Let's go Ice Cream!! week 3 in Korea!

So this week was eventful! on Monday after emails we went and contacted we got yelled at my first time all we got to say was we are missio/ and he cut in and yelled at us in Korean so it wasn't that bad because I had no idea what he was saying! But Monday all we did was contacting all day so that was great! Tuesday we meet with the sisters and went to 하나시 which is about 20 mins away on bus. so we did street boarding for a few hours and the people there were super nice because they don't see foreigners as much! after that we split upon and did a few more hours of contacting. we travel allot by bus and subway! we spend about 50 dollars every 2 weeks on travel cost! we do allot of our contacting at intersections and just causally talk to every one! but that night we meet up as a district and had dinner at an area 70's house he wasn't there it was his daughter that made us a big meal of spaghetti, bulgogi, and rice!! it was super difficult eating spaghetti with chopsticks! then after dinner she went and bought us ice-cream! On Wednesday we meet up for lunch as a district before district meeting we had lunch at Ashley's a nice American buffet, we enjoyed fresh salad and my new favorite thing Hawaiian fruit salad! after district meeting we contacted and went to English class! we talked about how people react in stressful situations! but one of the students found out my name was German so he went off talking about German beer, German food, and he repeated that he loves beer like every other sentence! On Thursday we had our p day we went to the temple in the Seoul

mission! i was able to meet up with other missionaries from my last district so that was nice! we then went with the sisters to gang-nam and enjoyed some tacos at this Mexican restaurant! we walked around Gang-nam for a few hours we went shopping in the subway markets but we couldn't find any men's stores everything was for lady's! which Korea is the place for lady's who loves clothes and shoes because every other store is a shoe store! on Friday we did weekly planning which was fast because we have no investigator to plan for! but we then went and contacted for a while then meet up with our district to get some pizza school! the guy that works there loves us so he gives us any thing in the mini fridge for free which we feel bad taking things we just grab a small soda every time! we then went back to the church and practiced our singing performance for Saturday! on Saturday we went to the church early and cleaning the baptismal font and got everything ready! we then had English class! we talked about education and then talking about America and guns! haha all the people in my class call me John F. Kennedy because they think I look just like him!! English class is one of the best ways for us to get investigators so we do English class allot. we have some one who we are going to meet with soon so hopefully we will have an investigator soon! but the after noon we had an amazing 침례 식 (baptizmal service) we had people talk about baptism and then we  preformed our sound! ( I need thee every hour) and she was baptized!! we had food after! Koreans love food which every thing is centered around food! we are constantly being feed which is good! but I am gaining weight though!! after the service we had young men's and young women's we played spoons, card games and had Korean snacks! Sunday we had church then after we played contacting bingo with the sisters we made a bingo board of people who you could see on the street like some one wearing a red hat, or some one working out etc. so we did that for a couple hours! the sisters one of course! but it was super fun doing that because we were super excited to talk to every one! then that night we went to a members house and they made a bunch of food for us! my ward loves me because I love Korean food! i have been able to eat every thing I have been given so far! but after dinner we talked about there missions and they showed us photos of their mission and after we gave them a quick message! I love being in Korea, I love the people, the food, the culture! i feel really blessed to be out here! I love you all! have a Good week!

-Elder Grossgebauer!

 

this is from the window of the area 70's home! this is were im serving

downtown gangnam! I didn't see psy:(

 

2nd week in South Korea!

하피 빨린틴스 여로분!!! also happy birthday DAD!!!

"the most important of the lords work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own homes."- Harold B. Lee 회장님

I want to say thanks to my dad for being the greatest! I love you dad!

 

Korean church culture: after church on Sunday we all set up tables and the sisters prepare a ton of Korean food in the kitchen and we all set down and eat food together as a ward! it is super nice because you can socialize with each other for an hour! I would suggest it for the ward back at home but here in Korea you only have to feed about 20-30 people and at home you would have to feed up to 100-300! haha I love the Korean culture! its allot to take in but I'm trying my hardest to be Korean!

So this week has been kind of tough in Korea! opening up a new area is pretty difficult! it is also kinda difficult when we don't have a phone! it broke last week so we have been waiting for a new one all week and last night we got a new one which is a nice touch screen phone! which we are not sure if we were supposed to get it! because we had to meet some lady who switched the cards in the phones and installed everything and that was the phone she gave us! but we don't have a charger for it so we got today to use it!  We have been street contacting a lot! hopefully we can get some investigators soon! I haven't taught my first lesson yet but I want to give one super bad! but things are going great for my ward right now! the sisters in my district are awesome they have 3 baptisms lined up!! this week we have been visiting a lot of inactive people with the sisters! also when people feed us they feed us! I haven't eat this much in my whole life! so far I have gained 5lbs! Now we are going to start focusing on the ward a little more because the ward rely on us for almost everything! we do all the cleaning in the church, we open the church, etc.. so we are going to figure some plan for the next 4 months that we could strengthen the ward! we also want to get a lot of the in active people back to church!

So English class is the best we have about 25 people that come and I'm teaching the advanced class so we have about 10 people coming to that class this week we talked about money and how we can get rich because jack writes a essay each week so we read and discuss it! but we ended up talking about this kid named celvin who is going to school at uvu and he is back in Korea working and saving money so we talked about him a lot because he comes from a super rich family but now he is on his own so we talked a lot about rich people and there kids! ( by the way those are their English names!) but today isn't are p-day because we get to go to the temple on Thursday! but we still get to email for an hour! but this week I didn't take very many photos because we have been busy all week!

I love you all! -Elder Grossgebauer!

 

this is where we do our emails at!

 

This is the market we walk through to get to church!

 

 

 

Letter from the Mission Home!

 Hello from Seoul,

It has been a busy week since our new missionaries have arrived.  I saw some at the temple today and they are doing well.

Korea is changing the way letters and packages are addressed.  There is one year for the transition.  So our old address is changing to:
Korea Seoul South Mission
29 Wiryeseong-daero 22-gil, Songpa-gu,
Seoul, Korea  138-855

The address you received from the church will work along with this new address.  Please use this new address.  This will help to make the transition easier. 

Attached is a picture taken at the New Missionary Orientation on February 5^th.  It was taken just before they set out for their new area with their new companion.

 Sister Groesbeck, Secretary

Korea Seoul South Mission

1st week in Korea!!!

So my stay at the mtc was awesome i am going to miss all my brothers and sisters in my district! so on monday we left at 4 in the morning and took a bus to the airport. At the airport i was able to call my loved ones which was really nice to be able to talk and hear their voices. we flew to detriot then from detriot we flew for 14 hours over canada, alaska, russia, and china. the plane ride was really nice we didnt have any turbulence. once we got to korea we had to wait because we couldnt land so are plane did a bunch of circles in the air. but as soon as we landed we got our bags and meet the mission president and his wife. We took our luggage to the mission cars and we got our subway cards then went to the subway they gave us a drink and a quick snack then we got book of mormons and pass out cards and rode the train to our mission home which took about 1 hr and 30mins. everyone here speaks english so when you want to say something they help you in english. so the first night we stayed at the mission home in the activity room! when we woke up sister morrise made all of us break feast! we then had orientation and got interviewed by the mission president. we had lunch with all the trainers and then after we meet our new companions. My new companion has been here for 1year and a half. his name is Elder Newton from salt lake city! so we left right away and took our bags to the new area that we were both going! we are opening the area of gangdong up! we have to roomates Elder payne and Elder despain, Elder payne is an Olympic athlete for canada he does gymnastics. the apartment i live in is one of the nicest but one of the smallest! when it comes to making food i eat alot of bread with peanut butter and rice and eggs! we have had alot of pizza here because members have been taking us to pizza places around here because it is like a buffet. so me and my companion have done alot of exploring here because we are new to the area and have no investigators. we have got lost a couple times but we always some how found are way back! we also teach english class! i teach the advance class with elder despain because we are the new ones to the country. It was cool are class had around 11 people all of them are in there 30's or 40's we talked about inventions the whole time! then after they took us to get food at this korean Italian restraunt i let them order for me so i could try something new they ordered spaghetti seafood! it was nice being able to talk to someone for once because we spoke english and talked about utah and things to see in korea! the students in the class made english names like jack, bryant, anne etc so that was easy for me! are church here is one of the smallest ones we have 6 missionaries and around 50 members. my district is us elders and two sisters. and this sunday we sang a song in sacrament and i gave a talk for 3 mins! which was nice because when it comes to gospel things i can speak but regular conversion i cant say a thing! which makes street contacting super hard! so in korea the man are very affectionate so they will come up and hold your hand or hold your thigh but we have a rule here were we cant talk to any female that looks to be under 30 years old! the culture here is amazing it is weird getting used to it though i find it hard not to hold the door open for people behind me because im used to doing that but here you just get your own door! but two nights ago we were walking to our apartment and this drunk older man was looking for direction so we walked him the the corner and he came up and held my hand so i walked him to the corner and he tryed hugging me but i stoped him from doing that! the subways here are super packed but no one makes a noise it is awkwardly quite! i love it here i feel really blesssed to be able to serve here! every morning when i walk out of my apartment i realize that im in korea because it is so quite in peaceful in our apartment but once we walk out there is people every where and it is super loud! The people here are always stareing at me because i tower everyone! people are super nice until they found out that we are missionaries. but today i got my foreigner card and saw elder watts again it was nice we talked for 5 mins about each others areas! well i got to go i love you all!

My District!

My Companion!

 

My Room!

 

 

 

 

 

Week 8

WOW time has passed by so fast i got 10 days until im on my way to Korea! Im starting to feel like a real missionary! Im nervous for Korean but most of the Koreans i have talked to can speak English so i should be fine! This week wasn't as interesting! we heard from Sheri Dew, and bishop Causse. They talked about love and the power we have as missionaries! But for TRC this week we talked to a kid in Korea through Skype, we gave him a 40 min lesson in Korean! he told us that he was getting ready to turn his papers in! so that was super exciting! This week i ran a 5k for gym i ran it in 22mins! i have been running alot here i run atleast a mile a day! We got a new group this week 12 native Korean missionaries 5 elders and 7 sisters! they are the nicest people to talk to, and they speak Korean so fast! This week my district was able to escort the senior missionaries, and the new missionaries on Wednesday! we had 600 new missionaries come in i was able to see a couple friends that i knew in high school! This week i memorized the first vision in Korean! so im ready for Korea now! The new group of american Korean speaking missionaries are the unluckiest group of missionaries, one of the sisters almost had and appendicitis the first week, one elder destroyed his foot and has to walk on crutches, and another elder pulled his shoulder out of his socket and has to go home for a month then can come back! Im so glad that i was able to stay here at the mtc for so long i love it here! but i cant wait to leave and experience the real world! i love you all so much thanks for the support and love you give me! love 끄로쓰끄빠워 장로 - my korean name!

We get plenty of food here!!!
Love Grossgebauer

Week 7

So this was the best week at the MTC by far! Besides the oldest group of Korean missionaries that left to Korea! But last P day i received an email from Elder Pendleton telling me to go look for some treasure under a rock by one of the MTC buildings! So me and my companion spent 5 mins looking under rocks! then on the last attempt i lifted a rock with a Tupperware dish full of toys and candy's that was left there for me! Then on Sunday the oldest group left! and they gave away past downs! i was honored to receive the mini fridge past down! so now everyone is putting their sodas and stuff in it! so our room is like the hang out room before bed! So we had 40 new missionaries come in to the mtc on wed. and one of them was from Australia so he came in on Monday! so me and my companion were assigned to be with him until Wednesday! So we had the opportunity to usher for the Tuesday devotional! So we had to ask some one else to be companions with Elder Dixon. The rumor was that Elder Bednar was coming because there was a lot of seminars for the new temple visitor center missionaries! so we talked to a couple going to Portland Oregon and the said Elder bednar was coming on Tuesday to confirm to use that he was coming! so all the elders in my district were super excited because we could usher for Elder Bednar and get front row seats! so the night of the devo. we blocked off the first 3 rows for the older couples coming! I was assigned to be usher next to the first couple rows to block them off from other missionaries! So Elder bednar walked in and sat down and i was super excited because he was only 15 yards or so away! So i focused back on ushering then every one started looking towards my aisle. So i turned around and elder bednar was walking start towards me and he was starring right at me! so my heart was pounding!(much like a 12 year old girl at a Justin Bieber concert!) But he stopped right in front of me and hugged one of the older gentlemen in the row right next to me! i was only a step away from him! i was hoping so bad that he would shake my hand but he didn't! But that night his wife called on Elder dixon and his temporary companion!(because they were lucky to get the front row!) she asked them to come up and talk about what the like about their companion! so elder dixon just said something nice about his companion that he had for only a hour! then as he sat down Elder bednar called him out for having his orange sticker on his tag!( that signifies a new missionary) and said "Elder you still have on, what we call a dork dot!" so everyone started laughing! so we refer to Elder dixon as the luckiest missionary!! So the rest of this week has been great! we went to the temple today and watched the new video that they have now! ( i love it) well i love you all i hope you all have a great week! 

My Fridge!

Treasure I found!

Week 6

This week went by super fast!! the new schedule is great! we have class in the mornings and afternoon. Then we go to gym and study the rest of the night! Today we went to the temple for the first time! the Provo temple is wonderful! we woke up at 5:15 to do laundry early that way we have more time to study this afternoon, for TRC. I love TRC we teach BYU students that know Korean and give them a 20 min lesson on that weeks topic! This week my Companion got called to serve as zone leader. On Sundays we have leadership training and out of the 10 people that can go to it 4 are from my district! the Branch presidency told us that we our one of the hardest working districts and that we a succeeding with the Korean language. This next week we are losing one district because they fly to Korea. its going to be sad, because we've been able to bond these past 6 weeks. Their district is serving in Pusan! But next Wednesday we get 40 new Korean missionaries that well be serving in Seoul, and Seoul south! we are going to be the biggest branch again when they get here! So this week Elder Demille and Elder shaver, were teaching their lesson and they tried to find a scripture to read to the investigator they tried opening the Korean scriptures up to D&C 9, but they opened up to Moroni 9:7-9, if you want a good laugh read it and imagine like you are an investigator that doesn't know much about the Book of Mormon! Well things here are great! i cant wait to get to Korea though! the time has gone by fast! we only have 24 more days until we leave! i guess we are flying to Detroit and then from Detroit to the Inchon airport! we well be flying through the arctic circle i guess! but that is just what the last Seoul south group flew! The best part about the MTC is the devotionals we heard from Brother Reynolds, and Bishop Stevenson! the advice they gave was awesome! Well i cant wait til i go to Korea, and then ill be able to share some awesome stories! love you all!

Well i was going to post some photos but the computers here are super difficult! I will try and sent some next time!

Week 5

This week was Awesome with New years! i hope everyone enjoyed the year 2013 because it was an amazing year for me! Celebrating new years by going to bed at 1030 wasn't too bad we partied in the hall for 15mins, we shot silly string, and blew whistles! We also sat down and ate chips and salsa! it was a funny sight! seeing 15 kids surrounding a thing of salsa and chips! But of course right after we all got the vacuums out and cleaned everything up because it was a mess! This week was great we all have a set of chopsticks that Elder Demilles mom sent to everyone! we eat with them at dinner every night! The food here got old fast, so all i eat are wraps, and a bowl of rice! ( got to get ready for Korea) We found out that we are having a schedule change on the 6th we will be having class in the morning instead of night, and ill be having my p-days on thursdays now! The temple is opening on the 6ths so ill get to go next week! This last sunday i was called to be The sacrament Coordinator, Here at the Mtc the korean branch is one of the biggest so we have around 40-50 people right now and in a few weeks we will be back at 80! so that exciting! This week i got a haircut it was the first time in a long time, that i had a razor used on my hair! it wasn't as bad as the rumors going on around here, made it sound! I've made it halfway through my MTC stay! one more month and we will be on are way to HANGUK(korea). We decked out are room last p-day with the glow in the dark stars, we copied constellations on are ceiling so it feel like we are sleeping outside! This week i figured out how many words i know and can recognize! I counted around 540 words, i have the missionary purpose memorized along with the baptismal invitation. I have been working hard on this language and i plan on being fluent by my one year mark, hopefully much sooner! i love all of you! i miss you guys! I promise ill get better at posting photos! the computer i am using won't allow me to post anything!
Elder Grossgebauer!

New Years Eve!

This guy is out in front of the MTC every morning!

Week 4

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I've had a great time here at the MTC. We were able to hear from elder Evans from the quorum of the seventy, and Elder Bednar from the quorum of the twelve. Elder Evans talked a lot about the power of communication! Elder Bednar did something really sweet! He didn't have a topic on something he was speaking about! instead he did something completely new. He passed out 200 cell phones to 3000 missionaries and he had an I pad that received the text we sent to him. We were able to ask him anything and he was only able to answer about 10 questions. But we received a lot of advice. Some of the advice i got was, when we feel the feeling inadequacy, that its okay to feel like that because that means you have the respect and know the power that you have with your call! As long as we trust in our father in heaven, we will have him there to help us along the way! The MTC is a great place to be on Christmas, me and my roommates and some other elders got together Christmas morning and opened presents. All of us received a life time supply of sweets and chocolate. After that we went to the devotional room and enjoyed a awesome talent show! there were people playing the violin like Lindsey sterling, magic shows, along with piano performances! We had an elder in our district preform as well he is from Canada, Elder shaver played the guitar like the kid does on August rush! Me and my companion also helped preform the 12 days of Christmas on stage for the Lady conducting the meeting! We were able to enjoy sack dinners for Christmas Dinner! Then we all watched the Mormon tabernacle Choir Christmas special! and Mr. Kruegers Christmas!

My Korean is coming along great! All we do here is study, study, then study, and finally study some more! Me and my district were blessed to clean the Provo temple today! we cleaned the baptismal font and bathrooms. We were lucky enough to take a tour through the temple from one of the temple workers, we say all the rooms in the temple, and were able to seat in the Celestial room for 10 mins. I enjoy it here at the MTC i can't wait to go to Korea though. I love you all and have a happy new years!

Week 3#

Well this week went by so fast! its amazing how fast time fly's here! This week was great, we listened to Elder Roseband from the Quorum of the seventy. He talked about our gifts that we have been blessed with, the gift of singing (not mine), the gift of friendship, etc. he also said the the most important gift we can have is our testimonies! He asked everyone to bless the life's of others with the gifts we have been blessed with. We have studied and studied and studied all week. Korean is coming along much better. I can still only do simple things. But I know that through prayer and trying our best that the lord will help us if we put the effort in!  Thanks for all the emails and love and support you guys give me! And I would like to say thanks to sister Beck for the cookies she sent me. We call them the peace making cookies now, because my companion was wrestling with one of the elders in my district and things started to get heated until I opened the package and handed the cookies out, so they immediately stopped and grabbed a cookie!! They say that the first 2 weeks are the longest part of the MTC now its going by super fast! Sorry I didn't post any photos today the computer is being difficult! I love you guys and enjoy the holiday season!
love Elder Grossgebauer!

 

Photo of my room!

Week 2

Hello everyone. I'm on week 2 time here is flying fast. it has been a great week we heard from Elder Cook of the 12 and he talked about how there has been 1 million missionaries that have served in the past 175 years and in 25 more years there will be 2 million missionaries that will have served. It really does show how the lord is hastening his work. I was also able to hang out with Elder beck on Sunday we went and watched the Christmas Devotional which was awesome! and then after we watch a talk from Sheri dew that she gave to the MTC a few years ago. She talked about the importance of listening to the prophet and apostles. She talked about how 10 years before the economy collapsed the prophet asked everyone to try and become debt free and how he was predicted the economic drop. It was sad saying good bye to josh but he is in Paris right now living it up! I love it here at the MTC I fell like everyone in my district is my family we are all super close and it makes the MTC fun because we are always having fun (when its appropriate!) Now Korean is my favorite thing I love it. I really hate English and its stupid rules. Korean is super logical and basic. Right now I can read it and say simple sentences, I also can bare my testimony. Are investigator is now are teacher and he is super nice. We are practicing the invitation to be baptized in Korean. I'm going to have it memorized by Monday. Learning Korean is hard, But it can be done I think of it as a hill that I have to climb and once I make it ill be able to bring happiness and eternal joy into the lives of my brothers and sisters in Korea. I made goals for when I leave here I want to have 560 words memorized, 56 different testimony sentences, 56 different grammar forms learned, and 8 prepared talks. These are the elders in my district, we also have 3 sisters in our district.



Elder Grossgebauer

First Prep Day!! Annyoung!

The MTC is amazing, I love it  the spirit is so strong here, its amazing the diversity of people that you can meet here. I love my district I have 3 sisters and 7 elders in my district. yesterday my companion was called to be district leader. and I think he is a stud he is from highland, and his name is Elder Watts, we are the tallest companionship in the district he towers me though he is 6'4" , he is one of the nicest guys I've meet. at first are group was quiet but now we feel like a family.

Its amazing how fast you start learning yesterday we spent 4 hours straight studying Korean. the teacher is awesome he speak Korean the whole time but after a while you start to learn and understand what he is saying. Right now I'm studying the alphabet and basic words. But today at 6 we are going to teach an investigator with the 3 sentences we know how to say. We hang out with some of the older Korean groups that are here and its amazing how much you can learn in 5 weeks. its weird having my prep day so soon. But next week ill love it when I do laundry for the first time. I love it here i thought it would be more strict and harder but I feel its pretty easy. I love how we are able to plan, and be able to figure things out by ourselves. Ill start sending photos next week i just need to take some photos first. we also get gym time every other day. My branch sucks at basketball but i also suck along with them. hopefully we can improve our skills before we get to Korea! gym time is great we are able to run and workout as well. its amazing how fast you bond with your district i love everyone in it. Its great to have friends with you especially when your studying Korean.  ill keep you all in my thoughts and prays!  love you all. annyoung!

 

Elder Grossgebauer