Shred Real

11/5

We had a good day today. We went to the temple in the morning.  It was good and peaceful and always serves as a good reminder of what the real goal is and what the real perspective is.  We taught Bro Park again and he is just the coolest.  We finished all the lessons. He had us over for dinner and we met his mom (86, and more flexible than me) and  ate some chicken nuggets. :) We then made a new English flyer.

11/12
It's been few days. it's a little crazier living in a four man house. Elder S. and F. just moved in with us. It's super fun.  They are both hard working and obedient, so they'll fit in good here. We're stoked to have 'em.  We had a super hilarious experience on Sunday I have yet to related. we just got back from a great dinner appointment with an awesome sister with our investigator. It went well and while we were walking back I had to pee super bad. our investigator wanted to come home with us which is totally not ok, but eventually i just told him I had to use the bathroom super bad, and he said in English, "Oh, me too!"  and ran across the street's crosswalk on a red light. We followed him and we thought he was going to a public bathroom. So we followed his very hilarious "awkward Korean run" as he proceeded to run into a park and pee all over one of the trees in the corner. That's pretty normal and OK in Korea, but Elder Saxton though it was the funniest thing he had ever seen in his entire life. He has this whooping [indecipherable] grandpa laugh and he did it for about 10 minutes. It was pretty ruckin'. Also Sunday we had two awesome lessons in priesthood and Sunday school. I'm starting to be able to understand so I get to particiape in the lessons and learn well. It's way cool! Now that church in Korean is a good source of strenght for me, I can better preach its blessings. We also had a  big music activity in our our ward on Sunday. There was a [indecipherable] tenor and some cool [beathoring?] and the raddest piano you've ever seen. So dope. Anyway, live real. This life is the time to Go. Love and serve God and the experiences that flow will amaze you.

11/13
Good zone training today. We focused on church attendance. i really feel like I need to be more obedient and just use time more effectively. It was really good. i realized that I'm an old missionary for our mission. Our whole Zone or 80% is younger than me in mission age. It's going fast. Use your time well! We only have so much of it!

11/14
We helped Bro P move today. It was super fun. we moved a fridge down 3 sets of stairs. Or maybe 4... It was crazy. His fam is having a bit of a hard time right now so we were stoked to get tp help. His wife and son are SOOOOOO nice. She's an interior designer so they buy torn up houses, make them beautiful, then leave. It's pretty cool! It was way fun to move someone too... I will fit right in in your average Elder's Quorum. He (Bro P) served a mission in Busan so he learned super good english. It kinda freaks me out when ye says, "Yo" on the phone. We set a couple of street appts too.  Elder Saxton spontaneously did the dishes. What a saint. I'm at this weird point where I feel like I'm suddenly in charge and responsible and that's how people look at me. It's super weird... I'm the kid who doinks around in drumline... Maybe it's time to grow up a little.  Stay illy McCuilly. :)

11/20

Sooooooorrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy. It's crazy livin in here! I just got back from exercising with Elder X who goes home this transfer. we learned a ton from each other so it was good to serve with him one more time. I don't know if I can go home. It would be too hard. i live in a different world. Elder S. (7 weeks) and Elder F. (1 week) are on exchanges tomorrow! It's gonna be fun. Live real.

11/23

I give up. Life is too crazy to keep a journal this consistently.  Anyway we have had a killer last coule days. On Wednesday and Thursday Bro. P got interviewed for baptism and we spent a frantic couple of days calling people to try to get them to come, but nobody showed up. It was six missionaries and Sister O and Bro. P. We started and then a sister slipped in the back, then as we went to the font there was President Christensen and Sister Christensen and the Bishop and a couple other brothers and sisters and it was awesome! I had the privilege of baptising him, twice, and the bishop welcomed him to the ward. Then he bore a powerful testimony. It was truly amazing. The sisters sang "I like to look for rainbows" and I just sat there and thought of primary, of Mom being the primary president in Costa Rica, bravely forging on. Of all the crazy things I've seen family and friends do for the Church, and how much of  a sacrifice it has been. I thought of the ten months behind me, of struggling to learn Korean, of forcing myself to exercise or to go outside and work when it was hot. Of hard study of the gospel and also of D&C 18. Brother P is ready. he is now clean and has begun his journey to eternal salvation. And if God can work that beautiful work through an imperfect Washington ski bum, he can work it through you as well. So pray and strive for it. As Alma says, "Now is the day and time of your salvation (Alma 34:1). As we live our lives, we aren't just ourselves. We can be conduits through which the power of God is shown unto men.  What a privilege.  My joy and my heart are full. A man I love now will be able to rest forever with his Father in Heaven.

11/23

Wow, what a couple of killer days. Sister S got baptized and Bro P also was baptized.  I've been out for over 10 months. Now good things are in store for those who wait, I guess.  We're all just sitting in our room chatting up the day. So life is great and happy. Live it up.

11/24

Bro P and Sister S got confirmed today. He felt the spirit strongly and so did she.  It was really powerful. He said to me, "I feel good."  It was amazing. I really love him and to see him start his journey is truly amazing.  What a life I live.

11/27

Time flies when you're having fun. So does bad journal keeping! We had district meeting today. Beforehand it was a lot of fun and we learned a lot of good stuff.  We talked about how to help members fulfill their rules and be nice about it. So we talked about bringing out people's desire and then asking them to act on it. it was super sweet practice. So rad! Then there's no pressure, only sweet working together. Shred real.

11/28
I'm trying to work hard and write in my journal. I went on exchange with Elder F., it was really fun. We walked a lot and it was really cold. But it was so fun! We visited some of the awesome relief society greats of our ward. [Name in Korean] is the best! She always helps us out, it's so awesome!

11/29

We had another killer day. We went ot the military branch for Thanksgiving.  It was so weird. It scared me so bad to be back in American culture. I don't think I can go home. The culture shock will kill me. Elder L (from Cali) and I were both actually afraid. It was so intense. I'm a confucionist now. Elder Lee and I made plans to live at BYU and sleep on the floor and live super cheap and clean, Korean style. Stoke.  I'm working hard to work harder!

11/30

We had a fun day. It was a good day running around trying to meet appts. It was pretty wild. We met good people and a family that we're going to start teaching next week. They ahve these kids that want us to teach them how to skate. After we got over the green tea incident. It's gonna be good. I struggle daily for more desire and more [comf?] Pray for me and for the Y family!

If you don't want to be an apostate sheep...

8/26

We had a great bike ride with the district today. I love being on a bike. I feel empowered. Such a cool feeling. just flying I feel like a little kid again. Super fu. We got our weekly ration of 30 popsicles and everything else we needed (including veggies) and had a good P-day. We also had a crazy half hour witha  guy who told us his religion combining all the Gods so everything is in harmony. I kinda made me think for a sec why the gospel does require fighting and hardships and isn't totally harmonious on this earth. It's tough for some people. But I though on how Christ said he came to "set a man at variance with his father (Matt 10:34-36).  We're here to see if w e can make it through the hardships. is our faith sufficient? Willw e make it with what we've had? DId we prepare well during the easy times? As Alma says, "Now is the day and time of our salvation>" This is the time to choose and as Geddy Lee says, "if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice."  CHOOSE. It's time. Apathy is no good. We need to be an active member or [can't make this out] and as for me I will choose the Lord.

8/27

we had a pretty crazy day today. We started with 3 appointments and so had a busy time preparing. i take a brief humor sojourn to say that Elder Van recently bought a note pad containing such phrases as "Hey Ruler Boy! and "Hey Ball Pen Girl!" as well as the timeless classic, "I feel like smile. Some snacks!" So yeah. English is super awesome here. Ok, so we meet this cool old investigator and talked about obedience and the ability to keep God's commandments. Then we had a guy call us and tell us he needed to talk to us immediately. We met with him and he told us he's been praying for 3 years to receive an answer. We met him and he told us he wants to know what the truth is and if there is happiness in religion. He talked about Enduring to the End and how hard it was. We are meeting him again tomorrow. It raised some good questions in me. Discipleship is sometimes painful. Enduring is hard. . But I find it joyous and [?] knowing I've found truth. So hopefully we can communicate that thought. We are praying for him. Then we got crazy haircuts during dinner time. Mine's nuts. Then we met this lady we've been trying to meet for a while. She doesn't want to tear apart her family so she doesn't have interest. Sad. Understandable but Matt 10:34-36. The time to choose is now!

8/28

We had a good one today. As always we started with a district meeting which was super cool. We learned tons and Elder Rhodes trained in a regal manner.  And we learned about how to keep up our power.  It was really a powerful meeting. The district is really having some good success. We have a baptism next week, in another area. Super cool And everyone is working super hard. We met Bro Lee again and he might be a little nutty.  We are trying to help him as much as we can, but he might be beyond our control. Pray. Also we had a good English class. And we met Evan Lee. Super dope! Love you!

8/29

Had another fun one today. We made tons of phone calls and contacted a bunch of people. We also met with Bro Lee again and taught lesson 3 about Baptism. He really didn't like it and said it's too scary to get baptized. He is hard to teach. We are working super hard with him and hope to get him to church. We shall see tomorrow. We had a couple of really good contacts and gave away 4 Books of Mormon. The power of the book of Mormon is amazing. We watched Elder Holland's testimony [something] and it's so intense. The Book for Mormon is the hinge of everything.It all hinges on 532 pages. What a Book. i know it's true and I have come to that witness through the Spirit of God. It has been a rock for me during hard times, and 1 Nephi 3:7 has set the tone for my whole life. I actually do get excited to go out and share it with people. What a Book! Give it a read! I love you and miss you. But I only have one and a half more years to spread the joy of the Book of Mormon. Stay happy Don't forget to read.

PS We've been listening to 1971 conference talks. I have a lot of music to delete… Ezra Taft Benson's decry of rock is intense.

8/30

we had a pretty frustrating day today. We taught Bor Lee again and I don't know how much longer we can teach him. He's not keeping commitments. We'll see him on Sunday… Then these people came to deliver our new phone, took our old one, left for 4 hours, and came back with the same phone having erased all our contacts. Infuriating. We couldn't work because they had our phone, so we just read scriptures and made cards for people. But I;m still mad. And he wasn't the least bit sorry. I feel lazy and mad. Bad feeling. Dang it. i guess some days are like that.

8/31 7:53 am

I had an interesting dream. i dreamed I had just woken up from getting home to America after I was done with my mission. i was still set apart and only had a few hours before I was released. I needed to proselyte! I tied to get Alex to come but he wouldn't (Sorry Al…) So I grabbed Tim and Nigel and we put on shirts and ties and went out to work. The whole time before we were outside I felt anxious and unfulfilled. As soon as we got outside and started talking to a guy I felt fulfilled and peaceful and knew I was going to be all right. Kind of interesting.

8/31 10:08 pm

we had a crazy day today. We've been trying really hard to get a baptismal date but it's been really hard. We've taught Bro Lee 5 times this last week. We've challenged him in every way we could think of. It's rough. I teach clearly and simply I think and I try to feel the spirit for without it I can do nothing. We bear strong testimony. I don't feel forsaken but I want to called own a miracle for this man. He needs it. Also we visited this lady in our ward who feeds us so much we can barely walk. We tried to stop by and give her kiwis but she made us come in and fed us. She's too good. What love. I'll remember her forever.

9/1

Ahhhh.  Just fried some hash browns and I am eating them as I write this. This super awesome lady (Sister Oh) in our ward gave them to us. Also this giant thing of meat. She's the best. Also I had a really humbling experience today. We had a good church, and today was fast sunday. We study right after church so we are pretty hungry during study. we went to eat that awesome meat but E. Van had put it in the freezer. So I was a tad peeved then we started cooking rice and stuff just started to bug me. So I went into the other room and sat there and just thought. Then Elder Van came in and set a bowl of fried rice down and walked away. It was super good. i prayed and walked away and felt OK. I realized that it was just myself and my pride that made me mad. E. Van was just trying to serve me. So it was good. Then we met a bunch of cool people. Lots of them going to church, but what better time to hear the restored gospel :)  So we gave out all our BoM's except 1 and had a great talk with people. Super awesome. It was great. Stay happy. life is good with the Gospel.

9/3

I feel bad because I forgot to write last night. We had a super fun hike with a potential investigator but unfortunately Elder Van got [something which I hope is not a misspelling of Giardia] and spent the day sleeping til 4 while I worked on records. Also our investigator, Bro Kim, dropped us last night. It was a huge let down for me. He's been making good progress and he just stopped. It was tough for me. I'm still trying to figure things out. I guess it's not us. I'm still happy though! I got a ton of good organization done today and then we had a good dinner/ping pong/lesson with Bro Park and Bro Kwak. Super good. We invited him to church and he said he'll think about it. Also Bro Park beat me twice in ping pong, which is a bummer because I usually kill him (he's 20).  I've gotten pretty good at ping pong here. Watch out 50 dollar challenge, here I come. Also it's time for a new planner! Which means a hilarious new planner cover. i'm stoked. We make those covers so our planners last longer and then laminate them. Korea is so crafty. Zone training tomorrow hope for some letters. Also I had an awesome study of the BoM this morning. So good!

9/4

Hey, so we're moving to our new house and while I'll try not to miss a day, it's pretty busy. We had a great Zone meeting today on the teaching method. I learned a lot and I have a ton to apply. I learned about the importance of questions and how understanding is vastly more important than just cramming stuf into our investigators. We are the tailors of the suit of the gospel. it takes a while to do it sometimes but we need to get it just right to help people feel the spirit and be converted. We taught a fun English class and then headed home.

9/5

We had another great day today. We moved into the new house! It's super huge and totally rad. Apparently the best in the mission. It will be a 4 man but it's a 2 man right now. Super crazy .  Been setting up and cleaning and stuff so not much time! Ate with the Bishop tonight. Super fun. Also we moved all our stuff by suitcase and got tons of weird looks. Also a bunch of little kids mobbed us and would n't believe I was American. They thought I was Korean! Super funny. Good day.

9/6

Had a nice day today. We are finally getting settled into our new house. It's way huge and Elder Van actually quipped that we might lose weight walking to the fridge to get our popsicles. We shower separately AT THE SAME TIME! We really need to find a couch for it though. We are pretty sparse on furniture. It's interesting to see how the super economical Korean culture adapts to western commercialism and consumerism. Highly interesting. We had 3 hours of street contacting today. it went really well. There's this kid we keep bumping into and it's like we have a lesson going with him. We gave him a card, then a pamphlet, then a BoM.  Now we have his number. It's pretty funny. Also we ended up eating dinner with a bunch of ladies from the Red Cross and it was way fun. Then I got a funky new haircut (during dinner time) and Elder Van taught a lesson to some waiting people. Then we went to our old house and brought over some paintings and [something] and other stuff. Good day. The question remains how to get people to see the [something] of religion.

9/7

Holy cow. I've been out here a while. i feel like I'm in a of time stoppage until I realize that Alex is starting his junior year, Emily is in college, Seth is on a mission, Lucy is a Senior, K-man is in college. Man, it's crazy.  Also Tim is in high School! What the heck?  That's so nutty. Time files. it feels more urgent every day. I dreamed I came home from my mission and it felt so hollow and empty.  I couldn't remember the second half of my mission. At first I was relieved to be home. i could drive, and had a phone, and wore normal clothes. But as it went on I realized how utterly meaningless it all felt. i felt like I had to be working, but I had no work to do. Gosh. That has made me work a little harder over the last few days. We had a crazy last couple of days. Since Elder Van was sick and we moved into the new house we hadn't had a lot of time to contact people. We had about 100 in the last couple of days to make up for it though. Also I write this as I text this cool kid we found on the street today. We had a district finding activity today and met some good people. It's so nice to talk to that truly sincere person every once ein a while. They exist and the spirit touches them. it's hard to stay stoked sometimes but that's what study is for!

9/8

We had a great sunday today. As is tradition e started off listening to MoTab whilst breakfasting on fried spam, eggs, rice, and seaweed. We're out of kimchi) Then a good study time followed by a good meeting with our ward mission leader. Then we had a great Church. I've been trying to really utilize the Sacrament lately to remake my covenants. It's really amazing. i practice the prayers in Korean so I understand them well and then I really try to fucus. It's a truly cleansing time. Also the sister missionaries from SanGye ward brought an investigator to our ward. She was way cool! But 20, so i couldn't talk to her, but she paid really good attention. Also this lady taked about a really cool experience in sacrament meeting where she overcame the hardships [something] with the scriptures. Her husband is against the church so she always found solace in 2 Nephi 2:25. Joy! It's real! Also I taught gospel principles right off the top of my head. Super nerve wracking but it made me ask the class lots of questions and it was very spiritual. Everyone paid attention a nd talked and I think i did an okay job of not hindering the spirit. That's the trick. Live worthy of it and then don't get in the way. Work hard and strive for the daily guidance of the spirit.

9/9

Hey! So our Zone leaders gave us the challenge to journal one positive experience and three things we're grateful for every day. So my three things are: we had an awesome time playing soccer and ping pon with the zone. I got to just talk to Elder Kafusi for a half hour while we ping-ponged. It was really nice. Then we had an awesome dinner with Sister Oh, where she basically fed us a costco sized pizza. It was so good. She's this awesome sister in our ward. She helps su much. Then we talked about her kids and she's just the best. Then we had a killer lesson with Bro Gwak and came home. My positive experience of the day is that of playing ping pong with Elder Kafusi. It was really peaceful. he's such a devoted servant of God that it just radiates out of him. We just got to know each other better and it was really almost cleansing to feel his love an power. he really is the best. Also being a 6'1- polynesian with a full ride to BYU doesn't hurt his power. Well I love you lots. Stay happy. Life's tough sometimes but it's good. Nephi had it right in 2 Nephi 31:19-20/ FEAST.

9/10

It's 1-"20 and I'm pretty toasted. We walked all day looking for less actives and a buch of different places. It was super rainy. And way fun. We met cool people and had a great day. Also this kid that keeps texting us in English probably has a larger vocabulary than I do. Though he does brag incessantly about the quality of Korean schools. He texts way fast. it's hard to keep up. 3 thankfuls: delicious lunch of (Best Soup), meeting super happy [gadpas?] and better comp study. My experience is [TOTALLY ILLEGIBLE!!!] Love you so much.

9/11

We had a dope day today. We had a good district meeting where Elder Kim taught me in Korean. he taught me about one of the greatest questions of my soul. How can I constantly strive to be better and at the same time have satisfaction and happiness? He has a lot of the same questions and we talked about it. i think that I can be happy all the time. I've had some rough times so I know sadness a little, but for the most part I'm happy. I guess is Eve says that it is better for us to pass through sorrow that we may know the good from the evil. Satans life is just [?] I guess. But the key is taking solace in the POS and the Gospel. Cheerfully but solemnly do our work. There is a time and place for everything. Joseph Smith is such a solid example of this I think. Still though I always feel like I'm not quite there. There's always a little more to do. Such is life. It's a fact that I can't dodge. i talked about it in my farewell talk about doing! but just knowing. And now I'm trying to become. it's super hard. i have so far to go. Thanks be to God for the enabling power of the atonement and the opportunity I have to be on a mission. Work hard. Serve on. He will support you.

9/12

The day finished out well. We met some really cool people and se appointments and it was really good. Also we have all the apostles on our wall but they keep falling down. i have a really weird relationship with Quentin L. Cook and Richard G. Scott now. They are pretty wily.

9/13

These days are kind of difficult. I feel like I'm pouring my soul into missionary work ore than ever but I really am not seeing the results. There's the occasional nice guy and the investigator who progresses, and there are right now, but over all I feel pretty unsuccessful results wise. inwardly I feel satisfaction of hard work and diligence, trying to push on and get through hard stuff, but I dunno. It's not translating into results for me I guess. I know the Lord prepares people. I have full faith He promised that if we work hard we'll see results. i've been doing what I can for the last almost 8 months. i've contacted over 2000 people, taught a couple hundred lessons, placed probably a hundred Books of Mormona nd I see no fruit of it. Sometimes that's just the way it is I guess. i am grateful for the experiences I hav eon a daily basis and for the love i feel from the ward. I feel like I do at least some for them. That sounds really ungrateful. The things God and Christ have done for me on my mission are immeasurably huge. The course of my life is changed and if I see no fruit, it is still way more than worth it. I know that it can happen and it will, God willing. And I will keep working.

9/14

Elder Van Orden is doing his pronunciation CD. "Eeeee, eee, eee" and I quote. I'm going to kill someone. Not really, but this is vaguely reminiscent of E. Woodfuss's infamous Hangokkoh 1 CD and me and Elder Clawson battled til the end. Oh the joy.

We had a pretty crazy day today. We really need new investigators so we spent the entire day talking to people. We talked to about 70 people, taught 5 lessons on the street and gave out 6 or 7 Books of Mormon. The first kid I talked to was super cool but then told me our Church was a cult and got frosty.  Such a bummer. The Churches that are big in Korea have made a little group of a few larger church's and try to make a list of "Cult" churches and so everyone is super predisposed. Oh how well Satan does his work. Also we got shut down a lot but got offers of food like 6 times and someone gave me a buch of bread and ran away. i feel bad about that. There was one guy who was super sincere and really said he would read and pray about the BoM. So cool. In a city of largely self-absorbed, apathetic, brainwashed people, there are rays of light! Also an old guy came up and grabbed my BoM. It happens!

9/15

We had a fun one today. Church was really good. our ward mission leader forgot to come to our meeting so I started reading the Old testament, then we had a great church meeting and I taught gospel principles again.  It also went well and I know 2 more people have the glorious truth of the Plan of Salvation! Sundays are very fulfilling. Then we me tJustin, a kid who is studying to get into college. He has some cool sincere interest but no time. We're going to take it slow. Man, I need patience.  Then we contacted for a while. We came home and sent stats but we had an extra 7 minutes so we ran outside and found 2 more people. It was super rockin.  Use your time! Then I sang the hymns for about an hour. I really do just love them. My two favorites right now are Hark all ye nations and The Morning Breaks. That first line, "The Morning Breaks, the Shadows Flee!" It's so true. The dawn is here! Hark! (All YE nations) :)

9/16

We also had the most hilarious lesson in church yesterday. our ward is pretty small so priesthood on a good day has 6 guys including us. Also cell phone usage during all parts of church is a bug problem. So the lesson was on leadership and unselfish service so we talked about "Feed my Sheep" or (john 21) and while he was talking a couple of the guys in the back and one of the youth were all crowded around someone's phone (half the class) so the teacher goes back and says, "What is this?" and someone says, "The apostate sheep." Then then the guys on their phones were like, "Yeah! We're the fallen sheep! We're hungry! Feed us!" It was super hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing, but then they paid attention and the lesson finished well. Moral of the story, if you don't want to be an apostate sheep, don't use your phone in church.

Epic 200 m Sprint

8-19-2013

It was a good one. We had a fun, if a little weird, day.  Monday is usually P=day but we are going to the temple tomorrow so we had a normal day today except we emailed. Super funky. Anyway, me and Elder Van are trying to plan more efficiently so we studied that section of PMG. There are some good guidelines in there for life goals like "Goals reflect the desires of our hearts." that helps me set good ones. For life too. Also when we were going to the church a bunch of old guys called us over and made us tell them about the Book fo Mormon and the Restoration. Super cool. They were really into it. Also If eel super blessed. I think God has realized my shortcomings and poured out the gift of tongues on me. it's really easy to understand people. Also we had a fun time trying to get a less active member's house and also placed and exceptionally loving one on someone's random door. Hope they feel the love. :)  I really love the BoM. It's provided me with a lot of strength lately. I really do know it's true and it feels like an old friend to me. It's awesome. Work hard and be happy. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so amazing. Those of you who have it, thank God, and those of you who don't, ask about it! I would love a letter. :)

8/26

So I accidentally wrote tons on a random piece of paper and I feel like it needs to be at least partially filled. We've had a great couple days and a good last week. We just went biking with the district and it was super fun.  It was weird to be on a bike again. It feels pretty natural as always. i'm kinda thinking that I won't drive a car for a long as I can and put it off and just bike places. The vagabond wanderer of Provo. With a huge mustache. But that's not for a while, so I won't think about it. Today we teach Bro Kim and we're stoked. He just got back from Japan and it was pretty cool. it sounds like.  We're stoked to see him. It's been a little while. i'm pretty tired but pretty happy. We have lots of popsicles. what more could I ask for?  Well, tiredness and all it's been a good day. Stay happy, work hard. Now's the time to do it.

8/20

Temple day! We had a super fun day today. We met a guy on the train who friended me on facebook right there and wanted to eat with me. Super crazy.  We had an awesome time at the temple. The peace and eternal perspective I experience there is like nothing else.  It's such a wonderful feeling. Also today we went to Dongdemun or East Gate market and bought ties and a new backpack for Elder Van. I got a tie that I think is about 2 cm across. So skinny. It can fit 4 times on some of my other ties. then we ran around looking for guitar strings but couldn't find them. So we bought 35 popsicles instead, a decent trade.  Then we had a rockin lesson on the Plan of Salvation with Bro Jeung. he really gets the purpose of life it seems. it went a little long but was good. he committed to be baptized if he knows its true. So cool. So I've been trying to be more comfortable with life Korean lately. Like speak their way and be able to be natural. It's hard. And fun. It's helped me to listen and to work though. Also after w finished teaching we went out to find people to be baptized and this old guy yelled at us a bunch. People are usually OK nice. It's stuff like that that makes me want to work hard to be able to understand people. Well, bed calls.

8/21 Wednesday

Fun day. We had a good district meeting butI'm kinda cranky after I just spent 45 minutes restringing a guitar. And then the neck was warped and a string broke. So that kinda was aggravating. Maybe I'm not supposed to have a guitar. Well, we had a good district meeting and I got to spend some time contacting with one of the zone leaders. then we taught english class and came home. We did spend our lunch time teaching the ladies at the restaurant we ate at. Super funny. They think it's really funny that we speak Korean.

8/22

It's been a good couple days. But kinda rough. I feel like I'm missing some of the beginning fire I had. I really hate it. I need my fire! So I've been trying to get it back and it works little by little. I'll get there. Tonight I want to tell you about a game Elder Van and I play. The streets in Korean "suburbs" are super narrow so cars get really close to you. We have this game where we try to touch them nonchalantly as they pass and if we do, we get a point. However! If you ever drop your Book fo Mormon, you go down to Zero and your future wife gains 10 pounds.

So the other day Elder Van was up 42 - 26 and he totally flubbed his BoM and dropped it. So he went down to zero.  Heretofore he had been pretty cocky so I rubbed it in maybe a little much and he whacked my Book of Mormon out of my hands. So. We decided that was pretty bad and could never happen again so we agreed to play nicely after that. Now I'm up 42-3. Elder Van has been really clumsy lately.  Also, it's two points if you touch a food delivery scooter, but it's really awkward cause they can feel it, so they look around to see who did it. Luckily two big white guys aren't much fer suspects. Anyway, we walk a lot so that's our game, It passes the time if we have a really long walk, no one is out, and we have no idea where we are.  In the way of actual work, we met this super nice old guy tonight who bought us food and we taught about prayer. He just loves us so much it's hard to believe. I feel like I have another grandpa.  Then Elder Van and I had a somewhat intense discussion on 2 Nephi 29.  Super cool. Bed!

8/23

Shoot! 7 months to the day I checked into the MTC. Time flies. A thousand years in a day is what it feels like. We had a fun day today. Elder Van really stepped up his game so it's 51-14.  Not bad. We had a good study session and planned for the week. I really do think that PMG is just a compilation of everything the best missionaries have done over the years. A weekly planning session is awesome. I want to live this way for the rest of my life! Also today I realized that I feel like I'm a part of Korea. Like I see a foreigner and think "what is he doing here?" I feel pretty comfy doing whatever I need to do. Elder Van taught this random guy who was smoking outside the little mart the whole first lesson. Well done. He's such a go-getter. I love it. I really hope I can get him ready to train next transfer. Another 30 missionaries are coming so he's gotta be ready! Also today we went bowling with an almost investigator. He is way cool. we're super good friends. But it finished a little late so we had to take a taxi and did an epic 200 m sprint home to be on time. We barely squeaked it. All those years of middle school track are paying off. :) Well love you guys. I feel your prayers when I reach deep. Thank you.

8/24

We had a super good day today. Every so often we just have these days when we have nothing going on. A fat chunk of 5 hours stretching into eternity. Those are my favorite. We get to go on awesome adventures. So we left today at 1 and I decided to visit a less active member about 3 miles away. So we walked there and stopped at a potential investigator's house and snagged some water. She's so nice, and we invited them to church tomorrow. Then while we were trying to find the less active member's home this crazy girl who was like 15 or 16 ran up to us and spoke a bunch of crazy English and kept trying to hold my hand. Freaky. This less active member was not home so we walked over to Bro Yoon's house and invited him back to church, also with the ploy for some water. That worked good, so we just started asking everyone for water. Somebody bought us a soda. Just kidding about the asking, but a random guy really did buy us soda. Then we went home and realized that we had basically waked the entire square footage of our area. And we found a raven painting and stuck it on the wall. Then this awesome guy made us dinner and we taught him about the BoM. he's super crazy smart. Then we planned. We have a hope for 8 people at church tomorrow. Stoked!

8/25
We had a fund one today. our awesome family came to church today! And I spent a little bit of time teaching the story of Jonah to the "friend" who's my age. If someone is your age in Korea you have the "friend" relationship. So we're friends. Super good. Also Sister >>> is getting ready to be baptized!She's waiting until she's ready to, but she loves the Book of Mormon and the church so here's hoping. The members of our ward are awesome. Sister Oh and Bro Choi are so kind. Unbelievably so. Then also today we had a great time at a big district finding activity. We didn't find tons of people but we found a couple of people to refer to the missionaries of that area, and a guy stopped us randomly and asked if he could come to church. He said he's fed up with the Catholics and wants to give the Mormons a try. So! We'll see how he likes it.  Lately I've been trying to make my prayers more meaningful so I pray after we plan, while I'm still dressed. It makes it easier to really focus. i really love the opportunity to pray so much. The opportunity to communicate personally with the most powerful being ever, that is our loving Father. What a privilege. Don't take it for granted.

Good Thing Elder Pemberton Forgot His Coat

To quickly catch you up to date, in the last month Zach has had two different companions and is now training Elder Van Orden. He is in a suburb of Seoul called DoBong.

Kid is on fire, as you will see from the latest letter.

8/5

Well, I'm starting off on a new foot. I'll start writing letters again. But keep in mind that my investigators and being obedient are more important than letters. :)

So! Today we had a nice relaxing p-day. Got up, exercised, ate a little, had an awesome study of 2 Nephi 9. Good companionship study, awesome language study, and emailed. Looked at glasses. Korean have some crazies. Bought popsicles, soda, and a carrot (for health). It was a fun day.  At home we cleaned and marinated the meat and made scripture cases. Arts and crafts! Wrote letters. Then we went out to contact! We met some good people but it was raining hard and we had no umbrellas so maybe just nice people. Then we got a random call to help with English and did that. Then we came home, planned, and slept. Party on!

We had a great day today. It started off with almost no plans, only some attempted finding of old addresses, and ended up with 3 appointments, a new investigator, and an hour of walking in a monsoon delivering food to the poor/elderly for the Red Cross. So it started with morning exercise which reallydesn't get easier. Im at 42 sit-ups and 30 push ups and 7 pull ups in sets of 2 with lots of other cardo stuff. Thank you soooo much for Take 6. They are my exercise power. love it. Come on! Anyway. We ate meat for brekkie and studied away. Then we got a call from a 20 year old member who needed our help on a service project and could meet us with his friends later that night. Right as we went to help him it turned into a torrential downpour and we got soaked. After that we went to the church to make some English flyers and make calls. The first call Elder Van Orden made said he could meet right then. So we did and he liked the first lesson and the Book of Mormon. Then we ate dinner or Kimbab with a member and his friends played a little ping pong and talked about life's purpose. Then we met Bro J who is super rad. We taught about prayer. We teach him in English. Then we literally ran home to make it on time.  It was way fun. Super great spiritual day. Love in it!

8/7

We had  a good day today. We had zone training which was good and slightly crazy. Everyone in our entire Zone is training. We got two new districts and even the zone leaders are training in a threesome. Super nutty. Today we talked about the Spirit and the importance of it. It's such an oft discussed topic that it can feel vague and we can repeat answers without having assimilated them into our souls. But! The spirit makes up the difference between what we have and what is needed. That's why I believe that in a teaching situation the president of the Church is no better a teacher than the humblest missionary if they both have done their best to bring the spirit. I don't have any problem with my greenie teaching because he is just as qualified as me for the Spirit. And if our investigator is receptive he'll be  in the heart. That's my thought of the day.

8/8

Tired. Me and Elder Van decided to exercise better today. We went outside and I did my in place workout while Elder Van ran around the parking lot in circles. There were old ladies fanning me while I did push-ups. Super weird but much appreciated. i'm up to 44 sit-ups 34 push ups 7 pull ups. Add 2 a day! Except pull ups. It works! Took a cold shower after and had a great study where I taught about how all the good examples I have got there by good habits, habits I have now and really! don't want to lose. Then e did a red cross service project with my favorite kid ever (Park). We packaged up food for people and delivered it. It took a couple of hours. Bro Park's little brother likes to call me Elder Mammoth and then tickles me. i can't get away. Then we made a new English flyer, made a few (60) phone calls, and did some home teaching with this awesome member from our ward. Bro Choi. We had some great lessons on the restoration with some sick folks in our ward and visited some cool members. Then we ate together and he fed us ice cream. We also had to save the young adults who had no key to the building. It was super nice to have a member helping us, and a car. So unbelievably amazing. Plus I was with his son i the MTC and have pics to prove it! Then we ran back to the church to lock up.  It's weird, I talked to som any people, but it's getting harder, now I can feel the rejection and apathy sometimes. But the golden nuggets are so much more beautiful if you search! Love and serve. Be diligent.

8/9

We had a pretty crazy day. We got up and exercised. I meditated, and Elder Van ran.  Then I read Grandpa Campbell's book which is about the coolest thing I've ever read.  It's been so inspiring to me.  Then we studied. I read the emissary, which apparently Mom you showed to tons of people.  I feel such a kinship with that mand. he and I have a lot in common. Sometimes I teach these Korean less active members and investigators and I'm blown away by their kindness and love. It's really super amazing. They're so much more Christlike than me, yet I have this new knowledge to give them. It's quite an interesting problem. I have a lot more thinking to do. Anyway after study we smelled this super nasty smell so we tried to figure out what it was. We found that one of our spam cans got sold to us with no lid and was full of maggots. Super gross. Elder Van almost threw up, and he was in the Army for four years. So we spent an hour bleaching and cleaning out all our food. It was super nasty.  We had to take 15 minutes before our planning to get through it. We're still cleaning. ugh. Super nasty.  Anyway then we panned for the week and went out to work.  Elder Pemberton flies home tomorrow to recover so we took him his suit coat that he forgot. And bought language study books. And a new journal! :) with no lines :(  On the way there we met this guy who had known missionaries a few years ago. He loves the Book of Mormon and believes it. All we gotta do is get him baptized! It was so cool.  Good thing Elder Pemberton forgot his coat.  Also on the way  back i got to teach the whole first lesson to a guy who listened super well.  it was way cool.  he asked good questions and was engaged. I loved it. We're tired and happy. I guess the weight of a 400,000 eternal soul in jeopardy area weighs heavily on one's soul. Just keep swimming. Work is now, play is later, when I figure out that they're the same. :)  Love you much. Stay faithful. Alma 34:32, somebody needs that.

[For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors…do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given to us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.]

8/10

Had a good fun day.  Exercised but I'm so tired in the morning I just sit down and don't eat breakfast. kinda sad. Now that I can cook I don't.  We had a good study.  I'm trying to learn to rely more on the Lord. Ideas would be appreciated. We're also trying to figure out a simple way to teach the fall and agency. It's hard to be simple, concise, and not confusing. We're getting there. So it was so hot today that when we went out to work, there was no one there. So we just went back in and called people that expressed interes earlier. That's always super fun. Then this super nice lady in our ward took us out to eat. She was sooo nice. We were going to eat with an investigator but he cancelled because video games are too cool. (I've sworn to never touch one again, poisonous). So we went and she bought us this delicious buffet. I'm beginning to be able to carry on a pretty complex conversation in korean. So we had a great one. She was baptized when she was 20 and her parents kicked her out of the house She served a mission and eventually most of her siblings joined the church. She teaches Gospel Essentials at church and dues a killer job. her kids are around my age. I think I found my ward momma. Though Sister Kim's english name is Julia Booth so there goes two of my other moms. In Korean it's not weird to call other ladies mom and grandma. And that's the Kind of relationship you have if they like you. Super dope. Anyway. Then she told us how she used to spend from 12 am to 12 pm on P-day and they had all sorts of fun activities. Pics at church tomorrow. Then she bought us a cheesecake and some meat. She is super nice. So kind. And a flame of faith and testimony. One fire dup member makes all the difference for missionaries.

8/11

We had a good sunday. No one came to church :(. Brother J is in Japan visiting his girlfirend so we didn't have anyone today but it's super sweet to see the ward get stoked about missionary work. I told about Grandpa Mumford in priesthood today. Also we're getting help from everyone. It's so cool. Then as we were leaving a member's house this afternoon a (something) like apartment manager stopped us and told us to call this lady. She used to attend church and so we're going to do family English with her. 30 min English, 30 min gospel. Yep. Got a referral from an apartment manager. Don't see that one every day.  Then we met a few people who all had the same question: "If God loves us then why are there so many religions? Can't I just be a good person and turn out OK?" So that's my question to you this week. Why are things like baptism and church attendance important? I will study too:) Crazy day planned for tomorrow. Ties and the like. Man, I love missionary work. So hard, so fun, so satisfying.

Love, Elder Mumford

Asian Superstar

With Elder Van Orden

Skating with the Zone

Oppa Chandler Style

Dear Momma,

You just got a 7 page letter so don't expect too much! Today we went to a [korean] or baseball hitting cage.  It was way fun except my wrist is still kinda sketchy, so I couldn't hit super hard.  It turns out I'm a pretty good basketball player! We play every morning for exercise. Lindsay Weldon gave me some awesome advice today. She said that the missionaries that have continued to feel the joy of the gospel are the ones who really gave 100% and never made excuses.  Great Grandpa's advice, "Don't just do your best, get the job done." is getting super meaningful to me.  It's only through Christ that we can, but with Him we can! I love it. I'm relying hard on Him.  But I know that the really tough times are ahead.  I'll keep working no matter what.

OK.  Now on to Korean Kulture Konnection.

There are these familial relationships that aren't actual, but are kinda the same.  So, for guys, if there's a kid older than you, if you like him you call him [korean] hyeung and he buys you food and you hang out.  If you're a girl and there's a guy older than you, you call him "Oppa," which is literally "girl's older brother."  He has to buy you food and hinda take care of you. It's way cool.  But I'm totally the Chandler girls' Oppa and Simon's hyeung. Also like if there's a girl older than you and you're close she's called your nuna.  So Keyaira is Alex's nuna. And Tim's nuna. It's not like romantic, just kinda is a relationship describer.  And everyone young is dong seng.All of this however is dependent on jeung, which is like mutual likingness. It's kind of like a deep human connection.  Dad is the ULTIMATE jeung builder. He just connects, that's jeung. Anyway if there is jeung then these relationships take place. It's so cool.

So one of the very first things you've gotta do when you start to teach is to build jeung with your investigator. That way you have trust and can speak frankly.  Be happy. Stay strong. Work hard. I'll try to do the same.

Love, Elder Mumford.

6/11 Jon Schmidt is in the background.  We dig the tunes though Elder Clawson is still a  touch skeptical of Bela Fleck and Take 6, but he's coming around. :)  So today was a little rough.  We got way lost and ended up in the 2nd most [something?? starts with an a, looks like althoey?] area of Korea, SeoCho. We tried to visit a bunch of less active members, but none were home. Accidentally saw a guy who was in his underwear. Elder Clawson thought he was naked. We got soaked in the rain. It was a good day to prove my discipleship. Sucked it up and worked hard! The Koreans say, "Sweat!"

6/13
Had a bit of a funny the other day. We were teaching Bro Kim about baptism and we were teaching him in the room where the baptismal font is. So we showed him it, and then asked him if he would be baptized. He looked slightly freaked out and asked, "What, like right now?!?" We quickly told him that it would be later and he was okay but it was pretty funny. The lesson was spiritual and he is steadily moving toward being baptized. [follows a whole line in Korean characters.] Also monsoon season starts next week. I'm not super stoked. Apparently it's crazy, like a constant downpour. I really need to send you guys stuff...

Miracle today! We were walking home super tired, just got rejected a bunch. It was right before dinner and we were pretty hungry.  As we got to the crosswalk a slightly awkward man waked up to the crosswalk and stopped.  Being exhausted, i didn't really want to talk, just get home and eat, but I did anyway.  he tured out to be from England and spoke English. We walked with him for 45 minutes and talked about the Atonement and the purpose of religion.  He said he really appreciated it. We got his number and maybe we will meet again!  Also I want to talk about KAS or Korean Awkwardness Syndrome.

I am slowly becoming inundated.  Basically Koreans are such a well put together culture that anything that fazes them just freaks them out. like when a 6'4" white guy starts talking in Korean about church. It causes an abrupt rise in heart rate and instant uncontrolled twitching.  Then they slowly remove headphones whilst twitching or sprinting away as fast as you can.  It happens lots. But I'm way twitchy now, and I run really awkwardly.

6/16 Sunday

It's a nice sunny day in Anyang.  One of my last as it turns out.  I'm getting transferred to Dobong.  It's in Dong Zone in Seoul mission.  Everyone else I know is staying in the Soul South mission. It will be like going all [hen] again! I'm a little apprehensive and nervous, but I committed to work and truly give myself to the Lord so I will.  I am going to be serving with a Korean companion named Park Sung Hyeun.  He knows my zone leader Elder Cho and he says that Elder Park is super funny.  I'm pretty stoked! It'll be good.  So there's that.  Last night was just everyone calling each other to find out what was going on.  I'm going to miss Anyang! I love the ward, I love the people.  I met
so many wonderful people.  I have a Korean spanish speaking mom in  our ward.  I call her Omma.  She is the best.  It'll be tough.  Good thing I can experience the peace that comes from knowing that I'll see these people in the next life.  The gospel brings peace no matter what.

The last couple days have been adventurous.  W met Brother You with his girlfriend.  They brought us dinner and we chatted and invited them to come to church.  It was way good but super spicy.  Then we found a homeless guy that I felt I really helped.  Then we tried to visit a less active member and talked to people to and from.  I've been pretty sick lately in the stomach region so I'm going on the BRAT diet.  Only we won't have bananas, applesauce, or toast, so it's RICE for me!

Anyway, it's really amazing to look back on these last two transfers and see all the miracles that we witnessed.  None of them have led to a baptism yet but they are moving.  We have definitely left our stamp on An

The Lost Letter

5/9 Thursday 2013 

It's been a few days since I wrote. Life has been a touch crazy.  I got a buzz from my comp. It's super short. 
As I pen these words I am eating some 덴항히게 deng chang chi-ge. It's super good, and it was made by Elder Cho, our new Korean ZL.  He's super awesome and doesn't speak that much English.  It's an adventure.  Today we had a finding activity in San bon (dang, it's hard to write Korean in English) [note: the letter is covered with Korean characters. I remember feeling this way about Chinese, too, but it doesn't make the letters easier to read.] and me and Elder Newton talked to this really awesome guy for about an hour.  he's an American who has lived all over, kind of a vagabond wanderer, so a little like what I wanna do.  But not really after listening to Elder Holland's talks [korean…]  Anyway we talked about why religion is important and materialism and hopefully we can meet with him next week.  Super cool.  And he speaks Mandarin, Mom!  and was in Taiwan about the same time as you. So you might have seen him :).  He loves missionaries.


Also, we got a text today that said: "Hey! I want to know about Mormon!" So we were super stoked and met her that night, we didn't know she was a gril though so we had to meet outside because no men.  She is way cool.  Asked to come to church and loved the Book of Mormon.  We'll probably see her on Sunday! Stoked! It was a tiring but satisfying day.  Ate a whole pizza for lunch.  Still not chubby...

I love you. The gospel is TRUE! Stick with it and it will stick with you. Remember, blessings are received through obedience to laws so obey the law so you can get the blessing. [lots of Korean.]

5/10 Friday
OK, so today is a compilation of goofy things that happened this week. So: as we were riding the elevator up to go home a little family got on and the girl asleep in her mom's arms proceeded to pee her pants.  It got all over the elevator and the family semi-awkwardly got off without saying a word. it wasn't until later that we realized that it wasn't an odd occurrence for us. It was just normal missionary goofiness. Shenanigans happen all the time and so it doesn't ever phase me. Weird. Also a lady told me my fly was down the the middle of English class.  Later as we were walking Elder Clawson taught me how to say that in korean. So we're just walking don the street practicing away when it hit me. It would be so weird to be walking along in Bellingham and seeing a Korean saying in broken English, "My fly is down. MY fly is down. My FLY, no… my fly is DOWN!" No wonder Koreans think we're wacky.

Also we've been practicing for the Law of Chastity lately (Draw the lines) […? It really says this. Guesses? Anyone?] Also we have an investigator that loves to rub Elder Clawson's head. So there's that.

Today I realized that we set baptism as this huge goal but that its really the way to align yourself to keep the rest of God's commandments. Through baptism we commit to Christ and prepare to follow Him for the rest of our lives. Baptism is incidental. If you have real intent, its the enduring to the end that matters. So Endure!

5/11 Saturday

So I think you liked a day in the life at the MTC so here it goes again. For Thursday.

6:30 Get up and pray. House is super quiet.

6:35 Get up and get things ready to go play some b-ball.  Moaningly [?] putting shoes and socks on.

6:40 Snag a ball and the other Elders go hoop it up. We play two on two and run around a lot to get exercise. I'm kinda tall so no one likes me :9 I can kinda score whenever I want to so I try to pass a lot. Elder Woodford is getting way better. Oh and I can dunk on Korean sized hoops. So it's pretty fun.

7:10 Run home across the ninja bridge. There are these little pads that look like [he drew a picture] across the river. We see who can do all of them two at a time.  The Korean joggers look at us skeptically.

7:15 Shower, shave, eat, play guitar. Most mornings we'll eat oatmeal or a smoothie. Sometimes rice and [Korean] dried seaweed.  Elder Clawson plays guitar, we listen to the neighborhood trumpet player.

7:59 Realize that it's 7:59, frantically get ready to start study.

8:00 Start study! One of my favorite parts of the day. I usually read a chapter from the BoM, NT, and D&C. Go more in depth. Then PMG and investigator's questions if there are any.

9:00 move on to comp study, role play, study PMG and do training reme [?] together.

11:00 Lunch! Kim chi soup, Donkas or spaghetti, or one of Elder Clawson's concoctions. Always delicious. We play guitar and swap stories. Lots of fun.

12:00 Language study! Read PMG in Korean, read BoM in Korean, read and practice grammar and to keep the house good and spiffy, Elder Clawson quizzes me on vocab while I clean the kitchen. I mostly work on lessons.

1:00 time to make some calls! We call off of old investigator records and potential sheets. Talk to tons of cool people, Koreans will like sigh in agony and hang up. Throws me for a loop ever time. They will go  "Aaaaaargh!" when I say, "Hey! It's the missionaries!" and then…click.

2:00 Time to go to a district finding activity. We talk to some cool people on the subway and then I go with Elder Newton. We found a random guy from Chicago and after a 5 minute Korean convo, told us in perfect Chicago accent that he's from Chicago.  He wasn't super into it so we gave him our cards and left. Then cool guy from Taiwan.

4:30 Travel home, talking all the while

5:00 Dinner! Elder Cho made his special soup and it was delicious. Chatted and ate. Elder Clawson plays some more guitar.

6:00 went out and talked to people for a couple of hours. We do almost all street contacting. Just talking to people, lots of college kids. Suddenly, a text! "Hey! I want to know Mormon!" "OK, let's meet at 8," replyed us. (Sorry for the bad grammar, Korean has killed my brain…)

Keep talking to people, then go to meet her at E-mart (giant everything store, think Fred Meyer but more so and 9 flavors of it). Help a guy with his groceries while Elder Clawson finds her and gets some small talk going. Because she turns out to be a woman and we need a man to meet inside, we met outside the church. Turns out the bishopric had a meeting that night so she met all of them! And we got some quizzical glances. Lesson went great and we hurried home.

9:00 Rush into the house and plop down to plan. A very operatic version of True to the Faith is sung in Korean. We plan and after Elder Woodford yells, "There's someone coming! Probably to inspect!" We frantically whip the home into shape only to find that one of the member's little daughters brought us pizza and some delicious beef.  They're so nice. We finish and I give Elder Clawson a haircut while we chow down on pizza.  We write in our journals and spread out on our beds. Then pray and sleep. Very busy and totally awesome.

Oh, we had peanut butter and jelly rice today. It's exactly what it sounds like.

5/13 P-day

Didn't do anything special today. Just cleaned and went to Costco. We bought 3 12-packs of muffins so we're pretty set. It's gonna be a gain weight week. I'm at 88 kg and about steady. I'm getting stronger from working out every morning though! You'd be surprised. So funny story of the day is that a week ago a little kid who we're befriending came and gave us a bunch of coffee which we couldn't drink (duh) and that same day the APs came and saw it as our apartment got inspected. So everyone probably thinks we drink coffee now.

Also we found a hunting knife in the couch. And a thousand pens. And some really old consecrated oil. It was really good to talk to you today! I miss all of you but in a good way.

I feel the power of your prayers. you kind of live on the extremes. You work your guts out and the joy of success is so great, when you see someone who has really seen the savior work his marvelous healing power. But to see people turn away from it and reject it is so sad. Uncle Colin talked about how hard it is not to take that rejection personally.  It is hard. But if you are working hard and really desiring people's salvation and eternal happiness what more can you do? That's where you must find joy, in fulfilling your purpose wherever you are.

I love all of you! Read Matthew 11:28-30. He will heal you.

Tweed Pants and a Wedgie

5/15

Update. We don’t have that many investigators. But we met a really cool guy today! He asked to be taught right there and he’s coming to church Sunday! Super stoked.  Just met him randomly.  We’ve been focusing lately, not on getting tons of contacts but really helping people see how the Gospel can bless them.  It’s made me think of myself and how I’ve been blessed lots. Super good.  Also we had exchanges yesterday.  I went with Elder Newton from holiday, UTAH. Super cool Elder.  On the way to get him we introduced the Book of Mormon to a pastor and he really dug it.  On the way back we met a guy who said he was a prophet and could fly.  Also he kept saying, “I am the way” in English about Jesus, but he thought that anyone’s way is good.  Tonight we had a really good combo English class/pizza party.  Super legit. Grace taught me how to write my name in traditional Korean (Chinese) characters, so I did learn.  She’s the lady who I ate a million different things with.  She’s super nice.  We had a very hilarious English class all about how we should or shouldn’t have smart phones.

Lately in English class we’ve been talking about  things and got good debates going. Sometimes it gets a little heated and debates in Korea on the good use of hybrid cars comes up. Mostly it’s okay though. It’s a good time. OK, here’s a little Korean saying and my name in Chinese.

Korean saying: five minutes hurry, 50 years dead. [rough translation]

[can’t write the characters in this program. Romanized it says “Jeung Soo Chan”]

5/16 Thursday

So we’ve been talking a lot about how other missionaries always write home about their phenomenal spiritual experiences and I write about funny old Korean guys.  The truth of it is it’s a different kind of spiritual than I expected, like realizing how much you need personal study, you NEED prayer to sustain you.  You have to learn to always talk to people and to view them the way Father in heaven views them. And even if they let you down to still hope.  I feel like right now is when I make the choice to be a diligent disciple of Christ or not. And it’s in really small things. Like really talking to everyone even when all I want to do is take a 5 minute rest on the bust.  It’s getting up at 6:30 and going to bed at 10:30, even following rules when I don’t want to.  The differences between truly great missionaries seem small but it takes a herculean effort to get the last 5% out.

But the days I do, I feel more fulfilled than I ever have. It’s unbelievable. Miracles happen too! Like we had a guy ask us if we could tell him about our church and then ask to come to church on Sunday. He’s amazing! But the funnies are still there. Like 70 year old me biking around blasting techno music. J

5/17 Quickie Update

We have a stake sports activity today. So we’ve been inviting people all week. And now it is time to play soccer! And maybe basketball! I’m way excited.

K. Home now.  It was totally wicked! Elder Clawson and I won a dance contest against some other missionaries.  We got some strawberry wafers and the approval of our entire stake J  I did some pretty atrocious cartwheels. Also we saw our bishop and a lady from our ward, [unintelligible] gentleman. PSY! Very enthusiastically. Super funny. Elder Clawson, I and the Young Men’s president from our ward won the relay race. Also our ward won! There wasn’t soccer though. L Elder Newton was bummed. OK rewind a little.

So Koreans have a holiday that basically celebrates Buddha’s birthday. And also on that day they have a sports conference thing.  There’s a bunch of funny games and everyone eats together and it’s way fun and cute. So we had tons of fun. Also tonight we had a cool revelation moment. We had an investigator cancel today so we had some extra time. We prayed to know where to go. Then I got pulled over one way and so we went! We ran into a group of kids going to a Karaoke bar and got their numbers. We might play bball with them tomorrow. Super cool! Man, I love you so MUCH! Thank you for being the best. Cheesy, I know. But.

5/18 Saturday.

I’m in a bit of a goofy mood. [much Korean follows].  K, well, now that I have written terrible secrets right under your nose, I will relate the events of the day. So we studied and I learned about some of the early hardships of the church and how important optimism is. Then we called people and then had a meeting with Brother Yong, a 21 year old guy who’s about to go into the army. He’s way cool, rides a motorcycle everywhere, and dates Danish women. Quite debonair.  We just have to wake him up in time for church! He’s always sleeping when we call him. Super cool though. He has a hello kitty right and maybe some gospel interest. Also an investigator, Brother Kim, invited us to dinner outside the mission and reserved and paid for it and everything. It was a little awkward when we couldn’t go. Had a good conversation though. Okay. No time.

5/19

Sooo… had a killer day today. Church was really good. We had a little bit of a miracle. We met a guy named Luke at Anyang station and he asked if he could help us. W taught him about the restoration right there and he said he would come to church. That was on Wednesday. We’ve kept in contact with him over thaw eek and he totally came to church today! He wore very stylish tweek pants, tie and sweater vest. He really liked church and during the sacrament he said he felt cleaner. He told us he wants to quit smoking and drinking so we taught him the full restoration and word of wisdom. He really liked it and we’re helping him on his way toward being happier! He has so much real intent and is a true seeker of truth. He’s super bomb. We’ll keep working with him. Then we had a pretty crazy lunch of rice-ramen-jiaijang (curry-ish) and bacon stuff. Very good but very funky. Elder Cho got sick. But he recovered. Then we went out and got rejected a bunch/found maybe a new investigator. Then! We met a member of the bishopric for dinner. It was super delicious, duck, [Korean], and all sorts of good eats. Then we practiced teaching an investigator with them. Their kids are super cute and make fun of us a lot. But we love them. It was a good week, tired but happy. It is nice to see some hard work paying off.

5/20

Had kind of a goofy day. We emailed in the morning but it wasn’t pday. We went and did flyers for the English class. It was way funny actually. There were some other ladies flyering there and they left to get more and we swooped in! It’s way fun. You just compliment people and speak English and do other funny stuff. Super fun.  My favorite is when a bunch of school kids walk by and say Hello really timidly and giggle and run away. Also when we got back to the house today my companion totally attacked me when we got home for dinner. He went for the wedgie but I countered with the long arms and totally wedgied him first. I unfortunately sort of ripped his pants. He spent dinner sewing up his pants. He thought it was funny though.

5/21 Tuesday

So just a quick update today. Hopefully the package will be on its way soon. And as missionaries we have to commit people to do things, so you’ve got two choices.  Either read the Book of Mormon all the way though or refer someone to the missionaries. So yeah. Or do both. But only after that can you wear your ties.

Stay happy. Much love!

You Be Quiet, Mum-grapes

Monday, P-day 4/22

Had a good day.  Picked up my foreigner card and bought a bag! Super dope.  We had an investigator skip a lesson. :(  Talked to lots of people. We got told we were handsome a bunch.  Now we're switching all of the Zone Leader's stuff to the other one's desk.  They're in Ansan tonight.  Super good! Love you!

4/23 Wednesday...Awkward.  Tuesday.

So we had a pretty adventurous day today.  In personal study today I tried to break down Mark 4.  The parable of the sower.  I came to the conclusion that what it all means is that for a plant to grow it must at first be protected by others and nourished with all the [?] a plant needs, sun, nutrients, water, etc.  Then it must be placed in the right place to let it grow strong until it bears fruit.  Also I think it's interesting that plants don't bear fruit until the final stage of growth.  Coincidence...?  I'll let you puzzle that out. :)

We visited a less-active today and taught English during which I learned that the [korean characters] part of [Mumford in Korean] means GRAPES!  So I got called Mum-grapes for the rest of that ordeal.  And I quote, "You be quiet, mum-grapes!" My companion is still having spasmodic convulsions of unrestrained mirth.  

The funny story for today: We are carefully weaving our way to the subway to go to visit a less active member. The rain sprinkles lightly.  The scene is much like a dreary October day in Bellingham, except Korea has been enlightened by the umbrella.  Not Underarmour yet, though. Sorry Dad.  Anyway, as we briskly walk on, we are accosted by a 4 year old Korean man who the Zone Leaders had talked to the day before.  He points at my companion and yells, "Tom Cruise!"

My companion, unfazed, says, "Yeah! We're missionaries!"  He then offers to buy us pizza and though we protest he drags us into a nearby pizza school   We are excited to have a gospel discussion via free pizza, but it soon becomes clear that the man is less than sober.  Korea and English flow uninhibited from his lips as he professes his deep love for Mormons, us, Elder Witt, black women, Israel, pizza, and Catholics.  Then he expresses deep doubt of Mormons, black women, and Catholics.  Also Israel, I think.

He then orders us a coke and gives us the bottle.  We slowly get up and trick him into leaving, thanking him and saying goodbye.  As we walk away, I casually mention to my companion that there are likely few times in this life when a drunk man will spontaneously buy us pizza. He nods in agreement and we set off, plodding through the grey scene dotted with bright umbrellas, crusading on in the best two years of our lives.

That's all I got. Love you!

[written sideways in the margins: Oh sorry, but our water didn't work today. We shaved at the church. :)]

4/24 Wednesday

Elder Witt just finished his PB&J rice. He says it's pretty good.  We had a good district meeting today and talked to everyone!  I read in 2 Nephi 30 super amazing. So faith promoting.  We just talked to a  few people and went to English class. We taught K--- afterward. He is having his test right now so we shared Matt 11:28-30. Super good comfort.  Every day is an adventure! My testimony grows daily.  I am coming to a sure knowledge that this is the true church. And I'm learning lots.

Love you!

PS Elder Witt jumped on his knees.

4/25 Thursday

So I got kissed by a drunk guy today.  On the  hand but still, pretty sloppy.  It took a while to escape from that one.  Today we contacted for 6 hours.  Kind of a rough day, but as we work it gets happier.  Our search for Happiness is a rad book.  We visited L---- and we talked about faith and action.  We are going to try to get him to church.  Love you!

4/26 Friday

Had an adventure today.  So after weekly planning I tried to pass off, which is where you teach the Zone Leaders and they see if you can teach in Korean, and if you're getting ready to be senior companion.  I didn't totally make it but I'm getting close.

Also there was this huge explosion and Elder Woodford thought North Korea was attaching.  Turns out it was a power transformer.  But we're ok.  Also we taught a good lesson to a guy who made me hold his hand and take a picture.  And we met a member in English. We were super awkward.  Already getting used to Korea.  I love you lots!

4/27 Saturday

Had a fun day today.  We didn't have any appointments so we tracted for 7 hours.  We probably walked about 10 - 15 miles. And talked to tons of people!  We were talking to a couple of students and this one guy walked past.  He said "**KOREAN**" which means "satan's house" and pointed to a buddhist school.  He waled past and then we finished talking to the students and I felt like we should really talk to him.  It had been 5 mintues so we had to chase him down for a quarter mile or so. We finally caught up to him and then talked for 70 minutes about how there are lots of religions and how sometimes people are hypocritical.  We [???] and answered his questions, but then he said he couldn't meet with us and left.  Wouldn't even give us his phone number :(.  Super cool though.  Then we walked around this neighborhood and met a really giggly drunk man.  Super fun!

I love being a missionary.  I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ can help people more than anything else.  It's true! Test it out!

4/28 Sunday

We had a good/crazy day today.  Our investigator came to church, Brother K---.  Super cool!  He came for sacrament meeting, met a bunch of members, ate, then we taught him the restoration.  he has real potential.  He's about 50 years old and we started teaching him a couple of weeks ago.  We talked about the plan of salvation for an hour and a half.  he really wonders where we came from and has sincere desires to learn.  he buys us ice cream too.  Miracle of the day!  

So we came back from visiting a member tonight and only had 90 minutes.  We couldn't decide what to do next so we prayed.  Then I felt like we needed to be at Anyang subway station.  We went there and couldn't find anyone to talk to.  Then Elder Clawson made me talk to a man on a bench.  He was sitting there with his headphones in looking disconnected.  We talked to him and he was super stoked to meet!  We are meeting him next sunday.  We received totally straight revelation.  it was a killer night.  The gospel is true! I love you all!

4/29 Missionary Morning Update!

Tomorrow is temple day/P-day so today i just get to email and tomorrow it will be super awesome.  Also next thursday I'm going to see the rest of my MTC buddies at a midpoint training fireside thing.  I'm pretty stoked.  My comp so far has gotten Tom Cruise, Elvis, Superman, and of course Edward.  Last night while we were talking to a super cool guy, we were trying to set an appointment.  he asked if he could bring his girlfriend, and we said, yeah! Totally! But then he said he was afraid that his girlfriend would go after Elder Clawson instead of him.  So we told him that we can't date during missions anyway. And then in the middle of it, this homeless guy showed up and started stuttering about US gun policy in Korean for a while.  The guy we were talking to translated for us and then my comp told the guy that Obama had it under control so he would leave.  Then we set up an appointment with the cool guy with the girlfriend and departed.  Adventures indeed.  Oh! And someone gave us root beer last night. I love you!

4/29 Monday

Today we talked to a guy for an hour about his religion and the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and the awesomeness therein.  He seemed interested. But at the end he wouldn't meet again and wouldn't even take a Book of Mormon.  I wanted him so bad to meet again.  We could have helped him so much.  It took a lot out of me.  Then later we tried to talk to some less active member s and met this cool guy who bought us burger and coke and told us to go away.  Super nice! Being a white missionary in Korea is kinda hard because lots of people just like you for no reason.  It's tough realizing who wants you and who wants the gospel.  We were talking about if when people sin they do it knowing or on accident.  What do you think? Bed time. Love you.

4/30 Tuesday

My first month as a missionary is over.  We had an awesome day going to the temple, seeing people we know, meeting new people, and of course the temple itself.  The South Korea temple is gorgeous.  We went and bought ties today and hopefully this letter goes out in a box with ties.  The pink one is for Alex, the Teddy bear one is for Tim and the blue one is for dad. To accentuate his eyes.  I'll wear all of them for a day so they can be authentic Korean missionary ties. We then found out that my size doesn't exist in korean footwear.  Then some college kids bought us  Hot Cocoa and practiced English.  We taught some English and contacted home.  It was a nutty day.  I'm actually pretty good at cutting hair. I cut all three of the people in my house's hair.  And they like it.  If only I could cut my own... If I work I'm happy, if I don't I am tired and depressed.  So my only option is to work and be happy.  I'm glad I figured that one out.  I love you!

5/1-5/2 Wednesday Thursday

We had district meeting yesterday. Super fun.  Then we taught a Chinese lady! She's way awesome.  She has no religion but is super open. She has awesome potential.  Taught in really simple english.  She is way smart.  Speaks English and Chinese and Korean.  But English second best.  We shall see... We went to training thing.  I saw all my old buddies!  Super fun. No time.  I love you.

5/3  Friday

We had a bit of a crazy day today.  We spoke only in Korean for an hour or so and found some cook peeps to talk to!  Elder Witt, the Zone leader who I live with got called as AP!  He's stoked and nervous.  He will be awesome.  he's so nice and diligent and faithful and most of all Christ-like.  I want to be more like him when I get to be an older missionary.  He's the best. We traded ties so we can remember each other.  The first transfer approaches! My fate shall be decided!  I love you!

Saturday Morning Update!

We climbed a mountain for exercise this morning.  Super cool   Took some final pics w/ Elder Witt.  We're gonna miss him.  I finally got MAIL! I was pretty stoked.

Saturday

Had a crazy day.  Because Elder Witt got called as AP we had to wait with him and now we're in a threesome with Elder Clawson/Elder Woodland.  We did well today.  Taught a lesson.  Super busy.  We were late to meet a recent convert and had another appointment right after so we did splits with the recent convert and me and Elder Woodford ran a half mile to our appt.  It went well, but we were super sweaty.  I'll write more tomorrow.

Sunday 5/5

It's crazy, my first transfer comes to a close.  As I haven't had too many funny things of late (except saying thank you for the trees instead of thank you very much), I will related what happened to the Zone leaders the other day.  hem, hem... (Told from the perspective of Elder Woodford)

It was a nice sunny day in Anyang.  We were meeting with a nice old Grandma and eating ice cream.  As we finished, we asked if we could meet again.  She declined.  We asked for her phone number and she again declined.  Devastated!  She then started to leave and we bid goodbye, frantically searching for a way to find her again! She then got on a bus, and a brilliant idea came.  Follow her home! So we suavely waked toward the bus just as the doors closed and left. We then decided that the only course of action was to chase the bus down.  We ran and the bus looked as if it was going straight, but then a prompting came, go left. So I did! I turned left, and sure enough we barely caught the bus.  As I triumphantly began to step on, I cast my eyes round about for my companion and he was nowhere to be found.  He then pops his head out of the bus and says, "Yo! You comin?"  I hop on and we make our way to the back waiting for the Grandma to press the stop button.  She does, and we smoothly get up and get off, high  each other.  As the bus pulls away, we look for the old Grandma and she smiles at us from the inside of the bus, a twinkle of merriment in her eye.  Curses! Foiled again. On to the next yearning soul.

That's all I got.  Love you!

Elder Mumford

Tell Bro Jones I love him

OH! I totally scored a beautiful lefty over-the-keeper corner goal at soccer today!

5/6 Monday

Had a nutty week.  On Saturday we taught 9 lessons. Super busy, had to go on splits with the ward missionaries.  Barely snagged Elder Clawson before 9 and ran home.  Super crazy.  

I know that missionary work is the most fulfilling of all work.  I know Jesus Christ is my Savior.  i know that this is His true church.  Through the gospel we can gain more joy and lasting peace and happiness than anything else.  I testify of it every day.  I love you!  Stay strong. :)