Elder Garrison Lott

Question of the Week: Do South Koreans give tips with payments for restaurants, taxi rides, hair cuts, etc? Answer: Nope, no tips. For anything. Or tax for that matter (well, there is tax but it's already factored into the price). It's actually super nice! Haha everything is exactly the price it says it is! If it's a dollar you give them a dollar 끝 [close]. End finished. I wish America did it that way! Here's some cool pictures! Love you all! Elder Lott So I may not look excited, but I was having a blast with (name)! Haha, he's a less active boy that I've been working with ever since I've came to Gimpo and he finally came to church on Sunday!! It was awesome. We were just sitting through the meeting with someone we're teaching and after the closing prayer someone grabs my shoulders and I turn around and it's him!! Haha, it was awesome!! We then hung out at the church for a while and had a good time! haha and 역시 [also] I've b...

This weeks book is sadly not from an old man... But! It is about an old woman! Well, actually a dead woman... but hey, that still means she's old right! Pearl S. Buck ! haha I got it from a service activity at 부천 [Bucheon] city hall ! Where we served as foreigner ushers for a lecturer and presentation and other stuff commemorating her life and literature. It's in 3 languages: English, Korean, and simplified Chinese. It also came with a nice bag that I use sometimes, hahah. Good memories from that day. Sooooo this week was krazy(with a K)!!!!!!! One, because I started training again and that always throws the week off a bit not having a comp for a while. But then also because the new missionaries flight got canceled!!! But it led to a lot of miracles, like me getting to spend extra time with Elder Kellis (who is also training) getting a referral that only happened because I was working in 청라 [Cheonga] and a lot of other things!! But in the end I finally got my second boy, E...

Another great week!! We got transfer calls! I'm staying and training again! I'm sad to see my boy Elder Malasky go ㅠㅠ but he's off to bigger and better things!! This weeks book that I've been given is a book on 바둑 [baduk] strategy. Kinda cool, but it took me a bit before I could read it because it uses a lot of words that I had never seen before, but now it's alright (: This is God's work and His Church! We've got a lot of things to do today so not much time! Love you all! Elder Lott Question of the Week: I've read that biking is a popular form of transportation in South Korean, but we mostly see pictures of just cars or buses. Do you see lots of bike riders? Answer: Yeah, a lot of people have bikes. Especially foreigners and high schoolers!^^ Our good friend Robert!! Wearing Sunday clothes!!! Wow, he looks good, right??? #nofilter #vsco #heishome

So this last week was pretty great again!! Lots of the same old same old. Proselyting, teaching, great food and great friends (: Love you all. Here's some pictures! Oh, and for the random book I got from an older gentlemen this week is a misprinting of a Korean Presbyterian seminary manual. The cover says it's for Leviticus , but it's actually for Hebrews . Haha, I got it because we're meeting with the author of those books and we gave him the Book of Mormon and explained it and he wanted to express his thanks so he gave us that book, haha. Yep, love you all!! Elder Lott Question of the Week: Is ice skating popular in South Korea (indoor or outdoor)? South Korea does well in skating events in the Olympics, but are there public ice rinks or hockey games? Answer: Yeah it's pretty popular, just like in the US. People do it but really only the professional athletes do it seriously (: And I've never heard of hockey games here... outside of the Oly...

This last bit has been suuuuper awesome!! Again not much to say, it just flies by! I know God is our Father, Christ is His Only Begotten and our Savior, and Their church is on the earth today lead by them through a living prophet. Revelation is real. I urge you to seek it and follow it in your daily lives and promise as you do so, your knowledge and testimony of the Restoration and the Savior will grow. What a wonderful time we live in to do so much good in the world. Yes there's a lot of bad, but that just leaves the door open wider to do good!! Let's seize every opportunity and fill this next year with as much good as we can!! Love you all!! Elder Lott Question of the Week: Do South Koreans serve a traditional treat (such as birthday cake), or have any special activities to celebrate birthdays? Answer: Not really, because they do age based on the year you were born birthdays are a little less important here. Of course now with the influence of Western culture, ca...

Mom Note:  Our video phone call with Elder Lott was wonderful.  We thought we were recording and getting screen shots, but we really weren't. It's sad because he had a very silly pink and white bunny hat that ears wiggled, and now we don't have a picture of it.  Oh well, it's a fun memory that still makes me smile.  We are so very grateful to have this one picture, plus one his sister-in-law took and posted on Instagram.  He looks and sounds healthy, happy and busy.  He loves South Korea, his companion and doing the Lord's work.  How blessed we are to be parents of this amazing man. Video Call 💕 Christmas Lights from an earlier email that I saved for this post. Click here to visit the Light the World website: https://www.mormon.org/christmas

This last week was suuuper fast and super dope!!! No way to describe it!! Love serving in 김포 [ Gimpo ], with Elder Malasky, and as the Lords servant !! Love you all!! Elder Lott Question of the Week: Are anime and/or cartoons popular in South Korea? Answer: Ooooooh yes!! They are insanely popular!! Haha, it's actually made me want to watch them a bit more when I get back. One of them that's big out here that I've had friends suggest me to watch is one called " One Piece ". One expensive glass of milk. But oh, was it worth it!! 김치 [ Kimchi] spaghetti!!  It was sooooooo soooooo so so so good!  Honestly everything is better when made into a Korean fusion food. Random man on the street, hahahaha And the thug life (and the life of being poor so you only buy one donut hole so you can warm up  a bit in Dunkin Donuts ).

Life is great and fun on the mission!! The last little while has been the best of my life!! Can't really write it well anymore, but I love you guys!!!!^^ I love the Book of Mormon and the added guidance and clarity it gives in addition to the Bible!! Truly the word of God!!!! Elder Lott Question of the Week: Do you see lots of Christmas lights?  Either in apartment windows, or in public places like malls or businesses? Answer: Yes and no, businesses put up a lot of lights sometimes but individuals don't. Malls get into the Christmas spirit a lot, but for the most part people don't really. But it's good, it's nice to focus on the work. Dressing warm so we can go out and get to work!! (Do they have neck warmers in America??? They are the beeeesssssttt thing ever!!!!) Our mission has really been stressing doing role plays to improve our teaching lately... and we've gotten really into it!!!  hahaha 😂 Learning 바둑 [ Baduk ] !!!...

This week was great again!!^^ Not to much to write to everybody about, but it was aaaaaaaamazing!!!!!~~~ I love the mission~~ If I could just live the past few weeks over and over and over again for my life, I would. Being a missionary is the best!!!! Love you all!!! Elder Lott Question of the Week: Can you spend US currency in South Korea, or does it have to be converted to won before being used? Do South Koreans use ATMs, or is going to a teller in a bank more common? Answer: You actually can in places like 평택 [ Pyeongtaek ] the army base area at certain stores. But for the most part, no. You've got to convert it. And atms are more common. Soooo.... we got wrecked at a 부대 찌개 [budae jjigae] place in the best/worst way....... So I don't know what's been up lately, but people have just absolutely loved us because we're white men who speak Korean so we've been given so much stuff as "service". But the people at the restaurant loved us...

[Mom Note:  Another week with just a personal family letter and no blog post. Elder Lott is doing well, and loving the South Korean people, his companion and serving the Lord.] Question of the Week: South Korea has very low birth rate. It is unusual to see large families? Answer: Large families-yeah, no.. large families are not very common. Usually families have 2 kids. In the church you'll see 3, sometimes 4. And then there's a family or two with 7 or 8, hahaha they're insane!! I love going over to their house and just seeing all the kids running around (usually there's even more because they have friends over). Here an interesting article about the history of Korean family relationships.  It's a little long, but for those that are interested:  https://asiasociety.org/education/value-and-meaning-korean-family And also a link to what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes about families:   https://www.mormon.org/beliefs/the-family ...

[ Mom Note: Only a personal letter this week, but Elder Lott did answer the question of the week for the blog.  😀] Question of the Week: Is chess popular in South Korea, or are there other board games that are commonly played? Answer: Yeah, it's a bit popular here but more than that is a Korean version of chess called 장기(changgi) . it's a lot funner and more complicated, but it's great!! And another game called 바둑(baduk) . Which I'm going to learn from one of our friends that we're teaching~ let's go!! Picture from: commons.wikimedia.org/baduk.jpg

This week was great!! Not much time to write, so just going to say that this is the true church of God. Revelation for our day and age is real. I love Korea!!! Love you all!! Hope you all have great weeks!! Love, Elder Lott Question of the Week: I've read that Koreans gesture palm down with 4 fingers instead of pointing at things with an index finger. Do you see that, or is it another custom that has faded? Answer: Umm, that one isn't really huge. But one that is similar to it is beckoning (is there a better word for that??) like calling someone over by waving your hand is always done with the palm down. The palm up is flipping them off pretty much (: So that's a mistake and a habit that you quickly break when you come here. Us eating homemade 밥 버거 's ( Rice Burgers !! Not what you'd excpect but super good!!)

Another great week and a busy one! This week was Stake Conference! And temple p-day! And a lot of other great things!!! Just a flood of spirtual goodness!!! I'm loving working here in 김포 [ Gimpo ] with Elder Malasky (: It's always a good time!! (: So just one great thing that happened this week happened at Stake Conference. During the meeting, I see a young man in the congregation a little ways away, and I recognize him but can't exactly place how I know him. And I was trying to think about all the wards I've served in and which one he was a member in. And then after the meeting, after it's gone out of my mind and I've moved on to other things, he comes up to me and calls me by name without looking at my tag and then it dawns on me who it is!! He was a person I met on the subway maybe one month earlier while on exchanges in 청라 [ Cheongna ] that I proselyted to then referred to the Incheon Elders!!!!! And we talked for a bit and he's loving meeting with t...

So this week I picked up my new companion, Elder Malasky!! He's from Syracuse Utah!! A really hard worker and a great guy!! So, there were a ton of miracles this week, but I'll just share one. We were proselyting to a 학생 [ student ] at a bus stop and I was letting Elder Malasky take the lead and it continued on to the very crowded bus. And as we're talking to him and explaining a few things to him, this women behind him starts whispering into his ear and telling us that we're 이단 (the Korean word for a cult or fake religion that does really bad things) and other slander like that (we get stuff like this all the time out here so I wasn't paying attention to the specifics). So I take a moment to compose myself, translate to my companion (I decided I couldn't protect him anymore from what some people say to us), and tell her that we believe in Jesus Christ and then just continued trying to talk to this kid to really no avail. Well, a few stops later she gets off...