Week 24 - You Lost it to Me Fair and Square

Title - K, so Derrick is currently on High Adventure with Luke, so I have no idea what the title means - sorry Scott! Make things up and let me know!

Hello Everyone!

 

This week has been really long but also flew by really fast at the same time.  What the flip.  Anyways, yeah.  Lots happened.

 

On Monday we decided to go to the Costco in the area next to ours (일산 (Irsan)).  It was quite an adventure.  Elder Kim and I went with Elder Bell and another missionary in our district, Elder Dye.  None of us had a Costco card though so Elder Dye was just planning on buying one when we got there.  Elder Dye takes Costco trips really seriously.  He emptied out one of his suitcases and brought it with him to fill up with food.  American missionaries love Costco.  Anyways, we got there and Elder Dye filled out a membership application and gave it to the lady but apparently he can't get a Costco card in Korea because he's not 19 yet.  I don't know why that is the age that you can get a Costco card here but alas...so Elder Dye gave Elder Bell the money to buy a Costco card that he would then give to Elder Dye for him to use in the future because Elder Bell's going home at the end of the transfer.  So yes, quite the adventure.  We got some peanut butter and chips and salsa and other things and then had to haul it back to our apartment via the subway.  Fun!

 

On Tuesday we ate at Burger King.

 

On Wednesday we had a zone meeting which was really good.  It was all about helping others to come closer unto Christ by inviting them to be baptized.  One of the zone commitments was to invite someone to be baptized every day.  Right after the meeting, Elder Kim and I were jeondoing around and I stopped this 19-year-old kid on the street and started teaching him.  I told him about the Book of Mormon and then I told him that I know that every one can know that it's true.  I then asked him that when he knows that it's true, if he would follow Jesus Christ's example by being baptized.  The question totally threw him off and he had to stop and think for a few seconds and then he said no.  It's cool though because I gave him a Book of Mormon and he gave us his phone number and agreed to meet again.  Rad!  Other than when I did that we been kind of falling short on that commitment.  But it was still a really awesome experience!

 

On Friday morning we had interviews with our new mission president, President Sonksen.  That was good.  During my interview with him he just asked me about myself.  Just a get-to-know you thing.  Then he asked me if I had any questions for me and I asked him if he was going to give us peanut butter and he said that he can't get it shipped here.  Dang.  Then I asked him if he was going to change the mission at all and he said that he didn't have any plans right now because President Christensen already has done a good job of running things.  I agreed with him and then we ended the interview.  The days leading up to the interview we were lead to believe that during the interviews Sister Sonksen was going to doing a cleaning check of our houses.  So the days prior to the interviews I was wasting away trying to clean our incredibly disgusting bathroom that appeared as if it had not been cleaned since the house had been opened to missionaries.  Classic missionaries.  Anyways, yeah, our apartments didn't get checked.  It was all a ruse.  The bathroom really needed to be cleaned anyways.  After the interviews, Elder Kim and I went and ate this thing called 순대국 (Soon Dae Gook).  It was pretty delicious.  It's like this stew with pig intestines in it.  I may not sound that good, but it is.

Eating pig intestine stew.  Yum!

 

After we ate lunche we went back to the house and it turns out that Elder Bell and his companion, Elder Han, are going to be switching companions with Elder Dye and his companion, Elder Ee, due to some challenges going on at the other house.  So now, the other elders living in my house are Elder Han and Elder Ee which means that I am now living with three Korean people.  Elder Han is nearly fluent at English, but still, it's pretty crazy. 

 

After that we had an appointment about 15 minutes away by train so we headed out and came back.  So in Korea, you have this card called a T-Money card that you put money on and then swipe it when you ride the train/subway/bus/taxi and just keep refilling it when you need to.  When I was in 신당,  Elder Jeong found a teenager T-Money card on the street which charges at a lower rate and gave it to me because technically I could still have used it before my 19th birthday.  After my birthday I continued to use it though because I thought I was pretty sure that I could still pass off as a high school student.  Anyways, when we came back from our appointment a guy came up to me and started interrogating me about the card and then he told me that I owed the subway/train company $40 because that's how much I've saved from using the other card.  Luckily I had a ton of money in my missionary fund that I had saved from using the teenager card so I just went across the street to the bank and withdrew the money and then paid the subway people.  They gave me a receipt which I kept because I think it's funny.  I should've stopped while I was ahead.  Dang.  Don't gamble kids!

 

On Saturday we met with 김동환 (Daniel) again.  Usually when we meet with Daniel we just end up talking about random stuff and don't get the chance to teach him.  This time around, I decided that it would be a good idea to teach him about the Restoration again because that's our special message to the world.  When we started teaching him and told him that we were going to talk about Joseph Smith again, he admitted that he didn't really remember anything about Joseph Smith.  So we started teaching him about the Restoration and about the Great Apostasy and we didn't get to the Restoration but it was still a really good lesson.  When we talked about the Great Apostasy, I could see his eyes being opened and his understanding of the significance of our church being strengthened.  Then at the end I asked him if he would give us a closing prayer and he refused.  I then asked him if he would say it next time and he said that he doesn't like praying because he feels like he doesn't have the faith.  I promised him that as he sincerely prays to Heavenly Father, that he will have his faith strengthened.  I then committed him to pray next time.  It was a really awesome experience for me because I it helped me to further realize my role as a missionary in helping other come closer unto Christ.  It was awesome.

 

Wow, I can't believe all that happened it the last week.  All of this seemed like it happened so long ago, but still the week flew by.  I am continuing to be blessed as I serve my mission and I am seeing others around me being blessed immensely as well, especially my family.  I am so grateful to be serving a mission in Korea right now.  It's hard, but it's fun, and most importantly, it's worth it.

 

Love and Miss Y'all!

 

Called to Serve!

 

Love,

 

Elder Huckvale 

 Paju, Elder Huckvale's new area.  Isn't it lovely????

 Some squid hanging out at market.

"Stalker" picture that Elder Kim took of Elder Huckvale

Week 23 - Episode IV: A New President

We've been out of town, so I'm a week behind. :)  Therefore, expect two letters tonight.  :)

Title - Kind of an obvious one for all you Star Wars fans out there.  Elder Huckvale got a new Mission President on July 1st, so this is a spin on "Episode IV: A New Hope".

Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2015 12:08:32 +0900

Hello everyone!  This week has been awesome!  I am loving 금촌 and am loving being a missionary.  This week was pretty busy so it felt really long/went by ultra fast.  Our new mission president President Sonksen came in this week with his wife Sister Sonksen!  Plus it was 4th of July yesterday!  Wow!  Apparently it's not a big deal in Korea.  Classic Korea, not celebrating when America achieved its independence from Great Brittain.  Who do they think they are.  Nonetheless, the other elders in my house and I ate some watermelon in tribute to America's independence. 

 Elder Huckvale and his new companion, Elder Kim.  Doesn't he look happy?????

Stormtrooper making the rounds.  :)

 

Let's take a look back at Monday!  Nothing too special happened except I think that I saw a dog deal going down.  There was this old guy with a puppy in a box and I was like "Aw that's so cute!" and then he let me pet it for a little bit.  Then another guy in a truck drove up and paid the other guy for the dog and asked "Is it going to get big" and the other guy assured him that it would.  He placed the dog in the box in the back of his truck and then left.  It's sad but I guess that's just the way things role around here.  I'm not going to lie, if I had the chance to eat dog I'd do it.  Ain't no way I'm getting a chance to do that back in the states. 

 

On Tuesday we took a bus out to the middle of nowhere and met with this old guy at this old folks home where old people can just hang out during the day.  It was pretty fun.  We had planned to just do some How to Begin Teaching with him but he kept asking us what our message was and Elder Kim kept telling him about stuff that we were going to tell him later.  So I decided to just give him a brief introduction to the Book of Mormon and I talked about how if he reads it and prays about it, having a sincere desire to know that it's true.  He will know.  It was pretty cool.  I'm able to understand a lot more now than I have been before so I'm able to take part more in the lessons.  It's awesome.

 

On Thursday, we had a zone conference where President and Sister Sonksen introduced themselved to us for the first time.  It was pretty fun.  They are both really incredible people and I could feel their sincere desire to help us a missionaries as we do the Lord's work together in Seoul, Korea.  As usual, when I left the conference, I had a renewed desire to continue doing the Lord's work among His children and sharing the message of the restored gospel.

 

On Saturday we met with guy that Elder Kim and his previous companion met one time while jeondoing named 변주웅 (Byun Joo-Oong).  He is awesome!  He took Elder Kim and I to this really awesome restaurant called 본가 (Bon(e) Ga) and it was freakin delicious!  Anyways, he had time afterwards so we took him over to the church building (which is nearby) and toured him of it.  It was an awesome experience.  We showed him the baptismal font, he said that he felt the spirit.  Wow!  How awesome is that?!  He is so cool and is really good at English from watching American movies and TV shows.  He kept calling me "sir".  It was pretty funny.  Anyways, as we were heading out from the church building, I gave him a Book of Mormon and we gave him a brief introduction to it.  He is really interested in learning about our Church.  It's awesome.  We met him again on Sunday right after Church and we just taught him more about the Book of Mormon.  It was really cool.  We had him read Moroni's Promise (Moroni 10:3-5) and I told him that I know that everyone can know that this Book is true and I asked him that when he feels it is true if he would get baptized and he said yes.  It was awesome.  He is such a nice person and I personally believe that he is one of the prepared ones; one of those prepared to recieve our message about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  They're out there, there are just fewer of them in Korea as it turns out. 

 

재미 있습니다!

(It's fun!)

 

Love and Miss Y'all!

 

Called to Serve!

 

Elder Huckvale

 Embracing the culture.

 

Week 22 - You Must Go to the 금촌 Area

Title - In "The Empire Strikes Back", Obi-Wan's ghost appears to Luke and tells him to go to the Dagobah System.

Well, this week has been really long and filled with a lot of new things. This week was my birthday! And I also got transferred to a new area! Yeah! On the same day! Anyways, yeah, that was interesting. Monday and Tuesday were just filled with a bunch of goodbyes to the members of the 신당 (Sindang) ward. We had dinner with a member who knows Elder Jeong's father on Monday and then on Tuesday we had our last English class where we said goodbye to all the members. Also, for one last hoorah, Elder Weiss, Elder McFarland, Elder Jeong, and I all went to Pizza Hut again for Pizza Festival on our way to English class. Fun times.

After English class we went back to the house to finish packing our stuff and plus we really needed to take out the trash. When we got home, I opened the package that my parents sent me which was really choice. Then I finished packing and decided to help the other elders take out the trash. We had so much trash. It's just really struggily in Korea because they make you separate it a ton. You have to throw out your food trash in a different bag and you can't let any food go down the sink so you have to clean out this little cup that catches all the food. It's pretty annoying so nobody wanted to do it and thus it was done at the last minute.

 

"Glorious birthday package!"

Gotta send a little bit of Star Wars.

And you can't forget a "bit" of glitter.  :)

All he had left to wear to take the trash out once all his belongings were packed.  Quite the outfit, huh???

The next day was my birthday and we woke up really early to head to transfers which are done at the church building in 신촌 (Sinchon) closest to the Seoul Temple. Pretty much every body just gets together in the church parking lot and meet their new companions, talk with other missionaries, and then head to their new area. It was pretty fun because almost all of the people that were in the group that came to the Seoul Mission were there and also getting transferred/getting a new companion. Most of the sisters in my group are getting transferred all the way out to the boonies. Anyways, I met my new companion, Elder 김태완 (Kim Taewan) and then I said goodbye to the elders that I'd been serving with in 신당 and then we started heading out to my new area, 금촌 (Geumchon). I was feeling a little bit down on Wednesday because it was my birthday and I had just been moved to a place where I didn't know anyone and where nobody knew me. The other elders in my house pulled through though. Elder Kim got me pizza and Elder Bell, our district leader made me some banana bread. Choice!

 "Hey, it's Elder Weiss!!!"

 Elder Huckvale's trainer/companion, Elder Jeong

Birthday banana bread.  :)

Geumchon is the area right above Seoul and it boarders North Korea. Apparently the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) is in our area so I'm really hoping that we can schedule a zone trip or something to go up there and check it out. Unfortunately, a lot of the museums and other tourist attractions in Korea are closed on Monday because they need to give their employees a day off and they don't want to give them the weekend. It just so happens that our p-day is on Monday so we'd have to re-schedule it. Anyways, Geumchon is way different than Sindang. It's a lot of farms and there are nowhere near as many people. The biggest city in the area is 파주 (Paju) which is where we live and there are quite a bit of people in Paju but not much outside of that.

The rest of the week was a lot of jundo-ing. Elder Kim and his last companion have a lot of good investigators but only a few of them could meet this week. On Saturday we taught English class which was pretty fun. There are only about 4 or 5 people that show up on Saturdays though and only 0-2 that show up on Wednesday nights so it's not as big as it was in Sindang but it's still fun. On Sunday we went to church and I was able to meet a lot of the Geumchon ward members. The Geumchon ward is awesome! Something that I had a really bad problem with in Sindang was that I could never remember anybody's names so I didn't really feel connected to the members of the ward. So in order to remember their names, after would meet them I would write their name down in my planner with some things that I remember about them so I could study the names later and try to memorize them. By doing that, I felt my desire to help the ward members increase and I also felt already a stronger relationship with them beginning to grow. Rad!

I haven't really taken any pictures of Geumchon yet or with Elder Kim so sorry!

 Love and Miss Y'all!

 Called to Serve!

 Love, Elder Huckvale

Kimchi pot Elder Huckvale bought (not sure how you use it... but it's cute) :)

Week 21 - Now Your Training is Complete

Title - Darth Vader says to Luke, "your skills are complete".  We think Elder Huckvale is playing off of this.

Happy 19th Birthday Elder Huckvale!  Getting transferred on his birthday!  Oh how fun!!!  As I write this, it's already his birthday, and he's already moved.  So weird!!!

Well, I finished my 12 week training which means that my first two transfers are down!  Also, I'm getting transferred!  On my birthday!  Yeah!

 

Anyways, after the whole 100-hour week last week, this week seemed kind of like a break.  It was the last week of training and we returned to our regular schedule which seemed way more easier now.

 

On Monday we had P-day and after we e-mailed we went to Pizza Hut across the street from the place where we e-mail and did Pizza Festival.  It was pretty great.  You just sat down and they just keep bringing out a new piece of pizza for you for 100 minutes or until you tell them to stop.  Plus it was only $10 so I mean why not?  Plus we got unlimited Mountain Dew!  The salad bar was also included but the salad bar is lame.  

 

On Thursday we got to meet with 경진수 (Gyeong Jinsu) again!  Choice!  Plus we had a member from the ward participating.  Choice!  We haven't been able to meet with him for a few weeks now due to various obligations but we met him this week and it was awesome.  We've been really trying to introduce him to one of the members of the ward who has a ton of gospel knowledge so that he can answer all of 경진수's questions and hopefully also help his wife feel more comfortable with meeting the missionaries and not hating our church and just church in general.

 

The weekend was really busy.  On Saturday we had a Zone Conference in the morning so that President Christensen and Sister Christensen could have one final conference before they left.  It was pretty cool.  President Christensen talked about the new mission president, President Sonksen, a little bit and apparently President Sonksen runs a peanut butter company which is really cool because peanut butter is really expensive in Korea because it's not a part of Korean people's diets.  So hopefully he brings us peanut butter.  The funniest part is that Elder Jeong and some of the other elders used to joke that the new mission president was going to own a peanut butter company before they knew.  Anyways, then we went and taught English Class and later that night we had Family Home Evening with the ward.  Then we went home and ordered transfer chicken and awaited our transfer calls.  Elder Jeong was away from the phone when our call came and so Elder Fisher (who lives at our house with Elder Jones) picked it up and then when Elder Jeong saw that he was getting a call from President Christensen, he knew was going to happen next (Usually the APs call; President calls only for special assignments) Elder Jeong got called to be a zone leader in 녹번 (Nokbun) and then President told me that I'm getting transferred to 금촌 (Geumchon) and I'm going to be companions with Elder 김태완 (Kim Taewan).  So our area's getting white-washed again.  Yeah.  Anyways then on Sunday we had Stake Conference which was pretty cool because they broad-casted it live from Salt Lake City and had Elder Christophersen speak as well as others from the Seventy and Auxiliary groups.  It was dubbed over in Korean, though, so I didn't understand what was going on at all but ya know, whatevs.  Then we headed back to the house to pack our belongings so that we could ship them today.  It's pretty cool how you can do it, some places will just let you ship your bags to your next house so that you don't have to haul them across the city.  So that's what we did this morning.

 

The rest of the week was just the usual-jeondoing and teaching.  This week one of the biggest lessons that I learned was that people still have their agency as well as the fact that not every one is prepared to receive the gospel right now but what we're doing now can prepare them to ready some day.  I taught the Restoration to two people on the street and had two really awesome experiences where good questions were asked and the spirit was felt very strongly.  Unfortunately, even after all my efforts to try and meet with them again, they decided to choose not to.  This was really annoying to me at first and I kept trying to convince Elder Jeong that it was that they didn't want to meet with me that was annoying.  What he ended up saying to me exactly I don't remember but I think what he was trying to say was that the fact that they ignored me is not annoying, the fact that they listened to me is a blessing; that they listened to my message and felt the power of it.  It's my choice to be annoyed.  This is something that I have really been trying to learn this week.

 

Well, next week I'll be in a new area!  It's going to be a crazy week!

 

Love and Miss Y'all!

 

Called to Serve!

 

Love,

 

Elder Huckvale 

 Sindang Church Building

Eating some Krispy Kreme! :)

Week 20 - And From Henceforth, You Shall Be Known as 정혁규

Title - When Anakin Skywalker turns to the Dark Side, the Emperor says this to him, except he says "And from henceforth, you shall be known as Darth Vader".  The characters above are Elder Huckvale's Korean name given to him by his companion.  Apparently it comes out to something like "Jung Hyuk-kyoo", but Elder Huckvale said it sounds like "how cute".  Funny! 

Also, Elder Huckvale's 19th birthday is next week (June 24th)!!!  If anyone would like to send him a card (I have 6 international stamps available if anyone close by would like one!) his address is:

Elder Chad Huckvale

Korea Seoul Mission

Gwanghwamun PO Box 210

Jongno-gu

Seoul-si

SOUTH KOREA 110-602

or his email... chad.huckvale@myldsmail.net.  Thanks to all that sent me birthday pics... I really think he will love them!!! 

Today was freakin awesome!  We did the 100-hour week challenge that our mission president gave us and it was incredible!  We saw so many miracles!

 

So first I'm going to explain the 100-hour program a little bit more...

 

Every morning we woke up at 5:30 instead of the usual 6:30.  We didn't have any exercise time we just showered and got ready and then were out of the house by 6:30, forgoing our study time.  Then during the day we had half-an-hour to eat, study, or prepare if we needed to.  Elder Jeong decided last Monday that we weren't going to use that half-hour though because then it would be a lot harder to get the 100 hours.  Then we would come back to the house at 9 instead of 9:30.  So what counted as missionary work was jeondoing, teaching appointments, going to the temple on Tuesday, making calls, eating with members or investigators, and doing service.  

 

So on Monday we woke up and left at 6:30 and then just jeondoed for practically the entire day besides when we e-mailed and went shopping for about an hour and 15 minutes and then we came home at like 7 and did calls.  It was so exhausting!  Luckily, we were able to meet a ton of people and I think that Elder Jeong set up some return appointments for later in the week on that day.  Then in the evening, we met with this weird guy who's Korean but was raised in America so he's pretty much American.  We've met with him before but then he got a new job where he was working all the time and then he lost his job last week.  Elder Jones and one of his companions used to teach this guy but he wasn't progressing at all.  He's got a drinking problem and is always making up stories about how he's a level 8 black belt in Tae Kwon Do and how he's dying and stuff.  He is really weird.  Anyways, yeah he called us so we went over to his house and he ordered food which was really cool because we hadn't eaten a meal that day.

 

On Tuesday we got to go to the temple!  The temple is always an incredible experience.  After the temple we just jeondoed until English class at 6:30.  While we were jeondoing, Elder Jeong started having a conversation with this guy about the gospel and then the guy took us to a cafe and bought us smoothies and Elder Jeong continued to talk with him.  He was really interested in hearing about our church but then when we asked him if he could meet again he gave us his phone number but refused to give us his actual entire name so...?

 

On Wednesday we jeondoed pretty much the entire day again besides when we had our district meeting at like 12:30.  Then we went back to the house and did calls and then met with that guy who we met with on Monday again.  He was being weird as usual and we went grocery shopping with him and then headed back to the house.  Since I'm still being trained, we still need to set aside an hour for doing the 12 week training program for the first two transfers.  While we started doing that, Elder Jeong and I decided to move our studies up the street to this pizza place.  We did 12 week companionship study while waiting for our pizzas to be done and then took them back home and finished studying.  Missionary work!

 

On Thursday we actually had a lot of appointments which was awesome.  Elder Jeong was able to schedule a bunch when he was making calls on Wednesday.  One of the people we met with was from Elder Jeong's hometown and also the same age as Elder Jeong.  In Korea, when people are born in the same year as you, you're like instantly friends.  So Elder Jeong and him got along really well and we went and ate lunch with him at this place where they sell 떡볶이 (Ddeok Bokki (That's not really how I'd spell it but they have a system for romanizing Korean words that I just use every time just in case you want to look it up and see what it is because I can't really describe it.  It sounds more like "duk boki")). That was pretty fun.  Then we met with that Korean-American guy again and he put on this whole show for us where he "died".  It was really strange.  He kept saying things like "this is the end, brothers" and other weird stuff.  He kept calling us throughout the day telling us that he needed to go to the hospital but he didn't really have any reason to and whenever we were going to actually go he came up with a new excuse not to go.  After he almost "died", it turned out that all he needed to do was eat some food and then he felt better.  Apparently he hadn't eaten in a few days.  Gosh dang it.  Elder Jones said that this guy did this stuff all the time which is why Elder Jones and his companion dropped him in the first place.

 

On Friday we didn't really do much, we did eat duk boki again with 이영희 (Ee-young Hee), which was pretty fun.  

 

On Saturday, we had a lot to do again.  We ate duk boki for the third time in a row with a potential investigator who's my age which was pretty fun.  Then we taught English class.  Then we were jeondoing and we met this Turkish guy who speaks Korean really well!  What the flip?!  After we talked to him I met this kid who's my age and can speak English really well.  I was able to teach him the entire message of the Restoration and give him a Book of Mormon!  Choice!  Then we had Family Home Evening at the church building with the young adults.  Awesome!

 

On Sunday I got my Korean name tag with the Korean name that Elder Jeong chose for me.  He chose the name 정혁규(Jung Hyuk-kyoo).  My new nametag is pretty choice.  After church we did missionary work with the members right outside of the church which was really fun.  It was cool to see them getting involved in missionary work.  We did jeondoing and street-boarding with them.  Later that night, we met with this Indian guy that we got as a referral like 2 months ago but haven't been able to meet with because he's been really busy.  He's from India but he speaks really good Korean and we gave him a Bengali Book of Mormon.  He was really cool, he gave us each a tie that he got for a dollar.  After that we went home and the 100-hour program was over.

 

Sorry that this weeks e-mail was so long!  There was a lot to talk about!  So much happened but the week just flew by!  I remember that last Sunday I was so worried that this was going to be the worst and longest week of my life but nevertheless, it was the quickest and most fun week that I've had so far.  We worked so hard, especially Elder Jeong.  We were able to talk to 1017 people and were able to teach 76 lessons (including lessons on the street) and we got 10 new investigators!  What the freak?!

 

the most important thing that I've is that the harder you work, the more easy being a missionary is; the faster the time goes; the more for you have.  I can't believe how fast this is all going!

 

I love and miss y'all!

 

Called to serve!

 

Love,

 

Elder Huckvale

 

P.S.  Something happened and all of my pictures got deleted somehow which is really jank.  Dang it.  

 "Come and partake of the Coffee of Everlasting Life"

"Sick" planner Elder Huckvale made using pictures from the Liahona. :)

Week 19 - I'm Not Afraid. You Will Be...You Will Be

Title - Luke says to Yoda, "I'm not afraid", while Luke is trying to convince Yoda that he's ready to be trained to be a Jedi.  Yoda's response is, "you will be... you will be."

Also - final push for any more Happy Birthday pictures.  Package will be going to Korea tomorrow... so if you'd like to contribute, please send them TODAY.  Thanks!!!

Hello Everyone!

 

This week has been kind of slow.  We didn't really have any opportunities to teach which was kind of frustrating, but alas, it happens.  Our most progressing investigators, 경진수 (Gyeong Jinsu) was out of town this week so we didn't get the chance to meet with him.  He's the guy who has a baptismal date.  

 

Anyways, yeah nothing really happened.  

 

On Monday, it was Elder Weiss's birthday (He's one of the Elders in our district and also someone I know from Camas).  Since it was P-day, we went to get expensive burgers at Outback and Elder Weiss and his companion were going to get steaks.  Outback didn't have any burgers though!  What the flip?!  So we ended up just going to the the burger buffet down the street from our house at Burger Mine which was choice!  It was so much better than Outback (and cheaper! and more food!). 

 

On Wednesday, I started an exchange with Elder Weiss which was really fun.  We got to talk a lot about the goings on back in Camas and all of the people that we know that ended up going on missions (Choice!).  We also talked a lot about virtue and how important it is to not only have pure thoughts, but also to refrain from thinking about things that will distract from the work.  

 

On Thursday, after the exchange ended, Elder Jeong and I were meeting a less-active that we've been working with, 이영희 (Ee Younghee).  We've been reading the Book of Mormon with him which he has really been enjoying.  After we read the Book of Mormon we went to the 목욕탕 with 이영희.  A 목욕탕 is like this bath house thing.  It's actually really common for Korean people to go to them.  There's just like pools and showers there that you can lounge around in.  It's pretty refreshing. 

 

On Sunday, we got to eat at the Diffin's house on base.  They are so cool!  They made us steak and ribs and it was freakin awesome!

 

This week, our mission was challenged by the AP's and our mission president to do 100 hours of missionary work so Elder Jeong and I accepted the challenge.  We wake up at 5:30 every morning and have to forego our study and meal times.  We can still eat, but we have to be teaching someone.  Anyways, since I only have two weeks left of training.  I kind of see this challenge as a sort of Missionary Trials before I can end my missionary training.  Also, that means that e-mail time for this week is going to have to be cut short.  It's going to be hard but I know that Heavenly Father will bless us for our sacrifices and that we will have more opportunities to find those who have been prepared to hear the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  It's going to be crazy!

 

Reed!  Congratulations on being baptized!  That's so cool!  Love you Reed!  I'm proud of you!

 

Love and Miss Y'all!

 

Called to Serve!

 

Love,

 

Elder Huckvale

Roommates - Elder Fisher, Elder Jeong and Elder Huckvale

Week 18 - You Don't Know the Power of the South Side

Title - In Return of the Jedi, Luke is trying to turn Darth Vader back to the light side of the Force and Vader responds, "You don't know the power of the dark side".  You'll see in his email that he got to spend some time with the Seoul "South" Mission, so I think that's where the "south" side is coming in.

Reminder... please send pictures this week wishing Elder Huckvale a Happy Birthday so that I can include them in his birthday package next week.  :)

It has been 4 months since Elder Huckvale X left Camas, Washington.  

 

Hello Everyone!

 

This week has been great!  

 

On Tuesday we went up to 왕십리 (Wangsimni), where we meet a few people that are playing games at a park.  We were meeting with one of our investigators, 이창하 (Ee Chang-Ha), and all of a sudden, Elder Jeong hears some lady yelling at him and then she comes over to us and it turned out to be Ee Chang-Ha's wife!  She started yelling at Elder Jeong in Korean telling him that the God we believe in and the God she believes in are two different Gods.  She told us that she was already Presbyterian.  Then Elder Jeong asked her what their main belief was and she avoided the question and kept yelling at us. It was weird.  We had to end our lesson with Ee Chang-Ha but I'm just hoping that we can still meet with him again this week.  Later that night, we were heading back from Sindang and we were waiting for the bus to take us to our apartment.  I started talking to this guy and he said that he was baptized 25 years ago!  What the flip?!  Then the bus came and Elder Jeong had already gotten on so all I could do was give him a jeondo card.  On the bus Elder Jeong and I were talking about what happened.  He said that we should have missed the bus so that we could have gotten his number.  We felt pretty bad.  Then, we were walking up the stairs of our apartment, we got a text from him!  What?!  He said that he was baptized 25 years ago in 신촌 (Sinchon; another area but the same zone), and he said that he wanted to eat dinner with us some time.  How freakin crazy is that?!  Miracles happen people!  

 

On Thursday we had another cool experience.  Elder Jeong and I were about to head out and Elder Jeong needed to go to the bathroom first.  While he was in the bathroom a guy that had received a jeondo card called Elder Jeong and wanted to meet us and receive some our church's materials.  He also said that he was going to go to the church right then and there.  So Elder Jeong and I rushed to the Sindang church building to meet this guy.  He couldn't meet with us very long so Elder Jeong and I just gave him a Book of Mormon and Elder Jeong talked about what the Book of Mormon is and gave him a brief explanation about what our church believes.  After we met with him we had an appointment with 경 진수 (Gyeong Jin-su) who is scheduled to be baptized on June 21st now (we had to push his date back because he has to go to church three times before he can be baptized and he didn't come last weekend).  He is such a nice guy and has a really strong interest in our church.  Unfortunately, he didn't come to church this week either so I'm not sure if we're going to push the date back further.  We just really need to stress with him the importance of going to church and that it should be his highest priority.  I really hope that everything will work out with him.

 

On Friday we had combined mission conference with Seoul South!  It was so awesome!  We got to go over the river and I got to see all of my pals in the other mission again!  Choice!  And the mission conference was awesome!  Elder Maynes of the Seventy came and spoke to us.  He really stressed the importance of the worth of souls, which is something that I think I may have forgotten.  Elder Maynes talked about all of the work that is actually done when we bring faithful, truly-converted members in the church, especially if their younger, like 17-25.  If they're 17 to 25, then they can go on missions, they can get sealed in the temple, their children can go on missions, they can do temple work for hundreds of souls, and the cycle just keeps going.  It is so awesome to be reminded of our impact as missionaries and that we literally need to be talking to every one because we don't know whose ready to receive our message and become a member of the Church.  So after the mission conference we went to Sindang so that I could meet with one of the AP's and pass-off for the LPP (Language Progression Program; teaches us how to teach the gospel in Korean) and I passed!  Now I can study other stuff outside of the gospel.  Anyways, after that we went home and on the bus I told some guy about how Elder Jeong and I did the burger buffet at Burger Mine and how he ate three and I only ate two.  It was pretty funny.  I just wanted to make him feel more comfortable with the missionaries so that maybe next time he'll be ready to receive them.

Elder Stapp and Elder Huckvale (one of his MTC roommates, who is in the Seoul South Mission)

 

The rest of the week was pretty normal.  Ya know, jeondoing and preaching the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ!  

 

Being a missionary is so great, and this week I have realized that with great faith comes great rewards.  I am also realizing more and more every day that miracles do happen people!  They are manifested through faith!  Just don't stop believin'!

 

Love and Miss Y'all!

 

Called to Serve!

 

Love,

 

Elder Huckvale

 Elder Jeong playing some piano on the street

Dong Dae-Mun Wall - isn't it pretty????