Jan 25, 2012 - Happy Solar!

ah this is crazy! Everything was closed Monday and Tuesday, because of  Lunar New Year so we had to email today....but when we got here the place said we couldn't stay long so I'll hurry. This week was so good. we had "solar" so lots of fun events. We had Temple day and a missionary conference and we got to spend p-day with Sister Kangs family! Her grandparents and aunts and cousins live in her old area so we headed north Monday and had a fun day chillin with the family.  I got your package, it was so good to hear from you.

I'm sorry i have to go but i hope ill get to come back after district meeting and use the rest of my time!

 Hi! we didn't get our full time earlier so we got to come back! I'm super bummed about the first Christmas box  not getting here. I'm still hoping it will come..I know some people have had their packages checked but the post office called our mission office and told them...like one kids had beef jerky which for some reason wasn't ok so they called and said they had to confiscate it. But I wonder what happened i'm so sad  I hope it will still come.  I'm trying to get a package sent this week too! we'll see maybe next Monday.

 So i bought a hanbok...in case you were wondering how i spent so much money...sorry ;) but the ward loved it! they said it makes us conected( me and korea) haha. 

Sister Kang & I

 So the tradition is to bow to your grandparents and they give you money.

 So we took these pictures bowing to Sister Ha

 

                                                                and we got money, haha. 

 We had a good week. there's a little girl, she's 12 and she's been an investigator for a while...we hadn't met her yet but we were at church trying to tie my hanbok and this little girl walked in so we asked her to help..then we found out shes the investigator!! Shes so cute! and she decided that day she wants to get baptized! whoa . so cool. She's so cute! 

Sunday night and Monday we went to her grandparents house it was fun they taught me a sweet game i cant wait to play it with you. it will be fun for Roosevelt too ;)  I love you all and hope you are safe!

Sister Richardson

January 15, 2012 - Hello From Soo-Jee

Well hello from Soo-Jee. That's not how they romanize it but if you read it this way you might say it right haha. I'm like suuuuper far south...i dont even think i'm technically in Seoul anymore! Tell Jenn and Matt....I didn't train but we did practically open this area. There used to be sisters out here who served in two wards...but the wards kinda fought over them haha ok not fought but ...really wanted their own set of sisters....so since there was 3 threesomes they split them up and sent us here. so we are now in a 4-man house with the original Sisters that were here. 

                                                     

 It's super fun! It's Sister Paul who i was in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) with and her companion is the cutest little Korean her name is  Sister Ha. 

In this picture me and Sis Paul eating meat of a cow spine (same night i ate pig intestines)

 

My comp is Sister Kang. She was born in Seoul but moved to Georgia when she was a baby so...shes really good at Korean. The ward and church down here are HUGE!  

My new companion Sister Kang & I in front of our Church

Most wards here are like 60 active members...this ward is about 160! the church is 4 stories! It's so nice.I'll try to send pics. The members are super nice and they are so happy to have us here. 

Before i forget we wont email Monday the 24th cause its a holiday and we aren't allowed to leave the house that Sunday or Monday -  haha. so ...don't wait up :)

 

Sister Richardson - Sister Lee Mi Sun and Sister Siepel

Lee-mi-sun...got baptized on Saturday!!! I got permission to go back! It was so amazing! Poor girl...we apparently didn't explain well that she goes completely under...so she was really shocked haha and the water wouldn't heat up...yikes...so she was pretty cold haha. She was sad that i got transferred but it was good to be able to see a lot of my members and even some investigators came so it was great.

I'm gonna try and get some pictures real fast but if it doesn't work ill write more.

! LOVE YOU! have a good week! stay safe!

Sister Richardson

January 8, 2012

Last month we went to a palace and one of the members took some pictures for us and just sent them - so enjoy.

Thanks for the updates! glad you got to see Elliot...i cant believe it....i remember speaking at his farewell with dad like it was yesterday! {Elder Elliot Crosby returned from his Mission this last week - he was in Janell's Grade}

I also sent a Christmas card to Susan and Richard so they sent one to me!

I'm glad you got the Christmas box! But i had more ideas of what to send after i sent it so I'm putting together another :) i just don't know when it will be ready.

I'm excited to see the blog...that would be neat to make it into a book when I'm done...kinda see it from your words :)

I'm excited to see Jenns pictures of her new house. I want to see how the girls decorated their house for Christmas.

I got Christmas card from seminary students, bishopric and 1st Presidency pretty cool! I cant believe i didn't know most the kids on the seminary paper. I'm so old! i got a Christmas card from Jody this week too...such cute family pics...love the pink and camo...and Jessie's announcement....cute to see the difference already between the two pictures.

My companion had a bad headache last night, and after weird meals our stomachs act funny...but other than that we have been really blessed with good health.I'm actually really surprised none of us have gotten colds. We even still go outside most morning for exercise! It's only snowed about twice but hasn't stuck enough for a snow-woman...sorry J.T. maybe next time!

This week has been good. we didn't transfer....so this was going to be our 3rd together, but we got a call from President this morning saying a new sister came late so I'm leaving tomorrow :( I'm super sad,,,,i just started a gymnastics kids class for the cute little family we teach and the kids in our ward. darn. and we have a baptism this Saturday :( but I'm hoping i can get permission to come back for that and see the ward one last time.I love this ward so much, they are such amazing people and they always make me laugh, I'm gonna miss them so much. I'm thinking we should come visit for spring break next year :) so you will get to meet a lot of them :) and not when its cold outside haha.  so i guess i have to go home and pack today and leave in the morning, i don't remember where I'm going so ill have to tell you next week. i think my companion is Sister Kang,  her grandparents live here in Korea and she is super good,,,,so I'm hoping my Korean will improve quick :) 

well I'm gonna go read another email while i think of what else to write about haha sorry my brain is slow and my heart is in mourning so the fingers aren't moving very fast. but i still love you...so that's good haha

January 1, 2012 "Have Luck"

Monday night we went knocking doors., it's so fun.  There's not houses so we just go to the top floor of apartments or villas and knock our way down the levels.  But they have intercoms so usually we just have a conversation through the door.  It's funny cause our Korean is bad enough but through the muffled door, 5 minutes of the conversation is them saying" What?" "Who are you" "WHO?" "What?"  good times.  Then we had the cute little family...I'm going to try to send a video of nam-he she is so cute.  It's a story about a mosquito!She says to notice the cute little brother in the background too!

Tuesday was fun we went from appointment to another all day. Helen, our member makes us lunch every Tuesday then we race back to church had 2 lessons, 2nd one was with Marsha and Nicolo.  Two English class members, but Nicolo is also learning German from Sister Seipel so while they do German, Marsha and I do English.  Then we all went to dinner together, then Marsha wanted to buy us ice cream, so she invited a different girl that comes to English to come with us, and we had an unplanned lesson with both of them that was soooo good!  They have both been going to missionary's English classes for a long time and know a lot about the church but haven't tried to find out for themselves if it's true, so we talked, they both were so interested and wow it was just good, I haven't seen them focus so well when we do gospel time!

Wednesday had district meeting...always fun, love my zone.  Then the Elders and us all went to a less active Grandma's house and caroled, it was cute she knew all the words to every song!  Every Wednesday night is English class, which is always fun too. 

 Thursday  we went street boarding with our zone leaders and a couple other companionships in a different area, it was fun to go somewhere new and it was a pretty successful day.  I think they got 10 numbers that wanted to meet again!  We came back and had dinner with another English class member, Maria and then we had a different English class haha they really like learning English!

Friday and Saturday..same ole same ole...Holiday since no one came to dance but Maria but she likes it that way so we can do ballet.  I got a letter from the St. Johns Seminary kids...so weird I knew maybe 4 names, I can't believe how old  I am!  Which reminds me, on the new year everyone turns a year older, so I am now 25!  I realized yesterday that I will never be 23, I went from 22 in America to 24 in Korea and when I go home I'll go from 25 to 24...so no 23 but 24 and 25 twice!!!!

Sunday, Had such a fun meal at members, the family is moving so invited the whole ward over, I can't even explain how cool this is, there was over 25 people in this tiny front room, all squished in practically on top of each other and everyone's family, it's so cool...it really is just a big family, it's so cool.  I sat by han-ee-eem she is so funny, she's one of the ladys in a picture I sent , she made me race her eating pees and corn one at a time with chopsticks....I won!  :)  She made me eat so much!  and She'd just laugh and say in English "You can do and then the oranges" so she piled like 8 oranges in my lap.  Oh man, she had me laughing tears all night.  Hope all is well, drive safe!  Have a good week!

Sister Richardson also told us that transfer calls would be Monday night the 2nd...she was hoping that she wouldn't be moved because she was looking forward to starting a kids gymnastics class.  So this Sunday we will hear if she moved or not and where to if she did!

December 25, 2011 Merry Christmas!

We were able to hear from Sister Richardson Sunday Christmas Day about 3:30pm - it was her Monday Morning!  We were able to call her back on Skype and there was a little bit of a delay but we could hear each other fine (no video).  Her nieces and nephew talked to her first and then one by one Rachel, then Jenn & Matt got to talk to her and Jon came flying home from work on a break so he could talk to her then he had to go back to work. Mom & Dad got to listen and we'd chime in every once in  awhile.  Then we got to talk to her and ask her the questions we'd been writing down.  She spoke Korean with her Companion Sister Siepel for a little so we could hear them speak.  She sounds healthy and loving it.  She doesn't feel like she has the language down, but is understanding more and she planned on going out and buying a translator so she can have a little more help.  The food is really good and she is getting used to "spicey"  One of her favorite dishes is duck with rice cakes. 

She has sent some pictures so we'll share those too.  We lost her right before the time was up and we wondered where she went - and said "well that's one way of not getting too emotional - not having to say Goodbye!"  Ended up - she could still hear us, we just couldn't hear her.. So she called back and we did have to say Goodbye - but we can't wait for Mother's Day when she can call again!  It was just great to hear her voice and she misses the nieces and nephews so much and our 7 year old Grandson J.T. stood by the table the whole time after he got to talk to her and just listened and later as he left he said "I didn't come over here to play...I came over here to talk to Nelly!"  He would throw in a comment every once in while to let her know that he was still there!  So sweet.

So later that night she was able to send her regular weekly email too, so that was fun to hear from her again that night.  She wrote "So good to call home! I was so excited last night we were talking and I remember thinking I don't want to talk I just need to go to sleep so I can wake up and call home! I hope your Christmas was fun....I played Grandpas Video in  my  mind on Christmas eve after I got my jammies and hot cocoa! :) Can't wait for next year! (Grandpa Richardson would recite the Story of Christ's birth from Luke every Christmas Eve at our house - one time we video taped it so we would have it forever!)

She said Last Tuesday was Temple day so went there in the morning and then ran to next 3 lessons right after another ....so  much food and each of them semi painful!  Wednesday we went to our zone leaders area for district meeting and we all shared our favorite Christmas Hymn or Scripture, it was really fun.  If they said a hymn we sang a verse, and our zone sounds pro choir so it was fun!  My favorite Hymn is Away in a Manger, Christmas season when is, everyone asks "what do you want this year? and I love the 3rd verse of that hymn cause it tells  us what we really want, at the end of the day that's what I ask for, just for God to be near me and all of his children, and help us get back to him.  I used to think it's kinda random verse for a Christmas hymn but it shows how Christ came to earth, and he didn't need much...he didn't even need a warm bed, a manger did just fine...and really we don't need a whole lot either..just Him.  Anyway after meetings we practiced our skit for Thursday which was the huge mission conference, each zone had a slideshow and skit to perform, ours was way fun we did impersonations of other missionaries, Sister Siepel and I had to be the old Asst. to the President so it was kinda funny, that was fun to be with everyone though and then after the conference we had p-day the rest of the day. So we went to "On the border" again - I miss my chimi's too much - need to go every couple of months.  Friday our ward had their Christmas party...it was so fun.  A lot of our English class came, it was so good.  Our dance class performed but no one knew the dance so it was a disaster!  But it was a very funny one!  Two of the ladies busted out belly dancing skirts so they were jungling away and when everyone started crashing into each other we just all laughed through it!  At one  point one of the ladies was bent down laughing and she couldn't even stand up, when we left that night it was snowing!

  It was so pretty and it actually gets warmer when it snows so I was welcoming it!

Only one lady Maria came to dance class so we had a private ballet lesson with her.  Marsha came after dance class and we all sang hymns in English.  We tried to leave after that and Maria said "are you going home now?" and we said "No we can't go home till 9" so she asked us where we were going and we told her "on the street to talk to people" She freaked out...."NO It's COLD!  It's Christmas Eve! You should have an appointment so you're not outside" "well, yeah that would be great but we don't have one".  She said "Just go home no one will know" hahah we told her "God will know!"  She said "He'll understand, it's OK..I know him!"  that was funny, so then we said "well what if someone is out there all sad and lonely and need us to talk to them?" and she screams "I"M SAD! I"M LONELY! TALK TO ME!" so she rushed us back inside haha.  it turned out so good !  She comes to all of our activities but won't really meet us for lessons so it was so good to have her by ourselves and talk and see where she is at!  She taught us traditional Korean dance and then we ordered dinner and watched Nora's Christmas with her.  At the end she said "I'm so glad I had somewhere to go tonight - I was going to go home and clean!"

Christmas Eve!

Sunday our President gave us the gift of sleep!  we got to sleep until 8!  We had a Yummy Breakfast

 Sister Siepel didn't want you to see her sleepy face.

and then off to church one hour and it was a special musical sacrament.  Then off to one lesson and off to the other concert and then after that went caroling!  There was a drunk guy that was stealing our spotlight but that's ok...he danced in front of us and tried to sing along....everyone had their gadgets out recording it and laughing away...I'm sure we are on U tube by now hahah it was good! 


 Sorry the pic of our church is blurry.







 This was just a cool picture of an area with all the kimchi pots on the roof of a house.











 This is my MTC group but missing Elder Porter.  Elder Gilis snuck in (he is our younger district and was the only Elder that came to Seoul so we adopted him into our group!

 

 

 This the Missionaries in Bong Chun - Sister Siepel and I and Elder Greer (from Gilbert!) and Elder Ean.

 Me being SICK from all the candy and snacks we received!! haha

 Pretty Sunset and buildings.













Fall was So pretty!  Had to get picture with leaves!

 This is the Big Mission Photo that was taken at the Christmas Conference - We hope you have a Merry Christmas!  Try to find Sister Richardson!  (It's not hard)

"Merry  Christmas and Have a Happy New Year as well!  LOVE YOU!!!"

We got Snail Mail from Sister Richardson!

We received an actual letter from Sister Richardson - it arrived Dec 21, 2011, she had mailed it the 14th.  She thought since she doesn't have much time when she e-mails - she'd give us a little more detail in a real letter.  So here is her letter :
"I just opened  up my journal to the day where we went to the Soccer field but there was a team practicing so we couldn't play.  But they have these exercise machines so I was pretending to do Pull-ups and such (But I was really watching the game ) and all of a sudden I see an old man grab my ball and dribble off with it!  I thought "Oh he's just going around the track....NOPE! He was headed home!  So I ran after him cause I had just bought that ball and spent an hour blowing it up!  It was pretty funny, Now we see him every morning and he apologizes! haha   Another funny story...I told you about cute little family, well first time we visited them they opened the door, saw us, screamed (something in Korean) "Foriegner!" and then they ran away as the door closed.  haha I Love it!

Thursday nights we have an English/Gospel Principles class and one of the recent converts said the prayer.  He being the only member there.  He said "If anyone here has questions or doubts I want you to give them proof like you gave me!"  It was the coolest thing to hear.  I think one of the hardest things is when we can't help someone.  I met a girl who is homeless & slightly...ok...straight up crazy but she was so cute & she loved me but I just...there's nothing I can do for her I felt useless, like I'm supposed to be a representative of Christ...so I think "what would He do if He were here"  but  He would heal them! What am I supposed to do!? But I guess I just know that He is still going to take care of her needs.  She was so funny, when I first saw her she stopped dead in middle of street.  So I went & said "Hi & She smiled & Held out the food in her hand offering it to me.  We saw Her another time on the street & she grabs my hand, since I was cold she took off running,.....still holding my hand & we go to a store - like a Pharmacy & I don't know what they are saying but somehow I end up with a small brown liquid bottle & She's telling me to drink!  haha   She would carry a little tiger, sometimes it was her baby, sometimes her boyfriend, oh man. That's all the time for this week.  We'll have A_LOT to Catch up on!!   I'll try to sleep now.  Love, love, love. "