Korea Seoul South Mission: Week 58

Goodbye July and hello August.... the hottest month of summer in Korea ㅠㅠ Thank goodness we have air conditioning.

This week was filled with super hot weather, rainy and super humid weather, and some really nice in between weather. Every morning is a guessing game of how hot it is going to be. Normally it is okay in the morning and then we get roasted in the afternoon. We always have to carry around a fan and sweat rag to at least try and stay dry. I don't know how the Korean people do this every summer!

This week we had a few really cool experiences. The first happened last Monday when we went to visit a less-active in our area. We originally decided to visit some addresses that are confirmed less-active members, but once we got to the area Sister Cuary realized there was one address that wasn't confirmed yet so we decided to drop by there first. We got up to the 8th floor and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. We waited a minute or two and tried again, this time a man answered the door. He only opened it about an inch to talk to us. We said the name of the person we were looking for, but he said that we had the wrong place. Then he asked who we were. When I said that we were sister missionaries he was shocked and told us to wait a second. He went back into his house and then came out a few minutes later. At first we were super confused because he said that we had the wrong name, but kept insisting that we were actually looking for him.

We ended up talking with him for about an hour outside of his apartment. He was baptized when he was in his early 20s and really wanted to go on a mission, but his mom was against it because he had to do his military service and also make money. He ended up not going and marrying a woman who wasn't a member. Because she attended a different church they fought a lot in the beginning so he gave up and went with her to church. Since then he has had no contact with the church for 30 years! We went to his apartment with the wrong name, wrong number, and only an address. BUT WE FOUND HIM! The spirit was so strong as we talked to him. He said that he still has faith and knows the church is true, but he doesn't want to come back to church after all this time. At the end of the conversation he offered a very heartfelt prayer that made both Sister Cuary and I cry. I know that Heavenly Father loves him so much! I can't express how much love I felt for that man as we talked to him. We were able to give him the church address and a Book of Mormon since he didn't have one. It was probably one of the most spiritual experiences that I have had so far on my mission.

The second was that I got to visit one of my past areas 노랑진 (Norangjin). We went back on Tuesday for the missionary leadership council meeting. It was suppose to be in a different area, but got switched last minute. It was cool to go back and see how different things are. I was there 5 transfers ago so it was the middle of winter. It was weird to see so much green everywhere.

Another amazing blessing was our investigators 노희준, 노윤셔 and 노윤성 went to our wards primary activity on Friday. Since they came to church all of our members were super good about fellowshipping them. They got their phone numbers and immediately invited them to the activity. They had a little "camping trip" from Friday to Saturday. They just had a barbecue at the church and then watched a movie together before having a giant sleep over. The 3 kids had a ton of fun and were able to make more friends with the primary! It was amazing!

We also had a zone proselyting activity this week, but that was a little rough. We did it at a train station in another area of our zone, but a security man came out and yelled at us right when we started. We tried our best to continue without making him mad again, but that resulted in little success. It was great to work together with everyone though!

I was also blessed to go on exchanges with 양희나 자매님. She is part of the group that came with me to Korea. I haven't ever had the opportunity to serve with her so it was great that I got to talk and get to know her more. Especially because the last time I was able to serve by her in the MTC we couldn't talk to each other because she didn't know English and I couldn't speak Korean.

Our weeks are filled with endless sweating, lots of proselyting on the streets, and lots of laughing. I am trying my best to adjust and learn more about 청라 before Sister Cuary gets transferred. We are getting along swimmingly and are always laughing. She is great! I hope that you guys have a great week! Love ya!

-Sister Rindlisbacher