The Happenings

H-hey!

Long time no read.. am I "write"? Haha… Oy.. First line and I've already got you sitting as far from the edge of your seat as possible.. ...Great. I guess that means there's nothing to lose, right?

I've been thinking a lot lately about why I write these mass emails in the first place.. 
I mean, I usually talk with the people who are most prominent in my life right when I get on, and chat with them until I have to get off.. and my mom is definitely always aware of how I'm doing, whether it be through talking or the journals that I send home, so I guess the only people left for me to really write this for is.. well.. you!  Yeah.. you!! 

Haha pretty awesome, right? I'm sure half of you (or, most likely far more than half of you) have never met me, and I'll never meet you -- but somehow we're having this incredibly distant communication going on. And man, that's something special! You're like, a mystery pen pal! And, even though you usually don't write back, I'm happy to keep you (all of you) as entertained as I can! Haha. It's okay, I'm sure when Nephi was writing his record to all of us, he had no idea what we'd really do with it. Whether we'd share it with friends, keep it to ourselves, read certain parts over and over again, or commit crazy acts of bravery because of it! ..So, whether I really inspire you that much, or whether you just like to read this in your free time, I invite you to ..well.. keep doing it!

Something I wish prophets DID do back then was talk a little bit more about themselves, though. They tell super cool stories, and we all learn so much, but.. if we're really supposed to liken the scriptures to ourselves, wouldn't it be super cool, and so easy if we knew more about that person/prophet? ..A good friend of mine once said, "I feel it is a common practice among people to hardly know each other." ..How are we supposed to walk a mile or two in someone's shoes if we don't know what size they are?? Why is it that we like to be so vague, and so distant oft times with other people?

As I might have mentioned last week (maybe not, it's hard to remember, haha) I was just called as District Leader, and the thought occurred to me that, well - if I don't know the people/missionaries/awesome sons and daughters of God that I'm working with as well as I could, then I can't possibly hope to properly lead them.. ..or better yet, serve them! After all, how am I supposed to sincerely thank someone for their hard work if I don't even know their favorite ice cream?? ..Unacceptable!

So, we spent our District meeting this week getting to know each other as well as possible in the short hour and a half that we had, and it was incredibly successful. ..Not in the sense that I wasn’t nervous, or felt like I was killin' it as DL, but.. (because I was definitely struggling) in the sense that we all came a lot closer together! It was awesome!!

That being said, I want to talk just a little bit about the people around me! I find myself randomly switching from reporting on my life, to giving advice, to sharing mistakes, and preaching via 'El Mass-o Email-o" (my spanish skills for ya), but I figured this was one of those times where you might just want to hear about what life is like. ..You know, the happenings. Or, as Elder Salazar would say, "The Hannin's". 

The less recent parts of missionary work and adventure were immensely hard. I was given some mountains to climb and rivers to cross, but I want everyone to know that I'm past that. I'm OK! Life is amazing, and I couldn't be happier to be serving out here, I'm seriously having one of the greatest adventures of my life. Go to Lake Powell and St. George all you want, haha. You'll never beat this 2 year man-making adventure.

I still live in Geumcheon, my third area, and my third transfer in this area. My last area was Yeongdeungpo, and before that I served in Bupyeong. Both for 4 transfers. ..A transfer is 6 weeks long, give or take, in case you were curious. ..Time is flying by! It's amazing out here. 

I'm currently living with Elder Mun (pronounced Moon) (Moon Seong Chan, or, in Korean 문성찬) - my companion- and Elders Doyle and Hendricks. Elders Mun and Hendricks are my same age. 1995 folks! Bam! and E. Hendricks was actually a good friend of mine in the MTC. ..Only took us a year and two months to be in the same area. Killin' it!

Elder Mun is a character. He's still learning English - so half of the things that come out of his mouth are just plain HILARIOUS. I'm sure it's exactly how I sound when I speak Korean, haha. His favorite things to say are "What's your purpose?", the "It's Friday" song, and random phrases he learned from Starcraft, hahahaha. Elder Mun ladies and gentlemen. LOVE him. He also plays a little violin, (which I tried this week and am TERRIBLE at, haha) is a great artist, and has got everyone on the street convinced he's from a different country, haha. No one believes he's Korean. He's developed an English-style Korean accent. WIN.

Elder Doyle is a spitting image of my little brother Dawson's personality. Puns, jokes, incredibly interesting and random facts, interests in acting, debating, ruling the world, dancing, awesome-ing, you name it. It's crazy cool to see. I figure if my little bro back home ends up like E. Doyle here, I'll be pretty stoked. He adds a lovely spice to our daily lives, haha. And man, this guy really does know a TON of random stuff. ..And he's also an EMT like me! Just.. from Idaho! Haha! Word.

Elder Hendricks hasn't been here very long (in Geumcheon), but I know a ton about him because we're good friends. ..That being said, the most important things we've discussed are that 1. He doesn't ski or snowboard, and 2. He doesn't like spaghetti.

..Needless to say, we're basically best friends. I'm not the biggest fan of pasta (not sure if I've ever told anyone..) but hey, load it up with cheese and meat and you bet I'll eat it!
Korea has made me one of the least 'picky eaters' in the world, I swear. From live octopus, to fermented cabbage and a rainbow of vegetables on the daily, with a hint of either ferociously hot or unbearable (yet bearably) spicy, and a dash of dog soup, I'm pretty sure I can eat anything. ..And Dad, I eat the HOT salsa now. ..by choice. Bam!

Not much else to really report on this week.. hopefully this will suffice for all of you! Have the greatest week, and get to know those around you! Ask questions! What do their parents do? Why do they like the stuff they do? Why do they do the things they do? Why don't they? Where did they? Who are they?? Haha! It's so fun! Life is up to you!

Have the raddest week!!

All the love,

Elder DeMille!