Dear Home,
Our
investigator in 평택 was baptized!!!! I wrote about her a while back.
She's the student that lived in for a foreign exchange program for a
year or so. Friend and roomate there introduced her to the church.
Anyway, my Elder 박 called me Sunday and told me. YAY!!!! She was a
miracle from the start. We saw a lot of those in my first area. The Lord
definitely answered my prayers, and I was saying a lot of them. Those
first few months, I didn't think I was doing anything right. We weren't
having much success my first transfer. We had investigators, but they
weren't moving much. I couldn't really build relationships with them in
Korean.
It was really hard to 전도 not being comfortable with
the language, and no one wanted to talk. I didn't really know what I was
doing wrong, how to improve. But I realized something. There isn't a
perfect way to do this. Sometimes, a lot of the time, people won't want
to talk to us. There's a little we can do to try to change that, but so
often it's out of our hands. All we do as missionaries is invite. We
work hard everyday, face a lot of people who reject our message, and
wait diligently for the day the Lord puts the right person in our path.
If we're working hard, he'll do it. My first transfer, I couldn't do
anything. But the Lord practically threw investigators at us. It was
humbling really. I struggled to feel like I was doing enough. I didn't
want to waste those chances He'd given.
But this work is real. It's bigger than us. I can't
speak Korean. I can barely communicate. But there's a lot of help. Good
companions, and a Father in Heaven that's eager to see His children come
home.
Anyway, I've been feeling a lot more like a
missionary lately. Realizing things that are important. Before I get off
the spiritual part of this letter, I wanted to mention something I
noticed about Korea. They treat the Sacrament very sacred. I want to
remember that. When they prepare it, they use a kettle and slowly pour
it at the table itself. When they pass, at the end, the passers and the
blessers both bow. And I mentioned this before. Some buildings use the
same room for chapel and activity room, so when they aren't using the
chapel, they close it off with curtains. If the curtains are open, you
treat the room like a chapel. Very special.
Family scripture reading: Figures I'd join just in
time for the Isaiah chapters... I mean, yeah! Isaiah is my favorite! To
be completely honest, I actually do really like Isaiah. There are some
nuggets in there if you look. One of my favorite chapters is 22. It
speaks to me so much sometimes. Absolutely love it. I found a good time
to read too. Breakfast. usually a little spare time. Not enough for a
real deep look that you need for Isaiah, but nice.
Anyway, lot of people here today, so I can't waste much time. LOTS of culture this week.
Dog soup, already talked about.
Cooking:
butter is expensive for missionaries, but I've learned that oil works
pretty well as a sub. Been using that a lot. Even found baking powder,
so I made some Lembas. Not everything was a success though. Don't make
alfredo for a Korean. Kind of plain taste, especially when you don't
have many ingredients. To them, /no/ taste. Opposite of all korean food.
Haha...
Also, fun thing I saw. Our toilet has instructions. Little stick figure pictures and everything. so fun. =D
Sandals in the Bathroom. Makes sense here. Drains in the floors, no shower curtains. Keep your feet dry when you walk in.
Also, Some things that aren't common in Korea.
Bathrooms. Outside you don't find many. At gas stations, restaurants,
없다. Go before you leave. Garbage cans. Not many. Hard to pick up liter
on the street sometimes when there's no place to put it... Drinking
fountains. All water has to be filtered. Not much public water. Stop
signs. Don't exist here. Tried to explain it to my companion, he thinks
they're dumb. Different driving culture here.
Different ways you tie scarfs change how warm they
are. Makes sense. Didn't learn that in California though. I've found a
couple favorites I like to tie. Scarfs are nice.
Thanks for the pencils Mom! I use them to add color to my life. Matching
ties and pencils when I leave the house. Little things missionaries can
change. On that note. There are ties here! Or in 대전 anyway. We're going
there for Zone conference, so I may have found a use for some of the
christmas money you sent. Looking forward to that.
Also, met somebody this Sunday. The Hruby's, a
family that lived in America for five years. Husband is American. Fun
part: They lived in Rosemont/Brighton Wards. They knew a lot of people I
did as we were talking. Not much time to talk at the time, we had a
lesson, but I'm looking forward to getting to know them. Anyone
recognize the name? Should I say hi for anyone? The wife is a really
awesome Korean woman. And they should have had a baby shortly before
they moved. Named Ben. Small world, no?
Holy cow that was a lot. Didn't go into depth much,
but I'm still out of time. Love you guys. I'll try to get a letter
written to give more details, but it's not super likely. Just know I
love you!
~Elder Robarts 로바트 장로 (found a keyboard shortcut to switch keyboards. I'll try to use it more. [Does it copy okay?])
