Hello!
This week was.... a little disappointing, haha.
We called up 이재덕b (Bro. I Jaedeong)to try and set up an appointment, and it turns out he's in a hospital up in 서울 (Seoul)! He's been receiving treatment in 대구 (Daegu) for some time, and apparently it hasn't been working for him, so he's gone elsewhere. He said he plans to be there for the next 4 months or so, which means that he's a drop for us for the time being (actually, neither Elder Wunderli nor I have 4 months left, so he's done for both of us I suppose). He's actually up there with the member that referred him, so not all hope is lost. It's possible that through the member, he'll start meeting with the missionaries up in 서올 (Seoul), which would be pretty cool.
이진산b (Bro. I Jinsan) didn't show up to church again.... we called in Saturday night and he said that was planning on coming, but (not 100% sure on this) apparently his dad caught him going to church and told him not to go. So I guess he's been coming out for some time without his father (who wants him to focus on his studies) knowing. Maybe in the future...?
In brighter news, 이예진s (Sis. I Yejin) brought a friend to church! She said she had a friend who was curious about church (I don't know if it's our church specifically or not - Korea has a culture of "bring your friends to church" so she might have just been looking for any church to go to"), and so they came together. I don't know how much she enjoyed the services, but she hit it off really well with our sister missionaries - they had planned to meet together and paint nails today, haha. It got cancelled though. And the members did a really good job of being friendly and interested and kind without being too pushy, so that worked out really well too!
Other than that, we met with the less active of 30 years, and taught the Restoration super simply to him. He's really nice and we were able to have a pleasant conversation about our church for quite a while, but he's not really in a position to come out to church I think. If we're lucky, we might be able to meet him again, but I think Elder Wunderli might have been a little too strong in inviting him back to church, haha. Oh, and his wife is apparently a Jehova's Witness, and he says that he doesn't want contention in the family. So it'll probably be difficult to like reactive him.
I went on exchanges on Wednsday, and we had 3 potentional appointments, but all of them fell through. And then it rained. So we spent way too much time outside trying to talk to people. It was kind of a hard day, and I feel bad because whenver someone comes on exchanges, I want them to go away feeling that our area is good, that the Zone Leaders are busy and hardworking and that things are happening, haha. But that's what Elder Wunderli and I would have done anyways, and there's no point in like, lying to try to make our beloved 상인 (Sangin) look busier than it is. Actually, one of the appointments that fell through was with a crazy former investigator (Elder Wunderli called him without looking at the teaching record, haha), so maybe it was for the better. He wanted to meet "in the vacant lot next to the parking garage behind the department store," which would be really scary if we weren't in Korea. It's a little bit weird though haha. I think I told you, but there was this other exchange where we agreed to be picked up by a man that neither of us had ever seen before (for that matter, he had never seen either of us either), without a specific purpose. We weren't kidnapped, and it turns out he just wanted to buy us dinner, so it all ended well. The things we do to try and teach people about the gospel. -_-
Oh, and I got a letter from home recently, and I learned that I had missed not only both your birthdays (Mom and Dad), but your anniversary as well. So.... happy birthday? I'll try harder next year!!!
We called up this less active (who comes to church maybe once a month?) and set up an appointment to meet with him. He doesn't live in our area, but he's got family in the ward, and so he comes to 상인 (Sangin). In any case, it turns out he lives waaaaay far out, so we took the subway for like 20 minutes, newly-built monorail for 20 mintues, then a taxi for 10 (since I've never been there before), only to have nobody home. We called to find that he was "far away," so we left a note on the door and left. We tried to walk back, got lost, walked some more, and it took a total of 2 hours and 40 minutes to not meet someone. We were both really exhausted... Not sure if we'll try and visit him again (we probably will, hahahaha).
So that's our week. I've learned a lot about being postive and not giving up and also about walking around a lot. Sometimes, there are hard weeks, but things will get better. Thank you all for everything!
Love,
Elder Luke
