Hey everyone!
Last week after I emailed, my Korean grandparents came out to visit. They took us out to eat a whole bunch of meat then gave us some food to take home with us too. They are seriously the nicest people of all time. They came all the way out here to visit. It was fun to see them and to get to spend part of the day with them. They take such good care of me! They are the cutest little couple ever. You never see Korean people in their 80's who still love each other the way Bishop Cho and his wife love each other. They're the best.
On Tuesday we met with a few less-active members. We had some really cool experiences as we walked the streets and tried to follow inspiration from the spirit about where to go. We went one way because we felt like we should and we met a guy in his car who said he wanted to meet with us again and gave us his card. Then we went to visit more less-active members. One of the less-active members is worrying about her son because he is always playing computer games and doesn't really want to do anything else. So we spent some time with him and tried to help him want to focus on other things. It was really good for him, I think. We got him pumped to prepare for the things that he wants to do in the future instead of wasting his time playing computer. On the way home we met a soldier in the Korean army who had lived in Utah for 2 years studying at Salt Lake Community College. He has met tons of Mormon people and gone to our church several times. He already owns a Book of Mormon in English and Korean. So we talked to him for a while then we got his number and I've been talking to him every few days. We're going to meet with him again next Sunday.
On Wednesday we made the journey to Taebaek! It's the other area in our district which just happens to be a 2 hour and 40 minute train ride away. But it is the best train ride ever because you ride through the mountains. It really looks like Provo canyon but more green. I was amazed. It was such a cool experience. I took lots of study materials because I wanted to study while we rode the train but I couldn't stop looking out the window long enough to start studying. We went there and I did a training on following the spirit and saying more sincere prayers then all went to a member's home and ate tons of spaghetti together. We rode the 4:40 PM train home and got back at 7:25 and then walked home and ate dinner and that was our whole day.
On Thursday we went and taught at the North Korean refugee school. They didn't want to study English so instead I played basketball with them! It was fun. I don't think there is lots of basketball in North Korea so it was fun for them to play basketball. After that we met with the kids of 한창훈. He was the taxi driver that we met with last week or the week before. His three kids are all less-active. We had a bbq with them at their house and talked to them for a while. They all drink and stuff and don't come to church anymore. We got a lot closer with them and it was so fun. We talked about why bad things happen to good people and it was really good.
Friday was weekly planning and then we went and proselyted in the downtown area and then headed over to a member's house for dinner. It was a really fun night with them and we had a really good gospel discussion. I love spending time with members so much. It's fun to get close with them and be able to spend time with them.
Saturday was our English teaching day and we visited some members with our extra time.
Sunday was really good. We had a really good church service and then we went to a funeral for someone from the ChunCheon ward who passed away. It was my first time doing 절. Which is where you bow to the person who has passed away. So you light a piece of incense and then you put it in this vase thing by the casket and then you bow down all the way on your hands and knees with your head down. Then you stand up. Then do it all over again. It's way different culture but it was cool.
After that we ate dinner and headed over to teach 이상혁. He's doing well. We taught him about the 10 commandments and his mom helped us teach so it went really well. He's still set for June 10th for his baptismal service.
Yesterday was the Kangnung District Sports Conference so we rode up to Kangnung with our branch members and then spent the day playing soccer, basketball, football (missionaries only), and 촉구 which is like a mix between soccer and volleyball. It was so fun! And the best part was that it was right next to the beach so I got to go over to the beach for a little while with the other missionaries. It was such a fun day! Then after that we went to a famous fish market with some of the members and saw some crazy stuff and ate some raw squid and stuff. It was so fun. Then we made it home at about 8 and were completely dead. It was seriously so fun though.
That's about it! My hands hurt from typing so I'm gonna stop now. Last week was awesome! We're gonna be super busy this week because we have to go to ChunCheon to renew my visa so I don't get kicked out of Korea. Then we have to go to Seoul because there's a zone conference on Friday. Anyway, I love you all!!
-Elder Rife
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Letter from Korea~May 21, 2012
Hey. I dont' have much time right now. We are going to meet up with Bishop Cho and go to visit one of his friends in Wonju who is less-active. So we need to leave soon to walk over to the bus terminal to pick them up.
So I haven't written in two weeks! Last week was a really good week for us. We had a Double District meeting in Kangnung last Wednesday because my companion had to do pass-off. The other District Leader, Elder Rasmussen, and I decided to put our districts together and do our training together. We talked a lot about the progress of the church in Korea and watched a part of "An Ensign to the Nations." Then we talked about the things that the pioneers and first missionaries suffered, along with Book of Mormon missionaries and even Joseph Smith. Then we talked about the things that we have to suffer each day as missionaries right now. We read a few scriptures together and bore testimony and invited everyone in the zone to commit to work harder to show our gratitude for those who suffered so much for us. It went really well.
Later that day we did zone leader exchanges and stayed in Kangnung for the night. The next morning we headed back to Wonju to teach English to the North Korean refugees. It was really fun and we are getting lots closer with them. We can't teach them about the gospel while they are in the school so we are just trying to get close with them and be their friends. Then one day in the future they can be taught by the missionaries, hopefully.
The rest of the week we spent time contacting on the streets and visiting less active members to try to get them out the Branch Conference on Sunday. None of the less active members we visited actually came but there were tons of others who came so it was great! Branch Conference was really good and we made a lot of progress with our branch.. We are lots closer with the members now. I was happy to see President Lee, too. He's such a good mission president. (Oh, Dad, he told me to tell you thanks for sending him a book!)
Yesterday was for sure one of the best days I've had in Wonju. It was so much fun to be with the members and get closer with them. After church we ate together and then some of the members were heading over to 연세대하교 because it's tucked up in the mountains of Wonju and is really pretty. Apparently lots of people from all over Korea go there just to hangout cause the campus is super pretty. So they took us with them and we walked around and contacted people on campus while they relaxed. It was really fun. Then last night we got to teach 이상혁, the ten year old boy. We taught him about some of the commandments and focused mostly on Prayer. Then we played some games with him and had to hurry home.
I really don't have much time right now so I'm trying to hurry. Last week was a great week and the best part was getting to see my family on skype! I love you guys!
-Elder Rife
So I haven't written in two weeks! Last week was a really good week for us. We had a Double District meeting in Kangnung last Wednesday because my companion had to do pass-off. The other District Leader, Elder Rasmussen, and I decided to put our districts together and do our training together. We talked a lot about the progress of the church in Korea and watched a part of "An Ensign to the Nations." Then we talked about the things that the pioneers and first missionaries suffered, along with Book of Mormon missionaries and even Joseph Smith. Then we talked about the things that we have to suffer each day as missionaries right now. We read a few scriptures together and bore testimony and invited everyone in the zone to commit to work harder to show our gratitude for those who suffered so much for us. It went really well.
Later that day we did zone leader exchanges and stayed in Kangnung for the night. The next morning we headed back to Wonju to teach English to the North Korean refugees. It was really fun and we are getting lots closer with them. We can't teach them about the gospel while they are in the school so we are just trying to get close with them and be their friends. Then one day in the future they can be taught by the missionaries, hopefully.
The rest of the week we spent time contacting on the streets and visiting less active members to try to get them out the Branch Conference on Sunday. None of the less active members we visited actually came but there were tons of others who came so it was great! Branch Conference was really good and we made a lot of progress with our branch.. We are lots closer with the members now. I was happy to see President Lee, too. He's such a good mission president. (Oh, Dad, he told me to tell you thanks for sending him a book!)
Yesterday was for sure one of the best days I've had in Wonju. It was so much fun to be with the members and get closer with them. After church we ate together and then some of the members were heading over to 연세대하교 because it's tucked up in the mountains of Wonju and is really pretty. Apparently lots of people from all over Korea go there just to hangout cause the campus is super pretty. So they took us with them and we walked around and contacted people on campus while they relaxed. It was really fun. Then last night we got to teach 이상혁, the ten year old boy. We taught him about some of the commandments and focused mostly on Prayer. Then we played some games with him and had to hurry home.
I really don't have much time right now so I'm trying to hurry. Last week was a great week and the best part was getting to see my family on skype! I love you guys!
-Elder Rife
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Letter from Korea~May 7, 2012
Hey everyone! It's the last week of the transfer already. It was a great week.
Most importantly, yesterday we met with the ten year old boy we are teaching and we set up the date for his baptism. It's going to be on May 27th so everyone please pray for him that we can stick with that date! It's pretty solid but more prayers won't hurt. He's such a good kid and he has the cutest questions. He already knows everything from Primary so we are just going over it with him and helping him to understand more of why baptism is necessary. He's a little scared to go under the water to but he's excited. We gave him a Book of Mormon stories book too so that he can read it each day and he said he's gonna pray more this week too. It's fun to teach him because we teach really simply and try to explain it to him in a way that he can understand it. It's hard for me because it's in Korean but it's going really well. So he's the most important news from the week!
We also had a really cool miracle yesterday. We had met a guy while streetboarding a few weeks ago and he said he wanted to meet with us to do the 30/30 program but then when it came time to meet he called us and said he couldn't meet. We were kinda bummed. Then yesterday after church he called us and asked if we could meet. We said yes then about ten minutes later he was at the church. He's a way cool guy. Smells super strongly of alcohol and tobacco though. We had a pretty good first meeting and gave him a pamphlet to read before we meet again and a Book of Mormon too. We're gonna meet with him every week on Sunday right after church. Hopefully we can get him to come to church too. It was a cool miracle for us though to have him call us and meet with us when we weren't really expecting it.
Also yesterday we finally met with 서현주 again. It's been a long time since we've been able to meet with her. So yesterday we went over to her house and talked with her for a while. We could only talk to her from the doorway because we didn't have another adult present so it was kind of a bummer but it was good to see her again. She's really stressed out because she has to move to Netherlands soon because her husband lives there and is working there.
On Tuesday of last week we went to a school called 셋넷 and taught English for service. They are North Korean people who are orphans and come to South Korea and attend this school so that they can become South Korean citizens. They don't speak any English though so it's pretty hard to teach them but it's fun. It's mostly so that they aren't scared when they see foreign people. It was fun though and was a good opportunity to serve them.
The rest of the week was spent visiting members and less actives and doing finding activities! It was a fun week for sure. We are trying to be more effective with our time, which is hard in Wonju because there are certain times when there just isn't anyone on the street and so it feels like there is not much for us to do. But we're getting better at using our time! This last week was great. I love Korea and I'm having such a fun, different experience out here in Wonju so I'm grateful for that. I'm excited to talk to my family next week, too!!!!
Thanks for all the support, prayers and love!
사랑해요!
-Elder Rife
Most importantly, yesterday we met with the ten year old boy we are teaching and we set up the date for his baptism. It's going to be on May 27th so everyone please pray for him that we can stick with that date! It's pretty solid but more prayers won't hurt. He's such a good kid and he has the cutest questions. He already knows everything from Primary so we are just going over it with him and helping him to understand more of why baptism is necessary. He's a little scared to go under the water to but he's excited. We gave him a Book of Mormon stories book too so that he can read it each day and he said he's gonna pray more this week too. It's fun to teach him because we teach really simply and try to explain it to him in a way that he can understand it. It's hard for me because it's in Korean but it's going really well. So he's the most important news from the week!
We also had a really cool miracle yesterday. We had met a guy while streetboarding a few weeks ago and he said he wanted to meet with us to do the 30/30 program but then when it came time to meet he called us and said he couldn't meet. We were kinda bummed. Then yesterday after church he called us and asked if we could meet. We said yes then about ten minutes later he was at the church. He's a way cool guy. Smells super strongly of alcohol and tobacco though. We had a pretty good first meeting and gave him a pamphlet to read before we meet again and a Book of Mormon too. We're gonna meet with him every week on Sunday right after church. Hopefully we can get him to come to church too. It was a cool miracle for us though to have him call us and meet with us when we weren't really expecting it.
Also yesterday we finally met with 서현주 again. It's been a long time since we've been able to meet with her. So yesterday we went over to her house and talked with her for a while. We could only talk to her from the doorway because we didn't have another adult present so it was kind of a bummer but it was good to see her again. She's really stressed out because she has to move to Netherlands soon because her husband lives there and is working there.
On Tuesday of last week we went to a school called 셋넷 and taught English for service. They are North Korean people who are orphans and come to South Korea and attend this school so that they can become South Korean citizens. They don't speak any English though so it's pretty hard to teach them but it's fun. It's mostly so that they aren't scared when they see foreign people. It was fun though and was a good opportunity to serve them.
The rest of the week was spent visiting members and less actives and doing finding activities! It was a fun week for sure. We are trying to be more effective with our time, which is hard in Wonju because there are certain times when there just isn't anyone on the street and so it feels like there is not much for us to do. But we're getting better at using our time! This last week was great. I love Korea and I'm having such a fun, different experience out here in Wonju so I'm grateful for that. I'm excited to talk to my family next week, too!!!!
Thanks for all the support, prayers and love!
사랑해요!
-Elder Rife
Monday, April 30, 2012
Photos from Korea~April 30, 2012
[Me and Elder Kim.]
[Elder Summers and me studying.]
[Us with Sister An.]
[Healthy Wonju!]
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Letter from Elder Rife~April 30, 2012
Hi everyone! I've been in Wonju for more than a month now. Time is flying by!
Last week was our temple week so we rode a train in to Seoul last Monday after we emailed. When we got to Seoul we had interviews with President Lee, ate and contacted for about an hour in Seoul. Then we went to the Dongdaemoon house because it's big and that's where our whole zone sleeps when we go to Seoul. We had a sleepover with the 4 missionaries who are serving there and then we woke up early and headed over to the temple. After the temple I went out to eat with Bishop Cho and then we went to Dongdaemoon to do some shopping and then we went to Costco so I could restock on food. After that we were supposed to meet up with other missionaries from our zone at the Dongdaemoon house to head back to our areas but everyone was late. So we ended up on the 9 o'clock train back to Wonju and miraculously we were in the door at 10:31PM. We rode a train that is way faster than normal.
Wednesday we woke up (the Taebaek elders slept over) and headed to the church and had our district meeting. We watched Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration and talked about Joseph Smith's role as a prophet and our roles as missionaries. It went really well. After that my companion and I knocked some doors and visited one of our members.
Thursday we had AP exchanges!! Elder Summers (who was my zone leader when I was in Bundang) wanted to do exchanges with me one last time before he goes home so he came out to Wonju and went on exchanges with me and my companion. We had such a good day and saw tons of miracles! We spent the afternoon at a college campus contacting college students and posting our English class flyers on all of the bulletin boards. We talked to tons of college students and it was way fun to be on the college campus. The first thing we did was ask for permission to put our flyers up and to contact people so it worked really well. After that we went to the church and got the streetboards and went in to the busiest part of town and streetboarded for about an hour an a half. People kept coming up to us while we were by the boards and were setting up appointments with us. It happened three times. It was the weirdest thing. Apparently all you have to do is stand there and you can set up appointments. All of them were for our 30/30 program but still it was awesome. I'm gonna keep doing that each week so that we can see more miracles like that. Then we went home and ate dinner and then went and visited two less-active members. It was really fun and we made some progress with them. We want to get closer with them and tell them that we need them back at church. It was way fun to go on exchanges with Elder Summers. I learned a lot!
Friday we had weekly planning for three hours and then we went out and walked the streets for a few hours and contacted people. It was hard because it was "Market Day." Six times a month they have market day in the market and everyone in all of Wonju is there buying stuff. But we walked through the market and met with a guy we had contacted the last time they did market day. He speaks really good English. We gave him a Book of Mormon and we're gonna go back and meet with him next market day to talk to him more.
Friday night we had 3 dinners! I thought I was gonna die. I ate a huge bowl of spaghetti and chicken at home.. Then we went to go visit 안순을, the single mother; she wanted to give us food so we ate Chinese food with her. Then we visited another member in the area and she wanted to feed us so she fed us 닭갈비. I really thought I was going to die after I ate all of it. Then we barely made it home on time.
Saturday was our English teaching day again. It was fun though and good to do more service. We watched the Restoration video during English class and we also watched it with 정진택. He really liked it and we talked about it for a while after but he's really set on his church and hasn't really been making any progress. I don't want to drop him yet though.
On Sunday my companion and I spoke at church. Our Branch President told us that one of the speakers couldn't make it and that he needed one of us to speak but since we are a companionship we just decided that both of us would speak. We spoke about Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare so I just chose two scriptures that I wanted to share then wrote down everything I wanted to say in English. Then I went up and translated what I had written into Korean while I spoke. It actually worked pretty well and I was able to say what I wanted to say. We each talked for about 5 minutes or so. I shared 2 Nephi 2:6-8 and Alma 34:9. They are some of my favorite scriptures about the Atonement. After church we talked to the members after for a little while then headed home and ate lunch. Then we went out and knocked doors for the afternoon since it was Sunday and lots of people are in their homes on Sundays. After that we ate a quick dinner and started walking to the other side of our area.
We met with a lady named 김상경 who we have been meeting pretty regularly. She wants her son to be baptized so we started teaching him yesterday. He's ten years old and is a stud. He comes to church every week because the primary president brings him and his older brother. His mom hasn't been coming to church for a while. He said that he didn't want to be baptized the first time we talked to him about it. Then yesterday we taught him how to pray and when he prayed he said.."Please bless that I can prepare well to be baptized." He already knows everything that we taught him because he learned it in Primary so it was kind of a review for him. He's such a cute little kid though and we're gonna set a date with him for like 3 weeks from now to be baptized!
It was such a good week!! 이상혁 (the little kid) was our biggest miracle for the week! Anyway, I love you all! Thanks so much for your support.
-Elder Rife
Last week was our temple week so we rode a train in to Seoul last Monday after we emailed. When we got to Seoul we had interviews with President Lee, ate and contacted for about an hour in Seoul. Then we went to the Dongdaemoon house because it's big and that's where our whole zone sleeps when we go to Seoul. We had a sleepover with the 4 missionaries who are serving there and then we woke up early and headed over to the temple. After the temple I went out to eat with Bishop Cho and then we went to Dongdaemoon to do some shopping and then we went to Costco so I could restock on food. After that we were supposed to meet up with other missionaries from our zone at the Dongdaemoon house to head back to our areas but everyone was late. So we ended up on the 9 o'clock train back to Wonju and miraculously we were in the door at 10:31PM. We rode a train that is way faster than normal.
Wednesday we woke up (the Taebaek elders slept over) and headed to the church and had our district meeting. We watched Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration and talked about Joseph Smith's role as a prophet and our roles as missionaries. It went really well. After that my companion and I knocked some doors and visited one of our members.
Thursday we had AP exchanges!! Elder Summers (who was my zone leader when I was in Bundang) wanted to do exchanges with me one last time before he goes home so he came out to Wonju and went on exchanges with me and my companion. We had such a good day and saw tons of miracles! We spent the afternoon at a college campus contacting college students and posting our English class flyers on all of the bulletin boards. We talked to tons of college students and it was way fun to be on the college campus. The first thing we did was ask for permission to put our flyers up and to contact people so it worked really well. After that we went to the church and got the streetboards and went in to the busiest part of town and streetboarded for about an hour an a half. People kept coming up to us while we were by the boards and were setting up appointments with us. It happened three times. It was the weirdest thing. Apparently all you have to do is stand there and you can set up appointments. All of them were for our 30/30 program but still it was awesome. I'm gonna keep doing that each week so that we can see more miracles like that. Then we went home and ate dinner and then went and visited two less-active members. It was really fun and we made some progress with them. We want to get closer with them and tell them that we need them back at church. It was way fun to go on exchanges with Elder Summers. I learned a lot!
Friday we had weekly planning for three hours and then we went out and walked the streets for a few hours and contacted people. It was hard because it was "Market Day." Six times a month they have market day in the market and everyone in all of Wonju is there buying stuff. But we walked through the market and met with a guy we had contacted the last time they did market day. He speaks really good English. We gave him a Book of Mormon and we're gonna go back and meet with him next market day to talk to him more.
Friday night we had 3 dinners! I thought I was gonna die. I ate a huge bowl of spaghetti and chicken at home.. Then we went to go visit 안순을, the single mother; she wanted to give us food so we ate Chinese food with her. Then we visited another member in the area and she wanted to feed us so she fed us 닭갈비. I really thought I was going to die after I ate all of it. Then we barely made it home on time.
Saturday was our English teaching day again. It was fun though and good to do more service. We watched the Restoration video during English class and we also watched it with 정진택. He really liked it and we talked about it for a while after but he's really set on his church and hasn't really been making any progress. I don't want to drop him yet though.
On Sunday my companion and I spoke at church. Our Branch President told us that one of the speakers couldn't make it and that he needed one of us to speak but since we are a companionship we just decided that both of us would speak. We spoke about Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare so I just chose two scriptures that I wanted to share then wrote down everything I wanted to say in English. Then I went up and translated what I had written into Korean while I spoke. It actually worked pretty well and I was able to say what I wanted to say. We each talked for about 5 minutes or so. I shared 2 Nephi 2:6-8 and Alma 34:9. They are some of my favorite scriptures about the Atonement. After church we talked to the members after for a little while then headed home and ate lunch. Then we went out and knocked doors for the afternoon since it was Sunday and lots of people are in their homes on Sundays. After that we ate a quick dinner and started walking to the other side of our area.
We met with a lady named 김상경 who we have been meeting pretty regularly. She wants her son to be baptized so we started teaching him yesterday. He's ten years old and is a stud. He comes to church every week because the primary president brings him and his older brother. His mom hasn't been coming to church for a while. He said that he didn't want to be baptized the first time we talked to him about it. Then yesterday we taught him how to pray and when he prayed he said.."Please bless that I can prepare well to be baptized." He already knows everything that we taught him because he learned it in Primary so it was kind of a review for him. He's such a cute little kid though and we're gonna set a date with him for like 3 weeks from now to be baptized!
It was such a good week!! 이상혁 (the little kid) was our biggest miracle for the week! Anyway, I love you all! Thanks so much for your support.
-Elder Rife
Monday, April 23, 2012
Letter from Korea~April 23, 2012
Hi everyone! Last week was a really good week but it wasn't quite as good as the week before that. It was pretty rainy here all last week and when it rains in Korea the streets pretty much die and people don't like to meet because of the rain. There's a rumor that because there's so much pollution in the air the rain will make your hair fall out. It could be true. But, then again, there is a rumor that if you sleep with a fan on in your room at night then you will die. I have done it hundreds of times without dying. :)
Last Tuesday was spent emailing and cleaning and shopping. We had to do all of our P-day stuff on Tuesday because the zone activity took the whole day on Monday. So Tuesday wasn't the most effective day for missionary work. We did have a little time out on the streets talking to people but there really weren't many people to talk to for some reason.
On Wednesday we were supposed to have District meeting here in Wonju at 11:30 AM but the other Elders in our district missed their bus to Wonju and came at 1 o'clock, which is when district meeting is suppose to end. So we went out to eat together and went streetboarding in the busy part of Wonju for a little while. It's hard to proselyte there because everyone is busy. After that we went home and ate dinner and then went back out and knocked doors for a while. I still haven't gotten in someone's door yet but I feel like I'm getting close!
On Thursday we went out to eat with a less active member named 이종수. He's divorced and is in his forties. He's way cool and loves to have the missionaries over but he still isn't coming out to church yet. We meet with him once a week so hopefully we can get him back out to church. After that we went to the church and met with
a former investigator named Jake. He's a police officer here and he and I have talked on the phone a few times each week since I got here. He has no gospel background and not a whole lot of interest but he's willing to read from the Book of Mormon and we're going to watch the Restoration dvd with him next week. He challenged me to a game of ping pong when we met so I played him and he was pretty dang good. I came back in the first game and beat him 21 to 19 then he beat me the second game and then in the last game I won 21 to 19. It was way intense! But I feel like we had a good first meeting and we got to know him a lot better so hopefully we can help him to feel the spirit and to recognize why he needs the gospel in his life.
After we met with him we ran home and ate dinner quickly then went out to visit some less active members. We walked all the way to the other side of our area. My companion was always telling me that riding the bus in Wonju wasn't good because they don't come frequently and they don't go where we need to go. So we walked for an hour and forty minutes. One of the less-active members we met with was 안순을. She is a single mom who is in her thirties and has two sons. She has two jobs to make enough money to pay for their little apartment. We couldn't go inside her house so we just sat outside her door and talked to her for a while. It would be so hard to be a single mom! I feel so bad for her. She wants us to visit her again and we offered to help her with anything she needs. So now we need to find someone in the branch who can go with us to visit her. That is the hard part because the branch is small and everyone says they are busy. On the way home we found a bus! So from now on
we are going to take the bus to places that take more than an hour to walk to.
Friday we had weekly planning meeting and then went out and proselyted on the street for about an hour and a half. Then we went home and ate dinner and went out and knocked doors for a while. We met a way cool kid who listened to us for a while and said that he would meet us again on Sunday but then he wouldn't answer our calls or texts to him so we couldn't meet again.
Saturday was our "Free English Day" as I like to call it. We did our English service at Golden Voice. I'll try to get a picture of us with them next week. They always take us to get sushi after class; I'm not such a big fan of sushi. Then we taught our English class at the church. Then our investigator, Brother Jung, came to the church and
we helped him with English then read out of the Book of Mormon with him. We were going to watch the Restoration dvd but it wasn't working so we are going to watch it next week. After that we ate dinner and visited a member.
Sunday was good! Super rainy. And our new investigator, Brother Chun, didn't come. He's the one who came last week. I called him and he told me that he was going to come but then he didn't actually show up, so we were kinda bummed. After church we had lunch with the branch and talked with everyone for a while. Then we went home and then went and knocked doors for a while since it was raining. We met some really nice people but nobody that would meet with us again. We also met some not so nice people haha. Then we ate dinner and visited members until it was time to go home again.
Overall, it was a good week! We didn't see as many miracles as we saw the week before but hopefully we see enough this next week for both weeks. Anyway, I gotta go!
I love you all!
-Elder Rife
Last Tuesday was spent emailing and cleaning and shopping. We had to do all of our P-day stuff on Tuesday because the zone activity took the whole day on Monday. So Tuesday wasn't the most effective day for missionary work. We did have a little time out on the streets talking to people but there really weren't many people to talk to for some reason.
On Wednesday we were supposed to have District meeting here in Wonju at 11:30 AM but the other Elders in our district missed their bus to Wonju and came at 1 o'clock, which is when district meeting is suppose to end. So we went out to eat together and went streetboarding in the busy part of Wonju for a little while. It's hard to proselyte there because everyone is busy. After that we went home and ate dinner and then went back out and knocked doors for a while. I still haven't gotten in someone's door yet but I feel like I'm getting close!
On Thursday we went out to eat with a less active member named 이종수. He's divorced and is in his forties. He's way cool and loves to have the missionaries over but he still isn't coming out to church yet. We meet with him once a week so hopefully we can get him back out to church. After that we went to the church and met with
a former investigator named Jake. He's a police officer here and he and I have talked on the phone a few times each week since I got here. He has no gospel background and not a whole lot of interest but he's willing to read from the Book of Mormon and we're going to watch the Restoration dvd with him next week. He challenged me to a game of ping pong when we met so I played him and he was pretty dang good. I came back in the first game and beat him 21 to 19 then he beat me the second game and then in the last game I won 21 to 19. It was way intense! But I feel like we had a good first meeting and we got to know him a lot better so hopefully we can help him to feel the spirit and to recognize why he needs the gospel in his life.
After we met with him we ran home and ate dinner quickly then went out to visit some less active members. We walked all the way to the other side of our area. My companion was always telling me that riding the bus in Wonju wasn't good because they don't come frequently and they don't go where we need to go. So we walked for an hour and forty minutes. One of the less-active members we met with was 안순을. She is a single mom who is in her thirties and has two sons. She has two jobs to make enough money to pay for their little apartment. We couldn't go inside her house so we just sat outside her door and talked to her for a while. It would be so hard to be a single mom! I feel so bad for her. She wants us to visit her again and we offered to help her with anything she needs. So now we need to find someone in the branch who can go with us to visit her. That is the hard part because the branch is small and everyone says they are busy. On the way home we found a bus! So from now on
we are going to take the bus to places that take more than an hour to walk to.
Friday we had weekly planning meeting and then went out and proselyted on the street for about an hour and a half. Then we went home and ate dinner and went out and knocked doors for a while. We met a way cool kid who listened to us for a while and said that he would meet us again on Sunday but then he wouldn't answer our calls or texts to him so we couldn't meet again.
Saturday was our "Free English Day" as I like to call it. We did our English service at Golden Voice. I'll try to get a picture of us with them next week. They always take us to get sushi after class; I'm not such a big fan of sushi. Then we taught our English class at the church. Then our investigator, Brother Jung, came to the church and
we helped him with English then read out of the Book of Mormon with him. We were going to watch the Restoration dvd but it wasn't working so we are going to watch it next week. After that we ate dinner and visited a member.
Sunday was good! Super rainy. And our new investigator, Brother Chun, didn't come. He's the one who came last week. I called him and he told me that he was going to come but then he didn't actually show up, so we were kinda bummed. After church we had lunch with the branch and talked with everyone for a while. Then we went home and then went and knocked doors for a while since it was raining. We met some really nice people but nobody that would meet with us again. We also met some not so nice people haha. Then we ate dinner and visited members until it was time to go home again.
Overall, it was a good week! We didn't see as many miracles as we saw the week before but hopefully we see enough this next week for both weeks. Anyway, I gotta go!
I love you all!
-Elder Rife
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Photos
These photos were taken at the Morinda meetings recently. Dad saw these two men who work for Morinda in Korea, and know Michael and take him to eat occasionally.
[Dad with Eddie Kim.]
[Hunter Hahm.]
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