Day in the Life [생활에 있는 일]: The Lord's Timing

2/24-3/2
Monday wasn't PDAY, but it ended up feeling a lot like one. In the morning, we spent an hour or so cleaning and bleaching our house. It was much needed!! It was a good feeling when everything was clean. We quickly showered and got to our studies. After lunch, we headed to the church for a lesson with our investigator, 긴현아S (Sister Kim). She totally forgot, so instead Sister Bagley and I did some weekly planning since we never got to it last week ha. Next we emailed home and had a quick dinner, before teaching a couple member's children who are preparing to be baptized. The lesson went well. After we finished, one of the girls moms (이미영S) pulled me aside and said, "Jane (최재인S, her daughter) doesn't listening to me when I tell her to read the scriptures, but she takes your commitments very seriously." It was like a proud mother moment for me.

For FHE this week we played "Do you love your neighbor" but in Korean, obviously. It was way fun!! There was this one little girl who was almost glued to my hip. She is 4, I think, and totally adorable. It made my night that she was so interested in everything I was doing. I also think she told me I was pretty 100 times. Korean 반말 (low form- as I the opposite of respectful language) is so cute coming from little kids. It was a good day.

Tuesday was the 12 week follow-up training for Sister Bagley. I feel bad, because maybe we don't take time to do all of our studies everyday, because we are so busy... Oh well, at least she is learning from real practice lessons as opposed to fake practice at home. The training was pretty awesome. President and Sister Morrise are way funny. Just before the meeting ended, Sister Morrise asked all of the greenies to stand and share something that they have learned since arriving in Korea. It turned into a mini testimony meeting and I am way impressed with these kids. Maybe this isn't the most prepared bunch, but dang they are learning so much, so fast!

The meeting went long which made us late for our appointment with 김현아S (Sister Kim- our investigator). Good thing the elders were there with their investigator to keep her company with a game or two of ping pong. Once we began the lesson, we watched the Restoration video. It was so great!! Normally, when I watch this video with investigators I am focusing on how strange it might be for them to grasp. I don't think it's strange, I actually believe it whole-heartedly, but I'm trying to see it in their eyes. This time around I had a different experience and it was beyond amazing! I came to the realization that's the same spirit that tells me it's true now, would tell no matter my situation heaven forbid it was different. It was a good feeling to finally be comfortable sharing this unbelievable event in history. When the video ended we talked about what it was and then Sister Bagley extended a baptismal commitment. SHE SAID YES! I wasted no time setting a date with her- hello April 6th, here we come! She was a little confused, because she is moving to Daejeon next week, but I told her about other sister missionaries that would be there to teach her and help her reach her goal. It was a fantastic lesson.

Wednesday we had quite an interesting district meeting. We eventually learned something, but before that happened we were all having a pretty good time making fun of Elder Griffin. There are long standing jokes about him not being able to spell... ANYTHING and also jokes about him going bald. Before we began, Elder Knapp was asked to pick a song, he laughed as he said "Hymn 30, do you know how to spell that?" Elder Griffin rolled his eyes and turned to write the number with three half circles instead of two. Everyone laughed so hard! And then not long after Elder Griffin was trying to teach us an acronym- HTBT. When we got to 'B' 우동리E (Elder Woo) said, "It's bald isn't it!" Again, everyone laughed. Maybe this seems mean but Elder Griffin is a good sport. Also his girlfriend wrote him a series of letters for him to open at different times. One the envelope says, "Open this when your home sick" another says, "Open this on your birthday". For some reason today everyone was on board with trying to help him open the letter labeled, "Open this when you have a bad day." It was so hilarious!!

After district meeting Sister Bagley and I set out to visit some less-active members. The first one we went to, we decided to say a little prayer, before walked up to the door. When we finished and walked in, the member was seeing one of her friends off so the door was already open. Her friend commented on how pretty we were and was shocked to see Sister missionaries as opposed to elders. We quickly learned that we couldn't come in because the member was sick but we were able to introduce ourselves as well as put a smile on her face. I honestly believe we would not have been given the same opportunity if it were not for the prayer we offered and the timing that followed. It was pretty cool. After walking around some more we made our way home for dinner. Conveniently, the Office Elders showed up to drop off a desk for me to use- finally! We brought the boxes inside the. Walked the elders to a nearby restaurant that we thought they would enjoy. To end the evening we talked to a number of people and made a curriculum for English class. Oh! Also, as we were talking to people we ran into a women passing out flyers. She does it all day and had a variety of flyers to pass out- she is so diligent. I decided to talk to her and she was so appreciative. I think I might have been one of few people, if not the only one that took the time to talk to her about her flyers. She was grateful and in turn bought Sister Bagley and I some food from a street vendor. I tried to resist ,but she was super persistent. She was so kind and a great way to end our day!

Thursday was temple day!! We traveled with the elders and were able to find a bus that we could take all the way to the temple. That means that we were able to sit the whole way (about an hour ride) and sleep. We had to get up pretty early so it felt so amazing to sleep! When we finally arrived, it was beautiful. The session was awesome and after, guess who showed up to the temple grounds? Our investigator with her brother and his friend (he brother and friend are the elder's investigators). It was quite a surprise but so cool to be able to see how amazed they were with the temple grounds as well as the temple itself. The friend even commented, "You all seems much happier." Elder Higham took that opportunity to say, "Of course, we are at the temple, the temple is a happy place!" The elder then left to take them all to lunch as Sister Bagley and I went with a few other missionaries to play soccer.

When we arrived at the field, the 부평 (BooPung) ward's young men were waiting to join a game with us. Sister Bagley and the elders had a blast playing, but I decided to sit out with Elder Gibbons. He is a new missionary and not able to do sports or workout due to a prior injury three years before. He is such a solid guy, older than your average elder (24), but he prepared nonetheless to serve The Lord. We talked all about his injury and current diet- he educated me a lot on what's healthy and what isn't. I'll sum it up and say- NOTHING IS HEALTHY ANYMORE! Haha nothing makes sense, but anyway it was a fun conversation. After soccer we grabbed a late lunch then Sister Bagley and I went home. We didn't have much time to spare so we just went home for Sister Bagley to rinse off before our only appointment for the evening with 이두례S (Sister Lee).

Our visit was so much fun!! She had just gotten home from work so we ordered some food and we practiced teaching and review the baptismal interview questions with her. Since she is a member she found it so amusing to play a hard investigator haha. It was fun and she was so patient with us. I learned a lot and really felt the spirit. After the practice lesson, we ate. It was delicious but she fed us so much! As we were preparing to leave she asked us, "Do you miss your mothers?" We of course said we did, she then smiled and said, "I'll be your Korean mother okay?" So adorable!! We agreed and hugged her as we left. I love her so much!

Friday was a bummer. After studies, we left to meet our only investigator at the chapel. I texted her earlier to confirm the appointment but just as it was supposed to start, she replied by saying, "You didn't get my text?" Apparently she decided to move to Daejeon a week early! She needed time to pack today in order to take off tomorrow. Dang it! I guess we'll just call to refer her to different sister missionaries. Since we were already at the church, we stayed and did maybe 30 minutes of weekly planning. We then went to meet up with the 계산 (GaySan) sister missionaries for an exchange. They were late which caused us to cancel a practice lesson with a member- annoying.

I left to be in Sister Watkins' area while Sister Wing went with Sister Bagley to teach both eight-year-olds in the ward preparing for baptism next week. While traveling back to 계산 the only appointment Sister Watkins had scheduled, cancelled. Instead we grabbed dinner and prepped for English class. I taught the kids class with Elder Hafen. We just played games and had a blast! Also after class ended, a few people were confused as to why I was there. I was impressed by Sister Watkins saying, "She is my leader, she is here to train me and help me become a better missionary." She is older than me (literally and also mission age) and used to be STL. I think it takes a humble person to say what she did, out loud even though she is bitter that I am STL. I complimented her on it but she brushed it off. I hope she heard me though, I really appreciated it.

Saturday didn't go exactly as planned, but it was a good day. The appointments that Sister Watkins had scheduled, all cancelled. Instead we did less-active member visits. Some weren't home, others came to the door but told us "Maybe later" but others, by a miracle, where home! One lady in particular wasn't home at first but while we were writing a note to leave, guess who shows up? The less-active woman and her daughter (김정희S) who just so happened to be in the last ward I served! We were welcomed in, ate food together, and where able to share a short message. It was great!

When we left, the exchange was coming to in end. Due to tradition, we stopped for dessert! This time it was chocolate ping su ice cream. I have promised myself that I will make ping su a thing in America when I get back. It is literally genius and delicious! When we unsplit I saw the relief in Sister Bagley's eyes. That poor girl got a little taste of what it's like to be in charge and senior companion. She was whipped! I'm so proud of her but I was happy to ease her stress again ha. To end the evening we bought some groceries and finished weekly planning. All in all it was a good day and I learned a lot from the time I had with Sister Watkins!

Sunday was a great day. Church was good, fast Sunday. In sacrament I took the opportunity to bear a small testimony. Too bad I got way nervous and blanked big time. Oh well, afterwards people complimented me and said they appreciated it, I hope that's true. When church ended, Sister Bagley and I set out to do some less-active member visits. First was 박소정S (Sister Park). She was baptized a while ago but then asked for her name to be taken off the records of the church. Today she welcomed us in and was very kind even though she said she hates prayer, church, and spiritual messages. Everyone has there own pace so for now, our goal is to become her friend. So far so good! When we left, we began walking to another house. People on the street gave us had directions but eventually I found an old grandma to walk and talk with. She got us going in the right direction and we were able to have a nice conversation. Upon finding the correct apartment complex, it was awesome timing!! I have really come to appreciate The Lord's timing this week, because as soon as we walked in the elevator I was scrabbling to find my planner with the address. But guess who was in the elevator and got off on the same floor as us? One of the less-active sisters! We had a short conversation about her day, but when we were walking towards the same door I was like, "Oh, wait a minute! Are you 정은영S?" Nailed it. She is 17 and felt way awkward, but I just tried to kill her with kindness. I received her number, because her mom was yelling from the inside saying we couldn't come in haha. Good enough for me. We delivered some letters and were off.

The sun was beginning to set and we were exhausted from walking, what we calculate to be about 10 miles. I will take my sports watch one of these days and actually track it, because maybe our calculates are dramatic. Anyway, we found a little park and broke our fast with some Korean styled twinkie things. Maybe it wasn't worth it, but our stomach were passed the point of eating themselves. It was a fun few minutes, but then we got cold so had to continue. We walked another 1,000 miles until we arrived at a members home for a dinner appointment. Even though we were a little early, we were welcomed in. This being our third visit to the house, the three kids finally warmed up to us! Maybe it was our strategy of bringing coloring books and stickers, but regardless we are all friends now. The poor baby boy was covered with stickers because his sisters and father thought it would be funny to do so. It was a blast. Dinner was yummy and our practice lesson went well too. By the time we left we it was 8:20PM... Whoops, our missionary coordinating meeting started at 8PM. When we arrived, they had just ended. I reported our stats and Sister Bagley and I walked home. Today she and I did pretty awesome about only speaking Korean outside of our apartment. By about 6PM though we had exhausted all of what we capability of talking about... I guess we'll start all over tomorrow :) It was a good end to the week.

Did anything fun happen this week? I love you all!! 사랑해요! 보고싶어요! I miss you!

사랑하는,
슬론 자매
Sister Sloan