I'm just getting started here...

Hello everyone! As of August 26th, I started my mission a year ago, so this is roughly the halfway point. I really wish it wasn't though, I'm just getting started here..

This week also marked one year since I started learning Korean, it's still hard. :)  Every day I wonder why I still can't understand everything yet, but I just try and think back to one year ago when it took me 3 minutes to read one sentence and then I realize that maybe I have caught on to a thing or two. 

This past year has been an entirely new experience, but I can easily call it the best year of my life so far, and I'm looking forward to the next year that will be even better.

Here's a picture of some real learning going on~

  한동균 (Han Dong Gyun) is learning English so we do kind of a language exchange where we teach him English and he helps us with our Korean before we actually start teaching about the gospel.

And speaking of better, the seasons changed here literally overnight. THe first half of the week was just as hot as it has been all summer, but then on Thursday morning it was about 75 degrees and has stayed the same since. The sky is clearer and life is good! There was also an unexpected downpour in the middle of the week, so we had to buy umbrellas before we left the subway station. IT did create a pretty cool atmosphere at night though~

This week was our ward conference, kind of like a birthday for the ward congregation which was formed 12 years ago. Additionally, two of the stakes are combining next week, so this was the last week as the Suwon stake, soon to become the Gyeong gi stake. Here's a photo of most of the adults in our ward~

(I think I'm the second tallest behind my companion, that's the only time in my life I'll ever be saying that.)

That's it for me this week, have a great week everyone!

Crunchy vs. Crispy

Hello everyone!

 Here's a picture taken from one of the colleges nearby, 경희대학 (Gyeong Hee College)

This college actually does an exchange program with BYU every year, and the students usually end up coming to the ward that I am serving in. They should be coming this week!

My challenge of the week: Trying to explain to a group of English learners what the difference between crunchy and crispy is. Teaching English has caused me to consider aspects or minute details of the English language that I have neither had to consider nor explain before, I love it. Recently we have been working really hard to get more students out to our English class, both so that we can find more people to teach and so that we can help serve more people, so we plan to stay pretty busy with that.

Other fun things for this week:

-We taught some of the teenagers in our ward how to play the basketball game H-O-R-S-E, they then proceeded to beat us at our own game...

-Korean grapes are in season, but you have to be careful because they are wildly different from most of the grapes I ate in America. Not only is there 3-5 seeds inside, but Koreans also don't eat the skin of the grape. So each grape is a mini process, consisting of squeezing the grape out of its peel into your mouth and then making sure that you spit all of the seeds out before you swallow it. It's really good at preventing you from overeating though, complex food is key..

-This week was transfers, so that means that lots of missionaries moved around and some new missionaries came as well. Elder Christensen and I both stayed here, but we had two new Sisters that came and are now serving in the ward. Sister Killpack and Sister Sannar (who came to Korea last week and is a brand new missionary) came, so now we will have all foreigners serving in this area (pray for us:) )

This week, our church meetings were focused on the temple, a building where sacred ordinances within our church take place. There, we do work for ourselves, and also complete those things necessary for salvation on behalf of those who didn't have an opportunity to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ on Earth. What a blessing it is to know that death is not the end for us, nor is it the end for anyone. Just like Jesus Christ, we will live again.

Have a great week everyone!

My work here isn't finished yet

Hello Everyone, Happy Korean (Restoration of) Independence Day. Today celebrates the day when Japanese control of Korea was relinquished and Korea once again became an independent nation 마음으로 태극기를 답시다!

It's still hot over here, but Korea has quite the selection of interesting drinks to beat the heat including:

-Watermelon Soda (Imagine the flavor of a watermelon popsicle but carbonated

-Pocari Sweat- I have no idea where the name from and I hope it's not actually someone's sweat, but it's good for replenishing electrolytes

-Aloe Juice- Normally Aloe is used as a medicine for burn relief, but here it is a tasty drink, complete with bits of the Aloe plant inside (my favorite)

-매실 (mae-sheer)- I'm not exactly sure what it's made out of, but it's super sweet like apple juice and super refreshing

Last Monday I headed to Mokdong  in Seoul to update my foreigner registration card, only to find out that it didn't actually need to be updated yet, so I'll have to make another trip up there at some point. The silver lining though was that I got to meet with two people that I taught when I first came to Korea, one of whom has been baptized since then. Good times

This weekend was also transfer calls, where we find out if we will leave to another area or stay for 6 more weeks (sounds a little bit like groundhog day now that I think about it). Anyways, I will stay here in Suwon for the next 6 weeks with Elder Christensen, then he will go home and I will get a new companion. I'm really glad I'm staying here though, my work here isn't finished yet :)

This week I've been especially grateful for the knowledge that members of this church have about God's plan for us, and that the questions like "Where did I come from?" "what is my purpose in life?" and "what's after this life?" are not a mystery. We were teaching someone this week about Jesus Christ, and he asked suddenly, "Is there really a Heaven? What is it like?" I'm thankful that I could respond with confidence "Yes, there is. And Heaven is living with our families forever." and I especially love sharing that knowledge with those in Korea.

Have a great week!

-Elder Bigelow

20 flavors of Gatorade

Hello Everyone!

 

I've mentioned before that my name in Korean sounds like the name of the "beagle" dog, but this week the interpretation of my name was taken to a whole new level. I don't know how many you are familiar with "the Evolution of Species" by Charles Darwin, but it doceuments his travels and observations about evolution. Anyways, when he rode to the Galapagos Islands, he rode on a boat called the "SM Beagle" Conveniently enough though, the name for that kind of boat in Korean sounds like the second half of my last name. I had several people point that out to me this week, I thought it was quite the coincidence..

 

I keep thinking that every week is going to be the hottest one of the summer, but I just found out this week that it's the hottest summer in Korea in over 20 years so I don't think it'll be cooling down anytime soon.

Our mission President told every missionary that they had to drink some Gatorade or other electrolyte-replenishing drink every day, and we even had a day where he told us we weren't allowed to work outside if we could help it.. Also our house is 90 degrees Fahrenheit every morning.. But despite the heat, I'm loving life over here!

 

This week we had a mission leadership conference in Seoul, followed by a Zone Training Meeting, where we deliver the training we got to all of the missionaries in our area. It went well, and I love being around other missionaries. And both Elder Young and Elder Santana, My companions in the missionary training center, are serving in the same general area. It is strange to think how far we've come after learning the Korean ABC's 11 months ago. Unfortunately, my pictures aren't uploading so I guess you'll have to wait on the photo...

 

One other fun thing I did this week was exchanges, where you work with a different missionary for a day and assist in the work and training in that area. So I got to go with Elder Landgraf, a missionary who has only been in Korea for a month. I love working with brand new missionaries because I think that they have such a great vision for misisonary work that sometimes older missionaries lack. And, I really enjoy teaching language, whether it is English or Korean so I had some fun teaching opportunities.

 

This week, Sister Morris, who was serving in 수원, went home this week due to medical problems. So from now until further notice, Elder Christensen and I have to teach English class by ourselves. WHich usually isn't too bad, but when you have lots of students that are at different levels it can get pretty complicated. The Korean English students couldn't believe that there were like 20 flavors of Gatorade in America, there's only one flavor in Korea so they were in total shock. English class is my favorite :)

 

And speaking of English class, one of our students decided that he wanted to learn about our church, so we ate lunch with him and taught about the Restoration of the Gospel. He was very sincere and really wants to find out if it is true, which is amazing. Our church leaders tell us that we will find greater joy and satisfactiopn than we have ever experienced while serving as a missionary. And sometimes it's hard to trust that promise when you've been walking for several hours in the humidity here with nobody that wants to talk to you, but when I am able to meet people like that, I realize every time that there really is no greater joy than missionary work.

 

 

 

Have a great week everyone! And Happy Birthday Mom!

 

-비글로우 (비글호)장로