It's going to be another hot day

Dear family,

It was another good week in Korea. In the World Cup we lost against Argentina, but if we can beat Nigeria then we will still advance to the next bracket. Plus, Argentina is predicted to win the entire thing, so I guess it was somewhat expected.

Interesting story of the week:

We have been meeting with a lady and her two children for the past couple of months. When we met her she was introduced to us through a member in one of our wards and thought she was a less active who just happened to attend another church. So since then we asked her if we could teach her and her kids. Then randomly we found out last week that she was never actually baptized and the first time that she had met the member who introduced her was when we all met together for the first time. It made me laugh a lot. What a trooper, here we were teaching her like she was just a less active and yet she really had no idea, but let us keep coming over anyway. She probably just figured that we were two foreigners and so forgave our misunderstanding. It's good though because her children are really progressing, reading for the Book of Mormon story book and praying about our message.

Also, last week while we were walking an older man came up to us and starting talking in fluent English. He looked older (mid 80s?), kind of grubby and was pulling a large trash cart (you don't really see those in America, but image Fiddler on the Roof style cart and now imagine it filled with trash). Apparently he had been baptized in the 1970s and had since stopped coming to church, but he was really nice and was a teacher for 25 years. (In Korea that's pretty much the most prestigious thing you can do, like being a doctor in America). Currently he teaches English and German conversation classes and said that he cleans on the side for pocket money and to help some Phillipine family (I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean). So we got all of his information and gave it to our Elders so that they can find him. I guess it just goes to show that you can never judge a book by its cover.

This week's challenge: Tell me about a time in your life when have had a "never judge a book by its cover" experience.

Love you all, (watch the world cup)

--
Sister O'Bryan
Daejeon PO Box 38
Daejeon-si
Chungcheong bukdo 300-600
South Korea

Families are forever: that's a really long time

Dear family,

For those of you who have been living under a rock or in a country where people don't care that much (America) the past week and the upcoming ones are something we like to call the World Cup. How do I know since I do not own a computer, television, or radio? Because I have eyes and ears in my head. Last Saturday Greece placed Korea and it was amazing. I was coming home after an appointment and was reminded because everyone had glowing red devil headbands and red t-shirts and every parking lot turned into a tailgate party with fireworks and huge trucks with TV screens on them while people gathered around. Then while we were in our apartment preparing for bed we could feel the excitement and every time that Korea made a goal there was a loud thunder-like cheer from every apartment and every parking lot in Korea. It made me want to be a soccer fan.

Today was moving day. Unfortunately the lease was up on our amazing apartment (known through out the mission as the "mansion" and so we had to move to a not as nice place. I know that you probably don't really care about the details of it, but it was interesting-- so I included pictures. We lived on the 17th floor so they took this huge ladder attached to a truck and then shoved everything in a basket and put it on this lift. I love Koreans--- sometimes they are just ingenious. Sometimes it is just funny.

This weeks thought is again from Elder Ballard, but from his most recent talk at General Conference. (Random fact: he once went on a really long car ride with Dad and gave him advice for his computer company.)

" I hope you are listening and see a pattern and hear a steady, consistent message that in these last days it is essential even critical that parents and children listen to and learn from one another. These are not just ethereal concepts about which I have been speaking. They are the essence, the center, of God's plan for our eternal happiness and peace."

I thought about that a lot-- the importance of learning from parents and children. I see this a lot because as a missionary you see a LOT of people (especially when you have to talk to 140 new people every week). I thought of one family who we have been working with lately. The mother is from the Philippines and while there even served a mission, her family was one of the first families that were church members on her island. However, since being in Korea she has become less active because her husband doesn't always let her go to church. I guess the way he does things is that when he is home his entire family has to be home as well so she can't leave the house after about 8pm and on Sundays if he doesn't wake up then he doesn't always let her go to church. Since we have been working with them we have gotten him to be more lenient and so now she comes even if he doesn't. He is also a member and a few weeks ago baptized his daughter.

I thought about how the father has changed because of the love he has for his children and I thought a lot about how Mama and Daddy have had a huge influence on me. My companion and I were talking about this the other day and she said that once she had graduated from college she asked her mom what her biggest concern was when she was going through High School. Her mother replied that her biggest fear was that one of her kids would get pregnant or get someone else pregnant. My companion thought that was weird because the only thing she remembered her mom emphasizing was money, her mother had never really mentioned anything that would have made her not get pregnant. It's interesting how the things we think we are emphasizing and that are important don't always come across that way. So question of the week:

• What have you learned from your parents?
• What have you learned from you children (where that applies)?
• What do you hope they have learned from you?

Sister O'Bryan

Daejeon PO Box 38

Daejeon-si

Chungcheong bukdo 300-600

South Korea

Weathering It

Dear family,

The weather is nice and the old people are out. In the park next to our library there is a flock of old people relaxing and enjoy the wonderful weather. In Korea there are not many nursing homes, actually I have never seen one or heard of someone who lived in one. However there are LOTS of old people. They usually roam the streets or when it is nice outside they conglamurate in areas like parks and play Chinese checkers or just sit on the benches and gossip. It is amazing. I have never seen so many people over the age of 70 all in one area. They are probably more full of life than I am and even though they are completely bent over with age and osteoporosis don't be fooled, it still hurts when they "pat" your back and tell you that you are pretty.

I'm glad that the weather finally warmed up and decided to behave itself, however it also means that summer is coming. I have heard a lot about it from various people and have received many warnings about how I need to "prepare myself". The humidity is suppossedly horrid and chances are I will want to die, my laundry will never dry and if I don't leave the windows open on my apartment then everything will grow mold and smell horrible. However, until then I am not worried. It's really nice when we walk around finding people's houses and new investigators so for now I am enjoying it.

Last week we had a ward cooking battle in Junju ward. It was a lot of work and preparation, but it ended up being a lot of fun. Everyone put a lot of thought and effort into it and so we ate delicious food and played lots of fun games, like pie eating, eating onion rings off a string, egg passing relays and competitive bobbing for apples. Here's a secret of life, if you want to get a Korean really involved in an activity make it competitive, they will do anything to win.

Something I have been thinking about lately:

"The invitation to repent is rarely a voice of chastisement but rather a loving appeal to turn around and to “re-turn” toward God.14 It is the beckoning of a loving Father and His Only Begotten Son to be more than we are, to reach up to a higher way of life, to change, and to feel the happiness of keeping the commandments. Being disciples of Christ, we rejoice in the blessing of repenting and the joy of being forgiven. They become part of us, shaping the way we think and feel."

-Neil A. Andersen Oct 2009

This week one of the less actives that we were working with finally came out to church with her two young sons. I was ecstatic. It is hard to come back out when it has been so long and you feel like no one knows you and that they are all judging you. I am so glad that I have never gone less active because dang it's hard to come back. The most dissapointing thing though was when we were talking to a member, in hopes that they would befriend her because their children are similar age and all that she said was they she didn't really like her and they had known each other when they were younger. It was surprising to me. I was reminded of the story of the prodigal son, the father who welcomes his son back with open arms and the brother who stands seething outside. God is willing to forgive us and others and let us progress and grow, so why can't we?

Challenge of the week: Forgive.

I love you all.

--
Sister O'Bryan
Daejeon PO Box 38
Daejeon-si
Chungcheong bukdo 300-600
South Korea

Because what we are on the outside will get old in this lifetime, but what we are like on the inside will never get old. Just wiser and better, if we do it right.

Mama

Elections--you can count on it

Dear family,

It is election season in Korea. This means everyone has their campaign trucks and is out on the street corners blaring loud music and dancing with their paid grandmas. It's probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Unlike in the USA instead of just two political parties there are somewhere around 30 and so there are a lot of street corners with dancing grandmas and people shouting through megaphones, other people dressed up in funny costumes passing out cards and shaking everyone's hand.

We also have transfers today, but I am staying with one of my companions so will probably be here in Junju for a long time (at least the next 12 weeks if not longer). The other day while we were visiting a less active member I came across what is now probably one of my favorite books ever. Because this is Korea and everyone wants to learn English it was of course in English and is called "The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it Was None of His Business". It's this little mole and if I tell you any more than that it would ruin the story. So go to your nearest library and see if you can find a copy. It's so popular here in Korea that they even have a musical about it.

Spiritual enlightenment of the week- this past week I have been rereading last October's General Conference (because we STILL haven't received the one from May here in Korea...) and I was reminded of why I love our church. We have living apostles and a living prophet to lead and guide our church, how amazing is that?

Every time I read over General Conference I am reminded of that and I find something really neat that I didn't notice before. This morning I was finishing up the General Relief Society meeting and I read a talk from Sister Barbara Thomas (Thompson? I don't know). She talks about "Minding the Gap" and although I can't remember all of the talk there is one part that just made me laugh a lot. She talked about how at one point one of her coworkers asked her how she could still be so active in a church that put so much emphasis on marriage and family when she was single. She replied that the reason was that it is true- she could be just as single and just as childless outside of the church but wouldn't have the happiness of being a member. I hope that I am never her, however, if I never get married or have children or even if I do I hope that I can continue on as faithfully and strongly as she has.

Challenge of the week: Who is someone in your life who you really admire? Why? What are you going to do to be more like that person?

Another neat thing, my P-day is being switched to Monday. That means that I will be able to email you all again in... four days. Pretty cool. So if you act quickly you can finish the challenge of the week and reply before my next email!!! How exciting is THAT?!

I love you all.

Sister Rebecca O'Bryan

An apostle of the Lord and other things

Dear family,

We got to hear from Elder Christopherson last Sunday at Stake conference. It was a pretty big deal for everyone, they prepared for months and they were just beaming when he complimented them on their food and the choir (which I was in) and everything else. I think it kind of sounded like the kind of talk you could give anywhere and it was somewhat generic, but the spirit he brought with him when he spoke was tremendous. I guess it's like the scriptures, it's not so much that you receive a new revelation every time that you read, but the spirit and peace that you get from consistently reading them can really help you through your day.

I don't have a lot of time this week, we went to the public bath house which took a little more time than we thought. However, I would recommend to anyone, I got scrubbed so clean that I literally sqeeked when I had water rubbed on me. Also it was pretty cheap ($4) unless you wanted an old grandma to rub you down and give you a massage, that cost an extra $15. I don't know why we don't have more of them in America, they are amazing, out door pools, indoor pools, hot pools, freezing cold pools, dry saunas, wet saunas, massage water pressure baths and everything. Maybe it's because everyone is naked. (No worries the women and the men are in seperate buildings).

Anyway, I love you all, think happy thoughts and scrub really well.

--
Sister O'Bryan
Daejeon PO Box 38
Daejeon-si
Chungcheong bukdo 300-600
South Korea

Beatboxing door knocking and family reflections

Dear Family,

After the phone call with everyone this week I thought a lot about things, family, life, Korea. The more that I am here the more I realize that I really like Korea. It is different in some ways, but in a lot of ways it has become my home. My companions and I were playing a game of "would you rather" and Sister Jung asked "Would you rather go your entire life only eating Korean food or American food?" I thought about it for a long time. If I never could eat American food it means no bread, which is a big deal because I discovered that I really love bread and that Koreans just don't know how to make it. Could I really go the rest of my life without eating bread? But then again, could I really go the rest of my life without eating kimchi or rice wrapped in kim or car-guk-su? In the end it doesn't really matter because I know that I can eat both, but it was interesting to think about.

I was also thinking a lot about family. While at district meeting the other day I was listening to one of the Elders give a training and my mind started to wonder. I love missionary work, I love missionaries and I love the Elders in my area, but sometimes they can say things that are a little inconsiderate. So while I was sitting there feeling slightly ticked off I suddenly got a thought "what if that was Jonny?" or even "What if that was Louis?" I realized that no matter what they would have said I wouldn't have cared because they are missionaries and I would be proud of all that they had to go through and their determination to be there. Suddenly every Elder in the room became my brother, not like the over arching thought of "we are all children of God" but like my actual brothers. I could see Louis slouching in the chair next to me and Jonny giving a presentation about faith in finding people and Josh flicking paper wads at his companion. And suddenly I realized that's what it's like. That's what God sees us as, his family. We are not just like little paper dolls that he plays with, but literally his children that he knows by name. It was one of those moments where the things that you testify about every day becomes real and it sinks even deeper into your heart.

Then last night we were teaching a girl. Her name is Han Jung Yun and she is brilliant. She is 12 years old, but doesn't go to any afterschool program and yet she wins awards all the time and is almost fluent at English. So while we were teaching we pulled out the "Family: A Proclamation" and started discussing how the gospel helps our families. The first question we asked her was "How important is family?" She sat and thought about it for a minute. Then she responded "It's like air. You have to have air to breath and to survive. That is how important family is." Then her mom told us about how last summer when the daughter went to Canada to learn English the mother didn't eat kimchi for two months. Because the daughter couldn't eat kimchi the mother decided to commiserate with her by not eating any herself. If you understood how important kimchi is to a Korean you would be really touched. Koreans eat kimchi with every meal. Kimchi is as or more important than rice. As an American I'm not sure if you understand that statement, but just imagine how much you drink water, or how often you brush your teeth and then imagine stopping for two months.

Other things:

• I am going to a cooking hog-won today. Hog-wons are like the staple of Korean education, EVERY child goes to at least two or three, they are like after school programs (ballet, basketball, art, piano, accordian), but then imagine that with the intensity of army boot camp from the time you are 6 and you have Korean education. Our bishop's wife runs a cooking hog-won and so I get to go today
• I am going to see if I can't get some plastic surgery. Korea is known for it's plastic surgery which is amazing cheap and wonderful because everyone does it. My companion is getting a mole removed so I am going to see if I can't get a couple freckles taken off or this weird chicken pox scar filled in. Nothing too dramatic, no worries. We'll see....

Challenge of the week, reread The Family Proclamation and try something new with your own family.

Also, where is Roman? Is he still alive?
--
Sister O'Bryan
Daejeon PO Box 38
Daejeon-si
Chungcheong bukdo 300-600
South Korea

Try and keep on trying until that which seems difficult becomes possible- and that which seems only possible becomes habit and a real part of you.

-Elder Uchtdorf

Mother's Day and other things

Dear Family,

This week I have been thinking a lot about prayer. We have two investigators who have finally started to progress, this means that they are reading the Book of Mormon assignments that we leave them and they are actually interested when we start out lessons and ask questions that you can tell are really from their hearts. Also at the end of the lessons this week we asked if they would pray and they did. It was the first time for both of them, one of them is a lady who says she has been Catholic for years, but yet this was really the first time that she prayed. The other is a little girl who has no religion and so she really didn't know much about it except from the times we have prayed with her before. There is something really neat about being with someone the first time they pray, I always feel so privelaged, it is like they are opening up this communication with their father in heaven who has been wanting to talk to them for so long and I get to be there when it happens. I love it.

I have also been thinking about the Mother's Day call that is coming up in a few days. I talked to mom this morning and she said that on Mother's Day she will try to have people at her house and call from there at about 6pm MST which will be Monday morning for me. As not everyone can come to Mama's house I thought that maybe the rest of the crew could try to do a conference call a little bit earlier, maybe like half an hour before, which would be 5:30PM MST. Any earlier than that and my companion will be talking to her family. If that doesn't work... well.. I'm not really sure. I just know that last time the huge conference call had some issues so I thought with fewer people it might be a little more successful and I would just try to have two calls.

Also, in preparation, if you could find your favorite scripture or a recent testimony building experience to share, that would be great. I love to hear your voices and your questions, but

I only get to hear from you twice a year so I'd like to make the most of it, if you know what I mean.

The first picture I attached is from a birthday party I attended. It was so intense. This little girl was turning one and that is one of the biggest birthdays in Korea so they had a HUGE birthday party. The second is a picture of some of the things we ate. I am always amazed because just when I think I have eaten everything there is some other animal or vegetable that I am served.

The third picture is me at a Buddhist temple jumping off the steps. They had HUGE Buddhas there and other things and then off across this gully was where all the monks live. I thought it was funny because there was this big gate that said "Temple Square training center" and it made me laugh a lot.

Another thing I love about Korea-- the random holidays and festivals. Yesterday was children's day so school was out and one of the wards I serve in went on a picnic in the mountains. So of course we went with them. The mountains in Korea are just as beautiful as the ones in Utah, just with more ancient ruins scattered about, and it was a lot of fun to picnic Korean style and play kick ball and what not. Koreans are really competitive-- always, so it was a really intense game of kick ball with the bishop egging everyone on and lots of yelling and running, things you usually don't do much of as a missionary.

I hope all is well in your neck of the woods, the church is true, God loves you, I love you.
--
Sister O'Bryan
Daejeon PO Box 38
Daejeon-si
Chungcheong bukdo 300-600
South Korea