Hello to my dear family.
You would think I could come up with a new way to address you, but it's all that ever comes to mind, I suppose, because it's what you are. Thank you for your letters! I will not have time to read them right away, but I printed them out for later. It is always inspiring to hear from you, no matter how little or much you have to say. Thank you for your support!
I will admit, with Halloween coming and going I really craved a Reese's peanut butter cup. I hope all of you were able to eat one for me. Peanut butter is in short supply around here. Ha.
This week was pretty good, although there was an inordinate amount of time losing and trying to find necessary items. Somehow we managed to lose our keys on the bus, Sister Ee Ga Hee's wallet on the bus, and Sister Ee Ga Hee broke her shoes so we had to buy new shoes, and she also strained her neck on the bus as we traveled back from our P-Day activity last week.
It was a little bit frustrating and put a damper on our plans, but bless those honest Koreans, we found the wallet at the lost and found at the bus terminal with everything in it. We never found the keys but were able to get into our house and get a new copy relatively inexpensively. She also acquired some lovely (in jest) grandma shoes that while comfortable, are quite the eye sore. I tried to convince her not to get them, but she really doesn't care. She is funny. She also was insisting that she had sprained her neck. She had done this before and wanted permission to go get acupuncture at the hospital. A side note about Koreans and the hospital--Since they have public health care they go to the hospital for everything from a slight cold to a heart attack because the co-pay is around $10. People wear the hospital clothes and drag their IVs everywhere out on the street. At night It kind of turns Korea into quite the haunted house. People will even bike dragging their IV along. Anyway, Sister Lee Called Sister Gilbert and asked if she could get acupuncture. An adamant no resounded from the other side of the phone. Sister Gilbert's suggestion was a warm bag or sock of rice on the hurt spot and some IB Proufen. Sister Lee was appalled. Warm rice??! I told Sister Lee that this is American medicine. We never go to the doctor. Anyway, we tried it and it helped a bit.
The next morning she was reheating it and left it in a little too long. I noticed it started to smell like burned popcorn...Sister Lee had forgotten and left it in the microwave for too long. When she opened the microwave tons of smoke came pouring out..her face was priceless. "Oma!" When I stopped laughing and finally came over, her sock and the rice were charred and black and the sock had virtually melted into the rice. The black rice seemed to be growing at an exponential rate, filling the microwave in a very repulsive way. It truly was a scene out of a scary movie. It made for a good laugh, in any case. The good news is Sister Lee's neck is feeling better and we can do better and more missionary work.
As far as missionary work goes, we again had 7 investigators at church--6 of whom are under the age where they can independently decide to be baptized and one who is over 80 years old. Regardless, we were quite pleased and are hopeful about this week.
The two girls who had a baptisimal date for this coming Sunday,Bo Hee and Hae Bin, are not so sure anymore. There desire has weakened because they haven't learned how to receive or care to receive personal revelation quite yet. This is my fear with younger girls who see missionaries as someone fun to hang out with, but not necessarily as a way to spiritual enlightenment. I was afraid their testimony of us was growing much more than their testimony of Christ. Sometimes though, I think that a testimony of a good person precedes a testimony of Christ. This week we will try to teach them how to read the Book of Mormon effectively and pray and receive answers to their prayers. Hopefully they will have renewed desire for the right reason.
In good news, two of the girls we are teaching, Eu Hae En and Lee Yeon Jeong, committed to be baptized on November 19th. They seem to have real desire. They loved the plan of salvation. When we got to the end they both let out a sort of audible sigh of awe. We are hopeful that they will continue to progress. This afternoon we will meet Sister Lee Yeon Jeong's parents and tommorrow we will meet Eu Hae En's parents. That is what may be the real test. I will admit that I am nervous that if they are baptized and I am here with another inexperienced American it might be difficult to retain them, but God is over all, right? I am grateful for that knowledge. We hope their parents are receptive to the idea.
We were also able to teach Bak Jin Yeong this week. Sister Lee met Sister Bak Jin Yeong's mother on the bus a few weeks ago. Jin Yeong is 16 years old and is currently refusing to go to school because she had trouble with friends. We met with her and got to know her a little bit. She is sweet, but a little bit shy. We taught her the first few principles of the first lesson and I felt like I should teach her how to pray. Afterward we asked if she would offer a prayer. She did so willingly and well. It is really incredible to be part of someone's first time talking to God. Even though these are simple prayers, they are heartfelt. Most of the trouble in our lives seems to stem from forgetting that we can talk to God and that He is our loving Heavenly Father. We are looking forward to teaching her more this week and hopefully teaching her parents as well.
Just two more weeks of this transfer. It is likely there will be another change. I am admittedly nervous, but there is great peace in presence in the present. So that's what I'll do. That's all Heavenly Father asks us to do.
I am enjoying teaching in spite of my weakness. Things are good. It is incredible when we are receptive to the spirit how quickly we learn this is not about us at all...it is something much bigger. I am grateful for that lesson every time I learn it.
Love you all! Sorry no personal notes this time!
Love,
Julia
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