Kelsey in Korea: October 6

Hello from Gwangju! Its a beautiful day here in Korea. I have been on my mission almost THREE months. Can you beliveve it?! Times flies so fast. (Taylor, I know you can relate. You're going home in a MONTH, what the heck happened?!)

My compnaion and I have witnessed so many miracles this week. Our investigator Minji and her cousin Hongsoongmin (I have no idea how to spell any of these peoples names in English. It just makes sense in Korean) are progressing so quickly, and I can see the effects their conversion is having on their parents. Although Minji is mentally disabled and doesnt NEED to be baptized, my companion and I have prayed and found that the if she wants to be baptized, she can. Her love for the Savior is so pure and her devition to follow in his footsteps is SO strong. Her 10 year old cousin is the same- these children have the light of Christ burning so bright within them! We taught them the plan of salvation on Tuesday and they had SO many good questions- "Can Christ visit other kingdoms?" and "What do you do when you get to the the Celestial Kingdom?" At first we were a bit concerned becoause we have no idea what the answers to these questions are, but then we told them that as missionaries, we dont have ALL the answers, but we believe to have some of them. Our calling is to help people find those answers. I will be the first to say that I too have unanswered questions, but thats ok! Minji and Hongsoongmin understand that as well.

WE GOT OUR PHONES THIS WEEK!!! We went almost an entire transfer without a cell phone. By some miracle we did it, but it was rough, I wont lie. There were so many moments of frustration with miscomminucations with rides and such. It was a valuable lesson for me to never take anything for granted. I never realized what a blessing modern technology was until I had to live without it.

Cort- I got your package!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I practically screamed when I saw your handwriting in purple sharpie. Kade- You are getting SO good at spelling. I was so proud and I showed my companion. You are a smart boy. Are you getting ready to be baptized soon? only a few more months! Pipa- You are quite a sad little girl. I miss you very much but I'm not alone! My companion is my friend! I love you, Little Spanky. William- Thank you for allowing your mother to take pictures of you in your poofy cloth diaper, hangin out by the stove. I miss your chubby face. Cort, those pictures made my whole day. I pull that envelope out on a daily basis and look through them. The kids are getting HUGE. You and Dayne keep up the good work- You are doing such a good job. I use the little orange polka dotted notebook to write down good thoughts in. Sometimes I get super cranky and negative as a missionary, so I open up that little book and read a few things that make me happy.

KOREA HAS KRISPY KREME. And I'm sorry to all you in America, because Korean Kispy Kreme is SO much better. In fact, a lot of things are better in this country. I am beginning to love SO many food. Some of my favorites include-

Pineapple Oreos

Korean Grapes (They are huge and a dark purple/blue)

Pickles

Donkasu

Zuchinni (and i HATE zuchinni in America)

Hard Boiled Eggs (way better in Korea, even the yolk Mom! Grandma would be proud.)

Kimbap

Potato Wedge Pizza

Hoduk

There are definitely some sketchy things to eat here but for the most part I do pretty well. Last week we had a lunch appointment with a group of relief society sisters and the meal was delicious. Towards the end they brough out a huge plate of sweet potatoes. i wasnt going to take one but then one of the sisters pointed to the plate, ranted off in korean and then grabbed the BIGGEST sweet potato on the whole plate and handed it to me to eat. I. DONT. EAT. SWEET. POTATOES. I honestly wanted to die as I choked the whole things down. It was so dry. So mushy. So baby food like. Im gaggin about it even now. Not we are talking about the country that serves ox blood soup but i CANNOT DO SWEET POTATOES. Atleast not in this way. It probably was the worst 6 minutes of my mission so far.

The same group of sisters took us out to lunch the next day to a traditional Korean restaurant. We sat on the floor and I ordered soup. It came to me in a MIXING bowl size. Broth, seaweed and whole clams, shells and all, floating in the bowl. It was so delicious. It reminded me of the last time I ate clams, family, remember it? We were on a trip back to NY and we cooked them over the firepit in foil and ate them with melted butter. Those were clams right? I thought of it the whole time I was eating them.

We met a MIRACLE investigator this week. Her and her daughters met the missionaries when they knocked on her door this week, thinking it was someone elses address. Turns out she happened to attend the missionaries English class years ago and misses it. She wanted to hear more about the gospel too! Me and my companion took over and met with her this week- She is so special. I fell in love with their family when I walked in and saw four pairs of matching plaid flannel Toms- for the Dad, Mom and two daughters. They are so special. Their two daughters speak FLUENT English and from reading books and watching movies! The oldest daughter Penelope (thats her English name) showed me her bookshellf stuffed with all sorts of English books. harry Potter to Moby Dick and everything in between. She even reads the NEWSPAPER and writes little papers on her opinion about the articles she reads. These little girls are so precious, and SO SMART! As Sister Spencer was playing with the two little girls, I was able to teach a brief Restoration Lesson to the mother and the spirit was so strong. When I got to the part about the Book of Mormon, I layed it in front of me and looked up and asked me-"And you have read this, the whole thing?" And I looked her straight in the eyes and said "Yes, I have read this book. I have prayed and I know its true." Kind of ironic that I just finished last week, but the Lords hand was in it all. My companion and I cried on the way home. It was such a special lesson. We meet with her again in a few weeks and we cannot WAIT. She is wonderful.

On another note, I found a COCONUT this week, just sitting in a random walkway between apartment buildings one day and I picked it up to take it home with me. I wanted to open it SO BAD. Our KOrean girls told us you can only open them with heavy machinery but i was determined to find some way to open the thing. I suggested we threw it our the window from our 12 story apartment builidng (wow, the idea sounds crazy now) but I ended up resorting to BIOLING it to see what it would do.

It didnt do anything.

Piece of Junk.

Unfortunately, I had to part with it a few days later,

RIP, Coconut.

I love you all! Be strong.