June 24, 2012

Hey everybody, 

So, I'll tell you the story of my life last Monday night Korea time. We finished our P-day of eating pancakes and writing letters with other missionaries, and then went out to proselyte. We knocked on doors basically the whole night, which in Korea is not the most productive thing to do, but we had no appointments and it's better than wandering around. We didn't end up getting anywhere with door knocking, but we did have a 20-minute conversation with a guy that runs a Family Mart on the corner over there. (when I say conversation I mean that the guy stood there and talked to me about everything from Korean school system to economics. I hardly got a word in edgewise, but he was nice:D) Throughout the whole day I was getting progressively more excited. I might have said this before, but transfer call night is one of my favorite things ever! you go through the p-day wondering, "Will I get transferred? Will I stay? What will happen to my companion???" Then 9:00 comes, and both you and your companion know that you won't put tons of energy into planning tonight but you'll try anyway because it's the right thing to do. Me and Elder Larson finished at 9:20. Then...the wait. This is the best part of transfer call night. I sit there and my hands start shaking, and the butterflies start flying around in my stomach, and I watch the clock, and just sit there getting really excited. It's the best. :D So anyway, Elder Larson had told the assistants to the president to call us first if we were staying, because he's friends with one of them. 9:30 came....and went. Aaah! We were like, "Maybe they forgot." We were both figuring we'd stay so I can "kill" him next transfer. 9"40....9:50.... By this time we were freaking out! We played a game of Egyptian Rat Screw to kill time (which I won, haha!). Then finally at like 10:15, the call came....and it was President Lee. "Dean changno! (that's Elder in Korean) You will go to Sindang. Your companion will be Elder Jeong Hoyong." I couldn't believe it. I only got to Gangneung like 12 weeks before and everything was stacked for me to stay there and have the best last transfer for Elder Larson, but.... I got transferred. Wow. That took forever to type.

I find it funny that the romanization of 신당 turns out to be a word made up of "sin" and "dang." :D It's actually pronounced "sheen-long." Languages are never ever translated perfectly unless they are Spanish and English. This area is literally in the heart of Seoul. It's district name means "center district." It's pretty near the old downtown of Gwangwhamun, and it's definitely the most metro place I've been in so far (which, with only four areas, is not saying much). comparing it to Gangneung is like comparing night to day almost. The ward has like a hundred people. My companion is Korean obviously, and we were in the MTC together. So needless to say we are tearing it up right now! It was hard to adjust again so soon after I transferred last time; it's been really weird but really fun. I'm sad that I don't get to see Elder Larson off, and that I had to leave Gangneung, but there are so many great things about this place. The ward has fed us like three times since Wednesday, which is remarkable considering that they all knew that the missionary I replaced would be going home. last transfer was his last. And even though that missionary that they knew so well is gone, they were still willing to invite us over for meals. This is one of the strongest wards in the mission, and I'm really happy to be here. Actually the headquarters of the Church in Korea is the second and third floors of our church building, which is pretty cool. They have a lot of translators for the church that work here. Our missionary apartment is super nice too. So all in all I think it is a good change; the one thing I don't like is that the people in Seoul are definitely not as nice on the street as the people in Gangneung. They're all super-busy and they've been attacked by other churches' missionaries before; sometimes those missionaries can be pretty vicious. But I've talked to some super nice people so far. There's definitely tons more people here.

My new comp is so funny. He speaks pretty good English, and he knows funny words like "goober" and "lerpy" from serving around Americans for his whole mission. He's a really hard worker, and I'm glad to be here working with him. He's from down south in Korea, but not that far south. We have a fun time; he's one of the funniest people I've ever served with. Hopefully it rubs off on me. :D

We spend a lot of time with the youth of this ward. We figure that they are the ones that can benefit most from our strength and who can refer the most out of their friends. There's one named Hyeonchang who is so funny. he's like 13, and he's super chubby and just a funny kid. He was baptized a couple years ago, and still comes to church even though his friend who introduced him to it doesn't come anymore. We play basketball a lot with him and a couple other youth. We call him King Kong, which he hates, and one time I said it and he started punching me and accidentally got me below the belt, so I was out for a couple minutes. He felt really bad. :D We're constantly working to keep them coming out. I had a swordfight with another of the youth--I used a baseball bat and he used a mop. He cut off my leg first,and then I got his arm, and after a couple minutes of fierce battle I finally ended up getting cut in half across the chest. It was super fun. :D 

I have more I could tell about but not tons of time. I'll be sure to put more info about the new ward in next week's email. Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Matt Dean

June 17, 2012

Hey all,

So I spent most of the time that I have to email today writing a letter to my Dad for Fathers' Day and another one to my Mom for Mothers' Day, since I'm such a devoted son that I waited a month to write to her. :D So, this email won't be that long. Luckily not much happened this week. We picked up a really cool new investigator named Lee Hae Min; she's 17 and is really good at English considering she's only studied in Korea, and she seems to have some church interest too. I'll keep you posted on her. Also transfer calls are tonight, but it's looking like both me and Elder Larson will stay for another six weeks. I'll let you know about that one too. Anyway, time's just about up, so I hope you all have a good week!

If you look really closely, you'll see a Lego Chewbacca in the upper left hand corner of his sign - funny!

Elder Matt Dean

June 10, 2012

Hey everybody,

So this week I'm doing some computer work to transfer files onto a memory card to send to my parents, so this email might not be very long. Sorry in advance. :D

Last week was pretty crazy. On Monday we went to another area called Wonju for a baptismal interview and then slept the night there, because we had to go to Seoul the next day and Wonju is on the way. That day was pday, so we emailed and shopped and then I worked out with another elder named Elder Rife. He is ridiculously big and strong, but it was cool because he was patient with me and didn't make fun of me because I can only lift a third of the weight that he can. When he had all his weight on the bar was bending slightly. :D I always thought weightlifting would be pretty boring, but it's actually really fun. It's a good stress reliever too--like Elder Rife said, "you can't think about anything else with 200 pounds over your head." (I only lifted 120 pounds^^)

Then on Tuesday we went into Seoul for our Zone Leader Council, the last one with President Lee Yong Hwan before he goes home. That was pretty sad, we will miss him a lot. He leaves on the 30th and President Christiansen comes in the same day. I heard they aren't allowed to talk at all, which is interesting.

Thursday was pretty crazy. We went to a youth activity with our branch, and they originally planned to go fishing, but nothing was prepared so we just played basketball instead. That was fun. Then we went home to clean up, and as Elder Larson was making rice the sink exploded! Water was shooting in a jet horizontally out of the wall, and getting everywhere. I stood blocking the jet with my hand while he looked for the water shutoff, but stupidly it was not under the sink. I found the piece that blew out and tried to screw it back in, but it didn't work and just sprayed more water everywhere. Finally Elder Larson went next door to the neighboring apartment and asked, and it turns out it was in a panel in our bathroom. That is a dumb place to put a water shutoff; they should at least have an individual one for the sink. I got soaking wet, but it was kind of nice because it was hot that day. :D A piece had just slowly come unscrewed, and it happened to pop off while we were there, which was definitely a blessing. If we had been out when that happened it would have been bad.

Yesterday we met with two people who were not Korean, a Chinese kid named Lee Seong Mun and a guy from Pakistan named Shafqut Ullah. It was interesting to teach them because we could barely communicate with Lee Seong Mun, but he was so sincere, and we gave him the Book of Mormon and a pamphlet in Chinese, and he said he would read them. Also we talked with Shafqut for a while, and it was really interesting to learn about Pakistan from the point of view of somebody who came from there, and also from someone who isn't Christian or Buddhist, the two dominant religions of Korea. I feel like it widened my horizons a little bit. He said he wants to have a barbeque with us, so if that ever happens I'll let you know. :D

That's about all. Hope you all have a good week!

Elder Matt Dean

June 3, 2012

Hey all,

So this has been a crazy week! We ended up going to Seoul twice, once for a conference and once because me and Elder Larson have to go to Zone Leader Council. And then on the weekend we had our Branch Conference/ 30 year anniversary of the missionaries entering Gangneung Party. So from the morning on Saturday to the evening we were cleaning or practicing the chior number or listening to talks; we didn't proselyte at all on Saturday. :D Definitely not a normal week at all.

Funny moment: We were visiting an old, old member of our ward who is about to pass on, and he said he needed adult diapers that day. So we went to the nearest store that would have them and ended up having to ask somebody. That was pretty embarrassing, but it was worse when she told us they didn't have them, so we trundled on over to Emart on our bikes and had to carry a package of Depends through throngs of people (Emart is a multi-story shopping center, like Walmart on steriods).

They all probably think the missionaries in Gangneung are incontinent.

:D hen I had to ride on my bike on a road between rice fields with the sun glinting off the water, illuminating the bag of adult diapers I was holding in the air. If you had shown me a list of things I thought I would do on my mission before I left, that wouldn't have been one I would have checked off. :D

Also on Monday we were waiting for some high school kids to show up so we could play basketball with them, and these four girls that were like 11 walked by on the street. They ran over and were like "We want to play too!" So we started "playing" with them, which really just consisted of them throwing the ball up in the general direction of the hoop. Then more kids walked by, and more, and soon we were in the midst of like 20 little kids, and we realized they were from the orphanage next to the church. :D We played with them for probably 20 minutes, and it was madness. There was one little girl that would scream for me to pass the ball, and then she would tuck it under and just run, not even dribbling. half the time she would just end up giving it back. :D Elder Larson said that at one point I had got the ball and was holding it straight up high in the air, and there were about 50 little hands reaching up all around me. It was so fun! Then later the kids came and it was real basketball, which I'm not good at, so it was not so fun. :D

Thse pictures I sent were from me going to the beach the first time and from our baptism. That's probably 2/3 of the branch here. I would send more today but the computer is being dumb and I don't have lots of time. Instead I'll send a memory card home soon, and my parents can upload some onto my blog for all y'all.

On the way home from Seoul on the bus, I had a cool realization. If you look hard enough, you can find the answer to almost any question in the scriprtures! How to be a good son, how to have fire for missionary work, how to lead by example, becoming more like the Savior, being a good brother or father, focusing on the work, more love for fellow man, balancing spiritual life with temporal, self-improvment, more self-confidence, raising children, everything!

It's really cool. I love the scriptures and how they help us out if we approach it with an open mind and some effort. I knew with my head that they had all the answers before, but I felt it for the first time on the bus that day. I heard a Korean proverb that said, "The longest journey in the world is from the head to the heart, and then the heart to the feet." Very deep, huh?

Well, that's about all. :D I love you all, and I want to send a shoutout to my brother Austin who just graduated high school. Hope you have a good week!

Elder Matt Dean



Elder Dean at the beach on P-Day (they didn't go swimming).



Elder Larson, Hwang Gi Seok, and Elder Dean on Hwang Gi Seok's baptism day.



Members of the branch Elder Dean and Elder Larson are currently serving in - they are standing on the back row.



May 28, 2012

Dear Everyone,

This week has been pretty fun. We had a sports conference with threee other branches yesterday because everyone had a day off for Buddha's Birthday, and it was so fun! There was soccer, a korean sport called chokku that is like tennis with a soccer ball and no hands or racquets, running, and basketball, and it was awesome. I played as goalie for our soccer team, and I actually did pretty good! It's a good thing the ball was not a real soccer ball, because real ones are heavier and harder to catch/deflect. But I still felt like a boss because I saved 4 goals or so. Our recent convert, Hwang Gi Seok, got a ride with us and the branch president, and they talked a lot more than we expected and even hoped, so that was pretty good too.

I forgot to tell you about this, but a couple weeks ago I was riding behind Elder Larson on our bikes, and instantly he just flew over the handlebars. He literally ended up under his bike on the ground in a split second. I went over there and made sure he was ok, but it was really hard not to laugh. I figured it wasn't the best time. It just happened so fast. We realized it was because he had had an umbrella hanging on his handle bars, and when he turned or something it swung into the spokes of his front wheel and caught on the fork of the bike. He said that the only thing that was going through his mind was,"whoa, this is a weird feeling...WHAM!" If anyone has seen Napoleon Dynamite, it felt to me exactly as that scene where Pedro jumps his bike off the wood ramp, and then Napoleon goes and destroys himself because the bike wheel goes through the ramp. Elder Larson had some nasty bruises, but because he was wearing a helmet and because God was watching out for him he turned out to be ok.

We had a hard day last week when one investigator dropped us and another appointment canceled, and then we went out to street contact that night and we just got nothing. Then at 8 45, on the way home, we talked to two students in a row that were really cool and got both their numbers. On the bus home from somewhere earlier that day I had thought, "Man, I just want to see a miracle today," and we ended up seeing one. It built my testimony that if we just work through the hard times, at the end the Lord will always be with us.

We are getting  a new mission president soon. President Lee Yong Hwan will go home at the end of next month, and President Christiansen will come. There may be a lot of changes going on, which will be really interesting (at least for me :D ) so I'll let you know things as I find them out.

Well, that's about all for now. :D Love you all, have a good week!

Elder Matt Dean

May 20, 2012

Annyeong, everybody!

So, this week was filled with some of the worst things that have happened to me so far on my mission and some of the best things. Kind of a weird week; I don't really know what to think yet. I'll get the worst stuff out of the way, I guess: We have been teaching a man named Hong Chun Ho, who is 29 international age. We met him going door to door about 7 weeks ago, or a little more, and we found out that he had met the missionaries the same way last year too. He lives with his parents because he has a slight mental handicap.. Actually we never figured out what is was; he talked really slow and was extremely awkward with everybody, and it just always felt like he wasn't all there, maybe just 90%. But he was our friend. The branch president said he could get baptized in a year if he made progress over that time; we thought that was pretty reasonable based on how we felt around Hong Chun Ho. The branch has had some problems in the past with mentally handicapped people, so they are really careful about them now. Anyway, we figured we'd get Hong Chun Ho started on the path to baptism, and help him get some peace because he also had depression a little bit. When I was around him, I always felt so good. He is one of the few people I have known in my life that I can say really had a heart of gold. He would never hurt anybody, and I could see and feel a lot of light and good in him. He was one of those people that easily fade to the background of a social gathering, but they are so kind and so good. I can't say enough about how good he was. Well, last Sunday, he showed up to church with these really bad burns on his hands. They were circular and looked infected; I asked him what had happened, and he said that it was a "bad joke." So I asked who did it, and he said, "Me." He had taken his cigarrettes and burned his hands, similar to people cutting themselves. We took him downstairs and got him a little bandaged up, and told him to go to the hospital, because I was worried it would end in a massive bacterial infection. He did, and we met him the following Thursday. His wounds looked a little better then. His mom was there, and she said his health wasn't good and that it might be better if we didn't come anymore, but he stood up for us and said he likes us and the church, and then invited her to go to church in a couple days with him. You see how good he was. She conceded and let us stay and talk with him. The lesson went well, and we said we'd see him at church on Sunday. Well, he didn't come. He didn't answer our text messages either. And then when we were visiting a really, really old member of the branch, we got a call from his phone. It was his mom, and as she cried a little she told us that he died on Saturday. I couldn't believe it. They had the funeral on Sunday, so we couldn't even go.

This is the first time anybody I've known really well has died. It was really hard yesterday. It was hard to believe that he could just be gone like that out of my life, just instantly. We don't know whether it was suicide or if it was his health problems (he'd been going to the hospital biweekly when we first met him). We didn't want to pry. I'm just so sad when I think about it. But I know that I will see him again. I keep hoping that for some crazy reason his mom lied to us because she didn't want us visiting him anymore, and that we'll see him on the street like we sometimes do. But even if we don't, I know that he will have the chance to accept the gospel in the spirit world, and I will see him again in the Celestial Kingdom. That's my dream. And I'll continue to honor his memory by reaching out to all the people in the background, all the quiet hearts, the people who need a friend because the world doesn't care about them. And for anyone who reads this, please, please do all you can with the time you have with the people you love. You never know when something could happen. Obviously I hope and pray that that never happens to anybody; I hope that you can pray once for my friend, Hong Chun Ho.

Sorry for the downer, but that's what's up with my life right now. :D I'm doing ok with everything, considering. But now for the good stuff. We had Hwang Gi Seok get confirmed on Sunday, and he's doing so good. It's a little nerve-wracking, having the baptism and confirmation spaced out over a week, but he made it, and now he's got the Holy Ghost. I'm so happy about that. That's about the best thing that can happen on your mission--helping someone get to the waters of baptism and get the Holy Ghost.

I had probably one of the best lessons of my mission this week too. We picked up two high schoolers, and we played basketball with them on Saturday. They are so solid! Some people meet us, and they obviously dont have church interest. But these two like hanging out with us, and they have a lot of interest in the church too. When we were done playing basketball, we sat down with some Gatorade and just talked, and it flowed really naturally into the lesson. They listened really well, and they agreed to read the book of Mormon and pray about it. And then it just ended really naturally too. I just felt so good as we were talking; the Spirit was really strong. As we taught, I thought, "yes. This is what I came on my mission to do." It was one of the best times of my life so far sitting alone with them on the ground at that basketball court in Jumunjin, a shigol-ish place (country) with a really peaceful atmosphere. Not even exaggerating there.

So, those are the highlights of the week. If I had two hours I could explain all that happened, all the miracles, but I don't have the time. But what I do have is an amazing family. Thank you all so much for being there for me, and for the great influence you've had on my life. I love you all so much, and I can't wait to see you again. have a good week!

Elder Matt Dean

May 13, 2012

Hey everybody,

So it turns out that I'm still in Gangneung! I'm really glad that I stayed here, and with Elder Larson still too. We are having a great time, because Hwang Gi Seok got baptized yesterday! Woo! He quit smoking cold turkey, and it's going really well now. He will get confirmed on Sunday. I think the coolest moment of it all was when I was standing with him before the baptism while the branch was taking pictures. I asked him if he was excited, and he said yes, and then something to the effect of "I feel really good. I feel warm inside." That was really powerful to me, because the day had been pretty stressful with all these ward members running around being stressed about this or that. Even among all the bustle, he felt the Spirit. That was really cool to me.

Our branch is so funny. At our ward choir practice, I sit next to this 15 year old kid who's a bit of a punk. At least, he was when I first got here. He started talking in awful English in a funny voice when he's around us, and now we are friends. He's so hilarious! He says stuff like "I will bring police to you if you take a my picture," "It is time for me to eat food," "Fantastic baby!" "We are ferfect! Two hundred fercent ferfect!" and "We are perfect, but piano is not perfect" (as his mom is playing the piano). I love being around him, and he's changed a little bit recently. Now he prepares the sacrament by himself, without being forced to, and he behaves a little better. I just have to watch out and make sure that I behave like a missionary and don't sink to his level of ridiculousness, because it's not hard. :D

One thing I learned this week was that a solid family is worth everything in the world. I've seen so many people here that don't have solid families for one reason or another, and I'm so glad that I do.  It really affects almost everything about your life, and I'm so blessed that my family has good values and gave me such a good life. I would not be who I am without all of you, my amazing family, to help me along the way. Thanks to all of you on this Mother's Day.

The food of the week is fruit for dessert. At almost every dinner at a Korean house, they serve asian pear, oranges, or apples, or a combination of the three. Sometimes you get pineapple or kiwi too. I love fruit, and I think it makes an excellent dessert. It's way better for you than cake and ice cream too. :D Hope you all have a good week!

Elder Matt Dean