Colder than the 9th level of...

Good Morning!(Well it's the morning in Korea)

To start of this week, a new rule went into place where we have to proselyte for at least 2 hours everyday and it has been really hard. Korea is getting super super cold and we have to go out in the morning everyday and every night. The humidity really does the trick to seal the deal of being ultimately cold. My comp busted out his thermals this week and I am thinking I need to do the same thing. This is a really hard rule to follow, but hopefully we will find some people through it and share our awesome message! We talked to a few foreigners on the street this week two which was really fun. Whenever we see someone who is not korean it is a big surprise and a good opportunity to talk to them in English. We met a guy from Russia and a guy from Scotland. Both didn't have interest, but they were really fun to talk to and just have a normal conversation in English!

District Meeting this week was about patience. Considering the new rules this transfer, it couldn't have come at a better time. It was really inspirational and has helped me through this week. One thing that I learned is that we need patience as our ability to show charity increases. Charity is sosososo important as a missionary and it doesn't all come at once. After the meeting, we went to this place called "mom's touch". It is basically the chick fil a of korea, but it was sosososo gross. I have never had a worst tasting chicken sandwich in my life. To make it worst, the smell wouldn't come off our hands so we had to smell the nasty sauce the rest of the day. As we were coming home, I bought some treats for this dog that we always pass on the street on our way home. I fed it a treat and I thought it was now my friend so I tried to pet it and it bit my hand really hard!!!!!!! Ahh it was definitely more funny than anything, but my had has a few battle scars. LOL

Thanksgiving wasn't too special. We went to a yummy meat buffet and ate A LOT. Super yummy. The sisters in our area had so many appointments that day that they literally had no time to eat lunch or dinner so right before English class, we bought them a huge pizza for them. Not your average thanksgiving feast, but at least it was something. \

Saturday we got a lot of food from members. We played soccer that morning so we got yummy breakfast then. Then after kids English class we got more food from other members. Then we got majorly lost on our way to a members house that was 45 minutes away, but once we got there they took us to this super SUPER nice Korean buffet. The name of it is the party. Literally one of the nicest restaurants I have ever been to, but it was in buffet style. Each ticket was 50 dollars so the members really sacrificed a lot to take us there. Me and elder Giles were super happy!

Sunday I got to bless the sacrament for the first time in Korean! It was super spooky, but I got through it. I had to say it really slow because I did not want to mess up anything. Also, this week was our last meeting with Alex before he moved. Super sad to see him leave, but I am sure the missionaries in his new area will take care of him. 

Love you all and have an awesome week!

Elder Meeks

Pictures

Transfer 1 is done

Hello Everyone!

I am officially done with my first transfer in the field! Wow it is really just crazy how fast time has flown by and how much has happened since I got to Korea. I have been so blessed in so many ways by being here in bangojin and having all the experiences I have had. Everyday is a new and awesome adventure and it is never a dull moment! The language has been really hard, but it isn't impossible to learn because so many people before me have done it and so I can do it too! I have officially learned how to use chopsticks so that is super awesome! I can now fullly enjoy the food without the frustrating aspect of not being able to pick it up. I may need to repair some first impressions with people because not being able to use chopsticks is kinda embarassing! And the people just kinda look at you funny if you don't know how to use chopsticks. The knowledge that I could whip em into shape any day of the week with a fork and knife gives me comfort though;)

I really never thought I would eat so much pizza in korea! We got  pizza three times this week from different people it was awesome!  But I do have to say that shrimp does not belong on pizza and should never EVER be put on a pizza. The korean people thing otherwise tho. We got to go to the burger place again and visit the man who is not active. He is super nice and we love to talk to him and be with him. He has a really great spirit and an awesome faithful wife, so I think someday he will come back to church! After eating burgers with him on tuesday, we came back to the church and the member who took us to the burger place wanted to play some ping pong, so we did! This member is the best member in the branch so the pressure was on for me to beat him! He beat me 22-20 and 21-19 both times:( But I was the closest to beating out of everyone else in the branch so I think when me and my comp play ping pong today, I will get the practice I need to beat him. I gotta rep the meeks name well!

Alex is scheduled to have his baptism this saturday!!!! He talked to his parents this weekend about it and we haven't heard how it went yet. He was nervous to talk to them because  he thougth they wouldn't take it well. Hopefully all went well and we can baptize him this Saturday. He is really such a bright kid and has a light in his eyes. He wants to learn about this gospel and he wants to change his life and make it better! Super Excited for him!

We got to play soccer this Saturday which was really fun! There was a bunch of really good players there this time so it got intense! With my new boots that I got last pday, I was ready to play hard and I did! Everyone had a super fun time, and a kid that the sisters were teaching came and played with us and really enjoyed it! Soccer is a great way to do missionary work sometimes!

We got to help a lady organize he new house that she just moved into this week. Really a good experience to just serve and be with her. She was really grateful to us and bought us some yummy yummy food! The old people at our service english class that we teach every thursday were getting stressed out because we were actually wanting them to speak! Haha they don't actuyally want to learn english, they just want to have fun with some foreigners I think.

The rest of the week is history! No need to give you guys all of the details. Being a missionary is hard. It is hard because Satan is literally working on every person and wanting them to do evil. Our church has adversarys on every corner trying to fight it in any way possible. The plethra of churches in korea make it really hard for us to do missionary work. Satan doesn't want this work to progress one inch. He doesn't want to step on legos when he walks around hell(see one of my first mission emails). If we reconginze  that satan is really the enemy of our soul and wants only for us to have misery and endless woe, then we have the knowledge and ability to take steps away from darkness and progress towards the light of eternal life.

Love you all!

Elder Meeks

Blind and deaf people, pizza, burgers and great joy

Hello everyone! 

I don't think my week is as crazy as my sister's week because I didn't have companions flying over fences, but it was still good! Pray for her companion who was hurt if you could:)

Transfers are a week from today, but I am not nervous because I will have my comp for another transfer because I am training. All the other non training companionships are all a little scared and wondering where there going to go. For now, I will stay in God's little kingdom of bangojin.

We had a very hectic halloween party and planning. It turned out well, but we definietly learned a lesson about not procrastinating. We basically did all our setup on Monday night and tuesday morning. We made a whole haunted house in the first floor of our church and had a bunch of games up there. There were more non members at the party then there were members! So as you can imagine it was a lot more stressful. But it all turned out well and people were talking to each other a lot and everyone had a great time. It was fun to show the koreans a little bit our American culture through halloween. 

English service project was a little stressful this week. The sisters who had all of our material got stuck in a very VERY long lesson with a member that lasted almost 3 hours! So we had to wing it in teaching the old people english. I don't think they actually really want to learn english, but they just like the missionaries and the games we play and the songs we sing. My comp and I had to think fast, so we drew up hangman on the board and played with them. They really really liked it! We kinda realized that anything a group of 5 year olds would like to play, the old people would like the same thing. That same day a experienced a very moving tender mercy from Heavenly Father. We had decided to walk to our english service project and talk to people on the way. We talked to a few people, but my korean was not doing well and my companion was not feeling very creative so they were not good contacts. I was frustrated because I couldn't TALK!!!!!! Then a minute after that thought, we ran into a guy from norway who spoke english and we talked to him for a little bit and then we ran into two guys from usbekastan who could speak english. The lord was really looking out for me by providing people I could actually talk to!

Friday was a fantastic and amusing day. We decided to go a visit a member who hasn't been to church in a long time and he owns a burger joint. These burgers are literally better than almost any burger I have had in america! AHHHHHHHH! Heaven on earth! I almost started crying I think because it was America in every bit. HMMMMMMM. We had a great conversation with the owner and we hope he will progress in the future. Haha but on the way to the restaurant we tried to talk to this old man and he said that he couldn't see us! He was walking down the street and he "couldn't see". It was really funny and me and elder giles had a good laugh about it. Then after the restaurant we tried to talk to a guy and after he responded to our greeting and where he was headed, he said that he was deaf and couldn't hear us. Friday was just a normal day in korea I guess. 

Saturday we had a great lesson with Alex. We talked about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. He is such an awesome guy! He totally trusts God and the Wisdom behind his commandments. He knows that he is all knowing and that we need to follow him. He had no problem excepting them. Saturday night we went to a music festival in another area and it was great! Got a good taste of kpop dancing and and classical korean music. Our mission president came to the festival and spoke at the end and it was great! I got to see my mtc comp which made me happy. 

Sunday was a great day. We had a really REALLY great member lesson with Alex. The member was awesome and shared his conversion story with alex and it was so powerful because he was the same age as alex. We went of the baptismal questions with alex after that and we got a feel for where he was. He feels he is almost ready to be baptized. We are going to meet with him three times this week so that will be great. I really feel so blessed to be able to guide him through this journey of finding out for himself if the gospel of Jesus Christ is true! So awesome and I feel so happy whenever I think about what I am helping him do. We finally got to meet with our branch council and get some member missionary work going. We will see some great progress with our branch in the near future I think. That night we got pizza with a potential person who is interested in the church so that was great! Always down for pizza!

As always, pictures will come in another email/doc shared over google drive so expect that too!

Also, it was my moms birthday with week so if you have a chance, show her some love and wish her happy birthday. Love you mom!

Have a great week!

Elder Meeks