Hannah Hurt(ful)

May

We went to EVERLAND!!!! That’s right brothers and sisters, I did it. I went to Korea on my mission and I found the closest thing to Disney I could. I’d call this mission a success (but for other reasons hehe).

We had to get special permission from President because one of our investigators wanted to take us. And she knew a cast member so she got us in for free!!! Lulz! They call them cast members and guests there, too. I know this because there were English signs. Practically everything was in English.

I took a million pics, don’t worry ^^ The only contingency from Pres was to not ride anything dangerous. We barely rode anything at all because there were so many people but I’m not even mad! It’s the smells and music and the atmosphere I wanted to see. The reason there were so many people is because today is a national holiday… Buddha’s birthday! Happy birthday, Buddha!

(Photos: Wikipedia and 10mag.com)

(Source: truebluesue)

Everland theme park Korea LDS Mormon sister missionary 10mag

May

Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man.

Doctrine & Covenants 84:85
(As foreigners teaching in Korean we really have to rely on the Spirit to know what to say. Just like in D&C 84:85 the words will be given to us as long as we continually study the words of life!)

sister missionary LDS Mormon Mormon mission Korea Daejeon

May

Transfer 3, Week 5

안녕하세요!

This week I had the opportunity to teach a Chinese investigator. I’ve taught a Taiwanese investigator before but she didn’t speak Korean or English very well so we weren’t sure which language to teach her in and it was mostly just awkward! But this investigator was cool because she’s much better at Korean and she has no experience with religion at all.

It was a great appointment because it’s one of the first I’ve had where there’s no English interest at all. Most of our investigators are interested in the free English we teach. But she just wanted to hear our message. She thinks believing in God is a good thing and she wants to come to church, but she’s working on a dissertation right now and is going back to China for a week or something and then she’ll be free to come to church.

It was interesting to teach her because we were both clearly communicating in a language that was not our native tongue. And yet we were communicating! It was so cool. I said my one phrase I know in Mandarin: “I am a representative of the Lord.” And she understood it! Guess I’ve been saying it right, haha. And she taught us some Mandarin. Tones are fun! Anyway, her name is Jin Bin (Jeen Been) if you want to pray for her. ^ ^

investigator sister missionary Korea daejeon mission LDS Mormon

May

Transfer 3, Week 4

Saw a lot of miracles in Singal this week.

One of which was… I got your package!! And it was teh BEST!! I’ve already eaten like.. a lot of it, heh heh. Made pancakes this morning (with Nutella and syrup on top.. and peanut butter). Had cheesy potatoes yesterday, the Chex Mix was gone in like 2 days, and the Thin Mints are gone, too. I was so happy to get it :) And yet I was even happier to get a letter from you <3 And an English copy of the Ensign! Hallelujah.

The investigator miracles we saw this week: Since we’re white-washing the area and got no referrals from the Elders we have had to find all our investigators. This week we found an interesting one. Truly a miracle but it has a sad ending. This girl saw me and asked if I was from America. I said yes and said that we were missionaries in Korean because she is Korean and wearing a student uniform. Turns out she’s lived outside of Korea pretty much her whole life and is kind of LEARNING Korean like, now. She said she’s at the level of a first grader. So she speaks English better than Korean. And about 9 other languages. Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Latin, Italian, Spanish…I can’t remember them all. INSANE, huh?

So we got lunch with her and she just spills her guts. She for real NEEDS this gospel. Turns out she lived in Idaho before and all her friends were Mormon. When we told the Elders about her they said “Wait.. what’s her name??” HER BROTHER IS THEIR INVESTIGATOR ALREADY. What are the chances?? This city is huge, there are a ton of different churches missionaries around and they separately met missionaries from our church! While we were just out street contacting!

So we were able to meet with her once after we first met her and taught her the first lesson about the Restoration. Gave her a pamphlet and a Book of Mormon and taught her how to pray. The sad part is that their Mom is way against the church. Sooo we can’t meet her again. Later she texted us saying she’s sorry and that she didn’t know. We said she needs to obey her mom. And she said “maybe when I grow up we can meet again?” :( cute and depressing. She and her brother have a lot of family problems. They are so culturally confused from living in so many different places. They can’t relate to anyone but each other but they’re not close. Sad, huh?

korea daejeon sister missionary lds mormon mormon mission

Apr

Something I discovered in Korea this week is that they’re changing all the ice creams. There are apparently winter and summer ice creams. I clearly didn’t eat any ice creams in the winter but as spring came along I decided to try one I saw all the time. And it was delicious. But now it’s gone and won’t be back til next winter, haha. Now that it’s basically summer though the ice creams are being sold everywhere. And everywhere you go people are eating it.

There’s something similar to a shave ice here. It’s called 팥핑수 (paht ping soo). It has sweet red bean and fruit and mochi balls and cream and rice cake and all kinds of things in it. I’ve only had it once but it was GOOD. I’ll have to go back to Hawaii to see who does it better, heh heh.

patbingsu korean ice cream sister missionary shave ice mochi balls ice cream korean food LDS

Apr

Transfer 3, Week 3

This week was definitely better than last. It’s still a little tense and we’re not always as happy-go-lucky as I was with my last companion but there’s a language barrier and it’s to be expected I think. This week we had interviews with President so we saw him and his wife which is always great. Love them.

This week we also found new investigators! Finally we have more of a purpose than just street contacting. I was losing it for a little bit there. Teaching is way more fulfilling than not teaching. Still trucking along with the language… I used to feel like I could understand more than I could say but now I feel like i can say things I couldn’t before but understanding people is so hard… they speak so fast! Americans cut foreigners slack and speak slowly but Koreans aren’t about that life.. nah, they actually speak some English to me so it’s ok, haha.

lds mormon sister missionary korea daejeon lds mission korean

Apr

The largest sitting Buddha in Asia is in Cheonan (aren’t most of the Buddhas in Asia anyway?! So maybe somewhere in the western world, there is a bigger one?!)

Cheonan Korea Buddha Buddhist temple Mormon mission sister missionary

Apr

Transfer 3, Week 1

My new companion and I got to the new area, Singal. Yesterday was kind of hard for me because it was Sooyoung’s baptism in my old area and I wasn’t able to go. President Furniss said that it would be okay but my district leader said no…

My companion is still the cutest thing in the world but I miss Sister Cutler so much. I could TALK to her—she understood English. I cried a lot when we had to say good-bye. I keep comparing everything to Cheonan and so far Singal doesn’t measure up. I saw one of my favorite members from the Cheonan ward yesterday and I almost broke down right there.

I’m sure by the end of my time here I’ll be just as in love with this area as I was with Cheonan. Also this is exactly what I predicted and wanted to happen. I couldn’t think of a better situation for me in my 3rd transfer of my mission in Korea.

It’s just different now. And hard :/

missionary transfer LDS Mormon sister missionary Korea Daejeon mission

Mar

I for sure don’t want any clothes from America like ever again, haha. I plan to come home with a whole new Korean wardrobe!

Korean clothes Korean fashion sister missionary Korea Daejeon mission LDS Mormon

Mar

Yesterday I spoke in church and that night we went over to a member’s house for dinner (and made kim bop! basically Korean sushi) and he said that it sounded like I’d been in Korea for 10 months. He said he could understand my heart because he had had a lot of American companions on his mission and it was so frustrating, haha. He said I’d always remember my first area and how frustrating it was, lol. I honestly just love it here! I’m gonna miss it.

It’s sad to think that things will never be the same after this transfer because if by slim chance I DO stay in Cheonan one of the Elders in the area will most likely leave. And then I will eventually leave and love other members. My companion is making all these plans to visit a ton of people from her mission when her parents come to take her home, and it sounds really fun because her mom is Korean and her Dad speaks Korean. It’d be weird to come back and actually be able to communicate with people, haha. Funny that I’ve managed to get close to members at all without speaking much Korean!

kimbap LDS Mormon sister missionary Korea Daejeon mission

Mar

I went to my first Korean funeral. It was for the father of a woman in our ward, and I didn’t know him at all but a lot of the members were there. It was… different. One of the members asked if we thought it was weird and she said, “Even I am Korean and I think it’s weird.” Not the bowing to their picture part but the eating food and joking around part.

They had all this special funeral food out. I ate pig’s head. NOT PIG’S BRAIN, haha. Pig’s head. It was kind of sweet but other than that not much taste. I think that’s probably the weirdest thing I’ve eaten. I can’t wait to take you around to eat all my favorite Korean foods!

Korean funeral pig's head sister missionary Korea Daejeon mission LDS Mormon

Mar

Guess what?

Two days ago was my “officially in Korea longer than I was in the MTC” mark and today is my 5-month mark as a missionary! Exciting ^ ^

LDS Mormon sister missionary Korea Daejeon mission

Mar

The cat cafe was closed, so I couldn’t get any pics of it!! I was so sad. But I have even worse news in relation to pics…

My camera is gone!! I don’t know if it was stolen or if I lost it but it’s gone forever :( I was being more proactive about taking pictures for you and looking like a super tourist while I was at it so I wouldn’t be surprised if someone grabbed it, although I always think I would notice those kinds of things. I feel SO BAD!! That camera was so nice and so expensive!! Not to mention the priceless pictures on it I lost. I’m so so so so so sorry! What should I do about pics? I’ve been taking pics on my companion’s camera.

Oh and one other thing. Gwak Mi Soo or something along those lines added me on facebook. She’s in my ward, and she studied for a couple weeks at SHSU in Texas! The only time she’s ever been to America! Weird, huh? She’s gonna post pictures of me. After she took a picture with me she said, “for your mother.” So sweet!! ^ ^

photos camera Korea sister missionary LDS Mormon

Feb

I couldn’t be HAPPIER! I know that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be right now and I wouldn’t have anything any other way!

sister missionary LDS Mormon Mormon mission Korea Daejeon

Feb