Hello!
It was kind of a long week. But I got through the first one in the new area with new companions...things should start speeding up from here.
I'm enjoying the threesome. It has a very different dynamic. When we visit people they are kind of surprized that there's three people, but at this point it isn't weird for us. That's kind of true for a lot of things about missionary work, though--it's kind of strange for other people, but not at all for us.
Like praying all the time. In the MTC, there was a Korean tutor we could meet with for thirty minutes at a time. She would always have us start with a prayer, which was strange to me then, but now...why not start with a prayer?
Also when we tell people we live together, or when we explain why we only have one cell phone number (we're always together), they are a little surprized. But that's what missionaries do!
I'm enjoying getting to know my companions, too. So my last compaion, Sister Bang, made sure I started using eye cream. Now Sister Lee (my companions are Sister Gubler and Sister Lee Yae Gi) told me I need to wash my feet every night before I go to bed. "Think about it," she said, "walking around all day with your feet in your stockings." So now I wash my feet at night.
Sister Lee also eats more Korean than Sister Bang did. Sister Lee said she needed rice at every meal...then she said, well, two out of three is okay. We ran out of rice this week. On Sunday had packed a small lunch that we ate in the kitchen at the church building after the meeting--crackers, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, cookies Sister Gubler made. It was the second meal without rice--Sister Lee refused to eat.
We had a good dinner that night, though. The ward's bishop and his family invited the members over to his house for dinner. There were at least fifty people--but seating is a lot more efficient when you sit on the floor, I've noticed. We had an investigator who came--someone we're meeting with and teaching.
Her name is Choi Hee sook, and she's from North Korea. She is looking for the right church. I was currious about meeting with her. We taught a lesson last week, and she started talking about North Korea. I really wish I could have understood more of what she said. I really wish that. She talked about how people are so poor they don't have rice--they eat barley or corn. And she told us how no one knows about the Bible, about religion.
After meeting with her...before, in my mind, North Korea was just a political ananomly (sp?), some fluke in history and government. I don't know how to describe it...maybe like looking at those old Soviet propaganda posters. You know what's behind them isn't quite right, but they're foreign looking and far enough away from you personally and historically that you don't have to worry about it.
After the appointment though...I just got maybe a sliver more of understanding. There was also a member at the appointment with us. Choi Hee sook has been in South Korea for about nine years now, and the member looked at me and said, "you haven't seen your family for a few months, but can you imagine nine years?" And then I asked if you could send letters to North Korea, or email (because I really can't imagine nine years), and they just laughed. Of course you can't just send a letter to North Korea. And people don't have computers.
That night I thought about it...how even if it was a historical fluke the way I thought, what it comes down to is that it affects normal people every day. They are so close from here, but their lives are completely different. Members take us out to eat and overfeed us...and within a few hours they can't afford rice--or there isn't rice. All of a sudden it felt a lot more real. This is definately a learning experience, as a missionary. In a lot of different ways.
I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I send my love.
--Carrie
It was kind of a long week. But I got through the first one in the new area with new companions...things should start speeding up from here.
I'm enjoying the threesome. It has a very different dynamic. When we visit people they are kind of surprized that there's three people, but at this point it isn't weird for us. That's kind of true for a lot of things about missionary work, though--it's kind of strange for other people, but not at all for us.
Like praying all the time. In the MTC, there was a Korean tutor we could meet with for thirty minutes at a time. She would always have us start with a prayer, which was strange to me then, but now...why not start with a prayer?
Also when we tell people we live together, or when we explain why we only have one cell phone number (we're always together), they are a little surprized. But that's what missionaries do!
I'm enjoying getting to know my companions, too. So my last compaion, Sister Bang, made sure I started using eye cream. Now Sister Lee (my companions are Sister Gubler and Sister Lee Yae Gi) told me I need to wash my feet every night before I go to bed. "Think about it," she said, "walking around all day with your feet in your stockings." So now I wash my feet at night.
Sister Lee also eats more Korean than Sister Bang did. Sister Lee said she needed rice at every meal...then she said, well, two out of three is okay. We ran out of rice this week. On Sunday had packed a small lunch that we ate in the kitchen at the church building after the meeting--crackers, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, cookies Sister Gubler made. It was the second meal without rice--Sister Lee refused to eat.
We had a good dinner that night, though. The ward's bishop and his family invited the members over to his house for dinner. There were at least fifty people--but seating is a lot more efficient when you sit on the floor, I've noticed. We had an investigator who came--someone we're meeting with and teaching.
Her name is Choi Hee sook, and she's from North Korea. She is looking for the right church. I was currious about meeting with her. We taught a lesson last week, and she started talking about North Korea. I really wish I could have understood more of what she said. I really wish that. She talked about how people are so poor they don't have rice--they eat barley or corn. And she told us how no one knows about the Bible, about religion.
After meeting with her...before, in my mind, North Korea was just a political ananomly (sp?), some fluke in history and government. I don't know how to describe it...maybe like looking at those old Soviet propaganda posters. You know what's behind them isn't quite right, but they're foreign looking and far enough away from you personally and historically that you don't have to worry about it.
After the appointment though...I just got maybe a sliver more of understanding. There was also a member at the appointment with us. Choi Hee sook has been in South Korea for about nine years now, and the member looked at me and said, "you haven't seen your family for a few months, but can you imagine nine years?" And then I asked if you could send letters to North Korea, or email (because I really can't imagine nine years), and they just laughed. Of course you can't just send a letter to North Korea. And people don't have computers.
That night I thought about it...how even if it was a historical fluke the way I thought, what it comes down to is that it affects normal people every day. They are so close from here, but their lives are completely different. Members take us out to eat and overfeed us...and within a few hours they can't afford rice--or there isn't rice. All of a sudden it felt a lot more real. This is definately a learning experience, as a missionary. In a lot of different ways.
I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I send my love.
--Carrie
