bucheo's birthday

Here I am, a day late and a dollar short,

Yesterday was Bucheo (Buddah's) birthday so the public places where we normally email were all shut down for the big event. We took advantage of the fact that his birthday fell on Monday and went to Donghwasa Temple (The place with the 33 m tall Buddah) along with the rest of the world. Most of our zone came along. Luckily there were not that many people actually at the temple, so it wasn't the zoo we expected it to be, but the bus ride was something else. We stood up mashed together for the better part of an hour as more and more people waiting at subsequent bus stops jumped on along the way. At one point the bus was just too full and the bus driver was absolutely not going to stop. Three college students were waiting at a particular stop. They had probably been waiting for a long time and had the pleasure of watching a lot of busses fly by. One of the guys was standing in the lane making it clear he was waiting for OUR bus. The bus driver layed on the horn and might have tapped on the brakes. The guy barely dodged the bus at the last second.

Anyway, the temple was fun, even though we had been there. The lanterns looked like they had been up for a month, a little weathered, but pretty. There were tons of festivities and traditional performances which were really really fun. They were rhythmically off, but a good performance is just a good performance. It was fun to get a real taste of Korean traditional culture.

Last P-Day Sister Wallace dyed her hair at a member's salon. The lady had never done 외국인 (foreigner) hair before. So...within an hour or so her hair was Big Bird yellow. It was a fiasco and a few hours later before we got it toned down enough that she could show her face outside. I guess the materials don't work quite the same on other ethnicities.

We met with our investigator, MiNe (mee-nay) on Tuesday. She had read Mosiah 4 but didn't understand a lot of it. We talked about it and prophets/preisthood authority. At this point she said she essentially said that she believes that all people have their own way or path and that she had a hard time with the priesthood authority thing. We teach her primarily in English, but occassionally that poses problems because she has a way of deferring our questions and we things get a little lost in translation. Anyway, Sister Wallace talked about her feelings about baptism and we talked about Christ and his example of baptism and how this essential ordinance needs to be performed by priesthood authority. We talked about a new beginning through baptism. MiNe said, "I would really like to feel reborn." We had considered extending a soft baptismal commitment and this essentially opened the door for that invitation. Sister Wallace asked her if when she came to know these things are true if she would be baptized. I was really proud of her for being so bold. MiNe said no, that she wasn't looking to change religions, but that she enjoys our friendship and messages. So, while we were disappointed about that, we will continue to work with her. We had an appointment today, but she had to cancel it, so we won't meet until next week. I felt like we could have done a lot of things better in our last appointment, so my hope is that we can help her see who Jesus Christ is and why He is important.

We helped out a smaller ward in our zone ( 경산 Gyeongsan) with a proselyting activity. They have a total of 12 members at their church and are stationed on the second floor of a small building that also houses a karaoke bar. Apparently that is common in smaller areas, but since sisters never really go to such small areas because those smaller wards usually need the help of priesthood holders, I didn't know that. We hit the small streets of Gyeongsan and tried to do some street contacting. I brought my guitar and as we were walking down the street some teenage girls who had just finished school put in some Beatles requests. I indulged them with a verse and chorus of "Let It Be" and they clapped and made quite a ruckus. I felt pretty famous...until they turned around and saw the white elders walking toward them. Then, they all started screaming and flocked toward the elders. Reason #1 why we generally aren't allowed to proselyte to younger kids of the opposite sex. We were lucky to get one contact out of it. It was fun, anyway.

We had mission tour with Elder and Sister Aoyiagi. Mom and Dad, as you know, they are just sweet warm people. Sister Aoyiagi gave me about 5 hugs in the duration of mission tour. They had nothing but nice things to say about you. Elder Aoyiagi talked a lot about before we can get over our fear of talking to people we have to ask Heavenly Father to teach us to love them. He said he learned that on his mission as a young man. His first night they went into the town and proselyted for 2 hours. He didn't say anything to anyone because he was afraid of what they might do or say to him. He said when he went home and prayed he felt ashamed and talked to Heavenly Father about it. The thought came to him "do you love the people in this town?" The next day he said he tried to see the people like family--to imagine his father, his mother, his sister or brother---and through doing this he was no longer afraid of them. I was grateful for that reminder. That was an old trick of mine as well, but honestly, I forget it some days. He said we need more love and a greater portion of the spirit in our teaching. He based his message completely around these two things. It was really good.

We did some proselyting in the far north area (북구 Bukgu) of Jungni. It was a rainy day. We met this lady on the street who is a 하나님의교회 (Hananimae Gyohue) church member. They believe Heavenly Mother lives in Seoul and that the Second Coming of Christ has already happened. She had her bible and proselyting materials in her bag too. It was quite the exchange. I have met other members of their church before, but I haven't always understood their doctrine. There is something about the independence of Israel (1948?) that makes them think Christ has come again. The translation is a little rough for me. You all should look them up and help me understand more about it in English. (watv.org) She really wants to convert us. We called her to set up an appointment and she essentially talked my ear off for the better part of 10 mintues. I don't know how it will fly.

Anyway, since it was a rainy day in Bukgu we started knocking doors at the aparment building of a member we were visiting with later that day. This is generally my least favorite approach, but we went for it. Time after time people were disinterested. I guess I just don't like talking to doors. Finally, on the second floor this humble woman opened the door and listened. It was so shocking that I almost didn't know what to do. We asked if we could come in and she said now wasn't a good time, but that we could come back later. It seems whenever I am on the verge or even in the middle of murmuring Heavenly Father sends me something to help me snap out of it. I think this humble woman really meant it. We will go back this week and try to meet with her.

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve and learn and grow. I have a lot more sharing, learning, and growing to do, but I am humbled at the prospect that I've been at it for nearly a year now. Crazy. Thank you for your love and support. Keep your sense of humor. I'm still working on maintaining mine. Ha.

Love,

Julia

Mom! Happy birthday this week! Have a good day. I hope you get to eat well and sleep in.

Dad-- hope you're as stress free as possible and happy. It sounds that way. I will work on rejoicing. My bishop did tell me I need to smile more. Ha. I'm on it.

Nick-- thanks for the letter! that's great that you're still biking and working out so hard even after the races. I'm impressed. I would be tempted to call it quits for a while if I were you. So cool. Thanks for sharing some of the stories you shared about people coming back around to the gospel. Have a good week!

Meg-- thanks for taking the Julia SLC chores on so well. i hope you had a good week!

Char-- thanks for the blog post. There were some definite LOLs. I'm a little disappointed Lincoln didn't include me in his first prayer, but I'll forgive him later. Hope things warm up over there. Love!

Ladi-- sounds like you're having fun in PA. so fun. i'm a little jealous it's one big family reunion out there, but enjoy it for me! the picture was money, btw. love to love you.

hopping trains

Annyeonghashimnika!

Thank you for all your letters! I really love hearing from all of you. I mention it every single time. My letters are probably pretty predictable at this point, but I don't think it's bad to be predictable in profusely expressing gratitude. I have had a lot of companions and housemates who just don't receive emails or letters from family or friends. It is so nice to be supported and lifted by all of you. You do it well. Thank you.

So on Wednesday we met with MiNe, our investigator who lived in Singapore for 6 years. She had all these delicious treats (apple pie and chamue (Korean melon)) prepared for us, as so many who invite us into their home do. I am going to definitely have to hit the track when I get home. I think I'm up to four chins now. At least my heart is full. Anyway, we taught her daughters some English. They seemed to have a lot of fun talking to us. They are really just mixed up linguistically. They know Korean (sort of) although they only started writing and reading in January. Mostly they know Singapore's version of English. They actually speak and understand English really well, but Korean school is really difficult for them. When we were done teaching them MiNe came back in with her Book of Mormon and a smile. I was worried she was going to give it back, but as she sat down and we began talking again we were pleasantly surprised.

MiNe told us that in between the time we first met and our second lesson she heard from several people that she should absolutely not meet with us again. She said she was looking forward to our visit though, mainly because of how comfortable and at peace she felt with us the first time. She said she had noticed how polite we were and how easy it had been to talk to us. We were so relieved to hear all of that. She had read The Book of Mormon introduction. She said she really does feel torn about her Presbyterian background, her Buddhist ideals and now this Mormon thing. She doesn't really think one church can have a monopoly on truth and is worried we will be pushy about that. We are letting The Book of Mormon and our testimonies of it do most of the talking in that regard. We had a really good conversation about the book and about how we had prayerfully (Sister Wallace wisely selected Mosiah 4 for Mine to read during our companion study one day prior) found a passage for her to read that would help her feel peace in this life and help her family find peace as well. We had her read Mosiah 4 and pray about it this time. She already prays every single night and essentially repents. It is really a blessing to be able to teach someone who is already striving to improve and understand God. We will meet with her again tomorrow and will explain exactly what the restoration is and means and that really, The Book of Mormon is the key to gaining a personal testimony that this church is true. She doesn't have to take our word for it. Heavenly Father will give her His word if she reads and prays with an open heart. I am looking forward to seeing her again and teaching. She is very sweet. We are learning a lot through teaching her.

On Wednesday on the train to MiNe's house we found a fellow Hwaygugin (foreigner). They are easy to spot and are a constant reminder of just how different we appear. We forget sometimes. Sister Wallace has taken on the responsibility to talk to any foreigner she sees. It is really really admirable of her. I don't always like talking to them. Ha. He is studying computer gaming programming at a local university and speaks almost no Korean. Sister Wallace had a really good conversation with him and he asked her if she felt like she received answers from The Book of Mormon. She said she did and that she wanted to get his number so we could meet again and talk to him. This was his stop so he got out his phone but we couldn't make it happen in time. He got smashed in the subway doors trying to give us his number, jumped out just in time, ran up to the window as the train was pulling away...still trying to give us his number, but it was too late. We got off on the next stop and jumped on a train headed back to Geimyeong University. We jumped off and ran around looking for him like crazy people. To no avail. Sister Wallace was really urgent about it. I loved her for it. He is probably one of maybe 2 or 3 black people attending that school so this week we will endeavor to track him down somehow. We are hopeful about it.

Also our investigator, Sister Ee came to church with her brother yesterday and then attended a meeting with the other Young Women. I hope it went well. She agreed to meet with us today. I hope it all pans out. We were supposed to meet with her 3 days ago but it didn't happen. It has been nearly 4 weeks since we've met. She is so sweet and I think the ward will be a huge help.

We also had a ward party or "friendship night" (Ujeongae Bam). We sang karaoke. Welcome to the karaoke capital of the world. It was actually hard to get the youth to sing in front of others. It was a painful hour. In Jinhae we did the same activity and it was really fun. Everyone was involved. It was a painful hour here in Jungri, but many of the youth brought their friends. Sister Wallace bedazzled us with her dancing and singing. It was a treat. The bishop recorded it on his phone. It certainly got everyone's attention. I am grateful for her. She has no inhibitions. Afterward we had American and Korean barbecue. That was the real hit. It was fun to teach them how to eat a hot dog right, what to put on it etc. We also had Sam Gyeob Sar. We also had chips and salsa from Costco. One girl thought the salsa was spicy, another said it tasted like blood.--all this as it was right next to they spicy kimchi they eat everyday. When I told her the name of it, salsa, she repeated it back and started laughing. A similarly pronounced word in Korean is 설사 (Seolsa), which happens to mean diarrhea. No, luckily salsa is not not that at all. It was fun.

Life is good. This week we have mission tour with Elder Aoyagi. As a trainer I have an interview with him. Hopefully I come out unscathed, huh?

Things are good. We are learning everyday. When we let the spirit into our hearts and out of our mouths we see miracles. I read something really interesting from Brigham Young about testimony. He told this to a certain Brother Wells as he was helping him get the Young Men's program organized:

"At your meetings you should begin at the top of the roll and call upon as many members as there is time for to bear their testimonies and at the next meeting begin where you left off and call upon others, so that all shall take part and get into the practice of standing up and saying something.  Many think they haven't any testimony to bear, but get them to stand up and they will find the Lord will give them utterance to many truths they had not thought of before.  many people have obtained a testimony while standing up trying to bear it than down on their knees praying for it."

Dad and Mom: glad you're back safely and were able to have an enlightening time! Happy Birthday pop pop. Hope it went well! Sounds like it. Thanks for still getting something sent away. I really appreciate both of you so much.

Nick and Meg: congrats on the triathlon! you met all your goals. I love it when that happens. It was good to talk to both of you for a minute. Thanks for the letter love this week. Love you!

Char and Matt: can I just say I can't wait to have kids. Every week there is a story. I am both grateful for the entertainment and tired thinking about your situation. Glad to hear you made it out of the doctor's eventually. Love you guys. It was great talking to you.

Bob and Ladi: PA PA PA! fun. Eat some candy and go on some rides. Love you. Also nice to talk to you. It was just fun. It was a nice reminder, but I appreciate all the seasoned advice you offer. Love you guys. Settle in well.

Until next time.

Sarangheyo!

Julia

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello and Happy Mother's Day!!

I honestly don't quite know what to say as I have or will be talking to most of you in the next couple hours. I am grateful for that opportunity. It was really good to hear from you, Mom and Dad! You sound great and our talk actually helped refocus me in a few ways. You're right. In the end I only will have the opportunity to do this once and I want to do it well. Thank you for helping me remember this. We didn't really talk about that all that much, but as I reflected on our conversation that was the overwhelming sentiment that I felt.

This week was interesting. We actually found a new investigator. Her name is MiNe. She is around 40 and just returned from living in Singapore for 6 years. She has two daughters who are 11 and 12. MiNe actually tracked down the elders when she saw them at the subway transfer station and told them she wanted to meet/learn English from them. MiNe's mom was actually a church member when she was in college and was the ward pianist for three years. She told MiNe that if she wants to learn from good people who believe in God she needed to find the Mormons. MiNe's mom is now Presbyterian,  but still has a great respect for Mormons. We met with MiNe and her daughters this Monday and were able to get a better sense of her spiritual background. She is a really spiritual person and believes in God. She lost a child after he had only lived a few months. She knows that without God she would have had nothing. She is such a grateful person. She told us she is not looking to join our church, but she is open to our messages after we teach some English. As we talked about God it seemed like she really opened up, in a lot of ways. Initially she had said that she couldn't promise us that she would ever come to church. At the end she told us she might be interested in attending one or two times. We gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read the introduction. She is really sweet and we will be meeting with her again on Wednesday. I am really grateful for her spiritual openess. It is something I haven't really experienced since Sister Eo and Brother Bak in Jinhae. It is really refreshing.

We are preparing for a grand ward activity (Karaoke party and BBQ) this week. Koreans do love their karaoke. I hope it will be fun. Jungri ward only has about 35 members who attend regularly, half of whom are under the age of 18, so the leaders seemed a little worried, but I think we'll be able to pull it off. We are trying to do a big push this week to invite people on the street to the non-threatening activity.

Love you!!

Julia

If you could ask God one question, what would it be?

Annyeonghasayo!

Nice to hear from many of you even though you were very much on the go this week. Thank you!

Another unpredictable but interesting week. On Wednesday evening we had a district proselyting activity in the Daegu Shinae (Downtown). We set up tables and got a giant piece of paper and a lot of copies of The Book of Mormon and wrote "If you could ask God one question what would it be?" at the top. We chatted with people and got a lot of joke responses, but we also attracted some pretty interested people as well. We ended up getting about 30 phone numbers and giving away 12 copies of The Book of Mormon (via answering people's questions through The Book of Mormon) within an hour and a half or so. It was really fun, but we were definitely in the thick of the city. There was some guy yelling to everyone that we were a cult for about 5-7 minutes, but we just ignored him and he went away.

Most of our appointments seemed to fall through this week. This last week is test week for all the kids at school. Even the elementary school kids have giant tests that seem to determine their entire destiny. Apparently, as there is every year, there were a few suicide attempts and unfortunate successes as a result. Needless to say, most people were out of commission this week or in complete denial about the reality of the tests.

Because of these tests we couldn't meet our investigator, Sister Lee. It was interesting though, that on Friday as we went to visit a less active sister, we found another less active brother who sells Korean snacks on the side of the road with whom we were able to talk with for a few minutes. Then, when we went to visit our less active sister she was home and let us in and we were able to share a message and invite her to church again. Afterward, through a series of events, we kind of took a backroad to the subway stop we needed to get to. There were several delays (we stopped to talk to a lady selling vegetables, we stopped at EMART for a bathroom/check on an SD card, etc. etc.) The day was going fine, but I just wasn't feeling much of anything. Then we literally ran right into our investigator, Sister Lee. We were miles and miles from both her home, the church, and our home, but I have no doubt that Heavenly Father guided our path that day. It was very much out of the way for both of us and the timing was all too impeccable to be coincidence. We are still having a hard time meeting with her, but it was incredible to be led in such a simple way in such a big area.  Sometimes I feel a little jaded about how "led' my path really might be, but after running into Sister Lee it made me wonder how many other interactions I may not be paying quite enough attention to or that I might be missing. It has rekindled my awareness of my surroundings and the people who might be in my path.

Also, after the giant tests they have Eorini Nar (Kid's Day). It's like Mother's Day or Father's Day, but for elementary school kids. I have this weird rash on the back of my neck that I have been scratching (from stress? who knows. I pray it's not sceriasis (sp?)), and we went to the dermatologist, but they had all closed up shop for Kid's Day. Who knew? Luckily, I think the rash is improving without much extra care. Leave it to me to have the weird skin problems.

Yesterday, by far, was the greatest miracle of the week. It was fast Sunday and Sister Wallace and I were both kind of in a funk. We went to church and taught the 12-13 year old Sunday school, etc. etc., but still a deep blue funk seemed to have set in on us. We walked to the giant park where we have contacted before and sort of half-heartedly said hello to people in our path. By the time we got down to the subway stop I knew something had to change. In my planner there were about 3 hours of "Jeondo" (proselyte) scheduled. It was going to be a wreck if we couldn't figure something out. I went and sat down on a bench and prayed. We had just passed some girls that I felt like we needed to talk to. I prayed for desire and the faith to act. We got up and we walked up to the girls and started talking to them, giving them an opportunity to ask their question about/to God and explaining more about our church. We were able to get their contact information. We then went to the park, and on the way a man we met 2 days ago on the subway text messaged us and said he wanted to meet next time he was in Daegu. We kept talking to people along the way and things started to lighten up. We had fun, even. I honestly felt no strength or heart prior to praying. But, as we kept going and talking, even though it was weird and awkward and sometimes really unpredictable, it was great. We got 10 contacts. At the bus stop we started talking to a 16 year old girl. We asked her if she could ask God one question what it would be. She said she would ask why God made (hu)mankind. We were able to open to 2 Nep. 2:25 and show her through the BOM that her questions can be answered. She was really surprised and willingly accepted a BOM and said we could meet again. She said it was like a late birthday present. She was really cute and we are going to try and meet with her this week. It was astonishing. I am very slowly learning the reality of seek and find, knock and it shall be opened, ask and ye shall receive. I am so grateful that God hears and answers prayers and answers questions of the soul, even his very own missionary's questions He will answer. He doesn't leave us alone. I pray every day to have the reconfirmation that, as I read, I can know the Book of Mormon is true. It comes to me in small and remarkable ways every single day. I'm grateful.

Dad and Mom--talk to you this week! let me know if there are problems. Love you. I'm excited you will have the chance to go to Japan!!

Nick and Meg-- sounds like a crazy, but good week. MEG! Congrats on the half marathon. Thanks for writing as well. You are a more of a champion than I think I ever will be. You both have a great ability to take things in stride and I am grateful for your example. Love you!

Char and Matt-- glad you're back home and safe and the big ward festivities went well. Isn't it crazy how chaotic it really can get sometimes? I'm not surprised things worked out, but I'm certainly glad. Love you.

Ladi and Bob-- country road....take me home...to the place.... funnnn! you will be on the road and an entire new adventure this week. Have fun! Can't wait to hear how the trip/CA/roller blading went. Love you!

Ah...another week down. Hard to believe. Love you all so much.

Julia