Gyungju Ward

Elder Green and I are working it in Gyungju! Gyungju is very beautiful, tucked into a valley surrounded by rolling green mountains. It's been misty and wet this past week, so I've kind of felt like I'm in Washington again. Definitely not as hot as Taegu! There aren't too many big buildings in Gyungju because the local government wants to preserve the "traditional feeling" of the ancient Shilla capital. This has caused the city to spread out across the valley, with universities and larger apartment buildings on the outskirts. It makes missionary work harder, but the town really is charming. A nice evening walk along the river or through the tree-filled park is pretty sublime. The people are nice and have seen missionaries around for years. It reminds me of Sacheon...though it still doesn't occupy the same special spot in my heart that Sacheon does. :)

We had church meetings yesterday. The Branch has about 30ish people coming out each week. Not bad at all. A good number of youth too. Great people, very nice and welcoming. Very warm. I LOVE the small branches. We meet with a high school girl (Hyae Jung) and her family on Saturday and Sunday nights and they feed us. The girl was baptized a few months ago. They're great! My MTC companion, Elder Heaton, was one of the first missionaries they started meeting. Missionaries love them. The mom cooks delicious food and we hang out with them, play card games, and teach about the gospel. Great family.

The Branch President is a convert of 3 years. He's a powerfully built man about 5.5 feet tall. Great personality, very warm and funny. The whole Branch seems great. When I got up to give my introduction talk yesterday, I felt accepted and appreciated. Great people. Oh, note of interest: this is my trainer's (Elder Jeff Hinton) greenie area. He's excited for me. This is also my MTC companion's (Elder Heaton) greenie area. I'm taking the place of the last senior (Elder Kim) who is also in my dongee. Since he's half-Korean and super smart, he was really good at Korean, so I'm intimidated trying to fill his shoes.

Korea is great!!! Hard to believe I have about 11 months until I'm home. Love you guys! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true! Elder Bocchino

From Taegu to Gyungju

I've been transferred from the Taegu Seusong Ward to Gyungju. I'm out of the Taegu heat! But, I'm also out of the big city and back into the rural. It's a change all right, as I was just getting used to the big, fast paced city. GYUNGJU is a very very famous little city in Korea. It was the ancient capital of the Shilla Dynasty. It's about an hour west of Ulsan, an hour south of Pohang - pretty much a ways away from anywhere ("a geographical oddity!!" - George Clooney). It is soooooo beautiful. A lot of the buildings in the town proper are limited to a height of only several floors and most of them have traditional roofs. It is a modern town, but they try to preserve a traditional look. Everyone is obsessed with history due to the city's historical nature. (Sheela) The Korean drama shows depicting the old days are pretty popular here.

The Branch has about 20-30 members who regularly attend church each Sunday. I hear they're great and I'm excited to meet them. We just had an English class here an hour ago, and the seniors in the class have known missionaries for a long time and are very friendly with us. I'm excited to spend time with them as well.

It was a confusing and surprising transfer weekend for me at first, because it was completely unexpected and I was just getting used to a new routine in a big city. But it's getting better. It's not as hot here and it is so beautiful. My new companion is Elder Green from Kaysville, Utah. He's going into his 5th transfer in country (he's been in country for about 5 months) and I'm going into my 8th transfer (10 months in country). He's nice, and pretty good at Korean too.

We're anxious to get started. Thanks for your prayers and support. It helps! Love, Elder Bocchino