JEJU

November 23, 2008
This week was the best week yet. i got transfered to a new area. the new area i am in is called JEJU!!!! if you look on a map, its the little island below Korea. i flew to the island (by myself) this morning. it was awesome. i am so excited to serve here. there are 6 missionaries on the island. it is an honor to serve here because they only send the most obedient missionaries here since no one can look after them. i was shocked to find out that i was coming here on my second transfer, it is a little rare. im thrilled.
some facts about the island: it is a pretty big island (2 cities) and its almost tropical. theres palm trees and stuff, it kinda reminds me of California but i have only been here for about 4 hours so i dont really know. the most famous thing about the island is called saturi, it means accent or dialect. they speak a very weird dialect here on the island and its hard for missionaries to understand. its not just an accent, they use different words that people on the mainland dont understand. its crazy.
i cant understand korean well so the dialect is going to be an even bigger challenge but im not very worried. i have faith. so thats about all i know about the island so far, it looks like the missionaries that serve here stay for at least 3 transfers because you have to take a plane to get here so i'll be here for a while.
My companion: his name is Elder Boardman, he is from Idaho Falls, Idaho. maybe the Saadehs know him? i didnt know Sister Saadeh's maiden name so he doesnt know. this transfer is his 6th transfer and its his first time being a senior companion. because its his first time going senior and im still a greenie this transfer might be interesting. i have faith in his korean abilities but we'll see how everything works out because he is still new. he seems like a very nice, diligent missionary and im excited to serve with him. we have a lot in common (track, football, BYU).
last week was nothing special compared to the past 5 hours of riding on a plane and having my whole world change in a matter of hours. the only highlights of the week were:
i ate dog. it was at a restaraunt and it was dog soup. its called bong shing tong. it was really tender and kinda tasted like beef. i couldnt really taste the meat though because there was a ton of random spices and leaves in the soup. there was also a dog bone just floating in it, kinda gross.
we also played a lot of sports last week. every week with the ward we go to this big sports park and play badminton. koreans love badminton. its in this indoor staduim with like 20 badminton courts. it was a lot of fun and im going to miss it. we also went to a multi stake soccer tournament on saturday. we brought an investigator and he really liked it. the tournament lasted all day. it was a lot of fun. i hurt my toe though.
so thats what happened this week. i still cant beleive im on Jeju. (its sometimes called Jeju doh, doh means island).its really awesome. i am excited to serve here and experience all of the cool things here. (this area is for sure the envy of the mission). i feel a little insufficient to be put in such a demanding area. im not worried about keeping the rules but with saturi and a young companion, i know that i will have to work hard to pull my weight. i know that i have been called here for a reason and i can't wait to find out what that reason is.

Love,
Elder Wells

November 16, 2008

This week was pretty typical. i am finally starting to get into the groove of a missionary and how things work here in Korea. some exciting things that happened this week were: the bishop took us out to lunch on Tuesday. we went to a really nice restaurant where we ate this food called 삼겹살 (sam gyup sar) it was really good. definately the best food i have eaten yet and i have heard its a lot of missionaires favorite food. its really thick bacon but it doesnt taste like bacon. to cook it, there was this dome in the middle of the table that the waiter put it on. then we put on other things to cook too, like onions, garlic and kimchi. once it was all cooked we put it in a lettuce rap and ate it. it was really good.
I got to go on splits this week twice. the first time was with one of the AP's his name is Elder Thorley. it was nice to be with an american and i learned a lot. he taught me some good sayings to use when proselyting. then we taught the first lesson to one of his investigators. i taught about prophets, the apostasy, and the Book of Mormon. the lesson was good but the investigator didnt seem very into it.
i also went on splits with elder nash. he is one of the office secretaries. it was a little dissapointing because i had to stay in the office and do work. my companion got in trouble for sticking his 'greenie' in the office all day. we went out and proselyted for a little while so it wasnt too bad. and we also walked down this cool market street. do you remember the picture we used to have on the computer of the market with the fish and weird things laying out? it looked exactly like that.
That is about all that i did this week. i dont get a lot of opportunities to teach but when i do it is awesome. i love bareing my testimony in Korean, especially about our Heavenly Father. there are a lot of people here that dont believe in God and i feel His love when i talk about him. I know that He lives and that He loves all of us.

Love,
Elder Wells

Looking back at Salt Lake City Airport on way to Korea

Nov. 9, 2008

Hey everyone,
This week was a really great week. we have one progressing investigator. his name is Pawk sung peer. he is 15. we have taught him the first lesson and committed to read the book of Mormon and pray. i got to teach about God, families, prayer, and The Restoration. i recited the first vision in Korea for the first time to an investigator. it was awesome and really spiritual. but i have really bad pronunciation so my companion gave him the first vision on paper to read. (kinda embarrassing that he didn’t understand me but o well). we have to teach him at a park because he doesn’t have much time cuz he goes to school and so we meet him there. we still teach the Chinese man, Barry but he cant come to church because he has school at busan college. so we might drop him and tell him to call the missionaries when his schedule changes.
there are 3 teams of missionaries in my area and we all work together with 2 wards. we put on a Halloween party last week for them. it was so fun. we carved pumpkins, had a scary movie going on in one room (it was a full on asian horror movie, very weird and only scary to Asians. do you remember the Chinese version of the ring we watched one time called ringu? it was a lot like that). well the movie wasn’t approved so we kinda got in trouble but anyway..there was also trick or treating. the mission presidents house is attached to our church so the kids went over and trick or treated there. it was a lot of fun and the ward loved it. we also had a haunted house maze thing. so fun.

I am really starting to enjoy cooking. its fun and rewarding. ive made applesauce, mashed potatoes and hash browns. a typical meal is something like ramen noodles (they originated in Korea and Koreans love them) the ramen here is a lot better than in the US but always really spicy. the food is normally really spicy. kimchi, always a soup and some other side things. i never really know what they are. its usually pretty good. the best thing i have eaten was actually Chinese food but a lot of Koreans eat it. its sweet and sour pork.
Korea is beautiful. we went to a members house in another city and the way there was all countryside and stuff. it was really cool green and orange hills because its fall. but im mostly in the city so it gets boring and everything looks the same. there are always fun weird billboards and advertisements that have weird english words here though.
yes for the record, everyone is naked in the bathhouse (including the missionaries). therefore they are banned in most of the other korea missions.
well thats that. im studying hard and really learning a lot from the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It is such a powerful tool and i am so grateful to have it has a missionary.
Love,
Elder Wells

Nov. 1, 2008

Nov. 1, 2008

Sorry about last week. i was e mailing in the mission office and they kicked me off right at 6:00 and i didnt realize that they would do that so i spent time the ten minutes i did have reading e mails instead of typing. i will try to make up for it this time.

these past two weeks were a lot similar to the first. i still cant understand what people say to me in Korean but thats alright. some cool things that have happened:
we are teaching a 25 year old chinese man that doesnt speak korean, he only speaks a little english. so i get to teach while my companion sits and tries to understand whats going on for a change. the investigator is really cool and loves learning about the gospel but we might have to drop him because he isnt progressing. he does what we ask but he has school every sunday during church (school is RIDICULOUS in Korea, high school kids go to school from 8 am to 9 pm and sometimes later) so he cant come to church at all.
well i am getting kicked off the computer again..maybe i will have time to e mail later but if not i am sorry.

Love,
Elder Wells

sorry that this is a run on of the last one, i got kicked off earlier. here are some highlights:
last p day was amazing. we went down to the beach and ate lunch there. it was a really cool veiw of a big bridge and huge buildings. i took pictures and i will send the memory card home. then we went to a buddhist temple up in this mountain. it was awesome. it made me realize that im in Asia. everything was old and peaceful. i took a lot of pictures of the buddhist temples and statues so i hope you like them. it was a lot cooler in real life though. there was a huge golden buddha statue with a million man size statues surrounding it. i really liked going there. and there were people laying down mats and worshipping the buddha while we were there. it was definately an experience.
i ate silk larva. that was gross.
a singing group called new horizon came and did a concert. they were all missionaries in the busan mission like 30 yrs ago and the sang on their mission in a group. it was a good concert thing. and president Jennings was there so we got to stay for the whole thing. we didnt get back until 10:15 pm. crazy huh.
i met a man on the bus that spoke english. he had seen and talked to the missionaries before and wanted to learn more about the church. he was fascinated how we learn korean so quickly because it is such a hard language and wanted to know what techniques they teach us. i just bore testimony to him that i know that i am doing what God wants me to do and because of it, he is helping me learn korean so i can teach other people about him and his gospel. it was a good experience. i didnt have time to get the mans information because he had to get off the bus but i gave him a pamphlet.
well thats about all that i can remember.

Love,
Elder Wells

Looking back

Elder Wells' first Korean BBQ after Ryan's graduation from USD Law School, May 17, 2008. Family and Uncle Paul....George Saadeh at Newport Beach Temple.
. Newport Beach Temple on May 17, 2008.

July 27, Weston's farewell
July 28, Elder Wells' Setting apart by President VidmarElder Wells & district & Elder BennettThe "Boys" in the MTC, Elder Brown, Elder Procuniar, Elder Vidmar and Elder Robertson.

Letter of arrival from President Jennings

Dear Brother and Sister Wells :

I am emailing to confirm the safe arrival of Elder Wells in the Korea Busan Mission. We picked everyone up late Tuesday (no missing luggage!) and yesterday was a full day of preparation and training. We began with interviews, opening bank accounts, preparing “green card” documentation, and other administrative chores to get everyone set up. The Elders and Sisters made their own Korean lunch – “kimpap.”


Then they had a training exercise which combined cultural exploration and proselyting activities. While all this was going on, I was deliberating over companionship and area assignments.

Upon returning to the Mission Home we had a testimony meeting (in Korean) and a magnificent dinner the likes of which they won’t see again for some time. Then I gave a presentation about Korea and my expectations for them and announced companionship assignments. The trainers were all carefully selected and we depended on observation and, of course, inspiration to align the very best teams

Elder Wells will be trained by Elder Lee Tae Hee and his first area will be Kumjung one of our most active Wards and near the Mission Home. Elder Lee is an extremely bright and personable Korean Elder who speaks excellent English and is also the District Leader in his district. Elder Wells has already demonstrated an excellent ability to learn Korean and I believe that he is well prepared to serve with a Korean trainer. In some ways, this can be more challenging for a new missionary, but it accelerates their growth in the Mission tremendously. Here is a picture of Sister Jennings and I with Elder Wells and Elder Lee. We will also be sending some other photos to you by regular mail.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Faithfully,
Kenneth W. Jennings, Jr.
Korea Busan Mission

Mission Address for Letters and Packages

Elder Weston Wells
Korea Busan Mission
Dongnae PO Box 73 Busan-si
Busan-gwangyeoksi 607-600
South Korea

Packages:
Elder Weston Wells
Korea Busan Mission
(1/2) 1039-1 Oncheon 2-dong
Dongnae-gu
Busan-si
Pusan-jikhalsi 607-062
South Korea

There is NO pouch for this mission. A letter costs about $.94.

Elder Wells is in Korea - Crazy!

Oct. 20, 2008

Holy Korea

wow this last week was the most packed, exciting, awesome, confusing, entertaining, random, awkward, and craziest week of my entire life. lets start from the beginning:

13 hour plane ride: flew over alaska and russia (or kamkatcha if you play risk.) and japan. that was awesome. i thought we were going to fly over part of china and north korea because thats what the tv showed but we veered far away from them. probably a good idea. anyways it was a very long flight. got in late at night then
Wednesday morning 5:30 am we went to the mogyoketan aka korean bath house. if you have never heard of a korea bath house, i will be blunt. its a huge hotel with a bunch of 3 foot pools where a billion koreans hang out naked. ya its wierd. but very relaxing. oh and one pool is like 4 feet deep and is for swimming so i got to go swimming on my mission. so while we were hanging out near the hot tub (we werent naked at this moment in time) an old man comes up (hes naked) and asks if we are the missionaries. so an elder got his phone number. the reason i tell this story is because the first refferal i ever saw in korea and the investigator was naked. weird. ok so next, we went proselyting at pusan college and then had a scavenger hunt where we had to take pictures of stuff and buy squid from one of the street venders, it was cool. then we had a testimony meeting that night and got our companions.
my companion: yup hes korean. his name is elder lee or just e tay wee in korean. he is awesome. we live alone in a little appartment which i was scared about because i didnt think he would know much english but he does. and he knows funny english (words like pimp and stuff, hes great). he is really funny. to be honest i dont understand a word he says in korean. i dont know korean. i would be freaking out about it but all of the older elders tell me that it was the same for them and it just takes time to be able to break up the words and define them because they speak soooo fast.
ok what else...my first minor injury: you know how doors have a push or pull sign on them to know whether to push or pull them in. well they have them in korea but they are in korean..so i tried to push a door open and ran right into it. it was funny. and it didnt hurt or anything.
my mission president and his wife are great. they are really funny. i like them a lot. my area is right next to the mission home so they were in church with us.
the food is actually really good. but i havent had enough of it to have somethign i didnt like. we eat really random stuff too. haha like saturday we had tuna sandwiches for breakfast, chinese food for lunch and spaghetti for dinner. it was weird. but i like korean food. oh except, lets just say that i had to look up the word for diarrhea already..
my area is really really tough. we are whitewashing the area which means that we are both new to it and we have no investigators..its miserable. we proselyte all day everyday. the only thing i hve done besides proselyte was a service project which was soo funny. we volunteered to serve food to a group of old people. it was put on my a buddhist chruch. so we served food to about 150 grandmas and grandpas. they are soo funny. seriously. they are all tiny and their clothes look like they got them from grandma tressie. the grandmas all walk around everywehre with little bags or the cart things in all the asian movies. its great. and sometimes they hunch over and start running. haha i love it. after teh service we ate the food we were serving wich was teh most disgusting food ive ever had. it was kimchi rice and soup. the kimchi and rice wasnt bad but the soup tasted like horse sweat, seriously.
the fashion here is hilarious. i dont have time to explain but people wear the weirdest stuff.
today pday was awwwesooommmeee. we took a bus down to the beach and played sand football with 12 other elders, it was the most fun ive had in 3 months. i also saw the most amazing fireworks on saturday night. it was some celebration. way better than american fireworks. i wish i would have had my camera..
i dotn have time to explain more.
i dont really need anything so dont worry about sending stuff. i will make a list. but when you do, send sweedish fish. my companion looves them. haha in his korean accent he says : soo delicious. its funny. i wish you could hear.

everything is going great. the work is hard but definately worth it.

Love elder Wells