Hey, Family! I don't even know where to start. I'm so incredibly happy and thankful to be on a mission! I'm so thankful for a family that's behind me and supports me so fully! I've been pretty busy as of recently. Also, to answer your question, I see Ari every day. In fact, we moved into the same house. 

Yes, we moved. Good thing I grew up as a polynesian young man in the church, or else I wouldn't have had the necessary experience of lifting boxes and moving crap around. The new house is really small, and really cluttered, but it's what needed to happen. After a lot of prayer and consideration, we came to the conclusion that it's gonna help the work progress a lot more smoothly.

This week we had our ward Christmas party. Honestly, it was so fun. Everyone had a dance or a song prepared, all the way down to the nursery kids. The young men preformed this cover of a k-pop ballad that had an instrumental break where they gave little monologues about music in their best sexy k-pop guy voices. It was hilarious. On top of that, we had investigators show up! Chris, Lee Ho Young and Kim Dong Jin's son Kim Tae Hyung came!

We did a break dance number, and it turned out really well! It was super funny that Ari and I wound up dancing together again. We're already kicking around the idea of using dance as a proselyting tool. I think if planned well, it could be really effective. Also, as a result of our dance, there was a ward member who gave me like a 20 minute shout out to the Midyang ward. It feels good to be recognized.

Our investigators are doing well. Lee Ho Young has been attending church really regularly and is excited to get baptized. If he continues progressing the way he has been, he'll be able to be baptized this next Sunday. 

I've been understanding more and more Korean all of the time. And having Elder Powell around has given me a boost of confidence. I feel like his presence encourages me to try harder and talk to more people. 

Also, next Monday I go to Gumi to meet Sung Jin's kids and family! I think it'll be a great time. Also, regarding Christmas skyping. We should be able to skype you guys Thursday morning for us, which is Wednesday night for you. If you could, please set up skype and give me your username, that way we can talk. 

I'm continually surprised with how loving the people are here. I've showed up as a goofy foreigner with no concept of what's going on around me, and they've taken me in with love. The members of this ward are so helpful. They do an excellent job with pushing missionary work as members without being weird and putting too much pressure on others. 

Tonight, we're headed to Midyang to work with their team to proselyte, then we're going to the Mission HQ for the Christmas party. I'll be doing a dance to Elvis's Silent Night. I know it sounds super weird, but it should be pretty cool. You put break dancing to any kind of calm music and people just go nuts. 

Also, I can not lie, I broke into my Christmas package early. I made it about a week and a half from the time I received it. Wow. I really love my clothes! Also, I've seen a ton of Korean people wearing Brixton lately. Way to be in tune with fashion! 

Also, we had a super spiritual lesson with Kim Dong Gyun this last week. As we listened to him intently, I felt the spirit working through Elder Bingham and I, helping us know what to say! A good teacher, a good missionary's first priority is listening! If you don't love and listen to every person you teach, what's the purpose of teaching? KDG left our meeting that day saying "Thank you. I found peace with you guys today. Sometimes I find peace at home, or on the street, but I found it with you guys today. Your church is true. I love you, man!" and then he hugged us like five times each. I don't know if he'll ever get baptized, but I'm just glad we've been able to help him out via the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I can't wait to skype with you guys and just tell you stories about what's been going on lately! Missionary work seriously is suck a blast. I know that God wants me out here and that there are people here to meet. Currently, our MSF is running low, so we've been eating spaghetti and kinda crummy food. And our apartment really is kind of terrible. It's about half the size of a small green valley condo. But that doesn't matter! Cause I'm in Korea doing the best thing that I possibly could be doing! 

I love you all so much, and I'll talk to you guys soon!

From,
Elder Samuel Tuinei

Hey Guys! Korea is still just as incredible and fun as it was last week. I'm glad to hear that thanksgiving was fun. I missed you a lot over the Holiday, but I still really enjoyed it. We ordered chicken for dinner. There's the best boneless fried chicken here. It's about twenty dollars for three animals worth of chicken and it tastes sooooo good.

The work is till progressing. We're teaching more and more people every week. We began teaching a new investigator who's name is pronounced Ee-Myung-Sook. She's a mother of two and very interested in learning English, but surprisingly more interested in the gospel. She's been very curious about her ancestors and the role that God plays in her family's life. I genuinely feel that God has prepared her to meet with us. 

I had an excellent experience as I prayed one morning. I was feeling a little discouraged and was struggling to focus, so I got on my knees to ask the Lord for help. I then felt strongly that rather than asking, I should say a prayer of thanks. As I began to pray, I was recognizing all sorts of blessings and could tangibly feel the Lord's love for me. I could feel his love and presence so strongly as I prayed. From that experience I've come to know that prayer really is a two way communication with God. If we're worried or confused, all we have to do is turn to God. Your answers may come in a different form, or at a different time than you expected, but I can testify first hand that they will come.

We've been meeting with Jay twice a week for the last two weeks, and everything seems to be going well. He prays regularly and has agreed to start reading the Book of Mormon. We've also been visiting an older man who's name is pronounced Kong-Tae-Sun for the last little while. When we stopped by this last week, his wife happened to be home with them and we had a really nice and friendly exchange with her. I'm really excited to work with them! Also, the Junk Tribe guys blew us off. To be honest, if I were 18 years old, having no concept of God or having never been to Church I'd probably be hesitant to meet with Missionaries as well. But I think if we keep praying and trying to be their friends things might turn around. We also met two College students who've been attending our English class recently. They give off a very good vibe and I'm so excited to potentially teach them.

A lot of time here is spent finding. We contact and proselyte on the street quite a bit, but sometimes people come to us. Yesterday and older lady showed up at our Church and started hugging me and my companion telling us that God brought her to the church and that she could feel his love through us. I don't really know what to think of the situation. A little odd, but the gospel is for everyone! So I'm very excited to teach and share if she is interested.

This week we had a lot of meals with the members. I've been to a total of three buffetts, all of which have been delicious. They're all pretty quality here! I don't eat healthy by any means, but this has been the healthiest I've eaten probably ever. Today we're going shopping for suits. I'm super excited. There's a store in my area where we can get clothes for dirt cheap. They sell Supreme clothing that goes for about 20 dollars a sweater. The temptation to spend is huuuuuge.

We taught an English Camp in a neighboring area this week. There was an older member in that ward who reminded me a lot of the 60 year old polynesian men that I've met in the past. I also have come to realize that visiting Polynesian wards as a kid was a form of preperation. Because of those visits, I've become really comfortable with sitting through church and having no clue as to what's going on.

Just kidding! (only kind of) The language is coming pretty well! I feel like I'm learning a ton everyday! When I had dinner with some members last night, I followed a lot of what was going on pretty well! The key really is just being genuinely interested and making mental tabs of frequently used words. It helps a ton too when you listen for verbs. I've also come to learn that it's super important to ASK if you don't understand, rather than going off on something that doesn't really make sense. 

Culturally, I feel like I'm adapting pretty well. A lot of people tell me I'm handsome. Being racially ambiguous pays off again. We had an old man yell Korean swear words at us on the bus for talking too loud. Other than that we've been pretty well recieved up until this point.

I love my area so much. It's the perfect mix of city and country side. The members are great and do a lot to help with new converts and getting investigators to Church. Missionary work is the most enjoyable, exhausting and fufilling thing ever. It's tough, but when you see people's lives affected for the better, even just slightly, there's soooo much happiness to be had.

I'm on a public computer right now. I'll send pictues either tonight or next week. I love you so much and I'll talk to you again soon!

From,
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