happy post thanksgiving

Hello! And a post-Thanksgiving Happy Thanksgiving,

It sounds like everyone had fun. I spent most of the day forgetting it
was Thanksgiving. We actually ended up at a Sister Jwa's house--and I
ate 김치 찌개 (kimchi stew) and 삼겹살 (three layer fat or in other words
boned rib of pork) for Thanksgiving. When I first came here I never
really thought I'd say it, but....it was SO good! Once I mastered the
technique of not inhaling spicy foods to the back of my throat
(generally a huge problem), I have been happily eating delicious
Korean food ever since. We were indeed grateful for such a meal from a
sister who has two young kids, a dog, and a husband who's not really
around.

This week was once again a lot of finding. We were able to teach one
of our investigators, Sister Heo. We taught her about the Plan of
Salvation and after talking about our life on earth and the atonement
invited her to be baptized. She said no. We explained that she didn't
have to know everything and that when she comes to know then she can
be baptized. She is not the most commital person, but she did say if
and when she comes to know the message is true she will be baptized.
She told us that she feels like she has too many sins to be forgiven
and doesn't have a lot of hope. We promised her she can find that hope
as she continues to learn and keep commitments (i.e. change her life).
I think about how hard it must be to have someone throw all this stuff
at you and commit you to do it. She is not interested in coming to
church yet. We're still working with her. She is really kind and
hilarious. She loves English. Anyway, we are hoping to work with her
more this week.

The day we were supposed to meet with her we ended up realizing that a
lot of our food was rotten, so as we were cleaning out our fridge
during part of lunch, she called and cancelled. After that we were
taking the food trash out and Sister Baker accidentally slammed my
finger in the door. It's been a long time since I've been hurt,
really. It was quite the way to start the day. Luckily, I didn't
swear. Ha. Lots of deep breaths and no real damage, just bruised.

I have been finding again and again how important it is to not only
emphasize and use the Book of Mormon, but to explain clearly why it is
important. Our investigator from the US hasn't started reading it, as
far as we know. I don't know that we did the best job explaining it
the first time, so this coming weekend we will try again.

I can't believe it is probably my last week in Jeju. I love this area.
Trying not to get too sentimental too early. Anyway, I am grateful for
the opportunity to just take life one minute at a time, one person in
my path at a time. It's better that way, anyway.

I know this work is God's work, not mine. I am grateful for that
knowledge because it means I can't mess it up and any miracle I've
seen thus far has really nothing to do with me and everything to do
with Him. I love you all and so appreciate your support!

Love you!!

Sister Julia Mecham
p.s. so great about record-breaking, avoiding chronic diseases,
thanksgiving successes and mustard yellow pants!

can i take your order?

Hello!

Thanks for all the letters. I appreciate it! Man, it is getting cold
on this island, but we're surviving and generally happy.

This week was Sister Baker's birthday. Her mom sent Funfetti cake, so
we were in American actually-sweet-cake heaven. I tried to sing her as
many birthday songs as I could remember throughout the day to remind
her it was her birthday. (Oh Somebody had a birthday, Happy Birthday,
Happy Happy Birthday) It's hard to remember as a missionary. Ha. It
was fun.

We have been spending a lot more time knocking doors because people
are clearing off the streets as the weather gets colder. Surprisingly,
we've even begun to find some of them at home! Almost every apartment
has a camera and intercom. I've mentioned before that I always
imagined part of missionary work was getting doors slammed in one's
face, but we are just as elated if the door actually opens. The
passive agressive method of simply turning on the intercom and not
saying a word and making us sit there and explain who we are to no
response as they stare at us through their camera is a Korean
favorite. It's kind of funny. Nothing like trying to preach the gospel
through an intercom. Beyond language difficulties there is also the
issue that perhaps all fast food drive through workers are familiar
with---muffled mass of sound. So, most days I feel like I'm ordering
something at McDonald's. Sometimes the people are so baffled by our
imitation of Korean they come out and see who we are. We are grateful
for those opportunities. We stand in front of those cameras and smile
with absolutely no idea who's on the other side, but Heavenly Father
knows and that's been good enough for us this week.

This week we actually gave away a few copies of the Book of Mormon and
were able to teach about it at 3 people's doorways. It was a cool
experience. It seems that Heavenly Father knows how to put me in
situations where I'm just about to give up and then he gives me a
miracle or experience that makes me think I could do this for the rest
of my life. We have some potential appointments as a result of those
contacts.

Yesterday we met with the Catholic woman, Sister K, Sister Baker met
while we were separated last week. She is a really really nice person.
She is quite devout in her beliefs, but open minded enough that if she
actually reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it, I think she'll
have a change of heart. She said she was "open to it." It wasn't our
best lesson, but she seemed intrigued. She wouldn't really commit to
meeting again, but we did all we could and left her with a copy of the
Book of Mormon and our testimonies. Papal claims on priesthood makes
it a little challenging to teach about the great apostasy, but we did
our best and bore testimony.

Yesterday was also the primary program at church. We sang "Nephi's
Courage" with them. They are hilarious and sweet. One of the members
of our district presidency, President Jwa, and two of his kids sang
"I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus." President Jwa started crying as he was
singing with his kids and couldn't quite get through the song. As
crazy as the kids are, the spirit is always strong when they sing.

Well, as usual, I'm not sure what this next week will hold, but I'm
looking forward to it. Tonight we will visit some of the people we met
knocking doors and try to get a chance to teach them more. This week I
had to write up a list of all the people I want to remember from my
mission so that someone could organize it and give it to me when I
return. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity I've had
to meet so many good people, who, in spite of any of our differences
or misunderstandings, let me in on their hearts a little bit. It's
been such a blessing to serve here and I'm grateful there is still
time. I love these people.

Anyway, love you all!  Happy Thanksgiving. That holiday is starting to
feel like a non-holiday around here, but enjoy it wherever you go!

Love,
Sister Julia Mecham

a little alone time

Good morning!

It's hard to believe that there has already been snow in SLC and cold
temperatures all around. It is colder here now too. I wear a coat and
scarff usually, but no snow yet. It was great to hear from all of you.
Mom and Dad sound busy, as usual, but I'm glad you'll get the closest
thing you ever get to "time off" in a few days. Enjoy it!

This week was full of surprises, as every missionary week seems to be.
Some, however, were a little too exciting for me...more on that in a
minute.

On Tuesday we had two appointments with potential investigators. The
first lady, Sister Heo, had met with missionaries about 3 or 4 years
ago and told them not to call back. After seeing her record we just
called her anyway and she willingly met with us. It was a challenge to
find her office, but after several phone calls and a lot of trial and
error we made it. She was really really nice to us and seemed
intrigued by the message of the Restoration. She asked us who Jesus
Christ was and we told her He is God's son. Then she asked us who
Mormon was and we told her he was an ancient American prophet. Looks
like there were a few loop holes from her previous meetings with
missionaries--she thought we thought Mormon was God. So, we cleared
that up and promised her she can know how to feel the spirit and
recognize truth for herself. She said she really wants to know how to
do that. She laughed every time I promised her something, but we
didn't stop promising her blessings. We must just be that cute. I will
promise more next time too. Ha.  She says she is Christian, but she
hates church. We will be working through that one when we meet this
Friday. Anyway, with people who hate church and people who tell them
what to do, it seems a testimony of the Book of Mormon is really the
way to go. I think we'll focus on that. It was a good lesson and she
prayed to close it. She asked to know the truth about prophets and our
message.

Next, we met with Gap, a lady from Thailand who is married to a
Canadian English teacher here. We had met her at the bus stop. She is
really good at English, but has little understanding about
Christianity. She has a lot of Buddhist ideals, but has never really
thought about religion or the meaning of life. She said if she makes
plans or thinks about the future too much then she usually gets hurt.
It was an interesting conversation and I think we could have been more
bold in explaining that this gospel is what she needs to overcome
those fears and find hope in the future. It wasn't a great
lesson---it's a lot tougher in English, easier to get sidetracked--and
she said she doesn't want to learn more. That was disappointing, but
Sister Baker and I took from it that we need to be better about being
bold and focused.

We went to Busan for zone conference on Tuesday night. Wednesday we
went to Daegu with the Daegu and Shilla zones and had our zone
conference. It was a really good meeting focusing primarily on
conversion and the first great commandment and what focusing on those
things does to our attitude and the results of our work. I was
grateful for a time to be more introspective. It was good to see three
former companions as well-- Sister Culter, Sister Yoon, and Sister
Yeon. I love them.

On Saturday President and Sister Gilbert flew to Jeju for branch
conference in Seoguipo, the other branch on the island. We were
participating in the musical number at the baptism so we planned to
get a ride up with them. Before that though, we had some extra time in
our area where we had planned to visit a few less active members.
Sister Baker has never visited these less active members before,
although in previous transfers here I have visited them A LOT. We
didn't really talk about where they lived, but expected she would just
kind of follow my lead. Anyway, we sat separately on the bus as usual
so we could talk to people along the way. Sister Baker sat near the
front and I, toward the middle/back. I realized our stop was coming up
so I got up and pushed the button for the driver to stop. A side note:
Korea bus rides are not the leisurely UTA 20mph rides I was accustomed
to in Utah. The door is usually flung open and the driver slows down
to about 5 mph so you can jump out. There is usually a small interim
of time (1-2 sec.) where you can actually get off the bus. There is
this buzzer on the door that warns you when it's about to close (i.e.
smash you), so you have to get off quickly or else it's a bit of a
walk and a stop later than you were hoping for. Anyway, I was standing
by the door and was yelling to Sister Baker that this was our stop. I
thought she had heard me, and I tried to shuffle all my luggage
(guitar, umbrella, purse, proselyting materials) all out the bus door
before the final buzzer sounded. In essence, I panicked. So, I was
surprised and bewildered when I found myself on the sidewalk...alone.
I started walking to the next bus stop assuming that Sister Baker had
heard all the commotion and would get off at the next stop so we could
meet up. It was kind of an anxious time as I was walking through the
rain and trying to spot her umbrella down the street. I got to the
next bus stop and she wasn't there. The next one. Same thing. I
figured I would keep walking the bus route because she would
eventually notice and probably borrow someone's phone and call me or
turn around a meet up with me. Well, with each passing bus stop my
anxiety grew, but eventually the elders in our area called and told me
she had called them and she was now about 10 or 11 bus stops from
me... she had forgotten that she knew our number and called the
elders, whose numbers she had recorded in the back of her planner.
Anyway, after another bus ride to meet up and 45 minutes total and no
visits to less active members (although, in the irrationality of the
moment I did for a split second figure I should visit the members
alone... WHAT??), we met back up. It was all too exciting and we were
both sopping wet and laughing, grateful we had met again. Maybe it was
divine intervention because at the bus stop where Sister Baker had
been waiting for me she met a Catholic lady from the states who wants
to meet and talk about religion again this week. Who knows. I was too
out of my mind to feel like I could talk to anyone. I always think
about alone time because it's some of my favorite time and we don't
have much as missionaries. Sister Baker and I had been talking about
that recently and she was talking about how she missed it. Her
birthday is this week and when I got off the bus the first thing I
told her was that I wanted to give her an early birthday gift of a
little alone time. I guess a heart attack isn't that great of a gift.
Anyway, we learned we need to communicate better and not get off the
bus if our companion isn't with us.

Spiritually, I thought I could do missionary work alone a lot in my
mission, but I have learned of the strength that comes from someone
being committed to the same purpose and goal right beside me the whole
way. It was a good reminder. The baptism went well in Seoguipo and it
was encouraging to see a sweet  15 year old girl make the commitment
to try to live a better life. She seemed happy about it.

Anyway, I will keep going this week and try not to get sent home early
from unintentional infringement of missionary rules. Love you all!

Sister Julia Mecham

hitting the pavement, my friend

Hello dear family!

It's hard to believe that another week has gone by. Some of the days
were pretty long, but the week seems to cruise. It sounds like it was
that way for most of you this week as well. I think the pressing of
time is definitely feeling more urgent as my time literally grows
short.

This week we tried to exercise more faith in finding. As I mentioned
last week we had plans to call all of our former investigators. So far
we have a few appointments for Tuesday with a few of them. One of the
appointments was a result of pure faith. On the record it said that
the lady told the missionaries to never call back. That was a few
years ago, but it's a little intimidating to be on the other line
after a statement like that. Sister Baker went for it. We had
determined we were going to give everyone another shot. She called her
and the lady was warm and happy to meet again. So, we will meet her
tomorrow at her store. I hope it will go well.

We have been trying to follow the feelings of the spirit as best we
can and it has informed our goals and happiness a lot. We have been
knocking doors. Some people talk a lot about getting doors slammed in
their face on their missions...if doors get opened we are pretty
elated. Ha. That said, we have been able to exercise faith even in
that approach. I tried to teach a guy as much as I could about the BOM
through his little intercom thing. He ultimately wasn't interested,
but I felt the spirit and that is a big part of success in my book.

If I am completely honest this week has kind of been a panic for me.
It required a lot of thinking about what my mission has and hasn't
been and trying to set goals to make it what Heavenly Father needs it
to be for then next several weeks. The good news: I remembered my
favorite scripture and Heavenly Father has comforted me over and over
again through prayer. 2 Timothy 1:7: "For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind." Of course
there is always room for improvement and we should never stop trying
to improve, but there is also great room for mercy as well. We are
commanded to be comforted and healed. I love D&C 3:10. " But remember,
God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which
is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still
chosen, and art aagain called to the work;"

We are going to zone conference on the mainland (육지) tomorrow evening.
We are looking forward to it. We are studying Elder Bednar's talk
about conversion and Elder Holland's talk about the first great
commandment from conference. Both are excellent and have helped
inspire me.

This week we met with a lot of members to talk about the 암탉
(hen)program. Spencer W. Kimball once promised that if for three
consecutive weeks we pray and read scriptures daily both morning and
night in search of missionary opportunities, by the end of 21 days we
will have an opportunity to teach the gospel to someone. This has been
a way for missionaries to get referrals so we have been encouraging
members to start and rewarding them along the way. It is like their
little egg that they have been assigned to take care of. We are
hopeful there will be some beautiful little chicks at the end of this
month. Already it seems there are a few.

One of my favorite families in the ward (양 자매님들) the Yang Sisters, had
been inviting their cousin to activities during school break a few
months ago. He went back to his home in the Daejeon mission area and
started taking lessons from the missionaries and ended up getting
baptized a month or so ago. Now, his mom is starting to get interested
in the gospel and has begun to recognize the spirit more in her life.
It is a really exciting time for this family and we are praying that
the mom will also join the church.

I am excited to see what comes of our appointments this week and the
people Heavenly Father places in our path. Thank you for your prayers
and support. I know this is God's work. It's not easy, but it's
beautiful, and beautifully true.

LOVE!
Sister Julia Mecham