Saying Goodbye to Bupyeong and the Cutest Cat in Korea!

I lost count on what number update this is so I gave up :) 

안녕하세용!! 

To make up for the lack of pictures last time I have a lot of pictures this time! 

The day we had 3 식사's (dinners): 

Me and Young, an English class member and his daughter Looby! 

We got ready for our new missionary to come! 

Special thanks to Odenton Ward young women who gave me this awesome package! It was so sweet and perfect! (The sheet-music was the greatest added touch:) 

Now that it's winter we eat this street food called fish bread which is delicious!! 

Then I went hiking and met this friendly fella! We were probably both equally happy to see each other^^

I tried to capture the panorama view. The city below is Bupyeoung and Geysan. My old area and my new area :) They are neighbors! 

Our new house mate Sister Moyer! 

And last, but not least, this HUGE dog we saw today!! It's a bear! 

Anyway, the hike was really fun! We ended up talking to a lot of fun people (people are always so happy when they are hiking) and we made some appointments to meet them this week! 

We have also been pretty busy preparing for a huge Halloween party this weekend! We are inviting a lot of people and it will be a good chance to get to know members and to invite our investigators. After I'm done emailing we will be spending the day decorating :) We hope for a great turn out! 

Thank you for all your support!  I'm so happy for this opportunity to serve the people of Korea. Korea is so beautiful and so unique :) 

Love you all! 

-Sister Holdaway 

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Wow~~ what a crazy week! So many things changing and I forgot my camera today so I don't have any pictures :(

 

Before I left 부평 (Bupyeong) I wanted to say goodbye to people like members or investigators but it's kind of hard because I was only in this area for one transfer so I didn't really know who to visit. We ended up making an appointment Tuesday night with our investigator Iryn. We didn't tell Iryn I was leaving but we were going to tell her during our appointment.

 

When we got to Iryn's house she said that her mom had made us dinner. I looked over at the table and about had a heart-attack.

 

There on that table was a Raclette machine!

 

I was in Korea eating my favorite traditional Swiss meals: raclette. 

 

Apperently, Iryn's mother lived in Germany for a little bit and fell in love with the food and the culture. Needless to say, that was the best "last meal" ever.

 

When I told Iryn I was leaving she was sad to hear. I felt like we had grown close in only one transfer. I'll definitely miss her!

 

After that delicious meal, an English class member wanted to introduce me to his daughter before he left so he invited us to get 짜장면 (jajangmyeon), a chinese noodle dish. I was stuffed from having my fill of cheese and potato but I do love 짜장면. It was nice to meet his daughter, a middle school student, because we found out we both loved Pentatonix,  an acapella group.  Music really brings people together, no matter how how different your cultures are :)

 

THEN,  after that, a member called us and dropped off some chicken to top the night off. I was full to the brim. It was really nice that people were thinking of me though. I will miss it here but...I still get to live here so that's nice.

 

Wednesday was transfers, since I already live with my new companion we just stayed home and deep cleaned our apartment to prepare for the new missionary. We also bought a cake to welcome her with.

 

Our new house-mate and Sister Wright's new Trainee is Sister Moyer from Arizona! She is a real legit country singer and is working on making it big. She just bought a guitar yesterday so we have been having jam-sessions at night singing hymns and wonderful things like that :)

 

And finally, my new companion Sister Chestnut! Sister Chestnut is from Payson, Utah and she loves movies and music and culture. She went to BYU studying history. We already know each other really well so the transition was super easy.

 

My first real day in my new area we English Flyered which I really love because telling people who want to learn English that you teach free English is a lot easier than telling a devout Christian that you are a missionary teaching about Christ -- there are a LOT of different religions here in Korea. There's probably a church on every block. It makes for interesting conversations!

 

Then, on Friday night, we had English class. A lot of new faces were there and we got to get to know a lot of new people. I teach a basic class with one of our elders, Elder Gehrig, who is actually German (we found out we lived in the same stake when I lived in Germany) so I just helped him teach pronounciation. :)

 

At the end of the class, everyone got together and I introduced myself as the new missionary and then taught everyone how to sing 'Row Row Row your Boat.' It was so fun to see a room full of about 40 Koreans singing this children's song. Afterwards, they said they wanted me to teach them more songs in English. I think I have found my calling here!

 

I'm very sorry there are no pictures. I need to be better at that :/

 

Until next time!

 

홍다연자매

Week 18: 6 Months and a 10-foot Transfer!

안녕하세요! 

Wow what a week! 

A transfer is about every 6 weeks. At the end of the transfer, usually on a Saturday night, we get a call from the office telling us if we are staying, going, or getting a new companion. 

My house – the Bupyeoung (부평) sisters (me and Sister wright) and the Gyesan (계산) sisters (Sister Chestnut and Sister Kim) – were anxiously awaiting transfer calls on Saturday night. Sister Wright and I were about 95% sure we were staying. We had only been together one transfer and we were working so well together. Not to mention we adore each other! 

We knew Sister Kim was leaving because her mission was over so she was going to go home.  So we were excited to see who Sister Chestnut's new companion was going to be! 

We got the call: 

"Sister Kim, you're leaving."  

We all nod.  

"And Sister Chestnut.....oh....this is kind of weird."  

We are all holding our breath....who is her new companion going to be?  

"Sister Holdaway."  

What? No – he must be confused.

 "Sister Chestnut is going to be with Sister Holdaway in 계산."

 But what about.... "And Sister Wright will be training." 

Ahh! So my dear Sister Wright is going to be a mother! She's going to pick up her new missionary on Wednesday. 

Meanwhile, I'm making the long journey across the house to my new room :) 

People joke that people in the same house will be transferred to the same house but I don't think it has every really happened. 

I will be living in my same area, with my old companion, but I'll be in a new area with a different ward and everything. We all agree it's pretty weird! 

It's nice that I know my companion. She was my Sister Training Leader when I was in Suji and we lived together her in Bupyeoung. And now we're companions! It will be fun but still a crazy surprise! 

Other than that, conference was amazing. This week we tried to meet every member of our ward and help them each prepare for General Conference. Through it all, I think it really helped me prepare for it as well. I enjoyed all the speakers and I can't wait to get the Liahona so that I can read all the talks over again!

In other news: 

The weather is steadily getting colder and in preparation Sister Wright and I bought winter coats! 

​

And you can't get us out of them.....

And last but not least.....one transfer is much too short....

Until next time! 

- Sister Holdaway 

Week 17: The Ice Cream Miracle

Hey All!

This one will be a short one today....again :(

So much to do, so little time.

For all of you who got to watch General Conference this weekend, I'm so jealous! We're watching it next week but I saw a video of the Priesthood session and all the MTC elder missionaries were singing a Called to Serve medley. My companion, Sister Wright, also got to sing at conference last year . . .ahh, one day I will get to sing at conference :) #livinthedream

Ok, so this week was amazing!

Lot's of miracles!

First off, we are teaching two high school students who are sisters and they came to church on Sunday! The ward here absolutely swallowed them up. It was so amazing to see how excited the ward was to see new faces. I can definitely feel the new found energy in the ward now. It was also testimony meeting and I was touched to here so many testimonies about missionary work and how the missionaries have made on impact on this ward. I'm so incredibly happy that we are able to work so closely with this ward.

Also, our district is the best (pictures below).

Do you want to know about the Ice Cream Miracle? (aka the coolest part of the week)

So Sister Wright and I were just walking home from an appointment when we pass by a convenience store. We both look at each other and our faces are both saying "We deserve some ice cream." So, naturally, we go grab some ice cream. We chose a Hershey chocolate ice cream cone, a special treat for a warm day. When we were ready to buy it the lady at the cash register said if we get one more it's cheaper. So we grab one more. Now we have 3 ice creams. We both eat one and we decided to eat the other one later when we get home.

So we're walking into our apartment building when all of a sudden I 'drop' the ice cream. It didn't just drop, it flew out of my hands. I have no idea how that happened, I know I'm clumsy but that was just crazy. We had to stop for a bit so I could go pick it up. Just when we stopped a man who walked passed at that exact moment said "Are you missionaries?"

Long story short, this man was a less-active member of the Church who really likes the missionaries. His hospital is in our building and he's really interested in learning English (something we teach for free). If I hadn't dropped that ice cream I know we would have never seen that man.

The lesson I learned from this was that - if you're craving ice cream you better get it! You never know what will happen :) Also, being clumsy is not always a bad thing :)

I'm grateful for the little things in life. The little blessings everyday that make everything worth it.

I love being a missionary! 

화이팅 (fighting!)

모든 것에 주셔서 감사합니다 :)

- Sister Holdaway