Hello family!!
I am writing from Dong Daegu
Station, because, yep, you guessed it, I got a new companion. I will be staying
in Joongri with Sister Brady's recent trainee--Sister Cutler. She is really
excited about missionary work. She is a really nice person who just wants to
work hard. I am looking forward to serving with her. She has also already won
my heart because she eats things that fall on the ground--even in Korea. Who
knew winning my heart was so easy? I think we will have a lot of success
together. Sister Wallace is off to Gumi, which is about a 20 to 30 minute
ride into the country from Daegu. Besides being landlocked again, she is
excited about the change.
This morning all the missionaries
that are getting transferred or getting new companions all met in Busan. Twelve
elders are returning to the US this transfer. It's pretty wild. Most of them
have been my leaders throughout my time here thus far, so it was strange to see
them go. They have served well.
Transfer calls definitely threw our
plans a little bit this week, but in all honesty, it was one of the better
weeks I have had in Joongri. Two weeks ago Sister Wallace and I had been
contacting near a big park in our area by using the left over surveys we had
from a district proselyting activity. For some reason both of us were kind of
losing steam and quite literally sort of going through the motions. We stopped
3 junior high girls who had just finished a day at the local amusement park (E-World
or WooBang Land). They happily filled out our surveys. In a way it felt like we
were just going for "numbers" than really trying to teach people that
day. At the end of the day we felt a little badly for the way we had served.
Sure, we got a lot more contacts than usual, but it felt a little
hollow. Two days after that we looked through the surveys and called all
the people who had written their contact information for us on their
surveys. One of the junior high girls marked that she had no religion, she
believed that God existed, she thinks there is life after death and that she
would want to meet with us again. We called and set up an appointment with
her.
When we met with Sister Che this
last Tuesday, she had a lot of good questions: (Who is God's father?) (How will
I get an answer to my prayer? How will I recognize it? How do I pray?) It was
really cool. She came around the corner smiling and alone---junior high girls
usually travel in packs, especially when going to meet foreigners...ha. We
were able to talk to her a lot and teach her about the Book of Mormon and how
she can receive answers to her prayers. She really really wants to know about
religion. It was surprising to interact with her and feel of her maturity
and desire to know truth personally. It was such evidence to me that even
when we are tired some late afternoon or early evening, that as we do this work
and follow up with those we meet, if they are ready personally good things can
come of it. We had plans to meet again on Thursday, but unfortunately Sister
Che had to cancel. I think we will meet again this Tuesday.
We found out Sister Wallace was
leaving on Thursday night, so Friday was spent getting her luggage where it
needed to be and meeting with another investigator, MiNe. She is struggling
because of some financial/dependency issues with her parents that really
doesn't give her much liberty in her career, her religion, or really any life
choice. She will really miss Sister Wallace. They connected really well. I hope
she will be able to progress. She said she will come to church this week.
On Saturday we had a ward activity
that went really well. A lot of the youth brought their friends and enjoyed the
time there. We are working to make English class a place where we can find new
investigators. We're getting there. This transfer there will not be elders in
our area, which I think will be both good and bad. I think we will be able to
focus our efforts a little bit more, especially with regard to English class.
After the ward activity we met with
Sister P--the sister originally from Guam. We found out that we know some of
the same people....small worl. We went to dinner and just talked about her
life spiritually and what she wants. She told us about how she has come to the
realization that partying doesn't bring the kind of happiness she wants. She
has been teaching English here off and on for 4 years, but her group of friends
here just isn't really conducive to a change of lifestyle. I think it is a
little hard for her to stomach losing friends in a foreign country. That said,
although she was baptized when she was 9, she said that for the first time in
her whole life she feels open to religion and God. We asked her how she feels
when her family talks about their spiritual experiences. She described a really
strong sense of peace and almost wanting to cry. She then asked us "What
is that feeling called? Isn't there a name for it?" I then, half in jest,
but in seriousness as well quickly replied, "The spirit." We talked
about that feeling a lot and how she could have that with her always if she
wanted. She talked about how strange it was to be happy talking to us
even though we weren't drinking etc. She talked about a friend who ALWAYS
convinces her to drink, even after she says no 5 times. I challenged her
to say no the 6th time---baby steps. We had to go, but later that night she
texted us and told us that her friend had called her to go get drinks that
night and she said no. So cool! Sounds like a really big baby step to me. When
she found out Sister Wallace was leaving she planned to meet us on Sunday night
as well. The idea of someone being able to meet more than once a week is quite
novel to us.
So, we met the next night as well.
Sister P really wants to know about the bible and doesn't know any of the
history, so she wanted us to explain it to her. We got sidetracked on that for
a while until we just talked about the pattern of prophets--how when we are
humble we call out to God and accept his word and then things start going well
and we stop listening or seeking him, and that really, the pattern of prophets
is a lot like the pride cycle that can be applied to our lives. That really
resounded with her. We talked about prayer and she said that exact cycle had
happened to her since she had been in Korea. She says that the few times she
has prayed in Korea she has ended up crying a lot and looking like a wreck the
next day at work. I asked her why she thinks she crys when she prays. She
thought about that and then replied, "I've never thought about that. I
guess if I didn't really believe that God was listening I wouldn't cry like
that, would I?" We challenged her to pray before we meet again (Wednesday)
and to start reading the Book of Mormon again. I am really hopeful about her
and so grateful for the good examples of those in her family who encouraged her
to say hello to the missionaries. She knows they are happy and she has so much
admiration for them.
It's a great work to be involved in.
When I meet people like this any of the so-called misfortunes I've endured on
my mission don't matter at all.
Ah. I love it.
Time is up! Dad, happy father's day!
Love you all!
Julia
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