Thursday, November 20, 2013
Yeah, the days here seriously blend here. Like was there
a devotional today? Or was that yesterday? Story of my life. Anyway all is good here. We got a new intake
of Korean missionaries yesterday. So there are now three new sisters joining the
Korean branch! Two are from Utah, one is from Arizona. They seem really nice, so that's
exciting. It snowed last week (what day? haha I have no idea... likeI said, its all a blur here)
for the first time since we got here. We dragged Sister Fuataga and Sister Wijetunge out to see snow for
the first time. Sister Wijetunge is really quiet and sweet, and her eyes lit up when she saw it
for the first time. She touched it and said "cold, but pretty." I laughed and agreed. Sister Fuataga on the other hand... oh that Australian sister is the funniest person I've ever met. Some elders told her that snow falls in bricks and hurts when it hits you, and she believed them. So when
she saw it she was like, "what the heck? Does it hurt?" Then she stuck her hand out
to touch it and screamed. We assured her that snow does not fall in bricks and that it does not hurt. We
threw some snow at each other, decided it was time to go back inside, and called it a day. Sister Russell loves the cold. She was excited for the snow, too. She rarely ever wears a jacket
or coat and I tell her she's crazy for it. But somehow, she enjoys the cold. This is something that I
will never understand. Nineteen years in Utah and I still hate being cold. Snow is great. Cold is not. Too bad they go together. So a couple days ago, there was a devotional. We went on a
companion exchange because Sister Russell and Sister Wijetunge (Sister Fuataga's companion) wanted
to go to choir practice. Sister Fuataga and I did not. So Sister Fuataga became my temporary companion. Well, while Sister Russell and Sister Wijetunge were at choir, we chilled with
the elders in the district that has been here 8 weeks and leaves. They are a bunch of nerds, but pretty entertaining. One of them is an amazing composer. He writes his own arrangements and can
pretty much improvise anything. He is an incredible pianist and composer. So he showed us
some of his music, and the arrangements he has composed (with violin, cello, drums, etc) on the
computer. Yeah, holy wow. Anyway, after chilling with those elders for a while, it was
time for the devotional. Sister Fuataga forgot her jacket, and the line to get into the devotional was
out the door. She decided we had to get inside somehow. So what did she do? She grabbed my
arm and dragged me inside yelling "My companion really needs to go to the toilet! She needs to pee!" ("Going to the toilet" is how Australians say "Going to the
bathroom" -- apparently they are much blunter than us). Of course, all the missionaries parted the way as she
told them all that I needed to pee. They were all pointing me to where the bathroom was. Yeah,
super embarrassing. Pretty sure I was bright red. Once we got inside she stopped and said to me,
"See, my plan worked. We got inside." I just facepalmed and laughed. And no, I didn't actually need
to use the bathroom. What an adventure. The devotional was good, though. The general relief society
president spoke to us, so that was way cool. So far we have to listen to the general young women's
president, the general relief society president, and the general primary president. But... I'm bad and don't
remember their names. Learning Korean is wiping my memory, I accompanied some elders as they
sung "Ye Elders of Israel." It was really good. My piano skills are not going
to waste here! I'm playing the hymns for sacrament again. Whoot whoot! :) Every Sunday, the Hunger
Games happen. The speakers are not asked to speak until they are announced over the pulpit. The
branch president gets up to conduct the meeting and says "First, we will be hearing
from ____ and then ____" And it must be completely in Korean. So every we all prepare a talk and cross
our fingers that we are not picked to talk. It seriously feels like the Hunger Games reaping. One
Sister, One Elder. So you never know when it will be your turn, but you prepare a talk anyway. So
scary. So we had a super cool moment this week, teaching an investigator. We were planning to
teach her about prayer, but then she told us about how she didn't know which church to join. Yeah,
prayer would be okay to teach here, but the restoration would be even better. So, in the middle of
the lesson I whispered to Sister Russell that we needed to switch and teach the Restoration. I whipped
out my Korean scriptures (you don't need to send me the ones at home, Mom. Plenty here. Keep
those so you can think of me) and flipped to Joseph Smith-History. Finding the scripture you
need in the Korean scriptures is a challenge. I can read Korean totally fine, but I don't know what it is
saying. Luckily I found what I needed and we taught the Restoration. The spirit never leaves you without
help when it asks you to change your plans. But yeah, that's about it for the week. I can read Korean,
pray in Korean, and speak like a tiny bit of it (enough to teach a lesson). So that's good. Oh and
I never told you, there's an Elder Maughan in the Korean branch. How cool is that? We are related through
Peter Maughan (we checked on family search yesterday) but he is from Washington. And Maughan
means 1000 in Korean. Yup. Good stuff. Mom, you asked what we are doing for Thanksgiving. Well, we get a GA!!!! A general authority is coming to speak to us! And we get thanksgiving
dinner (but who knows how safe it will be... turkey here is super sketchy). There's also a service
activity planned. But since Thanksgiving is on Thursday, our pday next week is supposed to be a
different day. Or so we hope. So I'm not sure what day you'll get my next email. I wish I
could say I'll let you know but... Haha I can't. Anyway, love you all so so much and hope you are
doing well! Miss you like crazy! I pray for each of you daily! Thank you for the chips and salsa (and treats!), we are eating them later and I've never been so excited for chips and salsa before. Saranghamnida! (Love you!)
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