Seoul Chaser: Nokbeon Week 1

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was packed with activities and events. On Monday, when I was still in Sokcho, we ate some delicious soup with a full sized chicken in it. Brother Kim and his wife from our Branch took us out, and it tasted so good. Brother Kim is just so hilarious. Then that night, we met with Sister Lee and had a great conversation with her. On Tuesday, my companion and I met with Brother Jeon at another great restaurant before I took the bus into Seoul for transfers. We had another good conversation, but Brother Jeon has seemed to change his thought process around 180 degrees. I then took the trip into Seoul with Elder Lanford.

In Seoul for transfers, I met my new Korean companion, Elder Song Hyeon Bin, and we headed out together. We live with another companionship - Elder Yetter and Elder Hansen. My companion is Korean from the lower part of Korea called Ursan. This is his 6th Transfer while this is my 8th in Korea. Elder Yetter is from Mesa, AZ and Elder Hansen is from Rexburg, ID. This is Elder Hansen's 4th transfer and Elder Yetter's 9th transfer in Korea. For the record, transfers are every six weeks and each Elder gets about 15 transfers in Korea because of the 12 weeks spent in the MTC. There are 8 Elders and 2 Sisters in our district. The District and Zone Leaders all live separately from us in a smaller house.

As for the investigators that we are meeting with, one is a 24 year-old man who we were able to set a baptismal date with this week. His name is Jeehoon and just returned from the 2 year mandatory military army service 1 month ago. We have already taught him the first three lessons, and he is really interested in changing his life. He has experienced some really tough circumstances. Since his Dad works all day, he doesn't see him very much. He lives in a one room house, eats Ramen noodles every meal, and has one pair of clothes. He is a super kind guy, but lacks a lot of confidence because of his circumstances.

On Sunday I spoke in front of the ward (congregation) for the first time. It was a little more nerve-racking than in Sokcho because there were over 150 people there. I got them all to laugh though, so that's good right? They are all super kind, and we were even able to meet with the 1st councilor to the bishop and his wife for dinner on Sunday. We had a great talk with them and about their son who has gone astray with drugs and tough friends. They gave us a special assignment to meet with their son and his friends to set a good example for them. My companion is awesome and just works really well with all the helpful members. He is helping me a lot with my Korean, but more importantly he continues to push me to work harder. I'm so excited to do the Lord's work here.

Thanks for all the love and support!

Your Favorite Missionary,

Elder Wheeler