July 13, 2015

So CRAZY STUFF HAPPENS and golly is God super smart, haha. As you know, this past week was transfer week, and I'll tell you what happened in a second. First. Most of the week was fairly good. Sis Kang was far less sick (even though she wouldn't listen to me and take the rest of her medicine except when she started to hurt again...) and we actually were able to go out and meet people. So that was exciting. 

Last District Meeting in Tongyeong

On Wednesday we had our last district meeting for the transfer, so that was cool. As far as all my weeks in Tongyeong go, it was a pretty good one, though there was still the roller-coaster of Sis Kang's changing emotions, but that's okay because I don't have to deal with it anymooooooore. Yes yes yes. :) Sorry. I'll try to be less happy. um. So yeah. On Thursday night, we were not sure what would happen with transfers - if we would get a call or not. Towards the end of the evening, our zone's sister training leaders sent us a text telling us all they knew about the sisters in our zone transferring, and one of the STLs said she was coming to Tongyeong/Geoje, and we were like... "WHAT?!" We still had not heard anything so we were SUPER confused. And then it was after 10:20 when we aren't allowed to text/call people, sooo... we went to bed, wondering if we were going to be in a trio or something. 

 

So in the morning, we called the STL and asked who she was told she would be serving with, and she said "with Sis Kang" .... "WWWWWWWWWWWAAAAT??" We figured if any of us left, it would be Sis Kang because she has been in Tongyeong longer. So we got people to talk to the mission president's assistants, and it turns out they forgot to call me. Haha, nice. So, in the morning they called me and told me I was going to transfer to JEJU ISLAND. Do you understand that? Jeju. The tropical island that everyone resorts to for vacation. Famous. Awesome. YES. Look up pictures. haha. 

 

There's a mission tradition that on transfer call night you order chicken.. yum :)

 

I was honestly elated, because I honestly could not have stood another transfer with Sis Kang, and I didn't like Tongyeong itself that much anyways. So, God is really good, and definitely heard my prayer ('cuz I might have prayed really sincerely about transfers :P ) Ah. So yeah. Friday was a crazy day and I packed all my stuff and sent it off. I spent the rest of the week in high anticipation of Monday. On Sunday, there was a typhoon, so that was cool. Lots of rain and wind. Unfortunately, I only had one pair of shoes because I sent the rest of them, but that's okay :P I attended church in Geoje that Sunday, and those members are so awesome. I love that branch. When I gave a little farewell talk thingy, I used the Korean equivalent phrase for "time flies fast", and everyone thought I am super good at Korean. Muahaha. If only they knew :P 

 

Geoje

 

 

 

oh, and it was also Sis Kang's birthday on Sunday, so the elders threw a little party for her :)

 

more of Sis Kang's birthday. We went out in a typhoon to get that cake, by the way.

 

So yeah. Anyways. I only spent one transfer in Tongyeong/Geoje, which is really short, but I learned a lot about patience, endurance, love, etc. I'm not sure exactly what the point of that transfer was, I'm still thinking about it. I don't think I particularly helped anyone much there, so it might have just been for my benefit of having a trial :P haha. Honestly guys. HARDEST TRANSFER. DONE. YES. And so on Monday we met up with our new companions, and I'm with ChoiYuJin, who has only one transfer left before she goes home, so it looks like I'll probably stay on Jeju till the end of my mission. We took a plane yesterday and I'm SUPER excited to be here, and I'm quite happy. I hope to be able to work really hard and do all that I can with the time I have left here. The 4 other elders on the island all work really hard and I'm excited to work with them all. Yay! 

Jeju from the airplane :) which was SUPER weird to ride, by the way.

That's a terrible picture of me, but that's ChoiYuJin :)

Here is Jeju

July 6, 2015

This past week was well... interesting :P Sis Kang often has had stomach pain the whole time we've been together (and throughout her mission, really), and I just figured she had an allergy or something, sensitive stomach or whatnot. Buuut. It turns out not? Haha.. On Tuesday we went to service and ate there, and afterwards Sis Kang wasn't in too good of a mood, and we went home and she just collapsed on her bed. And I was like... Uh? Don't we have places to be? But it turns out her stomach was hurting her really bad, and so I suggested we meet up with the Elders and they could give her a blessing. It took a long time for us to get out the door (because she wouldn't talk to me), but we eventually got to the church, and the elders gave her a blessing, and then she laid down and wouldn't respond... She did get up a couple times to run to the bathroom, I think she threw up and stuff. So, we let her rest and made a street board for English class, which took several hours. That evening we had a meal appointment planned with a member, which we went to, which I'm not sure was a good idea. Because members like to make us eat a lot :P 

 

So yeah. Then Wednesday morning we had interviews with the mission president. That was really good. Pres. Barrow knows that I've been having a hard time, and he was able to just encourage and such. After interviews, we went to the hospital and got Sis Kang some medicine, and she seemed to be doing better in general on Wednesday. Buuut. We had to eat an unfortunate amount that day, because we ate a pretty big lunch with a less active, and not too long after, dinner with an English class member... So that evening Sis Kang really wasn't feeling good, and threw up. She wouldn't talk to me either, so I had no idea what to do or how badly she was hurting, what she needed, etc. So Thursday was an super awful day for me because she literally did not talk to me ALL DAY. She just laid in bed, and I tried asking what was wrong, what she needed, how badly she hurt, but she didn't respond, which was SUPER frustrating! I was super worried. We stayed inside for most of the day, and had to cancel appointments. 

 

Throughout the day I stayed in contact with Sis Barrow, who gave me advice for what to do, because Sis Kang wouldn't take the medicine we had gotten on Wednesday... At some point during that day though, she got up and got ready, and without a word started for the door, so I was like, "okay.. guess we are leaving now" Turns out we had another meal appointment with another member and the elders that she hadn't mentioned. And it was a big meal which was super bad. After that appointment, we went to English class. She was in a lot of pain, I think, but she eventually did talk to me, so that was good, but she wasn't happy with me because I had contacted Sis Barrow without informing her, because we are supposed to (it's a rule). Whatever. I super needed help, so I didn't feel bad for "breaking rules". I don't blame her for being irritable, because of pain :P 

 

Friday was a lot better, because she wasn't mad at me anymore and she was talking to me. She said she was hurting and the medicine she had been taking wasn't helping, so we went back to the hospital and they did an endoscope, and said she has esophagitis or gastritis or something. So she got some new medicine, and we spent all day at home. It seemed to be helping though, because she was a lot happier. Our relationship is so confusing to me :P Sometimes we get along really really well, and sometimes... I just don't know :P 

 

On Saturday, she was better enough for us to go out. So we had 2 English classes and some other stuff. It was a good day. Yesterday, Sunday, she was hurting again, but we went to church, and after it she rested for basically the whole day again. But it was okay. After Thursday, our relationship was really good, so I didn't mind being at home so much. As long as she is happy, I'm all good :P So all week, we were basically able to meet no one. But with all that time at home, I tried to be as productive as possible. I did a lot of cleaning, haha. Our apartment is SO CLEAN now. The fridge, floors, doors, cupboards... so clean. Haha. I also rearranged our desks and bed space. 

 

Soooo. Yeah. That happened. This coming week is the last of the transfer, and I have no idea what will happen. Sis Kang and I might stay together for another, but because we go home at the same time, one of us might transfer. It is kind of weird for two older missionaries to be together. But who knows. Something I am learning from my complex relationship with Sis Kang is to just enjoy the good moments as much as possible, and love someone no matter what. I would definitely never marry someone like her (haha) but I've come to love her in such a way that even when she is irritable, I just let it slide and be patient. Holding bitter feelings about the things she does would do no good, so it is much easier to just forgive and love. 

June 28, 2015

Things here are honestly going much the same. The problems I am having with Sis Kang aren't cultural or language, it's mostly personality, I think, and I just can't talk to her about it because of said personality, so. I basically just endure her bad moods :P But it is teaching me a great deal about patience and how to treat people kindly irregardless of what you feel like saying :P Don't worry, it's not all bad. If she's in a good mood, things between us are pretty fun and all that. It is just.. how often is the good mood? :P

 

So anyways. We figured out my foreigner card, so that's all good, except I had to pay $60 for them to write a date in marker on my card... sigh. SO, all my money is down the drain, I HAD a reserve fund, but. Well. Ah. We spend so much money on travel. BUT it's all good, because this week we get our monthly money AND I'll get a refund tomorrow... YAAY! It has been a great experience for the future, I'm sure. :P

 

Tuesday, we had appointments planned, but both cancelled.  Wednesday was my year mark in KOREA! That lead me to reflect on this past year and all the things that have happened and that I've learned. Something that I was thinking about was that before I started my mission and during the beginning few months, I thought I didn't necessarily have to go on a mission, that if I didn't go, it would be completely fine. And in a sense, that is true. My life was fine before, and going good places. But now, I can see how much I really needed to go on a mission. The lessons and skills I am learning here are so important, and my understanding has deepened so much. So, I can see how God has guided my life. Yes, without a mission I would have been "fine", but God is pretty smart and I think He knew there was a "good" and a "better" path for me to take, and a mission was the "better". That's why it is so important to trust Him. He has better ideas than me :P haha.

 

Behold....Shrimp Eyes!

So anyways. Wednesday we threw a little surprise party for Elder Affleck, which was mostly just putting balloons up and eating donuts while having a meeting :P YEEAH. Missionaries know how to party hard ;)

 

Sunday was pretty cool. We attended in Geoje, where it is exceedingly small in number :P So, one guy who was supposed to give a talk wasn't there, so Sis Kang and I gave improvised talks about missionary work. There's also a Filipino member, so I got to translate the whole meeting into English for him, and in the slang of Elder Affleck, I GOT WRECKED. Translating is so hard :P Then because another member who usually teaches the youth wasn't there, we gave an improvised lesson about answers to prayer. :P YEAH. Twas fun. Later that day, we met a new person who is interested in our English program for her daughters, and she is fine with the message part, which is great :P Yay! 

 

While we were walking, we found a baby bird huddled up close to a building, and there was no nest or mother in sight, so Sis Kang picked it up and we took it to a place where there were more trees and other birds, so hopefully it will be okay :P But it was super cute. 

That's about it. Today we played a card game with the Elders, which was fun. Nothing much else to report... :P

June 21, 2015

DANG IT! I just had all this stuff typed but then I accidentally deleted it ALL. Face palm. 

 

Basically, this week has been okay. I'm still having problems with Sis Kang but I don't want to talk about it. I'm just learning how important it is to be willing to communicate, and how to be more patient and loving, about turning the other cheek, and about grace, which enables us to do more than we are capable of. 

 

This past week, we did missionary work. We met this one lady who was a previous investigator and who has a health/acupuncture place, and she took one look at me and said "You are really stressed." Um. Yeah, thanks? So she decided from my face color and eyes (?) that I have a kidney and liver problem and so she shocked my hand for about 15 minutes for acupuncture or whatever. It was interesting. 

 

On Friday, we went on exchanges, and I was with SIs Koyle for the 3rd time! It was really fun and I loved it, but it was kind of sad how happy I was... It was just good to relieve some stress and talk about some stuff. 

 

For fun stories of the week... This one guy came early to English class and he brought us food. He so kindly brought us de-boned CHICKEN FEET. It was really weird, and spicy. The taste was okay, I guess, but the texture was kind of like chewing on my ear or something. Weird.

 

While we are on weird stories, yesterday we were at a stop light waiting, and this man stared at me for about 30 seconds, and then gave me the Korean equivalent of a penny. Thanks? It was weird :P

Today is Pday, but my relaxing vibes were dashed by my foreigner card.. :P We went to the immigration office 2 weeks ago because a card only lasts one year (I've been in Korea for a YEAR now, you all) and wanted to get it extended. So we went today to pick it up, but it still has the same date, so I'm supposed to leave Korea in 2 days... So we need to go back and get that fixed. AH. It'll probably be fine, but I don't want to worry about it today, and I bet it will take FOREVER... So annoying. 

 

Anyways. THis is basically all that I had written before... man. THat was so annoying :P But anyways.

June 15, 2015

I'll be honest.. this past week was kind of rough. Sis Kang is great usually, but sometimes can be a little difficult. Her missionary style is different than mine. I'm just learning to be more patient and loving, to see the good, and how to help people be happier :P People see things differently, which is okay. I'm figuring it out. 

On Tuesday we had a Zone Mtg, and it was great because I got to see Sis Erickson and her new trainee (from New Zealand). It was really fun, and we talked about the power of commitment. As missionaries, we ask people to do stuff a lot, but also we have to commit to personal things. Sometimes we say we will do things, but then don't... So to commit to something, really figure out why we want/need to do it. More than just goal making, we talked about how we need to push ourselves to our utmost limits, because that is where we grow. So that point in which we have given literally everything and have tried our absolute best is important to reach, and once we do OUR best, Christ can step in and help us. It is hard to know what our best is, but God knows, and He will always help us. 

We met with a new investigator who had met missionaries a LONG time ago, so that was cool. 

On Friday, we had 2 appointments cancel because of a new virus that is going around. I'm actually surprised you haven't asked/heard about it yet, because it is kind of a big deal in Korea. It's called MERS and came from a camel, and at the moment it is only in Korea. I think only 130 or so people actually have it, but like 1000 people are in confinement or whatever because they might have it and it is really contagious. I'm actually not sure how accurate those numbers are... Without the internet, all our info comes from random people we meet. But because it is ASIA, people are being really cautious. I don't think it's actually that bad of a virus, just like a cold/flu, or something, but if you are old.. well. Some people have died. BUT DON'T WORRY! Because it's mostly in Seoul... and I have a face mask and lots of hand sanitizer! Haha. Ah. So yeah. Point of the story. Meeting people is getting a wee bit difficult because they are afraid of it. 

Don't mind my awkwardness

I have another food story :P We went with a member to a street market, which are usually pretty skechy...  Especially because the one was a live fish market, so it just stinks :P But we went to a little restaurant in there and got some Sujebi? I have no idea how to spell that. The dictionary translates it to "Korean soup with dough flakes" Hahah. And it is actually really good, but the place we went to had a seafood variation of it, so it had clams (good) and dried fish chunks (not good) and small, whole shrimps (eyes, legs, and shell in all :P). So it was good, if you subtract the bad parts :P But we naturally pretended it was all great :P 

Sujebi

Another story, we have run into this one hilarious looking man 3 times while in that market area. He is old and is dressed RIDICULOUSLY. He has a hat on and every single inch of his clothes is covered in trinkets and jewelry and cheap souvenirs and is always holding bath body scrubbers. Hahahahaha. He just dances around the market selling stuff. I got a picture, but it's not quite good enough to convey his hilarity. 

On Sunday, we attended the Geoje branch, and they were all really nice. I really liked them. 

Today we went on a hike! It was fun, and should have had a great view.. but the weather wasn't too great and there was a cloud on the mountain :P So we couldn't see very far :P But I enjoyed it. Sis Kang really rather hated it, so we took a cable car back down :P Perhaps after transfers, I'll go back when the weather is clear :P It was supposed to have been really cool. But it was fun to be in a cloud :P 

So anyways. I'm learning a lot, and I'm really glad to be here. Missionary work. :P It's so weird :P Haaha

This sign was 200 meters from the summit of the mountain... IT'S A BIT LATE TO TELL US THAT. :P

What we were supposed to be seeing, vs what we really saw... :P stupid clouds :P

The Top

June 1, 2015

Well, this past week was pretty crazy. It was the last week of the transfer, and so today is the first day of my 9th transfer (of 12), and I am no longer in Shinjeong! :( I really love Shinjeong, it is a really good area with lots of good members, and we had SOOO many good investigators with actual interest, so I'm sad to leave all that, but I'm excited to serve in a new area. now I am with Sis Kang Da Hyeon, and we have 2 areas, Geoje and Tongyeong. I met Sis Kang in the MTc (this computer doesn't let me capitalize c and n for some reason..) and we will go home at the same time, so that's fun :)

These are what we sleep on. I can testify that you can still feel the floor :P

So anyways... On Tuesday we had 2 appointments planned, but one didn't show up, so that was strange. But we later found out she is sick and can't answer the phone, or something, sooo. Yeah. I don't know how sick she really is though, 'cuz Koreans go to the hospital for colds, soo... Anyways.
On Wednesday we had our last District Meeting of the transfer, and then ate at a sushi buffet. now that I think about it, we ate a lot this past week. :P

The lady who teaches Taekwondo and who I just LOVE. Man. I miss her.

Thursday was transfer call day... In the morning we had service, and for the rest of the day we basically only deep cleaned our house the whole time. Usually transfer calls start after 9:00 at night, but Pres Barrow apparently decided to start early, and he called Sis Hurley to inform her that she is going to train! I'm not too surprised, I bet she will do really good. She's worried though, because all the incoming missionaries are from America, Australia, and  new Zealand. So, no Korean :P SO, she has to understand everything :P I'm sure she'll do great though. But because of that, we had a lot of
preparation to do. Lots of planning and cleaning, and also because I was about to leave, lots of meeting people :P So we were pretty busy.

Our Last District

Friday morning we sent all my luggage, then had lunch with some members, then met an investigator, and then a less active :P Saturday we ran some errands, planned, had English class, taught some girls for the first time that are interested in the church, and then had another meal appointment with some other members at a meat buffet. SO FULL. Still.

Sunday was really cool, because one of our investigators came to church :D That doesn't happen often. Admittedly, she only came because she loves me and Sis Hurley (she made it clear she likes us more than religion :P), but she came, so that was exciting. I gave a small talk during Sacrament meeting, because that's what we do when we leave :P So she was there for that, so cool :) After church we did more planning, and while we were doing that, a referal from Seoul contacted us and wanted to meet in a few minutes, so we went to the church and met her. She was really cool, I'm sad I won't be able to meet with her more. She actually got to meet a lot of the members too, because there was a special dinner for a lady in our branch moving, and for the missionaries leaving. So that was cool :P Ate lots of food, and got to say goodbye to everyone.

Saying goodbye to Sis Hurley :(

This morning was a blur of hurrying to pack up the rest of my stuff and clean up as much as possible, and then we travelled to Busan. I'm really going to miss Sis Hurley and Shinjeong, but I know everything will work out :) Every time I told people I was going to Tongyeong and Geoje, they said it was really pretty, and from the drive here, it seems so :) Geoje is actually a big island, and so I'm right around the beach and stuff. cool beans. :P I'm not sure, but this might be my last area before I go home... hmm. Who knows. I might move again.

Sis Kang is the one next to me :)

Man. I'm so grateful to be a missionary... My time is definitely winding down and going by really fast, but I'm learning so much. Something I was thinking about today is that I'm learning how to trust the Lord, because this all is definitely not about what I want, but what the Lord wants. I know now that there's a reason we are sent to wherever we are sent to, and all that we experience can help us
progress. There are things I want that I might not necessarily get, but His plans are honestly a lot better than mine :P

Anyways, I hope you all have a good week. You should look up pictures of my area, it's pretty nice :)

May 25, 2015

This past week was pretty good! We had appointments :P haha. I don't know much of what to say about that.. On Wednesday morning at about 5:00am, our building's fire alarm decided to go off, so we went outside in our PJs and it turned out that only our side of the building was going off, and we are the only ones that live there.. sooo.. awkward. Our landlord woke up and ran upstairs and turned it off, though we still have no idea why it went off in the first place :P

This last week, we also got what I like to call a phone "downgrade" because they apparently switched phone companies or something and gave all the missionaries new phones, but they are worse than the ones we had before :P We have been dealing with learning how to type on them and the text messaging system is ridiculous. It is apparently meant for super old people, because the font on everything is big or bigger, haha. And I think they didn't intend the people using the phones to actually text :P The message inbox and outbox are separate, so you can't even see the whole conversation without flipping back and forth between them and clicking lots of buttons. Sigh. But it is okay. We'll get used to it, I guess :P But we had to spend a ridiculous amount of time transfering phone numbers from the old to the new, and organizing them because our phone has over 1000 numbers in it :/ 

Lanterns at the Buddhist Temple. I discovered that my camera hass some pretty cool features

Something cool that we have been doing this past week or 2 has been proselyting with these survey things we made, just asking what people think about some questions, and based on what they respond we can give them a pamphlet or something. Usually it takes some time to really find someone who has a margin of interest, but it has been pretty good to find and talk to some people who might meet us later. Cool :) 

You can see the monks inside

On Thursday, we met with a less active member we have been meeting almost every week, but because of holidays and vacations and such, we haven't met her in several weeks until this last one. And it went really well, we were able to talk a lot with her and such. She is so interesting, because she knows a lot about the church and such, but she says she wants it in her heart, she doesn't want to go to church again until she knows that she will keep going. She has such a good desire to really feel and know that the gospel is true, but it is also preventing her from doing the very things that would help her get that knowledge from her head to her heart :P

We have had a lot of miracles this week too. On Saturday, we had English class, and some new people came who had interest in learning more about our church, and English, so we set up to meet them. And also that day, after an appointment with a member (in which we ate lots of yummy food), we had gotten a call from the APs (assistants to the president), and they had a really good referral for us. She is someone who has just gospel interest (which doesn't happen very often) and they wanted us to call her that night to invite her to church. We did, and she said she would come, so that was really exciting! But then she ended up not being able to come because she had something come up, but during church, another lady just randomly showed up. She was really nice, so hopefully she'll come back sometime. 

Yesterday was Buddha's Birthday, so it was a holiday, and all the members in the Ulsan area had a sports day, and that was why we couldn't email yesterday. It was basically all day, and it was pretty fun. Also during that, a random lady who happens to live in our area came up and said she wanted her daughter to attend a church, so we might meet with her too. Yay! A lot of really good things are happening here, and I love the people we are already meeting with, but I might end up leaving this transfer... We'll find out this Thursday, but I've been in Shinjeong for 3 transfers now, so it is pretty likely that I will live next week... But I don't want to, I really love it here :( So we'll see what happens, but I trust that whatever happens will be for the best, for the area and for me.