Monday wasn't PDAY seeing as this week is CHRISTMAS!!! Even though PDAY was moved to Wednesday, today was still a great day. We were able to meet a referral from 정인자S (Sister Jeong). Sister Jeong is a member who is pretty old and so sweet. Even from her almost completely bedridden-state she is an amazing missionary! She invited us to her home today and introduced us to her housekeeper, whom she has been preparing to hear our message. The woman, 영태정S (Sister Young) prepared a small snack for us and then sat to hear a brief introduction about our church. We introduced the Book of Mormon, gave her a copy, and set a return appointment. It was awesome! Immediately after we went home to complete our weekly planning that we never got around to last week... Whoops...
Dinner was spent at 이상훈B (Hoon's) house with all of the missionaries and some single adults from the ward. It was delicious food and Hoon shared some memorabilia from his mission days with us. It is interesting how much has changed! When it was time to leave I received a text... It was from a sweet less-active member whom we have been working closely with, 서은효S (aka Summer). She asked if we could come over. Lately she has been struggling with her job as an English teacher for fifth graders. Her workplace seems to be treating her unfairly, because she is the only non-foreigner that works there, it's really sad. Knowing this, I considered the time and decided it would be wiser to see what was wrong instead of being home on time tonight. It was a good call.
An hour and many tears later, Sister Tovar and I were able to share a spirit-filled message about prayer. It was so amazing how powerfully we both spoke! Summer was appreciative and asked if we could listen to a hymn with her before we left. We listened to 'Come, Come Ye Saints' together. The last line still lingers in my mind, "All is well, All is well." I felt prompted to promise Summer that if she prayed, all would be well. She prayer for us before we left and then we were off. We ran as fast as we could to grab a taxi. The ride home was so stressful! The mission rule is as follows: if you arrive home after 10:30PM you first have the privilege to call our mission president but then you also have to give the area seventy, President Ringwood a call... Understand my stress? We made it home RIGHT in time and I was able to have a fun chat with President Morrise. As soon as he answered, I explained the reason for my call (having just arrived home) and President Morrise said, "Oh well you're right on time Sister Sloan" with a chuckle that followed. I love that man! He agreed that I made a good decision and commended Sister Tovar and I for our hard work and dedication. Despite the adrenaline rush from running and stressing out, all was well :) ...see what I did there? ;)
Tuesday was the Seoul South Mission Christmas Conference. It was a good day. It began with a little bit of a letdown when I checked the Suwon mail room. I received one letter for Christmas. It was a good letter but the package from my family had still not arrived, I was bummed. I then went immediately to practice with the choir for our two musical numbers. We sang 'What Child Is This' and 'Carol of the Bells.' So fun! I discovered that I am a soprano... I literally can only follow the melody when I listen to music haha. Anyway our practice and performance was great. The training was all about being messengers for joy, to bring tidings of great joy to be exact. When the meeting ended I was called on to give the closing pray and blessing on the food. I did my best and apparently I did well. EVERYONE ooo'ed after, okay maybe that was dramatic. What I meant to saw was that a few Koreans ooo'ed and ahh'ed after I said "Amen" because they were pretty impressed with my pronunciation- booyah!
Lunch was good- American style turkey and instant mashed potatoes haha. Maybe gross sounding but it was a nice change from the usual rice, seaweed, and kimchee. After lunch we split off to have more training. Our zone was first sent to receive training from a man named 한인상B. This man is like a celebrity here, or at least in Mormon culture haha. He was the first native Korean to serve a mission in South Korea in 1964. He also was the first local Korean to serve as a mission president. He just so happened to be president of the Busan mission when President Morrise was a young missionary like us. Cool huh? This man is HIL-ARIOUS! His whole training was about being ourselves and how to magnify our special callings as full-time missionaries. I took some great notes.
After that training we moved to a different room where President Morrise had us play a get-to-know-you game since we had received so maybe new missionaries. I mostly socialized for a good 30 minutes until we were all asked to sit down. That is when President Morrise asked each Korean (there aren't many) to come up and share their favorite idioms and have all the foreigners guess the meanings ha. It was a fun game.
When that ended we all gathered back together to watch a long slideshow of pictures of each missionary's family. It was so fun to watch, but it was really long. It was sorted in alphabetical order so I knew when my family picture would coming. When it finally did I felt like I was the only one in the room for a moment. I zoned in, sat up straight, and smiled big as tears rolled down my cheeks. My family is so beautiful. I miss them so much. It's weird to think that it is Christmas time and I am so far from home... I don't like it but I know they are happy and well which makes it a little easier.
After the slideshow we watched 'Mr. Krueger's Christmas.' It was a cute 30 minute movie that gave me time to cry in darkness so no one could see. When it ended, I finally got a hold of myself and signaled to the district that it was time to go. We were all leaving early to make it to a dinner appointment with Bishop 임부택B. I was initially under the impression that it was with his family since it was Christmas eve but I was wrong. Instead he reserved a room for the missionaries, the ward missionary leader, and himself to have dinner at a pretty nice Chinese restaurant. It was a nice.
Wednesday, MERRY CHRISTMAS!! This morning I woke up to a cute little Christmas tree set up in our kitchen. We went about our normal study schedule but in companionship study I decided to carry out my family tradition of reading Luke 2 and watching Joy to the World before opening presents. I didn't have much to open but as my companion opened her packages and letter, I read my letter from Daniel and a few books that Diana sent me. They were both so sweet. After that we hurried to Hoon's house so Sister Tovar could Skype her family. When we arrived the elders were there as well as 정태호B (Brother Jeong). Hoon made us all kimchee soup and we listened to the Christmas devotional by the first presidency. It was a lot of fun. After Sister Tovar skyped, Elder Giles took his turn. He is so adorable. He began to cry as he said goodbye. He is such a sincere kid, I really like him. While he skyped, we counted down the minutes for us to head to the 곡반정 building for a zone activity.
When we finally arrived I mostly played ping pong. These Koreans are so good! I am trying to learn how to smash and how to put spin on the ball... I sound like a nerd but ping pong is so fun! Once most of the zone arrived we started watching the 'RM.' We ideally wanted to watch 'The Best Two Years' but no one had it. Our zone leader Elder Pope rationalized that it was okay to watch because it would make us aware of why we don't want to go home early haha. So true! It was a lot of fun.
As soon as it ended the missionaries from our ward grabbed a few taxis and head to a members house for Christmas dinner. There was so much food! And so many people! It was fun. Elders Robinson and 정영헌E invited an investigator but they told their taxi the wrong address so they ended up somewhere north haha, bless their hearts. Elder Breckwoldt and I took it upon ourselves to keep him company. It was a lot of fun. Everyday I impress myself with how much Korean I can speak and understand. When dinner finished a few of the kids were forced to play songs on the piano and were pretty impressive! Next the missionaries we asked to sing... They wanted us to sing Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, in Korean! It was hilarious having all but one missionary huddle around the woman playing the piano to read the Korean characters haha. It was embarrassing. Next they asked us to sing 'What Child is This' in English. It is written as a two-part song and we somehow made it sound like a four part song with tone-deaf Sister Tovar and Elder Giles. My face was bright red the whole time. It was awful!!! Ugh after that there was no encore (duh) so we began to pack up to go home. Members drove all of the missionaries home. It was so kind! What a great Christmas.
Thursday was Christmas Day in America so that is the day I chose to Skype home. Once again, after studies we left to Hoon's house. This time he wasn't home so it was just me and Sister Tovar. It was so fun to see my family!! They all look so great but different too, I couldn't put my finger on it. President Morrise only allowed us 45 minutes to call home so as I anticipated, I felt like the call was too short. I was grateful regardless.
We went straight home to finish studies and to make my mothers famous banana bread for our English class party tonight. It took forever with our mini oven but when we finished we went straight on to talk to some people before the day was over. We ended up running a few errands on our way and decided to eat dinner out. Next was English class. Since it was the day after Christmas, we had a belated Christmas party. First we ate snacks then played a few games. It was fun. I mostly tried to keep the kids under control by destroying them at ping pong ^^ so fun! When it was time to wrap up I shared a few scriptures that I read in personal study about feeling God's love through prayer. Sister Tovar bore her testimony and closed our thought. I thought it went well. We cleaned up then went home.
Friday was weekly planning. It was weird doing it again so soon but it is a necessary part of missionary life- planning, always planning. It was fine until companionship inventory. With every other companion, that part of weekly planning is a pleasant part but with Sister Tovar it is always contentious. I really need to master patience but it's driving me insane how awful she thinks everything is. One day we'll learn to understand each other... One day.
When we finished we were off to find less-active members. It wasn't very productive in that aspect but in talking with people on the street, it was awesome! One address for example didn't specify which apartment the member lived in. There were only 8 doors in the building so we began to knock every door. Our attempt failed but a kind man tried to help us. At his door we were able to teach a brief lesson, it was great! Tonight was extremely bitter cold and we were failing at reading the map we had. We finally decided to find a nearby cafe to drink hot chocolate, thaw, and have a warm place to read the map ha. Not much else happened after that but it was a semi-fun night.
Saturday was a miracle day. Last minute I was able to set an appointment with our investigator 신숙희S (Sister Shin). Sister Tovar and I prepared an awesome lesson but when we arrived we discovered she hadn't completed her last reading assignment and questions that we prepared for her to answer. When this happened we are always instructed to read with our investigators to help them understand the importance of the passage we invited them to read. After the English portion that is exactly what we did. I took control of the lesson by asking her to discuss her opinions to the question that we had prepared last week. She was understanding so well! It was amazing! When it came time to leave I re committed her to finish reading and answering the questions she promised. The spirit was so strong in that lesson. I am so grateful for the amazing power that the spirit brings to lessons even if my companion and I struggle to be unified. The spirit brought us together and helped us to teach and testify with such power. I love the spirit! Thanks to that spirit that we had with us, on our way home Sister Tovar and I were able to talk to so many people! I think by the end of the day we had received three phone numbers of people who were interested in meeting with us in the future. Along with that, I think combined we taught three street lessons! Such a great morning.
After the lesson we ran a few errands before we went home for lunch. Originally we had planned to eat out for lunch due to time but Sister Tovar was desperate for a nap so instead we went home. As she slept, I prepared things for the day and then woke her up when it was time to get going. Our next appointment was with a less-active member named 김자영 (Sister Kim). She is single, a full time nurse, and maybe in her 30's. She is so sweet to us. Today we had an appointment set to begin a puzzle together. It was 1000 pieces so we didn't finish but we got a majority if it done. It was a lot of fun. Sister Tovar felt awkward not talking so she babbled to herself as Sister Kim and I concentrated on the puzzle haha. It was a good time. Soon our time was up before we had another appointment. She sent us on our way with treats and a warm hug. I think she was grateful to have company for a change. Hopefully we can help her finish that puzzle next week.
When we arrived at the church for our Mission Coordinating Meeting our stake was having a party! Apparently it was dinner, a magic show, and a dance. It looked like a lot of fun. Our Ward Mission Leader showed up with big macs for all of us- booyah! Korean style McDonald's is a little strange but it was good anyway. We discussed the ward mission goal for the upcoming year and the progress of the people we are currently working with. I love that 이재현B (Brother Lee) actually listens and cares about what is happening with our missionary work. He makes us all want to work harder. It was a great meeting. Soon it was time to head home, so we walked home with the Elders. On our way back guess what we found? A perfectly good bookshelf! We have needed one to keep our records better organized and boom! blessing! Sister Tovar and I picked it up while the elders made fun of us. I don't care what they say, it was like new and now we have an awesome bookshelf in our apartment!
Sunday was another very productive day. In the morning we studied and then went to church. At church one of the two less-active members that promised to come, came! I was sad the other didn't show but I am grateful for 최연숙S (Sister Choi) who did come and stay for the whole three hour block. After church was our normal dinner together as a ward. It was yummy as always and after we cleaned up, it was time for Korean class. Today all the greenies attended and I stayed outside the door with Elder Breckwoldt to do pass-off (a program set my the mission to evaluate your language and teaching ability). First I was quizzed on vocabulary for the Plan of Salvation lesson. When I began I all of a sudden had an audience of missionaries and members listening. Talk about pressure haha. I passed the vocabulary and the scripture verses- yahoo! On Wednesday I will attempt to pass off the whole lesson.
When I finished, so did Korean class. We locked up the building and head out to talk to people. Sister Tovar and I made a goal to talk to 100 people this week. Maybe that seems small but we have also made a goal to improve the quality and naturalness (is that a word) of our conversations. Tonight we reached our goal and we able to teach two full street lessons! I am convinced that Koreans speak complicated Korean Monday-Friday and then give me a break Saturday and Sunday. Today was awesome! I understood so well and had pretty great conversations. I would have never guessed that I could learn this language but FINALLY I am learning!
It felt great talking to so many people this week and feeling like I earned my PDAY tomorrow. I finally feel like I am a productive missionary. The next thing I need to really to focus on is improving my companionship relationship... Pray for me!
This week was full of ups and downs. I am learning so much from my personal and companionship study everyday. Maybe Sister Tovar and I aren't a perfect match but we are seeing a lot of miracles together. Missionary work is so fun!! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and will enjoy the New Years festivities :) those two holidays are not very celebrated here in Korea, so sad. Instead they really celebrate their Thanksgiving in September and the Chinese New Year (which is the end of January this year). We will see what the missionaries and ward will do for the arrival of 2014! I love you all!!
Have a great week!!
슬론 자매
Sister Sloan
No comments:
Post a Comment