Korean shopping?@?

The world's first virtual shopping center opened in Korea. All the products are just shown on LCD screens that allow you to order the items by touching the screen. When you get to the counter, your items are already bagged and ready to go.

Week 54 response

Merry Christmas!!! This is also my last email before the big day, so I'd better make it good. ;)

We have been working hard this week in preparation for the day of Christmas. We have continued to be blessed to find 200+ people every week willing to take gospel material. It is remarkable because as it is consistently negative degrees Celsius, people aren't out very much. We have been asked to use the "He is the Gift" video from the church. We got a new DVD player so we tried it out. That turned out to be the coldest day of the year so far, so it was difficult to find people willing to stay still for nearly 3 minutes. ;) 

Really, though, it's been a great week of showing our faith through our actions. We had a Christmas party with the ward on Saturday that we helped set up. We finished up a few minutes early, so we decided to go out and street contact for the little time we had. We didn't have time to put on coats, so we just went out in our suits. It was incredible to feel the Christmas spirit so strongly through going out and testifying of Christ instead of sitting, warm, with the members. It is really true that "when you do your best for love, it feels like Christmas." :)

This week also marked the first time I have been ice skating during proselyting time. Don't get the wrong idea. It was just so cold that there was a permanent layer of ice more than an inch thick on all the sidewalk for the majority of the week. It was safer to just skate across than try to walk. :)

We don't have any extraordinary plans for Christmas other than calling home. We had Christmas conference last week, so it is regular missionary work until our next conference... in February. It'll be good. It will be warmer by then. ;) Today we're going to go pick up warmer clothes in preparation for the remaining winter, so I think we'll be fine on that front. :) Thank you for your concern!

I hope you're getting to serve a lot this Christmas season. I'm glad the Sub-for-Santa went well, but I hope you get to do even more. Go out and shovel walks or something! :) Don't let dad do it. He's getting into the habit of hurting himself in the cold. I remember when he broke the shovel and cut his hand on the same day... I hope you guys try to beat him to the shovels. :)

Thank you so much for your prayers. They are very much felt. We pray for you many times every day. I hope you are seeing some more miracles in your lives. ;) I'm reminded of a quote from President Monson: "Miracles are everywhere to be seen when priesthood callings are magnified." Something like that. :) I know when we try our best, we can see things that we couldn't have imagined. I hope you are all living everyday such that you can see miracles. It's the way to live. ;)

Again, merry Christmas! Thank you for your emails. I always love hearing from you and about you! Enjoy this time we have to celebrate Christ's birth. We should always be in celebration of that fact, but it is even more special when we get to do it with the rest of the world at the same time. :) Love you all, and I hope you travel safely!

Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.

Best wishes,

Elder Jones

Week 54 - Doctrine and Covenants 20:54 And see that there is no iniquity in the church, neither hardness with each other, neither lying, backbiting, nor evil speaking

Dear Jordan,

This will be the email that you read before Christmas, so "Merry Christmas!!!"

We look forward to you calling us (1-801-891-7489 Mom's cell). Please let us know which day and time will work for you and we will adjust and make sure we are available and that the phone is fully charged.

On Monday we went to the Carlson's house for the Ward Family Home Evening. It was enjoyable. On Tuesday I had the day off to go to the dentist and see a couple of doctors. In the evening, the YM/YW divided into two groups to deliver the Sub For Santa presents. I was in one group and Hannah and Rachel were in another. Unfortunately Sarah didn't want to go and Bekah had to work on her science fair project because it was due on Wednesday. 

The mother was very appreciative of the gifts and said that it made her year. On Wednesday I went home teaching with Mark Johnson and then I went to bed early. All this week I have been going into work early for training so I was tired. On Thursday I also went home teaching with Mark and then went to bed early again. On Friday we watched some shows and took it easy because today was the last day of school for the girls this year. 

On Saturday I went to 24 Hour Fitness and worked out for a bit. We then went to the church and cleaned it. Ben came to our house and I drove him to Alpine and we put in the flooring for grandma's kitchen. I then replaced our kitchen faucet and did the shopping. On Sunday we were home taught at the Urton's house and then went to church. After church we went to Robert's house for dinner.

We love you very much. You are doing a great job and we appreciate all that you do for us. We appreciate all your emails. We hope that you are doing well and want to help you as best we can. Is there anything that you would want us to do? We continue to pray for you. You are always in our thoughts. How are things going with your companion? How are you doing with the cold? We are finally getting some rain today. We hope that we get a lot of snow in the mountains. Have you been able to get new shoes? Have you been able to take any other interesting trips? Have you been able to talk with the other missionaries to see how they are going to contact their families? Are there any other clothing items that you need?

You are a wonderful son and we have been blessed to have you in our lives. We hope that you feel our love and prayers. We love you and appreciate you very much and hope that you will enjoy this time with the Korean people.

Love,

Rachel, Bekah, dad, Mom, Sarah, Hannah

Jordan response

It's even funnier when you see what the Koreans actually wear and do. Very accurate. :)

Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.

Best wishes,

Elder Jones

In the "new non-fiction" section of the library this week...

Merry Christmas!

Dear Jordan,
Just a quick email to wish you Merry Christmas. We look forward to talking with you later today.
We love you.
From dad and Family

Week 56 response

새해복 많이 받으세요! Receive many new year luck! Doesn't translate well, but that's the word for word translation. ;)

It sounds like you had a fun New Year's party! I still know nothing about either of those movies you watched! Maybe next year. :)

We didn't have any fireworks here. They may be saving them for Chinese New Year, 설날. That is supposedly a very big party. I barely missed it last year. I was a few days late... It is reportedly bigger than the American Christmas. We will see. They definitely have holiday spirit saved up from December. I look forward to it. I think it will be on the 19th of February. I don't know anything about our plans except that we clean apartments on that day because there is no one to talk to. The apartment needs it, so I am grateful. :)

The ward went to the top of a nearby mountain to say a prayer and watch the sunrise on New Year's day. I was sick and so stayed in bed the whole day, but I'm better now, so I think it was a good trade. Also everyone came back with sores and near hypothermia from the steep climb and windchill added to the negative temperatures (Fahrenheit) at the peak. No one said it was fun. Koreans really put a lot of emphasis on suffering together. I suppose there are a lot of reasons they survived the Korean War. I suppose technically still surviving... That's the message the Korean War Memorial here says. I haven't heard anything about the situation up north, but everyone still wants unification. It's just part of their subconscious and culture. I don't know, but it may be what the Germans felt about Berlin. That ended. 

Thank you for the reminder that I only have 11 months left. I have 8 transfers left. That is just not very long, and I am really focusing on not letting any moment get away from me. I will talk more about college as time goes along, but now I do not think is the time. ;) 

It's always a pleasure to hear from you, and I hope you keep doing well. I'm glad that we have something besides a Kia (all the Koreans will hate me now), and I'm glad Dallin has a car. Is it safe, though? ;) 

I hope you all made New Year's resolutions and look back at them regularly. There is really nothing of any consequence at New Year's except those goals. That was the focus of our Christmas conference... held in very early December. Make goals. Write them down. Figure out how to make them happen. Do it. I hope those goals motivate you. They sure motivate me. :)

Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.

Best wishes,

Elder Jones