Happy Birthday To ME!

Thank you everyone for the Birthday wishes!

Hey mom, I've been transfered! haha I'm in the North now and I cover the Fullerton and Placentia area now. Our apartment is still really nice. I'll be going back to the south though right after this transfer and staying there for a while. President Bowen really has a lot of trust in me and that's why I'm in the north we really needed to get the numbers up this last week we had 9 other lessons and got 2 new investigators this week we're shooting for 16 other lessons and at least 1 progressing investigator.

My old companion Elder Kim insisted we do something for my birthday, so my district is taking me bowling.  He wanted to to go to the cheese cake factory but it's to expensive so we're going to subway :) Korean is so hard! I feel like i've hit a platoo. It's so hard to progress when I have the option to speak english...so i've told my new companions  to only speak korean to me and they are awesome!! They're both Korean, Elder Choi and Elder Ham. Elder Choi became the new DL and so I'm companions with the DL again haha.

Yesterday we went to this huge Korean festival and it felt like I was in Korea there were so many Koreans we couldn't speak English, it was awesome I placed my first Korean Book of Mormon and had a bunch of street contacts. I've placed countless English ones so it made me pretty happy! I really like this companionship I get a lot done butIi do ocassionally miss my 1st trainer haha Elder Kim is such an amazing missionary and leaves next month!

We get to go to the temple the 27th but they don't have temple pants or ties, we have to provide those so if you can send just those asap I'd really appreciate it because I don't want to buy new ones. Also I hardly wear half my church shirts so I might send half of it home becuase when we do wear church clothes it's mainly suits and I only wear long sleeves with them. We wear a lot of p day clothes because of how much service we do, also a ton of peopl,e including members have to meet with us in seceret which is quite sad. Because of the Korean culture if they see that they're affliated with us they will pretty much get shuned from the community. So if you can just send some more of my clothes that'd be awesome!

I want to tell you real quick about a less active member that means so much to me. 1st of all our branch has so many less actives it's not even funny so my personal goal is to bring 80% of them back. I work more with less actives than anything because to me they're just as important and they once had a testimony so it's just about finding what happened and teaching what they need to hear. Anyways Sister Kim Chong He, when she was baptized 11 members of her family were baptize, when she left the church 9 of them left...she goes to one of the mega churches and has actually seen more blessings from being there. When Sister Kim left the church she wanted nothing to do with our church not our members and not our missionaries. (The Awesome thing about Elder Kim was he was the only one in the branch that could ever stay in contact with those less actives. Because of my attitude and personality he focused so hard on me trying to get that same relationship with them. So that way when he leaves they still have a connection to the church) Me and Elder Kim actually had a dinner appt. with Sister Kim and her mom, aunt and neice (all once members). So naturally this felt like a lot of pressure especially for such a new missionary like myself and for one that isn't very good in the language. We prayed right before we got out of our car. And I have never felt the spirit so strong and I don't think I've ever prayed so sincerly on what to do. The answer I got was almost as if someone was right behind me whispering clear as day, I heard, just be a good missionary become her friend and teach by example. So I told Elder Kim I think we shouldn't give her a message just be nice to her because this was the first time she was meeeting with missionaries again in over 4 years. Elder Kim agreed and thought it was a good idea we went in and got to know them. She tried to be really mean at first and she really tried to discouarge me, even her mother was mad at how rude she was. She would say racist things and make fun of my Korean and just go off on me, BUT luckily I had no idea because I couldn't understand a word she was saying haha. So I just sat there with the biggest smile on my face because the only thing going through my head was "wow she's yelling at me in Korean and I know some of the words, I can't believe I'm here right now with a less active...I feel like such a missionary" Then I started to think about The Best Two Years...."I wonder if this is how he felt, I hope I don't say Joseph Smith was a pamphlet...this is so awesome" hahaha. so I politely and patiently waited for her to get done and the only thing I could think of to say was. 김자매님께서는 아주 이뻐요! 사랑해요! Which means Sister Kim you're so pretty! I love you :) But imagine me saying it with that super big cheezy smile haha. But after I said that her whole attitude changed and she actually told us why she left the church and why she stopped meeting missionaries and how the missionaries stop meeting her and how she was kinda bummed about it. We pretty much had a really deep talk and from it I could see she still does have that testimony so I told her I was going to the north ( Her area ) and I would make sure to visit her and we are going tomorrow and she wants me to meet her husband she told Elder Kim that I remind her of Elder Havy, the legendary Korean branch Elder who baptize her and her whole family and she said she's more than happy to have me over! Oh plus I'm really close now with her son who lives in his aunts house and is also less active his name is Danny. He reminds me so much of me haha.

All the Korean people call me baby cow because of how big my eyes and lips are old people no joke touch my face so much I feel like they're going to poke my eyes out trying to touch my eyes haha.

Anyways I love you so much mom you're amazing I wouldn't be here without you. Henry B. Erying's talk make me really think about you. He talked about a grandma and her grandson who always got into so much trouble and she always did her best to be a good example and she cried out saying why, why me? What else should I do for this young man? And she got the answer of something along the lines of "you have these boys not because I don't love you but because you were the only one that could love them like me." That's totally you mom. I know you're not naive about how much bad stuff I got into, yet you continued to be the example I needed and continued to be loving mom I needed. You're the best! Love you. Tell all the neighbors I love them and think they're awesome especially Brad he's such amazing person.

Love Elder Meza