Dec 9 2018
Haha, Hello everyone! hope you are finding ways to
#LightTheWorld!
So it was another week or missionary work!! But last week we
got to go to 통도사 (Tong Do Sa) Which I guess is the largest buddhist
temple in Korea! So hey that's pretty neat! We were getting some like little
souvenirs and this like Monk comes and asks us who we were. And this guy looks
exactly like how you might picture an asian monk, he had this grey robe and
handmade bag, and he was bald, with some circular wise man glasses, and then
your classic wise asian man mustache, haha, so it was cool. He was confused why
there were Christian missionaries buying Buddhist stuff though, haha, but I guess because we're
foreigners thats why, haha.
It's also getting pretty cold, I think it dropped down to
like -5 C (23 degrees) the other day, but then you add the humidity, so it was pretty cold.
And for some reason our boiler would get too hot and stop working, so we have
to keep the windows open in that room to keep it cool, and it's like a walk in
fridge now, it's so cold you can see your breath when you walk it, haha, so
it's an adventure I guess!
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| morning proselyting! |
Church name of the week: We found the Samsung Church!! I'm
sure it might actually mean something else, but it was spelled the exact same
as the Samsung company, so it was just funny to me, haha. There are definitely
a lot of churches here, with also some super crazy beliefs, like one
church says that you have to take this like 100 question test about the book of
revelations, pass it with 100% and memorize a bunch of stuff in order to
achieve salvation... So I'm just glad I'm in Christ's true church, haha, I'm
just not much of a test taker!
Something fun that happened was during our english class
again, always something fun in that class really. I was wearing just a floral
tie, and one of them came and sat down next to me and was like "Oh
Elder Hanks, you look gorgeous today!" haha, so I can check getting
gorgeous called by a 75 year old Korean man off my bucket list! I love them! And then
all they were fascinated by the "Floral Friday" trend in the
US, haha. So english class can be very entertaining sometimes.
We also had another choir performance yesterday, and there
was such a great spirit there!! You should all go watch the Light the World
videos and other christmas videos the church produces, cause they are awesome!
And then go sing a bunch of Christmas songs cause those are also just like the
best songs ever!
Roses are red
Violets are blue
hot chocolate is good
and The Church is true :)
Much love for you all!
Elder Hanks
Dec 2 2018
Yeah so it's been 4 months officially! So woot woot! haha,
feel likes it's been a lot longer though. So let's go through what happened
this past week.
This morning we went to Korea's largest public Bath House!!
haha, so that was an adventure! We also happened to run into the Office
Assistants, the Assistants to the president, and also President Jeong there!!
Haha, so that was an unexpected surprise! But what an experience, the
missionaries here like to relate it to repentance, cause you just come out feeling
so clean! haha, totally true! And then President took us out to get breakfast
after, so it was conveniently timed, but I'm sure the Lord had a helping hand
in it :)
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| out to breakfast after the bath house! |
We also got to decorate our church for Christmas! Which
is always good, cause I mean it's Christmas!! We also had our Mission Choir
Christmas Performance! It was so great, it was hard cause we had to memorize a
bunch of songs in Korean, but it was well worth it, and there was such a great
spirit there! So awesome, and a few people told me they could particularly hear
my voice, haha, so besides that it was just perfect! :)
Funny(ish) story: So i'm sure not many of you will remember,
but a few weeks ago a random old guy, named G........, let us into his house just
suddenly on the street and treated us to Tea and Bananas. So the other day we
went back to invite him and his wife, E...., to our Christmas concert! I wasn't
wearing a scarf or hat or anything, just my suit, just cause I didn't think it
was super cold, but Elder Gailey was, so I think she thought I didn't have
like winter clothes or stuff. When they came to the concert, she
brought me a bag with a big scarf and a hat she had knit together!!! You guys- it was so awesome and it was so nice of her, there are just some people
in Korea that are just so amazing!
Fun Fact about Koreans: So all Koreans are required to take
english in school, so they all look for ways to improve their English. So we
found out that something many teachers and academies do, is show the movie: The
Devil Wears Prada to their students, haha. They watch it because I guess Anne
Hathaway pronounces English very well or something, but they just always choose
to watch that movie, so the majority of Koreans have seen that movie, haha, it
was just funny to me.
I love you all!! Remember what Christmas it really about!
It's CHRISTmas, not give-gifts-and-eat-lots-mas ;) but that's still a good part
of Christmas. Remember to Light The World!! #새상을비추라
Much Love,
Elder Hanks