So... this was one of those weeks. One of those weeks that I honestly don't remember. I don't know what it is about the mission, but I swear that you get short term memory loss. I don't even remember what I ate for dinner yesterday...
Anyway it was a special Korean holiday this last week! So Korea basically became a ghost town, and it still is a ghost down for about 2 more days. It is 추석 (Chu-seok), Korea's Thanksgiving. Because of the lack of people on the streets and at home, we had a two day long mission conference in 송파 (Song-pa) at the mission home. It was super fun and super full of the spirit. We did this activity where all 149 missionaries went to Olympic Park where the Olympics were held in Korea, split into groups and played a Korean traditional game to celebrate the holiday. As we were playing, we invited Koreans who were walking by to play with us. Let me just say, we got some of the funniest looks ever. Six foreigners playing a traditional Korean game in the middle of Olympic park, saying Korean words loudly whenever they were excited or whenever they were losing. We got to talk to a lot of people because of this, and it was SO FUN. Then we all met back up, the whole mission, in the middle of the park and sang Korea's National Anthem. So many Koreans stopped to take pictures and videos. It was so cool. :) Also I got to wear my 한복 (han-bok) to the missionary conference. So many sisters and elders wore their traditional Korean clothes. So fun. :)
Yesterday after church, we went to visit this sister who is in a nursing home. She asked for a blessing from the elders, so our whole district went to visit her and sang "A Child's Prayer" for her in Korean. Then one of the elders (yes, an American elder) gave her a blessing, all in Korean. When giving blessings in Korean, they have to use a certain form of the language that we don't ever use. Kind of like scripture language. Korean has different levels of language depending on who you are talking to, which is why it is so hard. For instance, if talking in sacrament or to someone elderly or in a formal situation, all of your verbs end in 입니다 (imnida). But if you are talking to someone your age or just in a informal situation, you end verbs in 에요 (eyo). And there is another one for kids and one for queens and kings, and another one that you use when praying to God and so on. Anyway, he was giving the blessing using scripture language, and the spirit was SO strong. My testimony of the priesthood has seriously skyrocketed since I have been on a mission. And it is so amazing to me, that the spirit works so strongly that it tells priesthood holders exactly what to say during a blessing, in a language that is not their own native language. I can't even explain how strong the spirit was, and it was an incredible experience. I am so glad that I got to be there for it. :)
Almost every day the phrase "I love being a missionary" goes through my head, and I am so thankful to have this experience. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. :)
Sorry this email is a bit on the shorter end!
Love you all so much, and miss you always!
Love,
Sister Maughan
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