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.