My Mission to Korea

WEEK ONE IN KOREA

FIRST INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT: The flight to Korea was so long! About 12 hours to Japan, then a 3 hour layover, then another 3 hours to Incheon. I slept maybe two hours out of the whole trip. Looking back on the trip, I am not sure what I did for the whole amount of time. I don't think I was very productive with my time on the plane. Not sleeping I think ended up being a good thing, because I have not had any jetlag. I was able to sleep that whole first night in Seoul.

The depature from SLC was horrible. I don't know if it was the pilot or the weather that was sucked. As we ascened the whole plane was shaking. It did that for 30 minutes. I felt so nasauous and Elder Lee, one seat over from me actually ened up throwing up. I turned away and glanced back at him to see 3 inches of puke in his barf bag. I started gagging. But thankful, my will power not to barf was stronger then my gag reflex.

The native Koreans on our flight were awesome. They went up and down the asisles passing out pass-along cards and shared the gospel with everyone waiting on the fligth to Korea at the Japan terminal. They are awesome. During the whole flight they rarely sat in their assigned seat. They went around talking to everyone. They are so much fun. I brought a box of chocolates and we all were just sitting there eating them. One would take a bit out of one , then give it to you so you could take a bit. Koreans do not have a germphobia. I got a personal Korean lesson from Elder An about how to say, "I want to try Octopus", and things like that.

FIRST TIME IN KOREA: We arrived at the Incheon Airport around 10:30pm. We got through customs really fast. The Incheon Airport is so nice, very modern and HUGE. OUr Mission President and his wife were there to pick us up, along with the APs. We loaded out luggage in the back of a truck, then off we went. Me, Sister Bennet and Sister Manley all road with the Mission President and his wife to the mission home. It was about an hour drive. The roads were curvy and I felt like throwing up the whole time. Oh, also the whole flight I had been suffering throught a cold, so I just felt gross from flying and being sick. We finally arrived at the mission home and I went straight to bed.

MEETING MY TRAINER: The next day I woke up to smell of bacon...yum. Sister Lee made us an awesome American Style breakfeast. Afterwards we had interviews with the President, then went to the church next door and recieved training from the APs and Mission President. Just training on mission rules, basic things like that. When President Lee was teaching us he looked straight at Sister Bennett and said forgot your boyfriend, focus on the work. And continue to talk about that for awhile. It was intense :) Afterwards, we asked Sister Bennet if she had told him about her serious boyfriend back home and she said "no"! The church is true. Our Mission President totally has the gift of discernment. It was so funny. Knowning Sister Bennett, I am sure she was embarrassed and a little flustered after that. I love it. I believe firmly that people should not have an interest back home. Too distracting. Granted it does work for some people.

After our meeting with President Lee we got to meet our trainer. I've been really blessed I got two trainers. An american and a native. Yep, I am in a threesome again. I like threesomes. My trainer, trainer is Sister Marchant. This is her last transfer. She is wonderful, excited about missionary work and talks to everyone. So after meeting out tranier we talked about contacting, then went out and started contacting people. I decided missionaries are the  most akward people on the earth...and I am now one of them. I felt so werid, like I was invading people's space when we talked to them. It's so akward especially when people don't want to hear, yet missionaries continue to talk to them. I have a lot to learn. this is defianlty out of my comfort zone. Plus, my limited korean make me even more akward because I can say  a few things, all involving the gospel. So I don't know how to natuarallly start up a conversation. Once I get better at that I think contacting won't be so bad. Like my teacher always said "Missionaries are not cool, so get over being embarassed about it."

FIRST AREA: My area is called BoonDong (seomthing like that). It is considered the country area. If you where here you would think Alexandria, Virginia. They are buildings everywhere and apartments. Rarely does anyone in Korea own a home. They are so many people in a small area everyone lives in apartments. It's very green and they are some rice patties and farming land in our area. It's different. The area is nice and is one of the wealthier areas. Our apartment is tiny and the bathroom has black mold that won't disappear when you scrubb it. So gross, but apparently it's one of the nicer apartments. Let me know if you have any ideas on how to get rid of black mold. It's is so disorganized and I have already begun organizing and throwing out useless things that have been collected over the years. I am truly my father's daughter. :)

FIRST VISIT TO A KOREAN HEALTH CLINIC: So President Lee told me I had to go see the doctor, so I did my second day in Korea. They sat me in a chair and sprayed air in my mouth and nose. Felt more like a visit to the dentist. He asked me questions and I told him about how I felt and my allergies. The doctor spoke decent English. Then we went back into the lobby. I thought I was done, but then Sister Jung told me to go into this other room. In the room the nurse pulled down the backside of my skirt and gave me a shot in the butt. I never got a shot in the butt before, nor have a gotten one to cure a cold before.

The Doctor was very nice and told us that when he was in High School he joined our church, but is was no longer active. He didn't make me pay for the visit or shot and we gave him a flyer with our number on it and told him to give us a call. Then we went to the pharamacy to pick up the medicine. I got subscribed this packed that had 6 pills in it. Questionable, but I took them for the next five days and my cold is now gone... and I am alive.

I have so much more to write, but not enought time...