Week 64: The Boys Are Back in Town

Because Elder Newton was short on time this week and was unable to send a photo of himself with his "new" companion, enjoy this very first photo of him and Elder Pulsipher taken on July 28, 2016, the day after they entered the Missionary Training Center.

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Simple circuit but complex fallout

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How?

Lettuce Leaf 

The proof is Crunch

Server

Goooooooooooooooooooood Morning John, it's Tuesday! Why is it Tuesday?* I dunno really, all I know is something worked out that way. Sorry to leave you all waiting, but the good news is I got to make that joke. Never would have done that otherwise on my mission. 

So yeah, "Welcome to Gangneung" as they say around here. And by they, I mean the Seventh Day Adventist whom we met on the street my first day here. He was a nice man. Elder Pulsipher says we see him around sometimes. 

Speaking of the man, it's good to be back. I always wanted to be with the man out here, but it was a bit of a joke. I guess if I've learned anything out here, it's that if you have a joke wish for the Lord, he will grant it 99% of the time. I'm glad this was one of them though. Elder Pulsipher has eaten a lot of meat so far, a little disappointing, but this week while grocery shopping we only got vegetables, so it looks like we'll have to slowly ease him into the veganism. Oh, who am I kidding? The man could never be vegan, he's used 11+ eggs in the last two meals he's eaten. I love him. 

Oh my goodness I'm getting ahead of myself, I didn't tell you about my last full day in Wonju. It was so mad rushed. 

So we start at home for personal study and run out the door at 10 to catch the next bus to Munmak because heaven knows I'd never leave Wonju without getting one last bagel at the Christmas Cafe. We went well, and it turned out Elder Bond had the same thought, so we ended up having all 4 missionaries doing companion study in a Christmas Cafe in the middle of nowhere. 

Unfortunately we couldn't stay long, because we had to run to the other middle of nowhere, our beloved HoengSeong, for an appointment. Somehow we made it in a little under an hour and a half and got to say goodbye to our investigators up there. I also got pictures with my favorite rice field and some bread shaped like a cow. (It's the closest to 횡성 beef I'll ever have. It had blueberries and cream cheese in it)

It's me eating my cow-shaped treat

We couldn't stay too long though, because we then had to rush to the center of somewhere to see one of my favorite investigators of all time. He lives right above the main market just by the church. He gave us great snacks, which we shared with his pet cat who had been a kitten when I first got transferred to Wonju. I played him some clarinet as a parting gift and he talked about how much he had learned from missionaries. Also he said he felt we were his true friends, and man was I touched. 

But wait, there's more. Right after him, we started off yet again to our member-referred investigator who is such a humble man. He made us dinner (which he really shouldn't have) but it was delicious and also got us the dinner we didn't have time for in our plan. 

Then I had the hardest goodbye of all when we went to the church to meet Old Branch President Kim and his family to give back his clarinet. (For the record, the hard goodbye was with them, not the clarinet.) He had just gotten back from a vacation with his family, and he felt oh so bad that he couldn't feed us before we left. He gave us a bajillion snacks though, and Sister Jung (his wife) almost had him order us a pizza. They're such a good family. We talked for a bit, but it was late and so he drove us home so I'd have more time to pack. 

And yeah, the point is I love Wonju. 

But back to Gangneung. The members are great here too, and the recent convert is one of the coolest people of all time. He's an English major and so far he's taught me about syntax and multicultural conflict resolution. 

Also when I gave my talk in church this Sunday, there was an audible gasp when I subtly mentioned the whole vegetarian thing. It was rather funny actually. I'll have to explain the branch here later though, because I'm low on time.

Best Wishes,

Elder Newton

* There was a churchwide email server problem Sunday night, which was Monday — Elder Newton's preparation day — in Korea. His mission president kindly allowed the affected missionaries to email their families the next morning.