It's been a stuffed week, but for being so busy it felt SUPER LONG. Lot's of fun stuff though. We're winding down to the end of the transfer here so w're trying to keep our weeks stuffed like this to keep the miracle flow going. I'll start with the WEEKLY UPDATE (with Seth Meyers) (<--- high fives to those who get that poor joke)
- On P-Day I finally got to fulfill one of of my dreams: thrift shopping in a Korean traditional market. We finished up our email and spent the majority of our P-day haggling some grandma's and grandpa's to give up their penny clothing for cheap. It was SUPER FUN. And we made it out of there like bandits. We got some Korean traditional clothing (한복 "hanbok") for super cheap because none of us had any yet. Good times~
- One Tuesday we went on exchange with the AP's (Assistants to the President). They called us earlier in the week looking to go on exchange. We weren't really sure why though because usually AP's just go on exchanges with trouble missionaries, brand new missionaries, or zone leaders and we are none of those. But we complied and embarked on our exchange. I got to go down to the mission HQ down in Busan in an area called 온천 Oncheon. And because I haven't really lingered in the HQ since I was a trainee last summer, it was a super nostalgic exchange. And to start the exchange we coincidentally went to the same place I ate my first Korean meal my first day in the field with Elder Fox. And I slept in the same bed I slept in the night I flew into Busan. TIME TRAVEL. So that was fun to relive the trainee days for a second and again come to grips that I've been at this game for a year now. The rest of it was just me watching the master at work (the AP). His name is Elder Beckett and from the 24 hours I spent with him I couldn't find a thing he didn't do perfect. So that made me feel a little self conscious but I was still able to learn a bunch. We visited like four of their investigators that day so it was super busy. These appointments included a Korean antique collector, a tea connoisseur, a member referral who manages a gym, and a South African English teacher (who gave us "milk tart"). They all went great and we got their South African investigator to start reading the Book of Mormon. And meanwhile Elder Sayer was killing it in Suseong with Elder Bunker and they got like 10 contacts over the exchange. Sick~
- In the middle of P-day this week we got a referral from our WML. A guy was looking up our church on the internet and somehow got our WML's contact information off of the web and contacted him to tell him that he has some English interest as well as some religious study interest. So we contacted him, he sounded super nice over the phone, and met him Wednesday this week for the first time, He's SUPER awesome. He said he had some English interest but honestly it looks like he has more of religious interest. He said his dream in life is to "help other people", he wants to know if God really exists, and he's studied a bunch of religious scripture "for fun" because he loves reading. So he's super prepared and we invited him to come to church that Sunday AND HE CAME. And also on the first meeting he saw my Book of Mormon and practically ripped it from my hands, and he's been reading it. We taught him the first lesson at church, he has a ton of good questions, wants to come back to church, and doesn't mind meeting with a member the next time we teach him. So he's a BALLER. His name is 김민식 Kim Minshik Thanks for the miracles Heavenly Father~
- We had exchanges with the Zone Leaders this week too. But it was as easy as switching study rooms for a day because we live with the Zone Leaders. I went on exchange with Elder Stewart in the A-team this time around. We had interviews with President Jeong to begin with (because it was also interview day). My interview with President went well. I told him up front that I'm stressed not knowing what's going to happen next transfer with our B-team having to whitewash out, and with the supreme lack of missionaries we're going to have next transfer. I told him that we have a lot of people we're working with right now, and so does A-team, so it'd be really hard for Elder Staker to juggle all the people next transfer with having someone from B-team to merge the teams. So then he was up front with me and asked me what I wanted to do, I told him that even though I've been WRECKED in B-team the last three transfers that I prayed about it and if I had to choose I'd want to stay. And so he basically gave me a 90% confirmation that I'll just move over to A-team for the next transfer. So that put a load off of the stress; now Elder Sayer and I can start working effectively towards just merging the teams instead of completely whitewashing out. ANYWHO, the interview went well. We went to go teach one of A-team's investigators after that and taught him the Plan of Salvation. This is the same kid who got referred to us a few weeks ago that's preparing to get baptized by the end of the transfer. He's a sweet kid. And accepts everything super easy since he already heard everything when he was attending church in America. And another cool thing was he had one of those hairless cats in his house that acts like his best friend. It's super random but I've always wanted to see one in person and I was able to fulfill that dream this week. MOVING ON, we had Korean Class on the military base! One of the perks to being A-team is that you work with the military branch and one of the things included in that is the free Korean class that the missionaries teach every week at one of our member's house. Cool thing that happened: I met a guy from Iowa. We bonded a little bit over our boring homeland. Nice to see that part of my life finding some real use for once haha. That was that exchange in a nutshell. Elder Stewart is great by the way. It's gonna be sad when he goes home in two weeks...
- I bet you're wondering where the "viral tongue infection" part is going to come in, right? It's this part right here ^^ My beloved Elder Sayer this week was spontaneously stricken with a viral tongue infection this week. We don't know why or how but it was no fun. It started out as some canker sores and a difficult time eating/swallowing, and when he woke up Saturday morning his tongue was huge, changed color to white, had started forming it's shape to the side of his teeth (so it looked wrinkly) and he couldn't spit. So that was an emergency call. We called our military branch member who happens to be a doctor and he told us to get to the hospital "sooner than later". We called Sister Kim, our mission mom, we got an appointment, and we boogied to the hospital. The doctor confirmed that it was a viral infection, prescribed a handful of drugs and said that if it doesn't get better by next week Tuesday than he has to get some steroids to his tongue. FUN. Then we headed over to appointment and English class, and Elder Sayer was a super trooper and hung in there for the time being (we went home after everything so the man could rest; he was dying). But our appointment with our investigator 박성호 Park Seongho went SUPER well. He's been reading the Book of Mormon and praying on his own with out us even asking him. And he thinks that the Book of Mormon is fun! That might be the first and only time I hear that on my mission haha. He's going to continue reading and praying~
That's the weekly update! Thanks for reading or writing or skimming or whatever you did with this piece of digital text. Have a fantastic week, buh-bye~
-Elder Metcalf
THE PICS:
The fruits of our thrift shopping (feat. the everything desk)
MORE PICS:
1-4) Exchanges with Elder Beckett down at the 부 in 온천 (we met a member referral at his gym and he wanted us to come and exercise there to meet him, and so we did)
EVEN MORE:
1) Picture of the referral's gym 2) Replica photo of one of the first pictures I took in Korea (the roof of the church at the mission home) 3-4) Our lovely new pet roach #it'ssummerinkorea
LAST ONE:
1-2) Elder Sayer and I waiting in a classy restaurant for one of our investigators 3) Our new investigator 김민식 Kim Minshik who came to church this Sunday 4) Our other baller investigator 박성호 Park Seongho 5) One of our favorite military branch members Sister Cook, she's heading back to America for the summer (she gives us food often, she will be blessed)
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