Happy Easter

We watched General Conference this weekend at our stake center and it was so wonderful! So many great talks. I was so spiritually pumped afterward! During the Sunday Afternoon Session one of the speakers mentioned the opportunity we have to reflect on the Savior's life during Easter and it got me thinking. After a few seconds I finally turned to the woman next to me (who's from Utah--she's an English teacher here and was my temporary companion while my real companion was in the Korean session) and asked, "Wait, so when's Easter again?"

She looked shocked. "It's today. You didn't know?"

"Today!"

I was totally out of the loop.

There are a lot of Christians here in Seoul but Easter isn't really celebrated the same way. After explaining some of the things we would do growing up for Easter to my companion she suddenly asked me why a rabbit would deliver eggs. I wasn't sure what to say. She also asked me what P.E.Z. stands for, as in P.E.Z. candy. What does P.E.Z. stand for? 

Anyway, Happy Easter!

It's officially spring here in Korea. I can already tell that it's going to be absolutely beautiful! There are little brightly colored buds on all of the trees and the air smells like grass. I'm not wearing a scarf today and I feel so free. 

This week has been a little bumpy. A lot of our investigators suddenly dropped us and we've been trying really hard to not get discouraged. But everything will work out, and we'll keep working hard and talking to EVERYONE! "It's true, isn't it? Then that's all that matters."--Sorry, had to put in at least one reference from General Conference :)

Love you all! 

Sister Washburn 

Horray!

Oh my goodness! So many changes at home. And the MTC missionaries got to sing for Conference! I've gasped out loud nearly every other second while reading your email--my companion keeps shaking her head and smiling. I'm so excited for you all. So many blessings. Hooray!

Speaking of changes, we had transfers this week. I stayed in Bupeong but I have a new companion, 박소연s (Sister Park Soyeon). She's wonderful. We were at the MTC together actually, she's my older district. I think she's in one of the pictures I sent home from the MTC actually…the picture with just me and one another Korean sister smiling on the temple grounds

Anyway, she's wonderful! She helps me with my Korean so much. She speaks to me mostly in Korean and I respond 60% of the time back in Korean. If I don't understand she speaks more simply and slowly and helps me figure it out. Seriously, I'm so blessed. It's actually pretty rare in my mission to have as many native companions as I've had. Most American missionaries here have about 1 or 2 their whole mission and I've already had 3, all in my first four transfers in country!

Yesterday Sister Park taught me how to tell Koreans my blood-type, which, apparently, is a common question. A lot of Koreans believe that your blood-type reveals a lot about your personality. For example, they say AB blood-types are emotional and unpredictable, A blood-types are shy and kind, B blood-types are a little selfish but powerful, and O+ blood-types (me) are friendly.

I'm buying a little notebook to carry around with me so I can write down the new words I learn while we're out working. I'm determined to learn as much as I can!

A few days ago, while passing out English class fliers, a delivery man on a scooter drove passed me on the sidewalk, accepted my flyer and said thank you in English. Now I see him all the time, and I always make sure to smile and wave. One day, while my district was streetboarding here by my waffle-man (remember him?) the man on the scooter drove passed us, bought a waffle from the waffle-man and then drove back and gave it to me. Then he waved good-bye and drove away. The waffle-man loved it, and everytime he looked at me the rest of that day he couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. I love the people here in Bupeong.

We will watch General Conference this weekend, so we must be a week behind because of translations. My companion and I are going to watch it at our Stake Center with one of our investigators. There are two rooms, one for Korean and the other English, so we have special permission to be in separate rooms during Conference. I'm so excited to watch it! Last Conference I was in the MTC! Wierd.

I love Conference!

Anyway, I better go.

Love, Sister Washburn

Subway Adventure

Just a quick one today--Sis. Jung and I have to travel to another city for a mission-wide P-day activity. I love taking the subway. It's always an adventure.

One time this old disheveled looking man walked over to me from the other side of the train and thrust these crumpled papers into my hands. I looked down and read the first few lines, which were in English, and realized they were from a sermon from a prominent Preacher here in Korea. I looked up into his wrinkled, dusty face and smiled. "Thank you," I said in Korean.

He blinked. "You speak Korean?"

"A little. I study every day."

"Where are you from?"

"America."

"Do you teach English?"

"I'm a missionary," I said pointing to my badge. "I'm learning Korean because I want to share the gospel."

He eyed me suspiciously. After a few minutes he pointed his curled finger at me and said something in Korean that I couldn't understand and then he turned and walked away. While he was walking away I noticed that the hair on the back of his head poked straight up, like he just rolled out of bed, grabbed his English Sermon, and stumbled out the door.

I love the subway.

Our Senior missionaries here in Korea came over with me on the plane and we love to see each other. Every time I see them at the office or at the temple (I get to go to the temple in Seoul once a transfer) they always tell me about all of the amazing things they do. Sister Ellis, the wife, loves to chat and everytime I see her she takes me aside and we laugh and share our experiences since we've been here. They're great.

Happy Spring!

Love, Sister Washburn

We Did It!

Hi all,

I don't have much time but I just want to say how thankful I am to be
here, to be in Korea and to be a missionary. While we were taking the
subway home last night an old drunk cross-eyed Korean man stumbled
over to us, smiled and then started yelling at us in his slurred
Korean that we were no good. I couldn't help but smile. He was like a
little boy. I love Koreans!

This week has been a little crazy because one of the sisters in our
mission got pretty sick and we had to do an emergency exchange for a
couple days. I went back to my old area (Yeonsu) and was companions
with Sister Evans (we were in the MTC together). We're both pretty new
missionaries so it was our first time on our own. I've always had
Korean companions and could use them as a crutch if I couldn't
understand or express myself, but Sis. Evans and I were on our own and
had to teach on our own, find new investigators on our own, and direct
P.E.C. meeting with the Stake Presidency all on our own in Korean--and
we did it!

I can actually speak Korean!

Well, I can speak well enough for people to understand the simplest truths,
and that's all that matters for now. My understanding gets better everyday.
It's still a struggle--I think it will be a struggle for a while--but I can
pick out the key words and figure out what most people say when they speak
to me. The last few days have been such a miracle. And Sister Evans and I
are having so much fun working things out on our own.

My favorite feeling is when I finally snuggle down under my blankets at
night and know I worked hard that day and pushed myself to be courageous and obedient and loving. Since I've been a missionary I can absolutely testify that the happiest people are the ones that work hard, strive to be good, take care of others, and find humor when things don't go as planned. Those are the ones that smile sincerely. Those are the ones that are naturally joyful.

I'm so thankful to be here and to be a part of these people's lives.
It's like Christmas everyday.

Love you all,
Sister Washburn

Eaten!

Hello!

Two exciting stories today.

Story Number 1:

Last P-day, a few hours after writing my email to you, my companion and I met up with two other sister missionaries in our zone (Sis. Kim, my trainer, and Sis. Evans, who was with me at the MTC) and headed toward the underground subway to window shop. My area is famous for shopping and most sister missionaries secretly wish they could serve here just to see the underground. We were on splits for a few hours so Sis. Evans and I were having a fun time just wandering around the subway and looking at jewelery and skirts and shoes and...everything. We decided to look at some shops a floor down so we wandered around a bit and then finally found an escalator.

I was a step below her and was in the middle of telling her something when I suddenly felt someone tug on my skirt. I stopped talking, turned, but saw no one close-by. That's when I looked down.

"Holy cow!" I screamed.

"What is it?"

"The escalator is eating me!"

My long black skirt was being slowly pulled deeper and deeper into unknown escalator-depths and I couldn't pull myself free!

"It's pulling my skirt off!"

Sister Evans grabbed my skirt and we both laughed and screamed and struggled until we came to the floor and the escalator suddenly stopped.
I was absolutely stuck.

No matter how hard we pulled I couldn't get free.

Everyone on the escalator above me just stared at me for a few minutes and then slowly and nervously squeezed past. I just blushed, smiled and shrugged.

Several minutes later an old man in a security uniform made his way to me. He stopped in front of me, crossed his arms, and laughed! In the meantime a huge crowd of curious Koreans had gathered around to watch the strange pink American laugh and tug awkwardly at her skirt. One woman even leaned over the railing beside me and just stared unabashedly for ten minutes.

It was an adventure.

Now whenever I see Sister Evans at Zone meetings we instantly crack up.
And I refuse to sew the rip at the bottom of my skirt.
It's my battle scar.

Story Number 2:

Our little teenage boys are getting baptized! Brother 서 (So) and Brother 철 (Chore) are best friends. After accepting the invitation to be baptized Brother 서 prayed and the Spirit was so strong. After he said 'Amen' we all looked up, smiled, sighed, and then couldn't help but chuckle. The Spirit is absolutley amazing. We're all excited.

My hour is almost up, love you all!!


Sister Washburn

Greetings

Hello, hello!


Today for P-day Sister Jung and I are going to the bathhouse. The bathhouse is separated into two buildings, one for men and the other for women. Each section basically has one large heated pool that people just lounge in and scrub scrub scrub. I wasn't too nervous for it until last night when Sis. Jung casually said, "This will be fun because all of the women will stare at you because you're tall and American!" Now I'm slightly terrified, but I have to go at least once. We'll see how it goes...

We have two AMAZING investigators that are so prepared! They're two teenage boys that meet us together. We met them for the first time last week and then that Sunday they came to church with Bibles they brought from home and the Books of Mormon that we gave them. They are so open and earnest, and respond really well to our little ward. Really, they're absolutely amazing. Hopefully they'll keep progressing!

Waffle-man Update: The waffle-man loves us back. Last week while we were standing in line I could see several waffles already made waiting to be re-heated and then served. But when we got to the front of the line he suddenly smiled, pointed at his batter then at his grill. I was confused at first and then suddenly realized what he was trying to say--I smiled and nodded my head. He made me a fresh waffle right there and put tons and tons of cream (my favorite part). We talked to him last night and he has a cold, unfortunately. We told him we'd pray for him. He smiled.


Sorry so short today. My hour is almost up!
Love you all!


Sister Washburn

Waffle Man

My new ward here in 부평 (Bupyeong--sorry if I spell it differently every time, I'm not sure how to spell it phonetically…) is so fun.

It's a pretty small little ward, maybe 30 or so come every Sunday, but they're like one big family. They laugh and joke with one another like siblings. And the last week they gave me a proper testing--feeding me chicken feet and pig intestines, looking at me in the corner of their eyes to see if I smiled while I chewed--and I think I've passed! They also gave me a new name, Sister Wasabi, so I'm officially a part of the gang. They're a wonderful little ward and they make me laugh all the time.

I've also fallen a little in love with the waffle man. He's probably about 40 years old, looks like the Korean version of Indiana Jones (He's just as tall and wears this old baseball cap every day), and sells the best street-side waffles I've ever had (Korean street waffles are thin and crispy with cream and strawberry flavored honey sandwiched inside). I buy one from him almost every day, I can't help myself.

As soon as Sister Jung and I walk up to him he smiles and nods his head in a "took-ya-long-enough" kind of way and then heats up a waffle and carefully layers the cream and honey so perfectly. They're so delicious, and I can't help but tell him he's the best vendor in town every time I see him.

His brother, or maybe just a friend, was helping him a few days ago and when we walked up the other man smiled and said, "We've been watching you two preaching. Missionary work must be hard."

We smiled and said we liked it, and we voluntarily came. When we asked if he went to church he put his hand on his heart and said, "I go every week!" and then pointed to my Korean-Indiana-Jones-Waffle-Maker and said, "But this one, well this one is a devil! He never goes to church!"

The waffle man smiled and looked down into his batter. Then he said quietly, "I took their card."

Sister Jung and I raised our eyebrows but the friend started talking about Americans before we could say anything more.

I haven't been able to see him since then (we've been proselyting in different areas) but he's become one of my special focuses. I can tell the waffle man is special. He has a wise-searching looking about him… :)

Love you all so much! I pray for each of you every day!

Love, Sister Washburn (a.k.a Wasabi)


p.s. Anytime I show the people here a picture of our family (the one from Esther and Brian's wedding) they always gasp and say, "You're all so beautiful!" and "What a coincidence, the girls are all wearing green!"

February 19, 2012 TRANSFERS!

TRANSFERS!


I've been transferred to 부평 (Bupeong) which is just a few subway stations away from my last area, 연수 (Yeonsu). My new companion is 정현정 (Sister Jung). She's amazing! It really is a blessing to be with native companions, I learn so much everyday! Sister Kim, my trainer, is still in my old area so we're still in the same zone, which made us both really happy. Also, one of the sisters from my district in the MTC took my place with Sis. Kim--Sister Evans--so we did a lot of squealing and hugging at Transfers. It'll be a fun zone.


But I miss my investigators in 연수! Especially my English class. I love my English class. There were about 5 or 6 regulars who came every week and I was so sad to leave them. Two of the regulars (Steve and James) actually jump around to all of the different English classes (all of the missionaries in my zone teach them basically). When they came to our English class here in Bupeong my face and theirs just absolutely lit up. Steve came in with this big smile and said, "Washy-bone! We thought you left forever!" When I think about it I get a little sad, but transfers are inspired! And Bupeong is so amazing!


This week Sister Jung and I visited a lot of members and less-actives. One of our less-actives, Sis Choi, is so fun and the most generous woman I've ever met! She about thirty-five and has two adorable little kids, a little girl about 7 and a boy about 5 years old. The little boy gives us treats the whole time we're there--gum, pieces of bread, toys. We teach the mother English and read the Book of Mormon together.


Oh, funny story about her--one time while we were at her house, we all knelt on the floor to begin reading the scriptures. When my legs started aching (long-legs and Korean kneeling don't mix) I leaned to the side and sat with my legs bent to my side. As soon as I had smoothed my long straight skirt so that it covered my feet Sister Choi suddenly gasped and put her hand over her mouth. I gulped and held my breath, expecting to be rebuked for unknowingly disregarding a Korean custom. After a few moments she suddenly reached forward, touched my legs and whispered, "You look just like a mermaid…"

At first I was super confused and then realized I really was sitting like a mermaid! With my skirt covering my feet and my legs curled to the side it looked just like a long tail! I laughed so hard! She's so fun. And she loves to be complimented. I tell her she looks like a highschool student and she practically explodes with happiness.


Bupeong is so wonderful.


I know I say this all the time, but it really is true--I love being a missionary. Since I've been set-apart, and especially since I've been here in Korea, my perspective has changed so much. It's kind of hard to explain without sounding cliche, so I'll just say it again. I love being a missionary. :)


Love, Sister Washburn

February 12, 2012 Three Stories

Goodness gracious. This week was wild. Here's three short stories to illustrate:

1. Last Sunday we decided to teach Steve about the priesthood. (I think I mentioned him before, his Korean name is 위한갑 but he likes to go by his English class name) Steve has a disabled son that he worries about every day. He is such a caring father and was drawn to the church because he recognized that the members were so good and thought they could help his family.

Near the end of our lesson, after explaining the history and importance of the priesthood, I leaned forward to give him our promise. In my baby-Korean I attempted to say, "Through the priesthood I know you can bless your son." Once I finished, my companion suddenly turned bright red, put her hands up and said, "'BLESS your son, you could BLESS him!"

I was confused at first--didn't I just say that?-- and then suddenly realized I had mixed up the verb 축복하다 (to bless) with 축이다. So I had actually promised him that "through the priesthood you can KILL your son." When I made the connection I looked at Steve in horror.
He raised his eyebrow, smiled, and then covered his mouth to stop laughing. We were all goners after that. We all couldn't stop laughing.

2. Sis. Kim and I decided to contact an apartment complex down the street. It had 15 floors and lots of potential families. After knocking on a door on the 12th floor a young man, maybe in his thirties, opened the door a crack, peeked out and said, "Who are you?"

"We're missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

"Oh."

"We teach about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, which is found in this book. May we introduce it?" (It sounds awkward when translated in English, sorry...) He blinked a couple times, look at us, and then shrugged and pushed the door open.

It took us both a few seconds to realize that he was standing in the doorway IN WOMAN'S UNDERWEAR!

We both gasped, looked at each other, and blushed. Sis. Kim quickly took a pass-along card from her bag, stuck her arm out and said (while looking at me) "We'll stop by later, contact us if you're interest."

We bolted after that.
Honestly, Mister.
In your underwear?

3. A few days ago, Sis Kim and I were walking down the street when we saw an old, stooped woman make her way toward us from the opposite direction. That day both Sis. Kim and I had rushed out of the apartment and we were both pretty haggard looking. My bangs were pulled back, and tufts of my hair poked out of my scarf at odd angles.

I had also been too distracted to put much make-up on that morning and my eyebrows were pointing in all kinds of directions from me rubbing my face with my glove to protect my forehead from the wind. When we stood in front of the old woman I smiled and said, "Hello, grandmother! How are you?"

Her whole faced lit up like a child's and she reached for my face and stroked my cheek with her fingers. As she held my face in her hands she whispered, "So pretty. You keep smiling. So pretty."

Who cares about untamed eyebrows!

I have an old Korean woman who thinks I'm great.

Such a wonderful week. I love being a missionary!

Love you all, stay safe and warm

Love, Sister Washburn

February 5, 2012 Flood Warning!

We had a little adventure this morning. During our personal study, around 8:30am, we got a call from a man who was walking past our church (our number is on a huge billboard in front of the church for English class). He said there was a lot of water in the parking-lot and thought he better let someone know. We called the Bishop and he asked us to check it out for him. So we set our scriptures aside, put on our boots, scarves and coats and speed-walked as quickly as we could to the church.

As we rounded the corner and the church came into view I suddenly gasped and shouted, "Holy cow! Our church is drowning!"

There was water seepng out of everything!

We quickly unlocked the door and ran inside to see what we could do--a good 4 or 5 inches of warm water covered the whole floor. The warm water and the cold winter air had created a little sauna and we couldn't help but cough on the thick fog that rolled lazily around the whole building. It was one of the oddest things to see, especially since we had just had church there the day before--it looked absolutely different! We sloshed around turning off valves and picking things up off the floor and out of the water for a good 20 minutes.

Our poor little church building. It'll probably smell like wet-dog for weeks.

It has been absolutely freezing here, which is probably why so many people have had problems with flooding here recently--all of the pipes are bursting! Thursday and Friday were the coldest days I've ever experienced in my life! While Sis. Kim and I were walking to and from appoinments, knocking on apartment doors, or talking to people on the street at least one of us would suddenly chuckle and say, "Seriously.
I think I'm slowly dying." It was so cold!

To knock on doors we just have to pick an apartment building, take the elevator to the top floor and then make our way down, knocking on doors on the way. At one apartment complex, after about a half hour, we were absolutley frozen. The buildings themselves are not heated, only individual apartments, so whether you're on the street or knocking on doors the cold is the same.

After 5 or 6 floors (about 30 or 40 doors) Sis. Kim and I were pretty discouraged. No one would open their door and we were so so cold. Finally, after knocking several times on one door without any response, Sis. Kim suddenly leaned her head on the door, closed her eyes and whimpered in Korean, "I'm so cold. Please let me inside." A second went by and then we heard the lock turn. The door opened! This sweet old woman let us into her apartment, had us warm our feet on her heated floor, and let us share our message.

It was a miracle. Really.

Things like that happen all the time, honestly! It's gotten to the point that when things seem difficult or impossible I can't help but get a little excited. Sis. Kim and I are always amazed that even when we're both so exhausted or so hungry or so discouraged we can't help but still feel joyful. We can't help but feel that what we're doing is important. That missionary work is amazing. That the people are worth it.

The fact that missionary work seems thrive when things don't go as planned is a testimony in itself that what we're doing isn't controlled by us anyway.

When I think about it I can't help but walk a little faster and smile a little brighter.

Love you all! Stay warm and tell the Dilts I say hello!

Sister Washburn

January 29, 2012 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Dear Family,

So fun that the Dilts are coming to stay! I loved the letters that they sent me and the stickers are so cute--I love to see the scribbles from the kids too, it makes me smile.

I don't have much time today--we're trying a different community center because we had to meet a member in another part of town right before and ran into this one hoping to save time. Unfortunately they only allow 30 minutes on each computer so I don't have an hour to write today. So here we go!

The New Year was so fun. It's called 설날 (soul nar) and lasts three days. It started on Sunday, which was January 22nd. Our Mission President told us not to visit members, investigators or tract that day, so after church we were trapped inside our little apartment ALL DAY! I almost went a little crazy, but our apartment is spotless now!

When I first got here there were papers and extra clothes and broken chairs everywhere. Little by little I've been organizing but last Sunday I went into a frenzy and cleaned, organized and categorized the noodles out of that place!

We have an extra bedroom in our home that had turned into a black hole. So many random things everywhere, you couldn't move. I was super excited to organize it and kept trying to convince Sis. Kim it could be done. Sis. Kim didn't seem too excited about the cleaning plan at first (she loves to keep everything and gets really nervous about throwing anything away).

But after an hour, when the extra room was beautiful and things were organized, she suddenly had all the energy in the world to clean the rest of the house! We sang and laughed the whole time. Now every time we come back to our apartment Sis. Kim says, "This is our home now. We have the prettiest missionary apartment in Seoul."

Today we have a zone activity and we're playing games at the stake center. Such good missionaries in my zone. They make me laugh all the time.

I love the work! I love speaking Korean! I love sharing my testimony everyday! And my all time favorite thing is to watch people change their lives. Steve (that his "English" name) from English class came to Church this week and loved it. He is so kind and we think he has a lot of potential. He always says that the church has changed his life and made him a better father and husband. He gave us white kimchi, my favorite, and Sis. Kim and I eat it as a treat at night when we come home.

Korea is the best.

Love, Sis. Washburn

January 22, 2012 Food!

I'm forgetting how to spell! Really. I'm pretty sure that learning a second language involves forgetting your first language. So now I'm just equally bad at both English and Korean! Holy cow. What an adventure.

I have to talk about food again this week. It really is that big of a deal. So, here's two food stories ("food for thought"). Here we go!

Last week the Relief Society President invited us to dinner. She's a very reserved and educated woman and can be a little hard to read sometimes. We've really been trying to build 정 (the Korean concept for trust and friendship), so when she invited us we were really excited.

We all knelt around the low table in the middle of the room and laughed and joked while we ate our rice and side dishes. (By the way, that's a traditional Korean meal, rice and "side dishes," fish, kimchi, tofu, noodles, etc. You don't have a plate. Everyone just uses their chopsticks to reach across the table and eat what they want.)

At the start the Relief Society President said something to me but I didn't understand. Sis. Kim began to translate but then the RS suddenly stopped her, smiled, and then nodded at me like we were sharing a secret. I looked at Sis. Kim. She had on her "oh-no--oh-no" look, but wouldn't make eye-contact with me. The RS then started chatting cheerfully with the others so I just picked up my chopsticks and ate with the others. After dinner she was suddenly so friendly! More than she ever has been before! She kept complimenting my hair and my scarf and touching my cheek--I was flattered but really confused about the sudden change.

When we finally left and were walking to the bus stop Sis. Kim suddenly sighed and clasped her hands together. "Thank you, thank you for eating the fish flesh!"

I turned to her. "What?"

"Before we ate she said most American missionaries refuse to try everything, especially the fish. I was going to translate that part for you because I could see you hadn't understood but she stopped me and whispered, 'Don't translate. I want to see if she eats it on her own. A good missionary will try everything.' I was praying the whole meal!"

"What! She was testing me! Did I eat everything? I can't remember?!"

Sis. Kim grabbed my arm and smiled like we won the lottery.

"You ate everything. And you told her the fish flesh was delicious."

This Sunday she brought us the traditional rice cakes to celebrate the new year. Thanks to a little fish flesh we finally won over the Relief Society President.

Now, I'm a little ashamed of the second story. But I've practically been commanded by the elders in my zone to share it with my family. So here it is:

After district meetings we always eat lunch together at a little Korean restaurant in town. Last week, my district leader, came up to me and said, "Sister Washburn, you're a man now."
"What?"
"This is your second transfer, you're not a baby anymore."
"Oh, yeah. I guess you're right.
"So..." He smiled and looked over his shoulder at the other elders standing behind him. "We want you to do the BIg Mac challenge with us."

They told me about the "Big Mac" challenge before (basically an eating contest to see who can eat the most Big Mac sets--sandwish with fries--without, well, losing it). I teased them about it, mostly.

Well, long horrible story short, the contest came down to a tie--me and another elder in my district with 3 Big Mac sets. They can't stop talking about it and this week at Mission Conference I had all of these random elders from outside of my zone coming up to me and asking, "Are you the Sister Washburn you ate the Big Macs?"

My district elders are writing a song for me called "The Big Mac Queen." I don't know if I should be flattered or wake up early to work out an extra hour. Oh dear. If nothing else it proves just how much I've trained myself to eat lots and lots of food.

Love you all,
Sis. Washburn

January 15, 2012 Got Warm?

Your email felt so cozy, Mom. I could just imagine you in the computer room, sipping your honey tea! I felt warm and happy just reading! And thanks for the Labyrinth "ello" :)

From what I hear January is the coldest month in Korea, but around February it should slowly--very slowly--but surely warm up a bit.

Which makes me giddy just thinking about it! I can't imagine being warm while outside, it seems absurd. To illustrate what I mean I'll explain my typical daily wardrobe. Ready? Okay.

First:
Wool Socks
2 Pairs of Thermal Leggings
Black Tights
Two Skirts
(so...6 layers on the bottom)

Second:
Undershirt
Long-sleeve Shirt
Decorative Top (in order to look a little feminine...) Long-sleeve Cardigan Sweater
(and 5 layers on top)

Third:
Trench Coat
Long Wool Pea-Coat, to go over the Trench Coat
2 Pairs of Gloves
Wool Scarf
(and about 5 outer layers)

TA-DA!

I feel like a magic act every day! It's really fun, and it's a work-out getting dressed every day.
At this rate I think it would be weird to just wear one or two layers.
I'd feel naked.

I love Korea. I've been learning so much about the culture and the people that my desire to share the gospel just grows and grows every second. I think most people who are suddenly thrown into another country have a hard time connecting to the people at first. I remember the first couple of weeks I was here--it was so odd to have EVERYTHING be so different.

During those first weeks I always thought about something Seth wrote in a letter he sent with one of Tiffany's packages. (p.s. Tiffany, you're amazing. Your packages always arrive right when I need a little bit more chocolate. Seriously. You have a sixth sense.) Seth said he remembers thinking on his own mission that sometimes it didn't feel like real life, and the German people he was teaching were imaginary.
And I totally felt that way sometimes! I'd walk down the crowded streets, hear everyone talking in Korean, smell the vendors fried squid, look over the short, little dark-haired crowd in front of me, and it felt like a cartoon! It made me laugh every day!

But now I can't help but notice the things that make Koreans so human and so loveable. At church last week, while the Bishop was speaking, I suddenly noticed a young mother a few rows in front of me slowly and gently rock her little boy in her arms. She brought him close to her face and lightly blew the hair away from his eyes. The baby smiled, closed his eyes and reached up to touch her mouth.

It's moments like that that make me feel so priveledged to be a missionary.

Love you all!

Sister Washburn

Liz, Hannah and Emily Berdan asked to see my "snowman" outfit (me all bundled up for the weather). Sadly, I don't have any pictures with me now but I'll send a picture of another outfit! This is me wearing the Korean traditional (Hambok). It's hard to see in the picture but it has several layers and the skirt is super puffy. The headress is only for single girls to wear. Once you're married your head is bare.

During very special occasions and during (the Korean new year is based on the lunar calendar so it's a couple weeks after Jan. 1st). My companion is a more than a foot shorter than me so the skirt and sleeves are...well, you can see for yourself. :)

January 8, 2012 Dopelganger

DISCLAIMER!

My ldsmail account has a glitch and won't let me send any mail (the SEND button disappeared) so after some frantic calls the office Elders told me to send my weekly report (which goes to my President) and my family email through my personal gmail account...and it feels really weird!

I forgot how blessed I was to be kind of cut off from my old life.

Just looking at my old tabs weirds me out. If I looked at my inbox or any old emails pretty sure I'd blow up in a fiery ball of akwardness.

So I'm only writing this and my weekly report and then running back to the safety of my missionary seclusion! :) Sorry if it's short.

I wanted to tell you a funny thing I learned from Sister Kim this morning. While we were preparing for the day Sister Kim suddenly looked up from trimming her nails and giggled. When I asked her what she was thinking she said,

"There is an old Korean superstition about nail clippings," she pointed at the little pile she had on a tissue in front of her. "Many older people only trim their nails in the morning because an old tale says that if any clippings are left on the floor or in the trash over night a mouse will come, eat your trimmings, and be transformed into an evil version of yourself."

I giggled. "A mouse?"

She nodded. "It turns into your dopelganger."

"How did you learn the word for dopelganger!" I stopped brushing my hair and laughed.

"We say dopelganger all the time in Korea. It is a common word."

I smiled. "What if you have to cut your nails at night?"

She shrugged and carried her tissue toward the bathroom. "My family flushes them down the toilet."

Intense, huh?

The phrase "Of Mice and Men" has taken on a new meaning for me.
Those little rascals.
I'll write more next week when myldsmail works again.
Love you all!
Sis. Washburn

January 1, 2012 Happy Christmas

Hello, hello!

 

Merry Post-Christmas! So fun to hear all of you! When you sang "Famillies can be Together Forever" I ran over to my companion and let her listen too--she smiled and whispered that you all have good voices. She loves to sing so you can definitley give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back. :)

 

These last two weeks have been a whirlwind! The week before Christmas was filled with Ward parties, our Christmas Mission Conference, district meetings and celebrations every where--we were so busy. I got all of my letters and packages from the last month at Mission Conference and opened them that night when we got home. THANK YOU, THANK YOU! My companion and I set up the little tree with its cute little lights and opened my presents while we sipped some cider that I found in a pile of kool-aid packets in our cupboard. It felt so good. It was my little Asian Christmas.

 

This week was just as crazy with preparations for the new year. All Koreans go up a year on January 1st so it's a big deal. On their actual birthdays they still have a celebration but their age doesn't change until the first day of the year.

Koreans age together. I don't know why but I think that's so beautiful.

 

The most wonderful thing about this week though has to do withone of our investigators.  He got baptized this Sunday! Woo hoo! I'm so proud of him I'm nearly exploding. He's a miracle, really. He's from a part-member family here in our ward. He came to church one Sunday and we were introduced to him by his Aunt. He's extremely shy and reserved and really only gave one word answers while we chatted. The next Sunday he came to Church again and Sis. Kim and I planned to teach the Restoration in Gospel principles. I had just memorized the "official" baptismal invitation for my pass-off (oh, I'll explain pass-off in a bit...) and at the end of the lesson Sis. Kim looked over at me, folded her arms, and gave me a look that said lets see if you really memorized that puppy.

 

I blinked a couple times, gulped, and then asked Choi Hoon to follow the example of his Savior and be baptized by someone holding the proper authority. 

 

And then he nodded and said yes! I don't even think Sis. Kim was expecting that--we were both super surprised! He was baptized two weeks later and it was amazing to see him at his baptism--he was so happy and friendly and warm. When we were prepping him for his baptismal interview he bore such a powerful testimony. While he was speaking I couldn't help but think, Holy cow, this is all him and the Lord. He developed this testimony on his own and we get to watch. We just gave him the resources, invited, and watched. It was really humbling. He's our Christmas miracle, for sure.

 

Pass-off. Whoa baby. In the Korea Seoul Mission our President has a program called "pass-off" that pushes new missionaries to master the language and develop their teaching abilities. In order to be considered senior you have to teach all four lessons to your district leader, recite the First Vision, certain key phrases and D&C 4 to your Zone Leaders as well as teach them randomly selected principles, memorize several pages of vocab, and then pass-off with the APs. It's a really great program and I'm learning so much, it's kind of fun in a stressful kind of way. Anyway, that's pass-off. Yay for Korean!

 

Before I leave, a few random bits about Korea that I've seen:

 

1. All of the old woman wear purple (I'm not sure if I've said that already, but they do). The old woman here are my favorite. They giggle like little girls and punch like grown men. When I speak Korean to them they smile like we're sharing a private joke. When I ask them if I can help them with anything they laugh and punched my shoulder good-naturedly (I'm serious about the man-strength though, all of them have a pretty mean punch). Love 'em to death.

 

2. Changing hearts and changing faces. Plastic surgery is huge here. I always see posters for it on every bus, subway, and train. Prominent chins and bigger eyes, that's what every poster says. It makes me a little sad actually. I think Koreans are so beautiful naturally. It takes everything in me not to make a big show on the subway and just rip up the poster in front of them all--"You don't need this!" Rip, smash, stomp "You're beautiful just the way you are!" (You begin to feel pretty passionate about random things as a missionary...) 

 

3. My companion had a dream last night that there was a Baskin Robbins in our closet. I reminded her about Lehi's tendency to recieve revelation while he slept. We're getting ice cream after our zone activity today.

I love the scriptures.

 

Love you all!

 

Sis. Washburn