7-28-14

Hello Everyone!

 

Quote: "Lose yourself". This week I have thought a lot about losing myself in this work. As a misisonary you are always trying to do that, but it is definitely easier said than done. I find that things are happier, and time goes by way quicker when you just buckle down and work. I think this is a principle not only for missioanries, but for anyone at any phase or stage of life.

 

SO this week was wild. I said all my goodbyes to GyoMun and now I am off to Gilum. I still have some mixed feelings about this new area, but I think I will like it. Right now it is all just so new and a little weird. I mean last time I transfered I was with a new greenie and everything so we both were kind of in the dark with everything. Now its a little different being one of the only new missionaries to come into the ward this transfer cycle. I feel like I have some catch-up to do. But anyway, the area is technically part of Seoul which is cool because I have been wanting to serve in Seoul for awhile now. It is defintiely different than my last two areas though. Gilum has lots of hills and from what I have observed, it basically just has clusters of apartments scattered on these hills throughout the city and then a few pretty big main roads than run through town. It was kind of weird to get used to the first couple days but I am adjusting. I still think it is a weird area (geographically speaking) haha. We have to walk up a hill to get to our apartment. I live on the 18th story in a pretty nice apartment. It used to be a 4 man house but they closed down one of the areas (for now). So now it is just my comp and I living there. Needless to say I have kind of taken advantage of the extra supplies and extra space for now. But I hear that they might be putting 2 more Elders with us in a transfer or two so we will see what happens. I have my own bathroom and what not so I can't complain for now. The house was filthy when I got there But I think they way I kind of reacted to it being so messy let my companion know that I don't really like messy houses. I started cleaning up and he has apologized at least 10 times already for me having to come into a dirty house. Haha I assured him that it wasn't a big deal but he seems determined to help me keep it clean. We have done a lot of cleaning and organizing and it is starting to look pretty nice. Anyways, my companions name is Elder Hansen! He's still 18 but his birthday is in August. He is from Brigham City, Utah (Another Utah companion;)) haha. He has been on the mission for about 8 months now. He is constantly studying and it is actually really impressive. His Korean is just as good if not better than mine already... which I love! He memorizes a scripture a day (seriously though, he literally memorizes a new scripture everyday!). He knew the 100 scripture masteries from before his mission and has added about 250 ish since then. Needless to say I am grateful for that. I have always prayed for companions who are good with the scriptures and so far I have been pretty blessed with that! I think we will have a good time together. I don't know why but he thinks I am perfect. So until I screw something major up, I will just keep letting him think that, haha. Anyways, so far in Gilum I feel like I am working hard and being better than I have been. It is a good feeling and I think it was just the switch-up I needed. The members here are okay, but I have got a lot of vibes from other missionaries and various members that the ward here could use some help. I also have felt that and feel like I need to do a lot of member work here which will be weird because I am not very good at that and haven't done it very often. So we will see. Any suggestions on how to strengthen a ward or simple things we can do to help build some more trust? I know there is a section about that in PMG so I will have to study up a little more in depth on that. As for our investigators, we don't have a ton. But Elder Hansen and I set some transfer goals of where we saw our area heading in the next 6 weeks. It was cool to do that and the first time that I had actually done that on my mission. We are both praying and working hard to reach and accomplish these goals. Should be a fun one! We have one really old investigator that the first time we met him he literally talked (rambled) for 45 mintues and we weren't able to teach him anything. So we devised a plan to get in there and start teaching him before he starts talking and literally only teach him 1 principle every time we visit so he doesn't get distracted. We also made some visuals for him to help distract/focus him in on the lesson. We did this once and we were actually able to teach him about God so that was a big miracle! I don't know if we will be able to get anywhere with him, but we will keep trying that and see if he retains everything and remembers what we have taught him. Its hard to check for his understanding because he just goes off on a 30 minute tangent! haha. Anyways, good week, I love you all! The church is true!

 

-Elder Hobson