October 27, 2013

Alright so this week. :) We went down to the actual city of 평택 and i bought a sweet nike jacket for my winter thing. It's getting kinda cold here! Not too bad, but some days are pretty cold. We looked around for more winter stuff, but we couldn't really find any. So we'll probably look more next week. That's about it for monday. haha nothing too exciting. Then Tuesday we  studied and did our normal thing. Elder Atkin and Pruner were sick so we left them at the apartment and went down to 펴택역 and just kinda talked to people for a while! That was some fun. haha it was kinda hard but that's okay. But then we came back and taught Korean class! I seriously love teaching that. That's what I'm gonna miss most about this area. Oh we get transfer calls this saturday! So if I'm leaving you'll know the next time you hear from me! Anyway, we taught them the other version of numbers. I think I've told you guys that they have two number systems. But yeah. I feel super smart when I can actually teach people. Like they didn't even know how to count. So that made me feel good. :) Wednesday we had district meeting and english class. Before every district meeting we have lunch as a district. I got 치즈라면. Aka what you bought me when I was in the MTC with cheese. It's pretty delicious. I'm getting more and more used to spicy food. My nose still runs and stuff, but I've gotten used to it haha. But that was delicious. They really like us there. It's called 김밥전국. Or Kimbab Chunguk. They're everywhere. But we go to the same one all the time so they'll give us aloe drink and stuff, pretty awesome. :) But then we had the meeting thing. After it, the Quigley's, one of the american families, were moving to Oklahoma so they couldn't take any food home with them so we got to take their food! We came home with three boxes. Funny story. Right when we were getting out of the taxi, the bottom of my box gives out. Everything rolls all over the street, it was super embarassing. Haha it was pretty funny. Anyway, then we had English class which was super cool. Elder Dewey was there, he's new in our district, and he is like 6'5. haha everyone loved it. So funny. We had a new guy come. He was 16 and his name was 현대인, or modern times person. Super cool name right? So that was fun. :)

 

Thursday! We went to that 유가내 place for lunch again. So good. Haha we went there today with one of the members. He rocks. It is 김용환's brother 김용호. 김용환 is the cute big kid that i sent a picture with. :) Anyway, then we made some english flyers and posted those up every where. We talked to a cool old guy who acted pretty interested, but he told us he didn't have a phone number. But...we weren't to sure about that. Most old people have just as nice of smart phones as the kids do. Oh! It's only like 10 dollars a month here for 초등학교 (elementary) kids to have a smart phone. how crazy is that?! SO a lot of the time like 10 year olds have smart phones. Super crazy. Anyway, then we wnet to the bogg's for a 식사. If you guys remember Jennifer she's the one we teach with the Boggs. But she couldn't make it sadly. We had like white sauce noodles. Delicious. I love american food. I shared the thought at that. It was on 3 Nephi 11. About how it took 3 times before the people looked up. They hear a voice and try to look around them to find out who it came from, but can't recognize it. Same thing the 2nd time. It wasn't until the third time that they were able to understand it. And it's because they looked up. So I just shared that we need to remember to always look up. When we need answers, we have to look up or we won't receive them. Then we went to the church because Elder Atkin had to have an interview for his temple recommend before it expires. That was cool. We got to see President Morrise! He rocks.

 

Friday was another normal day as a missionary! But I read Uchtdorf's talk...again. haha we need the new liahona's so that I can read the new conference talks. Anyway, it was the Of Regrets and Resolutions one. So something that stuck out to me that time was when he talks about finding something good--something to cherish--in each day. I sort of extended that to people and I think that that made it powerful. That we need to always try to find good in others because it is super easy to find the bad. Anyway, I thought that was cool. So then we had weekly planning after we went to Pizza School! Gotta love that party. haha it's really not that bad. Anyway, then we went over to the Hernandez's for dinner. Theey are seriously so awesome. The perfect example of a member missionary. She's like yeah I was talking to my friend and I bore my testimony to her and now she wants a book of mormon so do you guys think that you can get me one in Thai? Also, I just got here, so I'm gonna need some more Korean and English and spanish book of mormons. Keep in mind that we gave her like 5 of each earlier. Haha it never is going to end with that lady. She's awesome. Then we come home and we got a call from a guy named 김영호. He's like hey so...I want to learn from you guys do you think you could meet? Do you think you could meet tomorrow at 10 AM? Haha we were like heck yeah! He used to be an investigator but got too busy with work, so he had to drop. But. Now he's out of that and wants to learn! So we do english and gospel with him. Get this. We go to meet him. And this baptism that had been put off and put off happened to be at 10 AM that saturday. So we were in a room talking to him and we were like oh they are all going to watch a baptism! He's like hey oh can I watch?? We were like of course! Haha it was so awesome. So, that could have been why it was put off for so long. For that one moment. The lord is in control guys.

 

But saturday! So we met 김영호 like I told you. We taught him english for a while and asked him to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon which he said he would. So we'll see how it goes! :) After we met him we went the that 김밥전국 place again. So delicious. Haha then we had our 경전공부 반! Or scripture study class. That was a lot of fun! I'm gonna be honest, I can understand about 10% of what is said, but I can keep up. haha it's hard. Love it though. Just gotta keep studying. It's really hard to push myself to study here though. Just because we have all of our American members, and we only have lessons every once in a while, like 3 times a week that I have to study for...but just gotta stay motivated. :) Then we had the American Branch's halloween party! That was so cool! Jace will like this. One kid dressed up as a minecraft guy. It was actually super cool. He looked like just like a person from minecraft. I wish I would have gotten a picture. But he just put a box on his head that was designed perfectly to look like a minecraft guy. Cool. Anyway. That was a lot of fun. Those members are super cool.

 

Sunday! We were pretty dang busy in the Military Branch! That's never happened in there before haha. They asked us to teach a gospel principles class to some new people because the Ward Mission leader typically teaches it but he wasn't there. Anyway that was fun. Then haha coolest thing ever. We got to teach the primary kids I am a child of god in Korean. So cool. 난하나님의 자녀. That was intense. Haha it was a lot of fun. Those kids are loud. Oh it was the primary program! So flippin cute. Dang primary kids. Then we went to the Korean ward where 김나영 got confirmed! I got to stand in on the circle thing...yeah didnt understand a word that was said haha. Like...dang. Well I understood her name. That's about it. 하유진 didn't come for some reason. So I've learned that sometimes students have to go to school on sundays. Like it's required. How terrible is that?! Dang. Anyway, but that was awesome. So we went through church and then we had the 식사 with all of the members since it was the 4th sunday. That was delicious. Some curry stuff. It was really good. Anyway, then we went back and made up studies for like an hour before we had to get down to 평택 to meet Ted! He's 김나영's uncle. He's been inactive for like 20 years, same with his mom. But the mom said that after the baptism she wants to come back to church. It's just so far, which it is, also she's busy. So we are going to stop by there some more and just check up on em. But ted is like the coolest guy ever. He's super good at english and super stylish. He's way cool. So we talked to them and had some dinner. It was super fun. :)

 

That was our week! Pretty dang awesome! We have a lot of cool people here. I really don't want to leave. But if I do, it'll be okay. It'll be what the lord wants. :) I love all of you! Keepin on keepin on!

 

Love,

Elder Breinholt

Baptism!!

                                                     Elder Breinholt and a Bonsai Plant.

                                                  Young Men's President at the baptism

                                                                     Sunset in Korea:)

Two Baptisms This Week!

Well hello there cute family! We had the two baptisms this week! Which was really a miracle. I'll be sure to tell you about it. The next transfer day is November 9th, a saturday, because of a combined mission president something haha I'm not really sure. So this transfer is only 5 weeks. That BYU game seriously sounds so crazy! Haha that's amazing! I'm just glad they won. :) That sounds like a lot of fun. I'm so jealous that you get to go to like every single one. I won't even be able to see a football game on tv for two years hah, but that's okay. Yeah Jayden turned in his papers! :) Seriously, so glad! Proud of that kid. I want to talk to him super bad. But I'm in Korea... Anyway. Super excited  for him. That's exciting! I heard Brandon got his call to Georgia! THat's so cool! He's gonna be awesome. I'm not sure about Adamsguy, I keep forgetting his email at home, so I'm gonna put it in my journal tonight. Give Jayden a call or something to see if you can get to his opening! I'll tell him to let you know. I hope he does. :)

 

So this week! Tuesday we had interviews with President. You're gonna like what I say next. So after it was over he comes up to me and asks me, how do you feel about training Elder Breinholt? I was like...hmm well sure! I mean we won't be able to communicate with anyone, but we'll do our best. So, it could happen soon. I doubt it will happen this next transfer, but it definitely could happen soon! That's pretty dang stressful! Haha but it's okay. IF that's what the lord wants me to do, I'll do it. We went to this super delicious restaraunt. I thought Kenah would like to hear about our food haha. The restaraunt is called YooGaNe, and what we order is called 떡갈비. It's basically fried rice with 떡, which is like compressed rice stuff, fried rice, kim (seaweed), some 고추장, which is spicy red sauce, then cheese. It's so good. And yeah! THen we taught the 한국어 반 which is basically Korean class. You've heard about it. Super fun to teach. Haha i just hope we aren't teaching them wrong.

 

Wednesday we got up and did our normal thing. But I was just studying about light and what a light Christ is and I came across this verse in Ecclesiastes I think...haha it's chapter 11, verse 7. It says: Truly the light is sweet. And I just loved that because following Christ and keeping the commandments truly is sweet. It is so much better and happier than not doing what we are supposed to I guess. We had district meeting, which took up a ton of time haha. Then me and Elder Pruner did like a mini split. He had to go to get money and we just wanted to do some 전도 while they were planning our halloween party. So we were just walking around right. Trying to talk to people. Then some guy stops us and is saying something in english, but i couldn't understand him. He's like come with me! So we follow him up some stairs into this room. I'm pretty dang sure it was a gambling ring. It smelled like a casino, and there were like some sort of games set up. Yeah it was intense. THen we were like, uhhh we gotta go! So we just left haha. Pretty dang cool/a little bit scary. Then we met with our..what's the word in english...ward mission leader. So we did that and then we had english class! I love that thing! It is so awesome haha. A bunch of cool people came. But! 하유진 had his baptismal interview and passed! So awesome! I was super excited. But 박희정 who is the lady who brings him to church and her son is his friend, took the baptismal record to his mom to sign for permission ya know. But she wasn't going to. So apparently the parents are probably going to get divorced so she wasn't sure and wasn't going to sign it. But a lot of prayers and begging by 박희정, she signed it and he could get baptised. Ah so awesome.

 

Thursday we went to Pizza School for lunch! It was delicious. It is 5 bucks for a Pepperoni, but not pre made...so almost as good as little caesars. Haha but after that we met with 김현철. Or Kim Hyun Chor. He's super cool. He's like 66 I think. Actually he was a referall from Elder Champion. So that was good to talk to him again! I miss that guy. But he's interested in english. So we got to know him, spoke english with him. Which like no 66 year olds are as good as him. He's super super good. And he's totally fine with the message part. So that was good as well. We think he will make some progress. :) Then we went over to our branch president's house for a 식사! That was super good. We had lasagna and american grapes. Dang it was super super good haha. But yeah! That was about all that happened.

 

Friday, oh hey you'll like to hear this. We've been going to the gym every morning. Heck yeah. I'm gonna be ripped! Just kidding all I do is ride the bike cuz it's like a leg work out, plus cardio, plus I'm not sore the next day. Haha so that's a plus. Anyway, we had our scripture study class. I'm discovering I can understand a decent amount. Haha I just can't speak. It's hard for me. But that's okay it'll come. Then we went to 김밥전국 for lunch! We love that place. That Translates to Kim Bop Heaven by the way. Haha so we get like some sushi type things, but korean style, and like bibimbop, and donkkas which is a pork cutlet type thing. THen we met with 정우채! He's super cool. I think I talked to you about him last week. Anyway, he's super cool. He wants to improve his english which is super cool, but also he just wants some help. He wants to be better and he's coming to the right place to do it. I'm really proud of him. He came to church sunday! But I've never seen someone so nervous in my life. Haha he seriously. Dang. It was bad. He walked in and we talked to him for a little bit, but he left before sacrament. So that was too bad. Hopefully we can get him to stay next week.

 

Saturday was awesome! It was a "Senior Day" for me. Which basically means that I have the phone and stuff. But luckily! No one called haha and we didn't ahve to call anyone. So..it was kinda just a normal thing. Anyway, oh yeah mom I saw that you wanted to know if we have a cell phone. The answer is yes! We do. So we went and put up 광고's (english flyers) in the downtown area. I'm gonna have you guys knowing some Korean by the time I come home. ;)  THen we met 이천수! We went down there and they took us to a super cool garden type place! They are so nice. I have some pictures. It was really cool. Anyway, that place was cool. And it was super good to talk to them and see them again.

 

Sunday! The 침례!!! Seriously, that baptism was awesome. It was my first one and it was a double one. But before I got to that sorry one second. So In the english branch a guy was giving a talk and said something that I raelly liked. He said "I believe in a God who is in the salvation business, not the damnation business." I loved that. Like seriously, God wants us all to return to Him and He loves all of us so much. But yeah so we had the baptism! Ah. I could feel the spirit so strongly. 김나 영 is the girls name and 하유진 is the boys name. They rock. 김나영's uncle invited us to dinner next sunday! He's the one that I met at the 식사 forever ago. He's awesome. His english name is Ted. :) Anyway, we're hoping we are going to see him more often than once a transfer. But he's wy cool. But the baptism. Elder atkin baptzed 하유진. And the young mens president baptised 김나영. So that was cool. Both of her parents came and her grandma! So that was super exciting. I hope they felt something. But you nver know. THen we talked with the other elders investigator for a while and came back to the apartment! And that was our week! Pretty dang crazy! I love it here. This place is amazing. It's getting kinda cold, but with suits today is kinda hot. Anyways, I love you guys. Keep beeing awesome. Let me know if there's anything I should be aware of, like aubrey having her baby. That blows my mind. SHe's going to have a two year old child by the time I come home. What the heck. I'll be sure to send Janae some baby clothes too so that when she has it, it will have something to wear already. :) I'll have it say: I love my south korean uncle. It'll be awesome. Love you a lot! Have a great week.

 

Love,
Elder Breinholt

 

General Conference! Plus 2 Baptisms comin up!‏

Hey my awesome family! How are you doing? This week was super cool. We got to watch General Conference yesterday and the day before which was so good. Like seriously. Ah. You'll here more about it. :) Anyway! I bought you guys some 마이쮸's! They are like Hi chews just korean. I'm gonna buy more and when I have enough I'll send it. I got your letters on thursday at the combined district meeting thing! So that was cool! It was so goot to hear from you. :) By the way! They took a month! Haha unless you sent them after the date on the letter. Anyway, it was good to read them. :) Monday we went to FHE and to 가정의 밤. That was super cool. We watched the Thomas S. Monson video movie thing "On the Lord's Errand". It is seriously so good. Love it. Then we talked to them about General conference and that they should watch it. Pretty dang awesome. I could really feel the spirit. I know that he is the right man to lead the church. I realized that he has been an apostle longer than mom and dad have been alive. Like dang. That's a long time. Haha seriously. He rocks.

 

Tuesday we made cookies for our recent convert and one of our investigators. We basically prepared for our Korean class we were teaching all night because that was the first time we were teaching it so we had to figure out what we wanted to do. So we teach americans Korean! How cool is that. I don't know Korean...but I'm teaching it. :) haha so that's cool. It actually makes me feel smart. Like they can't even read....but oh well. It's funny. So we taught them how to read, how the characters are organized and stuff. Then we ran out of time! Oh we also got to go on base and eat at the food court! That was delicious! I had Charley's! We had a sandwich and fries. Like heck yeah. It was so good. haha dang.

 

Wednesday we left as soon as we woke up! It was a Korean Holiday, not really sure which, so the members threw a party. We went down to 평택호 which is like a super cool area. There is a lake and a park and we hung out with the ward. We played 초구 which is like...volleyball and soccer mixed. Like you're on a court and kick the ball over a net, but it can bounce a few times, you have three hits to get it over. It's awesome haha. It was super super fun. I'm gonna always remember the bishop after each serve. haha so funny. He would be like oh "Nice Suhbuh!" For nice serve. Since they don't have v's, but that's the korean word for serve. So freakin funny. Hahaha oh my gosh. I laughed every time. But eh reason we went to that is because we wanted to hang out with the members and get to know them better so they will give us referrals. Because that's the best way to do missionary work. Plus two of our investigators were there, the two that are being baptized, so that's awesome. After that we went back and had english class! It was cool! but because of the holiday, not too many people came. Like 5 I think. Haha anyway, it was awesome. We wnt over a story with them because they are all pretty good.

 

Thursday was prtty dang busy! We woke up and did our normal thing. We had to go up to 수원, 곡반장 for the combined district meeting which is where I got their letters. :) Thank you so much for them! They were super aweosme! We got some good advice on talking to as many people as possible and seeing it as, every person you talk to is an offer to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then after that was over we planned our sweet Halloween party as a district. Haha it's gonna be cool. but it's on November 2nd, kinda weird. I'll let ya know more about that when I know more about that haha. Anyway, then we had to come home super fast cuz that place is like an hour and a half away and get to a 식사 with the boggs! They are the people we teach jennifer with, for kenah, she's the one who has the husky. :) So we ate with them and just talked to her. She really loves to talk haha. She doesn't really get a chance to talk to people other than at school, so she loves talking when she gets a chance. :) Then we went to the church to do some Korean Clas stuff when in walks in 정우채. He's a Less active who we tried to visit, but he walks in and tells us he wants to meet with us and practice english, even though he's already really good. And he wants to talk to the guy who used to be the bishop. So that was a miracle! As a missionary, my testimony of the spirit's influence has really grown. He is able to touch people in amazing ways that are incredibly personal to each of us. So cool. The spirit never stops workin. That's for sure.

 

Friday! In personal study I read the talk "Your Sacred Duty to Minister" by David A Beck or something like that haha. Anyway one thing he said that I liked was how priesthood holders have the duty to serve others, to serve the one. And it doesn't have to be just physically. It can be spiritually and emotionally as well. Then we worked on more Korean class stuff and did weekly planning. That was really our day. haha weekly planning takes forever.

 

Saturday was General Conference baby! Okay, seriously. They talked about marriage atleast twice each session. And how the world is going to end. haha seriously it's scaring me. But its true. Because the world is moving further and further away from God's standards, and that's not good! Anyway, I think I'll just start tellin ya what i liked! From Saturday Morning: Robert D. Hales - We all have to help each other through this life, no one can do it alone. I felt that in a lot of talks throughout conference. We are here to help each other. From Ulisses Soares that all things are possible with the lord's help. From Edward Dube (How freakin awesome was he by the way?) that we need to trust our leaders and take their counsel into consideration. Also, the lord wants our heart. Then David A. Bednar. Love that man. But one thing I learned from his tithing talk was that we often can't see our blessings without careful examination of our lives. And often times they aren't physical. Also, that we need to be grateful. It allows us to be happy and content in our current circumstances. Then President Uchtdorf. Okay how awesome were both of his talks? Seriously he is hilarious. I love him so much. But from him I learned that the church gives greater healing than any other source in the world. Also, that there isn't just one reason people leave the church. We can never assume, we should jsut help them. Also, Just because you have doubts doesn't mean you stop believeing. Everyone has doubts at certain times in their lives. Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. Saturday Afternoon! Boyd K. Packer. Righteousness will always conquer wickedness. I love that man. he's so cool. Then D. Todd Christofferson. How good was his talk? I learned that mothers can teach powerful lessons no other relationship can. Also, that marriage needs to be valued. Men and women complete each other in marriage. They are equal. I love that. Value women, and value marriage. Then from S. Gifford Nielson. He sounded like a game announcer haha. He taught me that no matter our circumstances that everyone can do good. We all can be a positive influence when we stop worrying about ourselves. From Arnulfo Venuzlo that miracles don't ahve to be big. When we are humble, they will come. Remember, small and simple is how the lord works. Then Timothy J. Dykes. It takes effort to find Christ. Also, one really good thing, is that when we forgive, we must forget. Then it was Holland! Oh my goodness. He always rocks it. He gives the best talks and didn't disappoint with this one. seriously. So good. But I learned that because He trusts us, because He knows we can do it, He gives us trials and he gives them to us often. Also, that no matter what we do, His love for us never changes. He will always love us. Always keep in mind that there are happier days ahead. Be greateful for even the smallest of victories. Cherish everyday, have charity because it will never fail. Find something good in each day, and always be kind. That was the best talk. man. Then it was M. Russell Ballard! When we reach out with love, we have no need to be fearful, people may not accept the gospel or you, but they will never forget the love they felt. When we are seeking to do our best, we will not fail. And the Lord truly does hear our prayers, each one. Then that was it! Dang. I love conference. There's Christmas. Anyway, then we went over to the Hernandez' house because they wanted us to come over. They were having a birthday party for their daughter. They invited all of their friends and we got to meet a bunch of people! They truly understand how missionary work should happen. It doesn't happen just by saying sit down with the missionaries. It happens by building relationships, then seeing if they will listen to us. Like mom said, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." So we had some super good Peruvian food. Anyways, then we went to priesthood session! Ah so good. Love it! Haha dang. I'm sorry. The first speaker wa L. Tom Perry. I learned that we need to live what we learn. And everyone has their own spiritual gifts, we should seek to develop them. THen was Gerald Causse. He taught that Christ never would turn anyone away, so how can I? We need to accept everyone and be a friend to all. Especially those who are maybe a little different than us. THen Robert D. Funk tuaght that we need to be humble, obedient and able to feel the spirit to succeed in misisonary work. Then Dieter F. Uchtdorf again. So funny. He made a reference to the "I've fallen and I can't get up!" Thing. I'm sure you all have seen it. Anyway, I learned that people can do it. Just sometimes they need a little motivation. Then they're in for life. They just need someone to reach out to them. So never give up on people. Then also that we allways need to try to be a little better. Rise up each time we fal and never give into temptation. Also to never lose hope. Anyway, next was cute little Henry B. Eyring. He said that a great priesthood holder is the good samaritan. Who stops and helps those in need until they are well taken care of. The whole purpose of the church is to serve others. Then a talk by president monson! Love that man too. mmm conference. haha. But i learned that whatever we do, we should do it with a smile. Live with no regrets and lift all those around us. Also, Christ never gives up on anyone, so I can't either. Dang. That was just saturday. :) haha I seriously love it. I'm so sorry. Anyway.

 

Sunday! Whoo! More conference baby. We went to the church greeted some of the members and started it. I'm just gonna do the major highlights after all of that from yesterday. Haha anyways, from Henry B. Eyring, Life is about loving people even when its hard and seems like thy don't deserve it. JJoy is guaranteed to the faithful. Then Dallin H Oaks gave an awesome talk. He talked about how ultimate happiness is within our families. And that marriage is crucial to that. And marriage in god's way. They seriously talked about that like 20 times. Also, we nee dto remember that our challenges are temporary, and we must have courage to stand up for what we blieve no matter what. Then from Richard J. Maynes: This life is about dedication, perserverance and endurance. From Richard G. Scott. No matter how long trials stay, endure it well. Follow the prophet, it will give you great protection. Then from the Prophet. :) Ansers don't come immediately, we have to be patient. Keep the faith He will never leave us alone. Be greatful. We can always be better than we were when we have Him lighing ou path. Then the Afternoon: So I heard there was a fly on some dudes nose, but I never saw it. :( Haha anyways, Quintin L. Cook was first. I learned that we need to stop wasting our time on things that don't matter so much like video games, TV, facebook, twitter and spend it on things that actually matter like spending time with family and loved ones. Also, again that children need mothers in thier lives. Then Neil L. Andersen. The priesthood enriches our lives and women give insight that no man could. From Adrian Ochoa, to stay focesed, look at warning signs, and remember to always look up. Then from Terence M. Vinson that we need to love God and have hHim as a close friend. Then it was Russell M. Nelson's turn! I like him too. Really all of the apostles rock. Anyway I learend that we need to remember that we are all children of God. We can learn to build up resistance against temptation. All things in this life are gifts, including death. We were each chosen to come to earth at this exact time for a reason. It is important and one of our main purposes to receive a body, but it is far more important to develop our spirital gifts while we are here. Also again, that Mariage is the key to eternal life and happiness. Like dang. I love conference. Oh hey. Inbetween the sessions we had our last lesson with 하유진! His baptismal interview is on wednesday! Whoo! So we taught him about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. haha kinda funny to teach that to a 10 year old. but it was awesome. :) Then 김나영 finally had her baptismal interview! She's gonna finally get baptized! So awesome! I'm so excited for both of them. :) So that happened on Sunday as well. I don't have too many pictures to send this week...aka like 1 or two. I'll try to be better about it, it's just hard sometimes. Haha anyway. I love you guys! I hope you had a good week! So good to hear that BYU won again! Seriously that's awesome. Haha I'm so proud of em. :) Love you all! Have an awesome week!

 

Love,

Elder Breinholt

October 7th, 2013

                                                                       My cool hat!!

                                                         Some cool tombs and statues

                                                                    Downtown area

October 7th, 2013

                      This is the apartment complex where the less active lived who wasn't home:(

   Check us out!  Me and Elder Pruner on some exercise machines just havin  the time of our life!HaHa

 So. Jehovah's witness headquarters are literally right next to our apartment. The brown building with white trim is the JW's headquarters. The tall apartments is our apartment complex. Haha so crazy. They gave us a pamphlet. Also they've stopped by our apartment a few times.     
                                      
                                                  Downtown area where Connor Serves

Basic Rice field and a Tomb (I think it has Chinese writing on it)

One Transfer Down!

Can you believe I've been in Korea for 6 weeks? Because I can't. If time keeps going this fast I am going to be home in what will feel like next week. I'm glad you liked the pics because I got a lot this week! We went hiking and took some good ones. :) So I got some for ya! So good to hear that the Cougars are rockin in football. :) Love it. Well at least against Utah State. By the way! We don't get to watch conference until this weekend because they have to translate it and stuff! So that really stinks. I'm so jealous of all of you! Seriously, like I wish so bad I could watch it. So tempted to get on right now. Ah. Sorry that it wasn't the same poppy. :) When we do watch it, we will watch it at the church. By the way, what candy did you want again? I am going there today so if you respond quickly, it can happen. :) Okay so this week! It rocked! We finally got our two baptisms solidified so at least one is going to happen for sure and I'm pretty sure they both will. They're scheduled for the same day on the 20th! So pray for them! 하유진 and 김나영! Gonna be awesome! Our area is really on fire right now. Like seriously. Alright!

 

So Monday. after I emailed you we went up to 수원 to get some baskin robbins with some other elders and sisters in our zone. I was licking it on the cone right? And then...the cone shatters and my ice cream is about to fall on the ground but hey I've got skills so I caught it in my hand. It rocked. I saved my ice cream. except for the fact that I had melting ice cream all over my hand. Haha but I could still eat it. Oh I also bought Harry Potter 2 in korean. It's super cool. But I can't read it....haha strugglin. Then we came back and played bang! At FHE, but everyone ganged up on me first. So I lost first in both games we were playing. It was rough. Haha that game reminds me of the Banks. Because they love that game I think. Either that or one time I was over there and they were playing it.

 

Tuesday started the 4th month of my mission! What the heck. We went down to 안성, the furthest area away from the mission home which is an hour ish away from us. Haha so we went down there because we got to help the elders down there serve a less active lady on her farm. We went to town! We pulled out all of these sesame/poppyseed things out and weeded that whole area. Then we pulled corn out and weeded. Dang. I was so sore. Today is actually the first day I'm like not sore from that. Haha I know. Baby right. Then we went to lunch at Noodle tree. It was delicious. I'm so sorry they don't have that in 미국. Then we made the trek home. And since we didn't get any studies we finished the day with the three hours of studies we had to make up. Forever right. But one thing that I really liked. I reread Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk on Regrets and Resolutions because I felt like there was a lot to learn from it. Something that I really liked this time was when he was talking about enjoying the journey.We need to stop looking forward to when something will happen because we think we will be happy then and just let ourselves be happy now. Life is not meant to be enjoyed in retrospect. 

 

Wednesday rocked too. Obviously, I'm a missionary so everyday does. But I read more talks too. haha I'm sorry I need conference to be here. I'm going to literally cry of joy when I get to watch it this weekend. I read "trial of Your Faith" by Neil L. Andersen again. Haha I learned that we need to treasure, strengthen, pray for more, and proctect and defen\d our faith. It isn't something we can be passive about. ALso i learned that it is our imperfections that help us to become perfect. Super awesome. Like we have imperfections for a reason. So that we can learn and grow. Without them, why come to earth? After that we went around and tried to visit a less active, but she wasn't there. :( Then we just put up fliers for forever! Haha partyin missionary life. Then we did some area book work stuff and had English class! I shared the thought with Elder Pruner on faith! It was so aweome. THen I asked 심우진 to pray. He is the kid who is going to be baptised, its his friend. So when he prayed he was like "And please bless 하유진 that he will be baptised. So freakein cute. I almost started crying. But also! I learned that in Korea, parents don't name their children. Cna you belive that?! They have someone do it for them. Blows my mind. But its because everyone's name has meaning.

 

Thursday I read a talk on Marriage by L. Whitney Clayton. It was freakin good! The points of it were: In the happiest marriages, both husband and wife consider their relationship to be beyond a pearl of great price. Next, they are built on faith in the Lord Jesus Chirst. THird, repentance and humility. Next, Respect, transparency and loyalty. Last, love. All of these things are seriously all important. You take out one and it is probably going to fall apart.Then we went to a 고기 buffet! So delicious. I love those things. I always eat my eyes out. IS that a saying? Probably not. But I eat a lot. We went because it was 용환's last week in 평택 before he becomes a missionary. :( I'm so sad. He's a missionary now! Cute little yong hwan. :( He's seriously going to be the best missionary. Cutest guy ever. Then we went hiking with 박희정, 심우진, and 김종하. She's the other Elders investigator so we went to build a relationship with her and because they needed a third man and we count! So heck yeah. We hiked and there are these just excercise machines at the top of this "mountain". So awesome. Mostly old people doing it. There are old people exercise machines everywhere. They just hang out and exercise. PRetty sure the old people here are in better shape than most 20 year olds in america. haha so cool. But onething that stuck out to me is that it's not about getting and racing to the top to enjoy the view. It's about the journey. If we were just racing to the top we would have missed a lot of fun along the way. Most of the exercise things were on the way up rather than right at the top. ANd that was super fun. We saaw some small tombs and stuff so that was super cool. But if we wanted to get straaight to the top we totally would have missed all of those things.

 

Friday! I read Dallin H. Oaks talk "Protecting the Children" That's a good one. Read it. He talked about how we need our children to grow iup in homes solidified in the bond of marriage. Parents should rarely get divorced. He saied that divorce now is an easy thing that you rarely think twice about. And when children are involved, they are rarely brought into the picture. It was good. I can't summarize it. Just read itl Then we went to our scripture study class. It was awesome! I had what is called by missionaries "the Black noodle" It's basically korean spaghetti. The food that is super common that everyone loves. It's pretty good! I liked it a lot! Then the rest of friday was taken up by weekly planning and making up the study that we missed. That's president morrise's thing. He always wants us to make sure we get all the study time. And honestly I'm so glad. It's worth it.

 

Saturday was super busy and awesome! We went over to the Hernandez's home. They are an amazing family. The dad isn't a member though. Listen to this. We gave her a bunch of book of mormons on sunday and saturday she had already placed two. Like whhat? So awesome. And he had oil for members to use if they ever didn't have any and needed to give a blessing! What the heck! We gave their daughter a blessing and it just made me so grateful for the priesthood and to have a dad who has it. Because I could get a blessing anytime i needed one. Then I blessed their home! That was super cool. The first time! Then we went to the church to plan our lessons because that was at like 10 that we had to go do that. o we were planning and a kid just comes walking into the church. We start talking to him and we sit down with him then he just starts telling us how we shouldn't believe in the Book of Mormon and all this random stuff. It was crazy. He was crazy! Haha Elder Atkind said he couldn't understand a lot of what he was saying. Gotta love that. It was weird. Then we taught 하유진! It was awesome! W etaught him all of the 2nd lesson that day! Then we went down to 평택 because we were meeting 이천수 and her family. We taught them english and then about God, families and prophets! We gave her and her cute little daughter a book of Mormon and they said they would read it! Super awesome! Ohh haha then we went to this place. It was a little tent restaraunt thing. I was gonna cry. But wasn't about to show it. There were spiders in the ceiling and comin down. Oh so gross. But it was actually pretty good food! Haha Ahh. Then on our way home at the 역 a guy came up to us and we started teaching him about the three kingdoms! So awesome! Seriously, like that was super cool. Things like that make you glad to be a missionary.

 

Sunday was the last day of the transfer! Nothing too big happened. We taught the two that are going to be baptised! That was awesome. We reviewed baptismal interview questions with 김나영 and taught 하유진 lesson three, or the Gospel. It was awesome. I got to ask a few questions and talk about faith and some other stuff. It was good. :) But yeah! That was our week! It was awesome! I hope you are doing well! From the sound of it, you're doing great! I hope conference was amazing, I'm sure it was it always is! Haha I miss you guys! Can't wait to see you in about 20 months! But at the same time, Korea is home. And its going to be hard to leave. You're awesome. Love you!

 

Love,

Elder Breinholt

Pictures of Elder Breinholt at a park. Subway. Apt. Etc...

       Elder Breinholt with Big Korean Flag in the background.  (You really have to look for it. HaHa)

                                                      Elder Breinholt with Elder Hodges

 Connor thinks this picture is so funny!  You see how far away the sign is?  It reads, "Caution Stairs".  He thinks is so funny because the sign is so far away and when you can read it you are almost done with the stairs.  HaHa

                                                                       Gogi Buffet

                                                                Their Baptism Sean

                                                              Their Baptism.  Sean.

                                           Elder Breinholt, Elder Hodges, and Elder Pruner

My Mission Rocks!!

Hello my awesome family! It sounds like you had an awesome birthday kenah! Keep drivin mom and dad crazy with that Ukelele. :) Haha that's really fun that you guys got to go up to Utah state to see Alynn and Kira and also watch Anja's soccer game. :) Oh of course it was fun for alynn to spend her money. ;) Um if you could actually send me some deodorant, that'd be great. They don't have it here. Like Koreans don't wear deodorant. They wear cologne. So yeah... Haha other than that actually if they have come out with the 2013 mini scriptures I would love a set of those. Just like the triple and Bible separate. That can be my Christmas present. ;) We got transfer calls on Saturday night and our entire district is staying the same except for we are getting two new elders in 안성, the furthest area away from the mission home haha. So that's cool! I love everyone in our district they rock.

 

Alright so this week I'm just going to go over the highlights and not a day by day thing. Mostly because Elder Atkin got a pretty dang bad cold so we didn't have too many opportunities this week. So that was sad. Anyway, first highlight! I went to a 목욕탕! which translates to bathouse. Haha it was super cool. Just a buunch of guys chillin in a bunch of hot tubs. I'll be honest, I've never felt that clean in my life and my hands have never been that soft, you know what that means haha. Then we went to FHE and that was super fun! I shared the same thing that alynn told me too and it was super good! That's a way good idea! I learned that really, it is our families and the Church that give us the most happiness, peace and joy. Without Family, this life really isn't nearly as happy as it can be.

 

Wednesday at our combined zone meeting. hahaa this one is awesome. We were watching this clip from the district on stress and this sister was like "these people are speaking spanish and I can't understand a word they're saying, it's my 3rd day, I was so stressed" President Morrise pauses it. Turns to all of us and says, "Now when spanish speakers say stuff like that, don't you just want to say 'Wow what a baby!'" Hahaha we all died. because its so true. Spanish speakers have no idea how easy they have it. That day we also taught Julie. She's the lady who took us to that nice chinese restaraunt i sent pictures from. She really has a hard time seeing anything with faith. Everything has to be historically correct and make sense. It's so hard. She has faith i know she does! Otherwise she wouldn't be meeting with us. But I learned that without faith, no matter how strong the spirit is, they will never believe. Also another thing I learned is that as missionaries we have to gain trust not only from the members to be successful, but from the lord. We have to show him that we will act on the promptings he gives us and that we will always be obedient. Because then the success can come.

 

Thursday we taught Jennifer Stoy. She's the lady we met with last week. Say hello to our newest progressing investigator! She read the 소개장 just like we asked. That's the introduction by the way. And she's been praying multiple times a day. So awesome. We taught her about prophets and why it is important to have one guide us today. And boy did I learn that this week. She's so prepared. She really wants something and she feels like this is it. So i hope she continues to read. Oh I read a talk by D. Todd Christofferson that I think should be given in every single priesthood it's that good. He talked about how more and more guys are just sitting around and being passed up by women. They are way more likely to drop out of school and there is a common attitude to not want to become anything. He said men especially in the church and cannot sit around and waste their time. They need to educate themselves past high school and prepare themselves to provide well for their families, be examples in our home church and neighborhood. It seriously is so good. I would reccomend reading it. Then I read a talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf on Regrets and Resolutions. He said that people's biggest regrets are that they waste too much time on things that really don't mean the most to them. They all wished they would have spent more time with the people they love and that mean the most to them. So true. I can understand that. I miss you guys. Everyone so much. But that's okay, because Korea deserves it. :)

 

Saturday we had Sean's baptism! Sean is the other Elders investigator. He is from new york and is here with the army. It was so awesome. He literally was so prepared. The Lord does prepare people. If the situation didn't happen exactly like it did, he never would have found the gospel. His girlfriend, now fiancee i might add, was going to go on a mission but her parents refused and didn't let her. That was super super hard on her. So a few months went by and she even went less active because of it. Long story, not a lot of time. Anyway, she called the missionaries one day and introduced them to Sean. If it wasn't for that, Sean never would have been found! So yeah. Also I read a bunch of conference talks. Needless to say I'm so jealous you get to watch it this weekend. I have to wait because it comes a week later here so they can translate it. :((( Haha i am dying. It's going to be Christmas. So pumped! But some things I learned. From PResident Eyring's talk "Where is the Pavilion?" I learned that we think that the lord hides himself, when really He doesn't. He's always there for us happy to be there. But we don't follow his will. We don't submit our will to His and that's when the pavilion comes. We put it there. Another talk by him that I really liked was "Come unto Me" I learned that the savior won't give us everything we want and ask for. But he will give us everything we need to get through. And that's super amazing. We are so blessed. Then I read "Lord, I Believe" again by Holland. It was so awawesome. Seriously. Like he rocks. But one thing this time that touched me in particular was just a scripture. "Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief." Because i think that is me all the time. Haha like I believe i do! But I need help to believe even more. To be even more truly converted.

 

Sunday rocked! President Morrise was in our church! He came to speak to the Korean Ward. Even sister Morrise spoke! By the way! About half of her talk was in Korean! So cool! Haha it was awesome. Anyway, Sunday we went to a 시사 with Brother Khan. Amazing story. He had been inactive for 13 years. He runs into Elder Wedam and Pruner and Home Plus and that was all he needed. He's been back at church every week and even gave a talk this week! So flipin awesome. He's an inspiration haha. But from the lesson that Elder Wedam taught and just from our conversations with him. He was muslim and a super rich one at that. LIke there aren't very many people that have given up what he had to give up to join the church. But I learned that God really is a God of Miracles. He does still perform them. Though often they aren't anything like healing someones blindness, though sometimes it can be. They most often times come in small things. I consider it a miracle that families can be close. Like the fact that families grow closer everyday through the gospel, thats a miracle everyday. The fact that I am on a mission right now, that's a miracle. They still happen. We just have to look for them. And that's what I've learned this week. It was a good one. I feel like from this one week alone I've grown a lot. I have lots of pictures to send so you'll like that. :) Ok! I better go. Love you so much!

 

Love,
Elder Breinholt