This coming weekend is General Conference! Yay! It's too bad I won't see it for a week after that because it's the middle of the night when it's aired. I haven't seen the RS Broadcast yet, and I've been told that usually you just have to wait to read it :( . I love hearing from our Apostles and Church leaders. It's like Christmas or the Restoration of the Fullness of Times or something cool like that :).
This coming weekend is also the biggest holiday in Korea--known as Chusok (chew-soak). It's basically Thanksgiving, but the traditions are completely different and it lasts several days. The sisters have a conference in Busan while the Elders have an all-day P-day (usually you have to get back to work at 6 PM) on Friday and then we have appointments with members for Saturday. It'll be like eating 3 Thanksgiving meals at 12:00, 3:00 and 6:00, only instead of turkey and potatoes and rolls its squid and kimchi and rice. Pray for my stomach, please? I'm nervous about having that much food at once, but the elders scheduled us into this mess, I expect them to hold their own in consuming the food.
We cleaned the carpet in the Church this week. It was really fun. First you get a hose and you water the carpet with a hose--like a garden, only this time you pray nothing grows in it. Then you use a watering can to distribute the soap-stuffs. Then you use the fun brush machine that makes it all sudsy (unfortunately, in Korea the feminine role is so strong htat there's NO way they'd have let me use the machine--shoulda tried when he wasn't looking) and then you use a giant wet-vac to suck it all up. It was a blast.
We had a fun member meal appointment with the woman who was the first baptism in all of Ulsan. Her name is Lee Mu Jung. She was baptized back in 60-something. She's now this crazy old grandma and we just love her. She'd very lively. Elder Mann asked for water and she said no (in the really old days you never drank anything with a meal---now most people will offer water---especially to foreigners who are used to having a drink) because "Water fills you up and then you won't have any room to stuff yourselves with my food!" She was joking though and just being fiesty. She is an excellent cook, though. I wish I could just film a meal appointment for you to watch---they are quite entertaining.
We had an...interesting...miscommunication this past week. Last Sunday they announced that there would be a hiking activity in Relief Society. Later that week the Elders told us they were going hiking on Saturday so we assumed it was just a Branch activity--so we got permission to leave the house early and go on this hike. Well, it turns out that there were two separate activities. The Relief Society went to one mountain, and the Young Men went to another mountain. Well---we showed up to the wrong mountain. It ended up being the Young Men, their leaders, the Elders and---the sister missionaries. It was a little awkward, but we'd already come ot the mountain--so we just hiked with the young men. Next time we'd better as the Relief Society president. Last time I trust the Elders with such information (gee--I'm being hard on the Elders today---I really do love and appreciatey them, I promise).
Yesterday Sis. Montgomery and I had a sweet tooth. The only problem is that we had NOTHING sweet in the house and no ingredients and it was sunday. So, in an act of desparation we search the house for something to make a cake or cookies or anything. We eneded up finding the following (never ask what's in missionary cupboards---we just don't know): 1/2 cup sugar, hot cocoa mix, green tea?, yeast, baking powder and soda, coconut, cimmamon, cumin(much too precious to use), "salt substitute" whatever that is--probably MSG, and last but not least--a vast amount of this mysterious floury substance which tasted like very finely ground cheerios. So we decided to have a cooking contest. She made a chocolate cake and I made chocolate rolls/biscuits/cookies. Let's just say we won't be recording those recipes for ANYONE to repeat...ever.
Random: suddenly I have fall allergies---curse Korean wacky climate.
Anyway, I'm going to go take off. Life is great out here. Just stayin' happy and listenin' to the Spirit!
R
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
quick note
Hello,
We just got yelled at for taking too much time on the computer so this will be short.We had a Talent show this week and it was kinda fun. YOu know you're in Korea when the talent show instrument of choice is the Ocarina. Sis. Montgomery and I did "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and put a dance to it. IT was a big hit. I'm surprised it went as well as it did. We WROTE it (we didn't have music---so we made up a capella harmonies) on Wednesday, had companion exchanges Thursday so we couldn't practice, and then we choreographed it Friday and performed it Saturday with basically no practice. It was pretty fun, though.
Just an announcement: In Korea it's considered a death-threat to write a person's name in red ink. I know that none of you intend it as such, but you are upsetting and worrying the Korean leaders in the mission when you write me letters addressed with red pen. They are worried for my safety. So---just use black or blue or green or purple---okay?
I don't know if you knew this or not, but I'm still the youngest sister in the mission. Sister Beh, the Korean who came in with me, and I are the youngest two sisters. There may be some Korean sisters coming in soon, but word from SLC is that there won't be any more American sisters coming to my mission until we're down to 76 missionaries---right now we're at about 115 I think. They are trying ot get more people in South America where people are flocking to the Church, and the first group of people cut out of a mission they are down-sizing is American sisters....so...it looks like I'm it for a while. Come January there will only be 5 American sisters here. WEird. Not sure what that means, but I've thought about it a lot lately.Sorry this one is boring, but I gotta take off.
Love you all!
~R~
We just got yelled at for taking too much time on the computer so this will be short.We had a Talent show this week and it was kinda fun. YOu know you're in Korea when the talent show instrument of choice is the Ocarina. Sis. Montgomery and I did "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and put a dance to it. IT was a big hit. I'm surprised it went as well as it did. We WROTE it (we didn't have music---so we made up a capella harmonies) on Wednesday, had companion exchanges Thursday so we couldn't practice, and then we choreographed it Friday and performed it Saturday with basically no practice. It was pretty fun, though.
Just an announcement: In Korea it's considered a death-threat to write a person's name in red ink. I know that none of you intend it as such, but you are upsetting and worrying the Korean leaders in the mission when you write me letters addressed with red pen. They are worried for my safety. So---just use black or blue or green or purple---okay?
I don't know if you knew this or not, but I'm still the youngest sister in the mission. Sister Beh, the Korean who came in with me, and I are the youngest two sisters. There may be some Korean sisters coming in soon, but word from SLC is that there won't be any more American sisters coming to my mission until we're down to 76 missionaries---right now we're at about 115 I think. They are trying ot get more people in South America where people are flocking to the Church, and the first group of people cut out of a mission they are down-sizing is American sisters....so...it looks like I'm it for a while. Come January there will only be 5 American sisters here. WEird. Not sure what that means, but I've thought about it a lot lately.Sorry this one is boring, but I gotta take off.
Love you all!
~R~
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Transfers, miracles and a few awards
Transfers came and went and I'm staying in Ulsan with Sis. Montgomery. I'm really excited because we work well together and I really have become a much better missionary since I've been with her. Our next project is Music Proselyting---basically Christmas caroling without the Christmas part. We're singing songs about the restoration in harmony and then we just bear our testimonies and talk to people. So far it's turned out pretty well. I like it. With I could do it memorized, but memorizing songs in Korean is a slow process---much easier to read it (believe it or not). I can read Korean--weird.
Our big miracle for the week is this. Sis. Montgomery and I both usually pack lunches because it's cheaper and healthier, but on Saturday we both FORGOT (we do this every day!!!). Then we were going to eat by the Church before heading to the outskirts of town to track down some less actives, but nothing felt right. Then the exact right bus showed up right as we were about to choose a restaurant. THEN we couldn't FIND a restaurant in the area we went to (this is very strange because Korea is basically MADE of restaurants---everyone owns a restaurant). As we were walking down the street towards a supposed restaurant a guy had told us about we smelled...SPAGHETTI. Spaghetti restaurants are way to expensive for a missionary budget in Korea, but we decided to look at the menu anyway. Despite the fact that it was still pretty expensive we talked ourselves into staying. Then, the beautiful girl who owns the restaurant came and took our order. She turned and left...stopped...pondered...turned around and came back and asked about the Book of Mormon. We gave it to her and introduced it a bit. We're going back today. The crazy thing is that when we went back to the kitchen to get the check she was sitting there reading it with the Bible open next to it! What are the odds that we'd 1)forget our lunches, 2)not eat when we planned and 3)not find a restaurant until we walked into hers---the Lord leads us to prepared people!!
Okay, I keep this list of my favorite things and stuff. Among these lists is a list of my favorite funny English--usually seen on T-shirts. Here goes:
"It's my party and I'll happy if I want to."
"Me?...WE! :)"
"Weepublican" with a patriotic elephant.
"I got this t-shirt for my girlfriend--best trade I ever made"
"Woman never set foot on the woon!"
"I like long-haired, anorexic, hipster boys"
"Carpet and Jello and Home Depot and the Snake"
"There's no place like Lebanon"
"An Oily substance"
"Hi, I'm dot man!" on a shirt with a grid of squares...
"Title can do it!" with Rosie the Rivoter---in Korean you never use the word "you". It's rude. So you use the person's title (brother, sister, mother, teacher, etc)
and there's always the guy wearing "I like shoes, bags and boys."
and my personal favorite "Discover America: Read the Book of Mormon!" The kid had no idea what we were talking about when the Elders commented on the shirt--he'd bought it at a used clothing store and it had a Boy Scout Troop number in the corner---yep, that one used to be an Elder's. People just wear stuff without figuring out what it says, it's just cool to wear English letters---there are several that are just swear words or really bad slang. Welcome to Korea.
Okay, enough of that. Read your scriptures, say your prayers, go to Church, keep the commandments (you think I'm kidding--but I'm not---just do it--it's how you can be happy). Have a good day.
Love you all!
~R~
Our big miracle for the week is this. Sis. Montgomery and I both usually pack lunches because it's cheaper and healthier, but on Saturday we both FORGOT (we do this every day!!!). Then we were going to eat by the Church before heading to the outskirts of town to track down some less actives, but nothing felt right. Then the exact right bus showed up right as we were about to choose a restaurant. THEN we couldn't FIND a restaurant in the area we went to (this is very strange because Korea is basically MADE of restaurants---everyone owns a restaurant). As we were walking down the street towards a supposed restaurant a guy had told us about we smelled...SPAGHETTI. Spaghetti restaurants are way to expensive for a missionary budget in Korea, but we decided to look at the menu anyway. Despite the fact that it was still pretty expensive we talked ourselves into staying. Then, the beautiful girl who owns the restaurant came and took our order. She turned and left...stopped...pondered...turned around and came back and asked about the Book of Mormon. We gave it to her and introduced it a bit. We're going back today. The crazy thing is that when we went back to the kitchen to get the check she was sitting there reading it with the Bible open next to it! What are the odds that we'd 1)forget our lunches, 2)not eat when we planned and 3)not find a restaurant until we walked into hers---the Lord leads us to prepared people!!
Okay, I keep this list of my favorite things and stuff. Among these lists is a list of my favorite funny English--usually seen on T-shirts. Here goes:
"It's my party and I'll happy if I want to."
"Me?...WE! :)"
"Weepublican" with a patriotic elephant.
"I got this t-shirt for my girlfriend--best trade I ever made"
"Woman never set foot on the woon!"
"I like long-haired, anorexic, hipster boys"
"Carpet and Jello and Home Depot and the Snake"
"There's no place like Lebanon"
"An Oily substance"
"Hi, I'm dot man!" on a shirt with a grid of squares...
"Title can do it!" with Rosie the Rivoter---in Korean you never use the word "you". It's rude. So you use the person's title (brother, sister, mother, teacher, etc)
and there's always the guy wearing "I like shoes, bags and boys."
and my personal favorite "Discover America: Read the Book of Mormon!" The kid had no idea what we were talking about when the Elders commented on the shirt--he'd bought it at a used clothing store and it had a Boy Scout Troop number in the corner---yep, that one used to be an Elder's. People just wear stuff without figuring out what it says, it's just cool to wear English letters---there are several that are just swear words or really bad slang. Welcome to Korea.
Okay, enough of that. Read your scriptures, say your prayers, go to Church, keep the commandments (you think I'm kidding--but I'm not---just do it--it's how you can be happy). Have a good day.
Love you all!
~R~
Monday, September 7, 2009
Happiness is getting .... a package!
I received an amazing package the other day from Chalene. Thank you so much for the digital camera. I love it. The package arrived in my area Friday but I was down in Changwon for a fireside all day Saturday so I didn't get it until Sunday (yesterday). I love all of the pictures, both from Chalene and from Cristy. THe treats were exciting too. The Elders are thrilled that I'm going to share at our picnic today :).
Chalene, I love that Benjamin would rather bless me than food at the dinner table. Maybe I'll start blessing HIM at member meal appointments, instead of the food! :).
Thanks for the information on the two girls abducted by North Korea. Still can't exactly figure out why exactly Bill Clinton and Al Gore were involved--must be an attention deficit thing--they haven't been in the news for a while and they were feeling left out...I shouldn't have said that, but there it is.
Malea, would you mind finding the lyrics to the song in "The Prince of Egypt that starts "A single thread in a tapestry, though its color brightly shines, can never see its purpose in the pattern of the grand design" and printing them out and mailing them to me (if you email it I won't be able to take it with me!). Thanks!
So, the World Archery Championships are going on here in Ulsan right now. Sis. Montgomery and I went proselyting outside the stadium on the opening day and it was really fun. It was the best because there were a bunch of booths with people giving out free stuff and we just walked up and down the booths handing out pamphlets and introducing ourselves to people from all over the world. If we have time we might go watch the tournament for a little while today. I'm not sure how you judge archery---I assume these persons just get good enough that it's a bullseye every time--but what do I know? Anyway, it's just a fun atmosphere there. I like it.
Cool story--so at the fireside in Changwan there was this girl who just BARELY looked familiar to me--and when I think that I just assume it's in my head because EVERYONE is Asian, and therefore they all look alike. But, finally I just went up and introduced myself to her and then she asked if I remembered her. I asked her where I met her and she said we'd met on the street outside Inje University in Gimhae. As soon as she said that she looked MORE familiar but nothing quite solid came to mind. THen there was this moment when she looked down a little bit and memories just came flooding back from my second week or so in Korea when we were waiting for the Elders for an appointment and this girl--Lee Jung Min--was walking down the street crying and sat on a bench behind me. She was just crying her little heart out. So, I went over there with my Greenie Korean and just told her that I knew God loved her and that through Christ she could overcome ALL things (because that's all I knew how to say--and it's always true). I gave her a pamphlet and assumed I'd never know what happened to her. So here is this girl, one of my very first contacts in Korea, at a fireside about 2 hours away from where I met her. Apparently she kept the pamphlet and when she moved home for the summer told her mom about how good she felt when she talked to me. Then the Elders in Masan tracted into her family and she's taking the lessons. Every simple testimony you bear touches someone's heart and brings them closer to God. Every single one. It was wonderful to see her. IT really made me feel that I'm making a difference here.
The work moves on slowly but surely. Thanks for all the support from home. I love you all!
~R~
Chalene, I love that Benjamin would rather bless me than food at the dinner table. Maybe I'll start blessing HIM at member meal appointments, instead of the food! :).
Thanks for the information on the two girls abducted by North Korea. Still can't exactly figure out why exactly Bill Clinton and Al Gore were involved--must be an attention deficit thing--they haven't been in the news for a while and they were feeling left out...I shouldn't have said that, but there it is.
Malea, would you mind finding the lyrics to the song in "The Prince of Egypt that starts "A single thread in a tapestry, though its color brightly shines, can never see its purpose in the pattern of the grand design" and printing them out and mailing them to me (if you email it I won't be able to take it with me!). Thanks!
So, the World Archery Championships are going on here in Ulsan right now. Sis. Montgomery and I went proselyting outside the stadium on the opening day and it was really fun. It was the best because there were a bunch of booths with people giving out free stuff and we just walked up and down the booths handing out pamphlets and introducing ourselves to people from all over the world. If we have time we might go watch the tournament for a little while today. I'm not sure how you judge archery---I assume these persons just get good enough that it's a bullseye every time--but what do I know? Anyway, it's just a fun atmosphere there. I like it.
Cool story--so at the fireside in Changwan there was this girl who just BARELY looked familiar to me--and when I think that I just assume it's in my head because EVERYONE is Asian, and therefore they all look alike. But, finally I just went up and introduced myself to her and then she asked if I remembered her. I asked her where I met her and she said we'd met on the street outside Inje University in Gimhae. As soon as she said that she looked MORE familiar but nothing quite solid came to mind. THen there was this moment when she looked down a little bit and memories just came flooding back from my second week or so in Korea when we were waiting for the Elders for an appointment and this girl--Lee Jung Min--was walking down the street crying and sat on a bench behind me. She was just crying her little heart out. So, I went over there with my Greenie Korean and just told her that I knew God loved her and that through Christ she could overcome ALL things (because that's all I knew how to say--and it's always true). I gave her a pamphlet and assumed I'd never know what happened to her. So here is this girl, one of my very first contacts in Korea, at a fireside about 2 hours away from where I met her. Apparently she kept the pamphlet and when she moved home for the summer told her mom about how good she felt when she talked to me. Then the Elders in Masan tracted into her family and she's taking the lessons. Every simple testimony you bear touches someone's heart and brings them closer to God. Every single one. It was wonderful to see her. IT really made me feel that I'm making a difference here.
The work moves on slowly but surely. Thanks for all the support from home. I love you all!
~R~
Monday, August 31, 2009
Did you think to pray?
Miracles happen. They really do. In fact, I think that they are so frequent that we overlook them and just pass them off as "normal life". But, when you sit down at the end of the day and think about the ways that you've seen the hand of God in your life (and then think about the ways it was there and you DIDN'T see it) it's impossible not to see incredible blessings.
I usually go through day by day with hope and satisfaction in the work, but this last week things just built up and having almost an entire transfer of no investigators just came crashing down. I was just kinda sad that all of my hard work wasn't helping anyone come closer to Christ. Sis. Montgomery felt the same way, so we decided that was the end of the pity party and now we'd jsut pray to see our miracles and the fruits of our labors. MIRCACLES HAPPEN!Each of the little things that happened were little, standard cheesy missionary stories--things like getting on the wrong bus and finding a girl who said she's been thinking about God lately AND has a really good friend who's a member of the Church---or finding someone who was so excited about the Book of Mormon that she stole it out of our hands and begged us if she could take it before we even had the chance to offer it to her---but each of these little things happened---and they may sound small, and there's still work to be done, but it's changing people's lives. I just know that God graces each person with little miracles and then gives us the skills and inspiration to know how to turn them into big ones! It's amazing! Just gotta pray about it and then go to work with faith like a rock.
I had a really neat opportunity to go to a concert. It was a traditional Korean Orchestra, with traditional instruments. It was incredible---and I couldn't even decribe some of these instruments even if I tried. There wer various wind instruments made of clay or wood, and there were these large harplike instruments that lay horizontal and you pluck them like a harp or bow them like a violin (called a kayagum--no idea how it's spelled). Then there was this really cool one that had one string that you---I'm not sure how to describe it, but there's about 3 inches between that string and a stick and you squeeze the string towards the stick like you're squeezing vicegrips. Then you bow it. From far away it looks like those people who play the saw--and sounds kinda similar. So cool. I cried cause it was so beautiful and Korean and I love Korea and I love Koreans and I love beauty. The drums were cool too, but drums don't change much from culture to culture---it's a big empty contraption that makes sound resonate. I love it.
We also had the chance to do a special musical fireside in Jinju and we'll be heading to another one next weekend in Changwan. Those are fun because you get to see so many other missionaries and bear your testimony through song---and there's always good food :). Not to mention we got to stay the night with some other sisters and that's like a sleepover--only you go to bed at 10:30 and wake up at 6:30. It's just such a great experience to sing with other missionaries. There's real power in music.
Funny story: Elder Harris talked about FHE in our combined Priesthood/RS meeting. He said his family was really good at FHE when it was football season because it was just understood that FHE was during halftime of Monday Night Football. None of the Koreans really got it, but I thought it was funny. If people can make football a priority together every week (or any other TV show for that matter) they can certainly make family that important every week.
Love to all!
~R~
I usually go through day by day with hope and satisfaction in the work, but this last week things just built up and having almost an entire transfer of no investigators just came crashing down. I was just kinda sad that all of my hard work wasn't helping anyone come closer to Christ. Sis. Montgomery felt the same way, so we decided that was the end of the pity party and now we'd jsut pray to see our miracles and the fruits of our labors. MIRCACLES HAPPEN!Each of the little things that happened were little, standard cheesy missionary stories--things like getting on the wrong bus and finding a girl who said she's been thinking about God lately AND has a really good friend who's a member of the Church---or finding someone who was so excited about the Book of Mormon that she stole it out of our hands and begged us if she could take it before we even had the chance to offer it to her---but each of these little things happened---and they may sound small, and there's still work to be done, but it's changing people's lives. I just know that God graces each person with little miracles and then gives us the skills and inspiration to know how to turn them into big ones! It's amazing! Just gotta pray about it and then go to work with faith like a rock.
I had a really neat opportunity to go to a concert. It was a traditional Korean Orchestra, with traditional instruments. It was incredible---and I couldn't even decribe some of these instruments even if I tried. There wer various wind instruments made of clay or wood, and there were these large harplike instruments that lay horizontal and you pluck them like a harp or bow them like a violin (called a kayagum--no idea how it's spelled). Then there was this really cool one that had one string that you---I'm not sure how to describe it, but there's about 3 inches between that string and a stick and you squeeze the string towards the stick like you're squeezing vicegrips. Then you bow it. From far away it looks like those people who play the saw--and sounds kinda similar. So cool. I cried cause it was so beautiful and Korean and I love Korea and I love Koreans and I love beauty. The drums were cool too, but drums don't change much from culture to culture---it's a big empty contraption that makes sound resonate. I love it.
We also had the chance to do a special musical fireside in Jinju and we'll be heading to another one next weekend in Changwan. Those are fun because you get to see so many other missionaries and bear your testimony through song---and there's always good food :). Not to mention we got to stay the night with some other sisters and that's like a sleepover--only you go to bed at 10:30 and wake up at 6:30. It's just such a great experience to sing with other missionaries. There's real power in music.
Funny story: Elder Harris talked about FHE in our combined Priesthood/RS meeting. He said his family was really good at FHE when it was football season because it was just understood that FHE was during halftime of Monday Night Football. None of the Koreans really got it, but I thought it was funny. If people can make football a priority together every week (or any other TV show for that matter) they can certainly make family that important every week.
Love to all!
~R~
Monday, August 24, 2009
Save a dolphin--eat a whale
So, I went to Jangsaengpodong (romanized Korean hurts my brain) and we ended up doing some "street proselyting" inside the Whale Museum because it was so hot that there were no people outside. We got some good contacts out of it, so I don't feel guilty about going to a museum on a day other than P-day. You'll be happy to know that whaling IS internationally illegal and that that all of the whale meat they have in that little whaling town comes from beached whales. This is no San Francisco---if there's a beached whale there's no rush of hippies trying to push it back out ot sea with their bare hands---they all rush in with their scalpals (or whatever you take a whale apart with) and make a business of it. Not to mention, I'm sure a lot of it comes from poaching. So, that's my update on the world's source of whale meat.
We had Zone Conference this week--which is always great, but this one was different. There's a rule from Church Headquarters that we aren't allowed to have Mission Conferences (with everyone there) because there's no reason to gather so many missionaries together at once or something. Being the wonderfully obedient mission president that he is, Pres Jennings didn't host mission conferences even though the President before him did it anyway. Well, since this last Wednesday was President's Birthday, Sis Jennings took it upon herself to organize a "Joint Zone Conference" (because a the title of the event is everything) which just means that the three Zone Conferences all occurred at the same time--in the same place---aka, it was Mission Conference. It was a great little surprise party---we did a Korean traditional bow for him and had cake and had an AWESOME conference. Then, because the man CAN'T say no to his wife, we got permission to watch a movie. So, I've now seen Kung Fu Panda---in Asia. Beat that. :) Watching a movie gave me a headache, and I felt really overstimulated the whole time, but it was fun.
Lessons from Kung Fu Panda:
No matter how hard you try a goose is not a panda's father. It hurts everyone's brains! In the same way, God is our father, therefore we are made in His image. God looks like us. He is just like us and He isn't just this massless thing without form---because WE'RE not massless beings without form. So there. (See Genesis 1:27)
No matter how hard you try, there are things that you just can't control---things you must leave to God. A peach seed is a peach seed and it'll make a peach tree. End of story. We have no power over our hair color or other things, but we must have faith that God controls these things with ultimate wisdom. (See Matthew 5:36).
But there ARE things you CAN do---you can choose where to PLANT the seed---and how to NURTURE the seed---and you can BELIEVE that what you do makes a difference and strengthens you (see Alma 32).
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift---that's why they call it the present. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ you can overcome the things of the past and recover from history--regardless of your mistakes. The future is a mystery, but the only control you have over it lies in the present. Right now is the only time we can actually do anything! You must use the present to redeem your past and shape your future. (See a million and a half quotes from Pres. Monson, the living PROPHET--where he quotes The Music Man 'You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays!'")
There is no secret ingredient. You can try to be the perfect person--the perfect missionary, but really it's just too complicated for just ONE thing to work. The secret lies in keeping the Spirit, but there is no secreat to how to do that. It is so MANY different, consistent things. Therefore, you must just do what YOU know how to do---study, ponder, pray, work and love people. And most of all you have to believe. You have to feel like what you are doing is special and that it makes a difference. You ahve ot believe that the Lord sent you to this place at this time for a reason---and keep your eyes out for the good you can do. You just have to BELIEVE this gospel is special. Then, in the end, the thing that will have allowed you to conquer all will have been as simple as moving your pinky finger. Ska--doosh.(2 Nephi 31:20; D&C 10:4)
Gee whiz, that took a lot of time.
On a completely unrelated event from the whaling town and the whaling museum---I ate whale yesterday---it was gross. It was tough and blubbery and had this PUNGENT and PUTRID taste (you should be proud that I'm remembering such words in English) that Sis. Montgomery and I both swore we could still taste this morning. Eeewww. Just not worth the effort of pulling apart the beached whale. I'm not sure what part the first piece was, but it definitely had skin, blubber and a little meat on it. The second piece was the jaws/gums. It was like eating cartiledge soaked in motor oil. Ick. I think that's the first time I was relieved when the next bite was sushi--or the tan-colored slime creature. It was an...interesting...meal. Rocky mountain oysters---pah---pansies! :)
Because I'm sure Elder Kikuchi's story about Chicken Hill won't be in the Liahona out here, can someone sum it up for me so I can know why Scott's picture was so special to him? Thanks!
Okay, that's enough for now. The work is great and my joy is full. Have a delightsome week!!
~R~
We had Zone Conference this week--which is always great, but this one was different. There's a rule from Church Headquarters that we aren't allowed to have Mission Conferences (with everyone there) because there's no reason to gather so many missionaries together at once or something. Being the wonderfully obedient mission president that he is, Pres Jennings didn't host mission conferences even though the President before him did it anyway. Well, since this last Wednesday was President's Birthday, Sis Jennings took it upon herself to organize a "Joint Zone Conference" (because a the title of the event is everything) which just means that the three Zone Conferences all occurred at the same time--in the same place---aka, it was Mission Conference. It was a great little surprise party---we did a Korean traditional bow for him and had cake and had an AWESOME conference. Then, because the man CAN'T say no to his wife, we got permission to watch a movie. So, I've now seen Kung Fu Panda---in Asia. Beat that. :) Watching a movie gave me a headache, and I felt really overstimulated the whole time, but it was fun.
Lessons from Kung Fu Panda:
No matter how hard you try a goose is not a panda's father. It hurts everyone's brains! In the same way, God is our father, therefore we are made in His image. God looks like us. He is just like us and He isn't just this massless thing without form---because WE'RE not massless beings without form. So there. (See Genesis 1:27)
No matter how hard you try, there are things that you just can't control---things you must leave to God. A peach seed is a peach seed and it'll make a peach tree. End of story. We have no power over our hair color or other things, but we must have faith that God controls these things with ultimate wisdom. (See Matthew 5:36).
But there ARE things you CAN do---you can choose where to PLANT the seed---and how to NURTURE the seed---and you can BELIEVE that what you do makes a difference and strengthens you (see Alma 32).
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift---that's why they call it the present. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ you can overcome the things of the past and recover from history--regardless of your mistakes. The future is a mystery, but the only control you have over it lies in the present. Right now is the only time we can actually do anything! You must use the present to redeem your past and shape your future. (See a million and a half quotes from Pres. Monson, the living PROPHET--where he quotes The Music Man 'You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays!'")
There is no secret ingredient. You can try to be the perfect person--the perfect missionary, but really it's just too complicated for just ONE thing to work. The secret lies in keeping the Spirit, but there is no secreat to how to do that. It is so MANY different, consistent things. Therefore, you must just do what YOU know how to do---study, ponder, pray, work and love people. And most of all you have to believe. You have to feel like what you are doing is special and that it makes a difference. You ahve ot believe that the Lord sent you to this place at this time for a reason---and keep your eyes out for the good you can do. You just have to BELIEVE this gospel is special. Then, in the end, the thing that will have allowed you to conquer all will have been as simple as moving your pinky finger. Ska--doosh.(2 Nephi 31:20; D&C 10:4)
Gee whiz, that took a lot of time.
On a completely unrelated event from the whaling town and the whaling museum---I ate whale yesterday---it was gross. It was tough and blubbery and had this PUNGENT and PUTRID taste (you should be proud that I'm remembering such words in English) that Sis. Montgomery and I both swore we could still taste this morning. Eeewww. Just not worth the effort of pulling apart the beached whale. I'm not sure what part the first piece was, but it definitely had skin, blubber and a little meat on it. The second piece was the jaws/gums. It was like eating cartiledge soaked in motor oil. Ick. I think that's the first time I was relieved when the next bite was sushi--or the tan-colored slime creature. It was an...interesting...meal. Rocky mountain oysters---pah---pansies! :)
Because I'm sure Elder Kikuchi's story about Chicken Hill won't be in the Liahona out here, can someone sum it up for me so I can know why Scott's picture was so special to him? Thanks!
Okay, that's enough for now. The work is great and my joy is full. Have a delightsome week!!
~R~
Monday, August 17, 2009
Another message from Sister Ogre-by
Ahh, I really liked the emails from the family this week. YOu all are great. Thanks for the love and support :).
SO, to ease everyone's mind we got everything taken care of from our stolen bags. We even pick up our new alien cards tomorrow. It's such a relief to have that taken care of. And, yes, I got all of my bank cards properly cancelled. The poor Wells Fargo Banker I talked to on the phone must have had a hard time keeping track of my thought process seeing as it was the middle of the night in America and I kept saying "Nay" (the Korean word for "yes") instead of "yes". I haven't used the word "yes" since about 11 AM on the 25th of February when Aunt Sue asked me if I was sure I wanted to eat at Arctic Circle. Then my grammar was all broken because I was in Korean mode in the middle of a proselyting day.
I would like to request pictures again, though. I lost the print I had of our most recent family picture. I sure hope the person who stole it enjoys the cuteness of my nephews. I also lost 2 of my few pictures of Scott, which is sad. So, here I am calling all pictures :).
So, last Tuesday we went to this area that is right on the coast that was famous for whaling/whale-watching back in the day. There's a Whale Museum there that Sis. Montgomery went to and she said it's more of a whaling museum than a whale museum. She said it's just full of these graphic pictures of ripping whale meat apart. Leave it to the Koreans to make a museum of illegal activities. Actually, there are enough whale restaurants here that I'm not sure it's illegal to hunt whale(I figured that it was an international law or something---but I don't know WHY I thought that). Can someone try to figure out if it's illegal or not? Anyway, we're walking all over this whaling town and I can't help but be quoting Star Trek 4 left and right and Sis. Montgomery just didn't get it. Even Elder Reese, the Greenie who obsesses about the latest Star Trek movie, didn't get my references. Some Trekkie he is. "No, I'm from Iowa---I only work in outer space." or "Ver are ze nuclear wessels in Alameda?" or my personal favorite "He did a little too much LDS in the 60's" It was great. They also have a whale-watching boat but it doesn't go on Mondays (it's Korea---anything fun to do is closed on Monday). It reminded me of that time we went when I was really little and saw no whales(those would be great pictures to send if you can find them---me doing fun things as a cute little girl). Apparently this boat would have been the same way. The guy who was selling the tickets said he hadn't even ever seen a whale and they were all gone (they probably ate them all---not sure what would ever make you think it would be worth your time or energy to kill and eat a whale---but whatever---too messy and stinky). Oh well.
On a more awkward note, a stinky fisherman wanted to take pictures with us (because we're blonde Americans)and when he took the pictures he put his arms around us and pulled us in tight and put is cheek up to mine. Ick. There are some things that I just don't care to experience again. Ever. Then he asked us out for drinks....yeah....
Anyway, things are going well here. Sis. Montgomery and I are exercising a lot of faith and learning a lot from one another. Everyday is like a party and we just love everything that comes (and lately we've had quite a rough transfer---we started our with our bags being stolen for goodness sakes!). It's great to work with her. We just have all kinds of hope for the things that are coming and we can see the hand of the Lord in the little things. Remember, it is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass!
Okay, we'd better take off. We get to go to the whaling town again tomorrow to pick up our green cards. Sis. Montgomery says that something weird always happens there, so I'm sure I'll have more fun stories next time around.
Love to all!
~R~
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