The One Where They Hiked a Mountain in the Rain

Ahhh!!! I am so pooped, but today was so much fun!!! Today for PDay we hiked the tallest mountain in Korea, 한라산 (Hallasan), or Halla Mountain. We got up at 5:20 this morning so we could head out to the trail head. It is a 15 mile hike round trip (according to the elders) and the weather was so perfect today when we started! And the hike is soo beautiful! But halfway up the mountain is started pouring rain!! It was way fun! I love hiking so much so I accidentally got going and couldn't stop and then I realized that I had gone way ahead of the group!! From then on out, the elders went in front of me to keep the pace so that I wouldn't go too fast. Once I get going, I'm going!! We got to the top of the mountain in good time, but it was so foggy that you couldn't see anything and Hallasan is famous for it's beautiful view of Jeju island. I was a little disappointed, but I am just glad we got to hike! I love hiking doing things outside so much!

On the more important missionary work side of things, Jeju is doing great! This week we found a new investigator!! She is Chinese and her name is Coo Moon-jung. She is attending Jeju University and learning Korean. She is the same age as me, 22 (Korean age) which is a big deal here in Korea! She is so sweet and cute! In China religion is illegal and she said that before she came to Korea she didn't know anyone really who believed in God. But as she has been here in Korea she has become really curious about religion because so many people say that it makes them happy. So she decided to meet with us. We told her that we would teach her about God and who He is and how He can make her happy. She and her friend are coming to branch family home evening tonight! Pray for them! Pray that she will have time to meet and that she will have interest and be baptized!! 

I also have another favor! In our branch we have two part member families that we are working on! Both of them are beautiful girls from the Philippines and they are marred to Koreans who are not members of the church. One of them is Jemm, our angel recent convert. The other is Madelyn, who has been a member her whole life and she actually introduced Jemm to the missionaries. Both of them want nothing more than to go to the temple and be sealed to their families! Because of Madelyn, Jemm and Madelyn's two step-daughters have been baptized. The only link missing in Madelyn's family is her husband. But he works hard every single day of the week to provide for their family. He has interest in the gospel, but there are two problems: one, he works on Sundays and also has no time to do the missionary lessons and two, he is Buddhist (but he encouraged his daughters to get baptized and gets upset when they don't go to church because he says that our church seems like a really great thing). We want Madelyn and Jemm's husbands to get baptized so they can have eternal families! Please pray for them! Pray that their husbands' hearts will be softened that they will have time to meet the missionaries and come to church on Sunday! 

Well, that's all we've got for now! Pray for us and pray for Jeju!! The work is starting to move forward here!

사랑해요!

"I you love"

Sister Johns

Hallasan 

At the peak (and soaking wet!)

The One With Exchanges, a Not-so-Korean Korean Thanksgiving and a 10k

Hello from rainy 제주! This week was way fun! 

Thursday was Korean Thanksgiving (추석) and the mission's annual 5k/10k. We caught a plane in the morning but we couldn't go to the mission home because it wasn't our day to do the 5k/10k yet, so we went to McDonalds because it was the only place open on 추석 (#typicalmerica). After that we went on exchanges with the 해우대/광안 sisters. It was way fun because Sister Brady and I got to go jundo around 해운대(Haeundae Beach) and I have always wanted to see that area! It was sooo sick!!! But there were so many white people...I felt so weird!!! Also, the weirdest/funniest thing ever happened!! Sister Brady and I were on the subway and we didn't know where to go because she's a new missionary and I don't really know how to do the subway very well because I have been refined to the countryside for my whole mission...so we decided to ask for directions. Being the old, cautious missionary I am I just waited for a grandma to come, but Sister Brady is new and also a friendly Texan, so she just goes up to this guy our age and asks him for directions. Okay. I am soooo awkward when it comes to men. All of my companions have to tell me to chill because apparently I am super rude to men and act like they are all evil or something, Anyway, he said he would walk us to the right place so we could take the right line. And he would only speak to us in English. Ew. Anyway, we figured it was all just him being nice until he pulled out his business card which was a terribly photo shopped picture of him in a speedo....EW!!!!!!!!! I wanted to die and my poor innocent missionary eyes were burning. After that I just took the situation into my own hands and explained that we are missionaries and then he all of the sudden tried to jundo to us from some other church. It was sooo weird!!!! I just grabbed Sister Brady and got on the train as quickly as I could!!! It was sooo creepy. And once all of this went down, there was a lot of sass dropped by Sister Johns. #oops. But we were dying laughing later. That night McDonalds was also the only place open, so we went there again...sooo much greasy American food in one day!!! (And the day before that our ward mission leader invited us over and we ate 2 huge pizzas and 2 fried chickens because he didn't feel like cooking Korean food)

The next day was the 5k/10k and I was so excited!! Nothing could stop me from doing that 10k! Not even McDonalds for dinner or the fact that I slept on the tile floor at 해우대  house!! We started out in a pack of 4 sisters (Sister Amende, Kramer, me, and a new trainee). It was soo easy and then at the half way mark Sister Johnson, the trainee got super tired and wanted to start walking. We were all on a roll and I felt so bad making the other sisters stop, but I couldn't leave the poor trainee behind, so I just stayed back and ran circles around her for the whole rest of the race. I'm not going to lie, I was a little sad because I didn't finish in the amount of time I knew I could have. BUT I learned a lesson about doing the right thing even if it kind of sucks. And I got to run more than 10k because I got to run circles back and forth to pick up Sister Johnson. And the best part of the whole thing was that I made a new friend! And if I would have gotten ditched by a bunch of other sisters when I was a trainee, I probably would have cried. So in the end it all worked out! And I got to run extra because I got to run circles and after finishing Sister Allred and I got to run together and be the rescue crew for the sisters who were taking a while to finish and they needed someone to finish the race with them. It was so fun because I got to run extra! I can't wait to get back into running when I get home!! 

After the race we had to change into our dresses (still all sweaty and gross) and go on exchanges with 대신/괴장 sisters...Sister Workman!! My trainee! She is doing so great and it was so good to see her and see how much she's improved! I love her so much!! She is so special to me!! I told her that she is adopted as my second little sister! We went for a run in the rain the next morning! It was so fun! 

After that we had to run to catch our plane!! We made it by minutes!!! What a crazy day!!

Now we are just back on the island hoping to get some rest! I am so dead tired! I was so glad that I didn't have to translate sacrament meeting this week because my brain was way too fried!!!

Missionary work is just coming along. We are jundoing a lot, but having a hard time finding people to teach. Please pray for us to find new investigators!!! 

사라해요!
"I you love!"

Sister Johns

Jeju, Daegu, Ulsan zones 5K/10K fun run

The First One With Sister Gomez

Hello from Jeju! I am writing late this week because we had transfers yesterday and Sister Allred transfered to Daegu zone. I was so sad to see her go! But she is going to be serving with Sister Fiso in Sangin, so I am really happy for her! And we're both STL's again next transfer, so I am really excited because we will still see each other at leadership meetings!! My new companion is Sister Gomez. She is 20, she's from Hawaii, and she is the best and the funniest! We stayed up all night last night talking! She also served with Sister Morrison so we love talking about when we served together. We are going to still be the Nam Busan Zone STL's and Sister Workman is in my zone so I get to go on exchanges with my trainee!!! 

Honestly, I don't have much to say this week! Yesterday was crazy getting everthing sorted out with transfers, but it's all good now. 

I do have a funny story for this week though!!! The other day Sister Allred and I were walking home when we saw this lady we met on the street who attended our church about 10 years ago. She is from the Philippines and she came to Korea about 10 years ago. We started talking to her and she invited us to get dinner. She took us to an all you can eat meat buffet...my least favorite thing!! She made us eat sooo much meat!!! And just so much food in general!!! I was dying! I used to be able to down like 5 bowls of rice and like 3 grills full of meat as a young missionary (and that is not a joke. I can eat a lot. Once I had to eat an entire fried chicken and 2 medium pizzas on my own. not even kidding one bit), but I have been eating so much lately that my body can't do it anymore! I did my best to eat as much as I could, but my poor angel companion Sister Allred had to eat most of it! She made us like 4 grills full of meat!!!! We were dying and we got on the bus home and were sooo sick!!! Then we got a call from the Elders because they had locked their keys in the church and we had to go help them. But it was already past 9 and we were late home, so we had to run all the way to the church from the city hall!!! I was dying!!! When we got to the church I had to throw up because I ate soooooo much! It was so gross! Dang. Missions are fun!!

I seriously cannot believe that next transfer is my last!!! I don't want to come home!!! EVER!! I love Korea with all of my heart! I love eating and sleeping on the floor. I love walking down the streets and seeing big buildings and green mountains. I love speaking Korean and thinking in Korean. I love Koreans. I love Korean food. I love Kimchi. I love this place with ALL of my heart and I really don't want to go home ever. I just want to hide here and eat rice and kimchi! What the heck am I going to do in America?? There is no kimchi!! I thought of a day without kimchi and I am not even kidding I started to cry a little. And I don't cry!! And some missionaires who are returning home bore their testimonies at a mission leadership meeting in Busan last week and then President started talking about going home and in my head I was like NOOOOOOOO! NEVER!!!!! I seriously started to cry a little. I just want to stay a missionary in the Korea Pusan Mission forever!!!!!! Ahhhhh!! It's so scary!!!

Anway, all of that being said, I am just excited to be here on the island!!

사라해요!!

"I you love"

Sister Johns