Day 7 of Blog Round 2 ✌🏼

Today was a good day!

So I skipped a day of writing. I basically slept my entire Saturday away after falling asleep Friday night. Much needed. I feel so much better.

I agreed to help a friend move today (Sunday), and wasn't sure I'd make it to church. Which, to be honest, I was feeling kind of bad about since I also didn't get to make it to the temple. But, I really do think that the Savior would rather us use our time on the Sabbath for service or helping a friend than telling someone, "No, sorry, I don't have time because I have to go to church." 

Anyway, I woke up this morning feeling so rested and recovered. I met up with my friend to help her move (I even got to ride in one of those little Korean trucks - squished in between my friend and the ahjussi 😅). We ended up finishing within 2 hours, giving me enough time to make it to church!

So, I went home and changed really fast, grabbed a taxi, and made it to church. My bishop even called to see if I was alright (since I hadn't been feeling well and cancelled plans to go to the temple) and he was happy to see me at church. I'm really grateful for these past few months where I've had opportunities to get closer to my ward members. It's made a huge difference in feeling like a member of my community here. 

Anyway, I get to church and - surprise surprise - I see a familiar face from Arizona there... a girl who I kind of knew of from church back home is here in Busan for 2 months! Crazy how many people from Arizona are finding their way to Korea these days (Me, Addri, Michael, Bianca, Meagan, Aubrey, and now Miriam). 

There are 2 highlights from today though:

1. *Successfully* free-writing my thoughts in Korean during Sacrament meeting

2. *Interpreting* in Sunday school

First, I say *successfully* because I haven't actually had someone check my writing. I just decided to write down what I was thinking in Korean and challenge myself not to check my notes or use Papago (translating app). It's short and so simple, but here's what I wrote:

성찬식 생각:
오늘은 마음이 너무 행복해요. 어제는 많이 아팠어요. 그래서 성전에 못갔어요. 제가 너무 슬펐어요. 근데 어제 제가 많이 기도했어요. 그리고 감독님과 *** 자매님가 화이팅하는 메시지를 보냈어요. 와드의 친절를 주셔서 감사해요. 매일매일 우리 하나님 아버지의 사랑을 주셔서 너무 감사합니다.

I know there are a few places where I didn't have the vocabulary I needed to express what I was trying to say so I just did the best with what I could 😂 but, I'm just impressed that I was able to compose all of that without referencing notes or translation!

Second, I say *interpreting* because that's a stretch hahaha but I was at least able to relay gist!
Usually, in Sunday School, I have friends who will interpret beside me (sometimes this isn't the case and I can happily just follow along in the scriptures, because I can at minimum understand books and numbers in Korean). Anyway, my good friend is in Seoul these days and today it was me and the visiting Arizona girl. I could understand the teacher asking the other students if anyone would interpret for her. Most of the students in this class have studied abroad or served English-speaking missions, but that definitely doesn't mean they want or like to interpret or even use English - I try not to take it personally 😏 Anyway, so when the teacher was trying to get different students to "volunteer" to interpret, one of the students said in jest, something like, "Bekah knows enough Korean and she's obviously good at English - she can interpret!" Hilarious. I told the teacher it was okay and we could learn by the Spirit 😉

Anyway, I followed along and did my best to tell the Arizona girl what I was understanding, and... GUYS. THERE WAS SO MUCH I PICKED UP ON. Obviously, not nearly complete sentences or whole paragraphs but, I definitely knew a lot of the words being used and could tell the girl main concepts. At least until we changed direction for the last 10-15 minutes when I got lost... but up until then, I felt pretty surprised and like, wow, compared to a year ago I've learned so much! Obviously, the Lord definitely blessed me in that moment and I am so grateful.

Also, I am doubly grateful for both of these highlight moments today because Church Korean is way more difficult than school/work Korean because it's not words I use regularly. It's very specific church and scripture words that don't really transfer to other contexts (just like Church English). So I feel like I made some headway in an area I usually find challenging 😊

Today was a success. I feel a renewed sense of dedication to studying and improving my Korean.

Tender mercies 💗

And just like that, 1 week of Blog Round 2 is complete ✌🏼