Holy cow, Austin, you're 17! That's crazy! 17 isn't that different compared to 18, 19, and 20, but it's still a pretty good day. What were your favorite presents? Was your birthday party fun?
This week has been pretty normal. One cool thing that happened was that I gave a scripture (Alma 26:27) to an elder in my zone, and he said when he read it he felt the Spirit a ton, and it saved him from going home. I don't think he would have gone home anyway, but he does have separation anxiety fairly bad. He is super homesick, I guess. He is with a Korean companion that speaks less English than my compainion, and he can't relate to anyone. But I was an instrument in the Lord's hands, and now we have a lot of 정. Dad will explain what that is, I don't have time. :D
I ate at KFC a couple days ago! I haven't eaten there a lot in America, so I don't really know what it's supposed to be like, but it was pretty good, along with the Sprite. The "chicken" burger and fries I had was definitely weird, though. It was almost right, but something was just off about it. :D I really appreciated the member who bought it for us, though, because it was kind of expensive. I haven't eaten at McDonalds, Burger King, or Outback Steakhouse yet, but we can if we want to. Also, this week I had persimmon tea, which tasted good, but persimmons are gross! They are all slimy and fibrous. And the ones i had weren't even fresh, they were in tea. Not my favorite thing so far. :D
So, I found out that I was acting on bad information when I said anyone could email me, I'm sorry if you told anyone else. It should only be family that email me, so Grandma Kunz and Uncle Rick and Aunt Nancy are fine. I've emailed Grandma Kunz a few times, and she emailed me back a lot in the MTC. The elders here say that the mailing address I sent you is the right one, but I don't know which one the Church has out. I'm pretty sure the one I sent is right, but we'll know for sure if I don't get any letters back from it. :D
So, Austin, since it's your birthday, I decided to tell you what my present for you in two years will be. Ready? I'm making a journal of all my experiences that's just for you! I'm filling it with what I would have said to you if you'd been with me this whole time. It's got encouragement, scriptures, thoughts, and other cool stuff in it. Does that sound good? Do you want me to put anything else in it as I go along? Thanks for sending me an email every week, too, it means a lot, even if it isn't long. Good luck with play practice, it sounds like Kacie is working you hard with the dances. She's always pretty intense. :D Just make sure to keep up with that calculus class, I know it's hard, but you can do it! Just rely on the Lord, and put in your effort, and He will answer your prayers.
So, now for your questions! The weather here has been strangely warm too, but it's starting to get pretty cold again. It's not that bad yet, though. Fruit Kimchi is pretty bland compared to the cabbage kind, and I could barely tell it was fruit. I think some of it was vegetables, they just called it "fruit" kimchi. :D I haven't had a chance to do any sightseeing yet, because everything worth seeing is really far away. Someday I will, though! The exchange rate is about 1000 won per dollar, which makes 1 won equal to a tenth of a cent. I haven't seen any il won coins yet, just down to ten won.
As for the food I can buy here, I know for sure that I can get spaghetti noodles, spaghetti sauce, pancake syrup, and chicken. Tomato sauce and canned beans is a maybe. I haven't had any chickens killed in open markets yet, because there aren't any open markets around us. We're in a really metropolitan place at the moment. I wish they did exist close to us, though, it seems like a good culture experience.
I'm adjusting pretty well. Sometimes I get fairly homesick, but you get over it by focusing on the work more. That's one thing I learned this week--if you focus on yourself, you feel really bad, and you lose the Spirit. We're not teaching tons of people right now--only four, actually, and we haven't picked up any new investigators since I've been here. But my companion and I talked for like two hours last night, and found out what we need to change. Our faith and desire to work have been decreasing gradually for a few weeks, and we haven't gotten along very well. We've figured out it's because we're not having fun, and we haven't been relaxing. We never talked very much, and it was always a very tense atmosphere. So we were stressed out way bad. My companion had a good analogy--it's like we were eating ourselves, turning inward. But you can only be satisfied if someone else gives of themselves to you, and then you give back. He also says that I need to open up and let myself out, instead of always working super hard until I've eaten myself up. I'll bet you can identify with him; I've never been good at opening myself up. :p So, we've made some goals and found common ground and found ways to relax, and I think that with our renewed faith and desire, the Lord will give us success. I want to teach so bad, but it's hard when you have very few investigators and most people punk us when we set up appointments. I need to start having fun whenever I can; this work isn't very "fun," but I need to work to make it enjoyable. And now my companion and me are getting along much better, so that's good.
Living alone with one other person 24/7 is a lot harder than I thought it would be! It's like being married, only we're not in love, we just live together and have no alone time. But if you two married people could give me advice, I'd appreciate it. :D
I'm so excited that Jayson's going to the same mission as Devin! maybe they'll be companions someday. If you could give Jayson my correct mailing address that I sent you, that would be good. Also, could you please send me Devin's MTC address when you get it? I wrote him a letter today, but I won't mail it to his house.
Life is pretty good. I just need to work to have fun, and not be such a boring person. I love you all, you're in my prayers, and I'll talk to you next week!
~Elder Matt Dean
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| Public toliet in Korea - you have to squat over the hole. |
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