Thursday, June 19, 2014

Letters Letters Letters!  He will

be home soon....  He doesnt want 

to talk

about that, but we can! 




Happy Father's Day!
3 messages

Scott Clawson <clawson.scott@myldsmail.net>Sun, Jun 15, 2014 at 9:26 PM
To: Nancy Clawson <neclawson@gmail.com>
Hey Everyone!!! Especially Dad!  Well, all Father's for that matter.  HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

This has been another good week.  Really all over the place to be honest.  They picked up Elder Thompson last monday to go be AP, and so I was in a threesome with Elder Thorup and Elder Bae.  That's the same Elder Thorup that I trained.  Kid's a  boss.  I'm really glad I got to meet him on my mission.  Same with almost all my companions.  Glad to have met all of them.  Some not as boss as others, but all great.
So Monday we played basketball at our church and that was fun.  the court is outside and the floor is polished and painted so naturally one might assume that there is a lot of slipping that goes on.  Makes for an interesting game, but it's fun all the same.  After we went back, gave away Elder Thompson and then went back out to proselyte.  We had a few lessons and that was it for monday.  None of the lessons were too crazy either.  Truth be told it's people that we should probably drop anyways.  However!  for lunch that day we met one investigator who wanted to say goodbye to elder Thompson before he left.  Would have been totally fine if I didn't have to eat the portions of like 2 people.  Since the guy who bought it for us is old, he doesn't eat too much and struggles with meat, and as awesome as Elder Thompson is, he's a wuss about eating.  I swear that food stayed in my stomach for like three days.  I would eat like 4 bites of food and then be full for like 2 or 3 days.  No bueno.
Tuesday we had a couple lessons and we picked up a 90 year old investigator! 90!!!!  How crazy is that!?!?!?  Nice guy though.  Just going to have to teach very simple.  Lot's of trying to visit less actives and not much success.  It was good.
Wednesday I got my new companion, the previous AP.  He's a good guy.  His name is Elder Kim Jae Gyum and he's from a city called Daegu.  We were actually in the MTC at the same time.  Super fun.  He works hard, but since he's my first Korean companion, I guess I'm just learning how Koreans work hard.  It's totally different.  When I was with Elder Thompson it was get people's phone numbers and then try and turn them into investigators whereas this companion likes to work from previous investigators more.  Just different styles.
Thursday was good I guess.  We had a bunch of appointments but all but one of them cancelled which frustrated me so much.  Normally I would be fine, but I think I just felt mad at myself because I have this new companion and I'm trying to get him excited for the work in an area and when 5 of 6 appointments cancel, one can be frustrated in such an effort.
Friday we had all our appointments turn out in the end actually!  That was nice!  Super good.  Some investigators showed to not really have any potential, especially the guy who is in fact a buddhist missionary and wants to be a monk in his next life.  Just trying to learn English from us.  oh well.
Saturday there was a meeting in Seoul that we went to and it was good.  We learned about how to do better as leaders.  I really am grateful for that training.  I really want to help all those around me and a little help and direction is always good.  That day we had English class which was good too.  I felt good because I actually got to help those there understand English even just a little bit better.
Sunday was super good.  We didn't have our investigator with a baptismal date come to church but this other guy that's super awesome did!  His name is Gary and he's from Taiwan.  He speaks little to no Korean, so I get to translate for him!  I really do actually enjoy that because it makes me pay attention more, and I got so much more out of church.  Gary is a good guy and I'm not 100% but it looks like he wants to come closer to Christ really.
We also met a new investigator who's awesome.  I wish I had more time, but I have to go.  I love you all and am grateful to be a missionary here in Korea!

클라슨 장로


(no subject)
4 messages

Scott Clawson <clawson.scott@myldsmail.net>Sun, Jun 8, 2014 at 8:20 PM
To: Nancy Clawson <neclawson@gmail.com>
Hey Everyone!!!
How are you doing this week?  Our week has been pretty good.  Really busy, but that's typically a really good thing.  I'm a fan of busy weeks.  Monday was nothing too crazy.  It was raining on P-day and we had to do some cleaning which wasn't fun but it wasn't too bad.  I am not a fan of missionaries who don't clean.  The ven above our sink was ridiculous.  It's been broken for a while, and I was trying to just get all the grease off of it.  So nasty.  It was originally kind of like a creamish white, and before I got at it it was brown.  Not a pleasent experience.  I wen through like 4 cleaning instruments before the thing was clean in the end.  Ridiculous.
Tuesday we had to go to the mission headquarters for Mission Leadership Council.  That's always interesting.  I feel like sometimes it's not really like much is even achieved there.  We talk about things and then nothing happens.  I guess it's a good thing that Elder Thompson is the new AP because he was a little bit more passionate about that thought than I was so I think it'll be okay.  Elder Thompson is a boss.  He just does missionary work effectively and I've learned a ton from him.  Too bad he's being transferred, especially since I've gotten along better with him than with pretty much every other companion that I've ever had, BUT I will do my best to make my next companion and I have a similar relatonship as well.
My next companion is Korean and his name is Elder Kim and he's also a boss.  Elder Thompson is actually going to take his place in the office as assistant.  I've served close to 5 of the 6 APs that have been in the Seoul South mission.  I don't fee like that actually means anything, but it's still an interesting thought to have sometimes.
ANYWAYS!  on tuesday at MLC we were talking about what the mission motto could be and I may have come up with it.  It's not decided, but I feel like there a great deal of people that are behind it as a motto.  The only problem is that the people there didn't have a very good idea of what a motto is I feel like.  They were all going for like scriptures and long things but I feel like a motto is short and to the point.  "Just do it." or "be prepared" or something to that effect.  The one I thought of was YOSO! You Only Serve Once!  Which I guess isn't entirely true for everyone, but you get the sentiment!
Wednesday was nothing too crazy. no big news of report that day.
Thursday we had Zone Training meeting which was cool.  We as the zone leaders lead that and at first it started really slow/boring.  We kind of realized that and subconsciously decided that we need to do better at helping the missionaries in our zone feel the Spirit in that meeting.  As we worked and tried to be guided a little more in the training, it worked!  While it started kind of dry, by the end I felt really good about the training and how we had taught.  It was only about and hour and a half long when they can run anywhere from 2 to 3 hours, but I was happy with it. 
That day the assistants (not Elder Thompson, he's not in the office yet) came to hear our training as well as to go on exchanges for the day.  It was super fun to be on exchanges with the assistants.  They're both really fun and I enjoy serving with both of them.  The missionary I was with was Elder Schofield and I learned a ton.  Specifically about making sure not to cast judgements upon people of whether or not they are interested.  That's not for me to decide.  I already knew that to an extent but reminders are always good. 
Friday was interesting.  we finally met with the man who we had a baptismal date with before, and it was going good.  His younger sister who we thought hated us came in and I guess before whenever she came in the missionaries just always got kind of scared and uncomfortable but that didn't happen this time.  Since the investigator almost dropped us, I thought "well, we have nothing to lose and if we can help her understand the church more, why not?"  So we stuck around and talked to her.  She's a really nice lady, just legitimately concerned for her older brother.  Also has a really cute dog.  I asked her what the Pope does becuase I don't really know, and when she explained it still didn't make sense to me.  Not that I didn't understand what she said, I just still don't understand what his role is...  maybe some day I'll understand.
Saturday we had a super busy day.  We were all over the place with appointments and our ward had a bunch of stuff going on too.  English class was fun.  Big news though, the guy I talked about last week who can Filibuster for days is super prepared to receive the gospel.  He accepted a baptismal date for the 22nd and is really working for it.  He reads the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes everyday, and he would read more, but the print is too small for him to read for that long without getting a headache so we'll be getting him a big copy this week.  SOOO awesome!!!
He came to church yesterday too!  So sweet.
A couple weeks ago the stake president asked us to speak at the Stake High Council meeting, which was yesterday.  That was a super cool experience.  We only talked for 5 minutes and it was just about how we want to help the wards with missionary work in specific areas.  I have never felt the gift of tongues that much on my mission.  I have never had Korean flow that freely from my face and I certainly have never heard myself have that good of pronunciation.  Not tooting my own horn because I couldn't even speak that well again if I wanted, but I know I could if the Lord wanted it.  That's really all it was.  The Lord wanted these people to understand what we had to say, so I just opened my mouth and it was filled.  That was so cool to see. 
I get my first Korean companion this week!  Super exciting!  I had a Korean-American companion before, but it's a little different.  Also there's a chance that I will be the only non-Korean missionary in my house for this last transfer!  How cool would that be?!?!?!?!

Anyway have a great week!

Have I ever told you what Korea is in Korean?
It's 한국! (han-gook) yes like the tires!

클라슨 장로!


Elder Cook is a really cool guy!

Inbox
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Scott Clawson

Jun 1
to me
Hey Everyone!

This week has been kinda ridiculous! super fun, but kinda ridiculous.  Monday we didn't have too much going on, so we went out in search of a ton of less actives and found none, but we did find a ghost town.  No one there, and lots of broken windows.  I'll be honest, I kinda wanted to break one, but that's not what a disciple of Jesus Christ would spend time doing.  We were just making sure that all the apartments in that area were indeed abandoned so we could know that we wouldn't ever really have to go back.  Good use of time, but not too much fruits unfortunately.  Just saving time for future missionaries I suppose.
Tuesday we didmore of the same sort of thing with not too much success.  There was this one investigator that we met that we thought had a solid amount of interest, but it wasn't so.  It was really interesting.  We taught him a little and he was trying to get out of the appointment, so we decided we'd just testify and finish up.  He said he was a devout Christian so we thought "GREAT!  Why don't you say the prayer?"  Nope, no dice.  I ended up saying the prayer and I felt really sleepy, but i feel like the prayer that I said was more close to Heavenly Father than a lot of other ones for some reason.  I don't know if that was because I was trying to make it closer or if I was partially asleep, but nonetheless, was that way.
Wednesday we had district meeting, which was okay.  It 's kind of strange having been district leader for like 9 transfers and then not being district leader. I feel like they are just never as edifying for the people hearing the training as for the one training based on that experience.  I feel like when I gave the trainings I always learned SOOO much.  But now, when I hear them, I'm not sure if it's the people that give them, or what, but that people just don't put time or something.  I think that might be the case because there's this one district leader that was in the zone who always had fantastic district meetings, and I know that he put a great deal of time into his meetings, and the spirit followed.  Good stuff.
Afterwards we had a finding activity, but I didn't get to go because there's this teacher improvement program for new missionaries and I was doing that with a missionary so we didn't get to participate but I guess it went well.  I went from there on exchanges which were fun.  I was in an area in the mission that I've never been in before which was cool.  A first for me in a long time.  The exchange was good.  lot's of cool people that we got to meet. 
Thursday we went to the temple and had Pday.  That was also cool.  Temple is always great.  Elder Thompson and I went to this bookstore afterwards to get a Korean study book, and then ate at this buffet restaurant which was utterly delicious. 
Friday we had weekly planning which is whatever but then we went on exchanges again.  That was fun but kind of frustrating also.  At first my stomach was killing me but it finally stopped.  When it did, we went out to start talking to people and we started talking to this guy that was taking pictures of a tree, and it turned into 45 minute long worthless argument.  The missionary I was with was a Korean so they kind of stopped including me in the argument which was fine with me, but I was sick of wasting time just sitting there.  When we finally left he followed us and started arguing again.  I told him like 3 times at that point since we were going different places for him to just go his way and we'll go ours, it wasn't a valuable use of either of our time.  He still wouldn't give up, but finally he agreed to meet when the other missionary agreed that if they met and taught each other, that if my companion learned his church was true he'd convert.  So ridiculous BUT!  As a result when we went to visit a less active, they were not there, but on our way out there was a drunk guy I said hi to and turns out he was a less active of like 30 years!  Crazy right!  Super cool.  Finding lost sheep.
Saturday was CCCRRRAAAZZZZZYYYY!!!
So in the morning we went to a joint mission conference where Elder Cook came and spoke.  It was super awesome.  He spoke about missionary work and how there is more or less a formula for happiness for us as missionaries.  It was cool saw some friends from the Seoul Mission.
On the way home Elder Bae the Korean missionary I was on exchanges with, forgot his bag on the train so he had to go sort that out.  Elder Thompson and I went to meet this man who is the filibuster king of the earth!!!  The man talked for like 45 minutes straight without breathing.  I swear.  Crazyy.  But he did come to church yesterday so it was a victory in the end.
On the way home that night after our english class and pingpong activity, we were walking home and something special happened.  There was a man lying in the street, presumably past out drunk.  We decided that was not an appropriate place for someone to be passed out and picked him up and put him on the sidewalk.  Then he woke up and this other guy came by to see what was up.  We told him the story and he decided to go tell the police while we kept him from rolling back into traffic.  Guy was soooooooo toasted drunk and couldn't even stand up.  Fun story to tell later.
Sunday was cool.  Had an investigator at church.  Talked to lots of people.  Went to ward counsel which was good.  Good things going on.
This morning in study I had a cool experience.  Closing thoughts.  So I was kind of frustrated with my prayers being lame so I decided to just read from the book of Mormon and see what came up.  I was reading in Alma 29 and it's Alma the younger talking about desires and eventually says how he is more happy in the success of others than in his own really.  Yes, he originally says he is happy in his own success but then it gets better, but in the end it says his greatest joy is in others, and I wondered how to find that.  I looked it up in the institute study guide.  It had nothing, but it did talk about desires.  I need to desure to be happy in others success.  I'm happy to work for that sort of thing and I hope you guys can too.  It's true happiness I believe.
Have a great week!

클라슨 장로!The Pope DID NOT COME!!! I'm sorry
2 messages

Scott Clawson <clawson.scott@myldsmail.net>Sun, May 25, 2014 at 9:22 PM
To: Nancy Clawson <neclawson@gmail.com>

The Pope DID NOT COME!!! I'm sorry

2 messages

Scott Clawson <clawson.scott@myldsmail.net>Sun, May 25, 2014 at 9:22 PM
To: Nancy Clawson <neclawson@gmail.com>

Hey Everyone!
This week has been good.  I feel good about it still despite it's ups and downs.  First I want to apologize for misrepresenting the truth to you and telling you that The Pope was coming to Incheon to the Catholic church next door to ours, because he indeed was NOT!  I was super bummed.  There are probably some of you out there that knew better than me, but I digress, still great disappointment.  The confusion stemmed from a bunch of signs that said the Pope is coming and had pictures of the Catholic church on it too.  It had the phone number of the church and stuff on it, but it never explicitly states that the Pope was coming to Incheon, so I suppose it was just some level of presumptuousness on our part, BUT can you blame me?  There weren't posters for it anywhere else that I had been in Korea so I guess it was just exclusive congregations that they wanted to be in attendence or something, who knows...
Other things this week.  Tuesday we had a zone conference in Seoul where we went out and did it entirely on a mountain, hiking and doing things like that.  Not that bad of a hike to be honest.  Have I ever told you about how ridiculous people get about hiking in Korea?  It's probably the biggest hobby in Korea, or close to drinking, but drinking is typically a part of hiking here in Korea too.  Anyways, we were probably by some people's standards very ill suited for the hike based on the fact that most people were wearing jeans and didn't have walking sticks and things like that.  Still was super cool, fun activity, and I learned a lot.  I learned the difference between a queen ant and a wasp also.  They look super similar from an amateur like myself's point of view, and since they're both so large, easy to mistake.  That being said I ended up being scared of a queen ant.  I guess I've never seen one before though, so don't judge me.  On the spiritual side of learning, I learned even more the value of sharing testimony with people in our contacts, be they street or lessons or what have you.  Good to learn about and get to put into practice.  There's probably a missionary somewhere shuttering at the fact that I may have not known this somuch earlier in my missionary experience.  I did!  I was just reassured settle down!
Wednesday we had exchanges and I was with a missionary named Elder Lynn who is a great guy.  He's a newer missionary, but works hard and does the best he can which is all that can really be asked of someone.  Also a pretty fun and happy guy.  Does a pretty good job of keeping happy too!  I feel like I'm pretty good at that, but he seemed a little better so I was still learning from him.  Everyone can learn from pretty much anyone!  We also met a new investigator who was interesting because he said that he wants to know truth, but even in knowing the truth may still not acknowledge that the sourse he learned it from is true sort of.  weird thought process, but a nice guy no less.
We also had a finding activity where we talked to this taxi driver and he says "oh I know everything about your church", and so we asked him what we believe and he says "oh you know, repentence, Jesus Christ, God, the Atonement, you don't believe those".  Kind of an interesting statement considering it's exactly wrong!  We showed him in the Plan of Salvation pamphlet how we believe all those things, and he says "well where's John 3:16?" which is also in the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and then refused to believe that it was from our church...  most interesting man ever... at least he let us speak though!
Friday we had a pingpong activity because people in Korea love ping pong and it was good!  Fan of activities because you can reach out to people you may not otherewise be able to reach out to.  Same concept as teaching English on some level. 
Saturday we went to a member's daughter's wedding which was... interesting?  In korean weddings they always have some prank-like activity.  In this one they had the groom spin around 10 times with his head facing the ground and then try and kiss the bride.  Yeah, he didn't finish the spins and came crashing down on the stage and knocked some things over.  Ya know.  Typical wedding things.  Good food though.  I'm a fan of Korean weddings because of the buffet.  Always super awesome.
Yesterday, we were intending to have a baptism for one of our investigators but, he has been dodging us super hard later.  Needless to say, he was not in fact baptized.  He says to come on Thursdays at 5 to visit him in his home and we do every single time but he's never there.  I feel like he's just trying to hide from all relligions right now.  He's technically a member of like 4 faiths, and he doesn't like any of them.  He was so close, but it looks like we have to back off a little bit now.  We actually are right now just kind of cleaning out our whole investigator pool and trying to fulfill it with prepared people.  It seems like that is the problem right now for us.  Finding those who are prepared instead of just those who will listen.  We'll keep going for that.
here's some Korean for you.
행복하다 (haeng-bok-ha-da)
to be happy!
BE HAPPY!
클라슨 장로

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