We watched all of the conference on sunday. That was such a long but great conference marathon!

 Sometimes I think Korea is Las Vegas. I always feel like I'm walking down the strip. Just with a lot more tourists! Haha but all the fancy places here literally look like we're inside Caesars Palace.. It's so weird.

수원 (Suwon) had this huge festival. I wanted to go to it so badly but it didn't fall on a pday. Luckily the stake wanted all of us missionaries to work the booth in front of the church at 신풍 (Shinpoong) for family history work. 

The church is inside this huge historic wall. It was super fun giving away snacks and drinks while we could talk to people about family history work and about the church. It was a festival so other people didn't really seem too interested but we did find some great people! It was a good way to get our church name out there and our proselyting stats were so high that day. ^^ I didn't get to see the festival at all, but just seeing people coming through it made me happy.

I finally got to see conference! We watched all of it on Sunday. That was such a long but great conference marathon! My favorite talk was by President Henry B. Eyring. I could feel the spirit so strongly as he talked about his mother and wife.

 I also really loved President Thomas S. Monson's quote when he said, "It is far more important to have treasures in Heaven than on Earth." Before coming on the mission I didn't realize how important conference was and that I was so sucked up in the worldly things. But now I feel like my eyes have been opened and I've been living my life wrong. At least now I know I want to change my ways when I get back into the real world.

This week I also got to see a lunar eclipse! It was the coolest thing I had ever seen. Also does any of my other missionary friends have people yelling "Hallelujah" at you?? I get that a lot. Also a lot of people think we're nuns... Is it just me?

I hope everyone has a great week! Especially my family who's on a cruise in the Caribbean...

Sister Johnson

We covered so many gospel points and we cried together!

So we have this investigator who we;ve been trying to meet with for two months and we couldn't meet with her because it was "too hot outside" and so she didn't want to make us go outside... but we still had to go out and do missionary work anyway! Haha but we finally got to meet with her once it cooled down and it was by far the best lesson I've ever had. She's English interest but she loves learning and so she had so many questions about the gospel. It was so good! We covered so many gospel points and we cried together. I hope she'll continue to meet with us and progress!

We went sticker boarding with the district and we were an hour late when we finally started. It wasn't that great of a success and the people I got to put a sticker on the board would hurry and run away as fast as they could because they saw that we were missionaries. But then one lady was just standing there trying to read our boards and figure out what we were doing. We started talking to her and ended up giving her a Book of Mormon. 

We then continued talking and we found out that she lives in the building right next to ours! For reals this time! The area we were sticker boarding at was pretty far from our house and if we weren't late then we wouldn't have ever met with her. But the Lord truly will put those in our paths. She wouldn't give us her number, but we figured we'd just stalk her apartment until we run into her again(:

So I met with a member that used to serve with my Dad and Mom and she fed us soooo much! She gave us a meal then ice cream. We thought we were done but she also got us a box of donuts. We then still had some time left together so she took us to a cafe and got more drinks and a cake... I've never been so full in my life! Actually that's a lie.. Every time we have a meal appointment I'm always so stuffed because everyone thinks missionaries starve so they feed us their entire house. Anyway, she told us to never marry a Korean man because they're no good. My dad was okay for my mom to marry because he's technically "not really Korean.." haha

 Have a great week!   

Sister Johnson

5 Things I Love & would Like to Love ...

So we've been having troubles heart attacking members and investigators since all the apartments in this area have codes to get inside. Well Elder Nixon is new to our district because an Elder had to go home since he was sick. Anyway, Elder Nixon gave us the bright idea to look around the doorway to see if the code was hanging around. And guess what? He was right! We can now break into any apartment. So if you're ever in Korea and need to get into and apartment building, there's your way in! Apparently Koreans forget the password enough that they write it in obvious places. What's the point of having codes then??

At this last zone training, we were asked to list 5 things we loved about Korea and 5 things we would like to love. Here were the things I listed:

LOVE:

-the adorable Korean babies. I'm so close to stealing one and running off with it

-the fact that all Koreans are so hospitable and they ALWAYS give you free food(:

-buses and subways. The most convenient thing ever. Who needs a car?

-ICE CREAM. Enough said.

-PC rooms. Not really but I couldn't think of another thing..

LIKE TO LOVE:

-smokers and drinkers. They are EVERYWHERE.

-FOOD TRASH. It's the worst. Why can't we put all the trash in the same place??

-the humidity

-short skirts and boys who dress really feminine.

-Gang nam style.

-acid rain. I'm going to lose all of my hair!

Okay I realize there are more things that I dislike... But I promise I really love Korea!!!(:

Have a great week!  

  Sister Johnson

Totally worth it because we got her phone number!

We met our investigator that just has friend interest and she compared God to a baby. She literally said that God was a baby cause he needs attention all the time.. She definitely has some strong opinions that are slightly a little crazy. 

She also said she couldn't believe the Book of Mormon because she isn't interested in other peoples' lives, especially ones that died thousands of years ago... but we did ask her to read the Book of Mormon again with REAL INTENT to truly know if it was true and she said she would, because the other times she read it, she just read it for fun and out of curiosity of what our church believed. I really hope this time her heart will be open to it.

This week we went on exchanges and Sister Hales came to 곡반정 with me. We went proselyting that night and decided to talk to one more person, making it 10 for the day. We were pretty close to our apartment when we met this girl. She was so kind and was actually talking back to us so we walked with her. She asked us where we lived and I said the Samsung apts and she said she lived right next door! So we walked together and I started noticing that she wasn't going the right direction... And I remembered that there were a million apartments in Korea that were named Samsung apts. 

Sister Hales just came up for the day so she had no idea where we were going! The girl thought we didn't know where we lived because we're foreigners and I've only been in the area for 3 weeks. 

She guided us to our "apartments" and then we said her goodbyes. We then hid around a corner until the coast was clear and we sped-walked to our actual apartment 30 minutes away! I could have told the girl that we actually lived in a different place, but we had such a great conversation going and I didn't want to ruin it. So instead we took an hour detour. 

Totally worth it because we got her phone number! It's definitely worth it to talk to that one extra person.

Have a great week! 

 Sister Johnson

We are eating in a hut(:

By the end of the night she broke the news to me!

 Chu seok (Thanksgiving) was a blast! We had two member meal appointments and we were SO stuffed. It was a day full of food and games. It was nice to have a day to spend time with the district and families. For Chuseok everyone usually goes down south to their grandparents homes so the streets on Monday were Filled with so many foreigners. It was slightly a little sketchy. Anyway, the BYU students came with us to our dinner appointment and we actually convinced one of the girls to go on a mission! 

It's a miracle! We actually didn't have to do anything. She was with us for most of the day and she saw how awesome missionaries were and by the end of the night she broke the news to me! SWEET. We were good examples for her and we didn't even know it!

The whole mission got together for Chu seok and got training and tons of activities. We had a talent show and my last companion and my current companion signed us up for stuff. I had to sing in front of 200 people against my will! They all got to hear my squeaky 12 year old boy voice.  Luckily I wasn't singing alone so I could hide my voice with theirs.. haha

Anyway the other day we went to a member's house to grab some food she had for us. And someone brought up the fact that my parents had served in this same mission. I ended up showing pictures of my parents while they were on their missions and the member totally knew who my dad was! He served in her ward when she was younger apparently. SMALL WORLD. 

It's so cool how many connections there are in the church. I'm so happy to be serving where my parents served(:

Anyway have a great week!

Sister Johnson

"Don't dare give me your seat! Do you think i'm that old?

So ukulele proselyting isn't as successful as we thought it would be. People tend to walk around us.. They avoid us like we're the plague! They'd rather walk around us and take the longer way to their destination than make awkward eye contact with us! Oh well, their loss. They're just missing out on a great show about the gospel. ^^

Mission tour was this week and Elder and Sister Aoyagi came to speak to us. I've never seen a cuter Japanese couple before! They gave us wonderful insight for the mission and it was a great spiritually fed day. On the way to the conference we were on the subway and I tried to give this lady my seat but she used both of her hands and shoved me back into my seat. That really took me by surprise. She said, "Don't dare give me your seat! Do you think I'm that old?!" Haha I mean she was pretty old.. But I was just trying to be nice. But that started a great conversation that lasted the whole ride.

 I've had so many great experiences that have started by trying to give someone my seat. Another sister shared her experience with me as well. She was crossing an intersection when a man stopped her. He told her that he had seen her give an old woman her seat 3 months ago and that he never forgot. We can really make a difference by the small acts of service we do!

We met with a former investigator the other day who had met the missionaries on and off for 10 years. She was so kind and nice, but later towards the end of the visit, she told us that she would never join our church. She said she respected our church but she doesn't believe in God because she needs solid proof. She kept telling us that believing isn't good enough. She then told us she just wanted to start meeting us again to be friends. She's not gospel interest, not English interest, but she's FRIEND interest! Never thought that would happen in Korea.

Also lately there have been a million ridiculously loud fighter jets flying really low to the ground. Every time I hear them coming I hide behind the furniture thinking that it's North Korea about to attack.. Maybe I'm a little too paranoid?

Anyway, sorry there isn't much time! Today is Chuseok ( Thanksgiving ) a HUGE Korean holiday so we're off to another appointment. 

 I love the area!  My health is getting better.  Love you bye!  

Sister Johnson

No PIZZA. NO CAKE. NO CHOCOLATE. NO HAPPINESS.

This week has been crazy. 

We had to clean out the entire An seong sister's house because we're completely moving out and closing. That was fun. We also had some meals with members and less actives. It's so hard to leave them behind knowing that sister missionaries may never come to that area again! There just aren't enough sister missionaries coming out anymore. But a member did give me a coat and some shoes which was much needed because winter is coming and I don't have a coat! Apparently winters here are death...

Then on Wednesday it was transfer day! It was great seeing all the other missionaries transferring too. I met with Sister Carter who is from Washington D.C. and we went to Severance Hospital for 6 hours. 

I had to get this tubey camera thing up my nose. and I saw everything in my throat and lungs. GROSS. BUT I finally got a diagnosis! Something is wrong with my stomach acid since being here in Korea. It's some sort of disease? I'm not sure, but it's what the pills say. The stomach acid is making my breathing area swell up so that's why it's been so hard for me to breathe. So now I have to take these pills twice a day for two months. But here's the worst part.

 NO PIZZA. NO CAKE. NO SODA. NO CHOCOLATE. NO HAPPINESS. I don't know if I just can't eat these things while I'm on the medication, or if I can't eat those things forever... yay..

Anyway I went to my new area Gok ban jeong and my district and the ward is great! the ward is so much bigger than An seong was! We're even going to have BYU students attending our ward who are here studying! And guess what? I know one of the from the MTC. He was a Mong teacher there. Such a small world! Even on Monday we went to FHE on Camp Humphrey's base  and one of the soldiers there was my home teacher at Utah State that lived across the hall from me in Pine view! Small world.

I love this area already though. I love the investigators and the members!

Sister Carter and I started doing Ukelele proselyting. I'll let you know how that goes. We gave it a swing last night and no one ever came to talk to us... We either scared them with the giant mormon poster or we just scared them off with our singing. Luckily when we were about to wrap it up, one man came and talked to us! It just might work(:

Anyway have a great week! I'm not dying... yet!(:

Sister Johnson