전도 DETERMINATION

Sunday, we did some subway contacting. It was not a good 전도 (contacting) day. It took us two hours to get 20 people, when normally that would take an hour. We would say "Hi" to people and then they say "not interested" and walk away. Or they'd just ignore us, even though we are the only people on the subway platform. And I am thinking "I know you hear me lady!" Anyways, we were getting rejection, after rejection. I was getting frustrasted and depressed. Then I thought about the Sons of Mosiah. At one point on their mission they were so depressed and were about to turn back home. Then the Lord comforted them and told them if they bore with patience their afflicionts, he would give them success. They suffered so much. They were rejected, starved, put in jail, beat up and people tried to kill them. Yet at the end of their mission they helped bring thousands of the Lamanites unto the gospel.

So while I was getting rejected, over and over again, I thought about this. My situation is not that bad, at least people are not trying to kill me. Right then the Lord gave me a boost of confidence, courage and determination. And I continued to 전도. And eventually we found those people who were nice and let us share our message.

At one point during our 전도 time, we had three people call us in a row. Sister Jeung was on the phone for at least 20 minutes. You see up to this point I have never walked up to a person by myself to share the gospel. It makes me so nervous, because I don't understand Korea and can only say so much. But as I just stood there, I was like, "I gotta 전도 (jeun-do)". So I walked up to a girl sitting on a bench and explained what the Book of Mormon was. She kept on saying to me, in English "I just came from church." She was trying to politely tell me she was not interested. But I just acted like I didn't know what she was saying and kept on talking. I was determined to share the message of the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ and she was going to hear it and take my pamhplet; which she did. The Lord just gave me this determination I had never had. It was an amazing blessing. And every person after that, interested or not, I would continue to talk and made sure they didn't walk away from me without a pamphlet. Maybe they won't listen to me, but they might read the pamphlet.

INVESTIGATOR MIRACLE: After sarcrament meeting we meet with our ward mission leader. He told us that 안다희's mom agreed to let her get baptized. 안다희 (an-da-hee) is 11 years old. Even though she is not baptized, she is basically a member. She knows so much and comes to church every week. Her older sisters are extremely active in the church. Her mom wanted 안다희 to wait to get baptized when she was at least in middle school. I am not sure how the Lord changed her mind, but I can think of a couple things that may have helped. One, her daughters are active in the church. Two, we got to spend time with 안다희 and her mom a couple times, just building the Jeung (Means building trust and friendship. Eating a meal together is the best way). Third, our primary President is amazing! She is the one who called the mom and asked if she'd let 안다희 get baptized. I think she's talked to her at least a couple times now about how 안다희 is growing so much in the knowledge of the gospel. Fourth, the Lord's mysterious ways. I am so excited! 안다희 wants to get baptized, now we just have to offically ask her and give a date for her to be baptized. So exciting. She is a special little girl.

GIFT OF TONGUES

So wednesday and thursday we did exchanges. My trainer had to go to a two-day training meeting. Sister Manley (my MTC companion) came on exchanges with me and Sister Jeung. It was fun. Sister Manley is a master at 전더 (street contacting). She just goes off by herself and starts talking, even though she can't understand or say much. She was such a wonderful example to me. I struggle with street contacting when it comes to doing it by myself. But I am slowly but surley getting over those fear. I love doing street contacting and now feel comfortable with it, just not by myself yet...soon though...I hope.

During the second day of exchanges we taught 박문자 (bak-moon-jaw). We were teaching her for the second time the Plan of Slavation. We quickly went over it the previous week and decided to go into more detail this week. There is a lot to the Plan of Salvation, it is hard to teach simply. I got to teach about the Atonement. I had prepared and practiced for it during companionship and language study. But during the lesson I was able to say all that I practiced and more. I said it so fuildly. At that moment the Lord truly did bless me with the gift of tongues. It was AWESOME. You could just feel the spirit. It was a really great lesson and she asked about how to repent and things like unto that. Such a fabulous lesson.

This past week has been filled with some funny experiences. We were at an investigators home and she was tyring to get her boys out of their rooms to say "hi" and talk for a little while, but they clearly did not want to. They are teenagers. But one of them, who we've taught before came out of his room half-asleep in bright yellow boxers. When he realized we were there he quickly went back into his room. All three of us died laughing. I had tears in my eys and was tyring not to pee my skirt. It was hard to maintian control when the mom came back and sat down. I had to excuse myself to the bathroom or I was gonna loose it.

Then the next day in English Class we played a game, it was bascially Catch Phrase. And one of our students (he's about 50 years old) got so excited when he was describing his word "bus". You can tell he is competive. He was describing it, but no one understood him. LOL. Then he was like "really", in Korean, you don't know!?! Someone evetually got it, but he was like give me a harder one. So we gave him the work "skyscraper". He used the word to describe the word though, but no one else realized that. After that word he was like give me another one, so we gave him the word "seashell." He started saying words like "king", "fire" and so many other random words. All three of us were laughing so hard. I was under the table laughing. I didn't want him to think I was laughing at his english. So funny.

English class is always amusing. We have another man, Brother Em, he is about 70 years old. No one can understand him when he speaks English or Korean, even for the native Korean speakers. I gave him the word "phone", but he started to describe a person he had a question about. He said he had a "pan on his head" and some other really random things. We were all so confused, then Sister Marchant yelled "Johnny Appleseed"! And he was like "yes"! So funny. Best part thought, Steve, who tends to be the know-it-all in the class, was so impressed. And was like "How do you know this thing?" He wrote down "johnny appleseed" on a piece of paper and you know by next week he will know everything there is to know about Johnny Appleseed. I love all the people in our English Class, they are so much fun!

FIRST BAPTISM

On July 10, 2011 민다빈 got baptized. She is a wonderful little girl. The Sister Missionaries have been teaching her for a year now, gospel and english. So it's nice for me, who barely knows Korean to be able to speak to her in English. She is really good at it and understands you completely. The ward put together the baptismal events. 분당 ward is full of talented, hardworking people.

After church, at 1pm, we had a reception of  떡 (rice cake)  and 김치 (kimchi). Not sure why we had it at the beginning, but we did. 민다빈's family came. Her two aunts, grandma and grandpa and her father. She has so much support. Then at 1:30 everyone went down to see the main event. Our primary put on an exceptionally musical number. Two of the kids played violin, they like 10 years old and are really good. I was super impressed. We have advanced children in our ward.

Then a counselor in our Bishopric gave a talk, then we sang "I am trying to be like Jesus". That was hard for me. I don't like to sing infront of people, but I did it and I think we sounded descent. The actually baptism was kind of comically. She had to get baptized FIVE TIMES!!! 1st time her hair, 2nd tine her feet, 3rd time her hair, 4th her feet.....then finally, on the fifth try, SUCCESS, baptism by immerision. The children were so cute. When 민다빈 got out of the water they all ran to the bathroom to congradulate her. They were so excited.

After the baptism 민다빈 got a couple presents. A set of scriptures from the ward, a picture of Jesus Christ helping up a little girl from us and a large teddy bear. She had a good day. She had fun. It was such a good day. Oh and in none of the pictures is she similing. For some reason Koreans don't like to smile in pictures, but I promise you she really was happy that day.

Other fabulour news, we found a new famiy, or rather the Dad found us. In English class he came in and then decided to do the 30/30 program with us. So this past Tuesday we went to his house. We met his wife and son. His son is 5 years old. So cute. Loves dinosaurs. He was very shy when we got there, but by the end he was showing us his tai-kwon-do moves. It was a really good first meeting. You could feel the Spirit in their home the entire time. This family is very special. They are a dedicated religious family. I really think the gospel, especially concerning families, will really hit home with them. This past Saturday for English class, we had everyone share good news from their week. He shared how the missionaries came to visit his home. And how is wife and son were very happy. I think they like us. We meet them again tomorrow. I am so excited!

WEEK FOUR IN KOREA

I've been in Korea for a month! Wow. That's amazing, seems unreal. I think I am adjusting well to the. This week was an adventourous week, it's rainy season. And when it rains here, it pours. I step outside with my umbrella and within in five minutes my shoes are sloshing water and the back of my skirt is drenched. But thankfully the weather is still warm, so I am just wet, not cold and wet. Yesterday the rivers were overflowing covering the side walks. One street we were walking on was a river. But as soon as the rain stops the water on the road and in the river quickly dies down. Nothing dangerous, just adds a challenge in doing missionary work.

Next week we have a baptism! So exciting. A little girl named 刮促后.  She had her baptismal interview and did great. She's excited to get baptized. We were a little worried about her because when we reviewed the questions with her Saturday she was not answering very well, she was very distracted that day, just being a kid. Us and the ward are just so excited.

WEEK THREE IN KOREA

Well, I still barely know any Korean. But good news, my English is getting worse, so my Korean must be getting better. Yesterday was refreshing because we shared a message with a member who spoke English. And she tends to talk to missionaries in English, so it was so nice to get to know her and understand what was going on.

Korea is being hit by a typhoon at the moment. It's not bad, just always raining and my feet are never dry. But it's still warm weather, so I am not cold and miserable, just wet. But we are not even into the rainy season yet. It's sounds like we get more rain than we do now and it feels like a sauna...I can't wait.

Exciting missionary news, we got a baptism set up for July 10th, little girl named 刮促后 (min-da-bin). She is 8 years old and has been taking english classes form the missionaries for a year now. She's really goo at it. She lives with her grandma and grandpa who both are Buddist. Her grandmother loves the church and consented fro 刮促后 to get baptized. So exciting. Everyone in our ward loves this little girl and has truly embraced her. She has so many friends and loves coming to church. With the great support system she has now, she will continue to remain active in the church.

Other exciting news, we picked up two new investiagtors this week. One gril is 26 years old and is working on getting her masters. She is looking for another church, didn't like her old one very much. Her mom's best friend is a Mormon and reffered her to us. She came last Sunday for all three hours plus the linger longer with her Mom's friend. Then we met her this past Wednesday and talked about God and introduced the Book of Mormon. She's very quiet and hard to read, but she wants to meet again so thats good.

Our other new investiagor is  傍家捞 .  She is 17 years old. We meet her through street contacting. She's the very first person I gave a Book of Mormon too. And Sister Jung got an appointment with her, which initially fell through, but she's been wanting to meet and Saturday we were able to. She had a break in her busy schedule. We talked about God, got to know her and religious background and talked about the Book of Mormon. It was good. The next day she even came to part of church, which she liked. There are lots of youth her age and that really appealed to her. Not sure when she can meet again, but hopefully soon. Interesting thing about her is she does gun shooting competitions. It's cool because no one in Korea owns a gun. It's super safe here. It's pretty awesome. I am learning gun vocabulary so I can ask her more questions about it. I forget who I was talking to, a member I think, and we were talking about America and thier guns and I said my Grandma has a gun...lol...her reaction was so funny.

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...