November 20, 2008

HELLO!
Well, Mother Nature officially turned on the "winter switch" in Jeongup, Korea. It's amazing that the weather can change like that in a day. Just two days ago it was beautiful and fall. The leaves in town were all yellow and red- it was just nice. Then I left on a split up north- it's about an hour bus ride to a big city called Jeongju. It was really cold that morning when I left- then that night while we were proselyte I saw something white fall in front of me...hmm...it was cold and I could see my breath...but no way... then another. I asked the Elder I was on a split with, Elder Boyce, "Is it snowing??" Sure enough moments later it started steadily snowing. Nothing too serious though. We woke up in the morning and there was a skiff of white all over. Then we went to meet Elder Mitton at the bus station so I could go home. We met up and Elder Mitton informed me that we had a good 6 inches of snow back in good old Jeongup! He wasn't joking...apparently here we get the most snow out of anywhere in the Daejeon Mission...It's officially winter in Jeongup Korea.

I've heard about that California crap- how annoying! why are people so lame. Honestly. Back to the pioneer days, is it? I wonder how Camilla Fransen is doing!? And, my new friends from the MTC serving there, Elder Rubio and Elder Fisher! Oh, I wish I could write them-I don't have their addresses. Maybe I'll just have to send the letters to them through Camilla.

Good news! Last Sunday we baptized two little boys! Kim-gyoo-son and Kim-jeon-young. They are so great...way too much energy though. I love them like little brothers though. They are Shawn and Riley’s age. funny. I had a little tender moment with them- after we baptized them we went back into the chapel to finish the service and I wanted to just watch them. See if they acted any different. Looked different- haha. Then I realized how much they looked up to us. Gyoo-son was sitting by elder Mitton, looked at him, and then sat in the same position as him. Jeon-young was sitting by me. He grabbed my hand and compared sizes, played with the hair on my arm (Koreans don't have hair on their arms really), and then put his head on my shoulder. It was a sweet little moment. These boys lives are going to be changed greatly. Members of the church in Korea are so different from other Koreans. They have a great support system. Bishops son referred them to us. He’s the coolest kid ever- going to be the best missionary when he grows up.

Our Cambodians are still scheduled to be baptized this Sunday. Only 3 now though cause one had to move to Seoul. So now it's SamNang, BeGit and Sopia. haha. (The last two sound like girls names to me...bridget and sophia) and last week we got three more dates! More Cambodians! My favorite, Bone-E and two others- mori (roll the r) and narong...again roll the r. haha.

Dont' worry we do have Korean investigators! haha. it just goes to show how much better the work goes when they have member support. There’s stats that if an investigator is taught with a member the likeliness of them being baptized goes up to like 80%. We just need the members in our ward to start giving up referrals! We’re going to give the ward a goal that each one of them brings one person to church this next year. Should be easy enough right? Just one person out of the 100,000 non members...haha.

Our house...is okay. We need to winterify it today. The window in the bathroom is nailed open for some reason. haha. Then we gotta bring our washing machine in from outside. then we should be okay. i'm going to go buy thermals today. Being outside all day is cold. people are like- your from Idaho, you should be used to the cold. haha. i laugh and tell them i run from my house to my car, my car to my class...ect...haha. no one likes being cold. We’ll always be on the floor. That’s where the heat is. There are no vent systems in Korea, the floors are all heated. it's really cool! so that's another reason why Koreans are always sitting on the floor, sleeping on the floor. That’s where the heat is!

I'm the same size I think- haha. I’ve gained a little weight- I think it's a mix of fat and muscle. haha. I’m up to 165! ah! haha...and fish soup isn't all I eat...there is a huge variety of soup- (chi-gey) its sooooo good. And since it's spicy it clears your nose up! haha. Perfect for the winter.

Well, I need to get a haircut. Love you all a ton! Keep saying your prayers and reading the scriptures! Strengthen your testimony and stand as a beacon!!!!

Much love- elder thorkelson <3