Monday, December 30, 2013

"How can I get baptized?"

December 9, 2013
Dear everyone!
 
So I'm now serving in Gumi! (goo-mee) Sister Park and I get along so well, and it's awesome. She's hilarious and so kind hearted. We talk a lot and easily in a mixture of Korean and English. She's only learned English on her mission, but she speaks it really well. She sounds like an American! She uses "like" all the time and everything. It's pretty cool. My Korean continues to improve, but I am very grateful to have another native speaker for a companion.
 
Also, Sister Park LOVES food. She has a very slim figure, and eats about three times as much as I do. (I really want to know how she manages that..) We eat lots of "delicious things", and I'm honestly afraid of gaining some serious weight this transfer with her. We eat a LOT of "delicious things"..fried chicken, cake (2 for her birthday this week), street vendor pastries, donuts... But hey! As long as they're delicious, I'm not going to complain too much. ^^
 
Gumi is great. It's defintely NOT Busan. My last area was in northern Busan, and Gumi is kind of a super country outlying part of Daegu, one of the top three largest cities in Korea. The people here move SUPER fast, but once you can catch up to one of them and get them to slow down, they're really open and kind. We've already seen a LOT of miracles in this area. We started off the week with no investigators, and I was afraid that it was going to be a repeat of my last transfer where we had 4-5 weeks straight with no investigators. But this week, we found three. Two of them are the most golden investigators I've ever heard of in my life. It's a father and his 10-year-old daughter. The daughter asked us the other day how she can be baptized. Yes. Miracles still happen. We plan to invite them to be baptized during our lesson this week. Exciting!!!
 
Okay. Some random things you probably didn't know!
 
- I can count the number of times I've used a fork in the last 4 months on one hand. Chopsticks!!!
- I've slept in a bed ONCE in the past 4 months. Mats are where it's at.
- Yes, Koreans do bow. All the time. It's just part of how you greet people. I might have a problem breaking that habit when I get off my mission. NOT kidding.
- Koreans eat a TON of rice. And so do I. They also eat a ton of ramen.
- If you wear your shoes in the house, you WILL lose serious points with Koreans. DISRESPECT. Haven't worn my shoes in a house in...the past four months.
 
Also, Christmas is NOT a big deal in Korea. They play the Christmas music and stuff, but it's just in the stores. In Korea, Christmas is a couples day. Kind of irrelevant for missionaries.... But that's okay! It snows in Gumi. It doesn't snow in Busan, so I'm SUPER happy to be getting snow around here soon. I've heard we get blizzards, and I'm not going to lie. I'm SUPER excited.
 
Well, the Work of Salvation is going forward, and I'm so grateful to be a part of it!
 
I love you all so much!!!
 
Love,
Sister Bonney
 
PS Even though I got transfered, my address is the same! Korea Busan Mission, Dongnae Post Office Box 73, Busan, South Korea 607-600