I just want you to Marty that you are truely a one in a million friend!
Thanks buddy, you're the best ever!
I know you won't mind what I tell you...
Go on, t-tell me anything, tell me what!
I broke your iPod!
WHAT?!
The buttons were so small, it made me mad!!
The HORROR!
I'm Sorry!
I'm going to KILL you for this!
(back and forth fighting)
I love you Gloria! I always have!
...(snores)...
...
...
Like... uh... like you love the beach... or or a good book... or the beach...
-skipping to the end-
Love transcends all differences. We are gathered here today to
celebrate such a love. Do you take each other for better or for worse?
For better, please!

Ok, ok, this one's going to take a bit to explain, so bear with me.
And don't jump to conclusions . It's ok, I'm still a missionary, I
have not proposed to anyone, I have not set a wedding date, it's just
a movie quote I will tie in to something later. I'm pretty sure most
of you didn't really think that in depth into the movie quote pick,
but I just wrote this little disclaimer because I can guarantee
someone out there will read this and all of a sudden go into a panic
mode. "Why is he writing about this? He's a missionary! He's not even
supposed to use words like marry! What is this? Has he met someone?!"
If you are the person thinking stuff like this... It's all good. Just
take a breather.

When I came out here, I knew there were going to be communication
problems. I mean, it's just a fact. When I saw the words "Korea" and
"Korean" on my call letter... I mean, c'mon... It's obvious. Went to
MTC, learned that I was really gonna have a rough time. Came to Korea,
had a rough time (still am as a matter of fact), but I have gotten to
the point where I can get the gist of stuff going on even if I don't
know the words, etc, etc... Turns out, Heavenly Father has a wonderful
sense of humor. One of our members has just proposed to his wife who
is not a member. She has agreed to let us teach her, and she wants to
be baptised. It is awesome, in fact it will be this next week, which
we are all excited about.. . . So, I imagine some of you are asking, "
where's the humor in that?" Well, this is where the movie quuote comes
in. Because, she is from Nepal. She speaks Nepali and Hindi. Her
husband only speaks English and Korean. She does not speak English or
Korean. We only have a Hindi Book of Mormon, and a Nepali Gospel
Fundamentals book (we can't find a Korean or English translation of
the book yet :) ) Nothing we have,besides the Book of Mormon, is in
both languages. Needless to say, our lessons are pretty entertaining.
Lots of picture drawing, miming. It would be so much fun to film and
watch over and over again.

Also, transfers were last week! They were awesome, it's nice to get
some changes. I'm still in my same area and I have a new companion!
And... he's also Korean! It's legit! Apparently two Korean companions
in a row is almost unheard of. There's an Elder here though that has
for his whole mission been with Korean companions, so when people hear
about what's up with who I'm serving with now, they almost always say,
"Oh, you're going to be THAT Elder.." I never know how to react to
that...

Ah, in these past couple of weeks though, there have been some amazing
things happening. I will only recount one of them for you due to time.
We've been teaching a couple of kids ever since I've been in thise
area. They are both in middle school and we teach them English as well
as about the Gospel and Father in Heaven. Our meetings are pretty
casual, because they are just kids. We've taught them to pray, which
we do every meeting, but really nothing formal. For the fiirst eleven
weeks of meeting with them, I honestly didn't see anything happening.
With my new companion, we taught a little about the Holy Ghost, and
one of the kids pipes up and comments that that's what he feels when
he reads the Book of Mormon... Um... What? This is the first time (I
think) that we've brought it up. But it was such a sweet experience
for my companion and I. And to wrap it all up, about an hour after we
left, we were on our way to another appointment, we get a text from
their mom. Their mom was the person who asked us to teach her boys
English. Her text is a keeper. She described to us how before we had
met, her boys were slowly on the decline. They started hanging out
with come people who probably weren't the best examples of model
citizens. They didn't focus on school and one of them was suspended
for a couple of weeks. But once we began meeting with them, she says
the change was incredible. Looking back she can see the biggest
difference in how they act, how they talk, and all sorts of stuff. One
of the greatest texts I have ever received. Because they are so young,
and their parents are Buddhist, they probably will not be baptised
while I am here. But our purpose as missionaries is not just baptism.
Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. Even if they
dropped us now, and told us never to come back, I would be Ok with
that. I have full confidence in the Lord's plan for them. As
missionaries we are told constantly that the Lord is preparing people
everywhere and we just need to find them. I feel so blessed to be part
of the Lord's preparation.



Missionary work is such a joy to me. It is impossible to fail in this
work. All the Lord asks of us is to try. He knows we are learning as
we go, He will always be patient when we fall short. But he expects us
to keep trying.

"Why do we fall, Sir? ... So that we can learn to pick ourselves up."
"Haven't given up on me?"
"Never"

He will never give up on us. Father in Heaven lives. He loves us. He
will always stand with us. I say these things in the name of Jesus
Christ, Amen.

Good Luck, God Bless, and God Speed
Elder Annen

"Our zone during my 2nd transfer!"
Top row, L to R:  me, Elder Lee, Elder Sargent, Elder Stein, Elder Christensen, Elder Boyer,
Elder Murdock (My 3rd companion)
Middle row: Sister Sonhee Cho, Sister Hill
Last row: Elder Brian, Elder Pulsipher