November 23, 2015 (Week 49)

November 23, 2015

Hows it going?
This week was a pretty quiet week.

Group Pic

Monday we played soccer in Nokbeon for P-Day, with 14 other missionaries. It was pretty fun. Teams of 4, first goal wins.  That got pretty intense, and my feet got wrecked.  I haven't exercised like that in forever.  For sure I'm going to do indoor soccer when I get back. That's probably the funnest sport out there, tied with outdoor soccer, haha (yes, there is a difference!) We did that, shopped, then headed out for the day. I went on splits with Elder Lujan, a greenie.  Greenies are funny. It's kinda fun to say "go talk with that grandpa" and they look at me surprised, then go do it. I can't believe I was like that at one time, haha.  After that, we met Ee Yoon Heng (이윤행)  이 is Lee in English but really pronounced Ee. (fun fact).   We talked about the restoration a little, but he got sidetracked on other stuff in the gospel.  He really likes learning about the church, not sure on the acting on the doctrine part. He's super nice and cool though. I can see him being a good member if he gets baptized.

Tuesday we had a kimchi fest! Us and 40 other missionaries went and made kimchi for a welfare center.  That was pretty fun. Luckily I didn't get judged hardcore again, but the grandmas would call us over then stuff a mouthful of kimchi in us.. man, that stuff is strong when fresh! Super tasty though. Got to say hi to a couple old Gireum buddies, like Elder Saunders. It's always fun to see him again.  He has been in Gireum since I got to K

orea (7 transfers, 9 months)... He is pretty well known in the mission for being there forever haha.  So we did that for a couple hours, ate lunch, then headed off.  We met Kim Dong Ho, our pastor buddy. We went through the Plan of Salvation, then we had English class to end the night.

Wednesday I was with Elder Jung Ui Gun.  He is the happiest, funniest Korean I've ever met.  We had a good time together.  We taught Lee Yoon Heng  again, and got through the whole first lesson. he accepted a soft baptismal commitment!  He is super cool and I really like him.  We also taught Jo Jin Suk.  He is really quiet guy, and the member we teach with and he went a bit off topic. We tried talking about the restoration, then the member went off on the Plan of Salvation, and talking about the DNA similarities of Korea, Japan, and China... members are good, but need to be reigned in a little bit... Jo is nice, but lives out of our mission, so we need to refer him over... bummer.  That night I was the only American, with 3 Koreans, and yet it was one of the funnest nights I've had this transfer.  They were all super funny, although I didn't catch a lot.  I know nothing about music, or movies or stuff like that... kinda keeps you out of the loop... but they helped a lot with my Korean.

Stadium

Thursday we jundoed, then had missionary ward leader meeting, then  jundo... pretty boring day..... not much happened.

Friday I went with Elder Bluhm (pronounced bloom).  We went to the American military base for a dinner invite... so I had chicken haystacks and root beer floats!  That was cool. Their third kid, loves sports... and is named Garrett!  That was pretty trippy.  He would give me play-by-plays for football games, haha.  Really nice family, although there were like10 kids over there... I keep trying to like kids, but they don't help their case, haha. That was a pretty fun night though.

Saturday we studied, ate lunch with a less active, then helped some guy with computer programming. Elder Bluhm loves that stuff, so he wants to help people, and start a computer class for people to come to. Man, I don't understand that stuff at all. Looks kinda cool, like one big puzzle, but I don't understand it at all, haha. Kinda fun to learn a little though.  We did that, then went to a music night, that a different area put on.  That was a fun time, a lot of missionaries there too. I got to say hi to them. They always just brighten my day, seeing old friends again.  Too bad a lot of my buddies are on the coast... but the ones here are cool too.

Sunday was alright. I decided to fast, and it was a great experience. I haven't had a good one in a while, but this really helped me feel peace.  It reminded me of Mosiah 24:14-15.  That was the highlight of my day...

Love you all,

-Elder Mortensen