Dear Jordan,
Sorry the title is off this time. I was hoping something better would come to mind. So here it goes.
1 - Be one with the Spirit and no matter what happens you will be successful
2 - You have a companion for many reasons (e.g. Protection, guidance, etc) so that you can rely on him
3 - The Godhead is three distinct individuals but one in purpose. As you become one with the Spirit, you become more like God
4 - The first four principles of the gospel opens the Celestial kingdom to us
5 - The number of fingers and toes on our hands and feet that remind us that we are to be Heavenly Father's hands to serve others and to quickly go as the Spirit dictates
6 - The number of days/periods that it took to form the earth. If the world can come together and be so beautiful, think what is possible for each of our spiritual brothers and sisters
7 - The seventh day is a day of rest. Don't walk faster than you are able but remember that the Lord qualifies those that He calls. Ammon said that as to the strength of man he was week but knew that he could accomplish anything that God asked of him
8 - There are eight quorums of the Seventies. They, like you, have been called of God and carry the title of Elder. Your district, zone, and mission now is your quorum and as a quorum, you can accomplish anything
9 - Can't think of anything, so kimchi. Nine or nein or no!!!!
10 - Moroni 10: 3-5 Moroni's promise to know the truth is sure
11 - The number of witnesses to the Book of Mormon and the percent of time you have already been on your mission. The time is flying by quickly when you are in the service of the Lord
12 - The Twelve Apostles are special witnesses of Jesus Christ and you have the opportunity to testify of Him every day
We have enjoyed your emails. They show your enthusiasm for your mission. Thank you for sharing what you are experiencing. We haven't received your boots yet from the missionary. Have you received your Chinese Book of Mormon? Everyone keeps asking how you are doing and I respond that you are doing great, especially since you get to use all of the different languages that you have learned.
How many missionaries in your mission? How many zones? How many missionaries in you district? Do you have weekly district meetings? I did in Ecuador. Are there many sister missionaries or senior missionaries? How are the discussions going? Do you spend most of your time finding or teaching?
I heard on Sunday that Dallin Colgrove is planning on finishing the last six months of his mission. The cyst was removed and he is going through therapy. Also Jason Colgrove is planning on serving a mission this summer.
Last night I helped clean the temple so if my thoughts are a little scattered, that is why. On Monday we had a quick Family Home Evening so that Hannah could see "Fiddler on the roof" at Jordan High School. I then went with the missionaries to teach a family on Sego Lily. It is a mixed family as far as religion. The father is Hindu and the mother is protestant. It was interesting to hear about the Hindu teachings and how many of the philosophies align with ours. They are a great family. If they pray about the Book of Mormon I know they will learn that it is true.
Amazing Race started again and it has returning teams including the cowboys. They won the first leg of the race.
We are doing well. Thank you for your prayers. When you went through the temple, was it in Korean or English? I still get nervous at the end when it is in Spanish. I am fine in English though.
Keep up the great work. I put your name on the prayer roll in the temple.
We love you.
Rachel, Bekah, dad, Mom, Sarah, Hannah
P.S. The attachment was in the news this week. It shows the lights on the Korean Peninsula. I bet you are near the Seoul lights. You can clearly see the DMZ.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Jordan's Week 11 response!
From: Jordan Stamps Jones <jsjones@myldsmail.net>
Date: February 23, 2014 at 8:43:27 PM MST
To: Steven Jones <sajmba2002@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Week 11 - Elevenses is a meal eaten by Hobbits between second breakfast and luncheon
Date: February 23, 2014 at 8:43:27 PM MST
To: Steven Jones <sajmba2002@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Week 11 - Elevenses is a meal eaten by Hobbits between second breakfast and luncheon
Hey everybody!
Sorry about the lateness of last week's letter. We had a
temple day last week which meant P-day was on Tuesday instead of Monday. It was
good, but a bit disorienting... and we ran out of food for a bit...
Tell Hannah she did a good job on translating. As I
understand, it is "one door" and "Eastern big door". I
don't blame Google for messing it up a bit. Those words are from Chinese and
can have identical sounds for different meanings... I think the river is out of
my area, but in my zone. I imagine most of the greenery is on the grounds of
the three massive colleges in our area. There are a few parks here and there,
but they are usually pretty small. There are not many members in our area, but
it is also the smallest area in the mission. We work with a branch that
ocassionaly will help us with food. The Branch President says we need to ask
for food more becasue it builds relationships fast. The only really permanent
members of the branch are fairly old. Most of the branch consists of students
(thus it's a branch, not a ward). We haven't been able to do much work with the
members, unfortunately because the member is busy or the appointment falls
through at the last moment. We are making that more of a focus, but it may take
some time to take hold.We have a washing machine in the house and buy some
cleanign supplies when necessary, The clothes just air dry in a miniature
greenhouse made for that purpose. It's not quite as good as the machines back
home, but it works out alright :)
I hope that Holly gets better quickly! That is not something
she needs. Sorry about your legs, but thank you for doing that. I hope I'm able
to help the next time something big like that needs work. I am staying in
pretty good shape (my cardio has definitely improved. Once I get to clean air
again I think I'll be able to run faster than ever before). We try to do
service as much as possible, but it seems like a cultural thing to not ask for
or accept help :S We'll see what other service we can do. We will be helping
the members clean the church in a few weeks. It is difficult to pick up trash
around here. There are no public garbage cans. If we pick up trash, we could
end up carrying it for the rest of the day... We'll see.
I'm glad you got to enjoy Robert's tacos and dad's taco
beef. It's always good. So is Galaxy Quest. I'll miss that. Keep up the FHEs
and I look forward to hearing about the investigators that come next month.
Tell Bekah she'll have a great time in young women's. I look forward to hearing
about how she likes it.
Thank you for the prayers. They are helping every day. I
pray for all of you and I always look forward to hearing about how your lives
are going.
Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.
Best wishes,
Elder Jones
P.S. Thank you for the Book of Mormon. That will help a lot.
We currently only have a Taiwanese language learning program that we copied
from another missionary. I look forward to the Book of Mormon.
Elevenses is a meal eaten by Hobbits between second breakfast and luncheon Week 11 from Dad
Dear Jordan,
It was great to receive you last email. I received it at 4 am, so I guess it either took a while to process the email by the servers or you sent it later in your P-Day. To me it sounded like you were excited and happy which is wonderful. The additional information for the top 10 was great. It really helped us share a part of your mission.
Hannah did a google translate for the locations and she was able to find the areas on google maps. When she put in the first set of characters, it translated it to "This Document" with the pronunciation of imun. The second set of characters translated to "East demun" with pronunciation of dongdemun. It then asked if we meant 동대문 or Dongdaemun instead of 동데문, just a slight difference in the second set of characters. Obviously I don't know the difference. When we looked up Imun, it found it on the map and then there were a couple of other areas nearby with Imun (e.g. Imun-1, Imun-2, Imun-ro, etc.).
Are you by the river that we could see on the map? There are some vegetation areas as well. Are they parks or just undeveloped areas? Some of it looked like a university or large high school by the vegetation.
Are there many members in the area? Are you associated with a stake, ward, branch, or district? Are the members feeding you or are you eating out or cooking for yourselves? Have you gone on any splits with the members? How are you contacting investigators? Are the members helping you? If you can find an energetic member to help you, you will be successful with a build in friend for the new members. I know that sometimes that kind of member is hard to find. Do you wash your own laundry or does someone get paid to do it? Are you seeing lots of new and funky electronics?
Mom has been helping Holly through a tough time with her health. On Saturday I went to Alpine and installed the base board in Grandma's downstairs area. It took several hours and on Sunday and Monday, I had very sore leg muscles. Ah the fun of getting old and being out of shape. Hopefully you are staying healthy and eating well. I am sure you are getting plenty of exercise with walking around and helping people. I am sure you are already doing this but I would recommend that you continue to follow the Scout Slogan "Do a good turn daily". Since you are out and about with people, find simple ways to help. Open doors, pick up trash, offer to sweep areas in front of stores and houses, offer to wash windows, etc. Your neighbors will get to know you, trust you, and love you.
On Monday, we went to Robert's house and made tacos and then watched Galaxy Quest. In the evening we had the ward Family Home Evening at the Lynch's house. We had our family, the Lynchs, the Urtons, the Heckers, Sister Christensen (by Bruce Mecham's house), Sister Clark, and the missionaries. The lesson was on Doing Good as one of the Young Women's Values. It was enjoyable. On Tuesday, all of the girls had New Beginnings as a welcome to Bekah to YW and also to receive some of their awards.
I know that mom forwarded the email from Sister (Maddie) Hill. It brought back a lot of memories from my mission because I could remember seeing and doing many of the same things. I hope you are enjoying all of the experiences, both happy and sad, easy and hard. Mom sent you Chinese/English Book of Mormon so you should receive it sometime from the mission home. We were thrilled to hear that you are using your Chinese as well as Korean. You will be multi-lingual which will help you with all of your endeavors.
We love you very much. We miss you. We pray for you. You are wonderful.
Love,
Hannah, Rachel, Bekah, dad, Mom, and Sarah
It was great to receive you last email. I received it at 4 am, so I guess it either took a while to process the email by the servers or you sent it later in your P-Day. To me it sounded like you were excited and happy which is wonderful. The additional information for the top 10 was great. It really helped us share a part of your mission.
Hannah did a google translate for the locations and she was able to find the areas on google maps. When she put in the first set of characters, it translated it to "This Document" with the pronunciation of imun. The second set of characters translated to "East demun" with pronunciation of dongdemun. It then asked if we meant 동대문 or Dongdaemun instead of 동데문, just a slight difference in the second set of characters. Obviously I don't know the difference. When we looked up Imun, it found it on the map and then there were a couple of other areas nearby with Imun (e.g. Imun-1, Imun-2, Imun-ro, etc.).
Are you by the river that we could see on the map? There are some vegetation areas as well. Are they parks or just undeveloped areas? Some of it looked like a university or large high school by the vegetation.
Are there many members in the area? Are you associated with a stake, ward, branch, or district? Are the members feeding you or are you eating out or cooking for yourselves? Have you gone on any splits with the members? How are you contacting investigators? Are the members helping you? If you can find an energetic member to help you, you will be successful with a build in friend for the new members. I know that sometimes that kind of member is hard to find. Do you wash your own laundry or does someone get paid to do it? Are you seeing lots of new and funky electronics?
Mom has been helping Holly through a tough time with her health. On Saturday I went to Alpine and installed the base board in Grandma's downstairs area. It took several hours and on Sunday and Monday, I had very sore leg muscles. Ah the fun of getting old and being out of shape. Hopefully you are staying healthy and eating well. I am sure you are getting plenty of exercise with walking around and helping people. I am sure you are already doing this but I would recommend that you continue to follow the Scout Slogan "Do a good turn daily". Since you are out and about with people, find simple ways to help. Open doors, pick up trash, offer to sweep areas in front of stores and houses, offer to wash windows, etc. Your neighbors will get to know you, trust you, and love you.
On Monday, we went to Robert's house and made tacos and then watched Galaxy Quest. In the evening we had the ward Family Home Evening at the Lynch's house. We had our family, the Lynchs, the Urtons, the Heckers, Sister Christensen (by Bruce Mecham's house), Sister Clark, and the missionaries. The lesson was on Doing Good as one of the Young Women's Values. It was enjoyable. On Tuesday, all of the girls had New Beginnings as a welcome to Bekah to YW and also to receive some of their awards.
I know that mom forwarded the email from Sister (Maddie) Hill. It brought back a lot of memories from my mission because I could remember seeing and doing many of the same things. I hope you are enjoying all of the experiences, both happy and sad, easy and hard. Mom sent you Chinese/English Book of Mormon so you should receive it sometime from the mission home. We were thrilled to hear that you are using your Chinese as well as Korean. You will be multi-lingual which will help you with all of your endeavors.
We love you very much. We miss you. We pray for you. You are wonderful.
Love,
Hannah, Rachel, Bekah, dad, Mom, and Sarah
Monday, February 17, 2014
Jordan's "10" reply
From: Jordan Stamps Jones <jsjones@myldsmail.net>
Date: February 17, 2014 at 4:24:43 AM MST
To: Steven Jones <sajmba2002@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Week 10 - Top 10 things about the Korea Seoul Mission
Dear Family!
Thank you for the note and for the thoughts. I'm glad the girls are finally showing interest in your mission! I always loved hearing stories from your travels in the belt buckle of the world.
Here is a list of the top 10 things you wanted to know about my mission.
10 - Location. I am in 이문 which is in 동데문. Hopefully that helps... I don't know much more than that myself.
9 - Kimchi. I haven't had as much exposure to kimchi as you may think. We eat at our home a lot and don't have very much kimchi there. The flavor is good, but the burn is somewhat lasting. It is much better here than in the states, though. I haven't seen much variation, but there are very subtle differences.
8 - Study Time. I was even more surprised to use Chinese that soon! We did get Chinese study approved, so that will help out. If it would not be too much trouble, I would love to have my language study Book of Mormon. It is somewhat bulky, so I don't expect it anytime soon and would not blame you if you didn't send it at all. We have been able to get Chinese copies of the Book of Mormon and some pamphlets, but I am not sure what they have as far as study materials.
7 - Weather. The weather has apparently been warmer than usual. My clothes are working very well and I believe everything is going to be great until the summer when I will definitely need a lighter wardrobe. I believe I will be fine so please do not worry about that.
6 - Currency. I think the exchange rate is fairly constant, but we don't look at that very often. I will bring some money home afterwards. It is pretty cool.
5 - Traveling Around The Mission. The subway system is much cleaner and less crowded than New York's, though not as empty as TRAX on a normal day. We walk basically everywhere in our area. It is apparently one of the smallest in the Seoul mission. I am not losing inches because of the food or the exercise. I am losing weight because we run or speed walk everywhere.
4 - People. The people are really great. All of them are really well-educated, not only secularly, but religiously. Almost everyone out of college has a religion to claim, and the atheist teenagers and students are all very well read about many theologies. It was really interesting just a few hours ago, we had a really polite bible bashing with a kid who just comes in sometimes and points out incongruities between the bible and the D&C. It was really entertaining. :)
3 - Companions. He was born in Connecticut. His family moved to Utah. He went to college at Yale. He spent a few months in Beijing as an exchange student. He is really good at Chinese and Korean and has only been in the field for four transfers. He's a hard worker, though easily distracted according to his own words. He's really a great all around guy.
2 - Miscellaneous. Kimchi. We email at an Internet cafe near our apartment that smells like smoke and has air which feels like grease. A normal breakfast for us is cereal, rice, and eggs. A regular lunch is rice, vegetables, and some sort of snack food. Dinner is usually a type of meat, rice, vegetables, and more snack foods. It's a buch of young adults shopping. There weren't vegetable until I came.
1 - The Stamps Jones family. The Sego Lily Ward. The best places for preparing me for this work. Thank you for everything. I love you all and I pray for you always.
Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.
Best wishes,
Elder Jones
Date: February 17, 2014 at 4:24:43 AM MST
To: Steven Jones <sajmba2002@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Week 10 - Top 10 things about the Korea Seoul Mission
Dear Family!
Thank you for the note and for the thoughts. I'm glad the girls are finally showing interest in your mission! I always loved hearing stories from your travels in the belt buckle of the world.
Here is a list of the top 10 things you wanted to know about my mission.
10 - Location. I am in 이문 which is in 동데문. Hopefully that helps... I don't know much more than that myself.
9 - Kimchi. I haven't had as much exposure to kimchi as you may think. We eat at our home a lot and don't have very much kimchi there. The flavor is good, but the burn is somewhat lasting. It is much better here than in the states, though. I haven't seen much variation, but there are very subtle differences.
8 - Study Time. I was even more surprised to use Chinese that soon! We did get Chinese study approved, so that will help out. If it would not be too much trouble, I would love to have my language study Book of Mormon. It is somewhat bulky, so I don't expect it anytime soon and would not blame you if you didn't send it at all. We have been able to get Chinese copies of the Book of Mormon and some pamphlets, but I am not sure what they have as far as study materials.
7 - Weather. The weather has apparently been warmer than usual. My clothes are working very well and I believe everything is going to be great until the summer when I will definitely need a lighter wardrobe. I believe I will be fine so please do not worry about that.
6 - Currency. I think the exchange rate is fairly constant, but we don't look at that very often. I will bring some money home afterwards. It is pretty cool.
5 - Traveling Around The Mission. The subway system is much cleaner and less crowded than New York's, though not as empty as TRAX on a normal day. We walk basically everywhere in our area. It is apparently one of the smallest in the Seoul mission. I am not losing inches because of the food or the exercise. I am losing weight because we run or speed walk everywhere.
4 - People. The people are really great. All of them are really well-educated, not only secularly, but religiously. Almost everyone out of college has a religion to claim, and the atheist teenagers and students are all very well read about many theologies. It was really interesting just a few hours ago, we had a really polite bible bashing with a kid who just comes in sometimes and points out incongruities between the bible and the D&C. It was really entertaining. :)
3 - Companions. He was born in Connecticut. His family moved to Utah. He went to college at Yale. He spent a few months in Beijing as an exchange student. He is really good at Chinese and Korean and has only been in the field for four transfers. He's a hard worker, though easily distracted according to his own words. He's really a great all around guy.
2 - Miscellaneous. Kimchi. We email at an Internet cafe near our apartment that smells like smoke and has air which feels like grease. A normal breakfast for us is cereal, rice, and eggs. A regular lunch is rice, vegetables, and some sort of snack food. Dinner is usually a type of meat, rice, vegetables, and more snack foods. It's a buch of young adults shopping. There weren't vegetable until I came.
1 - The Stamps Jones family. The Sego Lily Ward. The best places for preparing me for this work. Thank you for everything. I love you all and I pray for you always.
Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.
Best wishes,
Elder Jones
Week 10 - Top 10 things about the Korea Seoul Mission (from dad)
12 February 2014
Dear Jordan,
We hope that you continue to be well.
Here is a list of the top 10 things about your mission from our point of view.
10 - We can find Seoul on a map. However we would love to know where you are on the map. Please let us know where you are living
9 - Kimchi. We are glad that you are getting accustomed the new food. We could tell from your email that the smell was strong. Is the taste also strong? Are you finding a lot of variation in the kimchi?
8 - Study Time. We were surprised that you have already used your Chinese on your mission. Please let us know if you need any of the books, etc in Chinese sent to you. Have you asked the mission office if they can get you scriptures, pamphlets, etc in Chinese? Please read the Book Of Mormon in Korean out loud. It will help you with the language.
7 - Weather. We have been experiencing a slight warm up this week. We received rain instead of snow and this weekend it could get up to 60 degrees. How is the weather in Korea? Are your clothes working for you? Have you had to buy some additional clothing? Does mom need to add some money into your account? Please let us know.
6 - Currency. How is the exchange rate? Is it favorable for you? Does the rate fluctuate very much? At the end of my mission, I made sure to bring home some of the currency because it was so colorful.
5 - Traveling Around The Mission. How was the subway ride? How does it compare to New York's system? or even TRAX? Do you do a lot of walking in your area? Do you take taxis? Buses? How big is your area?
4 - People. We know that you are studying hard and working with the people and your companion. We would love to hear about the people and how well you are communicating with them. Please tell us about some of the customs you like and places you have visited
3 - Companions. So Elder South is a student at Yale. Ok. A little short on details. Please add some information.
2 - Kimchi. I had to throw that in there again. When you access your email, are you at the church or at a member's house? Is it always a slow connection or does it depend? Please let us know what a regular meal is for you.
1 - Elder Jordan Jones. Best missionary we know and love.
Thank you for writing to us. The girls are interested in what happens on the mission. They even asked me to tell them about my mission for Family Home Evening. I got out my pictures and journals and they seemed to enjoy it.
Our talks went well on Sunday. Ben is still looking for a new job and Robert is studying for a test he needs to pass. My new hometeaching companionis Mark Johnson and we went last night. I enjoyed it because he likes to lead the conversations. I still miss you as a companion. You did a great job.
We continue to pray for you and your well-being.
Please continue to study hard, talk with people, and smile.
You are a great son and a wonderful missionary.
Love,
Sarah, Hannah, Rachel, Bekah, dad, and Mom
Dear Jordan,
We hope that you continue to be well.
Here is a list of the top 10 things about your mission from our point of view.
10 - We can find Seoul on a map. However we would love to know where you are on the map. Please let us know where you are living
9 - Kimchi. We are glad that you are getting accustomed the new food. We could tell from your email that the smell was strong. Is the taste also strong? Are you finding a lot of variation in the kimchi?
8 - Study Time. We were surprised that you have already used your Chinese on your mission. Please let us know if you need any of the books, etc in Chinese sent to you. Have you asked the mission office if they can get you scriptures, pamphlets, etc in Chinese? Please read the Book Of Mormon in Korean out loud. It will help you with the language.
7 - Weather. We have been experiencing a slight warm up this week. We received rain instead of snow and this weekend it could get up to 60 degrees. How is the weather in Korea? Are your clothes working for you? Have you had to buy some additional clothing? Does mom need to add some money into your account? Please let us know.
6 - Currency. How is the exchange rate? Is it favorable for you? Does the rate fluctuate very much? At the end of my mission, I made sure to bring home some of the currency because it was so colorful.
5 - Traveling Around The Mission. How was the subway ride? How does it compare to New York's system? or even TRAX? Do you do a lot of walking in your area? Do you take taxis? Buses? How big is your area?
4 - People. We know that you are studying hard and working with the people and your companion. We would love to hear about the people and how well you are communicating with them. Please tell us about some of the customs you like and places you have visited
3 - Companions. So Elder South is a student at Yale. Ok. A little short on details. Please add some information.
2 - Kimchi. I had to throw that in there again. When you access your email, are you at the church or at a member's house? Is it always a slow connection or does it depend? Please let us know what a regular meal is for you.
1 - Elder Jordan Jones. Best missionary we know and love.
Thank you for writing to us. The girls are interested in what happens on the mission. They even asked me to tell them about my mission for Family Home Evening. I got out my pictures and journals and they seemed to enjoy it.
Our talks went well on Sunday. Ben is still looking for a new job and Robert is studying for a test he needs to pass. My new hometeaching companionis Mark Johnson and we went last night. I enjoyed it because he likes to lead the conversations. I still miss you as a companion. You did a great job.
We continue to pray for you and your well-being.
Please continue to study hard, talk with people, and smile.
You are a great son and a wonderful missionary.
Love,
Sarah, Hannah, Rachel, Bekah, dad, and Mom
Monday, February 10, 2014
Jordan's first letter from Korea!
Hey everyone!
It's great to hear from you! I liked the talk we had on Monday even though it seemed a bit short. I unfortunately didn't get to call Grandma and Grandpa Stamps because the card apparently only works in the state you purchase it in... That was a bit of a let down.
The flight was okay, I was in a window seat thanks to Mrs. Rowberry's generosity. There was not too much to see over the arctic, but there were some very nice rivers in Russia. It was also interesting to see the plane fly around North Korea instead of over it. We took the subway from Incheon to Seoul, proselyting all the way in our broken Korean. We then stayed in the housing next to the temple for two nights while we had some training and processing. Thursday, we got our companions and shipped out. I am with Elder South, a student at Yale, who is quite good at Chinese. That has been important because we've done more lessons in Chinese than in Korean. No, I have not been able to keep up, but I have been able to add my two cents occasionally. We currently have no Chinese study, but we are working on getting that. It's been interesting.
I'm glad Rachel did so well in the play! I'm sorry I couldn't see it! I'm glad Robert & co. made it back safely and hope the weather warms up for them soon. Tell Sarah good job on getting up on time and thank you for talking on the phone. Tell mom sorry that I couldn't help with her talk. I did want to.
The food is good. Though the kimchi is pungent, it does not overpower the constant smell of cigarette. All the Korean food is really good and rich, but a lot of the meals we eat at the apartment with what we have lying around. It is interesting...
Thank you for the study suggestions! I will do my best to implement them, but study time is really limited out here. We have a lot of lessons, but it cuts into our study time occasionally. We'll see how that goes. I don't understand the vast majority of what people say, but I am getting really good at guessing based on context, so that's improvement.
Thank you for everything you do. We pray for you many times everyday.
Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.
Best wishes,
Elder Jones
It's great to hear from you! I liked the talk we had on Monday even though it seemed a bit short. I unfortunately didn't get to call Grandma and Grandpa Stamps because the card apparently only works in the state you purchase it in... That was a bit of a let down.
The flight was okay, I was in a window seat thanks to Mrs. Rowberry's generosity. There was not too much to see over the arctic, but there were some very nice rivers in Russia. It was also interesting to see the plane fly around North Korea instead of over it. We took the subway from Incheon to Seoul, proselyting all the way in our broken Korean. We then stayed in the housing next to the temple for two nights while we had some training and processing. Thursday, we got our companions and shipped out. I am with Elder South, a student at Yale, who is quite good at Chinese. That has been important because we've done more lessons in Chinese than in Korean. No, I have not been able to keep up, but I have been able to add my two cents occasionally. We currently have no Chinese study, but we are working on getting that. It's been interesting.
I'm glad Rachel did so well in the play! I'm sorry I couldn't see it! I'm glad Robert & co. made it back safely and hope the weather warms up for them soon. Tell Sarah good job on getting up on time and thank you for talking on the phone. Tell mom sorry that I couldn't help with her talk. I did want to.
The food is good. Though the kimchi is pungent, it does not overpower the constant smell of cigarette. All the Korean food is really good and rich, but a lot of the meals we eat at the apartment with what we have lying around. It is interesting...
Thank you for the study suggestions! I will do my best to implement them, but study time is really limited out here. We have a lot of lessons, but it cuts into our study time occasionally. We'll see how that goes. I don't understand the vast majority of what people say, but I am getting really good at guessing based on context, so that's improvement.
Thank you for everything you do. We pray for you many times everyday.
Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.
Best wishes,
Elder Jones
Week 9 - Incheon by Incheon, row by row, going to make Korea grow (From dad)
Dear Jordan,
It was great to be able to talk with you on Monday. We received the email from your mission that you arrived safely.
Hopefully you enjoyed the flight and bus ride. Hopefully you were able to see some impressive sights going over the Arctic (other than just white) and then driving through Korea from Incheon 인천 to Seoul 서울. Hopefully you were able to call/talk with Grandma/Grandpa Stamps.
I am sure that you hit the ground running. You should be in your new area with a new companion. We would love to hear about it. Hopefully you started out your first area better than I did. On the way to the apartment, I had to put my suitcases in the trunk of the taxi but we couldn't close the trunk. As we were driving around a corner, someone tried to steal one of the suitcases. Fortunately it was shoved in tight and was so heavy that he couldn't pull it out. Ah the fun memories. You may not want to share some of them with mom but I would love to hear about them. lol
Rachel finished with her play last week and she enjoyed it. She did a good job and I could hear her singing even though I was standing in the back of the auditorium. On Sunday she bore her testimony and she acknowledged that she missed you and was thinking about you during the play. Robert made it back safely from DisneyWorld. He enjoyed it but was cold and in the rain for several of the days. We fed the missionaries on Thursday and Sunday. On Thursday it was pizza and on Sunday it was mashed potatoes and chicken. I don't want to make you hungry. Sorry. We would like to hear about the cuisine you are eating now. What you like, what you don't like, etc.
Sarah was so looking forward to your call on Monday that she got up and was ready for school on time.
Thank you for that. We haven't received your package from the MTC yet.
Please don't get too upset if you don't understand the people for a while. I was in the MTC for the 8 weeks plus the additional 3 waiting for my visa and it still took 2 months before I really understood the people. Even today, there are some people that talk in a way that I can't understand them, in English and Spanish. I talked with Sam Knecht (who went to Italy) and he said that he followed the same instructions of studying in English in the MTC but then started studying in Italian once he was in Italy and it made a difference. I think you should still read the Book Of Mormon out loud in Korean to help you with pronunciation and get the rhythm of the language. If it bugs your companion, do it while he is taking his shower.
In Ecuador we only had hot water if we had a heater that linked directly to the spout for the shower. Please let me know if you have hot water and if you can drink the water or if you have to drink bottled water.
From the LDS Living email, they have started to include information from missionhome.com. Here is something I liked:
Make a “pick-me-up” scriptures card. Fill an index card with 10-15 inspiring scriptures that you can refer to when you need more spiritual energy.
Here are some great scriptures to start your “pick-me-up” card:
1.Nephi 3:7
2.Helaman 10:4-5
3.Alma 17
4.Moroni 7:33
5.2nd Nephi 31-33
니파이전서
제 3 장
7 이에 이렇게 되었나니 나 니파이가 나의 부친에게 이르되, 내가 ㄱ가서 주께서 명하신 일들을 행하겠나이다. 이는 주께서 사람의 자녀들이 그가 명하시는 것을 이룰 수 있도록, 그들을 위해 길을 ㄴ예비하실 것이 아니고는 아무 ㄷ명령도 주지 아니하심을 내가 앎이니이다 하였더라.
We love you Jordan. We pray for you and know that as you do Heavenly Father's will, you will be successful.
Enjoy all of the experiences and know that you are not alone.
Love,
Mom, Sarah, Hannah, Rachel, Bekah, dad
It was great to be able to talk with you on Monday. We received the email from your mission that you arrived safely.
Hopefully you enjoyed the flight and bus ride. Hopefully you were able to see some impressive sights going over the Arctic (other than just white) and then driving through Korea from Incheon 인천 to Seoul 서울. Hopefully you were able to call/talk with Grandma/Grandpa Stamps.
I am sure that you hit the ground running. You should be in your new area with a new companion. We would love to hear about it. Hopefully you started out your first area better than I did. On the way to the apartment, I had to put my suitcases in the trunk of the taxi but we couldn't close the trunk. As we were driving around a corner, someone tried to steal one of the suitcases. Fortunately it was shoved in tight and was so heavy that he couldn't pull it out. Ah the fun memories. You may not want to share some of them with mom but I would love to hear about them. lol
Rachel finished with her play last week and she enjoyed it. She did a good job and I could hear her singing even though I was standing in the back of the auditorium. On Sunday she bore her testimony and she acknowledged that she missed you and was thinking about you during the play. Robert made it back safely from DisneyWorld. He enjoyed it but was cold and in the rain for several of the days. We fed the missionaries on Thursday and Sunday. On Thursday it was pizza and on Sunday it was mashed potatoes and chicken. I don't want to make you hungry. Sorry. We would like to hear about the cuisine you are eating now. What you like, what you don't like, etc.
Sarah was so looking forward to your call on Monday that she got up and was ready for school on time.
Thank you for that. We haven't received your package from the MTC yet.
Please don't get too upset if you don't understand the people for a while. I was in the MTC for the 8 weeks plus the additional 3 waiting for my visa and it still took 2 months before I really understood the people. Even today, there are some people that talk in a way that I can't understand them, in English and Spanish. I talked with Sam Knecht (who went to Italy) and he said that he followed the same instructions of studying in English in the MTC but then started studying in Italian once he was in Italy and it made a difference. I think you should still read the Book Of Mormon out loud in Korean to help you with pronunciation and get the rhythm of the language. If it bugs your companion, do it while he is taking his shower.
In Ecuador we only had hot water if we had a heater that linked directly to the spout for the shower. Please let me know if you have hot water and if you can drink the water or if you have to drink bottled water.
From the LDS Living email, they have started to include information from missionhome.com. Here is something I liked:
Make a “pick-me-up” scriptures card. Fill an index card with 10-15 inspiring scriptures that you can refer to when you need more spiritual energy.
Here are some great scriptures to start your “pick-me-up” card:
1.Nephi 3:7
2.Helaman 10:4-5
3.Alma 17
4.Moroni 7:33
5.2nd Nephi 31-33
니파이전서
제 3 장
7 이에 이렇게 되었나니 나 니파이가 나의 부친에게 이르되, 내가 ㄱ가서 주께서 명하신 일들을 행하겠나이다. 이는 주께서 사람의 자녀들이 그가 명하시는 것을 이룰 수 있도록, 그들을 위해 길을 ㄴ예비하실 것이 아니고는 아무 ㄷ명령도 주지 아니하심을 내가 앎이니이다 하였더라.
We love you Jordan. We pray for you and know that as you do Heavenly Father's will, you will be successful.
Enjoy all of the experiences and know that you are not alone.
Love,
Mom, Sarah, Hannah, Rachel, Bekah, dad
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