Hey, so actually Korea is still not very calm because we're going through ANOTHER typhoon. The first one, Bolaven, was pretty bad for the southern coast and parts of Japan, and it sucked Tembin out from over China right up the same path. Now Typhoon Samba is heading up the other side of Korea. There's a lot of typhoons here! Samba was actually bigger than the first one, even, when it was over Okinawa, but now it's barely even a tropical storm as it goes over Korea. Okinawa is the southernmost island of mention in Japan, by the way. They say they get like 15 typhoons a year there, along with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions too. So you're either getting rain dumped on you, being blown away, being burned up by lava, getting the stuffing shaken out of you, or maybe even being blown soaking wet into a volcano as your house gets shaken over all at the same time. :D And yet they say that the people in Okinawa have some of the longest lifespans worldwide! I think I'll skip out on the earth falling apart around me even if it means I live five years less than they do. :D
Anyway, this week was pretty good. We survived transfers and still somehow managed to get a little missionary work done on the side. It's kind of sobering to realize that I'll only be involved in transfers two more times....I try not to think about that very much so I can focus. I think picking up the new missionaries is the funnest part of being in the office, though! Here's what happens: we drive out to Incheon Intl Airport on the best road in Korea (it's the best because it's a wide open freeway with almost no cars on it, kind of like America). Then we chill in the airport till they come through the doors, and take a picture with them. They're always pretty spaced out because they got on a plane in the morning 17 hours before that and somehow it's still early afternoon. It's really weird, actually, it was literally the longest day of my life. :D Then we load all their luggage in the van and take them onto the subway. We explain how to talk to people and then we help them go at it! It's really cool to see the fire they have as they talk to people and tell them about the church even though they've only been speaking Korean for 3 months. Sometimes it's hard for them though, like one of the elders that came through this last time. He had motion sickness from the plane pretty bad, I felt sorry for him. We don't push them too much on that first subway ride, because they just got off the plane and they're pretty tired a lot of the time. But we finally make it to President's house and then we have dinner, and President usually gives a spiritual thought before we get them to bed. I remember back when I first came, my experience was easier than that because my group was so big that they didn't want to take us all on the subway, it'd be like trying to take a bunch of sheep across Seoul. :D So they just loaded us in the vans with our luggage and we slept at the temple that night instead of President's house. And then for breakfast we had Korean food, and then we went to the same restaurant for lunch too. Anyway, getting new missionaries is always awesome. :D
And also this week we took the returning missionaries to the airport so they could head back to America/the Philippines. That was really sad, seeing some of the people I've known this whole time going back. I probably won't see most of them for a really long time. Thank heavens for Facebook! :D
Something I was thinking about this week was how we face our hard things. It's important to learn how to find joy in our hard times too, because you don't ever stop having hard times sometimes. That's life. The only thing we can change is how we see them. If you can find a little happiness even in the rough times, how much happier you'll be!
So that's what went on the past week. This week we're having our mission toured by a General Authority, this area's Area President. His name is Elder Michael T. Ringwood. I'll let you know how that goes next Monday. Hope you have a good week!
Love, Elder Dean
I'll see yah on FACEBOOK soon though I'm from PH. ^^
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