Week Nine and Ten - September 28, 2014

I'm here. 

Holy cow!  I can't believe it.  It is so crazy, I don't even know where to start.  I miss you and pray for you everyday.  Missonary work is very hard, but I know that this is what I need to be doing.  I am grateful to have the opportunity to serve the Lord.  I don't even know where to start. 

When I first arrived in Korea, I was stunned.  I got off the plane and I was going crazy.  I was so excited and so nervous.  The first second I got off the plane and headed to get my luggage, all the smells started to get to me.  There are so many crazy smells here.  Haha kimchi.kimchi.kimchi.

After we got all of our luggage and stuff, I met my mission president, President Shin and his wife, Sister Shin.  They are amazing.  They are so sweet, and I am so excited to be able to get to know them better over the next 2 years.

 (Sister Shin, President Shin, and Elder Johnson)

 After meeting them, we got on a bus and headed to the mission home in Daejeon.  The bus we rode was crazy.  I was just looking out the windows and all I could see was huge buildings and Korean characters.  

On the way to the mission home, we stopped at a rest stop and our Mission President told us we had to go out and hand out a Book of Mormon. It was so crazy.  I can't understand anything and can barley speak the language, but I told myself I wasn't getting back on the bus until I handed out a Book of Mormon.  After about 15 minutes, my MTC companion was like, "Hey, we're not gonna find anyone."  I told him we weren't getting back on the bus until we handed it out.  Right as a said that, I looked up and there was an older college student walking down street, and we walked up next to him, and I asked him if he had heard of the missionaries and if he knew about our church.  We talked for a few minutes and then President Shin came over and helped us out.  It was an
amazing experience.
 

When we woke up the next morning, we went to the bath house to shower.  Hollllly crazy.  I have never experienced anything like that.  Hahaha It was so different.  It's awesome though.  I am soooo sooo culture shocked.  Things are a lot different here in Korea than they are in America.
 

On Thursday, I met my trainer.  He is from Arizona.  His name is Elder Skinner.  He is awesome.  He is teaching me so much.  We have a lot of fun together.  I am really grateful for a good trainer.  That is something that I have been praying for for a long time.  

 (Elder Johnson with his trainer, Elder Skinner.)

My first area is Gwangju.  We're Chungjang ward.  It is sweet. big city. I wish you could
see it.  It's hard to explain, but I will send you some pics of everything.  

 (Elder Johnson in Gwangju)

We are basically white washing the area.  We do a lot of proselyting on the streets.  It's called "jundo" in Korean.  I try the best I can to speak to them.  I have a lot to learn.  I don't really understand anything, but I know that if I work really hard, Heavenly Father will bless me with the gift of tongues.

We have one investigator right now.  His name is Kim teh Hong.  He is like 46 years old and is a very sweet Korean guy, very humble and happy.  We teach him English and then when we are done, we share a message of the gospel.  He is really interested.  The spirit is so strong.  It really makes me happy when I can see the light in his eyes.  I try my best to
see everyone how the Savior sees them.  We are continuing to work with him, and I pray that he will continue to progress.  My trainer is very good at Korean.  He has been serving for a little over a year, so he teaches most of the lesson, but I try my best to participate in all that I can.  He is awesome and teaches me a lot.

I have been on my knees a lot this last week asking the Lord to comfort me and to give me strength through these hard times.  This work is not easy.  It is very difficult and frustrating, but I know that it is the Lord's work.  I know that this next 6 to 12 months are going to shape me into the person I will be for the rest of my life.  These next few months are going to be very difficult, but I know that the Lord is here with me every step of the way.

On Sunday, I had to give a talk in church in front of everyone.  There are like 250 members in my ward.  I had to give my "insaw marrsim," which is like introducing myself.  It was so crazy.  Everyone was like staring at me.  I was praying so hard that my Korean would be good and that they could understand it.  My trainer said I did really well.  I felt good about it. I talked for like 4 minutes all in Korean.  It was amazing.  The members here in Korea are very different than Utah.  They are kinda intense haha.  You have to be on your top game and they expect a lot from you.  It is really good that it is like that though.

Sorry I'm all over the place.  There is just so much that has happened.  I hope you can understand.  I have never had a week like this in my life, so packed full of things and stress and being clueless about everything.  Also, sorry about my punctuation and things.  The
computuer is broken a little bit, and we couldn't go to the library where it is a little nicer because I don't have my foreigner card yet.  I will get that in like  3 weeks.  I am at a Samsung store.  (Note:  Punctuation was fixed upon receiving this e-mail for easier reading.)

After Sacrament meeting, I went on a little split with Elder Alan because him and his comp had two investigators and his other comp went with mine and their other investigator.  We taught this investigator how to pray.  We taught him the whole first lesson.  It was so cool. The spirit was so strong.  I said the whole first vision in Korean, and I made a really good connection with him.  After our lesson was over, he saw a picture of the First Vision and said he could remember it just like he saw in the picture.  I know that was the Spirit testifying to
him.

I am experiencing so much.  I am learning and growing.  There is a lot of work to be done here in Korea.  I am so exhausted at the end of every day.  I love this church and this gospel.  It brings happiness.  Please continue to pray for me.  I can feel your prayers.  I love and miss you.

Elder Johnson