Lukerless and other updates

March 23, 2014

I miss Elder Luker. Seriously, he did such a good job in taking care of our work and in serving and loving me. He was funny and I felt at home... and now it's like a different work without him. When it started getting really obvious that his time to leave was fastly approaching, we would throw it off because we wanted to focus on the work and not focus on how sad it would be after he left. Because we did that, it didn't really feel like goodbye until one morning I woke up in my room and he wasn't there! I hope there is some super sick travel system in heaven where we can just kind of like poof inbetween America and Korea without airplanes, and Elder Luker and I can just hang out in an exalted Korean culture once in a while if he's not too obsessed with his wife and has no time for his good old pal Elder Buckwalter.

anyways.... at least the juice he left me was good, and the cereal, and the candy.

 Last Thursday, I got my new companion. He's tall. He is obsessed with Korean and that is totally a good thing. We speak just as much Korean with each other as we speak English. I've gotten good, but I have a feeling that this companion will get me great. Elder Luker could speak great Korean and I didn't worry about my Korean last transfer too much because I knew he could catch me if I fell. This companion though, has like an addiction or some kind of high to using Korean correctly. It's his favorite thing to do, speak Korean and help me with my Korean. I thought it could've gotten anoying, because I knew my Korean was terrible and barely made sense, so he's constantly correcting and advising and teaching me. I'm not sure if he knows as much as he is making it out that he knows but... I like it. I'll take it. Heck, I have a feeling that with him I will shoot up. I am never offended when he's advising me in Korean because I really do want to sound as correct as possible. I'm grateful he is always doing that service to me.

Elder McLeod

So anyway,

our missionary work hit a kinda bump in the road, and I'm guessing that's expected at transfers because you're still figuring each other out and you have to get on the same page. Last week we were really focusing on Elder Luker and going to lot's of meals with members and investigators that wanted to say goodbye and our proselyting stat went down. We'll pick it up though. I know that as we try our best, God does the rest.

March 30, 2014

The hiccup is over. I have learned a powerful lesson about how to be patient and humble and compromise. I wanted to do everything Elder Luker's style and 화양 style... but I needed to trust Elder McLeod when he wants to do things that in my experience weren't as efficient or in my oppinion weren't as necessary. I don't do missionary work in the same way anymore, but I like the small differences, I've been humbled and I've learned that different fashions can just as effectively bring people to Christ. The real heat of the matter is whether you are in unity with your companion and whether you are following the spirit. It doesn't matter too much if you spend more time proselyting or visiting members or calling old people from records long dead... however you can find people to teach, just do it! Work! Find them!

I won't forget the things I did with Elder Luker, but I also am glad that I know more than one way to bring people to Christ.

 

January 5, 2014 Woot! Holy Missionary Batman!

Woot! Holy Missionary Batman!

Or as I said in the MTC, "holy time to teach a lesson Elder"

You just replace Batman with Elder, the guys really liked it. Anyway...

This week has been a little hard. We got a tiny bit lazy and we didn't meet the goals we set like we've done the previous 2 weeks. yikes!

Lee Yun-Jo 이윤조 is honestly the perfect investigator. He recognizes the good feelings that come from the spirit and he wants to keep our commitments. He's been to church twice and he only needs to attend one more time before we can get him baptized. He accepted the soft baptismal commitment which is, "Yun-Jo, as you keep the commandments and as you feel the promptings of the holy spirit, will you be baptized if you indeed receive that witness that it is true?"

We haven't got him with a date yet because he says, "Yes, I will get baptized but I don't want to go so fast you know, I used to be Buddhist and these things take time, I don't know like, I kind of want to see Salt Lake City first before I make a decision to join your church and all, don't get me wrong you know cause I like um, I like you guys and I love your church it's very clean and simple and usually has good food but, we will see. Yes when I know that it is true and maybe after a bit of time I will get baptized, yes."

-kinda thing....

see what I mean. 

We gotta get him reading the book of mormon and praying you know! Come on man!

He says that he tries reading a little from the book of mormon, but it's often confusing, sometimes has hard words and it talks in a kind of old style of language like the bible. So instead he'll go on the internet or whatever and learn more about Brigham Young and pioneers and stuff! It's crazy how smart he is and how addicted to research he is. Like what's up man, you're not going to feel that it is true from an internet article about native americans... you got to open the book man!

Anyway, of course I'm going "slow" with him as he asks and not pushing him past his limit. We'll get him soon. I think this week we could have a baptismal date from him if he prays and reads like we've always committed him to do.

Lee Hyun-Suk 이현숙 didn't come to church again. We visit him a lot. Often he isn't there, but also often he is there, says that he will come to church with us and then doesn't answer the door! Ouch! What are we going to do with that kid.

There's some others and what-not but those are our highlighted work efforts. We are really focusing on those two and as usual street contacts so we can get more investigators. I definitely need to puck up and testify to these intimidating Koreans. Usually they like Americans, but I still don't know how to talk and it's often awkward and challenging for me. I try bearing testimony and sometimes they'll like run away and I have to chase them down and give them a simple mormon.org card with our phone number on it. phew.

But I am really happy about Lee Yun-Jo. He's going to be baptized I know it. Meeting with him lifts my spirits and lets me know that the Lord has prepared his children to come back to him and that some of my efforts are working in favor of a souls salvation. 

I was a little down about not trying my best and not knowing how I'd ever get the language and not meeting our goals when a ward member pulled me outside the church and opened up her trunk. She told me that she wanted to show how grateful she was because of how hard I've been trying, so she gave me some expensive truffles. It really made me happy. I know that I have all of you praying for me and rooting for me waaaaay over there in America, but it's hard sometimes when it's just us two against Korea and no one really says, "good try Elder" or "keep it up, you'll get one next time". Having a Korean rooting for me really lifted me and gave me some more energy to keep trying. I think I'll be good. So much work though....

So now just for some fun info, not missionary stuff.

Korean Culture is kind of awesome! Guess what we did for new years. So instead of trying to stay up for just midnight and drinking some sparkly or whatever... it's not bad, but I like this is better!

We woke up at like 5:30 and went outside to meet the ward. We hiked up a mountain in Seoul and waited in the cold for the sunrise!

Wow!

A bunch of sky scrapers and lights of the city....

gets a little brighter

Sky starts turning a little big orange and now you can make out the river...

gets a little brighter

More people start showing up and the whole mountain top is stuffed with Koreans all on their phones and cameras trying to tell all their friends about it or taking pictures of it instead of actually enjoying it haha...

gets a little brighter

Then, then then, the sun slowly peaks out and everyone is drenched in orangy-yellow light and we all cheer.

Then we hike down and make sure our hands are still circulating and eat the traditional New years meal with the ward. (Koreans eat a traditional Korean dish - Dak mondu guk (떡만두국) - and it's kinda like how Americans eat a specific dish for thanksgiving, turkey potatoes yams stuffing, except for Koreans it's rice and mondu (만두) cooked a specific way.... yum.)

So.... later in the week.

We're 전도ing along (proselyting) and we hear some Asians canna speaka da english! 

So we're like, Woah!

So we chase em' down and start speaking english with them.

One is a Chinaman another is a Japanese and the third is a Korean.

The Chinaman really liked how I could speak Chinese and Korean and English, he thought I was a genius. They tell us that they're all English teachers and that's why they speak together in English, cause that's their common tongue. They are celebrating their last day in Korea before the three friends split up and go back to their original countries namely, Japan and China. They wanted to eat a crazy Korean Dish!!!! We asked if we could join them.... so....

What do you get with two Americans, a Japanese man, a Korean and a Chinaman in a fish restaurant.....?

I'll tell you.

Octopus!!!

Woah!!!!

They bring it out on a plate freshly chopped up, and I guess the nerves of Octopi don't die very fast because the whole plate was alive and wriggling. I'll send you a video! gah!

We're like poking at it, "wake up!" you know and the suction things will stick to your chopstick.... so creepy....

Everyone ate one (including Elder Luker) and I couldn't believe it. You put it in your mouth and it moves around and sucks onto your tongue and teeth and the top of my mouth. I had to bite it dead..

. I didn't want it to go down still sucking and choke me to death. It was very chewy and I got it to stop moving and then swallowed it.

Yep, haha. And don't call me gross, you gotta embrace the culture, come on! live a little, no regrets, that's like my only chance to do that, plus, what a story! haha

So 화이팅 (fighting!) everybody! Love ya!