Bonus post: Christmas call!

We couldn't figure out how to make a screen grab from a PC in time, so here's a screen grab from the video Elder Newton's dad made on his phone.

On Christmas Eve, we got to see Elder Newton's face for the first time since July 27, when he entered the Provo Missionary Training Center, and hear his voice for the first time since Sept. 27, when he called us from the airport on his way to Korea. He told us about life in Korea, spoke and sang in Korean for us, and answered our questions. He signed off with an impromptu discover poem.

Discover farewell

Sob and [unintelligible because a sibling blurted something out while Elder Newton was talking … shocking, I know]

Quick click, but lasting silence

Stop the problem.

[Korean words that Mom won't attempt to transcribe]

The proof is [unclear, possibly more Korean]

Farewell

Week 22: Merry Boxing Day!

Or Merry Christmas. Wherever you are. In any case, Christmas was great. I'll just talk about that, because it's all that matters.

Opening presents was great, shoutout to all the gifts and letters. I love them so. Give me letters. 

Church was nice. There were many musical numbers and nice speakers. It did go 40 minutes over though. 

Then we called and I was fed graciously by 이춘호. 

Then we were called by a member whose kids had asked to see the missionaries on Christmas. He taught us some Korean culture and we ate spaghetti. It was a nice night. Their kids are really fun.

Then we finished the night off with caroling with Lin Jiu and the district. It was fun. 

And yeah, I was bad this week and this email isn't that great and I'm sorry. You have video of me now though. Just look at that. 

But for now:

Discover Christmas

Wrap and Tear

Cold Day but Warming Memories

Stop the problem

How?

Jolt out of Bed

The proof is Strawberry

Christmas

Elder Newton

Week 21: A long-awaited asterisk

Discover Asterisk

Expound and Explain

Quick Stroke but Slow Follow-up

Stop the Problem

How?

Poke a hole in the Ozone

The proof is Earth

Asterisk

*Line 6 (from last week's email) is a quote provided by our lovely Sister Ouzounian

Dear everyone, 

I have pictures! Again!

From the archives:

A pic of Elder Brown you could maybe pretend was me

One time 이한미 was trying to figure out my camera

From this week!

Elder Gildea also left and I felt bad not having a pic of him

Christmas in Korea

At the Sonksens' home. I saw Elder Gilmore†, but I didn't take a pic with him.  You can see 김지훈 though. He's nice.

And yeah, I have little news. Life is great. Sister Sonksen says I have a positive attitude. (I don't see it myself.) And the world is just grand. 

We've prepared a lot for Christmas. We're gonna do a bell choir for the ward party. Sister Ouzounian is a miracle worker. 

And yeah, more later? Merry Christmas!

Elder Newton

† Elder Palepoi Gilmore has been Elder Newton's friend since they were 10 years old. He arrived in the Korea Seoul Mission on Tuesday.

​

Week 20: Cookies. I have so many cookies

Discover Cookies

Crave and Crunch

Short Recipe but Long Hours

Stop the Problem

How?

"Cat- Oh what's the word?- Cat memes"*

The proof is defense

Cookies

 

We like to have fun here with our hundreds of cookies

Us giving them out on the street

Elder 문승호. He is the best dad ever, and that's not even his kid

More ward party

RIP Sister Lenhart. ’Twas fun, but now she gets to go back to America.

 

 

 

So yeah, I made so many cookies this week, and also was not transferred. That's about all the news.

But I'd feel bad if I didn't say more, so here's a quick miracle:

Basically, Seoul has two address systems. They changed it two years ago to this really great system that actually makes sense. Like it's great and you always know where you're going.

The problem is that none of our church records have this nice system. Instead we have the old one that is basically made of nonsense and random numbers. Like if it weren't for 부동산s† I would never find any member houses. 

Anywho, we were attempting to navigate the streets of Seoul last night, and it was not going well. See, when they changed the address system, they also took down all the old signs. So to find the old address on a building you have to scour for the old address sharpied on the wall. You can see why we were failing.

After like half an hour, we're standing in the middle of a sidestreet, looking lost, when suddenly the guy we're looking for turns the corner. Turns out he's attending his old church again, but he was happy we visited him. We invited him to Christmas sacrament meeting, 

See y'all next time!

Elder Newton

​

* Elder Newton never did explain about the cat memes or the defense. Maybe next week.

† I asked if 부동산 was like an A-to-Zed (Google just told me it means "real estate") and he said it's kind of like that.

Week 19: A week in 5 pics because this week wasn't super exciting

We went to the temple! It was great. Sister Lenhart is leaving, so she wanted pics of us all together. And then the other elders had to miss temple day (because of zone leadership training). But it's k.

After temple we ate at legitimately one of the best Mexican restaurants I've ever been to. It was amazing. If y'all ever visit Korea in two years, go to Taco Loco and take me with you.

Here's me with our Light the World board we made

A sister in the ward gave us matching scarves! Aren't we cute?

​I wrote Lin Jiu a Christmas card, and he really liked it. 

Discover Close call*

Upload and get distracted

Simple slip up but obvious absence

Stop the Problem

How?

Add the poem

The proof is guilt

Close Call

More next week!

Hope y'all are Christmasing!

Elder Newton

 

* I wasn't sure what close call Elder Newton was talking about here, so I asked him. In case you were also confused, it's just that he almost forgot to write his weekly poem.