I can't believe it's Thursday again. This past week has gone by really fast. Which is a shame...I wanted it to go slower. We had a Sister's Conference yesterday in Daejeon. It would be nice to still be there right now learning from the other sisters in the mission and from Sister Perriton and Sister Pierce. Sadly, nothing good lasts forever just like nothing bad lasts forever here on earth. Time will always keep going no matter how much we want to stop it.

This past week was nice--it only rained on Tuesday. And it didn't rain buckets, either. When we leave our apartment in the morning, I never know if we need umbrellas or not... I think the rainy season is almost over, though. Maybe. I don't actually know. The weather here is exciting, that's for certain. I love seeing everybody on the street with their umbrellas up. When people walk down the street, it's like a big chain of bobbing apples of different colors in a stream.

If you can't tell, I didn't really think about what I was going to tell you in this blog post. I apologize for the randomness... My mind is a mess anymore as I try to remember Korean and people's names. I've always been really bad at remembering names--and I'm not any better at remembering them in Korean. But that's okay. The wonderful thing about Korean is that you can refer to a person without using their names in a wonderfully respectful way by just calling males brother and females sister. I appreciate that.

I've almost been on my mission for four months. It doesn't seem like it's been all that long. At the same time, it feels like I've never been anything but a missionary. I suppose that's because we're kept so busy every day. There really isn't much time to think about home. Which is good. Though, I had a hard time not doing so yesterday on the train home from Daejeon--they showed movie previews for the new Harry Potter and the new Transformers movies... If you haven't seen them yet, you should go and watch them for me. :)

Things are going well here in Korea. My Korean is still abominable. I don't understand most things people say to me...but that's not a bad thing sometimes. When I walk down the street, little children often call me a foreigner, which I find amusing. Everyone here is really nice and honest--when we try to talk to people who have no interest, they've got no problem telling us they're not interested. I like talking to students. They find it funny when I start talking in Korean (especially since I generally just use high form) and are always very interested in what I'm saying. Sadly, they're generally not interested enough to want to hear more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I pray that all of you are doing well--as it takes about three weeks for me to receive letters, I have no idea what's going on in your life. Whatever's happening, know that it's happening for a reason. Growing hurts--ask any teenage boy who is going through a growth spurt. But it's worth it in the end. Hard work becomes easier the more we do it. I never thought I would be able to walk around as much as I do each day (exercise never has been my friend), but each day I do, I get stronger. And I also never thought I could sit on the floor as long as I do when we teach without my legs falling asleep. Granted, they sometimes still fall asleep, but it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. My legs are sore, but it's getting easier. Keep working.

To quote one of my favorite movies, "Never give up, never surrender!" Hard work pays off rich dividends.

I love you all! (And I would love to hear from you!)

Sister Erica Oates