Ok...
I've still got a bit of a cough. But so does everybody. As I type this email, I can literally hear 6 other people coughing. This transfer is almost over. It has gone by soooo fast. The work in this area is great. We found five new investigators this week. Truly amazing. We picked up a member referral from the English branch, and he came out to church yesterday. His girlfriend, who is Korean, brought him to us. If she wants to tell us something she doesn't want him to hear, she just tells us in Korean. Kinda mean, and we told her that that probably isn't good. But he doesn't seem to mind. He actually knows quite a bit about the church. It's usually the complete opposite here in Korea. People usually tell us they've never heard of our church. In America it'd be hard to find someone who doesn't know about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He knew dates, and places, and prophet names and everything. It was amazing!
We told him there would probably be some awkward moments when we forget English words. Sure enough we forgot some words during the lesson. Elder Frei forgot "ordinance," and I forgot how to say "confirmation." We never really get to teach in English. Even when an investigator speaks English really well, we still speak Korean during the lessons.
Random: We also had dinner with a bunch of return Sister missionaries. A couple were from our ward, and they were trying to set up one of our investigators with their Japanese friend. She brings to of her friends from Japan, and the whole group are return missionaries. One was absolutely dead fluent in English. Really freaked us out. It's rare to hear people, no matter how good they are, be that good.
This week I also went on exchanges for the first time as a Zone Leader. I've done bunch of them as a District Leader, and never with a laundry list of concerns like I had with this one. It was really fun though. I feel we learned a lot. I wont get into details about what kinda problems I had to go in there and check out, buuuuut, I will tell you about a restaurant we all went to while on the exchange.
Everyone who's served in this Zone always talks about this Katsu place, that has a signature super spicy sauce they put on the meat. They have a challenge to go along with it, and they let customers try a piece or two of it for free as part of their regular meal. It has gotten the best of every missionary who's tried it. Even Koreans cant take the heat. One piece and it always ends in tears, a frantic search for ice cream, and even a trip to the pharmacy immediately after. They kept telling me about it, and they said to not tell them that they didn't warn me.
Anyway, at the place, they put a piece on my plate and it's just smothered in the sauce. The other Elders were waiting in anticipation. They had all tried it, and they had all been owned. I pop it in. It's delicious! It does burn a little, but c'mon.... I'm from LA. They're all freakin' out. They can't explain it. I may have to go for the whole challenge next time!
On like Thursday ( or something, the days blend together) we were walking back to our house and some yells for us to stop. There were tons of people around so we weren't sure who she was talking to. She keeps yelling at us in Korean for us to come over there. Then she says in perfect English, "It's ok. I'm a member too." She and her husband start buying us fruit. I start speaking to the husband in Korean. And I tell him it seems he can probably speak English well. He insists he can't. After a few other pleasantries, the husband turns to my companion and says in a perfect Hawaiian surfer accent, "So where you from brotha?" It turns out they were married 12 years ago, and they began their marriage in the Glendale Stake. They remembered that there was a lot of Armenians there, and they were excited when I told them that an Armenian branch was started not too long ago.
Ok, I've got some sweet pics to send you. Love you all. Let me know how you've all been.
-Elder Reyes