September 26, 2011

Hey, everybody,

This week has been pretty great! We were really busy. The busy times are definitely the best times out here. Since we share this area with a couple of sister missionaries, when they decided to start a dance class as a way to find new investigators, me and my companion joined in. It was so fun! I know what you're thinking, it wasn't ballet, it was just line dances this week. One of the sisters is a dance major, and her companion is really good too, so they made up dances and taught them to us and a bunch of the ward members. There were probably 12 people there, and actually some new people that weren't members of the Church. It was a nice way to have fun with the ward members without pressure. We met our guy with a baptismal date and everything's going great still. He will be the first person I found and baptized myself, because the man I baptized in July was found by somebody else.

Tomorrow we get to go to the temple in Shin Chon. I think Dad was there on his mission before it was dedicated, but he might not be that old. :D Anyway, it'll be really fun, because there's always a bunch of other missionaries that you hang out with after the temple. When we go to the temple it becomes our Pday for that week; me and my companion plan to go to a shopping center somewhere and buy him a suit. He needs one because he's lost so much weight. He wrote me up a weightlifting schedule, so when i come back to Utah I'm going to be super ripped. Watch out, Austin. :D

The language is coming along ok. I still have a problem understanding people, but I can usually say what I want to say. Someday I'll be fluent, I hope. I actually heard that there was a missionary that returned last year that tested out of so many Korean language classes at college that he got a minor degree automatically! I hope I can do something like that at Utah State when I get back.

You Know You're in Korea when...

• Anybody you ask is willing to help you. One time I was in Il San, my previous area, and I asked a guy how to get somewhere, and he walked to the stop with me, found the right bus, and made sure I got on it. It actually kinda backfired, because I was only using it as a ploy to start talking to him about the gospel, but hey. :D
• When the buses sometimes break Mach 1. Sonic booms aren't just for jets anymore.
• When there are 30-story apartment buildings everywhere.
• When you can buy awesome ties for $3 each. I'll have to send you some, Austin.
• When saying "Hi" to a group of junior high girls results in a wall of sound that almost knocks you over. That actually happened in Il San, no joke!
• When the 김치/ kimchi is measured by proof. Ok, it's not actually alcoholic...is it?
• When your companion gets interviewed on the street by high school students just for being a foreigner.

That's about all the news I know. I'll let you know how the baptism this Saturday goes. I love you all!

Elder Matt Dean

September 19, 2011

Anyeonghaseyo! (that looks so dumb in English....)

      So, as you all can probably see, I sent this to a bunch of people. I have come to realize that making a huge letter and then sending it to everyone is way, way better than taking the time to copy/paste things to make individual letters. It lacks that personal feel, but it brings everyone into the loop, so I figured that was better. I'm really sorry for those who have been left out of the loop for almost a year, and I hope you think my emails are cool enough to read once in a while. :D

     So...This week was pretty good! Actually I'll fill everyone in on where I am and stuff like that. I'm in a district of Seoul called 봉천 (Bong Cheon...rhymes with Foam Fun), which is on the doorstep of one of the S.K.Y. universities in Korea (Seoul University, Korea University, and Yeonsei University). Therefore, there are millions of people here, which means it's missionary heaven. I miss my old ward in Il San, but this place is way better for missionary work. This is my second area on my mission, because I was in Il San for seven months, and I've been here for about three weeks. The area is actually really small, you could walk across it either north-south or east-west in about half an hour tops. It's right by a "mountain" called Gwanak Mountain, but compared to ours it's just a steep hill. :D The ward here is good, there's tons of people to talk to, we can get cheap Korean food at restaurants, we're right next to all the cool things in Seoul for P-day, there are sister missionaries in our area too (which is really fun), our house is big and clean,  my companion is awesome, and we have an investigator who will be baptized two Saturdays from now. Hence the "Success" in the subject line. :D Life is really good right now!

      The investigator's name in English is Choi Hyeon Chang. He is about thirty, and he met with the missionaries at the beginning of the year. However, because of a crazy church he went to (literally, they are INSANE), he lost all faith in God, so he ended up dropping the missionaries at that time. The first day I got to Bong Cheon, we were calling former investigators, and I talked to him. He speaks English really well, which was a relief. I asked him if he believes in God, and he said yes (this was before I read the record that says he doesn't believe in God). So then I asked him if he believes God can answer his prayers, and he said yes. So then I invited him to put our church to the test and find out if it is true, and he accepted. When we met him the first time, he said that he didn't believe in God when he met the missionaries the first time, but about a month before we called, he started reading the Bible again and he really wanted to get closer to God. So, he took our call as a sign, and the rest is history! He went to a fireside with one of our members last night, without us, and he said it was really good. I take that as an answer to my prayers as to how to integrate him into the ward. God really does look out for all of us, and with this guy, he sent the right missionary at the right time that would say the right things to get him to experiment on the word. Interestingly, he only got a real conviction about this church after he followed our advice and acted in order to get an answer, like it says in Alma 32 in the Book of Mormon. You can't know something is true until you try living it first. Once he did, he got an answer, and he's been solid ever since. So that's the thing I'm most excited about right now. :D

      My new companion is named Elder Mallory. He's my same age, but one transfer younger than me in mission age. He's from Los Vegas, and since coming on his mission he's lost like 80 pounds. It's way cool. Korean food does that to you (but don't worry, I didn't lose 80 pounds, that's a little more than half my body weight :D). He's really nice, and he has a big desire to do missionary work. I'm glad I'm finally with someone like that, it hasn't happened since my trainer in January. His dream job is to be a firefighter, like his dad, uncle, and grandpa. He's gone on ride-alongs with his dad before, a lot, and he has some really cool stories. He also played football as a linebacker in high school. We're having some good times. I miss my Korean companion though, we had fun times. My Korean companion is only in his third transfer right now, and he's training another Korean. :D I hope he's doing ok.

      I've decided to start a section in my emails called "You Know You're in Korea When..." I got the idea from someone who emailed my companion. Here goes!

You Know You're In Korea When....

 1.  When toilet paper is used for more than the bathroom...actually, it's used for just 

      about everything: napkins, paper towels, wiping the table, etc.

2.   When old men are wearing more patterns and colors of plaid than they are articles

      of clothing.

3.   When an old man wheels a cart by that has a big pot of boiling silkworm larvae 

      soup on it.      

4.   When your companion can't remember the names of some of the United States

      America. :P

5.   When one elevator only goes to odd floors, and one only goes to the even ones.

6.   When a city with 50 million people has a sweet transportation system that's super cheap and efficient. Like, it's way better than TRAX and *shudder* the Front Runner in Utah. Fail.

That's about all for this week. I'll keep an eye out for unusual/different/cool things. Something my ward mission leader told me was, if something is different it just means it brings something else to the table and makes life interesting. I try to keep that in mind when I see boiling pots of silkworm larvae rolling by me on the street. :D I love you all, and I hope this week goes well for you!

Elder Matt Dean

September 12, 2011

Hey, everybody!

     The second week here in Bong Cheon was pretty awesome, I have to admit! This is a way fun area. For our preparation day, we had a big conference to celebrate Chu Seok, the Korean Thanksgiving. It was so fun! Half the missionaries in the Seoul area went to a place called Yeong Dung Po, which has a huge building our church owns. Our Mission President talked to us about Korean culture and how it relates to Chu Seok; Koreans traditionally believe that when somebody dies, they become sort of a demi-god, so he explained a little about the rituals they do. On this holiday, Koreans go to the graves of their ancestors and bow in respect/worship, in order to gain the favor of those who have gone before, who then bless them. Koreans leave food on tables, too, because a long time ago food was kind of scarce. Thus they give the food as an offering. Also, something I learned is that they never give nectarines, because the spirits hate nectarine trees and actually can't go near them. So the fruits of the trees are out, I guess. :D Also, our mission president explained a little about Korean names. Taditionally, all males of the same generation in a family use a common syllable in their names; hence, in my Korean name, Do In Su, I share the "su" with Ha Yeong Su and Ha Min Su, the two sons of the Ha family. It's pretty awesome. We had a sweet lunch and got some training about teaching people, and the conference was over. However, P-day was from the end of the conference to the end of the day! You should have seen the building, it was a total party. Some people played board games, some people played volleyball, some people sat around and talked. It was really fun. I talked to another elder about video games that we had both played for proably about an hour. :D And then I read a letter I got from Erin van Komen. It was a really sad letter...she's hanging in there, but she's got a lot on her plate right now with college and tuition. I feel like she's trying to be positive, but it's just really hard. Apparently the letter I sent her got there on the day of her mom's funeral, so that was pretty good timing. I hope I can be a strength for her, but there's only so much you can communicate through the mail. I hope Kimee and Sarah are taking good care of her.

     Speaking of Kimee, unless my letter got lost in the mail, she owes me one. It's understandable if she has a boyfriend now, though. Just remember, Austin--girls act all needy and they want you to write them, until they find someone at home. Then you get nothing. :D Just kidding, I'm not bitter. I hope she's doing well. Since Sarah is the "updater" for my friends, could you ask her if she's heard anything about Katie Haggard? I haven't talked to her in like six months, and I wonder if our letters are getting to each other or not. Tell Sarah thanks for being so awesome, and I'm working on getting her a letter soon. :D

     This week...what a good week, from a missionary standpoint. We found two new people to teach; one is kind of a flake, though, and he's only in it for the English. The other one is pretty solid. But the best news is that a guy we're teaching accepted a commitment to be baptized on October 1! We're so excited! He said he got an answer about our church from God in a dream, and as he was telling us about it, I was thinking, "Whoa, this is just like a movie or something." It was seriously way cool. So, we're going to help him get baptized. I asked him why he thought it was so important, and he said it was because we need someone to help us out to be clean from sins, and through Christ we can do that. He said he wants to be baptized, so we will help him there. I feel very thankful to God for giving us this success.

     I got your package, Mom and Dad! It was so awesome! Elder Mallory ate some of the dried mangoes, and he said they were really the best fruit he's ever eaten. Really. :D I really like the journal you sent me, too--it has really great questions in it, and I'm excited to fill it out. I just have to find the time now. You'll be interested to know that out of the 20 questions on that "How Well Do You Know Harry?" test from the newspaper that you send me, I got 18 right. And two of the answers on the key were actually wrong, which is pretty funny. I did it with one of the Assistants to the President and we concluded that the girl who wrote it didn't actually know Harry that well after all. :D And I appreciate the present from Emmy {our cat}, looks like she still sheds as much as always. 开矫. :D

     Mom, you asked about bath houses; basically, you go in there and there are different pools with different things dissolved in them at different temperatures, and you sit in them and relax. There are also saunas that are super hot, and usually swimming pools. Also there are sections where you sit down on a stool in front of a mirror with a hand faucet, and just shower off. It's a really relaxing experience, and I love 'em. I have two more winters to enjoy them in, too. :D

     Grandma, I'm glad you've made progress on Elmo {the barn cat}. They should run a new cable show called "The Cat Whisperer," starring Ruth Ann Brandon. i would totally watch that show. :D

     I was reading an email from another missionary that Elder Mallory got, and it had a section titled "You Know You're in Brazil when..." I figured that I could make one of those for the blog you're making me, and it would be really funny. I'll come up with stuff for next week.

     I love you all - have a good week!

~Elder Matt Dean

September 4, 2011

Hey everybody!
     So, I got transferred to a new area called Bong Cheon (rhymes with "stone gun"). It's the area that includes Seoul National University, so it should be pretty easy to find on a map. My house is north of the university a little ways. I really like this new area, because there are millions of people to talk to! We talked to 188 people just from Wednesday morning till Sunday night. yeah, that's a lot of people. The house is really big, much bigger than Il San was, and since the area is really small we don't have to spend as much money on travel. The ward is really nice, too; I hear that they love helping missionaries, and I'm excited to teach with them.
     My new companion is named Elder Mallory. He's my same age, but one transfer younger than me in mission age. He's from Las Vegas, and since coming on his mission he's lost like 80 pounds. It's way cool. Korean food does that to you (but don't worry, I didn't lose 80 pounds, that's a little more than half my body weight :D). He's really nice, and he has a big desire to do missionary work. I'm glad I'm finally with someone like that, it hasn't happened since my trainer in January. His dream job is to be a firefighter, like his dad, uncle, and grandpa. He's gone on ride-alongs with his dad before, a lot, and he has some really cool stories. He also played football as a linebacker in high school. We're having some good times. I miss my Korean companion though, we had fun times. My Korean companion is only in his third transfer right now, and he's training another Korean. :D I hope he's doing ok.
     I was so sad to leave Il San. The night before I left we visited a bunch of the members I was closest to and sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again." It was way sad. The Spirit was really strong when we visited the man I baptized, Ko Gwang Jin. I went out to dinner with Ha Yeong Su, a returned missionary from Daejon mission that I was way close to. He's actually the oldest son in the Ha family that I told you about, and it was really sad. I got a picture of him on my camera that i'll send you. His dad called me on the phone as I was on the subway heading out of Il San for the last time, and it was the hardest goodbye I've had since leaving for the MTC almost a year ago. I will miss Il San so much, and I really want to go back before I leave. Oh, I asked Ha Tae Wan, the father of the family, to give me a Korean name, and he named me도인수 (Do In Su). The meanings are as follows: Do is the surname that Dad went by when he was here. In means love or mercy or something like that, and when combined with Do it kind of sounds like Dean. And he gave me Su because the two of his sons both have that in their names. So even though I don't share the Ha surname with them, it's like I'm his son, in a  way. I love my Korean name!
     Our investigators are doing pretty good. We had first meetings with a few of them, and they went really well. The people we met were sincere and it seemed like they really wanted to find the truth, and I'm excited to help them do it, because I know how much of a blessing it'll be in their lives.
     In our mission there's probably about 150 missionaries, and it's on the rise. Since the consolidation there has been a real shortage of missionaries, but they're sending more and more out here. I'm writing a letter to Jayson on paper, and I'll enter it into the email next time if I have time. I hope he's doing ok. If you could get Jake Hall's MTC mail address that would be awesome. It's hard to believe Mom is on Facebook. :D I'm excited to see your profile when I get back. Oh, and I've gotten some weird suspicious emails from Grandpa's email address, so I deleted them. My email was returned to me marked as undeliverable to him too, so I'm not sure what's going on. But everything will work out. I think the vest is a great idea, I'd actually wanted one last winter but I forgot about it. If it was dark greyish I think that would be best. Thanks so much, Grandma!
      The weather is starting to cool off a little; I think it will be really cold again this winter. But for the next month or so it should be pretty good.
     I'm glad that Grandma caught Elmo and got to take him to the vet, hopefully his eye is ok. Maybe you can knit him an eyepatch like a pirate. :D
     I just had a thought: you can take parts of my emails and put them on my blog! That would be cool. If you can record how many people have visited it, you should tell me after a few weeks. :D
      Today for P-day we are going to a public bath house with some other missionaries, which should be really fun. I love those bathhouses, they're the best. Other than transfers nothing's really changed...I love my life as a missionary, despite the hard times, because I'm learning so much and having fun most of the time. I can feel the love of God in my life, and how much He's proud of me. That's something this mission has done for me more than anything else--it's strengthened my testimony of Jesus Christ, of Heavenly Father, and of their plan for us to help us learn here in this life and return to them after this life. I have so much comfort from knowing their plan for us, and I love being able to teach it to other people. I'm not that great of a teacher yet, but all I can do is my best, and when I've done that nobody should be displeased with me. I think one of the best things about the Atonement of Christ is that even if we make mistakes and don't do our best, it's ok if we keep the simple promises we make when we recieve baptism. As long as we do that, He forgives us and helps us to be better. I love this gospel and everything it means to us.
      That is all. I love you all; thank you for being such an amazing support to me! I owe everything I am to you, and I hope my emails are interesting. :D Give all the animals some pets for me.
I love you!
Elder Matt Dean

August 28, 2011

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

August 21, 2011

Hey hey,
     So, I miscalculated the time and I only have like ten minutes left to email. But I'll pack in as many spiritual experiences as I can for Mom to use {in her talk at church}.
      This week I prayed for about ten minutes at our church building, and I only expressed thanks for my blessings. I think I asked for like one thing, maybe. It was only about thanks. That helped me to be more thankful for the things I have. And that night as I said my personal prayer, I was overcome by an intense feeling of love and happiness. I really felt love for Korea, for my mission, for God, for all of you, and basically everything. I was just so happy! I was so filled with the Spirit that I felt like I was on fire. I didn't go to sleep for like an hour, because I didn't want that feeling to go away. It was the best I've ever felt, I think. And I think the reasons it came were, I was being obedient, I prayed for love and charity, and I exercised faith in God. And because I'm a missionary and we just have awesome things like that happen all the time. :D
List of weird things I've eaten: canned sea slugs, whole baby crabs the size of quarters, squid ink spaghetti, acorn jelly, potato pizza, jellyfish, peanut butter-flavored squid jerky, cow intestine, and a couple other things I can't think of. Prayer and relying on the Lord have become real things for me instead of just going through the motions. I can speak Korean passably well. That is a miracle.
     I'm running out of time, but basically just tell anyone that's preparing for a mission to prepare well for the best adventure of their lives. All they have to do is try and put their best into it, and never give up, because if they try they will always get results. As soon as I started trying to give away Book of Mormons when I proselyte, I've given away two per day. That's gone on for three days now. Ether 12: 27, read that for me. The Lord will take you and improve you in many miraculous ways, while at the same time he is using you to bring peope to salvation. Come on a mission. Experience what everyone talks about. Give it a try, and prove the Lord. he won't let you down. I'm out of time, but I'll talk to you more next week. I love you all!
Elder Matt Dean

August 16, 2011

Hey family,
     So I used up most of my email time today transferring pictures from my
camera card to my flash drive in case the card gets lost. That means I
can send the card this week, but on the other hand I have very little
time to email today, so it'll be kind of short. As long as you get
good pictures I figure you can forgive me. :D {The pictures he refers to are the pictures that are already posted with past blog posts.}
     We went to the temple today. It was so nice to sit in the Celestial
room and just put all my worries down for a minute. I think I'm
getting slightly stressed and worrisome again like I was in second
transfer, because I want to grow and do better but it's not coming as
fast as I would like. And we have very few investigators right now.
But I'm trying lately to think more positively, because of something
my mission president said to me. Basically you can look at a glass
half full or half empty, but no matter which viewpoint you take it
still has the same amount of water in it; you can't change it by your
attitude, you only change how you deal with it. Thinking positively is
really hard, but it's better than the alternative, as Dad told me one
time. So I'm looking for the happy points and just trying to do my
best and rely on the Lord.
     I got a letter from Jayson today! It was such a great letter. I was
going to write him soon but he beat me to it, which is ok because it
was exactly what I wanted to hear from him. He regretted how distanced
we became before our missions just like I do, and he hopes we can be
as tight as we were then when we get back. It really made my day. And
he sent me a pokemon card for old times' sake, which really made me
laugh out loud. :D
     I'm glad Mom's trip went well, and I hope Austin's trip was good too. I'm out of time today, but I'll reply to your emails more specifically next week. I love you!
Elder Matt Dean