11.3 Weekly Letter

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

Feb 25 at 8:02 PM

Oh my gosh! Time! Fast, but slow~! 

It's okay, we're having a good time in Sokcho. Actually, we spend a lot of time in Gangreung, so I'm not sure if we can even call ourselves the Sokcho sisters anymore... We did go knock on some doors in our area yesterday, so I guess we're slowly reclaiming our Sokcho Sister-ness. 

I just wanted to share really quickly about our day at church yesterday. The meetings were all fantastic (we gave a 20 minute class for the youth that actually didn't go terrible, so that was good), but I think the best part was the couple hours after church. We ate lunch together (such good homemade Korean food), and then all helped clean up, and then one of the members teaches piano lessons to a couple of the youth and some of the Primary kids, so while we were cleaning up there were fun piano things happening; then our exercise guru member had a great time showing a couple of the sisters some workouts. He was very enthusiastic, right down to when he told me that I need to work out. Several times. >.< It's okay, 형제님, I know. I'll work on that. Hahaha 

When we left to go knock on doors, I felt so... light. They're not my biological family, but they're my family, you know? I was expecting to feel crushing sadness, because in four weeks I won't be able to enjoy days like yesterday, but I didn't feel as sad as I thought I would, because immediately following that realization, the thought occurred to me that I would still be able to enjoy that feeling on Sundays, and other days, too, because I'm always going to have people around me whom I love and who love me. It was a comforting thought; even more comforting is that that feeling of family, even halfway around the world from my immediate family members, can extend to every single person in the world, because we're all part of God's family. Isn't that crazy? Crazy cool... :) 

I love you all! Let's love each other this week, shall we? 

Love,

Sister Chun

More Pics from Mormon Helping Hands Center - Winter Olympics

11.2 Weekly Letter

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

Feb 18 at 8:20 PM

We see this on our way out in the mornings... Hurray for the 15th floor in Sokcho!

Well, not much to report except that we were at the Helping Hands Center a lot this week. :) It was a combination of 설날 (Lunar new year, which is a big deal in Korea) and big games going on. SO many people there. Holy cow. It's busy, but it's fun! 

I don't know if I explained very well, but Sister Cook lived in France for a year, so her mission language is Korean, but because she speaks the French things she can communicate with other people who also speak the French things. It's very exciting. She got kissed on the cheeks by a French guy, so that was fun. :) 

I just speak English, and sometimes not even very well. I've come up with some new words (spontaneously created, and therefore not very well remembered) and had some really awkward moments ("groping" instead of "griping")... I've just decided to speak more Korean. Hopefully my brain will decide to be good at one or the other one of those two languages... #nailedit

I love serving with Sister Cook. She is a fun, funny, hard-working Sister whom I admire very much; I think we're going to learn a lot this transfer. 

Sorry there's not much to report. Or, rather, there's too much to report, so I guess I'll just give you a highlight: I also got kissed this week. I helped a couple of foreigners get going the right direction for the shuttle bus, so one of them took a picture with me and then shook my hand, and the other shook my hand and pulled it up for a little 뽀뽀 before he walked away. It was weird. Good thing I didn't have to slap him, 'cause that would have been problematic. hehe

Another highlight: I showed this girl through the Helping Hands Center, and she actually stopped to make an account on FamilySearch.org! It was really cool to be able to share about family history with her. Hopefully she keeps going on it!

Also, yesterday at church, all the talks and the subjects for the classes we taught were centered around service. That was pretty 신기하다. Hurray for the Spirit and personal revelation! 

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

Love,

Sister Chun

Put a bubbly mask on my face,
so I just thought I would recline in my 할머니 [halmoni - grandma] dress. 

Our faces were so soft.
[Me with Sister Cook, my French-speaking companion.]

My hair got long...

I'm not sure what this is supposed to be focusing on. Maybe the cute bandana_
Or possibly how super wavy my bang are... ㅎㅎ (1)

11.1

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

Feb 11 at 8:46 PM

Wow. First day of the last transfer. It's sort of weird, because we've been in our area for a week now, but it definitely feels like longer: it's been a long week. 

Long, but good! So, I think I probably mentioned that we're going to be helping out with the Olympics. More specifically there's a Helping Hands Center right across from the big train station in the city where the Olympics is taking place, so we get to help a lot of confused foreigners find taxis and places to eat. Actually, we get to help confused foreigners and frustrated taxi drivers. It was kind of crazy, because right after the morning devotional on Friday (we were just about to say the closing prayer), the mayor of Gangreung comes in and thanks us for the work we're doing and encourages us to keep doing it, because they need our help. My companion Sister Cook also had kind of a fun experience: She got pulled over to the taxi loading place by one of the official Olympic volunteers and told to call all her "yellow friends" to come help. Haha Basically this week has just been one big confirmation that Heavenly Father not only knows His children, but He wants to help them, and He can make happen what He needs to have happen. It's good to know that He's on our side. 

Sister Cook speaks French, which is basically why we're here, and there have been a lot of encounters where her absence would have been felt. I just feel like I'm sort of along for the ride, but it's a fantastic ride, so I'll take it. :) 

I feel like I had so much to say, but now I can't think of anything. 😅 One thing Sister Cook and I keep saying is that this transfer is probably going to be the busiest, most miracle-filled transfer that we've ever had. Woohoo! Bring on the miracles. 

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be here! Hopefully I can bring home some cool souvenirs. :) 

I love you all! I don't think I'll have time to get all the pictures up that I want to, but it's okay, I'll be able to show 'em to you in about a month and a half... O.o

Love,

Sister Chun

Leanne and all the gang...at the Winter Olympics in South Korea!!

Leanne at the Mormon Helping Hands Center, GangNeung, South Korea

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

To:Beth

Feb 4

Feb 4 at 5:58 PM

Back to the mountains! We love Gangwondo!

The new area is beautiful! I am here with Sister Cook of Seattle, Washington. She's going to be in her fourth transfer, and she is awesome! She's the French speaker at the Mormon Helping Hands Center that we've been asked to help out with. And I? Ah speaka de Engrish. And kind of the Korean, but I think that's sort of deteriorating a little bit, unfortunately. Don't worry, I'm working on it.

We're opening an area, which means we're pretty much starting from scratch, so there's going to be a lot of finding in the next few weeks. 👍 My favorite (she said, somewhat facetiously). Hehe but it'll be good. We're both really excited.

As I already mentioned, the area is just gorgeous! The couple days that we've been here have been chilly, yes, but the sky is so clear blue, and the sun is so bright! Of course, it's at way too low of an angle in the sky, but I don't blame it. I think we have to enjoy this while we can: Our branch president mentioned that the months of February and March are the snow coming months... 

The view from our 15th floor apartment is awesome. The Elders are jealous. Hehe

As far as the Olympics go: The Winter Olympics are called PyoungChang, but only the sports that need snowy mountains will be in PyoungChang. The rest of the stuff is going on in Gangreung, so Korea built a new train straight from the airport to Gangreung. The Church was able to secure (somewhat miraculously) a spot for a Mormon Helping Hands Center right across the street from the station. Our involvement will happen about three days a week when we go to Gangreung to volunteer in the center. Members are also volunteering, so the missionaries' job is to help the members have a fun, spiritual time, and to help run the center (providing information about the area to patrons who may come in to the center, showing them the Family History stuff we have, helping them get hot chocolate, etc.). We were able to experience the Center a little bit on Saturday, but we're excited for the days to come! 

Find out more about the Winter Olympics in Korea!

I love you all! Have a good week!

Love,

Sister Chun

The view from our apartment (in our new digs).

Elder Dygert, Elder Tung, and Elder Gilmore squished into the back seat for our drive
out to Gangwondo. They were super good sports about it. _)

We saw this today on the way to email_ a flower vending machine. Korea knows how to do things.

The Book of Mormon Olympic chain we made during YM/YW in our new  branch
to help us count down the reading. I was pretty excited about it.

Before leaving Seoul...we went to the temple.

Cute companions at the temple!

Last district picture! (The other Elders actually weren't out of the temple yet,
but we had to go, so...)

Had a fun temple P Day! It was good to see Sister Castro!

And I took a picture with Sister Castro's boyfriend. Happy birthday, Kai!

n

10.5 weekly

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

Jan 28 at 5:54 PM

Hurray exchanges! Fun day with Sister Hemenway in Sindang!

This past week wasn't too exciting: we met with our investigator Sister Jeon (we bond about that sometimes, that we have the same last name), and she kind of shoved bread into my mouth. That was hilarious. It's very easy to feel her love. :) Hurray for Korean grandmas!

We also met with another zone for a 같이 zone conference, and it was fantastic. I got to see Sister Castro again, which was really fun, and my companions and I received some fun, kind of crazy news: I'm transfering! President wanted to let people know now because we'll be leaving the week before tranfsers. The reason for moving: 2018 Winter Olympic Games

I'M GOING TO GANGWONDO FOR THE OLYMPICS.

THE OLYMPICS.

I almost yelled at President, I was so excited. Of course, it's a little awkward to have to pack up all my stuff again for just one transfer, but it's probably pretty worth it, right? I don't have all the details yet, but I'll be sure to let you know wehre I am when I get a chance.

My leaving means that my beautiful companion Sister Lee will be finishing training Sister Kim. 😀 We're not sure when Sister Kim will get her visa to the Philippines, but they'll probably be able to finish out this transfer together. So excited for them!

It's been pretty cold this past week, but we just wear all the clothes in the whole world and walk really fast to places and it works out okay. Hehe Hurray for layers!

Sorry that I don't have much to say. 😅 I'll work on that. I did start compiling a list of things that I've learned on my mission, but I'll most likely share that with you all when I get home. :)

Last two months! I'm just going to do my best to put my head down and work! I'll leave it to you all to come up with fun things to do with returned missionary Sister Chun. :)

I love you!

Love,

Sister Chun

In the shoe store saying goodbye to Sister Lee's shoes. They both semi-exploded...

Kimchi party! Our wonderful members gave us so much kimchi, and my Korean companions had a fun time cooking it up in various ways so that we could devour it. _) I LOVE KIMCHI. 

Kimchi Jjigae and kimchi pancakes. It was a good day. We ate a lot of kimchi.

My tired companions and I deciding what to order for dinner...

About to go streetboarding. It was cold that day. The good news is we all survived!

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

Jan 21 at 4:24 PM

We met this really cool member on exchanges in SinChon (the temple area) who gave us a bunch of stuff to help with missionary work. We love our members!

This week has been another fun one! Exchanges and lots of streetboarding.

Note: Streetboarding is not as cool as it sounds. Haha Basically a team or two of missionaries stand with some kind of sticker board and ask people to stick stickers in an attempt to talk to them. The boards can be anything from "Happy or sad" to "Who's the best looking?" with pictures of Joseph Smith, Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni (helpful for talking about the Book of Mormon). Logan's description is a lot more adventurous: two sister missionaries (in this case three), skateboarding down the street handing pamphlets and copies of the Book of Mormon to everyone. Haha I would go to that church, if I were people. :)

We were also able to meet two new investigators, one of whom is also a 전! That was exciting. She's a funny little thing; hopefully we can help her come to feel the gospel is true.

Speaking of the true gospel, I'm so excited that we have a living prophet today. I was sad when I heard about President Monson's passing, but I was really grateful to have the reassurance that President Nelson is the new prophet. The Lord is truly overseeing His work: things tend to run smoothly when we do things His way.

This week's letter is sort of short, but I think that's just about all I have to say. I love you all! Have a good week!

Love,

Sister Chun

'Nuff said.

Not a great picture, but I just wanted to capture the amazing-ness of Korea_ only in Korea will they bring you a bowl of rice, kim, and seasame oil with a glove on top and an extra little plate so that you can make your own mix!

In their defense, they didn't really know that I was taking a picture. From Left to right_ Bae Mun Cheol, Bae Hyun Min, Kim Young Min (mom), and Bae Yae Jin. They took us out for dinner and ice cream, and yes, we did eat it all!

Another reason to love Korea. I really hope these kinds of socks exist in America...