Hello Friends and Family,
So I've had to start
writing down all the different things that happen to me because it's really
hard to remember it all.
So my trainer is the
district leader of our district so we go on splits sometimes. The other day we
had a greeny split and it was kinda interesting. The other elder has been here
for about three months and I've never heard him speak Korean. He doesn't really
ever try to talk to people so I was kinda on the my own the whole day. Anyway
something funny happened while we were together. We were just walking down the
street and the guy shouts and us and acts like he knows us and everything and
is super happy. We keeps saying the name Elder Sorenson, which is is name of
companion whom I was splitting with. We asked if we want to go get something to
eat and we go to this cake shop and get cake. There he discovers that Elder
Brantly, whom I'm with, is not Elder Sorenson. He thought Elder Brantly was
Elder Sorenson which was a little confusing to him because he thought that
Elder Sorenson could speak well and he can but Elder Brantly didn't speak
Korean at all. He felt pretty silly but I tried really hard to get him to have
a good time and I could speak enough to develop a good relationship with him.
I had my first experience
of eating to the point of almost killing myself. We had a lesson with a member
and after we went out to dinner and he bought us a lot of food. This was no
problem because I can eat a lot of food and be totally good. Right after that
though we went to eat another dinner with our ward mission leader and he just
kept it coming. I have never eaten so much pig in my entire life. Korean BBQ's
are really cool because they just bring out raw meat and you cook it on a grill
right in front of you. Man my companion and I were dying haha.
So here's a little bit
about Korean culture. The Korean culture is a really touchy feely one, but it
can only be with people that are younger than you. It is really bad to put your
hand on an older man's shoulder but they can do it to you. Really weird but
somehow it just works. We were out the only day and it was really cold and I
didn't have gloves for some reason and I was talking to this old man and he
noticed that I was cold. He reached out and grabbed my hands and started to rub
them. Holy cow was that that the most amazing thing in the world. It would be
just a little bit weird if someone I didn't know were to do that in America,
but it just feels super normal when a Korean man with rough old hands does it.
Haha hard to explain. But you can just be talking to some random person and
they are just really touchy but it feels really normal. Except when a strange
drunk guy runs up to you and starts smacking on the behind haha.
I had my first drop the
other day. Holy cow does that just put a downer in your day. We had been
teaching this guy English and the gospel. Then we brought a member with us and
he realized that we aren't just teaching English. Guess he wasn't ready to have
the gospel but it was really not the greatest thing ever.
I knocked on doors for
the first time of my mission. Most ineffective thing in the world. My companion
said we had to do it once for my sake and it was super lame. People would open
the door just barely and we would start talking and instantly close it. Not
very nice.
Korea has some really
good things about the culture and some really messed up things. One thing is
that Koreans can't really be friends if they are a different age. Literally one
person could be born and 1995 and another born one day later in 1996 and they
can't be friends. So Sometimes you just don't say your age when you talking to
somebody who is just a bit older than you.
Oh the work is great and
I love being out here. Sometimes it's hard but if we work hard it turns out
good in the end. Every day is a miracle and it's going by so fast, I can't
believe that I've already been here for a month.
Love you all and miss you
all. Keep up the good work,
Love,
Elder Daniel John
Meeks
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