Monday, August 6, 2012

Week 2 in Korea- Jinhae Area

Hello! ^v^ Again not lots of time to email, but I will tell you about it in this message :]
So today is P-day, but unlike the MTC, it is only from 10:30-6:00, so its a lot busier. I love it here in Korea, its super hot and humid, but its so fun and the work is good, but different from what I expected. We spend very little time knocking on doors (none yet), and a lot of time walking in between appts. The members here are great! They have fed us at least once every day since we've been here, and they are super nice. The food is great, some of the more different stuff was pig intestine soup (not too bad) and a shaved ice kind of thing (super awesome). My trainer is the only Korean trainer, and I am the only American trainee, imagine that! I've gotten good at using the buses and taxis for short distances, but lots of walking. A big focus we have are on recent converts and less active members, and there is much success with that. We have a baptism scheduled for Sept. 2nd, but the only thing in the way is his parent's permission, this is his second baptismal date, but he is very faithful. This week I are teaching English on Saturday, Elder Lee (my comp.) and I teach a Preach My Gospel class on Friday, and the bishop's daughters will be baptized on Thursday! We also organized a youth activity, and we are hoping to bring in many LA/RC's to it. Today we had a zone P-day, where we met in the city of Masan to hang out and just get to know each other better. Here I ran into 2 elders from the older MTC district that left 6 weeks ago, they are doing well. Oh, at church, a couple from Bakersfield visited our ward, the Delgado's, and they should be sending you an email soon. He served in Pusan about 20 years ago he said. And there was also a couple from Sacramento, the Evan's family, who know's some families in El Dorado Hills and the Klingler family (I told them we're dating, Molly ;)). The people here are special, and I love them. Pres. and Sis. Gilbert were right when they said we see miracles in this mission. I've seen hearts changed because of the message we gave them, I've seen faith grow, and the right things have been said at the right time. It will be hard, very very hard, but it will work out, and countless blessings will come to these people as they accept the Gospel. Other than that, all is great. We listen to MoTab(thanks Mom) and EFY(thanks Molly), AIR CONDITIONINGGGGGG!!!!!!! (greatest blessing since toilet paper), and lots of rice and kimchee (김치). We sleep on the floor, on fold up soft mattresses, live in maybe 52 sq ft, and the shower and bathroom are one and the same: the shower head is connected to the faucet, so whenever we shower, everything gets wet. We have an appt tonight at 6, and we still have a bus ride to get back to our area, so that's why the email isn't longer, but I think I will have more time next week! Love you all lots, remember to pray, read, and do both together! Help out the missionaries as often as you can there, the members absolutely make or break missionary work as far as what it could be. Food, referrals, a ride to an appt., or whatever they need; as you help them, your lives will be blessed greatly. Oh, and there were some names of Elders that I met in the MTC, the only one I remember is Elder Irvine, speaking Mandarin going to San Jose. There were many going to both San Jose and Sacramento, but I don't remember the names. love you all!
Elder Christopher Ichiro Honda