Feb 26 Letter to Family

Hello!

We went to the temple this morning. It's about a hour and a half on the subway. We left about 8:00 and hit some rush-hour people traffic. A man in a nice uniform put his hand on my back and pushed me hard into one of the subways, but maybe not enough--the umbrella in my bag got caught in the door and he said something in his walkie-talkie to get the conductor to open it again.

It was a good week. A longer one. I get to help plan our schedule now--yay!--but there's a little more stress involved. We've had lots of people cancel and people who don't want to meet anymore (they say very politely: we've been so busy lately, and tonight we have plans...we'll call you when we have time again). Tuesday we ended up walking around a lot trying to visit members, but they had all moved or weren't home. We did have one appointment that night, and Sister Bang showed me new Korean food (she was sad when she found out I had eaten so much kim bap--"but there are so many good Korean foods!"). That evening it was a soup with huge backbones with meat on them. It comes out boiling (they head the bowl strait over a gas burner) and you pick off the meat and eat it with rice and kim chee. Yum.

Lots of love!!

--Carrie

Sweet memories: Why was a humming as if I know

2-18-09

Hello!

A big week! An investigator had a baptisimal interview, someone taught us to make kim chee stew, and I have a new companion! Exciting things.

Sunday was stake conference, so we went to church at a different chapel. It's a new building, four stories, big! I was surprized when I saw it. In the elevator there's an "F" button instead of a "4," since four is a bad-luck number in this part of the world (like how some buildings in the US don't have a 13th floor...right? Or am I making that up?). After the meeting, kim bap (like sushi) and tangerines and dak (glutenous rice dumplings...sort of...) were passed around and Sister Romney made small talk with people while we waited for Kim Jae rae in her baptisimal interview. She passed.

Also this week we got phone calls about transfers. All the sisters but one pair got moved around. I am staying in the same area, and my new companion is Sister Bang Ae ra. Her name, Ae ra, means "piles of love." I was excited when the mission president told me--I couldn't ask for anything better. Everyone says she's an angel, and since meeting her this morning, she has lived up to that. And I'm so excited to be with a Korean sister! I'm grateful, too, that she doesn't speak much English. I want so, so badly to learn Korean and Korea. I am excited.

I am super nervous, though, that I'm the one who's supposed to know this area. Ahh! We spent some time looking through the record books today and I don't know many people in them. And navigation is going to be an adventure. Thankfully, Sister Romney will still live in the same house! She got transferred to the other side of the stake--she moved across the hall. I'm grateful she's there to answer questions, help Sister Bang get to know the area too, etc.

Since Sister Romney knew she was leaving, there were lots of goodbyes this week. She loves kim chee stew, so last night Lee Mi hae showed us how to make it. I made some more for everyone this afternoon, and it turned out pretty good.

I send my love!

--Carrie

Honorific Teeth

2-11-09

This morning during Korean study I found out there is an honorific word for teeth. I am starting to realize some of the things that make Korean hard. Honorific things--different words for people above you. And that it's just plain different from English. I know four ways to say "and" now--between verbs, between nouns, at the end of a list, between sentences. I still don't really know how to make things negative (which sometimes makes things interesting), or really how to say "you," since Korean doesn't use "you," it uses titles, and I don't always know what title is appropriate.

It is coming, though. Last Sunday my companion and I did an exchange--she went to Songpa ward, and I went to Songnam ward for church. We had ward members as companions during that time. My companion, Kim Young mi, just got back from a mission in Pusan, Korea. The plan was that Sister Romney would be in Songpa for two people coming to church for the first time, and in Songnam I would teach a lesson to someone preparing to be baptized--Kim Jae rae--during church and after to someone who just started meeting with us.

Kim Jae rae's baptisimal date has kind of been moving around--just because of logistics. Her son is in the bishopbrick, though, and she's been attending church regularly for the past few months. She had been taught everything but the lesson on commandments--which is long, so Sister Romney and I had planned on breaking it up over two lessons in the next couple of weeks. Sunday morning, after talking with some of the ward members, she decided she wanted to be baptized the following Sunday.

So thank heavens for Kim Yong mi--we taught together the rest of what she needed to learn, and then I talked to the elders about an interview that day. I felt triumphant figuring all of this out in Korean--and excited the baptism was being moved up. Everything was good until I asked Jae rae's son for a form for her interview (because he's in the bishoprick), and he said (I summized) what's the rush? Just get baptized a bit later. Now the plan is March 1st.

Poor Sister Romney in Songpa--neither of the new people came to church, and she was frustrated we went through it all to arrange doing an exchange when they didn't come. The next (Monday) night, too, all of our plans for Tuesday except one appointment fell through. We called everyone we could think of and no one wanted to meet, do anything. She was an absolute wreck. Tuesday we were supposed to do a special training with two elders. They are finishing their missions--going home it two weeks--and the mission president gave them the assignment of spending a day with each companionship in the mission.

Originally we had a full day planned to do with them--four appointments--and they, and backup plans, just started to fall through. Sick. Busy. Freaked out by having four missionaries come to see her. Didn't what to meet with us again, period. Didn't answer. Can't visit because kids study at home. We went to bed not really knowing what we were going to do with this special day when we were supposed to learn alot and have a lot to do.

But it worked out wonderfully. It turned out we had the day open to ask questions we needed answers for. I had been so nervous about being overwhelmed by the training--overwhelmed by them shadowing us in lessons, about them judging me, judging us. I think it would have been hard for Sister Romney, too. Instead, we got to talk about how to do things better. How to help people come to church. How to find new people to teach. How to get ward members to trust us. How to encourage people and build them up and help them do things that will help them learn and progress. Questions about things we had been wondering about. It just turned out perfectly.

Well, I'm out of time, but I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Much love,

Carrie

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift!

Hello!

Another quick one--I had lots of emails to respond to this week, so thanks:)

We've been really busy this week--three or four or five appointments every day, plus travelling to them--busy! The mission president and his wife visited our apartment this week so he could do interviews for the transfer, which was fun.

That day was probably one of the best so far. After interviews, we went to one of the churches we're working in to meet an investigator, Sae won. We had a good lesson--me stumbling through in Korean. Earlier this week we had a day where Sister Romney kind of taught everything. It made me kind of mad. So I'm trying to teach more of the lessons, even though I don't feel like I have the vocabulary or lesson plans memorized to do them like I want to. I just try to get sentences out, and sometimes it requires a lot of patience from everyone. During this lesson, Sae won asked a question, and as I was trying to add my thoughts to what Sister Romney was saying, I kind of just looked strait at Sae won for a minute, trying to gather the words to say it, and all I could think about was how badly I wanted her to understand what I was saying. How badly I wanted to talk to her.

Sae won made us lasagna--really good lasagna, and garlic toast from bread she made herself. And salad. She always cooks for us and packs it up for after our lessons, and she's a good cook. It was the first time I'd had Italian food since being here. I was surprised at how good it tasted to be eating it.

Our next appointment cancelled, so we decided to drop by the house of a member. Song man and his wife Ing dok. I had wanted to visit them for awhile--being told that it's important to know the senior members of the ward. That respect for them and from them matters in how the rest of the members see you.

Song man is the oldest member of Songpa ward--92. He was so excited to see is, so warm and kind to us. His wife, Ing dok, really isn't doing well, but we visited with them and sang a hymn with Song man. Seeing how he cared for and loved his wife was really neat. Seeing his love for the church was really neat. We sang the hymn "How Firm a Foundation," and he was certainly exemplary of it.

We had a dinner appointment with Jong sook. She fed us pounds of meat--I was kind of sick after (for like a day after), and thought about how my brother in law Brad threw up once at a dinner appointment with members. I was a bit nervous. It was really good meat, though. She has shared some experiences she's had that have helped her really feel an obligation to help the missionaries. I feel we are connected. And again, I am grateful for her firm foundation and service.

We talked a bit long, so she gave us a ride back to the church for our last appointment of the day. It was good to see people, good to learn from them. A good day.

My time is up. I love you all, have a wonderful week!

--Carrie