Leaving Mokdong

Hello Everyone!

This week was definitely one for the books, there's really not much I can complain about here!

One of the adults in our ward wanted to feed us dinner, but we were on the opposite side of our area at the time she was free, so we weren't able to go to her house. So instead of trying to reschedule, she just decided to reserve us a table for 2 at VIPS, a very fancy Korean buffet restaurant. And on top of the endless buffet of fruit, ice cream, rice, noodles, and pasta, she also paid for a steak and lobster meal, both of which are very expensive in Korea. We were extremely grateful, and she even ended up feeding us two more times this week, along with other members and missionaries.

This week was pretty cold, the temperature was in the negatives as far as Celsius, so we even got some snow. But when it snows here, the snow gets run over thousands of times by cars, then it just becomes an extreme slipping hazard. I didn't quite fall over, but there were several times where I came extremely close.

SIster 우은정, Brother Hunsaker, my America away from America

Our special needs basketball team, several of them were much better at basketball than myself..

Missionaries do something called exchanges, where they spend a day with a different companion every few weeks so that they can teach other and learn how to work better. This week, we had to do that twice, so we just decided to do it for two days in a row. So my companion went to the area next door for one day, and we both got new companions. The next day, my companion came back to our area and I went to the area next door, so it was pretty hectic for a few days but you really do learn a lot spending a day with another missionary.

Mokdong actually has an ice skating rink not too far from the house, and the youth of our ward were doing an activity there so we got to go do some ice skating. You definitely gets lots of strange looks ice skating in a suit as an American in Korea, and I would hear little kids shouting "it's a foreigner!" in Korean. A lot of people here don't actually know that we can speak Korean, so often times on the bus or subway the people sitting next to us will start talking to their friend about us, you just have to listen for the words "Foreigner," "Missionary", or "Mormon." We usually just don't say anything to them, but when we answer the phone or something and start speaking Korean, the look on their face is priceless.

백상학 형제님, 백경민 형제님

On Saturday night, we got transfer calls, which come every 6 weeks and tells you if you are staying in the area you are in or if you will be sent somewhere else for the next 6 weeks. So my companion, Elder Johnson, will be staying in Mokdong for the last 6 weeks of his mission, and will finish here. As for me however, I will actually be leaving the city of Seoul this week. On Wednesday, I will begin serving in 인천(Incheon), which is a pretty big city west of Seoul, right on the northwest coast of Korea. The congregation there is much bigger, so it will be a completely different experience, but change helps to keep you on your toes. Leaving Mokdong is definitely harder than leaving to go on a mission, I really love the people here. I said my goodbye words in church yesterday, and will pretty much eat every meal from now until I leave with a member of our ward to say goodbye. So my next email will be from Incheon, and I guess you'll hear from me again then!

Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Bigelow