Transfer 4 Week 4 a.k.a. Christmas

12/23/2012

Hello! Well...there's not much to say, and also...I'll be talking to you all in less than 24 hours soo...yeah. This week was great, we met in Geumjeong as a whole mission to celebrate, but it was a lot of work because we had a presentation to make, and we also sang a Christmas Card for you all, check it out! It was good to see everyone, lots of great friends here, some of the best ever. We have a ward Christmas party...I'm Santa...Ho Ho Ho... We may have a few investigators come...finally! Things are looking better here in Sujeong. It's really cold, -7 today. And really windy, but we wear lots of warm clothes. so its ok. Tomorrow after the call we're going to the mission home for an open house, its our P-day. Koreans don't really celebrate Christmas, I think the biggest thing they do is not go to school. But its ok, we're having fun. Other than that...not much happened. So yeah. That's really all that happened. Love you lots, Merry Christmas!

Love, Elder Honda

We had a most awesome time talking with Elder Honda. We had 3 conversations going on at different times as we were all in different places at different times. But we have been uplifted to hear his voice and know how happy he is! The Mission made a video Christmas Card that I will attempt to attach on here.

http://youtu.be/a_oUgYABMjQ is the link for the video Christmas card.

Transfer 4 Week 3

12/16/2012

Hello! ^v^ Life in the mission is going well. Not a lot of super
eventful stuff happened this week, but the weather changed a lot. The
beginning of the week was freezing, then it got warmer all the way
through till yesterday, and it was beautiful. Its usually between 5-10
deg. C, so high 50's-low 60's. So, the memorable highlight of the week
was on Friday. It was raining, really hard, but not as bad as typhoon
season. It was coming in sidewards. We were walking back from Daeshin,
which was the first branch organized in Korea, and we were waiting to
cross the street. Keep in mind, it was raining really hard, so the
sides of the street were flooded almost above the curbs. I heard a bus
coming, so I looked to see which one it was, and...I saw a wave taller
than me coming from under the wheels of the bus, and...I had my first
surfing experience. I think I got wetter than when I shower in the
mornings. We went to Costco on monday, got some good stuff like
oatmeal and chicken. Still no luck finding people to teach, and we
spend hours every day looking for them. But its ok, because my
companion and I are working really hard together, and we're trying the
best we can. This week we're meeting as a full mission on Thursday for
a special Christmas devotional. Its going to be cool. Speaking of
Christmas, I got the packages in the mail I think on Tuesday or
Wednesday, thanks so much! We're waithing till chrismas. So when you
call next week, I still don't know how you want to divide up the time,
but I only have 1 hour total for everybody, so please have that in
mind while you're calling. I'll check up next week on Monday by email
to make sure there's a plan, and make sure it'll work out. Here's how
to call: Dial the calling card number, and do what it tells you to do.
Then dial 01(international code)+82(country code)+10(cell phone
access)+Again, that's the calling card instructions, then
01+82+10+I cannot and will not pick up unless its Christmas
Day my time, Christmas Eve afternoon your time, sorry, President said
so. The best time to call is between 3PM-5PM On December 24th. We
don't have much of a P-day today because we're meeting as a Zone to
prepare for the devotional, we're making a presentation of the book
"The Giving Tree", then singing The Prayer (yes, like Andrea Bocelli
and Josh Groban do :)), and we need to prepare a lot for it. Other
than that, not much news to report. But...I love you all. Have a great
week, study hard, work hard, play hard, and love. Study the Book of
Mormon. "The crowning characteristic of love is always_________" Elder
Jeffrey R. Holland.
Love, Elder Honda
혼다 장로

Re: Christmas is coming

12/09/2012
Hi Mom :) I don't know what else to tell you about the glasses:
they're glasses. They're plastic-like frames, solid black. They are
more for long distance but sometimes I'm fine without them. I had
headaches, but it wasn't from vision, and I don't know what the
prescription is. Thanks for the packages in advance, they haven't come
yet. I'm in the same place i was last transfer, in Sujeong, which was
the 2nd branch then ward in the Busan area, one of the first in the
country. We're by the ports, our city is called Busanjin, which means
Busan Port. Our house is right by the mountainside, but its realy just
a big hill. Christmas isnt a big deal here at all. I don't even think
some people know what it is. So, for Christmas, it's easier for you
all to call me. don't worry about the number not showing up, we know
what calls to answer or not, lots of practice. so it would work better
if Dad called here after your time. If you want, I can make the plan,
but it's still easier if you two call, because its hard to find a
calling card in this area. on christmas day, i can almost guarantee we
won't have an appointment, nobody here cares about christmas, its a
western holiday. so instead its our P-day, and we'll do our shopping
for the week then. The fast food places are all the same as in
america, but i don't think they take american gift cards, so visa
would be better way. I didn't get to help make kimchi, but they told
me about it, and it sounded like a blast, and stinky. Spiritual
thought for the week: be an example. I tell this to members all the
time. If you aren't constantly every moment striving to be perfect,
you cannot expect anyone else at all to do the same. They told us in
the MTC and in the field that you can't lift people to where you
haven't been. So if you haven't strived to keep all the commandments,
you can't tell anyone to either, regardless of who you are. Its not
easy, but it wasnt meant to be. For us missionaries, we can't teach
each other about love if we haven't been concisously trying to be more
loving. Our tranfer theme is the Character of Christ, which at it's
principle base is about turning outwards. We have a challenge to wake
up at 6 every day, and pray only grateful prayer, and keep that in our
hearts. I challenge you to do something similar. Until Christmas, in
the morning only pray with graditude, and make a concious effort to
ask from God and others less for what you want or need, and instead
focus on what you know other people want and need. It's the perfect
season to do so, and we have a Perfect reminder, who has engraven
every person ever to live on this earth in His hands. Our lives
were'nt meant to be lived for us, for those that seek to save their
lives shall lose it, and those who lose their lives for
others--(Mosiah 2:17) which is in turn for the Lord-- shall find it,
and in it shall find a happiness they didn't know before. Love you
lots, hope to hear from you next week! . Anyways,
love you lots! Have a grteat week!
Love elder Honda

Week 2 Transfer 4

12/09/2012
Hello! This last week was great! We spent a lot of time out on the
streets, and knocked on doors for almost 2 hours last night. It might
not seem much, but it's the most I've done in a long time. Work
otherwise is still really slow, but we're trying hard. It snowed on
Friday, just a little bit, but it was still cool. I'ts cold, and
really windy. The high for today is 4 deg, and a low of -4. We're
planning on going to Costco today. On Saturday, (almost) all the
missionaries in the Busan Zones went to Gwangali Beach to pick up
trash, and it was beautiful, and there wasnt' much trash to pick up,
except for cigarettes. Then we taught 2 English classes, 1 for young
kids, and one for our single adults conversation class. We've been
working really hard in our 'spare' time to clean our apartment, and
its really getting there, I'm sure we're cleaning things that haven't
been touched since the apartment was built. Other than that we've just
been tracting around our area, trying to learn it, and see where
everything is. I love my companion Yoon Bo Sub. He's from Seoul,
speaks really good English, but we speak almost always in 한국말. The
language is getting better, still hard, but I learn well. He's funny,
and we joke a lot, and tell good stories. Other than that, we aren't
up to much else, just working hard. Sorry there's not much else to
report. Oh on Wednesday night we went caroling in Nampo-dong, but we
had to stop because of a freak thunderstorm, so we may do it again
this week. Other than that, there really isn't anything else. Love you
all, work hard, be faithful, and think of someone else at this special
time of year. You'll always be with you, but other people won't. Have
a great week!
Love
Elder Honda

December

Hi Mom :) So today was transfer day, and there's not a lot of time for me to type, but I'll do my best. Got a new companion, he's also Korean (4 for 4), but I already like him a lot, he's very kind and loves the work. His name is Yoon Bo Sup from Seoul. . The mission life is going by too fast. I love it, I hate it some days, but I always end up loving it. I can't tell you or anyone else how I have changed, neither can anyone fully know or understand, but it is in a good way. You'll understand when I come back. Our theme for this transfer is called the Character of Christ, I would challenge you to study it, I'll help you as I learn. I got the Thanksgiving package I think on Thursday, I really appreciate it :) and for preparing them, I really am grateful. I'm losing my ability to communicate in English, so just know that I am grateful. Anyways, I'll leave you with a thought. The missionaries that are leaving testify for their last time on each transfer day, and it's just as uplifting as going to conference, because we truly are apostolic. Almost every missionary, even our senior couple, said that now they are going home, they feel prepared to start the work. I feel the same, I'll be ready when it's time to come, but as soon as I can't be a missionary here, I don't want to be here. I've come to love the people here as children of God, and I don't think it would be right for me to be here if I couldn't teach them, so when it's time to go home, I want to go home, and start the work that I already know is ahead of me. I know what it is, I know that it's God's will because it's what I'm teaching to our members right now, and it's the next step in the plan; yes, it will be hard, trying, among other adjectives, but nothing that was ever worth it was easy. Plus, I served a mission, I can do whatever I need to. God didn't make anyone to fail, nor to do what they wanted to do, but to do His will as they understand it, and to glorify them in Him, for we are made in His image. Please say hi to President Weston for me, tell him I love him too, thanks for the email, and that (of course) I am striving to be perfectly obedient every day. :) And I got an email from Alex, he said he's doing drum major auditions. I think it will be really good for him, I'll write to him and try to teach him the best I can,  Love you lots, keep striving!

Love,

Elder Honda

3 Nephi 5:13 (I have this memorized English and Korean, 

Welcome Back!

11/18/2012
Hi
 This week was better, just trying
to keep going. Anyways, I just wanted to leave a thought
with you. Elder Christofferson had a talk sometime somewhere a while
back, and now it's a Mormon Message. He talks about an old member of
the 12 who used to be in the military. Before a certain tour, he
bought an old farm in Canada? and started to work on it. He severely
down a bush (some kind of fruit? lets call it a berry bush). that was
big, but had no fruit. after he cut it back, it seemed to cry, but he
told it "look, im the gardener here, and i know what i want you to
be". Later he was denied the position of general because he was
Mormon. He was mad at God, and shook his hands at Heaven, saying" How
could you do this to me?" In his mind, he heard "Look, Im the gardener
here, and I know what I want you to be". In short, our will isn't what
matters. It's God's. And He loves us enough to hurt us, to cut us
down, and to help us become who we need to be. Love you lots Mom, hope
to hear from you next week!
Love,
Elder Honda

Transfer 3 Week 5

11/18/2012
Hey! So this week was a little bit better. Monday we had a change of
plans: we were supposed to go to a different area for a Thanksgiving
dinner because the senior missionary couple is from America, but I
guess they had too many people, so another team apparently asked us
not to come...bummer. So instead we stayed at the church and played a
game called Monopoly Deal with our ward clerk. Tuesday, we didn't do
much. On Wednesday, we had our District Meeting and our AP's(
Assistants to the President) also attended the meeting. I taught well
and I was taught well by the rest of the Elders there. Afterwards we
stopped by a hair place for my companion so he could get a treatment
to stop his hair from falling out so much, and the lady that worked
there was really nice. It took a long time though, so we didn't do
much the rest of the day. On Thursday we taught one of our members
Preach My Gospel, because he is planning on serving a mission
relatively soon. Friday-We went back to the hair shop because I guess
the treatment is needed a few times. The lady that worked there bought
us lunch, and said she'd like to learn English from us. Here's the
crazy part: while we were eating, a guy opened the door (an
auto-sliding glass door), and immediately apologized-in English (he
was Korean). So we went back to eating, he says something in Korean,
and then he smashed the door with a crescent wrench (the size that
you'd use to loosen the bolts on the Golden Gate bridge, or beat
someone with). The door was toast. Apparently he was the door guy and
there was a mixup on ordering and payment between him and the hair
lady, and he had been threatening her and her family for a few months,
even though they had been to court and she won. So the police came and
they both went to the station after she finished my companions hair. I
guess it would have been worse for her if we weren't there, so I guess
it's a good thing we went; we were thinking of rescheduling. Don't be
too worried, I had about 4 inches on him (at least). After that, we
went home and baked some cakes for some of our members. Saturday- one
of our members took us out to lunch, kind of an indoor barbeque place
where they stick the hot pot of coals inside a table and lay a grill
on top of it. We helped clean up after a meeting at the church, and
tried to visit some of our members. Yesterday we had a meeting with
our new Ward Mission Leader, and he gave us some things to try to find
people to teach. We visited our Bishop's family too, then went home
and started cleaning a bit. We have an exchange this next week, our
district leader Elder Hoskins is going to work with my companion and
I'm going to Gwangan 광안 with Elder Park Ho Hyoung 박호형 who left the MTC
the same time as I did. This next week is also the last week before
transfer calls come, so a week from this Thursday one of us will
(hopefully) get a call to transfer. We both think it will be my
companion because he only has 4 transfers after this one, and they may
want to make is even for him (2 transfers in each area). Other than
that, just trying to keep plugging along. The language is getting much
better, I can talk with people on the streets and with most of our
members, but older people are still hard to understand because they
use older language sometimes and often also 사트리 saturi, or dialect,
kind of like how there's English, then there's Southern English which
has words of its own. But all will be well. Love you all, hope all is
well at home, remember to study the Book of Mormon, love each other,
and learn true principles and doctrine. Talk to you next week!
Love,
Elder Christopher Honda

Week 4 Transfer 3

11/11/2012
The tranfer's half over, its going fast, just not fast enough. This
week, we didn't do much...again. The best part of the week was
Thursday; we all went to mission headquarters for Zone Conference,
just over 1/2 of our mission was there. We discussed Elder Holland's
and Elder Bednar's talks. All I can say is re-read the talks and look
for the principles. They're true. On Saturday we had a Stake Musical
competition between the ward/branch choirs. the Sujeong ward placed
3rd! So we get new hymnbooks soon! Our song was called 만남, Mannam
(trans. Meeting). One of the judges was a sister from Jinhae, and she
was surprised to see me there, but we talked and it was good to see
her. She is kind of a regional opera star, I think she went to Austria
for a few years to study opera, and she sings amazingly. She did a
demo for everyone before the end of the competition; Carmen, you know,
that music from 'UP', when Mr. Fredricksen is riding down the stairs
in the automated chair; and I think she did it better than that. There
was also a high school senior that attends a high school for talented
students of all sorts; she sang 2 pieces in Italian, and if i hadn't
been watching, I wouldn't know she was Korean, because her
pronunciation was perfect. Other than that...our high school seniors
had their equivalent of the high school exit exam, except theirs is
hard; and all in one 4-hour sitting. So we made
chocolate...somethings, and sweet potato....somethings. Just rubber
ball-sized snacks. THe sweet potato thing was actually pretty good, i
just don't konw what it is with Korea and sweet potatos, they love
them almost as much as kimchi. In other
news, I bought 2 suits for about the price of 1 American suit on
Friday, they're super 모시 (stylish), and I'll have to take then send
pictures soon. This way I'll be able to rotate suits, and they'll all
last for a long time. So...there wasn't anything else that happened
this week. Hope all is well in Rescue, San Jose, Maui, and everywhere
else this will be read. Love you all lots! Remeber to prya, read the
Book of Mormon, and don't quit. I hate quitting, and I strongly
dislike when people quit. Remeber- It came to pass, not to stay.
Love,
Elder Honda

Week 2 Transfer 3

10/28/2012
Hello! Before I say anything else, have you seen The Best 2 Years?
Yeah, here's like that, minus the best part. The area's partly in the
ghetto, and my companion reminds me very strongly of the trainer from
the best 2 years. Not in the good way either. Anyways, to be positive
:) The youth in this area are great; they study all day, every day,
even Saturday...and thats about all I know. We haven't done hardly any
work, which is why this letters quite a bit shorter than usual.
Anyways, the members here for the most part speak a decent amount of
english so they've been helpful for understaning, but i wish they
would just speak in Korean, a little slower, so I could learn that
better too. The area's not too bad, we try and stay away from the
sketchy areas, staying along the main road. The area looks a lot like
SF and NYC; downtown has tons of huge buildings, and there are hills
EVERYWHERE. Its a good workout :) The ward is small, about 30ish
members, even though it is the stake center. supposedly the
missionaries are in the aaronic priesthood presidency, so i should be
expecting that later. My old trainer Elder Lee Saac is my zone leader,
and my district leader is Elder Hoskins from Sandy, UT. It rained a
lot the other day, so we cleaned the apartment a little, because it
needed it...really bad. THe last elders in this area and house were my
companion and an elder that just finished and went home...which might
explain the state of the area, work, and house. I don't want to sound
like I'm complaining, it's just not the way the work is supposed to be
done. Anyways, i'll let you know next week how things get better, love
you all lots! Remember to read the Book of Mormon, pray fervently,
love one another, and hold strong.
Love,
Elder Christopher Ichiro Honda

Transfer 3 Week 1

Wow, I can't believe this tranfer is over! It feels like at Disney,
where you blink and months have passed. Guess what? I transferred! I
already miss Jinhae, but Im sure I'll love my new area. I am in
Sujeong, in the heart of Busan. It's kind of...for lack of other
descriptions, ghetto, but only in comparison to Jinhae. Its not bad,
and I feel comfortable walking around here. Our house is older, but
bigger. Our area is huge, and I guess it takes all day just to visit
1-2 people. There are currently no investigators, but lots of work to
be done in the ward. My new companions name is Lee Hanur. He's from
Seoul and has about 4 transfers left. My old trainer Lee Sac is my
Zone Leader. Elder Hoskins is my District leader. We had a baptism
last week too! Her name is Baek Hahn Byeol, (translation in short:
Star). I got to baptize her, but she started crying for some reason or
got scared and couldn't relax, so it took 3 times and about 5 minutes
for her to be completely immersed. I love her family too, they were
supportive, and her father wants to be baptized even more now. When he
does, they will all be members. When they announced my transfer in
Sacrament, all the Sisters in the ward gasped, it was pretty funny,
kind of like finding out the age change rule in Conference. Today was
a sad day, because at transfer day the missionaries who leave talk for
the last time, and there were a few who I was kind of attatched to,
and next transfer day will be even worse. But, all who left are
excited to use what they learned on their mission, and all testified
of the Savior. And im starting to realize that that is what this work
is about. I feel like every day I learn more and more, but I also
realize that I know less and less. I wonder if i'll ever know enough,
but I'm sure it'll be fine: who the Lord calls, He qualifies. Love you
all, I'm excited to tell you about my area next week when I find out
more about it! Remember to love and serve each other, READ THE BOOK OF
MORMON!, help the missionaries as if they were your own children, and
keep the faith! 화이팅!
Love
Elder Christopher Ichiro Honda

Week 12-Transfer 2 Week 6

Hello! ^v^ I got a haircut by the way today, I'll have to take a picture because I'm never voluntarily getting my hair cut this way ever again...This last week was really busy, but great. For our P-day we went to Jinju, where they had an Obon-style festival going on. got some great pictures that I'll send in the mail soon; Jinju Castle is famous for a battle against the Japanese in the 1800's, and the Korean's won. And yes, many Koreans don't like Japanese still. Good thing I look American ;) We've ran into so many crazy people here, in the way of religion. 2 times now we've spent an hour listening to people scream at us about how we don't understand religion (including our own), and basically told us to stop wasting other peoples time. What's funny is, after we ask them a few short questions, such as why they think we're teaching the Gospel, they get really...quiet. There's just a lack of love when it's their turn to 'preach', and the evidence of our power and authority is made clear as we share our message with the love that theirs lacked; even for me, who speaks so little Korean. We had another training meeting; and the younger missionaries were there too, and I'm surprised at how much I could understand. Ah, when I get back before I go to school, I have to make something for you all called 'pot bing su'. Its like Hawaiian shave ice, but better. Shaved ice, sweet milk, azuki, fresh fruit, sometimes corn flakes, ice cream ,and vanilla syrup. And 'choco bing su', which is the above minus  azuki and fruit plus chocolate cereal and cocolate ice cream. Its really super good. Our 4 14-year old investigators are really hard to meet with now, so we can't teach nearly as often anymore. but I may be transferring next Monday, so you'll know next Monday if I've moved or not! But I am definitely either going next week or next transfer, just because that's what President Gilbert does. General Conference was great; Elder Bednar's words were a lot like the Character of Christ talk he gave last Christmas in the MTC that we watched; and I encourage to read Elder Christofferson's talk from Priesthood, and focus on the word 'equal', as all people should be. It was a really great conference, and I can promise you as an apostolic (with a small 'm') witness of the Savior, that if you follow the counsel given in Conference, the promised blessings will follow. As far as general questions I remember; yes, I've lost a lot of weitht. That picture of me and my old companion and Pres. and Sister Gilbert; the tie is a little short, but my spare tire was poking out a bit...but Ive lots about 20ish pounds; last weight was 179. Thank you kimchee~you thought the cabbage salad blew through me...Anyways, at conference I ran into a girl who teaches English in Masan which is about 30 minutes away. Guess where I know her from? Yeah, Disney. We both worked at the same time, but she did merchandise at many resorts; her name is Cybil Tanner, who also is really good friends with Justin and Jason Ward my old roommates. So Molly, you may have met her at church, once. We have some of the best missionaries ever here; they're really nice, compliment my Korean, and are always encouraging. One of our members got his gallbladder removed last week so we went to see him at the hospital. I love being a missionary. But I have never been this kind of tired; I don't think it's possible to be this tired and still function under normal circumstances. I love Korea, but honestly, once I'm done serving the people here, I don't want stay. There's too much here that pulls away from what we teach, in so many different ways, and I don't think I could keep the momentum going without the authority and purpose that I have gained from this calling. It is a lovely place, with much to see and offer, but...it's spiritually tiring, just as the 3 Nephite disciples mourned over the sins of their people, I do too... I have come to love these people, but there's only so much that I can do, before I, like those disciples, just can't stay anymore, and that time of protection and strength and power is very short, less that 2 years in fact. Anyways, I love you all, and please, hold on to the rod for you life, limit your contact with the world, or in the words of President Monson- "Dare to be a Mormon, dare to stand alone"

Love,

Elder Christopher Ichiro Honda

혼다 장로

Conference Weekend

Hi :)
How was conference? I heard it was great, and all I heard so far was
the change of age for missionaries. Thats going to be a big change! We
will watch conference thisweekend at Masan. Right now we are in Jinju
on a Zone Pday. Im not sure what we have planned, but I've never been
in this area before so I will take lots of pictures!  We got 4 new investigators, all 14 years
old, so its tough getting them to focus for more than 5 min but ive
learned how to love them. I'll
keep working hard, and start working on a longer handwritten letter
that i'll send eventually. Love you lots, hope you have a great week!
Love, Elder Honda

yeah!

Hi again  :) So I again have just a few minutes but I guess I
should say a little bit about Chuseok ( Koreas Thanksgiving), even though there's not that
much different that we did. A member invited us over for lunch and it
was delicious but they ate earlier in the day so it was just my
companion and I eating. I dont know what anything was called, and i
guess neither did my companion, but it was good, a little meat, a good
soup, a lot of fruit, and some different types of dumplings, some like
gyoza others like chashyu. and i did find out about Mollys call :) its
exciting! 
I'll try to start doing better with handwritten letters, we really are
always short on time on P-days, for everything, including writing,
shopping, travelling, and cleaning. I may be able to borrow someone's
card reader here so i can download and send you some pictures in the
next few weeks :) The language is getting better bit by bit, but
everyone talkes so fast, its hard to understand. 
 We had stake conference last month, and yes, it was all in
korean, and i understood maybe 5 words for the entire 2 hours they
speak that fast. we'll watch conference the week after, they translate
it into a DVD and we watch in English, the Koreans in Korean. 
 Elder Robert D. Hales " there is
no failure except in giving up". Keep up the
great work!
Love, Elder Christopher Honda

Hi  :) We had a bit of an emergency with one of the neighboring Elders (he's fine, just going to Army Training) so we had a sudden change of plans. I'm glad that your week went by fast and its ok about he letter :) We do get the Liahona which is all 3 magazines in one, so you don't have to worry about that.I think the picture was at mission ;headquarters in Busan \, but I'm not sure because I can't see it. So far the computers that I have used haven't  let me upload pictures except for the one in Miryang, but I wont be going there soon so when I get the chance i'll send more :) and it would be easier if you just put all the pictures you want to send in a zip file and sent it; to me in an email, because i need permission o go on the internet for anything other than email every time, so that way would just be easier. The Korean thanksgiving is on this next Monday and we are going to Busan as a mission, so we will probably be able to send a short email on Tuesday  It is called 추석 pronounced 'chew-suck' and its supposed to be delicious :)  As for my daily life, I get up and study every morning  1 hour by myself, 1 hour with my companion to practice teaching lessons, 1 hour to practice fundamentals of missionary work, and 1 hour to study the language. after we eat lunch we go to an appointment if we have it, if not we talk to people on the bus or streets to find people to teach, and visit member homes to help them get involved  Every week, we have a district meeting just Jinhae and Miryang, here we set goals, learn from Preach my Gospel together, and many other learning activities. On Thursday we serve at the Senior Welfare Center, helping to teach English and serving food and washing dished. Every Saturday at 6:30 am we play soccer with the young men for about 2 hours,and I've gotten a little better. we also try to organize a youth activity every other week; this last week we played basketball for a few hours after our own English class. On Thursday night we teach 2 young men a my gospel class; 1 got his call to Daejeon, and the other will send in his papers after he finishes military in about 1 year.l normally we email from church computer, but there's usually just 1, and right now I'm mailing from a bus station, so really its just wherever we can find a place that has internet. anyways I gotta go, if you want you can send this one to your blog, because I'm nearly out of time and i still need to write my letter to  president about this week's work. love ;you lots, be safe have fun remember to read the book of Mormon and pray always.

Love lots

 Elder Christopher Ichiro Honda

Transfer 2, Week 2 (week 8)

Hello :)

So today was another typhoon! And it actually felt like one too. It was over by 1:00PM, but not much damage in our area. The work is slowing a little bit, but our weekly activities are still progressing well, such as our 봉사활동 service assignment at the Senior Welfare Center. We meet a lot of really nice people there, and we get to put out the image of the Church to several hundred people every week :) So on Thursday, we got really lucky while visiting our members. We were planning on just visiting our Young Men's President, but they instead invited us over for dinner! Then we were supposed to meet at the Bishop's home just to introduce my new companion, and they ended up inviting us over for dinner too! :D I don't know what anything they fed us is called, but it was all delicious, and both were very unexpected appointments. The next day we had our weekly district meeting, and I got to see one of the Elders from my younger 동이, or MTC class. His name is Elder Dumbrell from Australia, and he is being trained by Elder Chandler who is our new District Leader. It was a great meeting, and I learned something really important there. True doctrine and principles will always be true, but the application will differ over time, circumstance, and situation. One example is the white handbook to which we must be 100% obedient to. We don't use it after our missions in that respect because that is how missionaries know, understand, and apply those true principles, thereby laying claim to the associated blessings. So that's something I'd like to challenge you all to do; learn true principles and learn how to apply them prayerfully, and look beyond your own understanding and wants, and the blessings will come. After our district meeting we went to a place called Han's Deli, which was super delicious, then a place called Can.More, and had a dessert called Choco Bing Su, which is basically shaved ice with chocolate cereals and syrup, milk, ice cream, and bananas :D so in other words, kind of like heaven. To close, our Bishopric is planning an activity in about 7 weeks, and is geared towards missionary work, so as I find more out I'l pass along the details, but its supposed to be great! Love you all, pray always, love one another, read the Book of Mormon, and in the words of Mickey Mouse "See ya real soon!"

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Transfer 2, Week 1 (Week 7)

week of the transfer, we made guesses as to where everyone was going
to go. But, because I'm in training, nobody expected that I would be
transferring. But guess what?!?! I'm not :) My trainer 이삭 장로 (Lee
Saac) is! That's really unusual for a trainer to leave a trainee, but
they needed him to be a new zone leader in a zone they are reopening,
so today we went to Busan (부산) and I picked up my new companion 김인규 장로
(Ingyou Kim[Elder Kim]). He was training another Elder in an area
right next to mine, so I‘ve met him before, and he's super fun. I got
to see off a few Elders that I had met along the last transfer, and
all of the ones that are leaving are great, you can tell that they
worked hard and have become completely different people in many ways.
Oh, and I met Kersey 자매님 finally too. She's way cool, and we tried to
figure out where or if we've ever met before. So, because Elder Kim is
new in the area, that means I get to kind of be senior companion
unofficially for a week or so. Not in a bragging way at all, because
I'm going to have to learn a lot of Korean really fast. But anyways,
all is well here, just really busy, lots to do, lots to plan for, just
like real life! Anyways, I love you all, hope you have a good week,
and I will mail again next week! Remember to read the Book of Mormon
together, pray sincerely, and most importantly love each other!
Love,
EHi Family :) So we had a surprise this week! Because this was the last
lder Christopher Ichiro Honda
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Week 6

Guess what?!? Its the last week of the transfer!!! :D ARggggg! I'll probably be staying in Jinhae to finish training plus 1 more transfer, so I'll proably be here till end of November. THe last transfer has gone so fast, I can't believe ive been in Korea for 1.5 months! The typhoons weren't bad, actually kind of a joke, but I hear it may have been different in other parts of Korea. My companion and I were able to be part of the bishop's daughter's confirmation yesterday, it was great! And during the same meeting, a little 2-3(?) year old girl came up to me and started putting Mickey Mouse stickers on my hand, she's super cute! Today, we went to a cave in 밀양 where there is ice in caves and under rocks, and the air blows through the rocks and makes a really comfortable breeze! This Saturday, we're planning on going on a hike up a mountain range with the Young Men, and we will take an investigator with us, so hopefully I can send more pictures next week. The language is getting a little better every day, even if it's just 2-3 words, it's progress, and I feel more comfortable being in such a different place. And, as you can tell, 아시다시피) my English is getting worse, which is a good sign! We've been working a lot with members and the ward council to find people and get the ward invovled with helping investigators and less active and recent converts make friends and stay involved, and for planning many activities for the next month or so.  We got a service project at a Senior Welfare Center on the other side of Jinhae, serving food and teaching English. It's great, and we're waiting to see how it can help our work too. The English class has become a big part of our Wed and Sat nights. The people who come come prepared, and enjoy learning, and make it very fun to teach. And, as evident by the length of this letter, we've successfully had 6 P-Days in a row as a district/zone, which makes it a lot harder to write emails and letters, but know that I love you all! Its really hard out here, especilally with just feeling like I'm contributing, but I've seen the growth, as have others and they have said. Anyways, I'll write again about this time next week! Remember to say your prayers, read the Book of Mormon, and do the things you should! My prayers for you all!

Love,

Elder Christopher Ichiro Honda

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In Week 5, Look, Pictures!

Hello! ^v^ So last week we went to 외도, or Way Island. The pictures in here aren't from there, but I can put them up next week! The work is still going well, busy, and still hard to speak, but there is a noticeable difference every day in how much I can say, so that is good. Right now we are getting ready for the storm, and it's brewing up well. We were fortunate to be selected for a service assignment at a welfare center, we serve food and clean up a cafeteria area for senior citizens on Thursdays every week now. School just started, and apparentdly many Korean students are in school from 8AM to 9PM, so it is very hard to meet with most of them, and they were our focus because it was easier to meet with them. My mind is blanking....ahhh, I don't know....Ah thats right, yesterday we had Stake Conference, and I couldn't understand a word of what was said. They speak fast and use reallllly big words, but it was good because we got to meet a lot of people, see some old missionaries from other areas, and one of the members from a neighboring area that I met is receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood! Other than taht, just looking for as many people that will listen to us (not very many right now) and tring to learn more about everything thats going on here. (Molly-Oil vial is still good, no leaks :] I would love the soundtrack, and I can listen to it ^v^ and I hope your mouth gets better soon, I pray for you, take pictures of Chipmunk cheeks please ^v^and thanks to the people that all send message, I really appreciate it ^v^ ) If I have time and I remember anything I will try and send another message, love you all, hooe all is well, keep praying, do the thing's youre supposed to , and love each other!

Love lots from

Elder Christopher Ichiro Honda

Week 4-Sorry it's short and late!

Im really sorry this is late and short; we had zone P-day on Monday, and by the time we had finished there was no time to e-mail, but pres. Gilbert was nice enough to let you all know that I'm safe. I'm really sad to hear about Yaya's passing, I will pray for family. It's really rainy here today, worse than Florida was. We've already set time aside next week for more writing letter time; up to 1 hour for email, and maybe 2 for handwritten. It's hard to write long letters because we only have about 8 hours to go shopping, clean, write, and travel to the church so we can email, among all the other activities. Oh and there should be a letter in the mailbox in about 1-3 days for you :) Gotta go, love you all, behave, work hard, and say your prayers!

Love,

Elder Honda

Week 3

Hey Mom :] I have like 2 min so I thought I would say hi ^v^ I feel old as usual, 20 hasn't felt much different ;) P-day is on Monday for me (right now its 4:30 in the PM). Its about 34 degrees Celsius with 100000000000%humidity. Worse than Texas and Florida put together.  :] hope the week goes well!

Love, Elder Honda

Week 2 in 부산, from 밀양

Hi Honda family! 

Once again, I am away from my area for P-day, this time in Millyang because we are visiting the elders there. So much has happened this week! The bishop's daughters were baptized on Thursday, and lo and behold, they asked me to talk about baptism (literally 5 seconds before). Apparently even though I didn't speak fast or amazing sentences, everyone, including the children stopped to listen which was surprising because that was the first time they were attentive that night, and many said that they felt the Spirit. So at least that part of my Korean is well :] The language is still tough, sometimes I feel like from The Other Side of Heaven where he kept saying he was the Lord's outhouse, but I at least I know I'm not saying that. ;) I have been teaching an English class once a week on Saturdays, and soon on Wednesday's as well, and it is very tough to teach English; I've never noticed how hard it is to learn it. But anyways, it is very fun, and we meet many people through the class that we may be able to teach eventually. On Tuesday, we got a new investigator! His name it 천선규, or Chun Seon Gyu (spelling?). He took us to lunch, then we took him to the church and taught him the first lesson. He seems very excited to learn, even though he is active in another small congregation. We haven't been able to meet with him yet, but hopefully we'll be able to soon. Another investigator we have is 김익수 (Kim Iik Su). He is 17, and is almost ready to be baptized, but his parents are super against him being baptized, so all we can really do is hope and keep preparing him. On Thursday we had a zone meeting, so I got to see many other Elders and Sisters again, and met a few new ones too. My companion for the day was Elder Memmott, one of the Zone Leaders. He is super nice, very good at Korean, and feels almost like a brother for the short time that we were together. The meeting was in 마산 (Masan), for 4 hours, and we learned a lot about how to use English class to find and teach people the Gospel, some cool visual lessons, and a message from Gilbert 회장님. On Wednesday the exchange began, and while we were waithing to meet a man named 곽데수(English name: Carter), a woman walked up to us and said she wanted to study the Bible with us. What a surprise! So we explained about our church a little bit, then we met with Carter. We wandered around town a bit, then he took us out for 팥빙수 which is like Korean shaved ice with the an beans on top. Then we got to give him a blessing, and I got to do the anointing in Korean! On Friday, we went to a farm to help out 김귀수 and her family a little bit. She is very old and hard of hearing, but it was very fun to help. We just carried bundles of....something green....I have no idea what it is, but we carried probably 2 dozen bundles from the farm to her home. Her family is less active, but they came to church yesterday! We also taught a Preach My Gospel class to a young man hoping to go on a mission in a year or so, hopefully more will come too. For dinner that night we had 떡고기 which was fire red and hot, but was really good. In it was 만두, like gyoza, 오뎅 which is like kamaboko, and 떡 which is a little like salty mochi and really good, and a family size Baskin Robbins to celebrate a late birthday. Yesterday was really slow, but we got a lot planned for the week to come. How is everything at home? I hope you all aren't working too hard, and that the end of summer is wrapping up well. Work hard in school Alex! The package hasn't come in yet, but I will let you know when it does. I gotta go, my 동반자's turn to email. I love you all, work hard, remember to say your prayers, read the Book of Mormon, and love each other! Love you all, miss you all, and can't wait to hear from you next week!

Love, Elder Christopher Ichiro Honda

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