal of conversations, we head to our appointment. It was a YSA FHE/dinner with the missionaries, 이상훈B, and 정태호B. It wasn't as productive as I would have liked but it was a good time.
Tuesday felt lazy for the most part. This week we are moving houses and today was the day we received we the new keys... or should I say the codes for the new apartment. It is only two years old so it is pretty high tech. The only downfalls are the fact that it is a little smaller and about 20 more minutes away from the church. Regardless, I am grateful.
Once Sister Hammerl and I met the landlord and his wife, we struggled to understand all of the information that they were trying to convey. Eventually we found that charades was the best form of communication haha. We all looked retarded, but now we understand the water heater, filtered water system, complicated code to enter the apartment building, as well as many other things. I'm so grateful for all the time they took with us to help us understand. After that ordeal they invited us into their apartment on the floor above us. The wife served us some sweet potatoes and tomato juice- so kind. After chatting with them, we head back down to our new apartment to clean before move-in day. It took forever but it was worth it in the end. When we finished, we hit the streets to talk to some more people, buy a new English book for English class, and then we ate dinner before heading to class.
This week is the first week that our English class has moved from just Wednesday to both Tuesday and Thursday. I'm not completely convinced that this is an effective use of our precious missionary time but for now we are trying it out. Class went well! We used the new book and played games to help consolidate what they had just learned. We even received a new student that wouldn't leave my side- she kept saying how nice I was and how much fun class was. Booyah! It ended up being a good night.
Wednesday was fun! Before district meeting we all decided to do a potluck for lunch. I brought a bunch of 김 (seaweed) and sweetened radish in order to make 김밥 (Korean style sushi). It was fun to make the food and even better once it was time to eat. The training was boring. Elder Breckwoldt is a great missionary but I think he forgets about his weekly training every week. His lack of preparation is really distracting but anyway, it was fine. After, Sister Hammerl and I confirmed several wrong addresses of some less-active members. It was sad but at least it was productive. Since the potluck was so big, we skipped dinner and them spent our night passing out English flyers with the other missionaries.
Just before we were going to end, I received a call from someone waiting at the church for English class. Since this is the first week that we changed the class times and dates, we hurried to greet her and correct the misunderstanding. It turns out that she is literally CRAZY! I tried to explain things but she would repetitively interrupt and ask me, "Wait, is this South Korea?" First red flag. Next she began speaking English but mixing up the order of words to match the Korean sentence structure. It was strange. We tried to get her on her way but it took about 40ish minutes to figure out where she needed to go and see her off in the right direction. It was so strange! Anyway, besides that crazy lady my night ended in a high when I saw a package for me from my mommy!! I made a mistake of opening it in front of people because most of the candy included is now gone haha... just kidding, sharing is fun... and stuff. But seriously, my mother included a scarf that I think literally saved me on our 20 minute walk home. Thanks mom!!
Thursday, moving day! The morning went by quickly as I packed and cleaned everything in the apartment. When I was done, it was about time for the office elders as well as the elders from the district to come help move us. Since all the food in the house was gone, we quickly ran to eat lunch and then made it make just in time for us to load the mission van. The whole day was quite an ordeal. The streets around here are pretty tight which makes it hard to squeeze a van through. It is needless to say that two hours later, about a 1,000,000 point-turn, and 5 Korean men helping later, the van fit through and made it to the front of our apartment. EVENTUALLY, the house was moved and unpacked. When it all finished it was 6:30PM... We all had 30 minutes to get to English class. It was stressful but ended up being alright. We even received another new student At the end Sister Hammel and I shared the spiritual message. It went well.
On our way home, we were STARVING! I forgot that he hadn't had dinner, again! I hope Sister Hammerl doesn't think that I am anorexic or something because since we have been together we literally have skipped at least one meal everyday- whoops! Anyway, we desperately wandered and finally found the only restaurant that was open. We ordered food then literally had to run home in order not to be late haha. It's good that we ate in privacy because I think we looked like starving cavemen that hadn't seen food in months haha- very becoming I know.
Friday was a failed day. The 신갈 elders in the district were also moving and they specifically asked for mine and Sister Hammerl's help to clean the new and old apartment. We did a little until it was time for us to goto a series of appointments. Long story short, American logic and sense of direction DOES NOT work here in Korea. We got so lost and of course both appointments had to be rescheduled. I was feeling so incompetent and retarded but maybe it was a blessing that we didn't teach because I was far from having the spirit with me in order to teach effectively. Poor Sister Hammerl was following me around and trying so hard to cheer me up. She is so kind and I need to apologize to her of how I was acting today...
Our day ended with unpacking and weekly planning. It was strange to have weekly planning because my new greenie arrives next week and when she does, Sister Hammerl will head to her new area. Despite the strange situation, I encouraged Sister Hammerl to help me plan even though she felt it was pointless; she is still a missionary for this area and has as much stewardship over them as I do. It ended us being an awesome planning session. Her input was so inspired! This church is so true! What a great end to the day!
Saturday was a crazy day!! It was an early start in order to arrive in 영든포 for a combined mission tour. This is a strange occurrence but because two area seventies where in the area, both the Seoul and Seoul South missions met to hear their inspired words. (Side note, when the mission split 79 missionaries came from the Seoul mission and 20 came from Daejeon- NOW there are over 150 missionaries in each! Missionaries are increasing like crazy!!) Of course their training and counsel was good but my favorite part was all of the new information of how technology will be available soon for missionaries here in Korea! ...while that is exciting, when I say soon that probably means in a year or so. Anyway, it was a great meeting. After the meeting we were all given time to socialize and see friends from the other mission. It was fun until it was time to leave and literally everyone that asked to travel with us home would not leave. I think people think I'm crazy but I don't care, Sister Hammerl and I had an appointment to get to ha.
On the subway home I turned on my American logic again and got up on the wrong line. It wasn't a terrible mistake but it is always annoying. We eventually made it to our appointment only a few minutes late. We met with 신숙희S and her six-year old daughter. It was really hard to teach and feel the spirit because her daughter was so rowdy. She kept sticking stickers on our faces as we tried to talk. We thought that ignoring her would work but instead we looked like idiots with hello kitty stickers all over our foreheads. Despite the distraction, the lesson went as well as I think it could have. Directly after we had to quickly travel to the church for the Saturday session on stake conference. It was hard to follow along but after was the best! Somewhere in the middle I saw someone walk in, looking for a seat. When I saw them I jumped up to get their attention and offer mine. As I stood up several familiar faces were in the congregation. Immediately following the closing prayer, I wasted no time running to greet members from my first area. The woman don't usually hug but I didn't care, I gave them all such huge hugs- I didn't realized how much I still miss them! My Korean mother especially was so happy to see me. She would not let my hands go as we moved from person to person to say hello. These Korean saints have such big hearts! I love them!!
Sunday was a fun day. The night before Sister Bassett and Sister Goines, from 평택, stayed the night for the Sunday session of stake conference. Getting ready all together took me back to college. I really miss having more girls around. I hope that I'll have an opportunity to live in a four-person house at some point on my mission. After breakfast and a group companionship study, we walked to the chapel together. The wind is getting so intense!! It was a long walk but once we arrived there were more familiar faces. The first I saw was 박진비S, a cute little girl from the first ward I served in. I ran and gave her a hug and we played for a little while until it was time for the meeting to begin. There was a separate room for native English speakers which most of the missionaries were asked to sit in. The conference was broadcasted and we were able to hear from Quintin L. Cook, Robert D. Hales, as well as a few other people. It was a great meeting! All of the speakers stressed the importance of families and holding a weekly family home evening. These speakers were talking directly to people in Korea so I think they did a great job honing in on the needs and specific troubles that families in Korea face. It is amazing how perfect this gospel and church organization is, it literally works in every country and every culture. The Lord is pretty brilliant.
By noon the meeting ended. The missionaries talked with the members until a majority of them left. One of the last sisters to leave was Sister An. I squeezed her arm and told her how much I missed her. She smiled and pulled me into the other room. The night before she had seen how cold I was so today she decided to pack two pairs of thick nylons haha. She pulled one out of her bag, made sure I liked the color, then gave it to me and said that we could be twins because she was wearing an identical pair haha. She is so adorable and giving! This is the same sister who keeps the missionaries in the 곡반정 ward fed and happy. She is amazing. After seeing her off we left to eat lunch at home. I convinced Sister Bassett and Goines to stay and we ate 김지 지게 (kimchee soup) together and then saw them off. They are so fun!!
After lunch, Sister Hammerl and I cleaned up and then head out to door to visit a few members of the ward. Not even five seconds after we arrived at our bus stop, the phone rang. It was a number that I didn't have saved. I had a mini heart attack as I answered the phone in Korean. Fortunately, it was a kind voice on the other line asking for my old companion, 한다솜S. I explained that she transferred but then in English the voice asked if I was Sister Sloan. I was little take back as well as relieved as I confirm that I was Sister Sloan. As soon I did, the voice introduced herself as 임미화 (Mihwa) from my home ward in Monterey, California. She told me that she was visiting her sister for the next few days and wanted to introduce me to her. It just so happened that we had time, so I quickly found a bus that would take us to the right place and we arrived maybe 30 minutes later. It was such a fun visit! The house warm and Mihwa and her sister Miyeon were so welcoming. They had just returned from Geju island so they had plenty of pictures to share. It looks beautiful!! I want to go there someday! Mihwa was pretty on top of everything and she kept the conversation going in order for us to better get to know each other. A few times Miyeon would stand up and prepare fruit and 약밥 for us to eat, then join us again. Mihwa kept saying that they were like Martha and Mary in the New Testament- one constantly making side dishes and the other talking haha. They are a fun family!
I realized that time had gotten away from us when Miyeon's husband arrived home. We introduced ourselves again, shared one of my favorite scriptures for a spiritual message, and left them to enjoy their evening together. I was sad to leave the warm house and good company but we had a few more visits to make before heading home. They greeted us at the elevator and we said our goodbyes. I hope we have to opportunity to meet with this family again- they are awesome.
The rest of the night was bitter cold. We tried to drop by some members houses but no one was home. As a back up plan we ran home to grab warmer clothes then we hit the streets for a few hours to try and reach our goal of taking with people. Very few people were out considering the piercing wind, so we wandered and were able to talk with 16 people. It was a good end to a good day.
Happy Monday, today is PDAY and the zone is meeting to play soccer again. I am bundled up and hoping all these layers will be enough to counter the cold weather and the wind- we'll see! I hope you all had and will have a great week! I appreciate all the love and prayers that you are sending my way. I will need that especially this week when I begin training for real. Ahhh!! So excited!
Love you all!!!
슬론 자매
Tuesday felt lazy for the most part. This week we are moving houses and today was the day we received we the new keys... or should I say the codes for the new apartment. It is only two years old so it is pretty high tech. The only downfalls are the fact that it is a little smaller and about 20 more minutes away from the church. Regardless, I am grateful.
Once Sister Hammerl and I met the landlord and his wife, we struggled to understand all of the information that they were trying to convey. Eventually we found that charades was the best form of communication haha. We all looked retarded, but now we understand the water heater, filtered water system, complicated code to enter the apartment building, as well as many other things. I'm so grateful for all the time they took with us to help us understand. After that ordeal they invited us into their apartment on the floor above us. The wife served us some sweet potatoes and tomato juice- so kind. After chatting with them, we head back down to our new apartment to clean before move-in day. It took forever but it was worth it in the end. When we finished, we hit the streets to talk to some more people, buy a new English book for English class, and then we ate dinner before heading to class.
This week is the first week that our English class has moved from just Wednesday to both Tuesday and Thursday. I'm not completely convinced that this is an effective use of our precious missionary time but for now we are trying it out. Class went well! We used the new book and played games to help consolidate what they had just learned. We even received a new student that wouldn't leave my side- she kept saying how nice I was and how much fun class was. Booyah! It ended up being a good night.
Wednesday was fun! Before district meeting we all decided to do a potluck for lunch. I brought a bunch of 김 (seaweed) and sweetened radish in order to make 김밥 (Korean style sushi). It was fun to make the food and even better once it was time to eat. The training was boring. Elder Breckwoldt is a great missionary but I think he forgets about his weekly training every week. His lack of preparation is really distracting but anyway, it was fine. After, Sister Hammerl and I confirmed several wrong addresses of some less-active members. It was sad but at least it was productive. Since the potluck was so big, we skipped dinner and them spent our night passing out English flyers with the other missionaries.
Just before we were going to end, I received a call from someone waiting at the church for English class. Since this is the first week that we changed the class times and dates, we hurried to greet her and correct the misunderstanding. It turns out that she is literally CRAZY! I tried to explain things but she would repetitively interrupt and ask me, "Wait, is this South Korea?" First red flag. Next she began speaking English but mixing up the order of words to match the Korean sentence structure. It was strange. We tried to get her on her way but it took about 40ish minutes to figure out where she needed to go and see her off in the right direction. It was so strange! Anyway, besides that crazy lady my night ended in a high when I saw a package for me from my mommy!! I made a mistake of opening it in front of people because most of the candy included is now gone haha... just kidding, sharing is fun... and stuff. But seriously, my mother included a scarf that I think literally saved me on our 20 minute walk home. Thanks mom!!
Thursday, moving day! The morning went by quickly as I packed and cleaned everything in the apartment. When I was done, it was about time for the office elders as well as the elders from the district to come help move us. Since all the food in the house was gone, we quickly ran to eat lunch and then made it make just in time for us to load the mission van. The whole day was quite an ordeal. The streets around here are pretty tight which makes it hard to squeeze a van through. It is needless to say that two hours later, about a 1,000,000 point-turn, and 5 Korean men helping later, the van fit through and made it to the front of our apartment. EVENTUALLY, the house was moved and unpacked. When it all finished it was 6:30PM... We all had 30 minutes to get to English class. It was stressful but ended up being alright. We even received another new student At the end Sister Hammel and I shared the spiritual message. It went well.
On our way home, we were STARVING! I forgot that he hadn't had dinner, again! I hope Sister Hammerl doesn't think that I am anorexic or something because since we have been together we literally have skipped at least one meal everyday- whoops! Anyway, we desperately wandered and finally found the only restaurant that was open. We ordered food then literally had to run home in order not to be late haha. It's good that we ate in privacy because I think we looked like starving cavemen that hadn't seen food in months haha- very becoming I know.
Friday was a failed day. The 신갈 elders in the district were also moving and they specifically asked for mine and Sister Hammerl's help to clean the new and old apartment. We did a little until it was time for us to goto a series of appointments. Long story short, American logic and sense of direction DOES NOT work here in Korea. We got so lost and of course both appointments had to be rescheduled. I was feeling so incompetent and retarded but maybe it was a blessing that we didn't teach because I was far from having the spirit with me in order to teach effectively. Poor Sister Hammerl was following me around and trying so hard to cheer me up. She is so kind and I need to apologize to her of how I was acting today...
Our day ended with unpacking and weekly planning. It was strange to have weekly planning because my new greenie arrives next week and when she does, Sister Hammerl will head to her new area. Despite the strange situation, I encouraged Sister Hammerl to help me plan even though she felt it was pointless; she is still a missionary for this area and has as much stewardship over them as I do. It ended us being an awesome planning session. Her input was so inspired! This church is so true! What a great end to the day!
Saturday was a crazy day!! It was an early start in order to arrive in 영든포 for a combined mission tour. This is a strange occurrence but because two area seventies where in the area, both the Seoul and Seoul South missions met to hear their inspired words. (Side note, when the mission split 79 missionaries came from the Seoul mission and 20 came from Daejeon- NOW there are over 150 missionaries in each! Missionaries are increasing like crazy!!) Of course their training and counsel was good but my favorite part was all of the new information of how technology will be available soon for missionaries here in Korea! ...while that is exciting, when I say soon that probably means in a year or so. Anyway, it was a great meeting. After the meeting we were all given time to socialize and see friends from the other mission. It was fun until it was time to leave and literally everyone that asked to travel with us home would not leave. I think people think I'm crazy but I don't care, Sister Hammerl and I had an appointment to get to ha.
On the subway home I turned on my American logic again and got up on the wrong line. It wasn't a terrible mistake but it is always annoying. We eventually made it to our appointment only a few minutes late. We met with 신숙희S and her six-year old daughter. It was really hard to teach and feel the spirit because her daughter was so rowdy. She kept sticking stickers on our faces as we tried to talk. We thought that ignoring her would work but instead we looked like idiots with hello kitty stickers all over our foreheads. Despite the distraction, the lesson went as well as I think it could have. Directly after we had to quickly travel to the church for the Saturday session on stake conference. It was hard to follow along but after was the best! Somewhere in the middle I saw someone walk in, looking for a seat. When I saw them I jumped up to get their attention and offer mine. As I stood up several familiar faces were in the congregation. Immediately following the closing prayer, I wasted no time running to greet members from my first area. The woman don't usually hug but I didn't care, I gave them all such huge hugs- I didn't realized how much I still miss them! My Korean mother especially was so happy to see me. She would not let my hands go as we moved from person to person to say hello. These Korean saints have such big hearts! I love them!!
Sunday was a fun day. The night before Sister Bassett and Sister Goines, from 평택, stayed the night for the Sunday session of stake conference. Getting ready all together took me back to college. I really miss having more girls around. I hope that I'll have an opportunity to live in a four-person house at some point on my mission. After breakfast and a group companionship study, we walked to the chapel together. The wind is getting so intense!! It was a long walk but once we arrived there were more familiar faces. The first I saw was 박진비S, a cute little girl from the first ward I served in. I ran and gave her a hug and we played for a little while until it was time for the meeting to begin. There was a separate room for native English speakers which most of the missionaries were asked to sit in. The conference was broadcasted and we were able to hear from Quintin L. Cook, Robert D. Hales, as well as a few other people. It was a great meeting! All of the speakers stressed the importance of families and holding a weekly family home evening. These speakers were talking directly to people in Korea so I think they did a great job honing in on the needs and specific troubles that families in Korea face. It is amazing how perfect this gospel and church organization is, it literally works in every country and every culture. The Lord is pretty brilliant.
By noon the meeting ended. The missionaries talked with the members until a majority of them left. One of the last sisters to leave was Sister An. I squeezed her arm and told her how much I missed her. She smiled and pulled me into the other room. The night before she had seen how cold I was so today she decided to pack two pairs of thick nylons haha. She pulled one out of her bag, made sure I liked the color, then gave it to me and said that we could be twins because she was wearing an identical pair haha. She is so adorable and giving! This is the same sister who keeps the missionaries in the 곡반정 ward fed and happy. She is amazing. After seeing her off we left to eat lunch at home. I convinced Sister Bassett and Goines to stay and we ate 김지 지게 (kimchee soup) together and then saw them off. They are so fun!!
After lunch, Sister Hammerl and I cleaned up and then head out to door to visit a few members of the ward. Not even five seconds after we arrived at our bus stop, the phone rang. It was a number that I didn't have saved. I had a mini heart attack as I answered the phone in Korean. Fortunately, it was a kind voice on the other line asking for my old companion, 한다솜S. I explained that she transferred but then in English the voice asked if I was Sister Sloan. I was little take back as well as relieved as I confirm that I was Sister Sloan. As soon I did, the voice introduced herself as 임미화 (Mihwa) from my home ward in Monterey, California. She told me that she was visiting her sister for the next few days and wanted to introduce me to her. It just so happened that we had time, so I quickly found a bus that would take us to the right place and we arrived maybe 30 minutes later. It was such a fun visit! The house warm and Mihwa and her sister Miyeon were so welcoming. They had just returned from Geju island so they had plenty of pictures to share. It looks beautiful!! I want to go there someday! Mihwa was pretty on top of everything and she kept the conversation going in order for us to better get to know each other. A few times Miyeon would stand up and prepare fruit and 약밥 for us to eat, then join us again. Mihwa kept saying that they were like Martha and Mary in the New Testament- one constantly making side dishes and the other talking haha. They are a fun family!
I realized that time had gotten away from us when Miyeon's husband arrived home. We introduced ourselves again, shared one of my favorite scriptures for a spiritual message, and left them to enjoy their evening together. I was sad to leave the warm house and good company but we had a few more visits to make before heading home. They greeted us at the elevator and we said our goodbyes. I hope we have to opportunity to meet with this family again- they are awesome.
The rest of the night was bitter cold. We tried to drop by some members houses but no one was home. As a back up plan we ran home to grab warmer clothes then we hit the streets for a few hours to try and reach our goal of taking with people. Very few people were out considering the piercing wind, so we wandered and were able to talk with 16 people. It was a good end to a good day.
Happy Monday, today is PDAY and the zone is meeting to play soccer again. I am bundled up and hoping all these layers will be enough to counter the cold weather and the wind- we'll see! I hope you all had and will have a great week! I appreciate all the love and prayers that you are sending my way. I will need that especially this week when I begin training for real. Ahhh!! So excited!
Love you all!!!
슬론 자매
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| Miyeon, Me and Mihwa! |
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| Sister Hammerl |
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Welcome Sister Hammerl
11/4-10
Monday was our last PDAY of the transfer! As such, it was majority vote to go to the folk village. I was the only one that had been before so my veto was quickly outnumbered. Of course it was fun so I'm not complaining. I really love my district so we had a good time watching some traditional dance and archery performances, as well as learning a little more about Korean history. This time around I really enjoyed the mini exhibit for the tradition masks. I love them! Before I return home I want to buy one to mount on my wall at home! Anyway, we had perfect weather up until it was time to leave- the temperature dropped pretty dramatically! It was like night and day... Haha get it? (Hint: it was now 6PM) hehe. We all walked to a nearby pizza place to eat a delicious meal together. It was delicious. By the time Sister Han and I made it back to our area, our only appointment cancelled so we were left to proselyte on the street until it was time to head home. It wasn't terribly successful but we were both still in such a good mood from the fun day we had, it made the bitter-cold night, bearable.
Tuesday was mostly uneventful. In preparation for the sister missionaries in this ward moving, I asked Sister Han to help figure out the new bus system and bus stops. I am directionally challenged here in Korea so I wanted to make sure to have this figured out before I was paired with a greenie that knew less than me. It took us about two hours, but now everything is written down and squared away- thank goodness. We spent the rest of the day talking with people. When the evening came, we meet Elder Breckwoldt and McLean at the church. I was prepared and ready to pass-off the first lesson to my district leader! I passed off over 200 vocabulary words, 6 memorized scriptures, and taught every principle of the first lesson! All that in less than an hour.... ALL in Korean. Booyah! Ever since going on splits with Sister Goodnough I have had a confidence boost in my speaking ability, so I am now finally passing off to help give President Morrise a gauge of where my language ability is. It was a good night.
Wednesday was zone training again. Like always I organized the meal and set everything up for everyone to eat together at 11:30AM. It wasn't anything special- just normal but for some reason today ALL the elders started calling me mom by saying "thanks mom" or "mom where are the napkins" or "can I have seconds mom." All of the Koreans were speaking sincerely but the Americans and foreigners were absolutely being sarcastic. It was somewhat annoying but all in all I wasn't too bugged by the nickname; mothers are notorious for being all knowing and selflessly serving (at least mine is^^) so it wasn't all bad.
When the meeting ended, we cleaned up and hit the streets. No real success came out of that but we worked hard until dinner and then went to English class. This week is our last week teaching on Wednesday- our English class coordinated and decided to switch to twice a week (Tuesday/Thursday class). We will see how that goes but today's class was fun. Nothing to report, just a fun evening with my brilliant students.
Thursday was just like Tuesday, preparing for transfers. After organizing our areas books and such we met our cute investigator 심성경S (Bible hehe). We met at the chapel for a quick lesson and then went out to drink hot chocolate together. She is such a fun girl. Soon it was time for her to leave and pick up her little sister from school and we had to hit the streets. We confirmed a couple less-active member houses and had some conversations with people as we walked. By the time it was dinner time, we met with Elders Gamble and 정 to head to a meal appointment together. We went to 이은미S (Sister Lee's) house. Like last time, we played with her sons and then ate a snack. All the missionaries were told it would be dinner so we acted a tad like starving neanderthals when the snack food was served haha. After we ate her 16 year older son, arrived home. For some reason the younger son wanted his brother to arm wrestle everyone. It turned into a game with everyone challenging and battering each other. I am really ashamed for my performance.. I really mis having a gym and plenty of time to workout. Oh well, I'm building my spiritual strength right? Haha anyway, it was a fun night.
Friday was a spectacular day! As it was mine and Sister Han's last full day together, we went hard! We scheduled two appointment in the morning. First was our golden investigator, 홍성봉B (Brother Hong). We met him and his mother at his grandmothers house again for the lesson. Today we taught the whole lesson about the Plan of Salvation. Since this lesson answers so many questions of the soul- like where we came from, why we are here, and where we will go after this life- it made for a length discussion. It was a lot of new information but Brother Hong was soaking it all up. He asked a lot of awesome questions and I testify that the spirit worked through me to answer them. I was so impressed how much came our of my mouth as I taught. After the lesson I was on cloud nine trying to figure out what had just happened. It was awesome! Before we left, 박순애S (Sister Park- the grandmother) asked to take a picture with us since it was the last time with Sister Han. As I sat next to her, she rested her head on my shoulder and said, "사랑해요!" which means, 'I love you.' I wrapped my arm around her, one arm around her back, and one hand on her cheek, it was a tender moment. It was a blessing to hear her say that because all this time I thought she disliked foreigners. She is really hard on my for not being a better Korean speaker but now I know that she has felt mine and the Saviors love with every visit.
If that wasn't enough, we had another appointment with a new investigator! Her name is Sue and she is a frequent English class attendee. She is a mother of a 23 year old son who was home when we arrived. Our appointment was around lunch time so Sue demanded her son to sit and talk with me (to practice his English) while she prepared a meal. Both Sue and her son, his English name being Anthony, lived abroad in New Zealand for nine years! They are fluent and even have an awesome accent. Anthony was an interesting fellow, when I asked him his hobbies the first thing he said was "drinking alcohol" dream big right? It was pretty sad that of all the wonderful things to do in this world, drinking alcohol with his friends was his favorite. As I later pried I found out about all the traveling opportunities he has had- and yet he kept wanted to talk more about his friends and alcohol. Sad. When lunch was prepared, he ran off and Sue then kept us company. It's sad to see how much she loves her son but doesn't love his choices or friends. Once he left the house it quickly transitions to more lively conversation. It was a great time and her cooking was delicious! When it came time to teach- guess what?! I use zero notes!!! I'll say it again, ZERO! I was so proud of myself! Maybe I made mistakes but I felt the spirit and Sister Han and I taught an awesome lesson about the restoration. Sue really enjoyed it too. By the end we extended a soft baptismal invitation and she said sure. She went on to say that she thinks 'us Mormons' have endurance haha. So funny but so true! She has always been impressed with the young men and women that volunteer to serve as missionaries; she is not only impressed with our sacrifices as missionaries but also all members of our church choosing to live a clean and pure life. It was amazing praise that I did not feel worthy of but I definitely walked away with an increased desire to live up to the standard that she sees in so many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!
Are the lesson we made our way home to end our day with weekly planning. It was a good night and a good way to wrap up Sister Han's time her in this ward and area. We then packed, cleaned, and prepared for bed. It was a great day!
Saturday was quiet interesting. The morning was normal until it was time to gather Sister Hans things and head to the mission home. It took about two hours and the whole was we had to transfer into four packed subways... Not fun. When we finally arrived, lunch had been served. Immediately after lunch was training with all of the trainers and trainee. They made us wait for a whole 2 more hours to find out who we were training! Rude. Finally when the time came, President Morrise made it as awkward and dramatic as he possibly could haha. Hijole. Finally he asked one of the last sisters to stand, he said, "Sister Wright you will me serving in 신풍...." Pause, that is my area so I shot up in excitement to greet my trainee but then President Morrise finished his sentence. "...with 한다솜 (Sister Han)!" I stopped in my tracks, looked at Sister Han and President Morrise and asked in desperation, "wait, which one?" As I points to Sister Han. President buried his face in his hands as he apologized and said he to confused and the greenie would be opening 감동 with Sister Han. Dang it. I took the walk of shame back to my seat as Sister Han greeted her trainee. President continued to apologize and announce that my greenies was still at the Provo, UT MTC. So disappointed!! Apparently she had a couple ingrown toenails and they made her stay for surgery and the allotted time to heal. She will arrive in Korean on the 19th and until then he told me that I would be serving with a Sister Hammerl. I felt bad that I looked so disappointed when I greeted my temporary companion. She was sweet and apologetic of not being who I was expecting ha.
Sister Hammerl is from Australia and just finished her training period. She was preparing to transfer to a threesome but was asked to step in for a total of 10 days. She is 20, very talkative, and very fun. I am looking forward to our time together.
Once the training ended, we gathered her huge suitcases and set out in the rain to the dearest subway station. It was a miserable walk. I had to keep stopping to fasten my hood to cover my hair- the acid rain here is a real thing! Science lesson: acid kills protein, hair is protein, and I am NOT going bald. We looked like such foreigners trying to navigate back to our area with the suitcases and our confused faces with the 14 subway lines to figure out. We finally figured ourselves out and were on our way. As we traveled we were given the opportunity to talk with so many different people! Blessings! I noticed that Sister Hammerl's understand bypasses mine by far! However, several people told me that my pronunciation was impeccable! 아싸! I guess there are pros and cons to having Korean and foreigner companions. Now that I will probably be with foreigners for a while, I hope and pray that my understanding grows drastically. Anyway, we were a good pair as we talked to many grandmother that were amazed by the size of the suitcases and our strength. Seriously it was ridiculous. When we neared the last line, I made a call to the elders asking for help to lug everyone on the buses home and up our four flights our stairs to the apartment. They are so kind to help and I was so grateful to have a break. The night went by quickly as we finally had a changed to eat dinner at 9:30PM and the. Were in bed just after 10:30. Crazy day!
Sunday was great. We had ward conference but here they call it 'Ward Birthday.' Cute right? The choir all matched (very Korean style) and all the men wore boutonnières. I bet the talks were great too but remember my whole understanding ability is lacking? Yeah, nothing has changed since yesterday haha. It was a great day though because the whole ward was very welcoming and understanding to the stranger situation that Sister Hammerl and I were in. After meetings was our weekly dinner as a ward. To end the evening we talked to people, confirmed less-active member's houses, and finished the day with language that we had missed out on earlier in the day. It was a happy day. All happy except for the chilly winds that nevers seems to cut us a break- it's finally starting to feel like autumn it is getting ready to welcome winter. Wah :(
This week was full of surprised and miracles. I love being a missionary. When else could all of these bipolar, crazy changes be generally normal and accepted? Haha it's the best! I love you all and miss you. I hope everyone has a great week!! ^^ 사랑합니다!
슬론 자매
Sister Sloan
Monday was our last PDAY of the transfer! As such, it was majority vote to go to the folk village. I was the only one that had been before so my veto was quickly outnumbered. Of course it was fun so I'm not complaining. I really love my district so we had a good time watching some traditional dance and archery performances, as well as learning a little more about Korean history. This time around I really enjoyed the mini exhibit for the tradition masks. I love them! Before I return home I want to buy one to mount on my wall at home! Anyway, we had perfect weather up until it was time to leave- the temperature dropped pretty dramatically! It was like night and day... Haha get it? (Hint: it was now 6PM) hehe. We all walked to a nearby pizza place to eat a delicious meal together. It was delicious. By the time Sister Han and I made it back to our area, our only appointment cancelled so we were left to proselyte on the street until it was time to head home. It wasn't terribly successful but we were both still in such a good mood from the fun day we had, it made the bitter-cold night, bearable.
Tuesday was mostly uneventful. In preparation for the sister missionaries in this ward moving, I asked Sister Han to help figure out the new bus system and bus stops. I am directionally challenged here in Korea so I wanted to make sure to have this figured out before I was paired with a greenie that knew less than me. It took us about two hours, but now everything is written down and squared away- thank goodness. We spent the rest of the day talking with people. When the evening came, we meet Elder Breckwoldt and McLean at the church. I was prepared and ready to pass-off the first lesson to my district leader! I passed off over 200 vocabulary words, 6 memorized scriptures, and taught every principle of the first lesson! All that in less than an hour.... ALL in Korean. Booyah! Ever since going on splits with Sister Goodnough I have had a confidence boost in my speaking ability, so I am now finally passing off to help give President Morrise a gauge of where my language ability is. It was a good night.
Wednesday was zone training again. Like always I organized the meal and set everything up for everyone to eat together at 11:30AM. It wasn't anything special- just normal but for some reason today ALL the elders started calling me mom by saying "thanks mom" or "mom where are the napkins" or "can I have seconds mom." All of the Koreans were speaking sincerely but the Americans and foreigners were absolutely being sarcastic. It was somewhat annoying but all in all I wasn't too bugged by the nickname; mothers are notorious for being all knowing and selflessly serving (at least mine is^^) so it wasn't all bad.
When the meeting ended, we cleaned up and hit the streets. No real success came out of that but we worked hard until dinner and then went to English class. This week is our last week teaching on Wednesday- our English class coordinated and decided to switch to twice a week (Tuesday/Thursday class). We will see how that goes but today's class was fun. Nothing to report, just a fun evening with my brilliant students.
Thursday was just like Tuesday, preparing for transfers. After organizing our areas books and such we met our cute investigator 심성경S (Bible hehe). We met at the chapel for a quick lesson and then went out to drink hot chocolate together. She is such a fun girl. Soon it was time for her to leave and pick up her little sister from school and we had to hit the streets. We confirmed a couple less-active member houses and had some conversations with people as we walked. By the time it was dinner time, we met with Elders Gamble and 정 to head to a meal appointment together. We went to 이은미S (Sister Lee's) house. Like last time, we played with her sons and then ate a snack. All the missionaries were told it would be dinner so we acted a tad like starving neanderthals when the snack food was served haha. After we ate her 16 year older son, arrived home. For some reason the younger son wanted his brother to arm wrestle everyone. It turned into a game with everyone challenging and battering each other. I am really ashamed for my performance.. I really mis having a gym and plenty of time to workout. Oh well, I'm building my spiritual strength right? Haha anyway, it was a fun night.
Friday was a spectacular day! As it was mine and Sister Han's last full day together, we went hard! We scheduled two appointment in the morning. First was our golden investigator, 홍성봉B (Brother Hong). We met him and his mother at his grandmothers house again for the lesson. Today we taught the whole lesson about the Plan of Salvation. Since this lesson answers so many questions of the soul- like where we came from, why we are here, and where we will go after this life- it made for a length discussion. It was a lot of new information but Brother Hong was soaking it all up. He asked a lot of awesome questions and I testify that the spirit worked through me to answer them. I was so impressed how much came our of my mouth as I taught. After the lesson I was on cloud nine trying to figure out what had just happened. It was awesome! Before we left, 박순애S (Sister Park- the grandmother) asked to take a picture with us since it was the last time with Sister Han. As I sat next to her, she rested her head on my shoulder and said, "사랑해요!" which means, 'I love you.' I wrapped my arm around her, one arm around her back, and one hand on her cheek, it was a tender moment. It was a blessing to hear her say that because all this time I thought she disliked foreigners. She is really hard on my for not being a better Korean speaker but now I know that she has felt mine and the Saviors love with every visit.
If that wasn't enough, we had another appointment with a new investigator! Her name is Sue and she is a frequent English class attendee. She is a mother of a 23 year old son who was home when we arrived. Our appointment was around lunch time so Sue demanded her son to sit and talk with me (to practice his English) while she prepared a meal. Both Sue and her son, his English name being Anthony, lived abroad in New Zealand for nine years! They are fluent and even have an awesome accent. Anthony was an interesting fellow, when I asked him his hobbies the first thing he said was "drinking alcohol" dream big right? It was pretty sad that of all the wonderful things to do in this world, drinking alcohol with his friends was his favorite. As I later pried I found out about all the traveling opportunities he has had- and yet he kept wanted to talk more about his friends and alcohol. Sad. When lunch was prepared, he ran off and Sue then kept us company. It's sad to see how much she loves her son but doesn't love his choices or friends. Once he left the house it quickly transitions to more lively conversation. It was a great time and her cooking was delicious! When it came time to teach- guess what?! I use zero notes!!! I'll say it again, ZERO! I was so proud of myself! Maybe I made mistakes but I felt the spirit and Sister Han and I taught an awesome lesson about the restoration. Sue really enjoyed it too. By the end we extended a soft baptismal invitation and she said sure. She went on to say that she thinks 'us Mormons' have endurance haha. So funny but so true! She has always been impressed with the young men and women that volunteer to serve as missionaries; she is not only impressed with our sacrifices as missionaries but also all members of our church choosing to live a clean and pure life. It was amazing praise that I did not feel worthy of but I definitely walked away with an increased desire to live up to the standard that she sees in so many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!
Are the lesson we made our way home to end our day with weekly planning. It was a good night and a good way to wrap up Sister Han's time her in this ward and area. We then packed, cleaned, and prepared for bed. It was a great day!
Saturday was quiet interesting. The morning was normal until it was time to gather Sister Hans things and head to the mission home. It took about two hours and the whole was we had to transfer into four packed subways... Not fun. When we finally arrived, lunch had been served. Immediately after lunch was training with all of the trainers and trainee. They made us wait for a whole 2 more hours to find out who we were training! Rude. Finally when the time came, President Morrise made it as awkward and dramatic as he possibly could haha. Hijole. Finally he asked one of the last sisters to stand, he said, "Sister Wright you will me serving in 신풍...." Pause, that is my area so I shot up in excitement to greet my trainee but then President Morrise finished his sentence. "...with 한다솜 (Sister Han)!" I stopped in my tracks, looked at Sister Han and President Morrise and asked in desperation, "wait, which one?" As I points to Sister Han. President buried his face in his hands as he apologized and said he to confused and the greenie would be opening 감동 with Sister Han. Dang it. I took the walk of shame back to my seat as Sister Han greeted her trainee. President continued to apologize and announce that my greenies was still at the Provo, UT MTC. So disappointed!! Apparently she had a couple ingrown toenails and they made her stay for surgery and the allotted time to heal. She will arrive in Korean on the 19th and until then he told me that I would be serving with a Sister Hammerl. I felt bad that I looked so disappointed when I greeted my temporary companion. She was sweet and apologetic of not being who I was expecting ha.
Sister Hammerl is from Australia and just finished her training period. She was preparing to transfer to a threesome but was asked to step in for a total of 10 days. She is 20, very talkative, and very fun. I am looking forward to our time together.
Once the training ended, we gathered her huge suitcases and set out in the rain to the dearest subway station. It was a miserable walk. I had to keep stopping to fasten my hood to cover my hair- the acid rain here is a real thing! Science lesson: acid kills protein, hair is protein, and I am NOT going bald. We looked like such foreigners trying to navigate back to our area with the suitcases and our confused faces with the 14 subway lines to figure out. We finally figured ourselves out and were on our way. As we traveled we were given the opportunity to talk with so many different people! Blessings! I noticed that Sister Hammerl's understand bypasses mine by far! However, several people told me that my pronunciation was impeccable! 아싸! I guess there are pros and cons to having Korean and foreigner companions. Now that I will probably be with foreigners for a while, I hope and pray that my understanding grows drastically. Anyway, we were a good pair as we talked to many grandmother that were amazed by the size of the suitcases and our strength. Seriously it was ridiculous. When we neared the last line, I made a call to the elders asking for help to lug everyone on the buses home and up our four flights our stairs to the apartment. They are so kind to help and I was so grateful to have a break. The night went by quickly as we finally had a changed to eat dinner at 9:30PM and the. Were in bed just after 10:30. Crazy day!
Sunday was great. We had ward conference but here they call it 'Ward Birthday.' Cute right? The choir all matched (very Korean style) and all the men wore boutonnières. I bet the talks were great too but remember my whole understanding ability is lacking? Yeah, nothing has changed since yesterday haha. It was a great day though because the whole ward was very welcoming and understanding to the stranger situation that Sister Hammerl and I were in. After meetings was our weekly dinner as a ward. To end the evening we talked to people, confirmed less-active member's houses, and finished the day with language that we had missed out on earlier in the day. It was a happy day. All happy except for the chilly winds that nevers seems to cut us a break- it's finally starting to feel like autumn it is getting ready to welcome winter. Wah :(
This week was full of surprised and miracles. I love being a missionary. When else could all of these bipolar, crazy changes be generally normal and accepted? Haha it's the best! I love you all and miss you. I hope everyone has a great week!! ^^ 사랑합니다!
슬론 자매
Sister Sloan
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Training an American Next
10/28-11/3
Monday, sadly was not PDAY. We were only permitted to email home and expected to go about normal missionary work. For lunch, we met our Ward Mission Leader (안재석B) at the church for lunch. He asked Sister Han and I to buy ten packs of ramen that we could cook for us. The elders came too and it was yummy. The purpose of the lunch together was to discuss our investigators and such, but he never sat down to talk. He is also the grounds keeper at the church so he kept busy fixing and cleaning things. It wasn't productive for what it should have been, but it was a fun time with half the district together. After eating, a majority of the day was spent visiting less-active members (amazingly we haven't meet everyone yet!). After confirming some addresses, we headed home for dinner. Soon after we met our investigator, Estee. We scheduled to have dinner and spend FHE with a family in the ward. It was a lot of fun. We taught a lesson about the Ten Commandments when we played a board that I made. It was pretty proud of how it turned out and the kids that we played with they really enjoyed themselves too. #winner! It was a good night and the family did a fantastic job fellowshipping our investigator as we were together and played.
Tuesday was a failed day on my part. After our normal study routine in the morning, we set out to visit less-actives again. Normally, I ask Sister Han to be in charge of navigating us around town but today I wanted to take charge. I was again reminded why I always needed Sister Han to do it. Have you ever tried to read a Korean map? Well, it's really confusing and there are a million apartments whose names are SO similar. I was grateful for Sister Han's patience with me, but I seriously feel like we wasted valuable time wandering around as I tried to navigate.
We went home for dinner then later met up with 이상훈B and the elders to make and pass out new English flyers. It was boring cutting all of them out, but we eventually hit the streets to pass them out. Sister Han and I had some interesting experiences with drunk and mentally ill men trying to talk to us but besides that, it was a fun night.
Wednesday was district meeting. Today was fun because like last week, a YSA from the 신갈 ward attended. He is preparing to serve a mission in Austria soon, he is a stud! We were trained more about extending commitments and how to follow up. I really enjoyed the many stories and experiences shared, I was again reminded that I need to rely on the Lord more through prayer. Also, I was reminded of the talk by David M. McConkie in the most recent general conference which said, "This is why you cannot fail... you are on the Lord’s errand." It's so true! When we are working to build the kingdom of God, we need to utilize His help and with that help we cannot fail.
After district meeting was less-active visits, dinner, and English class. English class was a lot of fun! I love my students, they are so smart! It was pretty funny, because today I decided to focus on building action verb sentences and the B and V pronunciation. They are so dramatic when they repeat after me- jokes on them though because it is actually really helping to improve their pronunciation haha. When class ended, all the missionaries had to leave quickly in order to arrive at the mission home before 10:30. It was a late night, but an enjoyable trip talking and joking with them. I may or may not have accidentally overloaded on candy so I think I entertained and kept everyone awake for the 2 hour subway rides. I had a blast and luckily crashed the second I laid down to sleep. I really miss beds and normal sized pillows!
Thursday was a fantastic day! For one, it was Halloween and for two, it was temple day!!! Traveling wasn't fun, but by the time we arrived I was so happy. For a while now I have had several questions that I desperately wanted answers. So in preparation for temple, I prayed and had those questions in mind in order to find an answer. The session was fantastic! When I was waiting for my companion to finish with the Korean session, I had a cool experience. As I sat and waited, I offered a prayer of gratitude for everything that I have. When I ended my prayer, my questions quickly became the only things I could think of. I then had a thought to ask someone; as I looked around I didn't feel impressed to ask anyone specific but eventually President Morrise walked in. As soon as I saw him, I had overwhelming feeling that he was the one to ask. Literally it was like a huge, undeniable wave of the spirit that came over me. I immediately stood up and was given an amazing opportunity to pick President Morrise's brain. And boy did I get the answers I was looking for. He is an amazing mission president! I am so grateful for him and I am so, so grateful for the opportunity to attend the temple every transfer!
After the temple, it was time for PDAY! We lingered on the temple grounds to take pictures with our district and other missionaries that attended. Soon our hunger got the best of us and the Americans all voted to make a pitstop at Taco Bell on our way home. It was pretty expensive for fast food but hey, it's Halloween! Also in the spirit of the holiday, we made another pitstop to enjoy the special flavor at Baskin Robins. Before we knew it, between all of the travel and eating, PDAY was almost over. It was time to head back to our area and end our night doing more less-active visits. It was a good day!
Friday was slow. Weekly planning was our whole morning. We were able to spend some time on the street after planning and before heading to a members house for a meal appointment. Despite our lack of success it felt good to put some quality time talking to people we met. The meal appointment was pretty fun. The woman is a widow of over 40 years due to a devastating car accident where her husband, brother-in-law, and a nephew were killed. Even though that's really sad, she is a very happy lady and she loved having us over for the evening. She made SO MUCH FOOD. My poor companion has about negative 7% body fat ha so she was dying. Every time this member would go back into the kitchen to grab more food, I would quickly take my companions plate and dump all the food back into the serving dishes where they originally were. It was hard for her to stop laughing when the member would re-enter the living room. The member was always very impressed by how much we were enjoying her food. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious but it was just wayy too much. Regardless of my strategy to eat less, my poor companion was about to throw up after we left. We took our time and walked home to help her stomach settle. I felt bad, but I did all I could to help so I earned a little room to laugh as she struggled to walk home haha.
Saturday was uh-mazing! Early in the morning 윤현미S (Sister Yoon) and Sister Goodnough came to our apartment for a split! Sister Yoon took Sister Han back to 곡반정 area and I was paired with Sister Goodnough for the day. Originally, I was realllly nervous to have our regular appointments without a fluent Korean speaker, but it ended up being a miracle day! After a quick companionship study, we were off to see 신숙희S (Sister Shin). She was pressed for time so we were only able to teach her half of the plan of salvation. Even though it was really rough around the edges, I was AMAZED how much she understood and loved what we taught. I am very grateful that she is so sweet and had so much patience, it was much needed and appreciated.
We had no time to stop for lunch before going to our next appointment with 홍성봉B (Brother Hong). He is the nephew of the sweet, old, less-active member that Sister Han and I have visited every Saturday since I arrived here in 신풍. Not only was 박순애S (Sister Park- grandma) there but also her daughter, 호성영S (Sister Ho), Brother Hong's mother. That meant that it was a double member lesson! I felt a lot of pressure because we were teaching the first lesson about the restoration. I have taught it several times but never with another inexperienced American (in regards to speaking/teaching in Korean). As we began, the spirit was present from the beginning! I was amazed how quickly I could speak and read the things in which I had planned to say. Sister Goodnough did an amazing job teaching and inviting the spirit too. Both Brother Hong and his mother had several questions. He is fantastic at speaking English so he would ask us things in English. Sometimes I would reply in English and when I would he would then translate my answers to his mother and grandmother. It was really powerful because he understood so perfectly! Also, it was like killing two birds with one stone because we are taught that once someone teaches what they have learned, that's when they really come to understand. I literally could not stop smiling during the lesson, it was awesome. I was even able to recite the whole first vision account of Joseph Smith without notes! And by the end I invited him to to be baptized on December 8th... guess what? HE ACCEPTED!! Gosh, it was the best lesson!
Directly after the lesson, we head back to 곡반정 area to meet all of the young single adults from the stake at the bishop's house for an activity. When we arrived they were finishing making cookies. We helps the bishops wife prepare for dinner and we set up and served about 30 people. It was a lot of food, but it was soo delicious! After, we cleaned and left before the YSA started a movie. I really miss movies... I hope people back home are keeping a list of all the must-see movies I'm missing. Anyway, we made it back home just in time for us to have our daily planning session to end the day. It was an awesome day to review- we were very proud of ourselves! I couldn't wait to report back to Sister Han about all the success we had. ^^ As it grew closer to 10:30 (time for bed) we were supposed to have received transfer calls. Like last transfers, they lost our temporary phone number so we did not receive the much anticipated call...
Sunday morning, at exactly 6:30AM, the phone rang. It was the AP's. They finally found our number and told us about all the changes that were happening. GUESS WHAT?! I am staying in 신풍 and will TRAIN AN AMERICAN?! As I type this, my new greenie is peacefully staying at the Provo MTC. I am scared out of my mind and I cannot believe that I am officially senior for this area, for taking lead in.... EVERYTHING, and in the ward! This probably means that I will be in this ward for another 12 weeks while I train. Ugh! Pray for me! I need all the help I can get. Sister Goodnough calmed me down by reassuring me that God qualifies who he calls- let's hope so, because I need heavens help not to ruin this greenies mission from the start ha!
As I continued to process the news, I took a shower and got ready for the day. Since it was an odd exchange that started Saturday morning, we were unsplitting on Sunday morning. Because we were unsplit at the 곡반정 church, I was able to see some familiar faces that I have missed so much. It was a happy morning. When Sister Han and I arrived home- both of our appointments before church canceled! I was totally bummed, but that gave us time to have personal, companionship, and language study before church. Since Sister Han will be transferring (and opening a new area and training- wow!) she was asked to be one of the first to bear their testimony. Typically missionaries get emotional and are sad when they give their parting talk but Sister Han couldn't whip the smile off her face haha. She has had a hard time here so I can understand her excitement to learn a new area, but still, at least act sad! Anyway, church was good. For the last hour, we taught Young Women's again. We prepared an awesome lesson just to find out that we prepared for the wrong one... It was fine. However, because we were teaching on the fly, my speaking ability... umm maybe wasn't too great haha. But oh well, Sister Han did a great job saving us, plus the Young Women are sweet so they were fun to teach.
Immediately after church was our Missionary Coordinating Meeting. Like always, it lasted only a few minutes- I really wish the leaders of this ward were more involved. Oh well, I'm working on it. As we walked home, our mission coordinating leader came with us. Not only is he the groundskeeper at the church, but he also works closely with all missionary housing to make sure everything is up and running. I think I forgot to mention that our boiler isn't working which makes for REALLY chilly mornings and even colder nights. He tried to fix it while Sister Han and I desperately made food as fast as we could. I love fast Sundays, but this Sunday my stomach was not happy with my decision to skip two meals- oh well our dinner was ready in no time and it was delicious.
Our evening was spent talking to people on the street and visiting a members house. The couple is an older couple and they are uh-dorable. They have a pretty interesting story, for starters their parents arranged their marriage! What the? The wife is sick and just suffering from her body getting old. Her sweet husband takes good care of her as well as their son and daughter-in-law. The whole family was over when we visited, including the sons daughter, she is 3ish and SO CUTE! We shared a spiritual thought about temple covenants and I briefly talked about my experience on Thursday. It was a good message. They even told me that they understood about 90% of what I said- that's a lot! Not to mention after I prayed they were amazed at my pronunciation and said they understood every word- booyah! That was the confidence boost I needed as I still try to understand why I will soon be training a brand new missionary.. All in all today was good. Sister Han is already packing and getting ready to leave- we transfer next Saturday! Talk about eager haha.
This week was a good one. I do want to take a minute to thank everyone who reads my weekly emails and writes/ emails back. I love the time that I have to communicate with all of you! I'm sorry if I don't write much or don't reply quickly. Many times I read emails and letter but run out of time to reply so I sometime loose tract of who and what I have replied to, sorry!! Anyway, you are all awesome and I love and appreciate all of you. I miss you!
Oh!! Quick side note that I forgot to mention last week... The liver-blood test thing said they was a minor problem but the doctor suspects that it is a temporary problem. Nothing too dramatic but I will receive a blood test in a couple months to make sure. I'm sorry if I freaked anyone out ha. I'm fine! ^^ I love you all and miss you. I hope everyone has a great week!! ^^ 사랑합니다!
슬론 자매
Sister Sloan
Monday, sadly was not PDAY. We were only permitted to email home and expected to go about normal missionary work. For lunch, we met our Ward Mission Leader (안재석B) at the church for lunch. He asked Sister Han and I to buy ten packs of ramen that we could cook for us. The elders came too and it was yummy. The purpose of the lunch together was to discuss our investigators and such, but he never sat down to talk. He is also the grounds keeper at the church so he kept busy fixing and cleaning things. It wasn't productive for what it should have been, but it was a fun time with half the district together. After eating, a majority of the day was spent visiting less-active members (amazingly we haven't meet everyone yet!). After confirming some addresses, we headed home for dinner. Soon after we met our investigator, Estee. We scheduled to have dinner and spend FHE with a family in the ward. It was a lot of fun. We taught a lesson about the Ten Commandments when we played a board that I made. It was pretty proud of how it turned out and the kids that we played with they really enjoyed themselves too. #winner! It was a good night and the family did a fantastic job fellowshipping our investigator as we were together and played.
Tuesday was a failed day on my part. After our normal study routine in the morning, we set out to visit less-actives again. Normally, I ask Sister Han to be in charge of navigating us around town but today I wanted to take charge. I was again reminded why I always needed Sister Han to do it. Have you ever tried to read a Korean map? Well, it's really confusing and there are a million apartments whose names are SO similar. I was grateful for Sister Han's patience with me, but I seriously feel like we wasted valuable time wandering around as I tried to navigate.
We went home for dinner then later met up with 이상훈B and the elders to make and pass out new English flyers. It was boring cutting all of them out, but we eventually hit the streets to pass them out. Sister Han and I had some interesting experiences with drunk and mentally ill men trying to talk to us but besides that, it was a fun night.
Wednesday was district meeting. Today was fun because like last week, a YSA from the 신갈 ward attended. He is preparing to serve a mission in Austria soon, he is a stud! We were trained more about extending commitments and how to follow up. I really enjoyed the many stories and experiences shared, I was again reminded that I need to rely on the Lord more through prayer. Also, I was reminded of the talk by David M. McConkie in the most recent general conference which said, "This is why you cannot fail... you are on the Lord’s errand." It's so true! When we are working to build the kingdom of God, we need to utilize His help and with that help we cannot fail.
After district meeting was less-active visits, dinner, and English class. English class was a lot of fun! I love my students, they are so smart! It was pretty funny, because today I decided to focus on building action verb sentences and the B and V pronunciation. They are so dramatic when they repeat after me- jokes on them though because it is actually really helping to improve their pronunciation haha. When class ended, all the missionaries had to leave quickly in order to arrive at the mission home before 10:30. It was a late night, but an enjoyable trip talking and joking with them. I may or may not have accidentally overloaded on candy so I think I entertained and kept everyone awake for the 2 hour subway rides. I had a blast and luckily crashed the second I laid down to sleep. I really miss beds and normal sized pillows!
Thursday was a fantastic day! For one, it was Halloween and for two, it was temple day!!! Traveling wasn't fun, but by the time we arrived I was so happy. For a while now I have had several questions that I desperately wanted answers. So in preparation for temple, I prayed and had those questions in mind in order to find an answer. The session was fantastic! When I was waiting for my companion to finish with the Korean session, I had a cool experience. As I sat and waited, I offered a prayer of gratitude for everything that I have. When I ended my prayer, my questions quickly became the only things I could think of. I then had a thought to ask someone; as I looked around I didn't feel impressed to ask anyone specific but eventually President Morrise walked in. As soon as I saw him, I had overwhelming feeling that he was the one to ask. Literally it was like a huge, undeniable wave of the spirit that came over me. I immediately stood up and was given an amazing opportunity to pick President Morrise's brain. And boy did I get the answers I was looking for. He is an amazing mission president! I am so grateful for him and I am so, so grateful for the opportunity to attend the temple every transfer!
After the temple, it was time for PDAY! We lingered on the temple grounds to take pictures with our district and other missionaries that attended. Soon our hunger got the best of us and the Americans all voted to make a pitstop at Taco Bell on our way home. It was pretty expensive for fast food but hey, it's Halloween! Also in the spirit of the holiday, we made another pitstop to enjoy the special flavor at Baskin Robins. Before we knew it, between all of the travel and eating, PDAY was almost over. It was time to head back to our area and end our night doing more less-active visits. It was a good day!
Friday was slow. Weekly planning was our whole morning. We were able to spend some time on the street after planning and before heading to a members house for a meal appointment. Despite our lack of success it felt good to put some quality time talking to people we met. The meal appointment was pretty fun. The woman is a widow of over 40 years due to a devastating car accident where her husband, brother-in-law, and a nephew were killed. Even though that's really sad, she is a very happy lady and she loved having us over for the evening. She made SO MUCH FOOD. My poor companion has about negative 7% body fat ha so she was dying. Every time this member would go back into the kitchen to grab more food, I would quickly take my companions plate and dump all the food back into the serving dishes where they originally were. It was hard for her to stop laughing when the member would re-enter the living room. The member was always very impressed by how much we were enjoying her food. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious but it was just wayy too much. Regardless of my strategy to eat less, my poor companion was about to throw up after we left. We took our time and walked home to help her stomach settle. I felt bad, but I did all I could to help so I earned a little room to laugh as she struggled to walk home haha.
Saturday was uh-mazing! Early in the morning 윤현미S (Sister Yoon) and Sister Goodnough came to our apartment for a split! Sister Yoon took Sister Han back to 곡반정 area and I was paired with Sister Goodnough for the day. Originally, I was realllly nervous to have our regular appointments without a fluent Korean speaker, but it ended up being a miracle day! After a quick companionship study, we were off to see 신숙희S (Sister Shin). She was pressed for time so we were only able to teach her half of the plan of salvation. Even though it was really rough around the edges, I was AMAZED how much she understood and loved what we taught. I am very grateful that she is so sweet and had so much patience, it was much needed and appreciated.
We had no time to stop for lunch before going to our next appointment with 홍성봉B (Brother Hong). He is the nephew of the sweet, old, less-active member that Sister Han and I have visited every Saturday since I arrived here in 신풍. Not only was 박순애S (Sister Park- grandma) there but also her daughter, 호성영S (Sister Ho), Brother Hong's mother. That meant that it was a double member lesson! I felt a lot of pressure because we were teaching the first lesson about the restoration. I have taught it several times but never with another inexperienced American (in regards to speaking/teaching in Korean). As we began, the spirit was present from the beginning! I was amazed how quickly I could speak and read the things in which I had planned to say. Sister Goodnough did an amazing job teaching and inviting the spirit too. Both Brother Hong and his mother had several questions. He is fantastic at speaking English so he would ask us things in English. Sometimes I would reply in English and when I would he would then translate my answers to his mother and grandmother. It was really powerful because he understood so perfectly! Also, it was like killing two birds with one stone because we are taught that once someone teaches what they have learned, that's when they really come to understand. I literally could not stop smiling during the lesson, it was awesome. I was even able to recite the whole first vision account of Joseph Smith without notes! And by the end I invited him to to be baptized on December 8th... guess what? HE ACCEPTED!! Gosh, it was the best lesson!
Directly after the lesson, we head back to 곡반정 area to meet all of the young single adults from the stake at the bishop's house for an activity. When we arrived they were finishing making cookies. We helps the bishops wife prepare for dinner and we set up and served about 30 people. It was a lot of food, but it was soo delicious! After, we cleaned and left before the YSA started a movie. I really miss movies... I hope people back home are keeping a list of all the must-see movies I'm missing. Anyway, we made it back home just in time for us to have our daily planning session to end the day. It was an awesome day to review- we were very proud of ourselves! I couldn't wait to report back to Sister Han about all the success we had. ^^ As it grew closer to 10:30 (time for bed) we were supposed to have received transfer calls. Like last transfers, they lost our temporary phone number so we did not receive the much anticipated call...
Sunday morning, at exactly 6:30AM, the phone rang. It was the AP's. They finally found our number and told us about all the changes that were happening. GUESS WHAT?! I am staying in 신풍 and will TRAIN AN AMERICAN?! As I type this, my new greenie is peacefully staying at the Provo MTC. I am scared out of my mind and I cannot believe that I am officially senior for this area, for taking lead in.... EVERYTHING, and in the ward! This probably means that I will be in this ward for another 12 weeks while I train. Ugh! Pray for me! I need all the help I can get. Sister Goodnough calmed me down by reassuring me that God qualifies who he calls- let's hope so, because I need heavens help not to ruin this greenies mission from the start ha!
As I continued to process the news, I took a shower and got ready for the day. Since it was an odd exchange that started Saturday morning, we were unsplitting on Sunday morning. Because we were unsplit at the 곡반정 church, I was able to see some familiar faces that I have missed so much. It was a happy morning. When Sister Han and I arrived home- both of our appointments before church canceled! I was totally bummed, but that gave us time to have personal, companionship, and language study before church. Since Sister Han will be transferring (and opening a new area and training- wow!) she was asked to be one of the first to bear their testimony. Typically missionaries get emotional and are sad when they give their parting talk but Sister Han couldn't whip the smile off her face haha. She has had a hard time here so I can understand her excitement to learn a new area, but still, at least act sad! Anyway, church was good. For the last hour, we taught Young Women's again. We prepared an awesome lesson just to find out that we prepared for the wrong one... It was fine. However, because we were teaching on the fly, my speaking ability... umm maybe wasn't too great haha. But oh well, Sister Han did a great job saving us, plus the Young Women are sweet so they were fun to teach.
Immediately after church was our Missionary Coordinating Meeting. Like always, it lasted only a few minutes- I really wish the leaders of this ward were more involved. Oh well, I'm working on it. As we walked home, our mission coordinating leader came with us. Not only is he the groundskeeper at the church, but he also works closely with all missionary housing to make sure everything is up and running. I think I forgot to mention that our boiler isn't working which makes for REALLY chilly mornings and even colder nights. He tried to fix it while Sister Han and I desperately made food as fast as we could. I love fast Sundays, but this Sunday my stomach was not happy with my decision to skip two meals- oh well our dinner was ready in no time and it was delicious.
Our evening was spent talking to people on the street and visiting a members house. The couple is an older couple and they are uh-dorable. They have a pretty interesting story, for starters their parents arranged their marriage! What the? The wife is sick and just suffering from her body getting old. Her sweet husband takes good care of her as well as their son and daughter-in-law. The whole family was over when we visited, including the sons daughter, she is 3ish and SO CUTE! We shared a spiritual thought about temple covenants and I briefly talked about my experience on Thursday. It was a good message. They even told me that they understood about 90% of what I said- that's a lot! Not to mention after I prayed they were amazed at my pronunciation and said they understood every word- booyah! That was the confidence boost I needed as I still try to understand why I will soon be training a brand new missionary.. All in all today was good. Sister Han is already packing and getting ready to leave- we transfer next Saturday! Talk about eager haha.
This week was a good one. I do want to take a minute to thank everyone who reads my weekly emails and writes/ emails back. I love the time that I have to communicate with all of you! I'm sorry if I don't write much or don't reply quickly. Many times I read emails and letter but run out of time to reply so I sometime loose tract of who and what I have replied to, sorry!! Anyway, you are all awesome and I love and appreciate all of you. I miss you!
Oh!! Quick side note that I forgot to mention last week... The liver-blood test thing said they was a minor problem but the doctor suspects that it is a temporary problem. Nothing too dramatic but I will receive a blood test in a couple months to make sure. I'm sorry if I freaked anyone out ha. I'm fine! ^^ I love you all and miss you. I hope everyone has a great week!! ^^ 사랑합니다!
슬론 자매
Sister Sloan
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