EMBRACE THE CRAZY (15)

안녕하십니까?!

I have officially made it to Korea! It was a grueling adventure with about 20 hours of nothing but traveling. But I've settled in and I am safe. I will say right out of the gate. The mission culture out here is completely different than Eugene Oregon. In fact the first night, we slept at a random Elder's apartment and he said to us that this was most likely the most strict mission in the entire world. It shows. A lot. The adjustment in the last 3 days here has been difficult to say the least. Simply because my reassignment was so much more laidback. Not saying that we didn't follow the standards but they weren't as enforced as heavy as they are out here. I can go on and on about some of the crazy rules out here that make absolutely no sense as to how it would distract me from my purpose. But I am not going to as that would just cause me to be mostly negative. So, lets just move on to what happened in the last 3 days or 4... I'm not entirely sure how much time has passed ha.

Korea

     The day after I had arrived, like I said before, I stayed the night at a random apartment with just my carry on and backpack. They wanted us to be up at around 5 in the morning and we went to bed around 12. So, I was living off of about 5 hours of sleep for who knows how long. But, I powered through it because I'm Him. We got to the mission office and we did all the introductory stuff like get our phones, figure out passports and visas, learn about the Korean culture, and interview with the president. Speaking of which, president Baek is a very kind individual and genuinely loves each of us. He seems to be running the mission well from what I have seen. For being a native Korean he speaks very good english. In fact he was actually one of the Church's translators for Korean in a lot of things. I think one of them was he helped translate conference talks into Korean for a while. So, hes a very smart person. Also his wife Sister Kwak is actually so funny. She seems to always have a phone recording something so every time I see her I lock in. Not because she's the president's wife but because she is always filming haha! Anyway, they're great people and I am definately in good hands mission leader wise.

Now lets talk about who my trainer is. First time I met him was when we all lined up waiting to be assigned. President would read off the names of who was the trainee and then who the trainer was. When it was my turn, President read my name and then said my trainer's name. All I could understand was "Elder" and then a bunch of Korean sounds I've never heard. Yeah so, my trainer is a native Korean. The good thing though is that he does speak English. His name is Elder Yoo. He's been out about a year and a half and thus has a ton of experience . He’s an awesome person. Super nice and friendly but he’s also a little strict. Makes sense as he is also a Zone Leader. Which is unique, it’s not often that a Zone Leader is also a trainer but here we are. Unfortunately he still follows some of the past mission President's rules. Which just so you know wrote around a 10+ page google doc with various rules. One that actually frusterated me a lot, was when I was sitting in church reading "Jesus The Christ by Talmage." Elder Yoo looks at my screen and says that reading that book isn't allowed and he wouldn't reccommend it. I love Elder Yoo but Its things like that, that has just slightly tilted me off the edge. So I have been confused about what is allowed and what isnt allowed. But, thats okay! I'm just rolling with the punches. So far I've had some great conversations with him as he really does well making me feel loved. One of the ways he does that is by cooking. Elder Yoo is a TALENTED cook. He can turn any boring ingredients into a full meal and he does it for me! Its awesome! So, I can't even complain if I am getting fed well.

After I had met him we headed straight out of the office to the apartment. Our area was about 30 minutes away with public transportation. Busses, Taxi, Subway. Normally we would just ride the bus but for some reason the map had us take the subway. So we rode the bus and walked to the subway. Mind you me and my companion were carrying all of my luggage plus his so it was grueling walking from bus to bus and to the train. Unfortunately when we got on the train it was rush hour so there was about 200 plus people in one train car. I mean it was insane people were practically pouring out of the train car. It was so bad that we missed our stop. To the point where our 30 minute trip turned into a multiple hour trip. To make matters worse we had a lesson/dinner with a friend on the way home. The plan was that we would get home and immediately head over to meet this guy at dinner. But as I've learned from being out in the field. No matter where you are, no matter what mission you serve, nothing ever goes according to plan. So we decided to ditch the train grab a taxi and drive over to meet this guy still with our luggage. As if thing couldn't get any worse the guy is in a wheel chair and he can't really drive it himself. So my companion with one had on the wheel chair and one hand on his suitcase slowly pushed him along. Meanwhile I am carrying 3 suitcases around across massive streets and roads. It was crazy. But awesome. We made it home and I found out that I am sharing the apartment with a trio companionship. So there are 5 of us in one apartment. So far, its been a party. The roster includes, Me, Elder Yoo, Elder Gook, Elder Sasing, and Elder Coder. Elder Coder and I are the only Americans in the group and neither of us know Korean very well so we are both just going with the flow. Elder Gook is from Seoul and Elder Sasing is from the Philippines. Elder Gook and Elder Coder are trainees and Elder Sasing is their trainer. We have all gotten along very well and I couldn't have asked for better roomates!

Conclusion

     Welp I know that the beginning of this email was a slight trauma dump. But that’s to be expected after being in such a new culture and country for the short amount of time I've been here. So, don't worry about me. I felt discouraged in the beginning but after I starting putting my trust in the Lord and just "Embracing The Crazy" as a very wise individual has taught me. I have been able to see the postives. I love you guys! I hope each of you have continued to see miracles and Christmas hasn't felt too stressful for you all. Keep God close and spread love.

Keep it real.

-그리스텐슨 장로. (Elder Christensen)