Birthday

Hey I guess it is still my Birthday in America cool. My Birthday was really fun My companions made a delicious breakfast for me, pancakes, eggs, sausage, strawberries and bananas they also gave me some 딸 기 (dalki) pens, which is the word for strawberry and this cartoon character in Korea that has red hair, a red headed korean. Then we went to District meeting in Yeonsu and the Elders Kang, Choi, Blauer and Jenner brought choco pies and put decorative mayonaise on top--don't worry I didn't eat any mayonaise--reminded me of all the mayo in Chile then my 22 Birthday in Chile--which was not a fun day. Then we took the worng bus back to our area and ended up on a bus for an hour and a half. ughhh my bad
My Birthday was an eating fest, Sister Toronto made Kimbab for lunch then we went outside and they put a blindfold on me took me in a taxi to the church where the DapDong elders, Booth, Sundwall, Murphy and Nordfelt made a cake sang and had chicken and pizza delivered, they were so sweet, and it was good to feel loved. We even did sparklers, then we went to the Stake President's house and they made us a huge dinner, I was so stuffed. we even had cake and candles so that was great. We didn't have any appointments which was sad and I felt like I just ate all day but it was a good day. I miss you guys especially on days like this but I'm really happy that everyone is doing well. I apparently overate yesterday because I was up all night sick in the bathroom sick but I'm okay now.
Today Sister Newby and Yoshimura are coming to Incheon! Yay! We are going to Chinatown so it will be awesome.
Sunday night we took 조 은 주 to the senior missionaries house, the Knudsens--it was amazing! Delicious food--chocolate chip cookies. we watched the new Joseph Smith movie--its only in english but I hope our investigator understood it, I think we are going to have to push back her baptismal date to May 3.
WHOA WHOA Juliet please write me asap.
Mac I really liked Elder Teixeira's talk his accent is great. General Conference was so great I dragged my companions to McDonalds to get a milkshake because it was an Alsbury tradition. I'm facing a lot of adversity in missionary work and trying to see how I can learn from my trials, just keep going, I'm just worrying so much about members, investigators, coping with my beloved investigators dropping, threesome and just trying to stay true to who I am. I wrote in in my journal on my birthday how grateful I was for everything, even the hard things, I'm so grateful for my family and what a blessing it is to have my best friends be in my family. Jilly good luck on finals, Briggsy boy continue to run fast please update me on your life. Mac you are amazing you are such a blessing to those people your are serving. Mom & Dad, thanks for having me in your family, I'm crying just thinking about how much I owe and love you all. xoxoxox

Sister Paige Alsbury

the fish market....ughhh

I learned something yesterday. When making kimchi they use rotten fish. 최민 희 kept trying to convince me that it was "fermented" but the word is rotten in english--I saw it with my own eyes. We went to the fish market it was a cultural experience. You know those giant barrels like the ones in Grandma McDede's basement ya those were full of rotten fish which is apparently an important ingredient in making kimchi. But I love kimchi--rotten fish I don't know about that. Also ate some other pretty disgusting things oh digestion oh my body.

이선 주 Yi seon ju--got baptized on sunday! She is just so sweet the ward loves her so much, this morning at 3 am she texted us, I could go on forever. A member gave her Preach My Gospel as a baptismal gift, they also gave her Miracle of Forgiveness--intense you bet. She just so wonderful. Missionary work like life has moments of such joy and then other things that just make you cry. 2 days ago 안 슬 기 and 송 보 라 our amazing investigators who were going to receive baptism next week dropped. I'm just sick. I just laid on the floor in our apartment. There is a part of Preach My Gospel that says something like, "people my reject you even after they have received a witness that this message is true" that is the case. I'm crying while typing this. I just give my heart and everything I can. I kinda wears you out, exhausting actually. But just have to keep trying because there are people prepared for the Gospel like 이 선 주.

The threesome is good, its a litle bit stressful, a little bit of babysitting balancing things 3 ways is a trick. Sister Toronto is fun I'm glad that all of my companions are my real friends. We even watched the movie "Our Heavenly Father's Plan" in svenska the other day during dinner at the church. Going to learn svenska cause korean is just not challenging enough. just kidding.

Oh Mac I received a letter from Elder A. Lopes. Thanks for the 소 개 oh it made my day. I wish you would have written me too but I was glad to see you wrote on that picture. We get to watch General Conference this weekend really excited for that. Happy Happy Birthday Jilly Dear someday I will send you something I promise. Good luck with finals. Briggsy send me a track update. I love you all so much, thanks for teaching me and helping me always I always need help. xoxoxoxox kiss, nose, hug

Sister Paige Alsbury
알 스 베 리 자 매

Three some....I don't know how do you say it??

친 구 들
Well transfers came, and it turns out there are 15 sisters in our mission this transfer. Soo 최 민 희 and I will continue to work here in Incheon but Sister Toronto--my MTC companion is here now too. It should be interesting.

Oh this week was amazing on Sunday 이 선 주 (lee sun ju) is getting baptized she's 17 and just the cutest girl ever. When I call she says "Alsbury!!! giggle giggle" Anyway she's a miracle Elder Bogner talked to her on a bus even though elders aren't supposed to talk to females. She's awesome. She likes Briggs, she says that she and I are the same, she even likes Justin Timberlake. 조 으 주, 송 보 라, 안 슬 기 have baptismal dates for the 18th and 19th they are wonderful its a real rewarding experience to see people make changes to align their lives with the teachings of the Savior.

On Sunday night we visited this part member family the mom and 2 daughthers joined the church 35 years ago and the dad never did. One of the daughters lives in Provo and works at a dry cleaners there, the other daughther has some mental disabilities shes the biggest fan of missionaries ever. Anyway when we visited the dad (who's like 70 years old) said that we could continue to teach him and prepare him for baptism. The elders say that every single elder in DapDong tries to teach this guy but something is different now. We have a really good feeling about him.
No snow its warming up sort of, still windy but nice weather. We will be watching General Conference on the 11/12th but I'm excited for it. Conference was always the best at home.
Hey if you were ever wondering my favorite Korean work is 깨 달 다 to recognize, it sounds like (brace yourself) gay dar da, ala Dwight Schrute. Love that man. Anyway new challenges present opportunites for growth. Nobody said anything about Searle's mission call.
사 랑 해 요

알 스 베 리 자 매
love you all

How do you spell OCD?

yesterday at our district meeting we were talking about this elder's investigator and I said "does he have OCD?" So we are talking about OCD and my companion says "How do you spell OCD?" Me Elders Hansen, Murphy and Blauer just about died laughing to death it hurt. You had to be there and understand my companion to get it. In a couple years from now when I read this email again I will laugh.

We went to the temple this morning which was great. We went to the korean session so I kept flipping to the spanish channel on the translator--I couldn't believe I could understand it. Anyway I have a lot of language learning to do in the future. Saw sis. Newby and Yoshimura that was happy.
Then we went from the temple to the mission office to do pass off. Which means today I will ride every single stop on line 2--the green subway line aka the death train. Oh well. I took my korean test and rocked it. its amazing how many useless vocab a brain can recall, like to be designated, diverse, vending machine, grammar is a lot easier written. Anyway my companion did pass off too. Good for her. It means that I laid on the heat as a trainer. 2 points for Mac on being up front with his President.

Last sunday we had 3 investigators at church, it was really great. We should be having 4 baptisms in April 조 인 주, 이 선 주, 송 보 라, 안 슬 기 they are cool all going to be huge miracles. Still get rejected 99% of the time but there are prepared people. Anyway we did splits last weekend which took huge coordination and work on my part, I went to a different ward than my companion. yes tricky...the members felt like martryrs for helping me. Yes please continue to help missionaries its really important for people investigating the church to have friends. And the missionaries don't want to pull teeth from the members---although I am pretty good at doing that myself.
Tax day is soon approaching....yes taxes! ;)
No more time, Briggs be safe in SF--scary--remember who you are. xoxoxo love you all write me, package me, pray xoxoxox

Sister Paige Alsbury

황 사 Yellow dust from China!

Yes the yellow dust from China is here the other night I couldn't see the subway from 100M away. Weird. CHINA..so close can't see it but I hear chinese everyday. Happy I do not speak it. My companion bought a mask yesterday---oh so badly want to laugh but internally laughed. I just can't imagine talking to someone about the Restoration while wearing a mask. Among all the things in Korea that are bad for my health I think yellow dust is the least of my worries.

Before I say anything more I have a favor to ask all of you. If missionaries ever ask you to help them teach, just say yes.

Last week we found 안 슬 기 (an sur gi) and 송 보 라 (Song bo ra) they are 14 and they are just the sweetest people ever. Of course they think Briggs is cute but they are just amazing. I just love meeting them. In korea most students go to 학원 these academy things where they learn math, english and other things. english most important. These girls don't go--I'm a hater of 학 원 they are amazing. Last night one of them prayed that she would be able to find truth the same way that Joseph Smith did. I have such a good feeling about them. 조 은 주 (Jo eun ju) is still set for the 29th Baptism but right now she is just stressing me out. She's going to Japan this weekend for no reason So I really hope that is a good experience for her. The members have been so helpful in fellowshipping...Wait is that true? Koreans don't get sarcasm but I do. Someday I will express my frustrations.

Monday our mission did sister exchanges. So Sister Marsden came with me and Sister Choi went to 강 서 It was fun we worked hard first time our mission has done it. President told sister Marsden she had a lot to learn from me--I don't think I taught her anything but it was fun. Its pretty cool to have spiritual experiences and see miracles even when all of your plans for the day fall through.

So last Saturday was the Relief Society birthday party thing. The doctrine of the church is true everywhere but there is that culture aspect. I'm sad nobody else was able to see it. It was just very Korean. I died laughing internally. I forgot my camera which is too bad. 7 wards preparing daily for months (much too busy to help the missionaries :) ) for their plays for this program. Not enough time but just picture this as I type some adjectives: 계 산 Relief Society, pom poms, choreography, K-Pop, chearleaders, dallas cowboys to be exact, sequins. Anyway I love Korea and Koreans and Kimchi, and missionary work. Its hard. Mac knows this too. Its fun but not always but always worth it. It makes you a better person. I realized that my mission is half over. I have way too much to do, I need to improve. There was an article in the Liahona this month about perfection and running the race of life. Just keep going you will make it. me too. Briggsy next week will you email moi? Jilly? 부 담 스 럽 지 않 지 만 하 십 시오!
LOVE YOU all forever,

알 스 베 리 자 매
Paige McDede Alsbury

The varieties of Kimchi are numberless

Hello again from 인 천 Incheon. I am sorry that it is freezing cold in MT, its sort of warming up here, a little bit. We still have the death winds from the ocean couples with the stuff coming out of the factories yeah....clean air I covet.

Wow Mac is training and opening an area. I feel your pain. Actually this morning I read President Eyring's October 08 Priesthood address "O ye that Embark" He spoke of muscle strength tearing muscles down and letting them repair themselves and increase in strength. ie down squat 2 days in a row. (Oh I miss the gym so bad) Anyway His point is that as we serve the Lord increases our spiritual strength, this is a gift from God which he gives to us as push our service to the limit. Through the atonement our natures can be changed and our ability to carry burdens increased. Yeah so I really needed it to. We are being polished even though some days its like an electric sander wearing us away.
3 months ago Sister Newby and I opened 3 wards to sister missionaries. We always got lost and it was freezing cold, among other things that were going on. Then when everything got comfortable things changed and 2 weeks ago I was asked to stop working in one ward and open 답 동 Dap Dong which is actually the area in which we live. Its so hard. New missionaries are so sweet but it really is like 98% on your shoulders. In a few months we'll be really grateful for these experiences. Actually the Lord has really blessed us as we've worked in DapDong. We have found people to teach and seen a lot of blessings from following counsel. Still really hard. There are 2 elders there that maybe just maybe are a little bit hard for me to love. On Sunday they said somethings to me and coupled with tons of stress and pure exhaustion I just went into the bathroom (with a heated toilet seat--haha) and sobbed. I feel like I am trying to please everyone and I just can't. I'm just me and I have so much responsibilty but I know that I am on the Lord's errand and I just have to do my best. My companion just thought I had eaten too much Kimchi. Which p.s. does cause extended bathroom trips tmi.

Nothing exciting really to say, just know that I'm fine I'm working as hard as I physically can. Yesterday I think was the most tired I have ever been--I know you all can relate. My companion was doing passoff with our District Leader and I don't even remember it--I was studying vocab and just passed out--sleep that is. 1st time I've ever done that. Its hard to always pretend to be strong, happy, prepared, know where to go or say, but I know that the guidance from Ether 12 is something that gives me strength.

Last week I remembered exactly what I was doing 2 years ago in Chile. I know Grandma McDede is watching over me, I think she really wants someone to send me cookies and chocolate because its hard to do so from the Spirit World.

So you know that in Korea with almost every investigator of the church they initially meet with the missionaries because the want to learn english. I HATE TEACHING ENGLISH! Anyway it is a tool to find people who are prepared for our message. So we teach them 30 min. english 30 min. Gospel. Last night I am not even exagerating for 30 minutes non stop I said the word "ZOO" probaly 5000 times trying to get our investigator to be able to say Z--it never happened. She just kept saying Joo--ahhhh. Before we emailed I translated for these Russian men who were lost. So english is a good thing to know. In Incheon there are a lot of foreigners but they are all Russian, Kazakstan, Uzbekistzan, Vietnamese and of Course tons of Chinese. They all work at the factories here.
Hey yah for Searle on the mission papers--let me know.
I'm not sure but I think that American tax day is soon approaching ahh love that Holiday. Don't forget to make all preparations for that day. :)
Okay I will end this now. xoxoxox, Love you all, be good, the church is true everywhere. Te amo, 사 랑 해 요

알 스 베 리 자 매
Your all-time favorite sister missionary

March 5th

안 영 하 세 요, We don't have any time to email so this will be short. We rode the 2 hour "death train" the really packed subway to the mission home in Songpa for a sister luncheon. That word luncheon--such an old lady name. Its raining we don't have umbrellas acid rain, the elders are balding, I think I'm okay.
I don't have anything exciting to say I'm just working really hard thats pretty much it. I'm trying to be patient with myself, something that I struggle with is not seeing instant results I really like that. Its discouraging but I know that all I have to do is be obedient and do my best. Preach My Gospel talks about not being discouraged with ourselves.
Sometimes speaking Korean too much makes my brain hurt. Hey I read this article the other day in the Liahona called "Standing up for Caleb" Caleb moved from MT and the other kids were making fun of him but one girl stood up for him and said she heard Montana was really pretty. I love Montana.
Last week we found 13 new investigators it was crazy. I know that the Lord wants to bless us and that verse in Ether 12 is truth we receive no witness until after the trial of our faith. Okay I love you all so much.thanks for all the emails and prayers. xoxoxoxoxo

Sister Paige Alsbury
알 스 베 리 자 매