Update on our Future!

 

Earlier this year I had mentioned that my wife and I had to wait before going back to the United States due to the rise in COVID-19 cases. Well, my wife and I cannot wait any longer despite the COVID-19 cases not going down in California (an average of 4,000+ cases per day). My wife needs a green card and I need to finish seminary for us to apply for jobs at International Mission Board in America. I also want to see my nephews and niece. I need some family time before we head out to do missions work in the future again.

The quickest way for my wife to get a green card is to go to the United States and work with a lawyer there. I can get a job while studying or I can just focus on studying full time so that I can get done quicker. I think it will depend on how easy it will be to get a job. Personally, I would like to make some money to support us despite us having a good amount of savings. I don't want to just blow that away because getting a job with IMB isn't guaranteed. But I believe the Lord is guiding us in that direction. 

One example of proof that God is leading the way is that one of my professors (Christian Theology I) from THIS semester asked me if I knew a specific couple who were missionaries in South Korea for 38 years. At first, I didn't know who he was talking about because he only mentioned their last name and the name wasn't familiar to me. He asked me again in a second email almost convinced that I probably knew them and told me their first names. Then I realized he was talking about two missionaries that mentored my wife while she was here. My wife joined their Bible study every Saturday and they encouraged her to go to seminary! My professor is best friends with them and they live in the same hometown of Springfield, Missouri! It's such a small world and not a coincidence that my professor has contacts with them! That's just more confirmation that my wife and I are on the right track and the Lord wants us to be his instruments to talk about Jesus to the world.

Recently, my wife and I bought flight tickets and our goal is to fly out on December 17. My last day at Wall Street English after 12 years will be around November 26. I can have a month to focus on studying and helping my wife pack up our things. Overall, we are scared but also excited. Please pray for us as we venture out into a new chapter of our lives. It will be my first time living in America since I was a mere 27 years old and my wife will need prayer to handle the culture shock of living there. I will also miss my second home since I have lived in South Korea for 17 years. It's unbelievable just reading that. Thanks for your prayers in advance and please keep in touch with me!

Blessings,

Scott Worden (The L.A. Seoul Guy)

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

ESL Stories in Seoul: Funny Things My Students Said This Week

 July 28, 2020

Me: "Do you prefer eating out or staying at home?"

Student: "I prefer eating at home."

Me: "Oh, does your wife cook well?"

Student: "No my wife doesn't cook well, but I eat a lot."

July 30, 2020

Student B: "Hello. Nice to meet you. I'm Minsu." 

Student A (wearing a Michael Jordan jersey) says to Student B: "Hi, I'm Stephen. Nice to meet you."

Me: "But today, you're Michael Jordan because of your jersey."

Student A (looking very serious): "No. I'm Stephen."

Scott Worden

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

A Hilarious Misunderstanding at a Park before Heading to Church

Today I was sitting at a park near church and eating a cereal bar while drinking orange juice. A Korean lady in a mask starts walking past me and she was curious what I was doing since she was staring at me. When she realized I noticed she was looking at me, she bowed to me and kept walking. Then I thought, "Wait a minute. She's one of the Korean ladies that attends my English service." So I yelled out, "Hi! How are you?" Then she walks toward me and gives me a snack. As she hands me the snack, she says in Korean, "Here you are. It's really delicious." Suddenly I realized that she wasn't the lady that went to my church. I said "thank you" (Korean this time) and she walked away. That was extremely embarrassing, but hilarious at the same time. 😊😲

Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

What I Have Learned About Marriage in my First 4 Years

My anniversary with my wife is in two months on July 2, 2020, which will make it our 4th wedding anniversary. Having someone to come home to is amazing, yet living with a woman 24 hours a day and seven days a week can cause stress between couples. It's normal, but I would never go back to being single. Marriage can be challenging, but mostly it's the best experience I've had in my life. I will tell you the top 10 things that I learned while being married from a Christian perspective.

1. Put the Lord first. When you seek God first, you don't get emotional. You think more logically. Also, I strongly suggest reading the Bible together or reading a Christian book together. We haven'd done that in awhile and I miss it. I take for granted that my wife is strong spiritually, but I need to get back on that. It's easy to get lazy in this area. Fight it and try to read together at least once a week.
2. Pick your battles. I'm a very sensitive person and my wife is not so sensitive. If I were to get annoyed because of every small detail where I felt she wasn't sensitive to my feelings, we would have some huge problems. Because I pick my battles, we get along pretty well.
3. Accept that your wife may know a lot more than you and even be smarter than you. This is one thing that is hard for me. She can cook better than me, clean better than me, and she can find the buses on an app much better than me. Sometimes it makes me feel inferior and less of a man. But I also realize that I have some strengths too such as being more patient, give good advice about people, and I am good at washing the dishes and taking the trash out. I may not be perfect at everything, but I do my best at supporting my wife as much as possible.
4. Always tell your wife you love her. This is huge and because she knows that I love her, she brags to her friends how much I love her and she feels secure. Never go a day without telling her how much you love her.
5. During those moments of the month when a woman doesn't feel so good (you know what I'm getting at), give your wife space or be extra patient. Don't take things personally. Just do more to make her feel special. If she needs her space, tell her you will go to a cafe so that she can get some rest. She will appreciate you for thinking about her needs.
6. Put your wife about your friends. The more that she knows that you love her and will give your undivided attention, the more that she will trust you and give you more free time with your friends.
7. When you are out with your friends and you're going to be late, text her and let her know when you're coming home. Don't make a habit of getting home late when you're out with friends, but things happen. And when they do, let your wife know. She will love you for it.
8. Before you go to bed at night, make sure you giver her enough time to cuddle. Put your phone down and give her that extra time for her to know that you love her. It makes a big difference.
9. If your wife likes a certain place where your wet towel goes, put it where she wants it. If she wants you to wipe the table before you set it, do it. If she wants you to put your books or clothes in a certain area, do it. Don't sweat the small stuff. Your wife will respect you for it.
10. Take initiative to make the bed, take out the trash, or do your chores that you agree to do often. When you take the initiative, your wife will realize how much you care about her.

Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

The Political Divide in America is at its All-Time Worst

I wrote this post on Facebook on May 3 and thought I would share it with my blog followers:

"I've never seen so much division among Americans politically and I said the same thing last year. Now the attitude about Coronavirus has a strict divide among ultra conservatives and ultra liberals. The extreme right is protesting to open the country (freedom over health) while the extreme left is making it seem as if the virus is extremely deadly and the sky is falling. I'm glad that I live in South Korea where common sense about COVID-19 prevails. People wear masks, testing is done consistently, lockdowns haven't been necessary, and baseball season starts in two days (no fans in the stands as of yet)."

Ironically, just a day later, former President George W. Bush called for unity for Americans to come together to defeat the virus. You can see the article here. But of course, Trump looks back on when he and Bush disagreed about politics and instead of agreeing with Bush, he attacked him. Typical childish, selfish, and self-serving Trump.

Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy