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
No comments:
Post a Comment