정 (jung)

This week was awesome!! Stressful, but awesome.

 

First off, before I forget (like I did last week), there is going to be a huge, worldwide broadcast from the Marriot Center this Sunday. And there is going to be a missionary choir in it as well, which I am in! Watch for me, I'll be looking snazzy in a black suit and a grey tie. Also, the prophet, first presidency, and quorum of the 12 will be there. Just thought I'd throw that in there. AUGH!!!! We all get to see Thomas S. Monson and sing for the first presidency and quorum of the 12!!! I'm super excited. I don't know if they'll be showing it on the television... But it should be being broadcasted to stake centers at 4 or 5ish.... I really don't know about that. But it will be on the church website sometime, so watch for me singing my heart out! Cool.

 

Life is going great. This week was hard and a little bit melancholy... The oldest group of Korean speakers, who got here in April, left for Korea on Monday at 2:30 am. I love them so much and they are going to be so awesome!! But as zone leader, I had to sign off there rooms that Sunday night, so I got zero sleep. Dumb. But it was still good to get them on their way. The newest group of Korean speaking missionaries got here on Wednesday!! It's crazy that I've been here for so long. Elder Nemelka and I helped them out and got them nice and oriented up the on 4th floor of Residence with the rest of the Korean branch. I already love them. They are going to be such great missionaries.

 

I missed a lot of class this week... I have a new companion now, Elder P. He's from Australia, so he's got a sweet accent. He was supposed to go to Korea on Monday with everybody else, but he wasn't feeling good. Everyone thought he really just didn't want to go to Korea. But I took him on as a companion to try to get him to see the light and be excited for the work. And I think he's definitely getting there. But the reason I've missed so much class is because we've been in and out of the hospital almost every day for the past week, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Turns out his gall bladder is messed up. So he's getting it removed on Monday. SWEET. I'm super excited for him, cause that's legit to get your GALL bladder removed. I want mine out now too, but the doctors wouldn't go for it. "Yeah, I had my gall bladder removed in the MTC..." He's going to have a sweet story. He's not that excited... which is weird. And he finds my enthusiasm a little twisted. Oh well. He's awesome and we're going to get him to Korea!

 

I FOUND AN OUTLET. So now I can sleep with my fan. They hid the outlets really well (not really, I'm just not good at looking for things I guess), but I finally found one! So now I sleep on my back with my little fan sitting on my chest pointed right at my face. It's the most wonderful feeling. Ever.

 

The food is really starting to be... gross. But my district figured out the solution. Hot sauce. We just put so much hot sauce on that you can't really taste the food. It's awesome. And a little gross. I usually leave meals feeling a little queasy from all the hot sauce.

 

I figured out the key to being a really great leader..... Bribes. Ok, not really, but it sure helps to get to know people in the zone when you're offering them cookies and peas from Grandpas garden (which by the way were so delicious Mom.) But all the goodies help to build some serious 정(jung), which is good old Korean bonding.

 

Also, I talk in my sleep here. It really freaked out Elder Grimshaw cause I asked him if I could touch his feet in the middle of the night... Weird. He though I was possessed. I also apparently snore. Oh well. 

 

Jeffrey R. Holland once asked a group of missionaries what power they had been given as missionaries... To which they replied with various answers. Elder Holland's answer? The power to ASTONISH. This generation is going to astonish the world. And I am so excited to astonish the people of Korea.

 

And happy birthday on Monday, my beloved mother of mine. :)

 

화이팅! Good luck! Keep fighting!

 

Love,

Elder Edwards

P.S.

They smashed my alarm clock.... With a hammer. Because it was broken and kept going off in the middle of the night. I totally supported the smashing.