Week 10: Korea, here I am!

Here's Elder Newton's first update from the land of the morning calm. No photos this time, as it appears he had his hands full on his first preparation day. (That's the missionaries' "day off" when they can shop, do laundry, play ball, send and read email, etc.) In short emails to his mother, he shared that he's in 녹번 (Nokbeon-dong), a neighborhood in Seoul, with three other elders and gets along well with his companion, Elder Brown. We hope for more information as he settles in more.

Discover Seoul

Touchdown and drizzle

Lots of ocean around, but not that much humidity yet

Stop the Problem

How?

Make Kimchi

The proof is Swallow

Seoul

So yeah, it's been wild. I live in Korea now. I love it a lot. I don't know what to say, so I'll just tell a story because I like it a lot.

So as you know, I am in Korea. That's cool. Because of this, many people speak Korean. I am told I am good at this language, but I don't believe this. I have no idea what's going on most of the time actually. 

But anyway, on my second day here, Elder Brown and I forgot dinner for the first time. (He's cool. He's blond and is from Bro. Chandler's home ward apparently.) We have forgotten dinner a lot actually. But it's OK, it's not like we're walking up a million hills every day. 

So instead of dinner, we're doing this survey activity, when I see this photographer sitting a few benches away from us. And Elder Brown is busy talking to someone else, so it's up to me to go proselyte to this guy. I am a little terrified at this point. See, when we are on the street, Elder Brown is the big talker. He knows what's going on. I don't. And yet, the Spirit is telling me to go, and so I do.

His name was ​[redacted because we're asked to safeguard the privacy of people the missionaries teach]. Turns out he knew English. He said he didn't really need religion, but I wasn't going to just leave because of that. So I asked if we could share pictures. Something I've learned is photographers always have cool stories and are willing to talk to someone who will listen. (S/O to Emily Gidney for that wisdom.)

So as we talk, we somehow end up talking about the Gospel anyway. I was a fan of this. Turns out, he had met missionaries in LA and talked to them. He had a few questions, and I answered them. We talked a lot about God and faith, and before I knew it, an hour had passed. And I had taught my first street lesson. 

I gave him a ​Book of M​ormon, which he almost didn't accept. Since he said he wasn't ready for religion, he said he'd read it another time, and if he took my book, he'd be depriving someone who was ready of the same opportunity. I really liked that consideration, but also he needed the word of God, so I assured him I had an extra in my bag.

And yeah, I just like this guy a lot, and it turns out he doesn't even live in my mission. I was real sad about that, he's still like my favorite person I've met though. 

And yeah, email time is short. More updates later,

-Elder Newton