YIKES!!!!  Once again, so tardy in posting these updates.  Perhaps we are on the downhill slide of this adventure.  Too early for Scott to feel that way though.  =)

February 16, 2014

 

 Happy VAlentines Day!!

 

 

Hey President

서울 pass-off complete.

Well this week was another good one. With regard to the challenge that you gave to Elder Kelson, we will go for it. I know it's definitely possible, being that I think when me and Elder Hale we got like 206 one time, I think Elder Kelson and I could definitely pull it off. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
Quick side note about that Primary activity that happened, we ended up not having to watch that movie fortunately, and it turned out to be a different movie. It was a super good activity though! There were 11 kids there, and our primary is usually only about 5 kids. Super cool. We're working to try and help this one family come into the church now. 강남 ward is really excited right now. I'm excited to be here while things are going on like this that I can be a part of it.
Elder Kelson and I are doing good together. We are getting along well, and the rest of the district seems to be doing really good too. Elder 임 also seems to be working really hard to get the ward going in 서초 as well which seems to be working out. Thanks for your visit there. The Elders said that it was great!

have a great week! Also I think I missed your birthday last week, but happy birthday!!!

Elder Clawson

Hey there everybody!

Hope you're all doing good this week!  I sure am!  Let's see, since last week...  Well monday wasn't pday because we went to the temple this week which means that we had pday on thursday instead of monday.  Just normal proselyting.  In the process of proselyting on monday, we found this store that sells rubiks cubes for $30 and $46, kinda ridiculous.  Didn't even know that was possible!  I guess when you do it competitively you want that.

A recurring event this week has to do with a particular referral that we got.  A couple weeks ago we got this referral and all it had was this apartment building.  No unit number, no phone number, just what the building is.  Needless to say it has been a journey trying to find this person, and a journey that is not even close to over might I add.  We've spent a ton of time just trying to find out who lives where, but the worst part is that it's gated and blocked with a coded entry, so we just have to type in house numbers and hope somebody is home and that it's the right person.  Not very successful to date.  Actually I guess in this case there are only 3 degrees of successful.  1, no success, still havent found him. 2.  Finding out that said person doesn't live there so we can stop worrying about it.  3. Finding him!  We're still on the first degree at this point.  Working on it...

Tuesday we met with our investigator Bob.  Bob's the best.  He's kind of english interest but we found out that he's not just interested in English!!!  He's the best actually on tuesday he asked about temple work on some level because he saw the temple and he asked about it.  No idea how to explain half that stuff in English, let alone Korean.  That's okay though, we ran out of time at that point and decided we'd study over it and talk about it next time.  Well we didn't talk about it next time because we focused more on the plan of salvation and talked about Adam and Eve and he loved it!  He likes a ton how our church believes that Adam and Eve weren't bad people, but that it was part of the plan.  I just realized in that lesson that were that not the case it would be pretty stupid to have the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden in the first place.  

Anyways he really enjoyed that and agreed that if he does come to know the things we teach him are true he will get baptized.  Bob is the man.  

On Pday we went bowling again.  Big surprise.  IT was super fun!!  I did pretty good.  Got a new personal best of 131 which was fun.  Also, my companion Elder Kelson is ridiculously hilarious when it comes to bowling.  He finished off a spare by jumping at the lane, doing a 180 and chucking the ball between his legs and just walking away.  No look back.  Bowling is eventful.  Also our friend Elder Im got a turkey!  Stuff was crazy!

Saturday we got a call from one of the primary presidency people and she was like "hey can you come to this activity we have in like an hour? there will be at least 4 nonmembers there," so we did and it was awesome!!!  We mostly were working with these three boys and they were so fun.  Mostly the youngest, he's like 6 and talking to me the whole time.  Saying things like "it's too spicy I can't eat it," to which I respond "well don't" and then he says "but I have to. maybe I'll just eat one or two pieces"  basically just the cutest kid in the world.  Also he ate 2 huge slices of pizza, and this kid is basically my best friend ever.  I hope he comes to church in the future.  Sooooo fun!

Also, same day we had a meeting with this guy who bought us dinner and then wanted to talk about the church for a little bit.  The guy was so nice.  He was really kind and for whatever reason just wants to take really good care of us.  I hope we can do the same in return.  Also during our meeting with him, we got a call from the office that we will be moving into Gangnam!  WOOO NO more living outside of our area!!! So stoked for that.  mostly just cause we get to spend more time in our area actually proselyting!  It's da best.  

Yesterday at church this one member brought two of his friends who are nonmembers and it was awesome!!  I've met with both of them before well sort of.  One I've met before and the other I tried talking to him on the street once I think and I'm pretty sure that he shut me down.  Lol.

Super fun being a missionary right now.  I love it!!!

답사  (dab-sa)

it means recon.  I use it to describe trying to find that guys house.  

Love you all!!

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February 9, 2014

Heya folks!

Hope everything is going good for you!  I'm doing good.  This last week was transfers and while I'm bummed that Elder Thorup is gone, and it seemed like we had a lot going, it's kinda nice how things just keep moving on and it doesn't really matter who's there as long as they have the right intentions for missionary work.  That being said, my new companion is Elder Kelson and he decidedly ended my streak of companions that were shorter than me.  He is 6'4 and 18.  Actually, his birthday is the day I entered the mtc.  Not the same year.  That would make him not 18, and erego not able to serve a mission at this time, being that he would only have been 1 and a half.

Anyways so yeah this week has been good with my new companion!  Prior to transfers, on tuesday we had a pretty busy day.  We met with like 2 people that we usually meet with.  One is our american friend who is the phd.  He's such a good guy.  I want to help him back into the gospel, but he doesn't see how it can make him much of a better person.  Not really sure if I disagree with him, but it brings me back to that quote from the tv show numbers where one of the characters is asked "why do you believe in God", and he says, "if you go through life believing in God and trying to act righteously, when you die, God will see your good works and you'll go to heaven.  If God doesn't exist, then you haven't lost anything."  I'm paraphrasing, not exactly sure how that went, but somewhere along those lines.  It was a good meeting though.  I tried to not talk too much because it was Elder Thorup's last time meeting with this guy and was kind of a good time for Elder Thorup to throw in his last words I suppose, and I didn't want to get in the way.  Didn't work out too well though.  I'm such a talker.

Later we met with the other easiest guy to love in our ward who is really struggling.  He had a problem with the Book of Mormon and wanted to give up on it, and more or less did, but then on tuesday he decided that he would give it more of a chance on his own.  Even though there are things he didn't like, he realized that when he was consistently reading the Book of Mormon that his life was a lot better.  Pretty cool lesson for me even as just the missionary who was teaching him that humility with something like that can even help you out a bunch.  The Book of Mormon is da best.  nuff said.

On that note, I found a scripture in 1 corinthians that says that women should not have short hair, and men should not have long hair.  Take that relief society hair cuts!  for more information see 1st Corinthians 11.  Not even joking, this is a real thing, and there's not even any room for interpretation.  Good thing the Bible has been translated like 40 times...

Transfers were fun, my companion is cool, and kinda weird.  He's from Sandy Utah, and is into cars and stuff.  His brothers drive Miadas and go to drift competetions.  He also enjoys cycling, and can do a pretty solid impersonation of Crunk from the Emperor's New Groove.  

On that note, the other elders in our house, there is a new missionary, and his name is Elder Watts.  Guy is a boss at impersonations.  He seriously exactly mimicd andy circus on Smeagle.  Ridiculous. Fun guy.  SoOOOOOO much jet lag.

The sisters from my mtc district are home.  Kind of awkward.  sad to see them go, but what the heck I'm an old missionary!!!!!!

Oh yeah, we have an investigator who goes by the english name Bob!  Guy is so cool.  Loves his family and is so ready for the gospel but is so afraid of his wife judging him for learning about a church that is not the church they currently attend.  He won't say it outloud, but it's pretty apparent.  We gave him a Proclamation to the World and he started saying about how families are really important and how we need them, before we even read the thing, and we're just like "dude, just read the stinkin thing, we already know all that and have some more to share".  HOpefully he read it and figured it out.  Also likes the whole eternal families thing.

Saturday after english class it was snowing and we were looking around for somewhere to eat dinner and we walked by this one restaurant and what did we see?  Our english class members eating dinner!  So we stopped in and said hi and then they bought us food.  They're so awesome.  It was pretty fun.  English class is seriously one of the funnest things that we get to do ever.  Its da best.

Sunday was awesome.  This one ward member brought a whole family to church this week.  Such a boss member.  if you can't all members of the family that brings her to 7 referrals in the past 5 months.  I think she's really trying to show how missionary work is really supposed to be done and she really does love the gospel.  I hope the rest of the world can catch on some time soon.  I hope even more that I don't forget that thought.

I love you all you da best!!!

짱 이에요!!!^^ (jjang i-ei-yo)

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February 2, 2014
Hey Everybody!!!

Transfer calls came again and I will being hanging out in Gangnam for at least one more trasnfer as district leader but not training.  Just taking somebody that has been just finished being trained and making his life so much more fun by experiencing the weirdness that is Elder Clawson!  My new companion's name is Elder Kelson and we aren't companions yet,  but we will be starting wednesday!!!  Exciting.  Kind of funny, so my hopes for transfers were to go back to the zone that I started in and be zone leader, but that didn't happen obviously, not bummed really but Elder Thorup is going to that same area where the zone leaders there live and work!  How lame is that.  He's not the zone leader, but he still gets to go to the place that I wanted to go.  I was frustrated at first but I'm okay with it now.  Always have to end up cool with transfers. 

Other crazy news about this transfer, the sisters that I was in the MTC at the same time as are going home this transfer!  How crazy is that!?!?  I'm so stinking old it makes me sad.  I still have served more transfers than the rest of the missionaries in my house have collectively.  Not complaining, just saying, I love being out here.  Every second of it.

This week was that lunar new year holiday and it was pretty cool.  We kind of get slowed down with regard to missionary work here when the holidays come around.  Not Christmas or things like that.  That's entirely commercial but the big Korean holidays are good excuses for people not to like us.  That doesn't stop me from talking to random people on the street though!!! They can't escape!  Is that a strange thought process?  probably.  I apologize.

Last p-day was okay.  We went to this cemetary and it was pretty dead.  Hopefully we can have a little bit more fun today.  That's our plan.  Anyways, back to last week, sorry I got distracted, but yeah the holiday!  So the day of we had a mission conference which was pretty fun because we got to see a lot of other cool missionaries and such which is always fun, but always frustrating because then it's impossible to get things done in some regards.  Good and bad.  We got these new signs to proselyte with when we go to work as a district or something and they seem solid!  The only time that we got to practice with them was on the big holiday so no one was outside to be found, but that's okay.  Still some good times and good conversations to be had and always lots to be learned.  The day before we went to our bishop's house and he fed us for the holiday and the dude is apparently a beast of health!  He said he can do 300 situps straight and used to be able to do 6000!!!!  yes 6000 jump rope repititions straight...  I feel humbled...  He's so cool though.  I love our bishop, the guy is the man.

Saturday this member of Seocho ward (not the ward in which I serve but the neighboring one) fed us, the missionaries from seocho, and from another area.  There were 12 there in all.  That's a lot of missionaries...  crazy...  Also was the single most sarcastic Korean that I have ever met.  Most Koreans don't really get sarcasm too well but this lady was just drilling us with it!  I really thought she hated me until she tried to hug me when we left for English class, where we got more food.  I was stuffed that day.  

Yesterday was cool.  Me and Elder Thorup basically just did a bunch of contacting which was fun.  Our ward members were a little bummed that Elder Thorup is leaving, but they're solid so they'll just keep on going.  I love gangnam ward.  I feel really blessed that I have yet to have a ward that I didn't get along with pretty much everyone.  I can't understand anything that our ward mission leader says here because he's a nuclear engineer and is thus a genius, but that's a small problem haha.  He uses the most ridiculous vocab.  IT makes every meeting interesting.  

Sorry I'm mostly out of time.  I'm looking forward to everything this new week brings!!! A new transfer all this cool stuff!  Love you all.  You're the best.

학생 많다  (hak-saeng mant-da)

it means there's a lot of students, because the place I'm emailing from right now is FULL of students.  ridiculously, absurdly, incredulously large amounts of high school students...

Have a great week!

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