Guess what? I'm in Korea!! We landed tuesday night here, and either Tuesday or Monday is our P-day (I haven't figured out which one it is yet), so I didn't get to email till today. Chinese New Year is going on this week, so our schedules are kind of messed up, but I'll settle into a routine soon.
Wow, where to begin... The flight was super long, and it was weird because we were chasing the sun, so I could see it for like 24 hours. We landed in Incheon, and found out that they misplaced our luggage in Portland. Luckily I had everything I needed in my carryon and backpack, so I was good till it got to our apartment on Thursday. We slept at the temple overnight and then had breakfast with our mission president, whose name escapes me right now. I like him, though, he's really great!
I'm in a suburb of Seoul called Il-San, which means One Mountain. I like it; it's about the size of Layton, or maybe a bit smaller, but the buildings are as big as downtown Ogden. My companions name is Elder Choi (rhymes with "day"), and he is a native Korean from Daejon who speaks pretty good english. He's really awesome. It's hard being with a Korean trainer, though, because we don't relate that well. Dad knows what I'm talking about. I haven't seen a white person since we left the temple, which is kind of hard, but so is everything else.
The public transportation here is great! We ride color-coded buses that drive like maniacs, which is fun. So much better than American transportation. The skyline is dominated by huge 23-story apartment buildings, and there are advertisements everywhere. It's so much more vibrant than any American city I've ever been in!
I like the food, for the most part. Some kinds of kimchi aren't that great, but on the whole it's really good. I like that yellow radish thing that's kind of sweet, I can't remember the name of it right now. Also, since it's close to the new year, we're eating lots of dok, which is made ot of rice, kind of a firm paste that they put in lots of stuff. Lots of rice, of course--we always have a pot going. I haven't had anything ridiculous yet. I really like the tea here, too! We've been over to members' houses a couple times, which was really great.
The members here are amazing. They're all really nice, and most of them try to accept me even though I can't speak Korean. A lot of them speak english in varying degrees here, too, so that's nice. We went to a youth activity the other night that they'd been preparing for a month, with all these dances and songs and instrumentals. A couple songs were in English, which was definitely awesome. They sang a high school musical song, too, which will make Chelsea happy.
It's super cold right now! The wind cuts through your clothes like a machete made out of ice. I'm really glad I have my coat and Grandma's scarf, the gloves you sent me, and my thermal underwear. I always have to tell myself that the pioneers went through worse when they crossed the plains.
I'm doing pretty well. I can't speak Korean, though. The first four days were really, really hard. I felt like I couldn't do it, that I'll never learn Korean, and that I won't ever be able to be senior companion or even run an area. There's just so much to do and learn and so many regulations, and I can't even carry on a conversation in Korean yet. I got so discouraged a couple days ago. But then I read the Book of Mormon, about the wars and things people in the past have had to go through, and all the things the prophets did. I realized that this mission is going to be really hard, which is as it should be. But it will all be for my good. People have done way harder things than this, so I can do it with God's help. Also, we were teaching English to this investigator couple, and as they struggled to read simple sentences out loud I was so glad that God has allowed me to grow up in the Church. (and that I don't have to learn English, because English is stupid. Too many exceptions, and reading it doesn't even make sense. :-)) God has allowed me to know what I need to do, and now all I have to do is tell people about what I believe, and bring them to Christ. That's my purpose, and all the rules, regulations, forms, suggestions, and the languages are just means to an end. They're important, but because God has called me here, He will help me to accomplish everything I need to do. I have been showered with blessings and tender mercies, and once I learn to rely on Him more and have faith, I will be able to learn Korean and finally be functional in this marvelous work! So therefore, even though things are really hard out here and I am homesick, I am happy, and peace has been given to me because of my faith in Christ and Heavenly Father.
So, that's how I'm doing. I'll be sure to write down things during the week that happen, so I can tell you about them! I can email for an hour out here, which is nice. I'm not sure which day I'll email again next week, but it'll come. I don't know my mailing address yet either, but I'll figure it out.
How are things going at home? It's not even that cold there, so don't complain. :D I'm really glad that you spent some time with more of my friends, that makes me very happy. I miss Jayson a lot! I'm glad he's writing me soon. It's a sign of how close we were as friends that I told him the jalepeno story, though I'm pretty sure he had to fight to get it out of me. :-) Mom, how's the diabetes going? I pray for you all the time that you'll have strength with the Lord to do it. Austin, how's school? Pretty busy? Just don't kill yourself, remember to live it up while you do what you have to do. Dad, how's the workload coming? I pray that you will have strength too. I'm pretty sure that raising two kids is harder than a mission too, so thank you so much. I'm working hard, any advice you have would be great. I love you all, and I miss you so much every day! (that's the last time I'll say that, so just remember it's true every single day. ) Give Emmy a hug for me. I love you, talk to you next week!
~Matt
 |
| Elder Dean's first companion in Korea, Elder Chwe |
 |
| Yes, we think Matthew is looking a little chubby, too! |
 |
| City street in Il San, Korea |
No comments:
Post a Comment