Sister! They are progressing!

So I've decided I've had more exciting weeks than the one I just had. I don't mean to bore you but missionary work is pretty repetitive. I've been able to meet all kinds of fascinating and fun people, but for the most part the lessons and all the teaching we do is monotonous. I'm loving it, but just a heads up if you start falling asleep as you read haha.

Monday, was a fail for a P-Day. I really wanted to go somewhere cool so I recommended a hike. Our zone leader, Elder Sohn organized it so I was expecting a good time since he put in a lot of thought and effort. It took a long train ride to arrive at our destination and when we did I was excited to see where we were going. Turns out the mountain was more of a hill and the trail was small and lined with useless exercise equipment haha. Let me explain... one piece of "equipment" was a pole that stood about 7 feet high, mounded on it was a arch with handles dangling on either  side. The "proper" way to use it was to place both hands on either handle and one at a time pull your arm towards your waist. The movement of pulling of one arm down, pulled the other up. It literally flexed 0% of the muscles on your body. I watched as a few old men went to town on it and were grunting as if they were actually getting a work out from it... Anyway it was funny watching all the missionaries play around on all of the "machines" but it wasn't the day I had imagined. After our hour stroll up this hill we passed a park on our way back to the subway. There were a ton of fountains shooting water out from the ground. Most of the missionaries ripped off their shoes and threw their bags aside as they ran into the water to cool off.

It is starting to feel a lot like summer here in Korea. June is just the start of all the heat that is to come. July and August are said to be brutal... Stay tuned to see if I survive haha.

Soon it was time for everyone to return back to their assigned areas. My companion and I had a couple visits scheduled.  They all fell threw at the last minute. To say the least, I'd rather not talk about how unproductive Monday was. I had some fun, but I was bummed when the whole day went by almost wasted. I don't plan to initiate anymore zone-wide activities. I would rather stay near by my apartment and enjoy what there is around us in 수원 (Suwon).

Tuesday was another hot day... Get used to hearing that haha. District meeting was followed by individual interviews with President Furniss. Since transfers are coming up, he wanted to check up on all of the companionships and each individual. Mine went well. No new information was given in regards to what mission I will be in. Two more Mondays until we will get transfer calls! A couple appointments followed the interviews and they all happened to all be on opposite sides of town!

The public transportation system here is unreal. It is reliable and goes everywhere! It makes it easy to get around, but it's unfortunate that most of my monthly money is spent on my bus card. Anyway, it was fairly easy to get to each appointment, it just took a little while since things are spread out. Two of the appointments were both 30/30 lessons. First, was with the same son and mother we taught last week (on Saturday). The 30 minutes of English went really well. He had completed the assignment I gave him and did an awesome job! His English is really good, the only errors I found were punctuation, but he mostly wants to improve his speaking so it doesn't matter that much. Next, we practiced reading the paper he wrote, out loud.  As most Americans know, Koreans have a difficult time pronouncing the 'R' and 'L' noises. This is because in their alphabet they have the 'ㄹ' that makes a noise that is a combination of both letters. We spent the better part of the lesson practice those noises in different words. It was pretty funny, but he did great despite his frustration. When we moved on to the lesson it went SO WELL! Guess what?! They read the introduction to the Book of Mormon like we asked them and they were prepared to discuss it. Do you know what that means?!?!? They are progressing!! It was fun talking about it, because they were so engaged.

Oh! Quick side note!! How could I forget. On Sunday when my district went to Central Park to 전도, the elders ran into and later introduced us to the husband/father of this family. He told us that both his son and wife were very pleased with everything we taught them. He told us to take good care of them. I thought to myself, of course we will! We'll even help them obtain eternal salvation- how's that for taking care of someone haha.

Anyway, that was a little irreverent, but this work is so exciting. Once our lesson concluded 윤 자매님 and I ran down the stairs of the apartment complex with huge smiles on our faces. As soon as we were out of the building 윤 자매님 started jumping up and down saying, "Sister! They are progressing!" over and over. It was a happy moment that even the heat couldn't ruin. As we walked away we decided we were hungry. Busy streets here are always lined with vendors selling clothes and food for super cheap. There are also these shack-like buildings that are the size of garden sheds that are 'stand up' eating place. They make the food and you stand at the counter as you eat. I thought it was odd, but it was yummy and it only cost me 2,500 ₩ ($2.50) for so much food that I couldn't even finish. We ate quickly so we could catch another bus to our next appointment on the other side of town.

We arrived early and so did our investigator. We were able to start our second 30/30 lesson of the day. At our previous appointment she had print out an article for us to read so that we could discuss it (in English) for practice. It was a weird article, but she had so many opinions to share. I contributed a few comments, but for the most part she dominated the conversation. She is so good at English! I have yet to meet a Korean that believes me when I compliment them on that haha. Next our gospel message. We continued to talk about prophets and Christ earthly ministry. By the end, I shared a story of when we lived in Ohio (now that I think about it, we may have been visiting my grandma and grandpa Allen in Virginia… Not sure). I remember my family was playing in the snow and it was pretty deep. I was having a hard time walking. My dad, being the most thoughtful dad in the world, went ahead of me to place holes in the deep snow for me then to step in. in doing so, I was able to walk through the snow. It was a simple analogy of following the example of someone we look up to and trust. 

We then read Matthew 3:13-17 and Mosiah 18:8-10. Before I was able to extend a baptismal commitment, she blocked me. She was polite and said she respects us and our message, but is just there to learn. She wasn't ready for a commitment quite yet. And that's okay. She told us that when she became catholic she was given the saint Margaret. This saint is a very giving person and an example of a great wife and mother. She hopes to take after this woman and I think that is awesome! We wrapped up and had to head back home because it was nearing 9PM. Even though it didn't go as we had planned, I was still happy. The spirit was present and I remember the words of encouragement that 윤 자매님 offered me my first few days; no planted seed is wasted. One day I know this investigator will recognize the spirit and listen to what it is testifying to her. She has the right idea about following positive examples, we just need to help her recognize the significance of Jesus Christ. Overall it was a great day. 

On Wednesday, MLC (missionary leader conference) was held. 윤 자매님 is the sister coordinating leader for our zone so she was required to attended. For me, that meant I would be on splits all day serving in Daejeon. It was an early morning in order to catch our train at 7AM. Upon arrival to the train station, by bus, we literally ran to purchase tickets and ran again to jump on the train. As we ran down the stairs to the platform we both tried to read all of the signs but were running out of time. We jumped on the closest train hoping it was going in the right direction just as the doors closed. It was stressful, but we soon discovered we were on the right train haha. We found our seats and I slept most of the train ride. Normally we would 전도 but since it was so early, everyone else was sleeping so trying to talk to people would be useless. When we arrived in Daejeon, we were early. We took a detour to an underground shopping center (looks like the black market in LA) to see if it was worth stopping by when we had more time. Turns out it looks promising to find some real gems.

We took a taxi to the mission home where I met the two sisters I would be on splits with while my companion was in meetings/training all day. Their names are Sister King (from Valencia, CA) and 이지우 자매님 (Sister Lee from Busan area of Korea but has been living in New Zealand so she has a bit of an accent when she speaks--It's really cool). When we split, it was my first time in a threesome. Nothing was really planned so we just tried to visit a few members. In between those apartments we would go door to door and 전도. It wasn't effective since it as the middle if the week and the middle if the day (everyone is at work). We had some fun though despite the ridiculous heat.

By 4PM we unsplit and 윤 자매님 and I headed home. I swear every time we have to catch a train we are always running to make it on time. We had to hurry back for English class. This week I have my own class! A member suggested I read and explain the chapter book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. A few moms and a bunch of kids showed up. They followed along as I read the first chapter. We went over words and phrases that were confusing. 윤 자매님 and I acted the whole thing out with puppets and props to help them understand. It was a lot of fun! A member brought ice cream and chocopies (korean treat) to share. NUM! Great way to end the day.

Thursday was a holiday like Memorial Day in the United States. It's called 현충일 which is a day to remember the Korean War. The ward had an all day hike planned but we didn't have an investigator that was available to go. Instead we planned to visit and drop off banana bread that we had made to a few families that we knew wouldn't participate in the hike. One of which being my Korean mother, 이정속S (the sister that we made kimchee with). She frequently has us over and I love her so much. Today I told her that I would address her as 아마 (mom) from now on. She laughed and smiled as she yelled into the other room to her husband, "we have two new daughters!" They laughed and she texted her son (29 years old) to tell him the news with a picture of us. He laughed and was excited that there were finally sisters serving in that area. All in all it was a lot of fun, as usual. I learned a lot about food such as how to make Korean pancakes. She was in the process of making them when we showed up. We were taught how to make them and then expected to make them until the batter was gone. I'm going to have her write all of her recipes down so I can make this food when I'm back in the states. She is so talented when it come to cooking! She single handedly made me fall in love with all Korean food... especially her homemade kimchee! This is quite a task to take on but she did it and I'm very grateful.

Friday, a Trainer and Trainee (TNT) meeting was held at the mission home. Again, we had to wake up early and run to catch a train to Daejeon. This time was a little more exciting because Elder Cho frantically called us from his train. He had left one of his bags in the train terminal haha. We were sent to find it, we did but at the expense of me having to hang out of the train door (that was trying to close) while my companion ran to retrieve the dumb bag. We didn't hold the train up for too long but it was a stressful few moments haha.

Upon arrive, I was able to have a sweet reunion with most of my MTC district and some missionaries from my MTC zone. I wanted so bad to give everyone hugs but I refrained and just hugged the other sister missionaries. A few times I would jokingly stretch my arms out in from of me, close my eyes (with squinty Asian eyes), and walked towards my favorite elders- I was only pretending to give them hugs but they would flinch and dodge out of the way haha. I love them so much!! I made Elder Graf (the one whose camera I always stole) sit next to me all day because he is my favorite by far. ^^ The rest of my district was near by too so it made for a good day.

After the meetings were over we took our time saying our goodbyes. It was really sad. This might be the last  time I see these friends if I stay in Suwon and switch to the new Seoul South mission. The uncertainty made the goodbyes a little more bitter.

I was bummed to leave but it was inevitable. On our way to the train station we stopped by the underground shopping center to pick up a few shirts that would be more suitable for this humid summer weather. Clothes are so cheat! I only took 20,000 ₩ ($20.00) and I got 4 shirts and 할머니 (grandma) pants. They are so awesome!! As we boarded the train we ran into Elders Cho and Sorensen. We all unfortunately purchased tickets too late to reserve a seat. Instead we found a spot on the floor in the 'cafe' in one of the cars. It was carpeted so it was more comfortable that sitting on the stairs like I've done in the past. Elder Sorensen and I talked as both of the Koreans slept. We discussed language study ideas and exchanged stories about our various investigators. He's a good missionary. Also it is so fun being able to serve with someone from my 동기 (my group from the MTC- 동 literally means same and 기 means period... So people that start something in the same period of time as you). I'm grateful to be serving with him. The train ride flew by and before we knew it 2 hours had passed and we arrived at our stop. Our companionships said goodbye for the night and 윤 자매님 and we got home just in time for our daily planning. It was a nice relaxing day.

Saturday our schedule was back to normal. We ran about two miles before getting ready for the day. We had  three appointments to teach lessons throughout the day. All of them follow the 30/30 program. The first was with the sister that blocked my baptismal commitment the other day. She had accidentally slept in and was late. Our bus ran late too so it worked out. We had planned to watch the church DVD, 'The Restoration' with her but instead we just talking about prophets and the Joseph Smith story. We challenged her to read a chapter a day in the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true. She accepted. It was a nice relaxed meeting and the spirit was definitely present. A member came with us (the relief society president) and she testified of finding answers through sincere prayer. She really helped contribute to the lesson and the spirit. When we ended it was time to head to our next appointment with the mother and son. To our surprise the mother had picked up a huge pizza for us! I was so grateful because I was starving!! I ate two slices and was very satisfied but then the mother invited me to have another... And I did ^^ I love pizza. The English and gospel lessons went really well. They continue to progress!! We taught about Joseph Smith and the first vision he had. The mother was especially touched and said that she feels peace when she reads the scriptures. We asked them to read Nephi 32 in preparation for the next meeting where we will be discussing the spirit. I love teaching them- they are always so engaged and seem to be sincerely interested.

Our last appointment was a little disappointing. She is an atheist, but is very interested in learning about our religion (she started meeting with the missionaries ten years ago, stopped due to lack of sister missionaries and started again last week since sisters are back). Today she seemed disinterested and a little dismissive about the things we were sharing. We taught about the plan of salvation and invited her to read the 32 chapter of Alma before we met again. Despite her different beliefs she was open to reading. Hopefully things will go better next week. 

We caught up on our study and planning time since we missed it this morning and yesterday. For the evening we 전도ed until 9PM. The heat is really starting to take a toll on my energy throughout the day. I'd like to say that I'm exhausted every night because I'm working hard (which I am) but I really do think the humidity will be the death of me.

Sunday was a great day. Earlier this week when we were rushing to an appointment 윤 자매님 was speed walking way ahead of me. As I was trying to catch up I was cut off by a man in his 40's holding his daughters hand.  They both appeared to be American until they spoke-they were definitely German. He pointed to my name tag and said, "What's your address?" I was a little confused and he clarified by saying, "What is the address for your  church? I want to come to a service." I didn't know the Korean address so instead I asked for his number but he didn't have an international number yet so instead I gave him the cell phone number that 윤 자매님 and I have. I  told him to call us later that evening and I promised that I would figure it out what the address was in order to  give it to him. He thanked me and told me that he travels a lot and sees our church everywhere- he has been  pleased with what he has seen and wanted to know more. That night he called and guess what? He showed up to church today!! He sat through sacrament meeting with 윤 자매님 translating. After he asked if we could step into a room to answer some questions he had. He was mostly curious about our basic beliefs. We grabbed a member from the ward (originally from New Zealand) to teach with us. He taught the whole first lesson, singlehandedly in like 5 minutes! I was very impressed and the investigator was interested and engaged. He asked if it would be alright if he came next Sunday too. Of course we said yes. Next he asked if we could end with a prayer and if he could offer it... I was blown away. It was so fun teaching in English. He seems so solid! This week we plan to meet his whole family and invite all of them to come out to church. We'll see what happens!! ^^

When church ended we had an appointment with the kids that we set baptismal dates with. We taught the first lesson about Joseph Smith and the restoration. We played a game with them and watched the restoration video.  They are the cutest kids and the mother loves how excited they get when we teach. It was a good lesson. For  the remainder of the day we 전도ed. Spoke to over 120 people... Most people could careless about what we had to say but we were able to get three cell phone numbers and we gave away a Book of Mormon. Overall it was a happy day.

Plans for today (Monday) are still up in the air. Overall I have seen a lot of success as well as disappointments this week. I'm managing to stay happy and positive. I accredit it all to the missionaries I work with as well as the amazing ward I am in. I see miracles on a daily basis and I am so grateful to feel God's hand in my life.  Transfers are coming up and next week. Next Monday I will know if am leaving or staying in the new Seoul South Mission. I really hope to stay, I love it here. Speaking of love... I love you all!! I thank my Father in Heaven everyday for the love and support that I have from all of my family and friends. You are all the best ^^

사랑해요!!
슬론 자매

We don't have a full length mirror so I took seelfy.  I love the skirt you bought me mama and I'm also wearing one of the scarfs from Meghan Stewart.

Check out all of the new tagzz

Korean are really good at making every sport look so intense.  This is just at a community park.

Hanging out by the shaded dumpsters.  It was a really nice couch we wanted to take home.

On to the next one!

Korean pancake

With Squid!

It was fun to see Sisters Stradling and Hilton at the Trainer/Trainee meeting.

Grandma pants!

Following my companion can be very confusing.

Accidentally forgot my name tag.  We are both Sister Yoon today.

Look what I did all by myself!

My hair and humidity, not normal. I'm not used to my hair being wavy, but I'm starting to like it.

A lot of people bring their bikes on the subway.  They roll their bikes along the side.

I'm an alien!

We want to be here, we love you!

Monday was a very rainy pday. Did you know that the rain here is acid rain because of all the pollution? Yummy huh haha! Today we met at a chapel in Seoul to play sports and games with the surrounding missionaries. People mostly played basketball and ping pong. I decided to write letters and socialized instead. Guess who showed up?! Elder Light from the MTC! Remember, he was my favorite missionary in the group that left right before mine? It was fun swapping stories and catching up. Before we knew it, it was time to leave.

The AP's were on splits with our elders so we all went out to lunch. The food was yummy as usual. After lunch we got on a bus. It was packed and just before boarding Elder Arnett challenged me to 전도 by myself! I told him, "absolutely not!" But guess what? A young girl, probably in her first year of high school stood next to me. Once I saw her, I looked at Elder Arnett (who was smiling at me like an idiot), sighed, and started talking. Turns out I know more than I give myself credit for. I didn't have much time before our stop so I introduced myself, introduced a short message, and gave her a pamphlet. Elder Arnett greeted me with an huge obnoxious smile as I walked off the bus. He was waiting for me to tell him all about it but instead of saying anything I flashed him a cheesy smile with asian eyes and through my teeth said thank you. We both laughed and dropped it.

We quickly stopped by the elders apartment so they could change into missionary clothes (윤 자매님 and I never changed since we didn't play sports at the chapel). Once they were changed, we followed them to a less active members apartment. They informed us that she was recently divorced, lives alone, and when they went to visit her the day previous she was drunk. Since they could not go in, they 소개ed (introduced/referred) her to us. As we knocked, she eventually answered. It was very apparent that she was drunk again. Not only did it smell like alcohol, but she also resorted to talking to us in the famous Koran 'kimchee squat' (google it) as we stood outside her door. She invited us sisters in and the elders left. Her apartment is literally one room with a tiny bathroom. Her bed (which was just a heated blanket) was laid out on the floor (that literally took up the entire floor). She immediately collapsed and appeared to be falling asleep. 윤 자매님 was very sweet to her and was scratching her back as she asked her questions about what was going on. The responses were short, quiet, and slurred. I didn't understand anything, but I did feel the pain she was feeling. Eventually she sat up and asked us to run to the gas station to pick up some water. We did. When we returned she told us that it had been over a week since she had left her apartment. We offered to take her out to eat some delicious food, but in her drunken state she hated the idea. We didn't stay too much longer, because she seemed so exhausted. As we stood up to leave she kept apologizing for wasting our time. I didn't want her to think that she was a burden so I knelt back down in my knees, looked her in the eyes, and said, "we want to be here, we love you." She teared up a little, smiled, and thanked me. 윤 자매님 knelt down to my left, raised her left arm above her head and signaled for me to raise my right arm to create a heart with us in the middle. Haha it was cute and it made the sister smile. We left quietly and headed home in the rain.

For the first time since being here I had felt sincere love for a complete stranger. Of course I have come to love the members in the ward but the difference is that I was at least able to have a conversation with them. With this sister, I knew nothing except that she was having a hard time. That's all I needed to know and I just wanted to do what I could in that moment. She was in so much pain and 윤 자매님 and I just wanted to help her feel loved again. We plan to go back next week to finally take her out for some delicious food.

Tuesday started with district meeting. We always begin with a quick lunch at Toy 김밥. After we ate, we went to the chapel for our meeting. Elder Cho went over stats and had us watch the conference talk, "I'm a Mormon. I know it, I live it, I love it!" by Sister Dibb. Before watching I was assigned to give a thought about the section, 'I live it.' In the talk she specifically says that we need to be doers. Like yesterday when Elder Arnett was encouraging me to just start talking to people- I thought, I know plenty of Korean to have a simple conversation so I need to use what I know and do what I came here to do. When it came my time to share my thought, I did and after saying it out loud, I felt pretty pumped to just go and talk to more people. Overall, I thought the meeting was pretty motivational.

When it ended 윤 자매님 and I had a few errands to run. As we went around town, we 전도ed. The first girl we talked to was surprisingly so open and respective to our message! She mentioned that the other day she decided to start looking for a church to join, so she was excited to give us her number so that she could learn more. It felt good to finally have someone listen and even be excited about setting an appointment.

After errands were over we head to our first appointment with 김지혜  (the 11 year old). JUST as we walked up to her apartment building we got a text saying her dad didn't want her to meet with us. Apparently he had talked to a preacher or two and they didn't have very nice things to say about the Mormon church. She was walking home from school with a few friends so they came over to talk to us. 윤 자매님 asked if she could call her dad to try and clear up some of what he heard. As she talked, I played games with all of the girls. It was fun. After my companion got off the phone, the father had concluded that he couldn't make these assumptions about The Book of Mormon without reading it. His daughter, 김지혜 asked if we would mark our favorite scriptures before we gave her a copy. We did and one of her cute friends wanted one too. I marked a few scriptures in one and 윤자매님 marked some in the other. I hope everything works out. We ended with our simple testimonies and a prayer together. As we parted ways I felt pretty sad. I am rejected all day long but this time it hurt. Hopefully we'll be able to teach her and her dad again soon.

Our next appointment was a 소개 (referral/introduction) from the Elders. The Elders couldn't find a priesthood holder to come with them so instead they introduced us to the lady and had to leave. This lady is purely interested in English but is very accepting of all other churches and curious to learn more about them. Since this was just an introduction we just freely talked in English to get to know each other. Her speaking ability is awesome! I was very impressed. While we were talking she brought up a lot of questions about our lifestyle as missionaries and as members of this church in general. She also gave us the opportunity to talk about how we became members and why we are serving as missionaries. It was awesome bearing my testimony in English, it's so much easier!! Haha. Last, we set another time to meet and headed home... (An hour bus ride wah) so on our way to the bus station we grabbed some KFC for dinner. It was a good way to end a cold and rainy day.

Wednesday was interesting. Since my companion is the Sister Coordinating Leader, she has to go on splits with all of the sisters in this district. Today was the first of four that will take place this transfer. A split means that she spends at least 24 hours with a sister from a different companionship. So for me that means I'm living out of my suitcase again... ugh I can't catch a break. Anyway, today I served with Sister Hendricks. It was so great! She is from Idaho and so funny! It's pretty neat because 윤 자매님 was her trainer too. Sister Hendricks kept telling me to take advantage of her while I can because her other companions have been tough and 윤 자매님 is amazing. Also, she has only been here for 5 months and her Korean is awesome. She gets along with the people really well because of how much she loves them and Korea in general- she is proof that if you love the people, they will love you and be open to helping and listening to you. Simple lesson but it was much needed. So today we taught a lesson, had English class (we shared a spiritual thought at the end about Joseph Smith and the first vision), and 전도ed. I learned a lot from her and how to study and be consistent with the language. I get along with her really well so we had a good day together. Oh! Did I mention we went to Baskin Robins to make the split fun and we got it for free! (probably because we are Americans and we spoke Korean- the lady working was so impressed haha) It was great. I love her.

Thursday we woke up, did a quick workout, and got ready. After an hour of personal and language study, it was time to meet up with our companions to "unsplit" haha. The bus went by fast. Once I was back with 윤 자매님, we ran some errands then went back to our house to finish study time and planning. By 1PM we were in the other side of town for a lunch appointment with a member. She is so cute! Her and her husband had us over for dinner my second day here in 곡반정. This time it was only her and she prepared all kinds of food- including a squid kimchee. Tasty right? It was okay once I got over the texture of the millions if suction cups in my mouth. While we ate she told us all about her childhood. It turns out that she was born when the Korean War began. Her father was one of thousands that died fighting. It was a very sad story. She literally grew up with dirt floors and no food. She didn't even finish elementary school because her family needed her to work (even though she is the youngest after two older sisters and two other brothers). Despite all of the hard times she endured, she assured us that she is living her happy ending; her and all of her siblings are living comfortably with happy families. She is one tough lady and a very devoted member of the church! When it came time for us to share a message, I felt a little inadequate haha. How do you teach someone like her? We taught her anyway and she loved it. She told me over and over how pretty I was. I am pretty bashful here when all of the old ladies touch my cheeks and hair because it is not only a compliment but it also means that they like me and think highly of me (if its repeated). It's an honor to have her think highly of me because she is amazing! Anyway on our way out she gave up like 20 nail sticker kits. Haha I thought it was so cute. I ooo'ed and ahh'ed and told her wow, now I'm going to be pretty forever! She laughed and gave me a big hug. I love 김경지!!

We tried to visit some less actives that lived near by but no on was home. We left some cute notes with scriptures and headed home. On our way we picked up a package from my family!! and one from the mission home (we finally have pillows and a DVD player to watch 'The District' as part of my training). Also on our way to our apartment we stopped at our neighbors door (they have 5 kids!) we asked to borrow some measuring cups. (We very well could have bought some but we instead wanted to get to know them to maybe potentially teach them or invite them to our English class haha) they were very giving and we promised to get them back ASAP. With the measuring things 윤 자매님 and I made banana bread, following my mothers delicious recipe. It took a while but it was fun. Side note: of all the appliances in our apartment the weirdest is the microwave/oven... I was a little skeptical about baking in a microwave... Wouldn't you be? Turns out, it works okay- not awesome but okay. We had fun baking and talking. Time got away from us and we went to bed about 11PM (typically we are sleeping by 10:30). It was a lot of fun.

Friday started on a good note. We got up and worked out for the full time allotted. While I was running my normal laps around the park by our apartment, there was a lady with her dog. It was a corky- it reminded me of Chelsea Kantaris and her dog Cujo... No idea how to spell it but I tried haha. Anyway he started running alongside me. I didn't want him to leave his owners sight so I started zigzagging around to confuse/play with him. He thought it was fun until his owner wanted to play. She tried getting the dogs attention and copying me- obviously it wasn't as cool so he wouldn't leave me. I felt a little bad but hey, sorry I'm more fun #sorrynotsorry haha. Eventually she distracted him long enough so that I could finish my laps around the park. It was fun.

Once 윤자매님 and I showered and studied, we were able to prepare for the appointments we had for the day. The first was with a catholic lady. We teach her 30/30. Her interest mostly stems from English but she is also full of good questions. We planned to teach her the first lesson and invite her to be baptized but instead she had so many questions that we only discussed prophets and a little bit about Christ and his earthly ministry. It was a bummer because I had memorized and was prepared to extend the invitation but it didn't work out this time. Maybe next week (we meet with her twice a week).

Our next appointment was scheduled to be in our chapel. We waited for an hour but they never showed. While we waited I read and my companion fell asleep as she read haha. By 5:30PM we were supposed to meet a member at the near by bus station. Before we met her we sat down for some dinner. I'm not totally sure why we were meeting but we went to a 'rose festival' with her. I still couldn't tell you the reason of going because she sat down to make a flower arrangement at a booth and sent us away to eat and socialize. It was awkward. We wandered, started some conversations with a few teenagers, and before we knew it- it was time to leave. Instead of going straight home, the sister insisted on us coming to her house so she could feed us dessert (fruit) and give us food. Naturally we didn't refuse haha. She gave us pots, pans, mixing bowls, and a bunch of food. So generous! I know for a fact that no missionary called to Korea will ever starve or go without because the members and people in general will literally give the clothes off their backs if they think you need them. There is an amazing humility and willingness to give here.

Saturday started like any other- running and getting ready. We had three appointments scheduled so we planned for all of our lessons then head out the door to tackle the day. The first appointment was with a mother and her son in their home. It was the first time meeting so we got to know each other then started our 30/30 lesson approach. Their English was awesome so it made conversation easy. The son is 15 (Korean age) and is teaching himself English- very impressive. He has a shy personality but also had a very respectable and loyal feeling about him. I admire him a lot and his mother is very proud. When we moved on to the lesson we discussed the 'how to begin teaching' portion of PMG. They were interactive throughout the whole lesson. The son especially was quick to agree and accept what we were saying. Finally it was almost over and I invited them to be baptized. The spirit was strong and what made it even more awesome was that I didn't use any notes! I was looking both of them in the eyes as I posed the question. Immediately following the question the son said, "Yes!" The mother was hesitant but the son was persistent in said, "come on mom, say yes! It sounds like a good thing." Haha it was cute. Unfortunately we weren't able to set a date to work towards but instead we gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon. As the meeting concluded we asked the son to say the closing prayer. He didn't know how so we briefly taught him and he did awesome! It is pretty cool to be part of these lessons where people learn so much and are so accepting and love the message. Hopefully the mom will be able to read and pray like we invited her to do.

Next we head to an appointment with the bishops son and his girlfriend. She is a nonmember and semi interested in the church (maybe just her boyfriend though). We met at a park to play badminton... It was okay. We weren't able to share a message because she had to run off to a tutor sooner than we expected.

Next we headed home to eat lunch and prep for our next appointment. This was a last minute referral from our elders. We planned to BRT (build relationships of trust) and understand her religious background. After meeting her, she took us to her favorite coffee shop and bought us smoothies. So nice! She is a fascinating lady. Very open, loving, and respectful. She made it clear that she was mostly interested in practicing her English with me and not so much our message. However she had some awesome questions about the meaning of life and such. It was a great conversation (which all happened to revolve around religion). I was feeling the spirit pretty strong. A few times I just blurted out some things without any forethought. Hopefully it was applicable to what was being discussed, I think it was... Soon it was time to go and we set our next appointment and parted ways.

It turns out our next appointment punked us so we just head home for dinner and study time. Not much else happened.

Fast Sunday was a fantastic day! It started earlier than most... 5AM to be specific. Our ward mission leader asked all of the missionaries to meet at the chapel at 6AM. Upon arrival he asked all of the foreigners (Elder Arnett, Sorensen, and me) to share a five minute testimony in our native language. Between each testimony he had selected hymns to sing. The spirit was strong. When my turn came I spoke about how I am constantly amazed of the perfect plan that God has prepared for us. I spoke about the tools we are given and how they have helped me to become the person that I am today. I related our lives to being on an escalator... If we are walking up an escalator that is moving the opposite way- it symbolizes our progression. We have so many things against us, that is represented by the escalator moving the opposite way that we are moving. As soon as we stop moving forward or progressing and learning, we are automatically moving backwards. I testified that when I have struggled in my life, I don't just decide one day that I want to be a different person. Instead it happens very gradually as I stop doing the things I know I am supposed to such as praying and reading my scriptures. I testified of the atonement and shared the following scripture:

"Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts." (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi, 2 Nephi 28:32).

This scripture is a promise that God will always be there for us even in his anger towards us or disappointment in us. We will always be His children. He will always want to help us succeed.

It was an awesome meeting. We ended with a prayer by each of the Korean missionaries (since each companionship was praying for something specific). After we started our normal meeting with him discussing our investigators and recent converts. It was in Korean so I don't have anything to report haha.

By 10AM it was time for church. Testimonies were awesome! (윤 자매님 translates for me) In the other meetings I just played with the kids that were distracting their parents. Since I don't understand anyway, I figure it's the least I could do to help. I was prepared with coloring books and cars. It was a lot of fun. The kids here are SO CUTE!

When church ended 윤 자매님 and I had an appointment with a member and her three kids. This is the family where their oldest are over the age of 8 so they have to opportunity to be baptized. We talked to them about prayer in a fun way then talked about how we want to follow Jesus Christ. Again, I was able to extend the invitation for them to be baptized. They said yes!! The mom looked very proud. Next we set a date (6/19)! To close the meeting we asked the son that barely turned 8 to pray. He did so great. Even though these kids are so young, the spirit was strong and it was a happy way to end a day at church.

Next, all of the missionaries gathered hopped on a bus to Central Park where we had planned to 전도. My companion and I talked to over 100 people. Guess how many people were interested? Zero :( On our way to the bus station to head home, we ran into a member. Him and his kids insisted that we sit down and eat some watermelon with them. We quickly said a prayer together to break our fast and then we ate. It is starting to get super hot and humid so the watermelon tasted heavenly! When we got home, we made a less than exciting kimchee and rice dinner, and finally had our study time (that we missed this morning because of our meetings). It was the first relaxing Sunday that I've had here in Korea.

Now it is Monday again. Today our zone plans to go on a hike! I forget the name but I will tell you all about it next week. I love you all :)

Shout out to my baby sister Danielle for graduating high school last week!! Class of 2013 FTW! I am very proud of you. XO

사랑해요!
슬론 자매

PS. Note to the family- thank you so much for the package!! Silk and mesh garment shorts are THE best especially in this humid Korean weather. The skirts are perfect!! The Nutella will be put to good use... Duh :) and the DO is awesome. Thank you! Next package could you add normal toothpaste? I still have a tube that I opened a week ago- but the toothpaste sold her is nasty! Anyway, thank you SO much. And let me know if you want anything :)