Food Glorious Food!

So - I just spent about 40 minutes writing a really long message about how I have been so blessed here and how people have been answers to my prayers but somehow everything got deleted and now I don't have time to rewrite everything :( And it's not in my drafts, so it's really sad. 

But -- really long story short: 

This week we ran out of money in our budget to buy food and we still had a few more days left to eat. However, the day we spent the last of our money was the day we got bombarded with people giving us food: 

• our English class member who gave us 김밥 (kimbab) she made by herself, or
• our investigator who bought us a huge tub of really expensive ice cream, or
• our members who bought all the missionaries chicken and pizza, or
• our members inviting us over for dinner and, upon finding out that I was sick, sent me home with ginger and dates to make tea with, or
• the highschoolers on the street who felt bad for me standing out in the cold handing out flyers so they bought me some orange juice and a chocolate bar. 

I like to think that on my mission I have tried to serve others and be an answer to their prayers but more often than not, my prayers have been answered through the service of others. 

God takes care of His missionaries. 

I'm really grateful for the people I know here in this ward who really make us feel at home. Even though we can't speak the same language they still take care of us like family.

Just last night, we were eating dinner with an older couple in the ward who have been members for only a few years. When I brought up that I had studied music in college the husband got really excited and started playing us music on his guitar, ukulele and harmonica. It really touched my heart as we sang hymns together in their living room. 

Also - as we were looking for cheap food this week we ate some 떡볶이 and 순대. Which basically is rice cakes with spicy sauce and some pig intestines with some sort of noodle filling. Yum! 

Until next time! 

- Sister Holdaway 

Zone Training, Stake Conference and Butter

안녕하세요!! 

This week was busy as always! 

It started off on Monday when my companion had a reunion with her 동기(the group she came to korea with). We went to a meat buffet where you pay a large amount of money and eat. a lot. of meat. 

It just so happened a whole 50%....that's right, half of my entire 동기 was there as well! All two of us :) 

​We actually have the smallest 동기 in the whole mission. (Shout out to Sister Parcells!) 

But here's a much cuter picture of Sister Chestnut's 동기: 

Other than that, Sister Chestnut and I have been really trying to schedule more lessons during the week. The entire mission has shifted the focus to teaching people - whether members, investigators or less-actives.  A lot of the lessons we teach actually include a lot of English teaching.

That is the case for our cutest newest investigator. 

She is a high school student who is trying her best to learn English. She actually speaks English ALL THE TIME. She just doesn't know how to use certain words or grammar so it makes communication pretty hard but props to her for trying! It makes me want to be better at speaking Korean. 

She is so cute though. The first time we met her she literally never stopped smiling. She had the biggest smile on her face and said that this is the first time she's ever met foreigners. Between her happiness meeting us and our happiness meeting her we are all literally so happy and bubbly. Even though communication is hard we just all smile and laugh and have a good time anyway. 

We will continue to meet with her and teach her some English and about our happy message. I'm excited.

This weekend was exciting because it was Stake Conference. On Saturday night it was all about missionary work and our whole zone sang the EFY medley in Korean. It was pretty much the most amazing thing ever. 

There were a lot of returned sister missionaries who talked and President Morrise talked AND Sister Morrise gave her talk in complete Korean! She usually has a translator but this time she did it all herself. We were all so proud of her. Again - it makes me want to be more brave and courageous when it comes to learning Korean. 

The next day, Sunday, we had our final meeting. There was a huge professional banner made that they hung outside to welcome people, there were ushers who had legit sashes saying they were from the Church and those cool glowy sticks people use to direct traffic. There was a sign in sheet where everyone could sign in before they went in and the entire stake presidency had boutonnieres.

Before the meeting I complimented the Stake President on how nice his boutonniere was and he told me he would give it to me after the meeting! 

I didn't think he would remember but...sure enough - he gave me his boutonniere: 

​Aww :) Thanks Stake President 

It's been a fun week for sure. But then again, every week is fun if you make it that way. 

Also - this week is Peperro day! 

​I will be eating my fair share of Peperro on the 11th :) 

I love you all! Thank you for all your support and love. 

Until next week . . .

- Sister Holdaway ^^ <3 

Happy Halloween!

[Editor's Note: This is late in posting because we took Sister Holdaway's mission money and went on a cruise in the Caribbean.  Our apologies.  For the late posting . . . not the cruise.]

This week we pulled off a huge feat! We planned, prepared, and decorated a halloween party for our ward. 

Now....in Korea....they don't celebrate Halloween. Sometimes you see a small section in a store for decorations or costumes but for the most part people don't really get halloween here. 

So, we decided to show them what a Halloween party in America would look like :) For a lot of them this was their first Halloween party ever and for a lot of the kids it was the first time they have even heard of Halloween. 

Super fun! I also got to see my investigators from Bupyeoung who came! I missed them so much!

​And this is my district -- we are super proud of all the hard work we put into this party. #bestdistrictevah

Left to Right: Elder Bodily (District Leader), Elder Rossi, Elder Hansen, Elder Gherig (our German), me and Sister Chestnut. 

We had a scary laugh competition at the end and all the missionaries participated. I don't know how this happened but I ended up winning first place. Am I really that scary? 

Anyway, it was really fun and the next day on Sunday it was the talk of the whole ward! More people showed up than we ever dreamed of! 

A missionary's work is never over~~maybe we can start planning Christmas party now. ㅋㅋㅋ

I really do love this ward and the people I'm serving with and serving for. There has been so much growth here and I can't wait to see it continue.

사랑해요! 

- Sister Holdaway 홍다연 

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