fresh starts and starting over

Wow, so much love from home this week. Thank you! It sounds like
you're all doing well. I was grateful, especially, for all the cute
pictures I got to see. You look great too.

Well, the first week of my last transfer (sort of, as I will have an
awkward interim of about two weeks where I will probably serve with
some sisters in Busan before I go home) is underway. I haven't been
companions with an American for 2 transfers now. I have found that
there are pros and cons, as one would expect, in serving with Koreans
and Americans.  One of the surprise pros is that people are A LOT
nicer to us in our initial approach. I had initially thought that
people on Jeju are kind of more closed than other areas where I've
served, which may still be true, but two American girls stammering
through Korean seems to soften that facade a little bit. I may have
mentioned this before, but before my mission, being called "cute" kind
of felt patronizing and was a term I wasn't interested in being
associated with..ha. Well, I have been humbled to a degree I didn't
know was possible on my mission and the language has made me simple
and quite literally like a child. I have never been "cuter," but if it
simple kindness and testimony soften people's hearts to the truth than
I will gladly serve Heavenly Father in this way. We are cute. Sweet
grandmas and people on the bus offer us clementines and snacks and
candy bars just for saying hello, for sitting on the bus next to them,
talking to them, and even sharing our message. The parent mentality is
a strong one in Korea--people see us and see how far we are from home
and what we're doing and have mercy on us. I'm grateful for it and I
hope they will allow us to give them the greatest gift we can offer.

Some of you may remember that at Christmas time I am the #1 clementine
fan. For not liking to be called cute I know how to down those
"Cuties." Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that I am in heaven.
It is 귤 (clementine) season in Jeju right now. They are famous for
growing them here and are practically giving them away. I couldn't be
happier.

We just got back from hiking part of Halla San, a giant famous
mountain in Jeju. It was a tough hike and we didn't make it to the
top, but the journey was scenic so I enjoyed it a lot.

This week we didn't have as many opportunities to offer that gift as
we would have liked. It seems like most of what was going well for us
last transfer kind of fell apart this week. The first week of a
transfer can be a little rough, as it is a time of adjustment for
everyone, but we're going to be okay and we laughed about it. Sister
Baker is a really hard worker and understands me well. I'm glad to be
her companion.

Brother Kim, the older man whose wife passed away, told us he didn't
want to meet with us. Two of our other investigators stopped
responding to us completely (Sister An, the girl I met on the bus
while we were fasting a few weeks ago and her friend, Sister Jeon). It
was tough, but I know there has to be something better coming. The
most successful method of finding in the Asia area right now is
through the English classes, so we are working to build up our English
class and come up with new ideas (newspaper ads, fliers, etc.) to
advertise and promote it. I hope it will make a difference and we can
find people whose hearts are open to the gospel.

We met with Sister Kim, the less active sister we meet with weekly, at
her restaurant. She usually has a lot of questions that I either don't
understand or, in her estimation, can't answer adequately enough. As
Sister Baker and I are both foreigners, we were worried that she would
be  frustrated with the situation. We decided to take two of our
members, Sister Kim (another one) and Sister Ram. They are in their
late 20s, but are both converts, very warm and knowledgeable about the
scriptures. It was the right choice. Her questions about the
scriptures, although all over the place, were well-fielded by Sister
Kim and we tried to refocus the lesson on basic principles of the
gospel she is still having trouble with (God's existence and
faith/prayer), and Sister Ram added a beautiful testimony that seemed
to relate really well to Sister Kim's experience. It was a huge
testimony to me about the influence of good members and why it is so
vital to have them be a part of as many of these lessons as possible.
We were sooooo grateful.

Tonight we will be calling ALL of our former investigators and
contacts. I think it will be good to work with what we already have
and have to scrap so hard to get. It will be a week of finding, but I
have learned that, like Dad says, it's our job to invite people to
make commitments. That is the door to faith and repentance. I gave a
talk in district meeting where I realized that all these doors
(commitment, faith, repentance, baptism/Gift of the Holy Ghost,
enduring to the end) are doors that the investigators have to choose
to open.  "Narrow is the way and few there be that find it." It is my
job to help them, and while it can be easy to dislike agency sometimes
and ask "what CAN i do?" I came to find that I am actually standing on
the other side of the door that comes before commitment. That door is
love for these people. It's my job to open it. I'm grateful for my job
and although it's not natural for me to love or express my love, I
know that Heavenly Father lets me in on some rich spiritual
interaction when I make that choice.

Ah. My time is short, in more ways than one, but I'm happy to serve here.

Love you all so much!

Sister Julia Mecham

Dad-- sounds like you're doing well. Is there a Sam Gerber coming to
your mission? He's the little brother of one of my companion's
friends. A round about connection, but I think he's coming in the next
transfer or two. Glad you're finally able to get a little rest after a
busy Oct.

Mom--thank you for the travelogue and spiritual stories--you are so
good at explaining things so i can really imagine them. Love you!!

Nick-- hope work and your free trip preparations are going well.
Sounds like fun and sounds like you're doing well with the job!

Meg-- thanks for the mail! I hope that everything works out well with
family and such. Tell Mac hello. How is work?

Char-- great pics! thanks for the blog update. I love love loved
seeing what's been going on. the boys are looking more and more
handsome and you look great as well! i want to learn how to take
better pictures from you in the future!

Matt-- I hope you are finding some time off work and are enjoying
life. You are great!

Ladi-- I already told you, but I can't believe all that hair! You are
beautiful. Anyway, glad you're happy and I love the stories about
Minnie. She sounds like a character although it may look as though she
inherited my photogenics...is it possible to inherit such a thing from
an aunt? She looks cute, huge gap between her front teeth and all.

Bob-- hope school and work are going well. I heard you are really good
at cleaning car interiors. I guess being a dad helps you develop more
talents than you even knew or wished you had.

Grandma--thanks for the mail! You are always so connected to everyone
around the world--it amazes me. You know how to make friends
everywhere you go. Would you like to come be my missionary companion?
We could use you :) Love you.

LOVE!

a new transfer and a new jeju

Hello!!

I am again writing from the Dongrae Post Office in Busan which means it's transfer day. Sister Lee goes to the Seoul temple/home tomorrow. I will miss her. I have learned so much from her and I'm looking forward to applying those things. A new transfer brings stress and peace with the newness of it all. It's funny.  Sister Lee was really sick this week, so we couldn't quite finish off her mission quite the way we wanted. Her body just gave up on her. Anyway, she has a great testimony and will be such a great service to her future ward. We talk about "next transfer," and I've helped her make a few goals to continue to do missionary work. Luckily we have a lot of model members who help us realize what kind of member missionaries we want to be.

This week was good. The man who we met on the bus whose wife had died about a month ago, but who was too busy to meet with us---he called us! He wanted to take us to eat something before Sister Lee went home. We talked with him about the plan of salvation and were able to testify about the reality of it. He has been reading a little of the BOM and the pamphlets we gave him. He doesn't have a lot of time, but I am grateful to both the missionary--Elder Kimball, who he met over 50 years ago--and Sister Lee for talking to him. It's inspiring to see the effect of small and simple things.

Also, at that meal unknowingly I ate cow blood clots. Ignorance was bliss. Sister Lee avoided them and left them at the bottom of the bowl. I should have taken a hint...she usually eats everything. Anyway, I survived and apparently it is really good for one's health. 

We have also been meeting a less active sister, Sister Hyeon, at her part time job every weekend. When we first went she wasn't that happy to see us and it was excruciatingly awkward. It has steadily progressed since then. She seems to have more light in her face and interest in seeing us. I really think she has a lot of potential to come back to church. It is rewarding to see sometimes small and tremendously large fruits of our labors. 

We also met another sister, Sister Kim, who we meet weekly at her Japanese restaurant. She has been reading the BOM and trying to pray. We invited her to come back to church and for the first time she expressed desire for 1) an eternal family and 2). interest in the lives of our members and a "maybe" instead of a "no" when we invited her. Her questions have become more focused and deep. She wants to know God but has so many doubts that she feels overwhelmed. This week we will go with a member to continue teaching her. Once again, nice to see a few fruits.

My new companion is Sister Baker. If you recognize her name it's because I've already lived with her for 3 transfers (18 weeks) in Daegu. She served in Sangin when I served in Daegu. Anyway, it should be fun. She is a very very diligent person and has desires to be a good missionary. Of course when I'm bereft of a Korean companion those Korean language fears creep in, but I know that we will be able to do God's will if we continue to seek it. We already know each other really really well, so now it's just for overcoming any potential difficulties in teaching together. She gets my jokes and laughs with me and that makes life so much easier. I really believe the most important thing is your relationship with your companion--it informs every other interaction so heavily. So, I am committing to have fun and work hard and I know she is too. She is from West Jordan, UT and went to BYU and studied Math Education and Dance Education. 

Life is good. There is still a great work to do. I am grateful to hear about all the people whom you are sharing the gospel with--all of you have such great stories about recent experiences. Thank you for sharing them with me. We jump on a plane in about 2 hours so I better get going. 

Love you all! 

Sister Julia Mecham

mixing it up

Hello from still pleasant weather Jeju Do.

I am astonished by the nice weather here and will gladly take it. It
sounds like Grandma, Grandpa, Mark and Pat had fun with Mom and Dad in
Guam.  Glad they have traveled safely so far, as have you Mom and Dad.
You sound busy!! That's good, though. I have found that if I'm not
busy I'm a little bored and it's easy to get distracted.

Anyway, this week has been pretty good. A lot of our appointments fell
through so we were left to our back up plan. In many cases that back
up plan has been "finding." We have realized that like PMG says,
focusing on just one or two methods of finding is not that effective,
so we have been trying to be creative and follow the spirit.

I mentioned that we saw a stand with free books at a bus stop recently
and decided we wanted to emulate that model and see what happens. I
know that in the U.S. if you put a bunch of copies of the BOM on a
table and posted a "FREE" sign on it that it would be vandalized in no
time. I wasn't sure how it would go over here, but we gave it a shot.
We wrote about how the BOM answers questions of the soul and is used
in tandem with the bible and provided our contact information. The
first day we set it out at a bus stop 3 of the 5 copies of the BOM
were gone and the other two were intact and safe. We made the mistake
of leaving it out overnight and as we rode the bus by the stop we saw
that the copies we had left out were torn up and tattered. We decided
to take the box to a new location and clean up the wripped copies.
That day the three copies we left out were also gone when we checked
on the box later that evening. On our way home we intended to pick up
the box serving as our stand so it wouldn't get vandalized. Too late.
It seems that as darkness falls here people get brave. It was wripped
and stomped into shreds. It was a little disheartening, and in some
ways hurts more than a verbal rejection, but I was reminded of "The
Standard of Truth." "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from
progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may
assemble, but the work will go forth boldy, nobly and independent,
till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept
every country, and sounded in every ear, 'till the purposes of God
shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say, 'The work is
done.'" It felt good to know that a few more copies of The Book of
Mormon were floating around the city and although we may not continue
to use this finding method, it was kind of fun and worth a shot.

We also ran into a girl that Sister Lee had talked to on the bus a
week or two ago. We talked again and it seems that she is interested
in learning more. It is testing time at school, but as that ends she
seems really intent on meeting with us. She calls or contacts us
several times a week. It is exciting. I think we will meet with her on
Tuesday.

We also were able to share a copy of the Book of Mormon with an older
man on the bus. Sister Lee sat down next to him and it turns out that
he met missionaries about 50 years ago. He learned English from them
and has an English copy of the BOM. He even remembers the Elder's
name--Elder Kimball. As Sister Lee continued to talk to him, with
tears in his eyes, he talked about how lonely he was.  His wife had
died just a month ago unexpectedly. She talked about the Plan of
Salvation and her dad and how important it has been to her and showed
him where that is discussed in the BOM. He accepted it and gave us his
contact information. He doesn't have a lot of free time, but he is
studying the Bible with the Jehovah's Witnesses in his only spare
time. Anyway, even though the result wasn't ideal for us, I know that
God is planting seeds---even if they are 50 years apart. How grateful
I am to Elder Kimball--whomever he is. It has inspired me to keep
talking and have faith that something is happening, hearts are being
prepared, however slow or fast.

General Conference was great. We saw it a week later. I was able to
download it on my Korean dictionary in English so I could listen to it
in English while we watched the rebroadcast in Korean. It is hard to
understand those deeper concepts in just Korean, so I was grateful for
technology. I learned a lot and came away vowing to be more happy and
disciplined. Those two things are not mutual exclusive experiences,
but complementary. I'm grateful for that reconfirmation.

Ah. Time is short. I love you all and am grateful for your examples.

Love,
Julia

A little more time...

 

A few other fun ideas have come to us this past week. We started a member referral program called the "Hen Program." We visit members and talk to them about missionary work and invite them to do a 21 day challenge where every morning and night they read a specific scripture on the sheet and pray about whom they can share the gospel with. At the end of 21 days Pres. Spencer W. Kimball promised that, if done prayerfully and faithfully, they will have the opportunity to share the gospel. We are hopeful about it.

 

We also noticed a little table at a bus stop with Buddhist books that can be purchased for 1,000won. We are thinking of doing something similar with a few copies of the Book of Mormon along with our contact information. Of course, it will be a free gift. It will be interesting to see what happens. I have gained a strong testimony of that book. Early in my mission I realized that I would need a testimony of it not just sometimes, but all the time. So, I took Preach My Gospel's advice and regularly applied the promise at the end of the Book of Mormon. Every day before I read it I pray and ask to have the truthfulness of the book reconfirmed to me. It is not always a big lightning bolt answer, but it comes in ways that are specific to my spirit and in ways that I can recognize it. I am grateful Heavenly Father answers my prayers--even daily. 

 

I love you all and know you can receive answers to your prayers from Heavenly Father in ways He knows you will hear and respond. Try it. If it's been a while, try it and you will be surprised and delighted to find He is still listening and answering to the degree that we are willing. That has been one of the biggest lessons of my mission. I am grateful to have the opportunity to apply it throughout my whole life. With Sister Lee I've been talking about "next transfer" (i.e. even though she will return home) and telling her that her mission isn't over. It really isn't. There is more to do and by seeking Heavenly Father's will in what our specific assignment could or might be at any given time in our life I know that we can find out there is more for us to do in sharing the gospel. She and I, although we will be serving in different capacities, have big plans for next transfer too. 

 

Sounds like you are all busy doing just that.

 

Dad ---woah! broken record! that was not supposed to be a pun, but I am confident that your success in the mission came from the steadiness of faithful mantras impressed upon your soul and the souls of your missionaries and respective investigators. your letters to me have always been very encouraging and specific, but as i look at them I can easily see the same thread that runs through and ties it all together. Over and over you preach faith, repentance and renewed commitment through relying on the Spirit. I know those are the keys you are focusing on and it appears to be working. Congratulations! Keep after them! Thank you for keeping after me, even in the more "wet blanket" stages of my mission and correspondence. Say hello to Grandma and Grandpa, Mark and Pat! 

 

Mom-- I hope you're doing well and getting more sleep. I know you are quite the night owl, but don't let it kill you. Ha. Thank you for writing me so often and so well. I hope you are getting a few moments to rest and relax with the family. Love you and will write soon.

 

Nick-- hope you're well! Sounds like you guys will have fun going to Atlanta in a little bit. How is the Young Men's Presidency? Work?

 

Meg-- no guilt trip intended, but of course I appreciate the update and news. Thank you! The new job sounds like fun and I'm sure you're doing well. I've always envied your ability to jump into a project and make it run more efficiently. I'm sure they are grateful for you too. 

 

Char-- zombie land is no fun, I'm sure. 3 boys....how in the world? I am grateful for your example of member missionary work, in spite of being busy. It gives me hope for both my future and the future of members here. Love you and hope you're sleeping right now.

 

Matt--on site for a few weeks? bummer. you are a champ to drive the family to Utah. I wouldn't expect anything less from you. Hope you're well and get to go home soon. 

 

Ladi-- thanks for the mail. you are quite a faithful writer. I think you've only missed a week or two. Thank you! it's always fun to hear from you. ahhhhh. don't leave UT. that is the selfish part of me that has no idea what the future holds for me either. I'm sure things will work out great, however they work out. Love you. 

 

Bob-- go razzle dazzle them with your skills. I'm excited to hear about how your trip went. Be safe and make sure to eat a lot of delicious food. 

 

Love all of you!!!! 

Chuseok!

Dear Family 사랑하는 가족,

How are you? I was grateful for the abundance of notes, long and
short, in my inbox this week. As always hearing from you is a
highlight. You may think I went AWOL on you, but, due to 추석 (Chuseok),
all the places where we email were closed yesterday. I don't know if
you remember last year, but Chuseok is essentially a four day holiday
similar to Thanksgiving, but bigger. It along with the New Year are
the biggest holidays in Korea. During these two holidays the Korean
missionaries have the opportunity to call home. Most people return to
their hometowns for a few days. Anyway, the holiday definitely put a
damper on missionary work, but we got to eat some great food and the
members were gracious enough to host us.

This week we contacted a lot of potential and former investigators and
even had some appointments with them. One of them was a man and his
wife who investigated the church about 25 years ago when they were
students in Busan. Apparently a few years ago his daughter was
learning English from the missionaries. We called and they agreed we
could visit. We got on the bus and were surprised as things got
prettier and prettier and the time continued to glide on by. About 45
minutes later we got off at the stop we were instructed to get off and
went toward the beach. These people now own a "guest house," a sort of
hostel, right on the beach in a more isolated part of our area. The
view of the ocean was absolutely incredible. We got there about 4 PM
and were warmly welcomed by a bearded Korean man with an easy
smile--both of which are quite rare. He definitely had a "foreigner"
feel to him and we were really grateful for his kindness. We sat on
their deck which overlooks the entire ocean and to be honest, the
beauty of the scene made it a little difficult to focus. How can I
focus when fish are jumping up out of the bluest ocean water I've seen
and glimmering against the sun? It was breathtaking. Anyway, these
people love to travel and are well-read and very open-minded. All
roads lead to the same mountain kind of thing. They are really good
people, have read the Book of Mormon, but have no interest in Jesus
Christ. The man even said something like we are all the only begotten
of God. It was interesting and of course our first impulse is to
argue, but we both relied on the message of the restoration and our
testimonies of Jesus Christ in our discussion. We testified and
thanked them for their time and left. I think for now Heavenly Father
gave me that experience to realize how I couldn't deny him as we
looked over an incredible ocean seascape and also to help me to be
humble enough to rely on my testimony rather than any other source. It
was a challenge, but I was grateful for the opportunity.

We also had to drop one of our investigators who just isn't really
interested and isn't keeping commitments. She didn't seem too
heartbroken about it, which makes it almost harder, but in order to
use time a little more effectively, Sister Lee and I determined
through prayer, it was the way to go.

We also met with a less active sister who took us to a 고기 (meat)
buffet. Essentially you a bunch of money and then you pick whichever
raw meat you want to eat at your leisure and personally grill it right
in front of yourself. In the US it is a law suit waiting to happen,
but here it is perfectly kosher. (Too lazy to reword that so it's not
confusing, sorry.) Anyway, we brought her a framed picture of the Salt
Lake Temple. The whole time we ate she was kind of talking to us like
she is still very much committed in her heart. We, of course, are
really happy about that and hope she will come back to church more
often. I think the reality of where she is in life really hit, though,
when we handed her the picture of the temple. We didn't even have to
say anything. Her fingers rubbed the glass over and over and she kept
saying "thank you," with a sort of urgency to get out of an
uncomfortable situation, as her eyes teared up a bit. A picture was
truly worth 1000 words. I hope she will come back soon. We invited
her, but she was off to her hometown for the holiday.

On Saturday and Sunday we met with members to eat holiday meals. It
was really good. It was great to feel the ward family love. The family
whose home we went to on Sunday have only been members since 2008.
Brother Kim is now the 1st counselor in the branch presidency and
Sister Jo is the relief society president. They are a really great
family. I took a picture of some of the food before we ate and it was
funny because I think it is one of the only pictures of me with a real
smile. I
guess food prompts sincere happiness for me.

That night Sister Lee got to talk to her familiy. It was great to see
her strengthen her mom and then as she got to briefly talk to her
siblings who are serving missions and having a hard time, to see her
strength in their time of difficulty was inspiring. I think I am
learning a lot about perspective from her. As a missionary I still can
be selfish and a little disappointed if every member of the family
doesn't write me an email (ha), but from seeing her example I know
that it is my privilege to serve and love other people and God. I am
grateful for that time and grateful for the time I have
this week to improve in that endeavor.

I read D&C 31 this morning and am grateful the the "hour" of my
mission has come. It is short, but it's not over yet. I know there is
more to do and I'm happy for the remaining time I have to wear this
nametag and do it. Thanks for your love and support!

Love,
Julia

Here are some pictures:

Chuseok feast,

ocean landscape by the "guest house hostel"

Sister Lee and me