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