Monday, October 24, 2016

First Week in 한국! Korea!

안녕하세요!


This week has been full of craziness and excitement! I wish you all could be here and see how awesome Korea is!

We got here Tuesday night around 10 oclock Korean time and didn't get to sleep till around 12.  Up for more than 24 hours, it was rough.  The next day we were immediately immersed in missionary work, we went out with the trainers to proselyte pretty much right away.  I didn't understand a single word anyone said except for hello.  But I placed some restoration pamphlets and BoM so it was good.


Later we had our first taste of Korean food.  SOO GOOD! I don't know how I've lived without Kimchi all these years. It is awesome.  The only thing I haven't liked was pig liver, it's too chewy, really weird.  After lunch we were assigned to our trainers.  

My companions name is Elder 장세영(Jang Seyoung) He is so awesome! He speaks pretty much fluent English which helps, but he is so kind and funny, and he's a super good cook.  We were assigned to serve in the 안동 Andong area.  It's way up North and it's "countryside" except for it's really just a less crowded city then the other places.  It was about a 3.5 hour bus ride from Busan so we didn't get home until pretty late. 

Our apartment is just a tad bit bigger than my old bedroom.  But it's split into three rooms.  The bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom.  We sleep on an 이불.  Which is pretty much just a mat, but super comfy! I love it!  
The next day we rode our bikes around thirtyish minutes to give an old lady a blessing in the hospital.  I got to anoint the oil in Korean which was nuts! But so awesome! 

And then we traveled back to Busan to hear Elder Bednar give a devotional for all the missionaries in the mission! It was kind of a question and answer except he was asking questions and we were answering.  The spirit was crazy and I got so many answers to questions.  
I love Korea! It's the best! I wish you were all here with me to experience this! I love you all! Have a good week!  


-- 

Elder Geddes

Ps I left my camera at home sick pictures of Andong next week








Proof of Life Email - October 18, 2016

I'm in Korea!

Hey Family! I'm in Korea, I only have a few minutes so this will be short.  It's crazy here, I don't really understand anything people say.  Today I meet with President Barrows and then we go proselyting.  After lunch we meet the trainers and tonight I head to my new area! Super exciting! Love you all!


From the Mission Office

Dear Parents of Missionaries,
Your son or daughter arrived safely here in Busan, South Korea this evening at 9:30 pm. The missionaries are excited, and at the same time, very tired! The Elders and Sisters were greeted at the airport by President Barrow and Sister Barrow, the Assistants to the President, and the Office Assistants, as well as the Busan Stake President, and a few other drivers from the various wards in the Stake. Tonight they will sleep at the Mission Home (Sisters) and at the AP’s apartment (Elders). In the morning they will start right out with interviews and training. During the training time period, each missionary will have the opportunity to email his or her parents to let you know that they are fine and well! They are safely here in Korea! We are looking forward to getting to know them tomorrow. They will have a very busy, full day, and will leave with a new companion-trainer to go out to their areas tomorrow evening.

Our prayers are with you, and your sons and daughters, as you make this sacrifice. They will have a great experience and will accomplish wonderful things.

Sincerely,

Sister George


Monday, October 17, 2016

Week #8

안녕하세요!


Five more days until I head to 한국! I'm so excited but also really terrified because I'm not going to understand anything.  But I know the Lord qualifies who he calls so he will be there to support me every step of the way.  
Some highlights of this week were:

1) We got our Korean nametags! We'll get better ones when we get there but these ones will do until then, they're still pretty sweet tho! 

2) Flight plans came. We head out at 3:50 monday morning, could be rough. We stop in Seattle, then in Tokyo!  We'll be in Korea by 9:30 PM the next day, in Korean time so I'm not sure what time it'll be here. 

3) We've been learning how to street contact, which is probably the funnest thing of all time! and 

4) We got to hear from Bednar 장로님! He is so awesome! He taught about how to have a more meaningful experience watching conference which was sweet cuz I could definitely get more out of it than I am right now. That makes four apostles that I've seen since coming here! So lucky!

Hope you all have an amazing week! I can't wait to tell you all about Korea next week!  I love this gospel so much and can't wait to share this message with the people in Korea!

게디스 장로
Elder Geddes

Me and one of my 동반자들(companions).  And, the Korean nametag!

Week #7


안녕하세요!

I hope that all is well wherever you are! I love all of you so much! This week has been great! I love it here at the MTC!  

I really enjoyed conference this weekend.  My favorite session was the sunday morning session.  I really liked how all the talks were focused on how happy and joyful we can be through living the gospel.  Elder Nelsons talk really stuck with me, especially when he said that the saints can be happy in any circumstance.  That was really cool because through Jesus Christ's atonement we know that we can become better from our trials and sufferings.  And knowing that can help us have a good attitude even through the tough times.  I'm so grateful that we have living prophets and apostles to guide us in our lives. 

The countdown to Korea is getting pretty low.  It seems like yesterday I was just learning simple Korean sentence structure and how to introduce myself.  And now I'm a pro at plain form and indirect discourse, which are basically just Korean inception.  It's legit.  I also learned a cool phrase that they use in Korea.  돼지 꿈 꾸세요.  It literally translates to dream of pigs.  And they mean it literally.  It is good luck to dream about pigs in Korea.  I haven't had a pig dream yet, but I'm sure they will come.

That's basically all the exciting stuff from this week.  I saw Elder Hawkins while he was boarding the bus out of the MTC, which was cool.  I'm really jealous that he is in the field now.  But I'll have my turn soon.  
Have a great week! 

사랑해요!
게디스 장로

Eating warm monkey bread (conference tradition) with chopsticks!