Sunday, March 2, 2014

When You Can't Speak, LOVE.

Okay, first things first: can someone PLEASE find my long-lost friend Morgan Evans and kick her in the rear for not emailing me about her mission call!? Thanks. I'd appreciate it. But after you kick her in the rear, CONGRATULATE HER! I'm so excited! Brazil!? So cool. 

Anyways, hello again from Korea! What a crazy week it's been! I'm just going to make up a list of things to talk about and there's no real particular order or connection to the different things I'm going to bring up-- it's just a compiliation of all the occurences in my life from the past week. Ready, set, Go!

1. We got to go to the temple this week and it was suuuch a cool experience! It was just so cool to be in a place I've never actually been before and still feel as if it were familiar. All the 만수 investigators (our investigator and the Elders' two investigators) showed up at the temple when we were leaving and we got to talk to them and hang out with them a bit on the temple grounds (which was way cool!) Our investigator wanted to get a picture with us in front of the temple and while we were posing one of the other investigators asked one of the Elders (while motioning in our direction), "Why do they look so happy?" and the Elder immediately responded, "It's because they got to go to the temple! The temple is such a happy place!" Preach it!

2. We set a baptismal date for our sweet investigator! As part of my greenie training I was in charge of offering the invitation. I was way nervous about it all day but when the pivital moment actually arrived, all I felt was peace. We set a date and everything! April 6th. The only sad thing is that she's moving out of our area this week so we had to refer her to another set of Sisters. Sad to see her go but glad to see that her life is being blessed!

3. I ate pig intestine and coagulated blood this week. I've been eating all sorts of strange foods. Too many to list, honestly. But it's an adventure! I've been taking Dad's tip on not asking what I'm eating until after I've already consumed it. Every single time my trainer says, "Do you wanna know what it is?" and I say, "One sec." and stuff the food in my mouth, chew it up real well, swallow, and then say, "K, what did I just eat?" I thought I'd be more grossed out about it. It doesn't phase me anymore. And for the record-- I eat Kimchi like a champ these days.

4. Miracles this week: One day we were running way late for an appointment and I had no more money on my bus card (but I didn't know it until I'd scanned in on the bus). Normally bus drivers in Korea are kind of rude and don't really care-- but this guy was so kind and just waved me on to the bus and said it was okay. Free bus ride. Also, our timing has been SPOT on this week thanks to the help of the Lord. We've been trying to get a bunch of less-active visits done and normally less-active visits result in people yelling at you through a closed door or just blatantly ignoring you. But twice this week we walked up to doors as the people were returning home-- which allowed us to meet them and share a short message with them. One instance, in particular, was cool because we accidently took a wrong turn and ended up going on a 45 minute detour. So when we finally arrived we were just hoping that something good would come from the visit. Lo and behold, we rode the elvelator with the girl and didn't even know it was her. But when we followed her off the elevator and realized who she was we were instantly grateful for the long and tiresome detour we'd managed to take. So cool.

5. I've officially acquired a Korea mother! There are about five ward members we meet with consistently every single week and the rest are a mix and match of other members. But of the consistent ones, we've found a Korean mother. She deemed herself such this week. I love her to pieces! She feeds us and we teach her lessons every single week. And she never lets us leave without a bag of food. And the best part? We get hugs from her!!! I love hugs. Koreans don't hug. Anyways, her exact words were, "Your real mom is in America... but I am your Korean mother." I was so excited. I'd already considered her my korean mother but now it's official.

6. Turf-burn for days!! With all the soccer I've been playing, I was just WAITING to see when I'd get a huge turf burn. This was the week! I played with a TON of elders and young men this week (I was the only female on the field... this is my life) and I tore up my leg with a sweet slide tackle! It's way gross but way cool. I don't feel complete walking away from a soccer game without turfburn on my leg. 

7. I got to sketch a little bit this morning! I just started drawing an asian-looking dragon and I'm having a blast. There's a picture of it-- but it's just the preview of the final product-- I only worked on it for about half an hour so it's been a pretty quick (but way fun) project.

8. Since my comp is the sister training leader in our zone we go on a TON of exchanges. It's way fun though. This past week I went on my first exchange where I stayed in the area and my comp went to another one-- which meant I was senior companion. Yikes. I was texting people in Korean and making phone calls in Korean and navigating the bus system and freaking out the entire time. Long story short: I'm quite content with being the junior companion for now!

9. We probably walked about 10 miles yesterday. And we didn't eat dinner until 7. What a way to spend fast Sunday! haha. Man we were dying! but it was fun and it was such a beautiful day so we definitely weren't complaning.

10. We had 12-week follow up training this week which meant I got to see EVERYONE I came to Korea with! I was sooo happy! I'll always have a special place in my heart for those kids. I love them all to pieces. 

Anyways, like always, I'm happy and I'm happy to be a missionary! Sometimes I photocopy my face at the church just to make things interesting. I think that life is meant to be enjoyed and I'm definitely enjoying it. I hope you're all enjoying it back at home as well!

Sending you all my love from Korea,

xoxo,
Sister CaLea Bagley







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