Day In the Life of a Missionary in Korea

Hey! Thanks for the E mail. It should be about 4:00PM (your time) when I call on Mothers day. Sound Good?
So, on an average day we exercise at 6:30AM until 7:00AM. Then we eat breakfast (French toast, pancakes, rice), shower and do personal study, companion study, and Korean study until 11:00. We usually eat lunch at home after study (Noodles, soup, rice, pot sticker things). Some times we will eat out. You can get a pretty good meal for 2-4 bucks at a restaurant.


We teach as many lessons as possible throughout the day and night and try to teach with members as much as possible. We usually teach 3-5 lessons each day. When we are walking to appointments we just talk with everyone we can and try to get more investigators. With a lot of people we teach English for 30 minutes and then the lesson for 30 minutes when we meet.
This week we got another baptism set for the 10th, so that will be two. We're way excited! Well I'm outa time. I love you!
Elder Lufkin

Teaching~Studying~Growing

Everything has been going awesome here. We have some really good investigators! We had two investigators come to church this week. One is 16 and one is 17. After church we introduced them and they are friends now.

Our ward has about 15 families right now and we are getting 16 more people from another ward that split. I study the Book of Mormon every morning for about 30 min. It is cool to talk about what we learned during companion study. We have some good discussions. I'm in 2nd Nephi right now. I also read Jesus the Christ a lot, Our Search for Happiness, and Preach My Gospel. Jesus the Christ is awesome. There is a lot of deep stuff in there that I never knew. Preach My Gospel is, too. If I have a question about how to do anything involved with missionary work it's in there.
I study Korean for 1 hour every day. It's going pretty good. I'm definitely not the best at speaking, but I'm not shy about talking to people on the street so I learn a lot from trial and error. I only see 1 white person a week and there are a few Indian people. Every one else is Korean. Being an American is a big help when we jundo (proselyte). People are always surprised that I know any Korean at all so they'll usually talk to me for at least a minute or so. Quite a few people here know English or at least a little bit so they like to practice with us. A lot of the time when we give a lesson we'll teach English for 30 minutes then teach a lesson in Korean for 30 minutes.
Conference was sweet! Our whole zone met together at the church to watch it. We also had zone Conference last week. That was awesome! I left feeling pretty pumped.
Thanks for the letters! That was awesome to read dad's letters to Ben. He had some good advice. I only get mail about every 2 or 3 weeks so it might take a while for me to reply to letters. We can email every P day though. Well, thanks for everything! I love you!
Elder Lufkin

President and Sister Burton

Elder Kyle Ross Houston, Elder Lufkin, President Burton, Sister Burton

"It is a great honor to have your son here with us in the Korea Seoul West Mission.. We are excited to share this wonderful experience with Elder Lufkin. We trust that the Lord will not only bless Elder Lufkin but will likewise bless you and your family as he serves faithfully in Korea. We love Elder Lufkin already and look forward to sharing this wonderful experience with him.
We want you to know that we love the Lord and consider it a great honor to serve Him in this Mission. We believe that there is no better place anywhere in the world.
After a wonderful interview with Elder Lufkin we have assigned him to work with Elder Kyle Ross Houston in the 신월 Shin Wol Area. We have selected your son’s trainer through prayer and inspiration. We want Elder Lufkin to begin his mission in the best possible way."

Sister Burton and I are thankful for your support and encouragement of Elder Lufkin. We will do everything possible to see that he is healthy and happy, with positive and enjoyable experiences. At times it will be difficult, but we know the Lord will answer your prayers for your son’s welfare and success. We pray continually for your welfare and know that our Heavenly Father's blessings will be with you as you participate with your son in the great missionary program of the Church.
President Burton

1st week in Seoul

I've had an awesome week. Conference is actually shown in Asia a week later so well watch it this weekend at our church.
Thanks for taking care of my tax stuff for me!
My trainer is awesome. He is a really good missionary and I'm learning a lot. We've got some good investigators right now and we're always looking for more as we walk to appointments. Two investigators have baptismal dates set for May 10. One, we just committed last Sunday.
Korea is pretty sweet! There’s quite a bit of smog sometimes though. I've had some wayyyy good food and some pretty naaaasty food.
Thanks for the e mail! I love you!
Elder Lufkin

1st Day in Seoul

I just got out to my area and got unpacked. My new companion is awesome! His name is Elder Houston. He's from Springville which is about 10 min from Provo, UT. He's been out for almost a year and is already really good at the language. After this we are going to buy some groceries and then we have a couple appointments tonight starting at 7:30. P-day ends at 6:00 so I think we'll just be proselyting when we don't have appointments.
We live in a little 3.5 room apartment/cottage. There’s a bathroom/laundry room, a bedroom, kitchen, and a room with a dresser and clothes drying rack. (They don't have dryers in Korea)


So, the 1st day we just talked to President and Sister Burton, had a snack and went to bed. I and 3 others stayed in the president’s house with them. We arrived at their house at about 8ish. The next day we had some training, went out proselyting, filled out paperwork, and taught a lesson to Korean members. It was a fun day and it flew by. After we taught the lesson we went out to proselyte some more with one of the President's Assistants. I met a kid on the sidewalk and told him about the Book of Mormon and why we were there and asked him a few questions. When I ran out of stuff to say the AP took over and was able to set up an appointment to teach him later. It wasn't in my area so I won't get to teach him though. After that we went back and went to bed. Today we woke up and played soccer for a while at a school playground then showered and had personal study. All the trainers came at about 9 and we ate breakfast together at the President’s house. We had some more training and a testimony meeting and after that President Burton assigned our companions. It was pretty cool. Elder Houston and I took a subway and a bus to our area. It's about an hour from the mission home, but still in the city. It’s been pretty cool walking around. There are a lot of little markets and shops.


Proselyting has been pretty fun. White people are really rare. I've only seen one white person so far and he was here from Australia teaching English. It's been pretty easy to talk to most people because they like to find out what we're doing and the younger ones like to practice speaking English to us.
Well that’s about all that’s happened so far.
This is my address here:
Elder Lufkin
Seoul West Mission
Songpa-gu
Ogum-dong 24-1
Seoul, Korea
138-130

Today, is Thursday the 3rd and it’s about 4:40 in the afternoon right now.
We go to the Presidents house every 2-3 weeks to get mail and packages so I might not be able to reply for a while if anyone writes. I have an hour to email on p-days though so probably just tell the family to email most of the time.
I have been having an awesome time! Let me know any questions that you have about anything. I'll send you some pics in my next email and I'll probably mail a camera card home pretty soon too. I hope you're all doing well! I love you!
Elder Lufkin


P.S. President Burton and his wife are awesome! I liked staying with them a lot. The AP’s were really cool too. They gave me a few pointers about teaching and stuff so it was a fun couple days. The AP’s and 4 other missionaries live in an apartment that is combined with the Burtons house and a few offices and the church. It’s like a 3 story building that the church owns.

Mission Home

Arriving at the Mission Home
























Farewell to 1st Companion, Elder Pearson


Hello to trainer and companion Elder Houston


Supper and breakfast at the Mission Home




April Missionary Arrivals ~ President and Sister Burton