Monday, we were in Daegu like I told you for breakfast, then we went and enjoyed some McDonald's for lunch. I think the highlight was the strawberry-Oreo McFlurry! Then we came back just in time to do some grocery shopping and print pictures. You know how I told you that you can paydar (get delivered) anything here?? Well, we found out we can paydar our groceries!!!!!!!!!!!!! You just go to the store and buy them (since we don't have internet access... if we did, we wouldn't need to even go to the store!) and then they deliver them to your house like 20 minutes later! How convenient!!! Then we had English class and somehow we got on the subject of Stupid Human trick-type things, so I tried to teach them how to do the thing that Josh does where you wrap your arms and then pull them over your head. None of them could do it, but the attempts were pretty hilarious!
Tuesday, we took some message cards to less actives. It seems like we do that a lot, but we are trying to see the bigger picture, hope that through our love, they can feel the Savior's love, and then remember the faith they exercised when they were baptized and come back to church!!! Then we went to Jinbo (a tiny town like 50 minutes away) where we taught the two little girls I told you about. We are teaching them English for 30 minutes, and then the lessons for 30 minutes. We invited their parents to join us for the spiritual part this week, and they said a pretty flat out no, which we were pretty bummed about, but the kids seem to really like it. They got a little restless at the end after sitting for an hour, but we taught them how to pray and they listened really well. *** prayed and the spirit was SO strong, even as my comp was whispering to her what to say. It is easy to see the power that little children have in bringing the spirit!!!!
Wednesday, we went to Daegu for zone meeting. A senior couple in our zone gave a great lesson about how our thoughts impact our words, and how much impact our words have in our lives. The power of words and what we say really has such power in our lives. It made me really think about how important it is to always say kind, uplifting things!! One of the zone leaders then taught about doing our best, and what is our best compared to the Lord's best, and how we should strive to make our best the Lord's best. I loved thinking of it in this way, and it makes me want to set my standards even higher, and not use "oh, I'm doing my best" as an excuse to do less than the Lord expects of me! Then we did exchanges and I stayed there. We went to find a less active, but the address we had was wrong, so we talked to some other ladies there, but they didn't have much interest. Then we went to a 부동산 aka budongsan aka real estate office to use one of their maps to figure out where to go next. The guy there was super nice, and we took the opportunity to talk to him a bit about religion. We introduced ourselves as missionaries and asked him about his background. He said that he went to a Presbyterian high school, but didn't have much to do with religion after that. He has been really interested in science lately, and wants to learn more about that. So we took this opportunity to teach him the entire first lesson!!!! I told him how I studied chemistry in college, and as I learned more about it, it made me realize how much control that Heavenly Father must really have over our world because he can control the elements perfectly. He thought that was interesting. Then we gave him a Book of Mormon and told him that he had to read to find out. It is just like studying anything else. You have to put forth the effort in order to really learn. He said that he would read, and then we got his contact info and was going to refer him to the Suseong elders.
Thursday, we met back up with our companions. The others had to run to an appointment, so my comp and I grabbed some lunch quick. The lady thought it was so funny that I was ordering Korean food! I told her that I eat it very well. haha. Then we had an area meeting with the elders, and had to weekly plan. So exciting! Haha
Friday, we went to an ice festival with the youth!!! The festival ended last week, but the branch president said that everything was still going on. So we went, but sadly, it was kind of lame. Skates were like $10 to rent, so we just walked across the frozen river, and then wandered up on the mountain where there was a Confucius village. Pretty cool. Pics to follow. Then we came back and got 떡볶이, rice cakes with spicy red sauce, and 순대, which looks like sausages but is actually just intestines. It is one of the Korean foods I still avoid. My companion likes it, but she said that her favorite part is the lung and liver on the sides. GROSSSSSSSSSSS! Then that night, the adults in our ward were going to a 노래방 aka Karaoke room. (They are literally EVERYWHERE here. The Koreans love them!!!) But we cannot go, so we just joined them for dinner before. We ate more Bulgogi than I thought I would ever see in my life. The relief society sisters just kept ordering more and more and more for us! We, well especially the elders, enjoyed it of course, but were SO full afterwards. I think between the four of us, we ate 9 peoples portions worth. Haha. I do love going to things like that and seeing how much our branch loves each other.
Saturday, one of the members called us and invited us to come visit her, but she wanted us to go right then. Luckily our plans were flexible! She works with her husband making Korean traditional paper. She and her son come to church, but her husband is not a member. She has had a really hard life, but it is so neat for me to see how much faith she has, and how she loves everyone around her so much. Then we came back and taught the sisters we are teaching who are 19 and 17. They tried to come up with a Korean name for me, but are still thinking about it. They, too, have such a desire to learn. We read the story of King Lamoni's father in Alma 22 and how he really wanted to know if there was a God. They still don't understand everything yet, but I think they can tell it is good. They promised they would read and pray, even if they said they weren't sure why they had to.
Sunday, was church, which is good as always!! Then we visited a couple less actives and former investigators, and jundoed that night with the elders!
So as you can see, it has been a fun, exciting, quick week!!! This week is Solnar, aka Chinese New Year on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so this week will go by quick too! One of our investigators invited us over for one day, but not sure what we will do the others yet! One of them we get to spent 6 hours cleaning our house!!!!! I am strangely SUPER excited haha. Not that it is too dirty, but, you know... Haha
As you can tell, we are really trying to focus on the Book of Mormon!! PMG chapter 5 is all about the Book of Mormon, and we are especially focusing on the "Questions of the Soul" it says the Book of Mormon can answer. Confession. I have kind of avoided that page my whole mission because I think it sounds so cheesy, and have never really wanted to spend much time on them. BUT now that we are being asked to, I am doing it and learning a lot! Last week, I printed out a talk that President Benson gave in October 1988 conference about the Book of Mormon. It is short and to the point. In it he said, "The time is long overdue for a massive flooding of the earth with the Book of Mormon for many reasons which the Lord has given. In this age of electronic media and the mass distribution of the printed word, God will hold us accountable if we do not now move the Book of Mormon in a monumental way. We have the Book of Mormon, we have the members, we have the missionaries, we have the resources, and the world has the need. The time is now!" Well if the time was NOW in 1988, that means it is even more time now in 2014!!!! He goes on to say, "I challenge all of us to prayerfully consider steps that we can personally take to bring this new witness for Christ more fully into our own lives and into a world that so desperately needs it." I am really trying hard to do this now. I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, but like anything else, I want it to grow. I am spending more time studying the Book of Mormon, and I love hearing about you doing the same. I challenge you, and everyone you forward this too, to take on President Benson's challenge!! ALL of us can grow because of the Book of Mormon and the testimony of Christ it so powerfully teaches.
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