Monday, July 4, 2016

Acid rain and Buddhist and such

Hey family!

It sounds like you all had a blast on the coast. Thanks for all the pictures! You all look great, and holy cow April and Kellie look a lot older.

This week was a blur, but at the same time it feels like it has been ages since I last emailed. My companion passed a kidney stone this week... (yep, ouch), so we spent a good bit of time at the doctors. Had a few appointments. Ate some rice. You know, the usual.

The rainy season started a couple of weeks ago, so I am beginning to get used to constantly being soaked to the bone. Basically, we are supposed to get constant, non-stop rain for the next two weeks. And when it's not raining, it's so humid outside that we are still soaked. Honestly, I have always loved the rain, so it doesn't really bother me. The only problem is that Korean people are terrified of the rain because it carries all the pollution over from China and is highly acidic, and they believe it will make you go bald. ( I don't believe it... Koreans have the thickest heads of hair that I have ever seen. But for my light and airy blonde hair, it could mean certain doom. Gotta be careful to always have my umbrella...) So when we try to set up appointments, we hear quite commonly, "What?!? Are you crazy? How on earth are we supposed to meet and have a discussion. It's RAINING outside!"

Update on our gas station man, Yu Jeongchae: We visited him on Thursday. He finished all of 2nd Nephi. He is really opening up to our message. However, he didn't come to church on Sunday like we asked him to. Dang it. We'll keep working on him.

Bak Seongjin will be baptized this next Sunday, the 10th. He is progressing wonderfully, and is so prepared. Love that guy.

I have been in close contact with Ha Jeongman (remember him? My investigator down in Tongyoung who didn't show up to his own baptismal service. Haha.). It sounds like he is doing well and is still meeting with the missionaries a couple of times a week. Hopefully he will have a baptismal date here in a few weeks as well.

I have no idea how it happened, but this last Saturday I got roped into accompanying the bridesmen on the piano at a wedding ceremony for a ward member. The couple was married in the Seoul temple last weekend, so this was kind of like a second wedding party for those who couldn't attend the temple marriage. Beautiful couple. Looked very happy. The guy just got home from his mission in Seoul, and the girl just got home from Moscow. It was neat to hear their testimonies about their missions. I have had the opportunity to play piano a lot over the last few months, and I enjoy it so much. I am kind of mulling over the thought of changing my major to have something to do with music (or at least a minor). We'll see.

Gonghwasa temple

This afternoon, for P-day, a very kind man that we have gotten very close with over the last few weeks (named Chae Hongseup) took us to the largest Buddhist temple in Korea, up high in the "8 peak mountains." It wasn't raining, but there was such a heavy mist that we could hardly see the tops of the trees. Absolutely incredible. The monks were chanting somewhere off in the distance, and every time they would ring the gong it echoed through the hills. With visiting a Buddhist temple today, and that wedding ceremony still fresh in my mind, I have been thinking a lot about the temple. As incredible as this Buddhist temple was, with its incredible detail, I miss the simplicity of our temples, and can hardly wait to go back. We are so blessed to have so many temples close to home. So get to the temple this week! :)

Love you all,

Elder Sorensen

​The simple joys of living in Asia.