Update - Continued

[Daniel Robbins]

This is to follow up the other update where I had to run. As I said, I had a really bad lip ulcer - which I obviously did not realize the serious of. It was extremely painful, and (please bear with me in this but...) rubbing salt on lip sores is not recommended in my books! I thought it might "disinfect" it, but - other than hurting extremely much, I think it actually made matters worse. If not salt, then what? (Drum roll...) Propolis! That and some other ointment you put on before going to bed. How do I know all this? Monica. My "angel friend".

I say that, because she has really come to the rescue in many respects. She is a wonderful "older sister", whom I originally taught at the library as a substitute. Then she came to some Bible studies at my apartment. She has had me over a few times, and I have met her husband and son and daughter. She even tried to "set me up" with a woman - who was actually pretty good, but we could not communicate well. I was just reminded of Psalm 124, and it says, in so many words, "If it was not the LORD who was on our side... 'Everybody now'... If it was not the LORD who was on our side... we would have been gonners!... Good thing the LORD was on our side!" To that Psalm I say a hearty "Amen"!

Classes are going well, but the battle is still exhausting, and I need continued help from the LORD! Sleeping, eating, getting to work and church on time, reading Psalms, Proverbs, and Genesis (following an intensive reading plan for this important book)... That is keeping me "hopping". I also have met a young man named Hyeohng Gyooh, who has been an inspiration and blessing. He has been getting back into the "Church scene", but needs prayer for kicking a certain bad habit (and I relate to that, alright).

I recently learned the "Korean alphabet" forwards and backwards. It has 140 "letters". The first 14 are "gah nah dah rah mah bah sah ah jah chah kah tah pah hah". Backwards: "Hah pah tah kah chah jah ah sah bah mah rah dah nah gah". The other 126 "letters" consist of substituting for "ah": "yah", and then "eoh yeoh oeh yoeh ooh yooh ih eeh". So, for example, "letters" 15, 16, 17... are "Gyah nyah dyah..." You can set them up in a grid, with the consonants at the top in a row, and the vowels to the left in a column, and go to town, if so inclined! Of course, that is my best attempt at communicating the sounds. They are actually written in "Hangul" - or the Korean alphabet. This page shows you what the actual characters look like:

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/1876/hangul.htm

Bye for now!

Daniel