A Dope Korean Two-Block

4/9/2013

Good day today.  We talked to lots of people and worked hard.

Here is the haircut incident.

It's a Saturday night in Anyang.  The missionaries ain't got much going on. They worked hard and are relaxing a little before bed.  One of them casually remarks that he could use a haircut.  having nothing better to do, clippers are procured and a chair set up.

"Gimme one of them dope Korean two-blocks," says Elder Clawson.

Elder Mumford volunteers.

He, having never cut hair before, is mildly stoked and a little apprehensive.  he gingerly begins the two-block, a korean cut where the inch around the edge is short and the rest is long, by diving in the back.  It looks good!  He proceeds to give a beautiful hair cut, rivaling those sported by Korean men everywhere.

Elder Mumford, stoked by his own performance, eagerly hops into the chair, somehow thinking that his skill will migrate to his companion.  His face slowly falls as all three elders watching fall to the ground, tears of uproarious laughter streaming freely.

Elder Mumford arises, showers, and goes to bed, pretty self-conscious.  There is no time to fix it.  His faith in his companion's haircutting skills is gone.  He spends a very self-conscious day at church.

K.  All done.  Bed time.  I'm okay!

4/10 Wednesday

It's morning time and it's just before we start study.  I've been doing ski workouts recently and my legs are killing.  I could feel it really bad yesterday.

4/11 Thursday

We had a super adventurous day yesterday.  We accidentally got on a Kukpeng (fast train_) to the De-jeon mission.  So we ended up outside our mission boundaries, called President, and headed back the other way.  We made it to district meeting 10 minutes early.  We had a good training called "really Big Krill and You Can Too."  by my trainer/district leader.  Then we went home and met a crazy guy who wanted to talk to people with us.  he hugged Elder Clawson.  When he went to grab his backpack we felt super sketched out and ran away.  Elder Clawson is still a little twitchy.  We taught English Class and Mr. Son told us about how he went to America once and ordered dog but instead it turned out to be a hot dog.  Much laughter ensued.  Also i got a bunch of good recipes to try.  We talked to lots of cool people and went home.  This missionary work stuff is fun :)  The church is true and I'm happy to be a missionary.

4/11/2013

So today was an adventure.  We studied and then went out to contact.  we met some cool peeps and then went to San Bon to contact with the sisters there. On the way we met a super cool Buddhist who we're meeting soon.  We ate so so-long-tong and then went to teach Brother Jung who punked on us.  We went back home and grabbed stuff.  Then we taught Brother Park.  He's the best.  Super sincere and really awesome.  he always says heend-itch instead of headache.  Super funny.  He really likes the BoM. Stoked to teach him more!  Also the other day my companion saw a guy walking his dog down the street and said, "O mari mashisoiyo" instead of  "mari moshisoyo", ie., instead of saying "Your dog is very stylish" he said "your dog is very delicious."  And Koreans eat dog, so...

Oh, and I've developed an acute fear of bugs.  Love you!

PS  Elder Woodford accidentally texted his investigator and asked for 2 fans, some water filters, and a 12 week addiction recovery program.  She texted back that she wanted to do the program!  So awesome.

4/12

So today was weekly planning.  We planned for the week and then went out and talked to people.  We got told we were handsome by a bunch of students.  My companion looks like Edward from Twilight.  So that helps us start a lot of good conversations.  We talked to a guy about the [impossible to decipher] and he gave us Doritos.  Hope we can meet him later.

4/13  Saturday

General Conference!  Had a really fun day today. We studied and then went to Sanbon for conference. We watched it with the other missionaries in our zone, ate snacks, kim-bab, and watched all 3 sessions. They were awesome.  I felt like I need to get to know the  word well.  I'll work on it.  We had a blast.  When we travelled home we talked to a dude who was a preacher from another church.  It was kinda awkward.  he yelled at us for a while and we couldn't understand so when someone's bike fell over we helped and he went away.  We always buy waffles from this one guy on the way home.  He says North Korea is sketch.  Also a guy told us he had no religion, but I thought he said he was buddhist, so I told him he had a cool belief.  He laughed and it was ok.  We might meet him later. He offered to buy us food.

Sunday 4/14

More conference!  Super good.  We went and picked up a really cool British guy who watched a session with us. Confused about faith, but cool  Also I bought a huge pack of seaweed.  My comp made fun of me.  Elder Witt is now benching more reps with one hand than I can with two.  He's an awesome ZL.  i love him. Elder Woodford too.  They're both dope.  We walked around and talked to people tonight.  Met a cool kid that we'll talk to later.

I really liked Elder Holland's talk on faith.  I feel like that happened to me.  I never knew for sure but I always wanted to believe and acted on it.  Not even close to perfectly, but it grew until i realized that I knew it was true.  I can never deny that knowledge now.  I challenge anyone who reads this if they struggle to put it to the test.  Then the day will come when you know for yourself.  it is truly amazing. Give Alma 32 a read.  So good.  This work is true and I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to permanent peace and happiness.  Take joy in that!  I love you.

4/16 Tuesday

So today someone asked me when Jesus would come again and I told him I was 21 years old.  Good thing my comp was on top of things.  He saved me.  Also we met a Korean who spoke spanish and lived in South America for 11 years.  Also, we went to meet a guy who never showed and we found an investigator for the sisters!

4/17

Today was awesome. We had district meeting and I got my suit pants skinnied up.  I like 'em.  I made lots of fried rice and cleaned the kitchen. Oh yeah!  There's this homeless man that really likes us and Elder Clawson is super afraid of him because he always stops us and hugs Elder Clawson a bunch.  He gave us donuts and bought Elder Clawson some green tea.  We ran for our train with him chasing us.  It was pretty awkward.  We barely escaped.

4/18

So we went on splits with Elder Witt and Elder Woodford today.  i was with Elder Witt and we had a great day.  We ran everywhere and taught a good lesson.  We saw a shirt yesterday that said "pointless sh*t."  Elder Clawson and I laughed so hard after we passed it.  Also, I decided that Koreans are super nice but somehow awkward.  I made a friend today and we took a picture together.  He's kinda punk but way funny. He has stitches from punching someone.  I like him.  Elder Clawson and Woodford met a random guy who totally loves Elder Clawson.  He bought them a bunch of food.  We had cornmeal pancakes for dinner.  I'm really finding out how awesomely applicable the scriptures are.  Everyone needs them! I love you! Don't forget to study them!

4/19 Friday

Had a crazy awesome day today.  it started as not super promising.  We only had one appointment with a guy we met on the bus.  The rest of the day was empty.  We did weekly planning and then afterward I called Brother Kim, a guy who had English interest.  he said we could meet that night.  We went to meet the guy from the bus and we met him.  He bought us food and brought a friend!  He was so cool.  He really liked the Book of Mormon and asked to come to church and was super happy when we gave him a BoM.  His friend was interested too.  he hugged us and shook our hands and it was awesome.  I had the kimchi fried rice too and it totally burned my mouth.  The inside of my mouth was all cut up from sucking mints.  It was super good though.  Then we met Bro Kim.  he was awesome!  Bought us ice cream and then we talked about the Plan of Salvation for an hour and a half.  he's coming to church too.  Two new investigators in a day.  They're both so awesome.  I'm stoked to teach them more!  I love you all!

Also, funny story, we saw a shirt that said, "Rock Sctssors flesh" spelled just like that.  K! Bed time.  Love you!

4/20 Saturday

Fun day today.  Ironically I'm the cleanest one in the house.  I clean lots.  If any of you are looking for a good, possibly life chaing talk, listen to W. Cleon Skousen "The Meaning of the Atonement." I have it on my computer. Listen to it!

Today we went to meet a less active member of our ward on the outskirts of our area.  She had moved, but we found a lady who spoke English and chinese.  She said we could meet with her and we're excited.  Also talked to lots of cool people.  We met a man tonight who really likes the Book of Mormon and says when he knows it's true he will be baptized!  Super cool.  Then we got waffles and went home.

4/21

Fun day today. Super gorgeous out, good temperature.  Reminded me of beautiful Sunday walks in Bellingham.  Awesome. We walked around and talked to lots of people.  We had an awesome sacrament meeting and Brother Park came! The Lord is blessing us majorly.  I love you lots!