It's the end of the world as we know it! Oct. 30, 2016

Apologies to anyone who got the song stuck in their head upon reading the title of this email, but as many of you know, this will be my last email in Korea. I don't have much time left to email, but I'll go through some of the excitement of the week and then I'll be on my way!

The biggest event of the week was the ward Halloween party, hosted by yours truly, the missionaries. It took all week to prepare and even longer to plan, but the ward really loved it, and it's been an adventure to put together.

But as a result, we haven't had much time to find people or teach our investigators. So that's gonna be all my news for the week... Hope you all have a great week!

Those who want to continue to keep in touch can email me at jts54321@gmail.com , but please allow me a bit of time to catch up on everyone!

Love you all and hope you have an amazing week,

~Elder Skinner

I just don't know what happened Oct. 23, 2016

 Morning everyone! Hoping you had a great week, cause I did! And seeing as I have a short amount of time I'll get right into the email!

This tuesday we learned a lesson that cheating never works. The story is, we were planning to share an English class message, but the video didn't work last minute, so we had to swith last minute and make it into a paper airplane contest about honesty. The idea is that everyone throws their airplane, then the missionary goes last and crumples up his plane into a ball and throws it farther than all the others. Thing is, my companion goes right before me (the designated 'cheater'), and his airplane just wrecks the competition, flying almost out of the room... And I, even with my cheating ways, was unable to get it farther. So there you have it, cheating doesn't work.

Later on, we went to a combined mission conference with Elder Bednar! Saw a couple of friends from the other mission, and of course heard from Elder Bednar teach us a few things... He's quite the comedian, though.

And a funny story from the week... We were walking around a park with a lake, and me and my companion spot a balloon, rolling across the grass. We don't think too much of it, until we hear a girl let out a little scream, and we find that the balloon had snuck up behind her and bumped into her, and she was caught off guard. That made our day just a little bit more entertaining.

But that's all I have time for, so I'll talk to you all next week and once again I hope you have a great week!

~Elder Skinner

Elder Skinner's got 5 minutes left! Oct 16, 2016

Which means it's time for a quick summary of my week!

This week was a pretty normal one, though we did have a few fun events to report. The first one being a long time less-active member that just texted and asked if we could visit him soon... At first I didn't know who it was but we went and talked with him for a bit, he's really nice and though he didn't come to church, he did give us 20 kilograms of uncooked rice... which I then had to carry on my back all the way home.

Later on we had an activity with the youth and young single adults (not a lot ended up coming) where we were able to teach about missionary work and just have a bit of fun with the young people of the ward. Turned out pretty good, but that's probably because we had one of the members helping with most of it ^^

So with that, that's all the time I have, so I'll talk to you all here next week! Have a great day!

~Elder Skinner

The Dang, Wi City, and Ashley's Oct. 10, 2016

Hello everyone! How are things going this week? Things are going pretty good for us out here in Ilsan, Korea. The weather is cooling down, and it looks like as the weather cools off, the work of the Lord is heating up in Ilsan!

But first, it was P-day, and those of you who know Korea know about the love push machines- throw in a dollar and you have a chance to push a toy off a shelf and into your hands. My companion is a big fan, and I happen to be pretty good at them, so naturally we spend some time on one nearby the barber shop. With a total of 6 dollars (7 tries) we are able to win three prizes, with one of them taking only one try. It was pretty great.

But now back to the actual missionary work.

After zone meeting, I was able to go out to Wondang ('the dang' in the title above) with one of my zone leaders, Elder Ridge. Naturally, the first thing we do is go to a buffet with the other Wondang elders, but the thing is, one of them is vegetarian... So we are forced to go to a much more expensive buffet than normal, which was fine, especially when we get there and find that our vegetarian friend is able to eat like no one else. Quite the adventure.

While I was in Wondang, my companion and my friend Elder Dye met with our new investigator from English Class, Jin. Jin didn't have too much interest at first, but he accepted an invitation to General Conference on Saturday and seemed to really enjoy it! So we'll see how he progresses!

And last, but surely not least, what we ate in between conference sessions... One of the members took us out to eat by the church, and as there wasn't too much to eat nearby the church, we went to a restaurant specializing in fried Eel. Yep, that's a thing here too.

But that's my longer email this week, and I have to go, but I'll see y'all here next week! Peace out~

~Elder Skinner

Elder Skinner picking pecks of pickled peppers Oct. 2, 2016

But, before we get into the picking of peppers... Hello everyone! Kamusta ang araw mo? ...I'll wait while you go to Google Translate to figure out what that meant, and then I'll explain that this week was transfers and I have a new companion! Elder Saguinshin, from the Philippines! He's a young missionary, though my elder in years on earth, and he's a great companion and friend so far. We've already had plenty of adventures, the most notable of which being the above mentioned pepper picking!

Thursday, the day after transfers. We go to a members' house, who lives south of Ilsan proper and in the countryside... At the end of the bus route. We pick peppers for about 2 and a half hours and we maybe got halfway done. Pictures attached~

Later on, this Sunday, it started to rain. Me and my companion decided it would be good to go out and find people anyway, so we get out with high hopes and equally high spirits... and then it rains harder. Nobody's outside, and even those that are don't want to talk to us... Well, everyone has those days, I guess.

I don't have much time to make other announcements, but things are still going well out here in the old Ilsan. Hope you all have a great week, full of blessings and perhaps some Great Chocolate Pies (That honestly could be greater), but until then, James 5:7-8, and lots of love!

~Elder Skinner

Schoko Tatzen! Mein Deutsch be poopsen! Sept 25, 2016

Happy Monday everyone! This is Elder Skinner. I don't have much to report this week, except that we received some Schoko Tatzen from the sister missionaries, who got it from someone else, who probably got it from a snack store somewhere. The point is, they were super delicious and my companion ate way more than half of them. >.<

But I'm not bitter about it.

This week as well, I held a district meeting, like District leaders do, but as the other missionaries are reporting on investigators, President and Sister Sonksen walk in! So naturally I proceed to lose my mind I mean play it cool as the rest of the training goes on. Thankfully it was a good training, else he'd have had my head! 😌

Later on, we met a nice kid by the name of Oh, who met missionaries in Seoul about a year ago and wanted to meet again. So we met and ate some food, taught a concise lesson about the Book of Mormon, and he's super accepting and willing to learn. The thing is, he lives on the other side of the province, at least 2 hours away by train. So... send him to the other missionaries! 

Then at English Class, I played Balderdash with the advanced class! Using such words as Haberdashery and Spelunking, I totally stumped them! I think they enjoyed it, and they learned a few new words in the process.

Then came transfer calls! The news is......... I'm staying! But Elder Conley is moving to Seoul. I'll be receiving a new companion from the Philippines, who has just finished training! So I'll be working with him until I return home in 5 weeks.

Lastly, I want to share with you all D+C 90:24. I don't have time to paste it in, but please read it on your own and remember that even the little things make a difference! Have an amazing week, and remember: P Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney!

~Elder Skinner 

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Your weekly email in record speed! Sept. 18, 2016

This week was pretty great! Not much in terms of new investigators but that was because for half of the week it was Chuseok! A traditional Korean Thanksgiving, us missionaries spent the holiday doing normal P-day things, cleaning the house, and holding a special Chuseok conference at the mission office!

On Friday, I also conducted a baptismal interview for the sisters' investigator in Wondang ward. She has a great testimony and it was great to be able to do that for her.

I just have a short spiritual thought coming from my ponderizer for this coming week.

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." ~Psalm 42: 5,11,43:5

Someone said at Chuseok conference that their favourite word in the Book of Mormon was "Rejoice". I think I'll steal that one from him, because it's just such a powerful word- a call to remember the mercies of God, to praise His name and be glad.

I love you all, I'll email better next week, hope you have an amazing, spectacular, all-good very happy day!

~Elder Skinner [?]

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