Blessings ...

So this week so much went on, I'm not even sure I can remember it all!

 

On Monday our whole district went out to this spot in Guri called Guri Tower; it's this 30-something- story tower that looks out over our whole area. Since we knew that a ton of people from our district were leaving we all took photos together and just talked. It was super chill and laid back. That night we had dinner with one of the sisters in our ward who feeds missionaries all-l-l-l-l the time. She ordered a ton of Chinese food and had it all ordered to the church for us. These two delivery motorcycles pulled up super fast and just started throwing down tablecloths and setting the table for 13 people. They were done in less than a minute! It was nuts. On Tuesday we just spent the whole day visiting members since Elder Leavitt was leaving. He had been in Gyomun Ward for 8 months and everybody loved him, so we spent a ton of time visiting people before he left. I've never eaten so much food, though. Everyone fed both of us even if it was a quick visit. We got up super early on Wednesday and headed to the Seoul temple for transfers. I got to see a ton of my friends from the MTC which was really nice. It was really sad saying goodbye to Elder Leavitt. Over the past 3 months he's become one of my best friends and it was hard to let him go! I picked up my new companion Elder Killpack and we headed headed back to Guri. He's a super cool dude, but I've been with him for 5 days now and still have no idea who he is. He won't really talk to me about anything not directly related to what we're doing at the time, so I have no idea what he did before the mission or what he's planning on doing afterwards. On Wednesday night we had the baptismal interview for Oh Jay, our investigator that Elder Leavitt and I had been working with since I got to Korea. He passed the interview and we practiced for the baptism, it was so great! Nothing really happened at all on Thursday or Friday. We do have a new investigator named J.J. though, we just randomly met him right outside of the church and he seems to have real interest in getting baptized.

 

On Saturday, Oh Jay GOT BAPTIZED!!!! It was so amazing and it was such a spiritual service. The ward came out for it and it was so beautiful. I'm so proud of him and he's progressed so much since we started meeting with him. I can't wait to see him progress even further now that he's baptized. Afterwards we went out with Elder Leavitt and his friend Chuy Hyun for nangmyun, which is this really weird cold noodle stuff that I've been avoiding since I got to Korea. It was covered in spicy stuff and I was kinds freaked out by it. After trying it, I can say that it's probably my new favorite food in Korea. I've been craving it since Saturday and I still haven't had the chance to eat it again!

 

Sunday morning came and Oh Jay was all prepped to receive the Holy Ghost during sacrament meeting, we had texted him the night before and we couldn't have covered all of our bases better. He was going to be there for sure at 9:45am, and church didn't start until 10. We were set. Well, 9:45 came and he wasn't there... Then 9:50... Still wasn't there... 9:58... Nothing. I was so worried at this point. I've heard horror stories from other missionaries about recent converts just disappearing between baptism and confirmation. Sacrament meeting started and he still wasn't there. I kinda maybe started making phone calls after the meeting had started... I was that missionary just making calls during the opening hymn and announcements. Suddenly the phone stopped ringing and it was Oh Jay. He was on his way. I was just filled with joy, suddenly realizing that he wasn't going to just disappear forever. Once he showed up it was 10:20 and he was able to get confirmed right after the sacrament was passed to the congregation. The confirmation was amazing and the Spirit was so strong even though I couldn't get most of what was being said. During all of church that day I just felt the overwhelming feeling that Korea is really where I'm supposed to be right now. This past week has made all of the sacrifice and the hardship on the mission worth it. Oh Jay is so amazing and I'm so blessed to be part of his life. It's weird to have so much love for someone even though you can't understand half of what they're saying. I can't wait to speak to him once I actually have Korean down.

 

This week as seriously been awesome. I'm so blessed to be here. I love you all so much and I really home that everyone is safe back home! Can't wait to hear from you all! I can always use more emails!

Elder Woodall

 

 

Photos:

1. Elder Leavitt, Oh Jay, and I at the baptism!

2. The crazy delivery drivers setting the table!

3. Elder Kim and I at transfers. He's been on the mission with me the whole time and served in Guri with me. He got a call a few weeks back from the Korean Military telling him he's being drafted, so he's having to end his mission 5 months into it. I'm gonna miss him!