[Alternatively titled: "Smile. Nod. Hope they aren't asking a question."]
I think the following experience best sums up the past week: Two teenage American guys are sitting on the ground in a tiny, messy room with a huge Asian man. The Americans are in white shirts and ties, sweating through them due to the humidity, and the Asian man is shirtless. They stay for 45 minutes or so, occasionally eating some apple slices sitting on a plate on the ground, alternating between discussing Jesus and listening as the shirtless one lays out maps across the floor and lectures on geography. Upon leaving, we're treated to a beautiful, unobstructed 8th-floor view of hundreds upon hundreds of illuminated windows of huge towers across the river, and I have to seriously question what's even real anymore.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The last week in the MTC was good. I'm a little bit angry at myself for not appreciating the MTC as much as I do now. At least there I could converse with people and have some idea of what I was eating. And the weather was so much nicer in Utah (although this humid heat does kind of feel like home). The flight to Seoul was super cool. I did not have a window seat (thanks to Elder Sabey refusing my offer of $30 for his seat and then sleeping with the window closed the whole flight), but it was alright because I was up walking around frequently, and there was a small open area with a window in the back of the plane. And considering that we were going over the arctic, I naturally spent a lot of time by the window. Miles and miles of ice endlessly stretching on may not be the most scenic view, but it's a very unique, must-see kind of thing. Ideal for philosophical contemplation. Also, they fed us a bunch of Korean food on the plane, which was very much appreciated.
After landing we took a long subway ride to the mission home, during which we (the 7 new Seoul South missionaries) got our first taste of real live 전도하는 것 (aka, trying to get people to listen to us talk about the gospel). That was...rough. Two months is not long enough to learn any language, much less Korean (learning a language is one thing; learning Korean is an entirely new level). But we had the AP's [read: Assistants to the President [read: high-quality missionaries who have been out here a lot longer than we have]] with us to help us out.
Spent the first night at the mission home. Sister Morrise made us an ungodly amount of (crazy good) french toast and hash browns for breakfast, which, considering that basically every breakfast for the next two years will be cereal with the funky-tasting milk they have here, was duly appreciated. President Morrise is super fun and wise; I'm already bummed that he's going to be going home halfway through my mission, and I hardly even know him yet. After some training Wednesday morning, we all got assigned our trainers and areas and had to go our separate ways. My trainer is Elder Ellsworth (whose birthday is today), from everywhere in the United States but most recently Middle-of-Nowhere, Kansas. And we're serving in 강남구 (written in English as Gangnam). Yes, like "Gangnam Style." Cue the music, get it over with, we're moving on.
The first thing we did here in 강남 was teach an English class (which happen every 수요일 and 토요일 (Wednesday and Saturday)), which was nice because that's a language I actually can speak. I'm finding that there's actually a lot of English around here, particularly in Gangnam, which is a pretty Westernized area. The other Elders in our house and area and district are Elders Pettit and Craven. They've all been out here a while, so I had to teach them how to whip the other day. It was entertaining.
I think there might be some adjective somewhere out there that could describe going to church yesterday, but I just don't know what it would be. I was asked to give a brief talk, which went pretty well. But then of course everybody wanted to come talk to me afterward, which wasn't too bad when I was next to my companion who could translate for me. Within 5 minutes of church ending, the chapel had been transformed into a cafeteria and everybody was eating. I didn't even know how it happened. Koreans don't play around when it comes to food, but I could go on and on about that, so we'll save it for another day. The ward's pretty cool. The first person to ever be baptized in Korea lives in our ward, and naturally she's really old, much like just about everyone in our ward. The ward mission leader, 신낙규 형제님, is super awesome. And get this: His son is serving as a missionary in Texas right now, and he was in College Station a few months ago, and I met him, and he's super chill. So he and I had instant 정. Small world.
So there's a brief summary of what's been happening with me recently. Of course, there's a whole lot of weird stuff to talk about, but I don't even know where to begin, and we've got two years. Until next time.
Stay classy, western hemisphere.
리스 장로, out.
P.S. To anyone considering sending a package soon or at any point: I know this is the first thought for any missionary package, but please do not include a bunch of junk food. The members here looove the missionaries, and we get plenty of that from them every week at church; we're drowning in Choco Pies. If you want to send food, peanut butter would be greatly appreciated as it's crazy expensive here. Also, if you send only one thing, let it be this: Pilot G-2 0.38 mm gel refills. I need those more than anything else on the planet right now. Oh yeah, and like, letters and pictures are nice too, I guess.
