We were on the subway coming
home form an appointment from a 식사 (meal? dinner appointment? I'm not sure what the proper
term is) with an American family in an area where there are a lot of Americans.
And veeeery few foreigners learn Korean, because it's so hard and Koreans all
learn English in school, anyway (though, of course, people vary on how good
they are at speaking.) Anyway, we got on the subway and were talking to a lady
about the Book of Mormon, and as we get on the subway, a row of about 4 boys
with their headphones in simultaneously pull them out and lean forward and
start saying, "It's Korean! They're speaking Korean!" And then we
turn and look and they simultaneously put one headphone back in and nonchalantly
listen. Hehe :)
But yes! I'm speaking Korean!
Granted, I feel like I'll always be a ways away from fluency, but as a general
rule, speaking and listening are fairly natural :) Though I will warn you, when
I get home and you ask me to say "_____" in Korean, I may or may not
know. Being natural "enough to get by and communicate Korean" and
real Korean is a totally different thing :)
LIke one of our lessons this week. We talked about going to
the Temple to do proxy baptisms with a recent convert (Bohyeun) sister - we
prepared well, it was a nice experience about how the temple is important, and
a place where you can feel peace, and you need to live worthily to go inside
because it is the Lord's house...and then she started asking questions about
cremation and if you bring these certain clothes and logistics and if her
children can go (which was hard to answer, because they do age funny here, so I
don't know what age they can go here), and about Korean traditional bows and
respect for ancestors and who can be baptized for who....I really don't know
the vocabulary to explain about cremation. I only got it because I'm good at
charades in Korean and heard the word "fire". :) Anyway, it was an
adventure. We talked with the Bohyeun again with another member to
clear up a lot of questions! So it's all good now.
The Spirit is everything in this work. And it throws me off
a lot because I don't feel its guidance as boldly and strongly as often
as I expected. But it's there, if I take a moment and our investigator
takes time and effort to recognize it. Sometimes, like once this week, my
thoughts and words are guided at I teach, and things just all come together in
the end and click. (We were talking about the Book of Mormon, and she loves
reading - she said she loves it because normal people don't often have chances
to meet great thinkers, but you can thorough books. And you can meet great
thinkers in the Book of Mormon, from history who don't only think well, but are
inspired from God. So in a way, you can meet and learn how God thinks though
this book. I hope that makes sense....It came together a lot better when
originally guided by the Spirit, but I suppose it's not necessary right now ;)
) And a couple people we met with just notice something different, a different
feeling and that they like being around the missionaries, even though we're
uncomfortable foreigners who can't speak their language and talk about
religion. They feel a little something different, a little something more.
Somethimes it's not anything we say,
it's just being a conduit of the Spirit.
Anyway, Sister H is studying as
diligently as usual - she loves the gospel, and eats up everything. She said a
while ago that she's been looking for Christ for a long time, but hasn't been
able to find Him through another doctrine or church. She wants to know almost
everything before she wants to be baptized, though, so we're working on that. I
can completely understand that mindset, but we're trying to help her to
understand that it is the gateway, not the finish line.
Anyway, enough rambling.
Oh wait. Awkward story of the week -
I can't believe I almost forgot.
So we were pretty much set up
without our knowledge with our investigator's awkward single son who is a good
10 years older than each of us and doesn't speak English. She brought him to
our lesson and kept talking about him not having a girlfriend and how we are so
pretty and speak Korean so well and brought us to a little restaurant...thankfully,
a member was there (She's the BEST! I love her so much, her name is Sister
ChoiGeumJa ^^) and we could start the lesson. It ended up being not a bad
lesson, but it was still weird. WE don't know if we'll met her again, (she did
have some real gospel interest, too) but if we do, we'll need to talk to her
ahead of time :P
Anyway, NOW enough rambling :)
It's a fantastic time to be alive,
and to have the chance to share the gospel, as the work is hastening - both for
me as a missionary and for members as well! We're all in it together, and it's
swelling together! This is the Lord's work; there are too many miracles to deny
it!
Love you all!
Sister Thomas
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