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,
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
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