Anyeonghaseyo! (Or however you Romanize that!)
So, I decided to consolidate my letters to you into one, to save time and to not have to copy/paste and/or retype things. If you really, really want me to go back to separate, let me know. :D
This week has probably been the craziest week of my mission so far. I got news from you, Mom and Dad, and from Sarah about Sister van Komen's funeral, and about Jayson, my best high school friend, losing 3.5 months of his memory and being sent home from his mission on medical release. That's a lot of bad news for one week. I really enjoyed the letter from Aaron Hoggan (one of my other best friends). I'm glad he's doing so well on his mission. I hear Russia is a really, really hard place to be out doing this work, but he sounds great. Anyway, with all the bad news I definitely have people to pray for.
We found some golden investigators this week! Their names are Chris and Che Eun Hee, and they are a married couple with one 5-year-old boy who is way cute. Chris is from Virginia, and he's here teaching English. His wife is Korean, but she's way good at English, and so is their son. His name is Aiden. Che Eun Hee saw us on the street, said she is looking for religion, and invited us to dinner that night! It was way fun. Chris is Christian, but he hasn't been out to church since he came to Korea. When I asked him about his beliefs, he said he wants to be a good person, follow God's commandments, and live a good life. I said that's awesome, and that we weren't there to tear down his beliefs or shove our religion down his throat; we are only here to give people a choice. He liked that. They came to church on Sunday and I think they will be baptized, because Chris is already on Chapter 5 of 1st Nephi, the first section of the Book of Mormon. I'm way excited to work with them.
However, it looks like I will definitely, 100% transfer on Wednesday. The President of our mision basically told me so face to face. :D It's a good thing, I'm ready for a change, for a fresh start. I feel like I'm still the little greenie that came here in January, and I'm ready to meet some new people. But I'm so sad to leave this ward behind...a lot of people say they will miss me. I'm busy getting contact info so I can keep in touch. I never thought people would love me this much, it's really surprising. I'll let you know where I am next Monday, because I don't know yet.
Thanks for sending the package, I'm really excited! Don't worry about the Lysol, I just wanted it to sanitize stuff like mattresses or laundry baskets and things. I've worked through almost all the candy and stuff from the package Grandma and Grandpa sent, so good timing. :D I'm excited to send Austin packages on his mission, he's going to get some crazy stuff. Probably some canned sea slugs from Korea or something. :D Here's a golden quote from Dad about Koreans and their diet:"Nobody ever told them that just because you can eat it doesn’t mean you should." I really laughed out loud when I saw that, because it's so true. One of my missionary friends in the MTC is half-Korean, and she said her mom would just go out back and pull random plants (not out of the garden) to put in soups and things. Good times. :D
Congrats on the award, Mom! You should tell Grandma and Grandpa all about it. They'll be proud, I'm sure. Grandma, how did your new plan to catch Elmo {a barn cat} go? Grandpa, thanks for the stories about Korea. I can definitely identify with how you had to huddle around oil heaters, it gets really, really cold here. Really. :D
I sent my camera card last week, hope it gets there. If it doesn't, I'll recopy the pictures and send a USB flash drive this time. Maybe I should have done that the first time anyway....well, I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Christmas list! AA batteries, 4x6 printouts of pictures of our family camping or at church activities or whatever. Koreans love pictures, and I didn't bring very many. Also, Mom, Dad, and Austin--if you could send me your testimonies by Christmas, that would be awesome. They don't have to be long, and don't stress about it. Actually if you feel like between now and Christmas is too short, just start them by Christmas and that will be present enough for me. Also, Austin--it would be way cool if you could buy me a small, cheap Star Wars Lego set. I mean less than $15 when I say cheap. If you want I'll pay you back when I come back to America. :D If I think of any other ideas I'll let you know. Is there anything any of you want me to get for you?
If you see any of my friends, tell them that if they've sent letters and nothing comes back, they should just email me or check the address. I haven't gotten anything from Nicole or jake. Hopefully I put the right mailing address on Facebook before I left...oops. :D If I email you a letter for Jayson, can you find a way to get it to him?Also I'll have a reply for Aaron's letter soon.
I love you all so much. Thanks for working so very, very hard to raise Austin and I. All four of you adults were so vital in making us who we are today. I was thinking this week about the sacrifices you've gone through, and I was just so thankful. I can't tell you that enough. I'll let you know where in Korea I go to, and I love you all!
Elder Matt Dean
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