Letter from 27 August 2009

Hello! Not much time again--I'm sorry. Today we went to the zoo in Seoul Grand Park with the Olympic judge. She's officially dropped as an investigator, but not as our surrigate grandmother. I love spending time with her. She's waiting for us.

This week we had zone conference with other missionaries, and we ment a sister who will be a missionary for the next six weeks to keep the number of sisters serving together even. It took a bit to piece together her story. Turns out she lives here, joined the church six months ago. She's an actress, and was the lead in "My Girlfriend is an Agent" (if you want to look it up). She got up and told us the story of her conversion. I really want to serve with her...maybe because she's a movie star. But...more, I would really like to spend six weeks with someone with her faith. She is on fire with faith, lit up because of the gospel.

I love you all, have a wonderful week.

--Carrie

Letter from 20 August 2009

I promised Sister Lee just ten more minutes four minutes ago--I have to write quick! We went with other missionaries to a war memorial museum today, and there isn't much time for email! It was good--learned some new things.

I wanted to share some Korean moments I had this week...

--Proselyting (sp?) carrying about 20 pounds of kimchee. A member gave it to us. She made it last November. We eat it for lunch.
--Hitting my head on the corner of a brick wall bowing goodbye to an investigator after a teaching appointment last night. Fortunately it was dark (though maybe the reason I didn't see the wall coming) and everyone was busy saying goodbye, so I don't think anyone saw.
--Having my bag and everything in it smell like soy sauce and garlic after carrying around a mix of sauce left over after a ward dinner.

Also, an investigator (who we dropped that night--sad. Lots of those lately) took us to eat Vietnamese noodles. She had been to Vietnam, and so I was asking her about it as we ate. She said, they're Communist, you know? I didn't know. I should have. I heard that and I thought, oops, we lost that war, didn't we?

We've been visiting a lot of less active members lately--well, maybe three this week? One of the women finally said it--you can tell the missionaries anything, they just come and go. These people tell us exactly why they're not coming to church. I just wish my Korean was better--and that I had some answers for them. I just have "missionary answers," as someone once put it. Pray. You can always pray, even when other things look to hard. Read the scriptures--that's one way we can get answers, and sometimes we find things that are specifically for us. Everyone is human--everyone makes mistakes. The Savior knows everything we're going through, and He will help us as we turn to Him.

I know those things are true. I know they are. I just hope...I hope people will listen--well, not listen, but try for themselves.

I love you all, have a great week.

--Carrie

Letter from 13 August 2009

Byun Shin jeong got baptized on Saturday. She was excited. I was excited that she was excited. The next day, Sunday, when we got to church 20 minutes early, the other missionaries told us she had already arrived. This week we wanted to meet with her at a member's house to talk about the temple, but she said, sorry, I'm busy. She's attending the world-wide Korean Young Adult Conference that's being held this week.

Some other good things this week. We have really not been busy lately--not a lot of investigators, people to meet with (that's not the good thing!). One night, looking desperately for an appointment, I saw a name on a role from church that I didn't recongize and asked if we could come. It turns out the woman was baptized a couple years ago, and last year, just decided to stop going to church. She said we could come by, and as we were visiting, she said flat out she had no intention of going to church again. But she told us to come visit her at her work--she works at a daycare, where kids get care for free (this week she's going camping with them). And she said we'd probably be able to meet with her sons, too.

And we met a new person on Sunday--her son was recently baptized. We asked if we could teach her more about our church, and she said yes. The family is just the two of them--mom and son. I hope they will be able to start doing this together.

The past two days were rainy--aparently, this year is especially rainy. It was a nice respite from the heat, though. And last night, when the rain cleared out, the air was clear, that beautiful early-evening sun shined. People on the street started pulling out cell phones to take pictures of a full rainbow that had appeared.

Have a wonderful week!

Letter from 5 August 2009

Hello!

Transfer week--but no changes here. I'll stay in the same place with Sister Lee.

The number of people we're meeting with is still...small and smaller:( That means we have had time, though, to meet with more members. I am terrible with directions, and Korean names are really hard for me to remember, so that means I've been spending a lot of time--trying to!--figuring out who the members of the wards are, what areas they live in, etc.

Tuesday morning I was looking over names, pictures, and looking at someone's picture--Choi Dong hee--I thought, "we haven't visited her yet, have we?" We hadn't. I called her and asked if we could stop by that afternoon. She said sorry, but she had other plans. Then a few minutes later, she called back and asked, "what time can you come?"

We went and talked and visited, and shared a message--a passage from a General Conference talk, about how parents can give children good education, lessons, etc, but if they haven't given them faith, they haven't given them much at all. Choi Dong hee said earlier that day, after we had called, she thought that maybe the missionaries really should come by. So she cancelled her other apointment and called us back up. She said those were words she needed to hear. It was a neat experience.

Also this week, Byun Shin jeong set a baptism date--she's getting baptized on Saturday! We were teaching a lesson and had planned to set a date with her. She easily goes off on other topics, and when we were talking about something like house cleaning, I decided it wasn't the most spiritual moment and figured it would have to wait till the next time. And then, after some comments about mopping, I think, my companion, Sister Lee, said something like, "So when are you going to get baptized?" Byun Shin jeong kind of thought for a second, pulled out her cell phone and looked at the calendar on it...and decided on Saturday.

The singles her age in the ward have been wonderful to her--she spends time with them; we had dinner together with one, Kim Soon hee, Tuesday after Byun Shin jeong's interview. We had never been to Kim Soon hee's house--but Byun Shin jeong had, maybe three times before. I'm excited for her, and I think things will go well on Saturday.

Have a great week!

--Carrie