I'm in Korea! Things are going well here, but first things that happened between now and the last time I emailed stuff.
Got on a bus at around 4:30 in the morning, took a train to the airport, and ate an egg mcmuffin on an airplane (something I don't recommend, ever). A 2 hour flight later, I was in Seattle, eating a fairly expensive hamburger (which really wan't bad), and almost swearing at a payphone in Russian. That's a long story, but suffice it to say that payphones are not my favourite things.
Then on to an 11 and a half hour flight to Incheon. It wasn't so bad, and we got some Bibimbap and Kimchi halfway through. One of the sisters sitting next to me gave me half of her spicy sauce stuff, so I had extra spicy Bibimbap. It was pretty good, for airplane food.
There was a little screen on the chair in front of me with some games and music (no worries, I only listened to mission-appropriate music... Namely, the Piano Guys and some classical), so I wasn't bored the whole time. I also discovered I'm possibly the worst person at chess, ever.
Landed in Korea and went through customs (quite the line on that one), then went down and met the mission president. From there, we were separated by mission, so I said goodbye to some of my district forever, but that's not so bad. I'll email them and stuff.
We got introduced, then we threw our bags into the mission president's car and got on a train, then a subway, then another subway, then a bus to get to the mission home in Seoul. During that time, we gave out five Book of Mormons, in Korean, with some help from the APs. It was super intimidating for a bit, but I'd gotten pretty good at it by the time we got there.
We ate dinner at the mission home, had some interviews and went to bed... On actual beds, which is the last time we'll ever do that for our entire mission. The mats they use instead are pretty comfortable, and it's kinda cool.
In the morning came breakfast, followed by some meetings with trainers and stuff, where we learned all about the mission and the 12-week language-learning program they have. I met my companion, Elder Moore, who is from Texas. Dad, he lives in your mission boundaries... Have you ever heard of Vidor? He says it's right near Beaumont and Galliston. He got me a University of Texas shirt... Not sure if I'm allowed to wear it, I don't know the family's opinion towards that particular school.
After that got to carry all of my bags around for an hour and a half on public transit to reach the apartment, which is on the 18th floor. My arms hurt pretty bad by that point, and Elder Moore had to carry half of them by the time we got to the city. Maybe I shouldn't have packed so much food... my roommates like it, though, so it's all good.
We're in a city called 구리 (Guri), which is just outside of Seoul. It's got probably twice as many people as Salt Lake City, and the people there consider it the countryside. Why that is, I have no idea. It just is.
Our apartment is considered pretty big, which I'd have to agree with. In the apartment is us and two other elders, one of which was in the district above me in the MTC (Elder Barr- He left 3 weeks after I got there). They're cool, which is good. Elder Fronk is kind of a goofball, and by kind of, I mean he's a complete goofball. It's all good, though.
Since then we've spent a lot of time wandering the streets and talking to people. Usually they're pretty willing to talk to you if you make the first move, especially if you're an American. Koreans love Americans.
We've had a lot of success... We talk to a lot of people, get quite a few phone numbers, and some return appointments that way. We have two new investigators (that are technically investigators), and a few other people who we've met who aren't investigators. Both have committed to baptism, and one has a date already! The work is progressing here, my friends.
We also went out knocking doors for a bit, and we actually got let into a house (not literally let in, but they opened the door and we taught a lesson), which is a first for my companion as well (he's been here about 10 months). We're meeting with him again later this week. We've also committed three people to come to church with us this coming Sunday.
Learning Korean is hard, but it's coming along bit at a time. My companion says you won't get fluent, no matter how long you're here, but there are definitely missionaries who rely too heavily on their senior companions to take care of things for them.
Gotta sign off for now, I'll send in some more adventures next week! 나중에 봬요! See you later!
Elder Skinner
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