DECEMBER 21, 2014

 I've been studyin about christmas the last few days. it's the best. haha i love it. our week. it was really good! We had another good one over here in 노량진. Can i just start by saying missionary life is weird?? Your whole life you're taught not to eat candy cuz its bad for you, and that's all that's in the packages from your parents. Then you're told not to talk to strangers your whole life and what do you do as a missionary? Talk to every stranger you see. Just a few of the funny thoughts of missionary life. :)

Monday after email it wasn't p-day so we made calls for a long time cuz it was freezing haha so that was good. pretty productive as well. got a few appointments. then we had dinner and then me and elder ryan started our split. that was super fun. we went to go visit a less active member and ended up running into a member on the way. i love when that happens. i also got your package :) The one with the twelve days of christmas x2. it's too cute. I think you're gonna like my pics this week. what i did. so i took the 12 days of christmas you sent me mom and took a pic in a different place each day. :) haha you're gonna love it. i'm excited to see waht you think. but yeah. anyway. that was our day. 

Tuesday! I was on splits with elder ryan. we had our studies, district meeting which was awesome. i love that guy. ah it was good. all about christmas and christ. man christ is the best. can i just say that? it was awesome. talked about how we need to become a christlike missionary not just do missionary things. ya know that kinda deal. so it was really good. then we went and got dinner as a district and that was awesome. then we came home and called people cuz our appointment cancelled so that was lame. :( but wednesday was awesome! We had our studies and those were awesome. then we went to do service at the welfare center which was awesome. just deliverin food to old people for a few hours. super aweosme and fun. and rewarding. there were old people there whose hat's said USS Enterprise commanding officer. like 2 or 3 of em haha it was way funny. korean lesson. the most common names from korea are Kim, Park, and Lee. Moon is also decently common. but yeah those 3 if you hear em, they're probably a korean. haha love it. anyway i don't know why i told you that. then we went home and got ready for english class then we taught 강진오 kang jeenoh about how our families can be blessed by the gospel, prophets and jesus christ. that was super good. then we went and got dinner with him. that was super fun. then we had english class and a practice lesson! So pretty busy day! but those are the best. we taught him the word of wisdom. pretty good. hope none of yall have a problem with that one. ;)

Thursday we had the temple!! So that was awesome. I love the temple. it was really good. but yeah. i felt the spirit for sure. so make sure you're goin to the temple at least once a month and you'll be blessed for sureeee. then we socialized with all the missionaries then me and elder smith went shopping. we found some sweet sweatshirts at H&M for 9 bucks. :) heck yeah. i also bought mom, alynn, and kenah some grandma pants. gonna send those guys off this week. so be ready. :) haha they're awesome. anyway, yeah that was it. we did some shopping then we came home and elder smith got his haircut which was great. then we came home, relaxed for the last part of our p-day then we went ot meet a guy named 윤광수 Yoon Gwangsoo. he's a random number we called in our phone and he wanted to meet! So we went and met him at a coffee shop! it was pretty awesome. we think he's gonna be a new investigator. we talked to him about the book of mormon but he didn't really understand so we're gonna hve to teach him it again when we meet him this week. pretty excited about it. but yeah then after that the day was over so we came home. 

Friday. we had weekly planning which was waesome. super good! just nothing more to say about it. haha sorry. then we went caroling at a subway station near our house. called 노량진역 noryangjeen station. the one bishop met us at. :) haha super funny. anyway, that was awesome! Like there were the six of us, the other elders and the sisters. not too many people stopped and watched cuz koreans are busy, you know how it is, but you can tell it made em happy and put out a good image so it was awesome! Also, a grandma stopped and started talkin to us she was super nice. said she would come to church which she didn't. but it's okay. then we got dinner and also had to do singing practice for sunday the rest of the night.

Saturday was good. we had soccer which was fun. the sink for where you prepare the sacrament broke though so the whole like stage was soaked in water so we had to clean that up. then we came home had studies and lunch then we went and had a practice lesson which was awesome. we practiced for our investigator who we taught yesterday. we taught the restoration and the word of wisdom. then we went and made calls and had our weekly cooreleation meeting. that was great! Haha don't really know what else to say about it. but yeah!

Sunday was awesome. we got up and got ready for our lessons that day. we had two but one cancelledㅠㅠ it's okay. but yeah. then we went to the church and practiced our song which was awesome! It went really good during saccrament meeting! It was angels we have heard on high and the little drummer boy. how was your guys' christmas sacrament by the way?? The rest of church we watched the christmas devotional. wow. how about motab and the orchestra?? Too good. haha i loved them. the one song. 주 믿는 신도여 which in english is oh come all ye faithful. that hit me. i would suggest watching it. but yeah the devotional was pretty good. from what i could understand. :) haha i understood a decent amount. i can definitely tell that i've learned a lot in a year and a half. so heck yeah. :) haha then after chruch we taught kang jeenoh which was awesome. we taught him the word of wisdom which we think is gonna be super hard for him to overcome. stress. plus he has no religious background. ah stress. it's hard. but he's sitll comin to church and everything so it's good. :) haha then we went home and had our studies and then we went to meet the dude who never came so we just made calls and got ready for this week. it's gonna be a busy one. we found some santa costumes so those are what those pictures are. :) haha too funny. but yeah! That was our week. also this morning i read this and it hit me. by president monson from conference, his sunday morning address. "As we strive to place Christ at the center of our lives by learning His words, by following His teachings, and by walking in His path, He has promised to share with us the eternal life that He died to gain. There is no higher end than this, that we should choose to accept His discipline and become His disciples and do His work throughout our lives. Nothing else,no other choice we make, can make of us what He can" so basically i just really liked that when i read it. we need to put christ at the center of all we do.and we need to work on becoming his disciples. okay. that's some food for thought. :) have a great week. i love you to pieces. have a great christmas, and we'll "see" ya on thursday for me. :) haha you're the best! Love you!!!!

love,

elder breinholt

ps. from the first presidency message. dieter. love him

Think of the simple yet dignified way our Heavenly Father chose to honor the birth of His Son. On that holy night, angels appeared not to the rich but to shepherds. The Christ child was born not in a mansion but in a manger. He was wrapped not in silk but in swaddling clothes.

The simplicity of that first Christmas foreshadowed the life of the Savior.Though He had created the earth, walked in realms of majesty and glory,and stood at the right hand of the Father, He came to earth as a helpless child. His life was a model of modest nobility, and He walked among the poor, the sick, the downcast, and the heavy laden.

Though He was a king, He cared neither for the honors nor the riches of men. His life, His words, and His daily activities were monuments ofsimple yet profound dignity.

Jesus the Christ, who knew perfectly how to give, set for us the patternfor giving. To those whose hearts are heavy with loneliness and sorrow,He brings compassion and comfort. To those whose bodies and minds are afflicted with illness and suffering, He brings love and healing. To those whose souls are burdened with sin, He offers hope, forgiveness, and redemption.

If the Savior were among us today, we would find Him where He alway swas—ministering to the meek, the downcast, the humble, the distressed,and the poor in spirit. During this Christmas season and always, may we give to Him by loving as He loves. May we remember the humble dignity of His birth, gifts, and life. And may we, through simple acts of kindness,charity, and compassion, fill the world with the light of His love and healing power.