If you stay you can have a laptop

8/4-10
Monday ended up being another PDAY spend at home haha. Sister Gapinski slept most of the day and I wrote letters. By the end of the day we exchanged with the 답동 (DapDong) sisters and I brought Sister Pratt back to 만수 (Mansu) with me. She is seriously the cutest! We spent our evening with 심하정S (Sister Shim) and her husband 이지웅B (Brother Lee). The lesson didn't really go as planned... We took too long just chatting and introducing Sister Pratt instead of just jumping in to what we had prepared. But I take full responsibility for that, because I didn't do my part to invite the spirit. I am disappointed in myself. I need to set a better example for the sisters, especially on exchange. Sigh. Anyway, one funny thing that we talked about was my release date. As Sister Shim was adding it to her calendar, Brother Lee said, "No! Show her the laptop!" Haha because a while back they told me if I stayed, I could have it. I love them.

Tuesday was bizz-ee! We prepared and studies for the day and then were off. Before our appointment at 2PM we visited a few former investigators nearby. They all have moved and the people living there don't care about our message either-bummer. Our first appointment went well! Our member, 정예림S (Sister Jeong) came and our investigator, 김영희S (Sister Kim) loved her. Sister Pratt and I introduced our purpose, the Family English Program (30 minutes gospel, 30 minutes gospel), and answered all of her questions. It was great! Sister Kim was sad to hear that Sister Pratt maybe won't have another opportunity to meet her again; it was definitely a blessing that Sister Pratt was there but I hope she will love Sister Gapinski as much as she loves Sister Pratt.

Next on our schedule was to meet up with a couple of Elders. Elder Brissette and Elder Newton shorted their release just by a few weeks for school enrollment purposes, so they have to go home this week but pretty much have free range over the mission. They both served here in 만수 Mansu and were back for the day to refer some people to us. Only one lady showed up, she was quite an old grandma and as we got to talking I recognized that Sister Gapinski and I had contacted her just a few days before. She politely told us that she wasn't interested in learning about our gospel, only learning English. I tried telling these elders but they still thought there was hope haha. The kind old woman fed us dinner at a pricey Italian restaurant. We were all grateful for her generosity but I don't think we'll have a chance to meet her again in the future.

Lastly, Sister Pratt and I said our goodbyes and ended our exchange at our beloved 이경호S (Sister Lee)'s house. She is the grandma investigator that LOVES to talk and I LOVE to listen. Maybe Sister Pratt didn't understand very well but hey, let's be honest, me either haha. We read in 3 Nephi together and gave her hugs as we left. Maybe I have mentioned before but in our last appointment with Sister Lee I had an impression that I needed to remember her face. I needed to remember her face so that I could find her in the millennium to continue teaching her then. Maybe that is a strange thought but I studied her face and she rambled today. I'm not going to loose her.

The day was essentially over as we unsplit. Sister Gapinski and I basically came straight home because there wasn't time for much else.

Wednesday was another busy day. During our companionship study, the phone rang. A man that I had met on the street the day before was calling! That never happens! He was curious if we could do the Family English Program with him and of course we said we could. But because he was a man, I asked a few extra questions to help us decide which elders to refer him to.. As I did, guess what?! He shyly asked, "Can my wife join us too?" Another family!!! Sister Gapinski and I just looked at each other with wide eyes of excitement. Our prayers were being answered and new investigators were coming out of the wood works!! We made an appointment for later today and were off to district meeting.

If our happiness wasn't enough, the meeting today ended up being super great too! It nice being in a district that cares and where all of its members want to coordinate our efforts to be as effective as possible. I almost fell out of my chair a few times because of all the ideas that were coming out of the elder's mouths. FINALLY! Haha it was great and 박동규E (Elder Park) is a fantastic district leader.

We left and meet our new investigators, 박형기B (Brother Park). His wife was being a bit shy so we needed to mostly introduce the program and our purpose to them. It turns out that he met with the missionaries like ten years ago but only after maybe 2-3 meetings he moved and lost contact. Now we are back and we are going to baptize his whole family! Or at least we'll invite them haha. The lesson was great and he seems to be pretty interested!

Next up was another exchange. We met up with 계산 sister missionaries and I brought Sister Telford to 만수 (Mansu) with me. We tried to visit a few former investigators with no luck before our member appointment at 7PM. We arrived and they asked us to share the spiritual message first and then they would take us out for dinner. I was a little disappointed because I like to talk a little first and they shared a message that is more geared towards their needs but we shared one anyway. The dad was rushing us because he was starving haha. Sigh, at least dinner was delicious.

Thursday we continued to stay busy. We taught 김영희S (Sister Kim) again. Unfortunately she missed Sister Pratt and wasn't a huge fan of Sister Telford. Oh well, our member, 김미란S (Sister Kim) came and we taught anyway. We taught her all about the restoration but she wasn't all that accepting of it. Something was a little off today and I still don't know what that was... However, I do know that we all did our part in inviting the spirit, shared scriptures, and personal experiences. Maybe next week will go better.

When the appointment ended we went to 신세계, a big shopping center, where we were supposed to be having a district activity. Of course the elders were late which left us waiting with huge posters for maybe 30 minutes. Thankfully people stopped to talk to us but still it wasn't all that productive. Once the activity began, everyone was given a sign and we began to promote that we were having an English contest. We had tongue twisters and the lyrics for the 'Frozen' movie for people to sing. It was funny. I was in charge of passing out flyers and bringing people over to participate. It was fun. By 6PM we wrapped up and Sister Gapinski showed up with 김예영S (Sister Kim- Sister Telford's companion) for us to swap back.

By 7PM Sister Gapinski and I were with 이두례S (Momma Lee) eating dinner. Just as we began to eat, her nonmember husband came home! I have only met him a couple of times but he joined us for dinner and we were able to have a nice conversation. He was sad to hear about me leaving soon so we arranged for us to have another dinner appointment on my birthday with whatever food I wanted haha. He is too kind. Sister Gapinski and I tried to make him laugh and his wall fell pretty quickly. We know that Momma Lee struggles with the fact that she comes to church alone and her husband is never around so we tried to keep his attention so maybe he would stay with her when we left. It failed but anyway we had fun. Since he left to play golf, she still came with us to teach our recent convert, 정현지S (HyonChee).

Once we arrived, HyonChee's little sister and father wanted to join us! Score! We scheduled to talk about the steps of Jesus Christ's gospel but we were a little sidetrack as we followed up about following the word of wisdom. HyonChee's face flushed as she fought back to what she drank just before we came over, iced tea. Let's be honest, it's not the end of the world if you drink it but we have been taught not to do so. She has faith that God gave that commandment in wisdom but sometimes she forgets when her mom serves her meals. Poor girl felt so bad and her dad scolded her. We taught about faith, repentance, and the covenants at baptisms and the renewal as we partake of the sacrament. It was a perfect lesson. When it came time for the closing prayer, we asked HyonChee to choose who should say it. She of course picked on her little sister but her little sister was not enthused by the idea. Instead of acknowledging that her sister was taking to her she was playing dead on the floor... She is 12. Anyway, after some back and forth with her father, Momma Lee said, "Whoever prayers receives blessings!" HyonChee immediately folded her arms and started praying haha. It was UH- dorable. She even repented for drinking iced tea right then and there. She is probably the best human I have ever met. I love her.

Friday was HOT!! The sun was blazing the humidity didn't do us any favors. We started our day with 김보희S (Sister Kim). She is probably one of our favorite ward members and today we went over for a practice lesson. Lately we have been focusing on answering questions of the soul with the Book of Mormon so we asked her to think of one and we would try to answer it. She has been watching the news lately and is pretty distraught about the war in Israel. She knows that God has a plan for his children but it sad to see and hear about innocent men, woman, and children dying. We did our best and it was a super spiritual lesson! She was grateful and so were we.

Next, we made our way to a park were we planned to have a sisters zone activity next week. It is a park called 소래습지생태공원 and it is a wetland-fish town place. It's pretty cool! The government rents free bikes too but when we checked, but apparently they are close on Mondays. LAME! We walked about the park and talked to people as we tried to find other solutions for the sisters activity that we had already scheduled haha. Before we left the area we visited a few former investigators with no success yet. It was a little ways from our house so by the time we got home, the rest of the day was spent doing weekly planning. It was a super productive meeting! I made a goal to leave this area with 10 investigators before I left and we are well on our way!! :)

Saturday for lunch we had an appointment with a less-active member, 박미영S (Sister Park). We were just expecting to meet her at her house but when we arrived she quickly shooed us into her car. She took us to a SUPER expensive restaurant! Sister Gapinski and I felt bad pretty much the whole time but we showed her our gratitude. We could definitely tell that she was not at a happy point in her life. Her little six year old daughter is off the wall crazy and Sister Park just has to chase her around to keep her in line. We weren't of much help but we tried to share a spiritual thought to help her. From her initial reaction, we don't know how much good we did... Before dropping us at home she made is stop by Baskin Robins for dessert. Again, we were grateful but we would have preferred to help her feel the spirit- in both restaurants that was next to impossible with all of the chaos going on. The rest of he day was finding former investigators and English was somewhere in there too. Nothing too noteworthy happened.

Sunday was an interesting day. Church was good! I was actually pretty proud of myself because I understood the whole lesson taught in relief society. Maybe it's lame that I am far from fluent in Korean but at least I can say that I'm getting there. Plus gospel vocabulary is where I've set my priorities, so church is my gauge of how far I've come. Oh! Also during sacrament meeting I sat next to HyonChee and as the sacrament was being passed she leaned over and whispered, "Sloan, I repented everyday about drinking iced tea and I'm about to repent again." *as she pointed to the sacrament. It was probably the cutest things she could have ever done. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to teach her. She is my favorite!

After church we had our normal meal- YUM! A member made spaghetti but can I just tell you what makes spaghetti UH-MAZING? 고추장 sauce. I'm sorry mom, I know you have a great spaghetti sauce but get ready for a little competition hehe.

Once we were happily full and the church was clean, Sister Gapinski and I set out to proselyte at 인천대공원 (Incheon Big Park). It was Sunny when we left but not long after we arrived it began to sprinkle. The sprinkle quickly turned into full on rain so we ducked under a gazebo to wait out the rain. It proved to be productive because we weren't the only fools without umbrellas. We had a couple of great conversations and the decided to tough out the rain when it turned back into a misty sprinkle. Maybe 20 minutes later it felt like a hurricane was coming through. We began to run as we desperately looked for shelter. We joined a swarm of grandmas in another gazebo where they welcomed us with towels to dry off. We were so grateful for them. Again, we decided to wait it out but time was not in side... Our options were running out so this time we decided to take a run for the bus stop. In short, we were SOAKED! By the time we got home we had time to rinse off all the mud, change, and head to the church for our missionary coordination meeting.

Upon our arrival, we looked pathetic to say the least. Our hair was soaked and our bodies shivering. Our ward mission leader brought his wife today and she was SO concerned for us haha. She demanded us to go home, take medicine, and sleep for the rest of the night. We smiled and says we would do what we could. The meeting was productive and the rest of the evening was too. We ate dinner and did call backs until bed. The weather is bazaar nowadays but hey, I'm grateful for the opportunity to wear a sweatshirt tonight. Oh how I've missed the comfort of a soft sweatshirt.

I love you all! Have a great week!
Sister Sloan
슬론 자매

Exchange with Sister Telford - this is at our English contest district meeting.  Isn't YoonGyong cute?

Nom~

I've never classified my hair as 'curly' before...but Korea has changed things.

We are bored as...

Thanks Darrin~

Just putting my laundry away.  Have I ever told you how much we miss dryers that make our laundry fluffy?  Well, my towel is stiff and is still holding the shape of the rack it dried on.

This is a cicada...they come every summer and are solo loud!

Pouring rain!!! Bad day not to bring an umbrella...