moving and exchanges

Hello my peeps!! I hope everyone is doing well. I am good. This week has been completely exhausting but good.

We have a new investigator we met with this week. She is a contact I made last week. She is kind of a crazy old lady who ended up teaching me Korean in our lesson, but hey, I will take it. Later that day we had a member lesson, and the member tells us we are going to eat hamburger so we are like okay that's cool. Well turns out she had ordered McDonald's for us! Hahaha in Korea you can get McDonald's delivered 24/7 pretty funny. The elders were super jealous when we told them.

This week was filled with a lot of packing, moving, and not so much unpacking. I have spent literally hours on the phone with the APs and the office elders. We had to coordinate our move then the APs came to move us, which went pretty smooth because they brought the mission van. Except the AP that I served with in my first area (Elder Mitchell) told me that morning that I had a 6 lb limit on things I carried. He was pretty adamant about me keeping that because he served with me he knows how I am and that I hate being treated like a dainty girl. But we got all moved. They then took us to Homeplus to buy some kitchen supplies and spices. When they picked us up, they said they had some news. Hahah, that's not usually good... :) The Korean AP was so afraid to say it, and Elder Mitchell was just laughing because he knows me. Well the Korean AP is like, "You don't have a fridge..." So I just started laughing, and said it was okay, and then he got even more nervous and said that we don't have beds....or blankets...hahaha. We were going to have to sleep on the floor, and he was so afraid to tell us and of what our reaction would be. I just started laughing and said that was fine. He was pretty shocked by how calm I was. Haha. 

When we got there the next morning, we had to call Elder Mitchell again because our shower wouldn't train and the toilet was leaking. He had me try to fix it, which was a joke because I had no tools, so the next day they called the super and had him send someone to fix it. Well while having a meeting with our elders, the office elders call and Elder Jung who I served with in my first area asks if we are with our elders. I told him we were, and asked me to give the phone to Elder Park. I proceeded to make fun of him telling him that my Korean has improved, but I still passed the phone. When they were done we had to go to our apartment again because the man was there and the elders had to take us because the office elders didn't think it was safe for just us to go. Bless their little hearts :) On our way over there with the elders it was raining and as we were crossing the street my shoes came off twice! So finally I just picked them up and ran across the street barefoot. Elder Park was dying laughing and I am sure all the cars were so confused and concerned for their country having this weird barefoot foreigner running around.

So many stories to tell! This week we did exchanges again, and I got put with a sister on her first transfer who hasn't even been here for a month. I am not sure what Sister Gilbert wants me to teach or learn but she has paired me with a new trainee again for today's transfers. I will be going to 안덩 the farthest north area in our mission, where it is pretty much fields. So that should be fun. Everyone keeps telling me about how far away it is. Elder Mitchell told me to pay attention to the elders too because they don't get out there very often to check on them. So I feel like a spy now :) 

Oh! Also, our new home's name is Happy Town! Hahaha. It is written in Korean, but when you read it it literally reads Happy Town. So funny!

There is so much I wish I had more time to tell you it all! Just know that I love you all so much!

Love you,

Sister Cheney

a new house and splits

The four sisters I live with when we went on splits.

I hope you are all having a good week! I don't have much time this week, but let's be honest do I ever really? :) 

Okay, so this week...

Well after our English class this past Saturday, we got a call from the APs. I picked up and he said, "So what have you heard about your new house?" I said, "Well this is the first I have heard of it! Do we have a new house....?" So we do, and this Thursday, the APs are making the trek from Busan to come up and move our elders to a new apartment and then us. So that has messed with our planning especially because we are trying to get our exchanges all coordinated. But it should be good. I am excited but also so sad to be leaving the 4-man house. I have grown to love the girls I live with so much! I am just so glad I get to see them every week at district meeting and on Sundays because we have zone singing practice, prepping for a stake singing performance we are doing the first Sunday in September. 

So other highlights of the week. We sat next to a cute old grandma on the subway who was so nice! At one point the security police came on to do their random checks and she starts making fun of them! Like pretending to be handcuffed and everything! And this lady was OLD! So hilarious! I died!

We did exchanges with 경산 this week. It was so much fun! In the first two hours together, I got two solo contacts. It was pretty epic! We had a blast and learned a lot. I love getting to know the sisters I serve with more.

This past week was Korea's Independence Day. They don't do much, but they hang up flags all up and down the street, and it was so cool! Man, I love Korea!

So in keeping with my streak of always having to pray...last week when I had to pray at district meeting, I choose the song, Sisters in Zion to sing as the closing. Hehehehe. When the elders opened their hymn books at the end they died! So this week when I had to pray again, I chose Elders of Israel to be even. 

I got pulled out of Sunday School by another teacher who wanted me to explain the importance of marriage and family in the older class - in English thankfully! So when I was doing it, I said I had seven brothers and sisters and everyone gasped! Hahaha. It was so funny! And when I went on to explain how big the fam really is they were all dying! So funny!

Also at ward council this week it was so hot, and I was so tired trying to not fall asleep and take notes. Well, at the end I looked at my notes and I had written.... 

teach with members

cereal

friendship night? 

Don't ask about the cereal I have no idea! But I swear they had written that on the board in Korean.... Oh man bless my little heart. Sundays are a killer!!

Well love you all so much!

Love,

Sister Cheney

This is the cutest Korean ever!!
She hardly speaks any English at all, and it is all slang that she does speak!
Love Sister Yum!

baptismal dates!

So this week was super awesome!!

We have two investigators with baptismal dates!! One is the girl who doesn't have parental permission so it isn't until December, and the other is Molly, a girl we have been teaching English to. When we asked her, she agreed right away. It is scheduled for the twenty-second so we hope all goes well with that. 

I got a CT scan on my arm and all looks okay according to the limited details I could understand at the hospital.

Last p-day we went to Costco! Love that place! I have been eating real cheese this week and it is glorious! :) 

We had interviews with President this past week. I love it because he always tells me so many funny things, and it's pretty much my way of staying up to date on the whole mission because I never have much to say. :) President said, "So, you have fifteen months left right?" I said, "No just like a year." Well he proceeded to have a mini freak out! Hahaha. I was like ya welcome to my club! He asked when I would go home, and I said I was not sure, and I had no idea what I was going to do with my life after the mission. He proceedrf to say that it is okay because I have time, but than goes on to tell me I have to tell him by November what my plans are. Ah!!! My mission president has now given me a deadline! 

Also a really cool stat we learned last week at missionary leader meeting: 48% of the mission has come out in the last six months. So cool!! I am pumped man!!! We are working so  hard to get a temple in Busan!! Its gonna happen soon!!! Please pray for it!! :) We are working so hard for it!

And now for that funny/awkward moment when: The automatic door of the restaurant closes on you while everyone in your district watches, and your district president tells you that it is the greatest thing he has ever seen! I wish I could say it was the first time it had happened to me.... 

Well the mission is so awesome! I continue to learn and grow and love it even more. It also continues to come up with more challenges, but it is great! Thank you for all your love and prayers! It means so much and blesses me greatly!!

Love you all so much!!

training leaders

After getting soaked!

Thank you for all your prayers and love! I love it and need it so thank you!

So this past week I got a call from President Gilbert. What did he say you ask? Well he made Sister Freeman (my companion) and I sister training leaders, which is the equivalent of zone leaders but for girls. So pretty intense but also awesome! It means we have training meetings in Busan like we did this past week, and we go on splits and help the other sisters with how to improve their areas. I am excited but also feel extra pressure to do all I can.

This past week I was teaching English class, and this lady was talking about not wanting pressure from the church, and I explained that we did not want to give any we were just doing a service. Well the other guy in our class asked about the church, and needless to say I spent the next 1 1/2 hours talking about the church and giving a solo lesson while my companion taught the other class. I explained about how the Book of Mormon came about and about Nephi and Lehi and Christ appearing the the Americas, and at the end the crazy no religion lady asked for the Book of Mormon so she could read it. It was so amazing! Such a miracle!

Eating nasty silkworms!