RoseE writes:
"25 May ‘09
Dearest Em,
I always thought that giving up your last name would be one of the roughest parts of getting married. Names are important. So much of your identity and history gets tied into them. It’s like letting go of a version of yourself, which can be scary or liberating or both. Since I am a wuss, I just keep making my name longer as my life goes on, so I’m currently Sister Rose Evelle RoseE Arianne Han Chang Mi Hadden. (I just picked Han Chang Mi as my Korean name this week. Han’s as close to Hadden as we’re gonna get in Korean family names, and was the name of one of the Royal dynasties of Korea, which is why the country’s name is Korean is Hanguk, the Kingdom of Han. And Chang Mi means both “Rose” and “Sublime beauty.” Pretty, but pretentious, just like my American name.)
It has just occurred to me that I must learn how to spell “Deckenback.”* Darn it. I was just getting to where I could do “McConnell” right 9 times out of 10.
I don’t know if all of the above was “exactly what to say.” You say I always know this, but I never feel like I do. But I love you and always will, and will be your best friend no matter what your name is or where you live. Even on the other side of the world, as evidenced.
Hugs for Jeffry, too!
RoseE"
*She just spelled it right!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Senior Companion, Diet Variations, A Good Sunday
RoseE writes:
"Dearest Mum and Dad,
I love you.
Mum, I am so proud of you for kicking trash and taking names in the bagpiping, most particularly in adverse conditions (then again, if there weren't adverse conditions, it wouldn't REALLY be a Hadden Family outing).*
I'm glad you had fun with the package!** Mind you, I'm never sending ceramics ever again, but I may put together more crazy snack foods and stuff at some time in the future.
And a note for Emily: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I put together a birthday present package for you two weeks ago, and sent it . . . well, today . . . so it's late as all get-out but at least it's coming, though it may have to be a wedding present instead. Le sigh. But I love you, and I hope your birthday was freakin' awesome.
Here is the News of the Week:
First off: Is Cat Wilson still alive? I haven't heard from/of her in ages, and have been wondering these past few weeks. I hope she and her family are doing well and having fun and all that jazz. I love her and miss her.
Other things this week: well, I took a big leap and became a Senior Companion for a couple of hours. This week, some of our Koreans had to take the Michigan Test, which is an English test they need to pass if they want to go to the US and study at BYU. Sis. Pak Ji Yeon only took it because elder Lee Song Gi dared her to, but that left me companionless for the 1.5 hours of the test. But Sister Pak Song Hee was taking it too, so her greenie, Sis. Beh In Yeong, was also at loose ends. So I was informed "You're going to be companions with Sister Beh."
"Okay," said I. "Cool."
"What are you going to do?" asked Sister Pak Ji Yeon.
"I dunno. Ask Sister Beh," I told her, wondering why this was complicated. I'm a new missionary. Other companion makes the decisions. End of story.
"No, you're the senior. You get to pick. What are you going to do?"
"Wait . . . WHAT?"
Because, despite being a Korean and speaking Korean very well, Sister Beh is still in her first transfer and I technically outrank her . . . so we went street jeundoing. And since she didn't know what to say to people and I didn't know how to say it, we weren't exactly Alma and Amulek***. But we opened our mouths, and we worked, and we made fools of ourselves and had fun. And I will never have to do that for the first time ever again.
I discovered that feared Korean institution called the Meat Buffet. Missionaries run and hide at the words. It's actually a pretty cool meal concept, and quite charactaristically Korean: at your table there is a gas stove with a fry pan on it, and you pick up cuts of meat at the buffet (predominantely thick-cut bacon, but any part of the pig will do), grill it on your stove, cut it up and eat it wrapped in lettuce leaves with garlic and kimchi. Kinda fun. It was kinda fun for me because we didn't have very much time there. But from what I hear, meat buffets are where even strong-stomached missionaries have been known to heave, or to have to go home to their apartments afterwards and lie down for a few hours, because given enough time the members will make you eat to the point of tears, on the assumption that you need protien, poor starving thing. I survived with grace, ate mostly vegetables, and even had room to indulge in the complementary after-dinner ice cream cones from the freezer full of ice cream (not containers of ice cream--just full of ice cream). So that was good.
I also discovered Mr. Pizza this week (Motto: Love For Women. I don't know why. It's on all their signs). But last P-Day the Three Pusan American Sisters (Sis. Beckstead, Ogelvie, and myself) landed there to have a hawaiian pizza and a salad bar, and unlimited dessert of Yogurt with Stuff You Can Mix In It. This is SO GOOD. They had different kinds of raisins and nuts and cereal, and two bottles of flavoring syrup. I tried both. One was cherry, and the other . . . hm . . . was clear-colored, and thick and sticky, and sweet, and tasted really familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on it . . . HONEY! Oh yeeeeeeaaah, I remember honey! Good stuff.
We also had to go bowling with the Snakes# not once but twice. I am not very good at bowling and am becoming progressively less good at dealing with the Sujeong Snakes. Too much giggling.
But over in Yeonsan, little Yoon Hey Jung has been kicking trash in her tae kwon do performances and competitions. We've gotten to see her a couple of times now: she's good! And watching Tae Kwon Do is so much fun. My favorite is the choreographies--they're beautiful, and I love knowing that this ancient martial art, is now, in time of peace, more dance than weapon. But the biggest news for Yoon Hey Jung is that she brought her friend Yoo Mi Ra to church yesterday!!! All three hours! And in Young Womens they worked on Personal Progress, and MiRa got her own PP book, and Elder Lee Song Gi taught youth Sunday School and had everyone participating and thinking and laughing, and . . . yeah, that's pretty much exactly what we want to have happen, right there. When days like that happen, the missionaries just sit back and watch the miracles roll in without having to lift a finger. I adore the whole Yoon family.
Today I managed to give myself a crown braid. Cool.
I also found some TimTams## this week! They were way too expensive but I bought them anyway. Now I need to buy either hot chocolate or milk so I can slam### them.
And one of the other elders in the mission is selling me his electronic dictionary, so I will finally have one of my own and be able to look up words without bothering Sis. Pak or resorting to "MinJeong's Handy Korean/English Dictionary" which considers 'edutainment' to be a real English word.
And . . . I'm out of time again, 'cuz we have to go take a Zone Picture. But this is my last P-Day of this transfer, so the dice will roll again on Friday and we'll see what fate has in store in the continuing adventures of
RoseE"
Blogmom Notes:
* bagpiping: The Salt Lake Highland Games were last weekend, and the Salt Lake Scots, for which I, Blogmom, play, took first in both categories--in the driving rain.
**package: RoseE sent us a box from Korea. I took pics of everything and will post them . . . . soon.
*** Alma and Amulek: two missionaries from the Book of Mormon. Alma went to a city called Ammonihah to preach the gospel, was cast out by the people, then sent back to Ammonihah by the Lord and was met by an Ammonihahite named Amulek, who said, "I know that thou art a holy prophet of God, for thou art the man whom an angel said in a vision: Thou shalt receive. Therefore, go with me into my house and I will impart unto thee of my food; and I know that thou wilt be a blessing unto me and my house." Together they preached the gospel and were really amazing at it. See the Book of Mormon, Book of Alma chapters 8-16.
#Sujeon Snakes: some sisters in Sujeong ward whose main interest in life is getting a husband.
## Tim Tams are a chocolate biscuit made by Arnott's Biscuits, Australia. A Tim Tam is composed of two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate.
### Slamming Tim Tams is sucking milk (or tea) up through a corner of the aforementioned biscuit, and then cramming the rest in your mouth. See a demonstration here.
"Dearest Mum and Dad,
I love you.
Mum, I am so proud of you for kicking trash and taking names in the bagpiping, most particularly in adverse conditions (then again, if there weren't adverse conditions, it wouldn't REALLY be a Hadden Family outing).*
I'm glad you had fun with the package!** Mind you, I'm never sending ceramics ever again, but I may put together more crazy snack foods and stuff at some time in the future.
And a note for Emily: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I put together a birthday present package for you two weeks ago, and sent it . . . well, today . . . so it's late as all get-out but at least it's coming, though it may have to be a wedding present instead. Le sigh. But I love you, and I hope your birthday was freakin' awesome.
Here is the News of the Week:
First off: Is Cat Wilson still alive? I haven't heard from/of her in ages, and have been wondering these past few weeks. I hope she and her family are doing well and having fun and all that jazz. I love her and miss her.
Other things this week: well, I took a big leap and became a Senior Companion for a couple of hours. This week, some of our Koreans had to take the Michigan Test, which is an English test they need to pass if they want to go to the US and study at BYU. Sis. Pak Ji Yeon only took it because elder Lee Song Gi dared her to, but that left me companionless for the 1.5 hours of the test. But Sister Pak Song Hee was taking it too, so her greenie, Sis. Beh In Yeong, was also at loose ends. So I was informed "You're going to be companions with Sister Beh."
"Okay," said I. "Cool."
"What are you going to do?" asked Sister Pak Ji Yeon.
"I dunno. Ask Sister Beh," I told her, wondering why this was complicated. I'm a new missionary. Other companion makes the decisions. End of story.
"No, you're the senior. You get to pick. What are you going to do?"
"Wait . . . WHAT?"
Because, despite being a Korean and speaking Korean very well, Sister Beh is still in her first transfer and I technically outrank her . . . so we went street jeundoing. And since she didn't know what to say to people and I didn't know how to say it, we weren't exactly Alma and Amulek***. But we opened our mouths, and we worked, and we made fools of ourselves and had fun. And I will never have to do that for the first time ever again.
I discovered that feared Korean institution called the Meat Buffet. Missionaries run and hide at the words. It's actually a pretty cool meal concept, and quite charactaristically Korean: at your table there is a gas stove with a fry pan on it, and you pick up cuts of meat at the buffet (predominantely thick-cut bacon, but any part of the pig will do), grill it on your stove, cut it up and eat it wrapped in lettuce leaves with garlic and kimchi. Kinda fun. It was kinda fun for me because we didn't have very much time there. But from what I hear, meat buffets are where even strong-stomached missionaries have been known to heave, or to have to go home to their apartments afterwards and lie down for a few hours, because given enough time the members will make you eat to the point of tears, on the assumption that you need protien, poor starving thing. I survived with grace, ate mostly vegetables, and even had room to indulge in the complementary after-dinner ice cream cones from the freezer full of ice cream (not containers of ice cream--just full of ice cream). So that was good.
I also discovered Mr. Pizza this week (Motto: Love For Women. I don't know why. It's on all their signs). But last P-Day the Three Pusan American Sisters (Sis. Beckstead, Ogelvie, and myself) landed there to have a hawaiian pizza and a salad bar, and unlimited dessert of Yogurt with Stuff You Can Mix In It. This is SO GOOD. They had different kinds of raisins and nuts and cereal, and two bottles of flavoring syrup. I tried both. One was cherry, and the other . . . hm . . . was clear-colored, and thick and sticky, and sweet, and tasted really familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on it . . . HONEY! Oh yeeeeeeaaah, I remember honey! Good stuff.
We also had to go bowling with the Snakes# not once but twice. I am not very good at bowling and am becoming progressively less good at dealing with the Sujeong Snakes. Too much giggling.
But over in Yeonsan, little Yoon Hey Jung has been kicking trash in her tae kwon do performances and competitions. We've gotten to see her a couple of times now: she's good! And watching Tae Kwon Do is so much fun. My favorite is the choreographies--they're beautiful, and I love knowing that this ancient martial art, is now, in time of peace, more dance than weapon. But the biggest news for Yoon Hey Jung is that she brought her friend Yoo Mi Ra to church yesterday!!! All three hours! And in Young Womens they worked on Personal Progress, and MiRa got her own PP book, and Elder Lee Song Gi taught youth Sunday School and had everyone participating and thinking and laughing, and . . . yeah, that's pretty much exactly what we want to have happen, right there. When days like that happen, the missionaries just sit back and watch the miracles roll in without having to lift a finger. I adore the whole Yoon family.
Today I managed to give myself a crown braid. Cool.
I also found some TimTams## this week! They were way too expensive but I bought them anyway. Now I need to buy either hot chocolate or milk so I can slam### them.
And one of the other elders in the mission is selling me his electronic dictionary, so I will finally have one of my own and be able to look up words without bothering Sis. Pak or resorting to "MinJeong's Handy Korean/English Dictionary" which considers 'edutainment' to be a real English word.
And . . . I'm out of time again, 'cuz we have to go take a Zone Picture. But this is my last P-Day of this transfer, so the dice will roll again on Friday and we'll see what fate has in store in the continuing adventures of
RoseE"
Blogmom Notes:
* bagpiping: The Salt Lake Highland Games were last weekend, and the Salt Lake Scots, for which I, Blogmom, play, took first in both categories--in the driving rain.
**package: RoseE sent us a box from Korea. I took pics of everything and will post them . . . . soon.
*** Alma and Amulek: two missionaries from the Book of Mormon. Alma went to a city called Ammonihah to preach the gospel, was cast out by the people, then sent back to Ammonihah by the Lord and was met by an Ammonihahite named Amulek, who said, "I know that thou art a holy prophet of God, for thou art the man whom an angel said in a vision: Thou shalt receive. Therefore, go with me into my house and I will impart unto thee of my food; and I know that thou wilt be a blessing unto me and my house." Together they preached the gospel and were really amazing at it. See the Book of Mormon, Book of Alma chapters 8-16.
#Sujeon Snakes: some sisters in Sujeong ward whose main interest in life is getting a husband.
## Tim Tams are a chocolate biscuit made by Arnott's Biscuits, Australia. A Tim Tam is composed of two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate.
### Slamming Tim Tams is sucking milk (or tea) up through a corner of the aforementioned biscuit, and then cramming the rest in your mouth. See a demonstration here.
Letter to Bethe 5/25/09
RoseE writes:
"Dear Bit,
Hi! How are you doing? How is school, and swimming? I am so jealous that you get to swim all the time. Even if missionaries could go swimming, we still couldn't because I have not yet seen a swimming pool here. To get exercise here, every day I go outside my apartment and jump up and down for twenty minutes. Really. My companion sleeps in, so we cannot go downstairs to exercise, and I can't jump rope because the noise bothers the neighbors. It is the most boring exercise ever.
I keep looking for a good dragon to take a picture of for you, but we always go by them too fast. I will try to get one soon.
I met a girl in Yeonsan ward yesterday who is the same age as you. Her name is Lee JiHeon (her family name is Lee and her given name is Jiheon). In Korea, being the same age makes you automatic friends (really. The word for friend, chingu, means "person who is the same age") so she has decided that you are her friend and she wants your e-mail address. If you send it to me, I will give it to her and maybe she will e-mail you.
Thank you so much for your letters. They always make me smile. I am glad to hear from you and to know what you are doing. I hope that you're happy and that you're doing okay in school, and I miss you every day.
Love,
RoseE"
"Dear Bit,
Hi! How are you doing? How is school, and swimming? I am so jealous that you get to swim all the time. Even if missionaries could go swimming, we still couldn't because I have not yet seen a swimming pool here. To get exercise here, every day I go outside my apartment and jump up and down for twenty minutes. Really. My companion sleeps in, so we cannot go downstairs to exercise, and I can't jump rope because the noise bothers the neighbors. It is the most boring exercise ever.
I keep looking for a good dragon to take a picture of for you, but we always go by them too fast. I will try to get one soon.
I met a girl in Yeonsan ward yesterday who is the same age as you. Her name is Lee JiHeon (her family name is Lee and her given name is Jiheon). In Korea, being the same age makes you automatic friends (really. The word for friend, chingu, means "person who is the same age") so she has decided that you are her friend and she wants your e-mail address. If you send it to me, I will give it to her and maybe she will e-mail you.
Thank you so much for your letters. They always make me smile. I am glad to hear from you and to know what you are doing. I hope that you're happy and that you're doing okay in school, and I miss you every day.
Love,
RoseE"
Monday, June 8, 2009
Of Propane, Practical Jokes, and Presidents Who Read Extensively
RoseE writes:
"This week was like the week of the most letters EVER!!!
Oh my gosh thank you all so much!
Teancum: I'm glad you're having fun with alluc.* But do your homework. I had problems with this. :-)
Amanda:** What event are you doing in Speech? Somebody told me but I forgot.
Camille:** Hey, I stepped on a nail once and had to go to the hospital, too! Good times. Did they pop you with a tetaunus shot? I hate them things.
Crystal:** Stay out of the way of baseball bats, silly girl!
Melvin:** If you use the word 'succulent' one more time to describe food I will not see again for at least another year. I will throw something at you. Yes, from Korea.
Max:** I wish I'd gotten a photography merit badge, or at least done an online tutuorial or something, 'cuz I'm a lousy photographer and it's coming back to bite me now.
Sebastian:** Rock climbing is awesome!
Sheila,*** thank you so much for the update/bulletins. I love reading them and knowing what's going on with your family.
So, dearest Mum and Dad,
If you are continuing to freak out, here is the following.
1. A member named Brother Allen works at the U.S. Embassy here in Pusan, and is in a position to know very quickly if something happens, and he has promised President Jennings that the mission will have all the warning it is humanly possible to have. His family is still here in Pusan, so he's not too worried.
If there is trouble, the whole mission's got an evacuation plan in place, and we all know it. Little trouble would get us sent to the Church Area Headquarters in Tokyo. Big trouble would get us sent to the States. We know where the army bases are, and are in every way prepared and unworried.
Oh, except Elders Hansen and Olsen, because Sister Pak played a prank on them this week and told them over the phone that the North had just launched seven missiles and we were evacuating. Half an hour later, we get a call back, to the tune of: "I HATE you! We called the APs and they told us you're lying liars! Elder Olsen was packing!"
Sister Pak is very pleased with herself.
This has been a slow missionary-work week, sadly, though we have done a bunch of hill-hiking to find addresses, which I like because it feels like work. I did meet my first Jehovah's Witness last night. I now kind of understand why many returned missionaries say, "Oh, Jehovah's Witnesses. Yeah," and then sigh and change the subject. This gentleman was very polite and spoke English very well, and kept us (me and Elders Routsen and Olsen; the older missionaries stayed well clear) in a fifteen-minute conversation about the linguistics of the Book of Mormon and why it can't possibly be true. It was unpleasant. Not because he brought up anything that in any way bothers my testimony--quite the reverse, actually-- but I just got bad vibes from the whole thing. Why would someone spend so much time and effort trying to destroy someone else's faith? If he'd said "In my church, we believe this and this and this," I would have been okay with that. That's offering something. But to stand on the street for fifteen minutes trying to destroy someone else's faith as an intellectual exercise, is . . . hurtful. Why would you do that? The truth of God is a gift, not a weapon. I need to always remember this in my own teaching.
We also had President's interviews this week, which are great. I love talking to Pres. and Sis. Jennings. Sis. Jennings brings out the wicked side of my sense of humor (unfortunately), and Pres. Jennings has read many of the books I've read (probably ALL of the books I've read) so we can reference things without missing a beat. This is so enjoyable, because no one around here speaks my langauge, really. I don't mean English . . . I mean history, and books, and old movies. All that stuff. Elders are delightful, but they're not who you go to when you want to talk about how Prince Caspian can be an allegory of the Restoration.
So, um . . . strange Korean things to tell you about this week. Let's see.
Oh, the scooters. There are little moped scooters everywhere. They're mostly delivery-persons delivering things, like pizza and propane. Seriously. I have seen with my own two eyes a Korean man riding a scooter AGAINST TRAFFIC carrying one tank of propane on the back of the scooter and another one held between his knees, while SMOKING A CIGARETTE. But he had his turn signal on.
Copyright. Copyright is a vague concept in Korea. It doesn't really apply to day-to-day life. This is why on every street corner you can buy Disney socks not made by Disney, why every missionary has a tiny 4-inch-by-4-inch bootleg Preach My Gospel, why so many people wear hats with the logos of very masculine American institutions, like the FBI and NYPD, in very feminine colors, like hot pink. It is also why Elder Hipsche's P-Day shoes are Nike sneakers trimmed in Louis Vuitton faux-leather. Yeeeeeah . . . .
And that's my time for today. It's Soccer-playing day, so I'm writing lots of letters! Yaay!
And lest we forget:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! I LOVE YOU!
RoseE"
Blogmom Notes:
* I don't know what this means. Teancum doesn't either.
** Cousin
*** Aunt
"This week was like the week of the most letters EVER!!!
Oh my gosh thank you all so much!
Teancum: I'm glad you're having fun with alluc.* But do your homework. I had problems with this. :-)
Amanda:** What event are you doing in Speech? Somebody told me but I forgot.
Camille:** Hey, I stepped on a nail once and had to go to the hospital, too! Good times. Did they pop you with a tetaunus shot? I hate them things.
Crystal:** Stay out of the way of baseball bats, silly girl!
Melvin:** If you use the word 'succulent' one more time to describe food I will not see again for at least another year. I will throw something at you. Yes, from Korea.
Max:** I wish I'd gotten a photography merit badge, or at least done an online tutuorial or something, 'cuz I'm a lousy photographer and it's coming back to bite me now.
Sebastian:** Rock climbing is awesome!
Sheila,*** thank you so much for the update/bulletins. I love reading them and knowing what's going on with your family.
So, dearest Mum and Dad,
If you are continuing to freak out, here is the following.
1. A member named Brother Allen works at the U.S. Embassy here in Pusan, and is in a position to know very quickly if something happens, and he has promised President Jennings that the mission will have all the warning it is humanly possible to have. His family is still here in Pusan, so he's not too worried.
If there is trouble, the whole mission's got an evacuation plan in place, and we all know it. Little trouble would get us sent to the Church Area Headquarters in Tokyo. Big trouble would get us sent to the States. We know where the army bases are, and are in every way prepared and unworried.
Oh, except Elders Hansen and Olsen, because Sister Pak played a prank on them this week and told them over the phone that the North had just launched seven missiles and we were evacuating. Half an hour later, we get a call back, to the tune of: "I HATE you! We called the APs and they told us you're lying liars! Elder Olsen was packing!"
Sister Pak is very pleased with herself.
This has been a slow missionary-work week, sadly, though we have done a bunch of hill-hiking to find addresses, which I like because it feels like work. I did meet my first Jehovah's Witness last night. I now kind of understand why many returned missionaries say, "Oh, Jehovah's Witnesses. Yeah," and then sigh and change the subject. This gentleman was very polite and spoke English very well, and kept us (me and Elders Routsen and Olsen; the older missionaries stayed well clear) in a fifteen-minute conversation about the linguistics of the Book of Mormon and why it can't possibly be true. It was unpleasant. Not because he brought up anything that in any way bothers my testimony--quite the reverse, actually-- but I just got bad vibes from the whole thing. Why would someone spend so much time and effort trying to destroy someone else's faith? If he'd said "In my church, we believe this and this and this," I would have been okay with that. That's offering something. But to stand on the street for fifteen minutes trying to destroy someone else's faith as an intellectual exercise, is . . . hurtful. Why would you do that? The truth of God is a gift, not a weapon. I need to always remember this in my own teaching.
We also had President's interviews this week, which are great. I love talking to Pres. and Sis. Jennings. Sis. Jennings brings out the wicked side of my sense of humor (unfortunately), and Pres. Jennings has read many of the books I've read (probably ALL of the books I've read) so we can reference things without missing a beat. This is so enjoyable, because no one around here speaks my langauge, really. I don't mean English . . . I mean history, and books, and old movies. All that stuff. Elders are delightful, but they're not who you go to when you want to talk about how Prince Caspian can be an allegory of the Restoration.
So, um . . . strange Korean things to tell you about this week. Let's see.
Oh, the scooters. There are little moped scooters everywhere. They're mostly delivery-persons delivering things, like pizza and propane. Seriously. I have seen with my own two eyes a Korean man riding a scooter AGAINST TRAFFIC carrying one tank of propane on the back of the scooter and another one held between his knees, while SMOKING A CIGARETTE. But he had his turn signal on.
Copyright. Copyright is a vague concept in Korea. It doesn't really apply to day-to-day life. This is why on every street corner you can buy Disney socks not made by Disney, why every missionary has a tiny 4-inch-by-4-inch bootleg Preach My Gospel, why so many people wear hats with the logos of very masculine American institutions, like the FBI and NYPD, in very feminine colors, like hot pink. It is also why Elder Hipsche's P-Day shoes are Nike sneakers trimmed in Louis Vuitton faux-leather. Yeeeeeah . . . .
And that's my time for today. It's Soccer-playing day, so I'm writing lots of letters! Yaay!
And lest we forget:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! I LOVE YOU!
RoseE"
Blogmom Notes:
* I don't know what this means. Teancum doesn't either.
** Cousin
*** Aunt
Monday, June 1, 2009
Busan Fish Market & the Beach
RoseE writes:
Sister Pak on the Beach
"Dearest Mum and Dad,
I will start off this letter by saying that I AM PERFECTLY SAFE, NO MATTER WHAT YOU MAY BE HEARING ABOUT WHATEVER TEMPER TANTRUM NORTH KOREA IS THROWING RIGHT NOW.
Yes, we have been hearing wars and rumors of wars over here, all a bit vague because our news sources are not very reliable. But I talked to the APs* yesterday, and they're not worried. "Do you have your 72 hour kits?**" "Yeah . . ." "Then you're set. Quit gossiping and get back to work." And they're right. I mean, we're in Pusan. Invasion-free since 1600. And if the occassion warrants it, the safety of Japan is one ferry-ride away, and I can get to the ferry terminal on the subway. So we're having fun gossiping and speculating, but there is no word from any reliable source that our missions are going to be in any way interesting from a military history standpoint.
Oh, except we may go to Seoul next week for Sis. Pak to see a doctor about her eyes, which have something wrong with them that I cannot understand because I don't speak Korean. :-)Aaaaanyway . . .
The adventure of the week is best chronicled by typing out my journal entry for Friday (yeah, like I journal every day or something . . .Riiiiight):
"We and Elders Hansen and Routson and Bro. Kim and his two sons and Lee Mi Keong and Jang Hei Weon went to the beach, waaaaay at the south end of town. We stopped off at a fish market, 
filled with rows of colored baskets all packed to the gills (as it were) with living, squirming fish, as fresh out of the ocean as ever a girl could ask for.
Fish, eels, slugs . . . and of course every tank of baskets was presided over by the inevitable Korean halmoni. Gotta love those halmoni."
So Lee Mi Keong starts pointing out some fish, including one big gray whopper of a thing, which the attendant halmoni obligingly sorts into a basket for us."
'See the big fish?' asked Elder Hansen. 'We're gonna eat the crap out of that fish.'
"And as we watched, the halmoni, chatting freely all the while, transformed these living, healthy fish into horribly maimed, bleeding fish, then headless fish bodies, and step by efficient step, wielding very old knife with very practiced hand, into bite-sized pieces of white, boneless fish flesh, packed in styrofoam and served with wasabe and a bottle of hot sauce that in its previous life contained a goodly measure of beer.
"Elder Routsen, with awe in his voice, called her a 'Boy Scout'.
"We ate the fish at the beach itself . . . it didn't taste like much, kind of bland, so I ate a lot and if I'm deathly sick tomorrow I'll know the reason why 'cuz there was NO disinfectant in that fish market, let me tell you. Then I spent most of my beach time watching these thousands of awesome little crabs make millions of tiny sand balls, then disappear in the blink of an eye when something startled them.
Sister Pak on the Beach
"And the day was finished off when little Kim Hi Jeun, Bro. Kim's younger son, decided his pants were too wet to wear and stripped them clean off in the sight of God and Man. The sight of his sand-covered naked little rear end sticking out from under his shirt as he went scrambling across the beach was the perfect crazy ending to a very crazy day."
So other than that . . . drama in Sujeong ward continues apace, much aided by the addition of the term 'snakes' to my vocabulary (thanks, Dad!) which perfectly sums up our four husband-hunting single sisters with whom the bishop and seminary teacher are at odds. CrazySister Yan Son Yeong fed as again (FED us) and informed us that because Sujeong ward is boring, she's going to Bible study with the church down the road . . . the one so peculiar it makes our church look mainstream. (Something about how you can only recieve revelation from God when it's raining . . . I didn't catch it all). So all of that is very discouraging. I feel rather sulky about the whole thing, rather like "FINE. I'll just go home and enjoy the blessings of the gospel ALL BY MYSELF." Rrrrrrgh.
On the plus side, though (yaaaaay!) I got a package from my family! Full of candy, which I ate, and a Costco Card (counting down the days . . . thank you so much!) and letters and sunscreen, of all precious substances, and many beautiful and useful handkerchiefs. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!A recipricoal package (I can't spell) is on its way, eta 2 weeks, maybe.
Oh, and I also have Dad's missionary picture hanging on my wall. Sis. Pak thinks he's handsome. :-)
Please find included Beach Day Photos: The Fish Market, Sister Pak in the water, and Me With A Fish. The gray stuff on the beach is all little tiny sand balls rolled by little tiny crabs. Crazy, huh?
I love you!
RoseE"
*APs: Assistants to the (Mission) President: Elders that are assigned to assist the mission president.
**72-hour kits: a day-pack containing food, water, means to make a shelter such as a space blanket, rope and pocket knife; clothing, important phone numbers-- anything you might need for the 3 days it takes to survive until the officials come and rescue you after a natural disaster, or war.
Friday, May 29, 2009
The Chatty Letter to Emily 5/11/09
RoseE wrote:
"11 May, 2009
Dearest Em,
That skirt sounds fantastic!* I would love a skirt! Did I mention that your black skirt was my favorite all winter? It was the only blessed thing I brought that would keep my legs warm. And have I mentioned also that I no longer have any restrictions on colors I can wear? It seems the last president of the Pusan mission only allowed the sisters to wear black or white. Pres. Jennings lets us wear whatever, as long as it’s missionary-appropriate. The packet of missionary information I got, and which I followed to the letter, reflected in no way what is actually worn or used by the sisters in the field. (When I told Sis. Mong and Hill about the “no jeans” rule I’d been sent, they just stared at me.) So yes, I would love a skirt. I would be so excited to have a skirt.
I wish you were here – every restaurant in Pusan is a hole-in-the-wall Asian restaurant of the kind you like so much. I begin to think that the whole economy is composed of people running soup restaurants out of their front rooms, and then eating at everyone else’s.
Have I also mentioned that I love Jeffry? I love how happy you sound when you write about him. Knowing that he’s out there with you makes me so much less worried, every day.
Have I also mentioned that I love you a ton, and that I love getting letters from you, whether typed or handwritten, and I can’t believe I have such a phenomenal best friend who still wants to talk to me and tell me about her life when I’m half a planet away? If I haven’t mentioned that, please remind me to do so. I really need to get that done.
And my good pen just went missing. Whoop-de-doo.
So today is transfer day, so all the missionaries in the whole mission are meeting up and hanging out before we all go home with our new companion, to work for another six weeks. And in the bustle of helping Sister Montgomery pack and cleaning the apartment for the sister coming in to replace her, I forgot to pack your latest letter with me today. Gaaah! So I can’t respond back to what you said, which is sad. But at least I have some time to write, hanging out in Outback Steakhouse (which is fine dining in Korea) while some American sisters chat and my new companion, old companions, and roommates go shopping.
It’s getting hot. In Korea. And it will get a whole lot worse before it gets better. I’m on the lookout for summer shirts – I keep seeing them, but then we always walk past really fast on our way somewhere else, so I never get to really look. Oh well, I shouldn’t be spending money anyway, and I’ve got enough shirts to last me a good long while.
Anyway, when I finish this letter I’ll have a new companion – cute-as-a-button Sister Pak Ji Yeong. So now it’s time to actually work – Korean all day, every day, having to understand what someone’s asking me to do in a language I barely speak. Here we go. I can do it – a transfer’s only six weeks long, the same as a “half” at camp. No problem. Easy as pie. And if I get lonely, well, I always have Emily-letters. And I’ll make good progress on my goal to read the whole Bible while I’m out here. (I started ith the New Testament and I’m in 1 Corinthians. If I manage to get all the way through Revelation and then swing back from Genesis to Malachi, I will 1. be very pleased with myself 2. be spiritually edified and greatly blessed 3. have nothing else to read. So it’s a complicated question.)
And my good pen’s back! And I just realized I’m writing on this sheet of paper upside-down! Yaaaaay!
I’ve got to wrap this up and get it into the mail. I love you, honey – be happy, be strong, have fun, keep talking to me.
RoseE"
* Note from Emily: I found a skirt that is really comfortable, flattering, and totally mission appropriate, and asked if she wanted one. Seriously, the most comfortable floor-length skirt I’ve ever seen. I wear mine to work at least once a week, and often over the weekend!
"11 May, 2009
Dearest Em,
That skirt sounds fantastic!* I would love a skirt! Did I mention that your black skirt was my favorite all winter? It was the only blessed thing I brought that would keep my legs warm. And have I mentioned also that I no longer have any restrictions on colors I can wear? It seems the last president of the Pusan mission only allowed the sisters to wear black or white. Pres. Jennings lets us wear whatever, as long as it’s missionary-appropriate. The packet of missionary information I got, and which I followed to the letter, reflected in no way what is actually worn or used by the sisters in the field. (When I told Sis. Mong and Hill about the “no jeans” rule I’d been sent, they just stared at me.) So yes, I would love a skirt. I would be so excited to have a skirt.
I wish you were here – every restaurant in Pusan is a hole-in-the-wall Asian restaurant of the kind you like so much. I begin to think that the whole economy is composed of people running soup restaurants out of their front rooms, and then eating at everyone else’s.
Have I also mentioned that I love Jeffry? I love how happy you sound when you write about him. Knowing that he’s out there with you makes me so much less worried, every day.
Have I also mentioned that I love you a ton, and that I love getting letters from you, whether typed or handwritten, and I can’t believe I have such a phenomenal best friend who still wants to talk to me and tell me about her life when I’m half a planet away? If I haven’t mentioned that, please remind me to do so. I really need to get that done.
And my good pen just went missing. Whoop-de-doo.
So today is transfer day, so all the missionaries in the whole mission are meeting up and hanging out before we all go home with our new companion, to work for another six weeks. And in the bustle of helping Sister Montgomery pack and cleaning the apartment for the sister coming in to replace her, I forgot to pack your latest letter with me today. Gaaah! So I can’t respond back to what you said, which is sad. But at least I have some time to write, hanging out in Outback Steakhouse (which is fine dining in Korea) while some American sisters chat and my new companion, old companions, and roommates go shopping.
It’s getting hot. In Korea. And it will get a whole lot worse before it gets better. I’m on the lookout for summer shirts – I keep seeing them, but then we always walk past really fast on our way somewhere else, so I never get to really look. Oh well, I shouldn’t be spending money anyway, and I’ve got enough shirts to last me a good long while.
Anyway, when I finish this letter I’ll have a new companion – cute-as-a-button Sister Pak Ji Yeong. So now it’s time to actually work – Korean all day, every day, having to understand what someone’s asking me to do in a language I barely speak. Here we go. I can do it – a transfer’s only six weeks long, the same as a “half” at camp. No problem. Easy as pie. And if I get lonely, well, I always have Emily-letters. And I’ll make good progress on my goal to read the whole Bible while I’m out here. (I started ith the New Testament and I’m in 1 Corinthians. If I manage to get all the way through Revelation and then swing back from Genesis to Malachi, I will 1. be very pleased with myself 2. be spiritually edified and greatly blessed 3. have nothing else to read. So it’s a complicated question.)
And my good pen’s back! And I just realized I’m writing on this sheet of paper upside-down! Yaaaaay!
I’ve got to wrap this up and get it into the mail. I love you, honey – be happy, be strong, have fun, keep talking to me.
RoseE"
* Note from Emily: I found a skirt that is really comfortable, flattering, and totally mission appropriate, and asked if she wanted one. Seriously, the most comfortable floor-length skirt I’ve ever seen. I wear mine to work at least once a week, and often over the weekend!
Stuff You Wanted to Know About the Book of Mormon
RoseE wrote to her bestest friend, Emily, who is reading the Book of Mormon 1) because she's never read it before, and 2) because RoseE asked her to, and gave her a copy with her (RoseE's) notes in all the margins (which must be a very interesting read indeed!), and 3) to help support RoseE on her mission:
"Dearest Em,
In the interests of Being An Obedient Missionary, I am writing Book of Mormon stuff on separate paper during study time, and I will write chatty gossipy stuff on a card on P-Day when I am supposed to write letters. Time is limited, and typing is not to be had.
Isaiah’s always kind of made my head spin – you’ll note my comments are a bit thin on the ground there. I freely acknowledge that you know a ton more about Isaiah and the Bible in general than I do. And Jacob 5 requires a scorecard to keep track of what’s going on. I’m pretty sure they’re talking about olives. Why they grow in a vineyard, I don’t know. But to the best of my understanding, the olive tree that starts the whole mess represents the House of Israel. And one of the branches that is broken off is Lehi’s family, that is planted in a good spot of ground, and first produced some good fruit and some bad, and then [the bad] overruns the good entirely. And when all the scattered branches get grafted back in is now – the last days, the gathering of Israel, and the other servants in v. 70-72 are the missionaries (at least, that how I read it at this point in my life, because I am one and I like to feel important). I used to know all this stuff, but I’ve forgotten a lot of it. I’m such a punk. At the end of the day, what I learn from Jacob 5 is the following:
1. God is always working, doing everything he can, to help us. He weeps when we make dumb decisions that take us away from him, and just keeps working, helping us to come back.
2. There’s a lot of work to be done out there.
3. We have a limited amount of time in which to do it.
Oh, yaay, you also asked some questions I can give competent answers to. *Whew.* Thank goodness. “Missionary work” is preaching the gospel – telling anyone who is ready to listen about the restoration of the priesthood and the organization of Christ’s Church and having prophets again and the Book of Mormon and all that good stuff. We do service, too, but the gospel is the most valuable thing we have to give and it’s what people need most. Korea is incredibly well-developed and is not in need of wells or hospitals, but they do need (and frantically want to learn) English, so we teach English classes for free four times a week, and the rest of our time we spend sharing the gospel. I remember Sister Copeland had the hardest time explaining to her boss (and her insurance company) about how she was not going on the kind of mission they were thinking of, and that she did actually need to quit because she wasn’t coming back in two week and couldn’t just keep working by phone long-distance. We really devote all of our time and energy to serving the Lord. Really all of it.
And it’s really the hardest, scariest thing I’ve ever had to do. If this weren’t Christ’s true gospel, I would not have had the strength to do it. That I know for certain.
Tracting is the scariest part of this whole mess. We generally just call it “jeundo,” but that’s the Korean word and nobody at home would have a clue what I was talking about. It’s walking up to a stranger of the street and announcing, “Hi. You don’t know me and I can’t speak Korean, but I’m here to tell you that Christ has restored his true Church and given us a way to be with our families forever, and you need to know about it because it will make you happy and God wants you to be happy because he loves you.” Except I don’t generally get past “Hi.” Most people just stick a hand in your face and snap, “You’re done,” and walk away. It really hurts. And it really hurts over and over and over again. I odn’t think you ever get desensitized to someone rejecting your testimony. But then I go talk to the Yoon family, who just got baptized before I got here. The elders met them while jeundoing, and they listened. The father quit drinking. The mother found peace about the fact that she could only have one child. They all got baptized and come to church every week. There is such wonderful sweetness in their home. They’re always smiling. A picture of them with the missionaries who taught them, taken the day they got baptized, sits on proud display in their restaurant they run. It’s all worth it. It really, truly is.
That was a long answer to a short question, if I ever saw one.
The First Lesson is just what we try to teach people first – that God loves them and their families, that he sends us prophets to teach us how to be happy, and that if people reject the prophets’ teachings, God always just waits a while and sends another prophet. And that’s what happened after the death of Christ’s apostles – Christ’s teachings got confused and distorted, and without a prophet with the authority to act in God’s name there was no way to untangle it all. So God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and called him to be a new prophet and restore everything that had been lost. (That’s the First Vision.) And if you don’t believe this crazy story, well, here’s the Book of Mormon. Read it, pray about it. If it’s just another book, we all might as well go home, because we’re wasting our time. But if it’s true, inspired scripture, then Joesph Smith really was a prophet and it’s all the biggest, most exciting new to hit the world in a very, very long time.
And yeah, I did all that in Korean. It was a good night.
As far as Book of Mormon logistics go: They built a boat and sailed to America in 1st Nephi 17 and 18 (we’re teaching a lesson on it today) – Lehi and his whole family. (You’re right; Nephi has a very stiff writing style. He’s not my favorite Book of Mormon writer, Alma and Moroni are more comfortable.) Anyway, once they all get there and settle in, Laman and Lemuel start fighting with Sam and Nephi (big surprise there) so Nephi and his family and anyone else they can get to go with them run away into the wilderness and set up their own settlement.
The descendants of this group are, for simplicity’s sake, called Nephites, and everyone else are called Lamanites. So they’re all the same family, and they came across the ocrean in the same boat, but they grow into two different nations with some serious unresolved sibling issues just festering between them. This is all in 2 Nephi 5, I think, if you need further clarification.
Don’t worry about the Jaredites for right now. You’ll get to them."
"Dearest Em,
In the interests of Being An Obedient Missionary, I am writing Book of Mormon stuff on separate paper during study time, and I will write chatty gossipy stuff on a card on P-Day when I am supposed to write letters. Time is limited, and typing is not to be had.
Isaiah’s always kind of made my head spin – you’ll note my comments are a bit thin on the ground there. I freely acknowledge that you know a ton more about Isaiah and the Bible in general than I do. And Jacob 5 requires a scorecard to keep track of what’s going on. I’m pretty sure they’re talking about olives. Why they grow in a vineyard, I don’t know. But to the best of my understanding, the olive tree that starts the whole mess represents the House of Israel. And one of the branches that is broken off is Lehi’s family, that is planted in a good spot of ground, and first produced some good fruit and some bad, and then [the bad] overruns the good entirely. And when all the scattered branches get grafted back in is now – the last days, the gathering of Israel, and the other servants in v. 70-72 are the missionaries (at least, that how I read it at this point in my life, because I am one and I like to feel important). I used to know all this stuff, but I’ve forgotten a lot of it. I’m such a punk. At the end of the day, what I learn from Jacob 5 is the following:
1. God is always working, doing everything he can, to help us. He weeps when we make dumb decisions that take us away from him, and just keeps working, helping us to come back.
2. There’s a lot of work to be done out there.
3. We have a limited amount of time in which to do it.
Oh, yaay, you also asked some questions I can give competent answers to. *Whew.* Thank goodness. “Missionary work” is preaching the gospel – telling anyone who is ready to listen about the restoration of the priesthood and the organization of Christ’s Church and having prophets again and the Book of Mormon and all that good stuff. We do service, too, but the gospel is the most valuable thing we have to give and it’s what people need most. Korea is incredibly well-developed and is not in need of wells or hospitals, but they do need (and frantically want to learn) English, so we teach English classes for free four times a week, and the rest of our time we spend sharing the gospel. I remember Sister Copeland had the hardest time explaining to her boss (and her insurance company) about how she was not going on the kind of mission they were thinking of, and that she did actually need to quit because she wasn’t coming back in two week and couldn’t just keep working by phone long-distance. We really devote all of our time and energy to serving the Lord. Really all of it.
And it’s really the hardest, scariest thing I’ve ever had to do. If this weren’t Christ’s true gospel, I would not have had the strength to do it. That I know for certain.
Tracting is the scariest part of this whole mess. We generally just call it “jeundo,” but that’s the Korean word and nobody at home would have a clue what I was talking about. It’s walking up to a stranger of the street and announcing, “Hi. You don’t know me and I can’t speak Korean, but I’m here to tell you that Christ has restored his true Church and given us a way to be with our families forever, and you need to know about it because it will make you happy and God wants you to be happy because he loves you.” Except I don’t generally get past “Hi.” Most people just stick a hand in your face and snap, “You’re done,” and walk away. It really hurts. And it really hurts over and over and over again. I odn’t think you ever get desensitized to someone rejecting your testimony. But then I go talk to the Yoon family, who just got baptized before I got here. The elders met them while jeundoing, and they listened. The father quit drinking. The mother found peace about the fact that she could only have one child. They all got baptized and come to church every week. There is such wonderful sweetness in their home. They’re always smiling. A picture of them with the missionaries who taught them, taken the day they got baptized, sits on proud display in their restaurant they run. It’s all worth it. It really, truly is.
That was a long answer to a short question, if I ever saw one.
The First Lesson is just what we try to teach people first – that God loves them and their families, that he sends us prophets to teach us how to be happy, and that if people reject the prophets’ teachings, God always just waits a while and sends another prophet. And that’s what happened after the death of Christ’s apostles – Christ’s teachings got confused and distorted, and without a prophet with the authority to act in God’s name there was no way to untangle it all. So God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and called him to be a new prophet and restore everything that had been lost. (That’s the First Vision.) And if you don’t believe this crazy story, well, here’s the Book of Mormon. Read it, pray about it. If it’s just another book, we all might as well go home, because we’re wasting our time. But if it’s true, inspired scripture, then Joesph Smith really was a prophet and it’s all the biggest, most exciting new to hit the world in a very, very long time.
And yeah, I did all that in Korean. It was a good night.
As far as Book of Mormon logistics go: They built a boat and sailed to America in 1st Nephi 17 and 18 (we’re teaching a lesson on it today) – Lehi and his whole family. (You’re right; Nephi has a very stiff writing style. He’s not my favorite Book of Mormon writer, Alma and Moroni are more comfortable.) Anyway, once they all get there and settle in, Laman and Lemuel start fighting with Sam and Nephi (big surprise there) so Nephi and his family and anyone else they can get to go with them run away into the wilderness and set up their own settlement.
The descendants of this group are, for simplicity’s sake, called Nephites, and everyone else are called Lamanites. So they’re all the same family, and they came across the ocrean in the same boat, but they grow into two different nations with some serious unresolved sibling issues just festering between them. This is all in 2 Nephi 5, I think, if you need further clarification.
Don’t worry about the Jaredites for right now. You’ll get to them."
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