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
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
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
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
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)