Your face bloomed

Hello friends and family, I hope you are all having a great Christmas season!

This week, we got to go to mission headquarters for a special Christmas treat. We started off with a training for the first half of the day, then did a special christmas program with President Morrise and his wife. Some people performed, and we ate lots of food and sang lots of Christmas songs, it was a blast. And some of the mission president's relatives made little Christmas bags for all of the missionaries, which was very sweet, just like the candy inside.

Then the next day, we got to go the temple in Seoul, which is the only time we're allowed to cross the river. After that, we went to a giant mall and underground market to do some shopping, my companion is going home soon so he is trying to find some normal clothes. But I did find a solid pair of slippers, and they have drastically improved the 4 hours of study in the morning.

Brother Hong, the 90-year-old living legend of Korea

In the Mokdong ward, there are about 5 grandmas, and they are all really close. They kind of have their own club, complete with their own name. It translates to "more than flower Grandmas", and they are all the nicest people you will ever meet. One of them has giant shipments of fruit sent to the missionaries on major holidays. So this week, we received a 10 kg box of tangerines, along with a large case of strawberries. So we are trying to eat them all before they go bad, which definitely requires that we give some to other people.

​(just in case you didn't believe me)

This Sunday was the primary program in our ward, which is a day when the young children get to speak and sing songs in front of the congregation. Our ward only has about 5 children that are that age, and the kids got excited when we sang with them the day before, so somehow we became a part of the primary program. So yesterday, Elder Johnson and I really "became as a little child" and sat among the kids and sang right along with them. It was so fun, and all the kids are adorable. They also asked both of us to give a short talk, which was pretty scary but the topic was about how Jesus loves all of us so it wasn't too hard.

Once church was over, we of course had a meal all together. When we were there, one of the members said that my "올굴 폈어요" which directly translates to my "face bloomed" but they use it to mean that basically I smile more and look less nervous than when I first got here. Which is a good thing, I think..

We get to start our Christmas caroling to the Grandmas in our ward in the morning, then we will probably skype our families. Then Christmas night, our ward is having a party, and I'm pretty sure one of the missionaries will be Santa so I will keep you posted. Christmas here isn't nearly as big of a holiday as it is in America, but it is still celebrated fairly commonly.

I hope you all have a great week! Please don't forget to take some time to remember the real source of the joy of Christmas, our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the reason we can repent and come to know true happiness as we draw closer to our Heavenly Father. Be sure to visit christmas.lds.org this week, and may you all have a happy holiday!

-Elder Bigelow