7.1 Weekly letter

• Leanne Noelle Chun <leanne.chun@myldsmail.net>

  To:Beth

  Aug 27 at 6:03 PM

  Hurray beginning of new transfers! I will still be serving in DongHae, and my new companion will be Sister Castro (we lived together when she was serving in Imun and me in DongDaeMun). I already love her, so this will be a fun transfer! 

  
  

  Sister Calda is leaving! ㅠㅠ I'm sad to see her go, but, you know, that's just sort of how things roll for missionaries. You come, you serve, you leave. It sounds simple, but the impact that the middle part has on our lives is probably a little indescribable. 

  
  

  Brothers and Sisters, I want to bear my testimony that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not just for bad people trying to be good, it's also for good people trying to be their best. I don't think I'm a terrible person, but, man, I don't think I've ever been so aware of everything that I need to or could be doing better. The good news is, as Elder Holland was kind enough to remind us of a few General Conferences ago, "we get credit for trying, even if we don't always succeed".

  
  

  This week is kind of short, but I'll try for more next week!

  
  

  I love you all! 

  
  

  Love,

  
  

  Sister Chun 

Exchanges with Sister Yoo!

6.6 Blog letter

·         Leanne Noelle Chun <leanne.chun@myldsmail.net>

Aug 20 at 6:36 PM

Holy cow, last week of the transfer. I think I say this every time, but that is crazy. What makes it even more crazy is that my companion will be going home next week. That is unreal. But she's doing great! Giving her all on her last week (just more than usual, I think).

We went on exchanges with the SokCho Sisters this past week. I actually took a picture with Sister Yoo this time (I forgot to do that last exchange, so I was sure to do it this time). She is a Korean from Korea and she's really good at Korean, so that was a fun day. I think she might have been a little wierded out by all the things about Korean that I asked her, but I had the opportunity, so I thought I would take it. 

Yesterday was really fun. We watched a Korea-wide broadcast for church and our usual after-church meal was cancelled. Most every one went home except Sister Choi and the Elders' investigator Andrew. Sister Choi had brought the stuff to make a meal, so we just went ahead and had a mini 식사 with the seven of us. Kimchi Jjigae. SO DELICIOUS. So fast, can feed a lot of people, and so good. I did not eat dinner last night, because I was still full. *fist pump*

Other than that it was a pretty quiet week. 식사 with a member, a lot of walking, a lot of talking, a lot of loving... You know, missionary work as usual. 

Brothers and Sisters I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to serve here in Korea. I can see some of the blessings that I've already received; I don't know that I can imagine all the blessings that I'll be receiving for the rest of my life. 

I love you all! Have a good week! Be safe and have fun!

Love,

Sister Chun

식사 with the Branch President's wife.
Oh my gosh, it's no wonder that I'm gaining weight on my mission.
This food is so dang delicious.

삼겹살! Basically the thicker, Korean version of bacon. Dip it in a little Sesame oil (with a little bit of salt in there) and it's mind-blowingly delicious.

Branch President's oldest daughter 최은지s.
She teases her younger sister mercilessly, this little punk.

Our mini 식사 (lunch)

Sister Choi was the master-mind behind the Kimchi Jjigae.

Egg wash tofu, fried.

Our ghetto lid, because there wasn't one that fit the pot perfectly...

This is Franklin. Those rain boots are definitely his. He wears them very stylishly.

My mom teaching kids in Olathe with Sister Eraso and Sister Zarate! Yay, missionaries!

DongHae district!

6.5 Blog Letter

·         Leanne Noelle Chun <leanne.chun@myldsmail.net>

Aug 13 at 7:04 PM

My apologies for the short letter last week. Hopefully you could glean something good out of the pictures I sent. ^_^

Wow, the transfer goes by so fast! If I'm being completely honest, I'm trying not to think of the end of the transfer, when my beautiful companion Sister Calda will go home, having completed her missionary work, and I will (most likely) be left in DongHae, a giant area that I'm still learning, with a new companion... It can be a little overwhelming sometimes, but I'm taking steps to lessen the stress (i.e. Sister Calda is making me lead us around for the next couple of weeks while she's still here, to make sure that I know where all the important stuff is).

The good news is, I know how to find our house and the church. That's basically all I need, right? :)

Last week P Day we got to climb a mountain with the SokCho Sisters, Sister Kim and Sister You! Well, actually it was more of a glorified walk, and a lot of stair-climbing, but we ended up at some beautiful waterfalls, and it was fantastic. We took some weird pictures (an inevitability with Sister Chun), and then we went back down (one of my favorite parts) and ate some oily Jjajangmyun. *fistpump* Good P day.

We went on exchanges with the Gangreung Sisters. I was in DongHae with Sister Frint and Sister Calda went to Gangreung with Sister Seo. So much fun! We didn't get lost, so that was good, and we learned a lot. We called our recent convert and confused her a little bit: She's a grandma, which means I can't understand her very well, but it turned out okay. In the end, it was a pretty fun, pretty productive exchange. Love that girl! And Sister Chun is a 바보 and forgot to actually take pictures, so that's awkward. Maybe one day I'll remember to be a little more diligent in that regard...

I had the privilege of giving a talk yesterday in Sacrament. I was sweating bullets, but the members were just smiling up at me, so that was encouraging. Hopefully they understood at least a little bit of what I was trying to say in way-less-than-perfect Korean. :) I spoke about Jesus Christ's Atonement. Big topic, right? But I think it was okay. Things were a little clearer to me, at least, so that's good. The gist of the talk was how to apply His Atonement in our lives. Well, when you get thinking about it, applying the Atonement is basically just using the Atonement, which is to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, especially continually repenting.

There are a bajillion General Conference talks that can explain the Atonement of Jesus Christ way better than I can, but one thing that was really prevelant in my mind as I studied in preparation for my talk was Elder Nelson's challenge issued this past General Conference. Remember what it was? To read everything in the standard works that Jesus Christ said or did. Basically, go to the Topical Guide and read every scripture reference listed. Since the Atonement itself is not the thing that gives us help and strength nor forgives our sins but rather Jesus Christ because He atoned for our sins, we should get to know Him, huh? I've decided to take up Elder Nelson's challenge. It' probably going to be slow going, but I would invite anyone and everyone to join with me in that venture. I'm excited for the peace and confidence that will come from knowing who my Savior is and He means to me personally.

I love you all! I hope you have a good week!

Love,

Sister Chun

This is a giant gate leading into the National Park. So majestic.

How I feel about hiking...

How Sister Calda feels about hiking!

Hurray for Korean waterfalls!

I have a secret fear that my companion will think it's really funny to throw bugs at me
(she likes spiders), and I'm sort of dreading it...

We saw a real live Korean chipmunk.
I didn't know any wild animals besides pigeons existed in Korea. ;)

Pretty companion!

Probably the first and only rainbow to ever happen in Korea.
Everyone - not an exaggeration - was very excited about this rainbow.

Sister Calda cooking with oil.

We went out for ice cream after a 식사 with some members.
(no worries, there was a Brother present, but he shied away from the camera)

You know those little money-eating claw drop game machine things... Yeah, Sister Calda loves them.

6.4 blog letter

·         Leanne Noelle Chun <leanne.chun@myldsmail.net>

Aug 6 at 7:24 PM

Wow, I don't have a ton of time. That's my bad. I think for this week, pictures will just have to suffice. I love DongHae!

It was so hot yesterday, but! Not as hot as Seoul,
so I am really grateful that we're in DongHae.ㅎㅎ

Look at this beautiful woman!

One of our members is an artist. This is a picture of me.

Sister Calda's boy friend.

These are the mystical mountains of Korea.

We made hand outs for zone conference. A P Day well spent.

We saw this man flying through the air and it was magical. #lifegoals

We went to a fancy resort thing with a member after a 식사 (lunch).
You have to be real 부자 (wealthy) to vacation here, but it was nice to dream...

I have been so blessed thus far to have companions who not only know how to cook,
but also do cook for us.

We were playing Pictionary, and I told them to draw a hippo...

With my trainor Sister Giles at MLC!

Leanne Noelle Chun <leanne.chun@myldsmail.net>

Jul 30 at 8:50 PM

The work goes on in DongHae! It's so beautiful here. The weather has been pretty cool, a little bit rainy, but it's good. I'm starting to recognize where we are when we go places, so that's good. I think it was sort of a blessing that I was in DongDaeMun for so long because I definitely blocked everything out of my mind when I was a greenie; in other words, it took me 7 months to learn the area. Now that I'm a little more aware of missionary life, and I'm not jetlagged out of my mind,  I think I'll be able to learn this area a little faster. At least, that's what I'm hoping. We have exchanges this week, and I'm leading this area (it's practice, Sister Calda says). We'll see how it goes. 👍

We had a pretty busy week this past week. Doing service at English Academies (the kids wanted to meet real foreigners, but I think they were a little nervous to have to speak English with us. They did good, though!); helping prepare food for the Primary activity; meeting new investigators; looking at the beach and the ocean (I will need to go to the beach upon returning home); we went to Seoul last P day for a meeting on Tuesday, so that was fun. Long bus ride, and I have discovered that long car rides make me really sleepy. Seriously. Couldn't keep my eyes open, basically as soon as we started moving.

This past week I have discovered/realized how grateful I am for the person that Heavenly Father is helping me become. I know I'm definitely not there yet, but I can literally see a difference in what I want and how I think about things. It's a little exsistential (I'm not sure if I spelled that correctly, or even used it in the correct context, but it seemed right): I remember what my previous wishes and desires are, but what they are currently are definitely different.

I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father has provided a way for us to become better than we are. I've probably heard that idea before, but now it's actually becoming real for me. Heavenly Father doesn't just want us to leave behind what makes us bad, He wants to elevate us and make us better than our good. I'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and, and as much as I'm willing to put in the effort, the person it can help me become.

I love you all! Have a good week!

Love,

Sister Chun