Oh, Sister Holdaway!

아녕하새요!

This week has been pretty slow what with people on summer vacation and everything. We were able to have a girl preparing for her own mission to spend the day with us on Thursday and that was tons of fun! It reminded me of when I went on exchanges with the Sister Missionaries back in Odenton :)

Other than that, the week was spent trying to talk with lots of people and "Heart-attacking" (which doesn't mean killing people, it means taping hearts all over peoples doors...it's really fun!)

Not to alarm anyone or anything but there are increasing numbers of gray hairs on my head...everyone says that by the end of the mission I could be completely gray! (Better than balding I guess....)

Anyway, to lift our spirits, Sister Berry and I have been compiling all of the 'funnies' from our time together. And let's just say, they're mostly me embarrassing myself.

Nevertheless, I'd like to name a few:

• - One time, we were on a bus and I was talking to this really nice lady. I was definitely wrapped up in this conversation when the bus stops and lots of people get off. The doors started closing and the bus started moving again but I couldn't see my companion anywhere. I started freaking out and ran up to the bus driving telling him to stop! "Sister Holdaway! I'm right here!" I hear Sister Berry who was literally sitting right behind me..... I was so embarrassed because the whole bus saw. The lady I was talking to said that I looked like I needed to sit down or something. She probably thought there was something seriously wrong with me.

• - Another time, we were at a subway station and a man from California came up to us and asked us to tell him about our church, in English (thank goodness). I started freaking out because something like this had never happened to me so I started taking out every pamphlet, book and flyer I had about our church (which was a lot). I was so nervous that I started going into the first lesson and talking really fast and stumbling over my words (it was an Elder Calhoon moment - from Best Two Years). My companion, thankfully, stepped in and calmy talked about our articles of faith and asked if he wanted to meet again and talk about it (she's so awesome). Meanwhile, I started to drop everything because I couldn't hold all of the stuff I had in my hands. As I bent down to pick stuff up I kept dropping more things! I accidentally dropped the bible I was carrying. The man stopped talking and quickly picked up the bible, dusted it off, looked me straight in the eyes and said "You should NEVER drop the Bible."

I just look back on these situations and can't help but laugh. There are a lot more where these came from. I hope you enjoyed them :)

Missionary work is the hardest thing I've ever loved but I really do love it. I love the Korean people and the Korean culture and I love being able to share what I love. One of my token phrases is:

"I'm a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I can't speak Korean very well but I'm learning. I want to learn Korean because I have a special message to share. Because of this message I am happy so I want to share this with the Korean people."
It's simple but I mean every word.

Thank you for all your love and support!

사랑해요! (sarangheyo!)

- Sister Holdaway

Pics!:

I had fun playing executioner at the village!

[Editor's Note:  We found another photo on her camera with a photobomb from a visitor from the Joeson Dynasty 300 years ago.]

Bhuddist Temple in the Village!

​I got my nametag with my Korean name on it! 홍다연

​Sometimes when we cook it gets a little crowded. And yes...that pancake is burnt.