Monday, July 13, 2015

NEW HOUSE!


So this week we got to move into our beautiful new apartment! It is a mansion. It is a four man house now so we are living with two other sisters and it has seriously been so fun. But... we got to learn a little bit about Korean culture in this move. Koreans don't clean their houses before they move. I can't judge them for it because it is their culture--it's just not expected of them. But let me say, it was pretty clear that they didn't clean before they left. And we also think this apartment hasn't been lived in for quite some time. So it was... disgusting. There was like an inch of straight dirt on pretty much everything (we live on the 16th floor so we are not sure how that happened), and mold covered some of the bathroom surfaces. The counters had all sorts of dirty things on them... I don't even have names for most of the stuff we found. The stove had old food sludge burnt into all the burners. Yeah it wasn't exactly fun... but we definitely turned the house around. We Cloroxed the heck out of everything. :) It is beautiful and totally liveable now. We are so thankful to be living in the beautiful apartment we are living in. Plus, I get to sleep on two floor mats instead of one in this house! :)

So it is now July and let me just say it is SO HOT. I have never experienced heat like this before. Utah heat is dry. But Korea heat is humid. With some days getting up to 100% humidity the heat is a killer. We walk outside and it feels like we are walking into an oven. There is no escaping the heat either. We don't have air conditioning in our apartment (most Korean apartments don't have air conditioning) and we only have 2 fans between the four of us. We open all the windows at night and sleep with no blankets on. We take cold showers and still walk out drenched in sweat. It is seriously insane. I drink like 4 or 5 big bottles of water every day, and by the end of the day I am so exhausted I plop right down onto the floor after planning and just lay there. Heat has taken on a new meaning to me.

Also, I got to see the ocean for the first time in my life this week! It was from a distance. But it was still the ocean. One of our members lives close enough to the ocean to see it and I could even see the birds dipping down into the water. That was exciting.

So this week the four sisters in my house have been talking a lot about how much the world has gotten worse since we have even been on our missions. We have been getting asked a lot about the church's stance on gay marriage since it was just legalized in the US. America doesn't realize the effect its decisions have on the rest of the world. The Koreans have been freaking out about the new law too. And they have been paying very close attention to the political stuff going on in the US right now. The Koreans know more than me, and I am the American haha. In Korea, it was just legalized for a man to be married to one woman but have live-in mistresses. Members definitely freaked out about that too. The world is becoming a scary place. I am so thankful that I am a missionary right now, but we are up against a lot.

The thing is, because the world is so bad, that means that the strongest people are here right now. God knew the world would go down hill, so He saved his toughest fighters for the last days. If you are living on the earth now, that means that God chose you to come here during some of the most challenging times. You were one of the most likely ones to stay strong through the fight. Some of the people here are going to give in to the challenges. But that was not God's plan. He sent you here to be strong. Please, always remember that. He sent you here, now, because He knew you could brave the storm and fight on His side. It won't be easy, but if you continue fighting on God's team, reading scriptures, praying, believing in Him and relying on Him, you will not fail. It is when you give into the world's temptations, Satan's temptations, that you will fail. But if you are fighting on the Lord's side, if you are fighting your battles on your knees, you cannot fail. :)

I love you all as always! Miss you!

Love, Sister Maughan

 This is Daysha's bed (YO) that she sleeps on. Doesn't look very comfy! :(

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