Transfers, Exchanges, and a whole lot of Kimchi! Elder Skinner is Still In Korea! Aug. 10

Good day everyone! It has been for us.

So this week has been pretty normal for us... a lot of teaching, a lot of kimchi, and a lot of Korea! Which is all awesome so things are still going pretty awesome!

One pretty exciting development that happened this week was transfers! They changed up the transfer system a little bit so last week after Transfer Calls I didn't really know who was coming in or where people were going, but now we have a new Elder in our apartment! He is Elder Hong Gun Young, from Ulsan! He's a pretty cool guy, and good at English to boot.

In other transfer news we got a new sister missionary straight from the MTC! So I'm not the youngest one anymore!

Other than that, it's been hot and sticky still but it's been slowly getting cooler, and I hear it's gonna keep going like that, but also that monsoon season is coming in pretty soon too! It's gonna be super exciting! -scared-

Still not a lot of success out here. We've been trying hard though and I'm sure soon we'll find some people that are willing to hear our message.

This week I've had kind of a realization of just how important the Restoration is to our gospel... Of course, without it we don't have a church or a Book of Mormon, but it's also central to our focus as missionaries. We are going out and teaching people for the sole purpose of telling them that God's truths and authority have been restored, and everything else is only secondary to that.

A lot of churches out here focus on the deeper, more difficult parts of the Gospel (Revelations), but it's nice to know that our Gospel is simple enough to be understood by a primary child and summarized in a couple sentences.

Also during some proselyting time this week me and Elder Bluhm got talking a bit about some of the ways Korea could improve (I mean we love Korea but there are those things that we as members of the church recognize could use some improvement), and we basically decided that the Gospel solves all problems. So that's my message for tonight, the Gospel solves all problems, no matter what. Guaranteed. I testify of that with all my heart.

Love you all! Hope you all have a great week! Go and eat something delicious for me and Don't forget to be awesome!

~Elder Skinner

Get enthused! Elder Skinner hastens the work! Aug. 17

Hello everyone! How have you been today? I hope the answer is "pretty freaking awesome, how about you?" to which I would probably respond "Tubular".

This week has been lots of fun! To begin I spent three days in two different threesomes, which both ended up pretty awesome. It's helped me to see how to improve myself as a missionary, and we saw plenty of miracles during that time, including a sit-down lesson from a contact on the street. So much fun.

Then on Thursday, we took an hour and a half bus ride out to Wonju for a zone conference, during which I nearly puked. I didn't, though, and once there we heard a lot of great things from President Sonksen. He talked about the progression of the work, specifically in Korea, and told us that now is the time for a hastening of the work in this wonderful country, and how we as missionaries can make that happen.

I can't speak for everyone here but I'm pretty stoked. I love Korea (and you all should too but that's not the point) and I can't wait to see the Gospel taught to the people here!

Since then, we've seen a lot of little signs of success in our teaching and contacting that have shown us that what President said is true- now is the time. Even in a little place like Gangneung, the work is beginning to progress. The stone is rolling out of the mountain, and that's freaking exciting! (Pardon my French)

That being said, those signs are still small. We haven't met the Golden Investigator, and our current ones have yet been unable to meet. We don't even have any new investigators this week, but the seeds are being planted, and soon we'll get to the fields white and ready to harvest.

So my message to you today is to get excited! The Church is true! The work is hastening! I love you all and wish you all the best through good times and bad. Things are still hard, even for me... I haven't wanted to wake up at 6:30 once my entire mission, and I'm not exaggerating. But through it all remember that the Lord is in the details.

Be good, work hard, and as always, DFTBA,

~Elder Skinner 🐙

I've never felt so full in my life... Elder Skinner goes to some Interesting Places!

Hello everyone! Hope you all are having adventures this week!

Not a lot of news in terms of the work this week... We haven't met with Oliver or Kwon this week as Kwon has been in Seoul for work and Oliver has just returned. Kwon should be coming to work next week though so that'll be a great opportunity.

Yesterday we went out to Pyeongchang (Where they're gonna do some of the 2018 Olympics) to have dinner with the branch, and there was so much food I just about exploded. There was beef, pork, squid (all cooked on a Korean barbecue), fruits, snacks, drinks (which is unusual in Korea) and of course Kimchi, and when I started feeling kinda full I look over to the barbecues and they're STILL COOKING. So I gathered all my strength and willpower to eat some more but in the end it just wasn't enough. I did better than my companion though, I think

Also this week we went up to Jumunjin, which if you have no idea what that is (everyone), is a port town north of Gangneung. We walked out by the beach, into the market, saw lots of dried sea creatures hanging out in shops, and discovered that it's really hard to find addresses there, as all the roads are windy and narrow.

I've attached a picture though from Jumunjin that I think you all will enjoy.

This week Elder Bluhm had some sickness, which made it hard for him to go out and proselyte, but with the exception of one day where it was really bad we've still been going out and working as hard as we can. That's been a reinforcement of the things we can overcome when we decide to (which was a hard thing my first little bit on my mission).

No new success to report this week though, but I'm sure our dedication is showing to the Lord and he will help us accordingly.

Love you all! Don't forget to be awesome, and have a great week!

 ~Elder Skinner

Humidity stinks! Elder Skinner and the Case of the Elusive Less-Actives! July 26

Hello everyone! Hope you all are having a wonderful week. I know we have.

To start off this week the elders in our apartment had an adventurous P-day! We visited a Buddhist Temple, a park where we got to look around a retired destroyer and a North Korean Submarine, and then closed off with a visit to the Air Force museum nearby! We learned a lot about Korea from it and grew our respect for the people here.

 

 

This week started off with a lot of time and not a lot of people to meet... We spent some time trying to find Less-Actives, in an effort to get out of the humidity and heat, but alas none of them were anywhere to be found! We've been working pretty closely with a couple of them but it's hard sometimes to help people come back to church.

But at the end of the week, things got better!

Saturday we had a district Fireside, where a guy and his family all came in and played some music for us- he was a Tenor, his three daughters all played violin, and his wife played piano. It was good, and a lot of English Class members and less-actives came!

Then on Sunday, we found a new investigator! His name is Kwon. He's 59, his family all lives in New York but he's from Gangneung so he moved back here. He's been to church before but wasn't really impressed, but when we started sharing the first discussion he was super impressed! Especially by the fact that none of our leaders are paid. He really wants to learn and wants to come to church sometime!

This week is looking to be a great one, so cross your fingers!

Hope you all are doing spectacularly! Remember that people are supporting you, especially all of you out in the mission field or preparing to serve. Don't forget that you are a child of God!

Once again, have a wonderful week!

~Elder Skinner