Bring on the Cold!

Hello darling family!!!

I had the thought the other day of "wow! I got cold really fast!" and then I realized that it was November... crazy!  Time flies!  This week’s weather got quite a bit chilly!! On Thursday, I think, the temperature got down to 3 degrees!! (C*) A little ridiculous if you ask me... but all is well and my beautiful coat is keeping me warm.

This week was a busy one and this next week looks to be even more so!

It has been fun meeting with JuHee this last week as she draws closer and closer to her baptism.  She is SO EXCITED!! It's amazing to see the light growing within her.  One lesson that we had, we spent the first while just marking scriptures with her.  She explained (with great distress) that she was reading the other night and couldn't find the scripture references that we used during the previous lesson!! She looked and looked and looked!  hehe It was fun then being able to sit down, review some, and see her mark up her scriptures with great care.  Her thirst for knowledge and understanding is profound. 

A week from today is her birthday and by that time she will be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I'm excited for her!!

Out of the week Saturday had to have been my favorite day!!

We got up like normal, did our morning routine, but had to leave early to head over to our youth program; 1 hour PMG study, 1 hour English class.  There we talked about using the scriptures.  Everyone picked out their favorite scripture, and then, like a missionary would in a lesson, they had to explain briefly what the scripture was about, share the scripture, and then apply it to us and explain why it was so important.  It was awesome.  I love the youth of this branch! They are wonderful! 

Like in America, everyone is pretty excited about the age change {for missionaries!}, but it really only affects the girls.  Korea has been one of the countries where the boys were allowed to leave at 18 because of army service.  Actually, President Gilbert apparently has been sending in reports to Headquarters reporting on how the younger missionaries were doing. Pretty cool.

Now that I look back on everything, it all makes sense! haha Like, the changes in the MTC language teaching. They have shortened down ALL of the languages by weeks so they missionaries can leave sooner (all except Korean... it's too hard!) and other things like that.  It amazing too see how perfectly everything comes together, huh??  I'm SO excited that more and more people will be coming out on missions! We need them for sure!!

After youth program we had a lesson with JuHee, and we had Bomi teach about Enduring to the End.  She did a wonderful job, and again, she will be an amazing missionary!  After the lesson we had to do the new missionary study program (one hour every day of extra study) and then we rushed (literally,we were running.. my companion wasn't too happy lol I loved it!!) over to a nearby park where we met and taught our now newest investigator!!  She has been coming to English class and is ready to learn more about our church.  During our conversation we talked about how she loves to exercise, and just like how she enjoys the strength that comes from working her body, as missionaries, we can help her have a "spiritual exercise" with even greater and lasting effects. It was neat, and now we will be meeting her every week.

After that lesson we (literally) ran back to the church and prepared for our saturday night English class.  After English class we had treats and did a church tour.  Many of the people who come to class don’t really know what else goes on in the building.  It was fun taking them around to every room, and explaining the programs of the church, the leadership, the sacrament, etc.  There weren't as many people there as we wanted... but it was good, and they left with For the Strength of Youth pamphlets and other things.  It was really good.  By the time clean up had ended it was time to head home for the day. IT WAS BUSY! But it was tons of fun too. I like being busy...(though I don't like waking up the next morning still tired hahah)

The week ended perfectly with a Fast Sunday.  I love Fast Sundays. I love the spirit of the fast and the Spirit that is always there on the Sabbath day.

Thank you for all the emails and updates.  My prayers have been centered on home.  I hope you know that I love each of you and I am grateful for your support.  I love the Lakeland ward and all it's faithful members.  Thank you for your constant examples of love and kindness. 

Ready for some funnies!?!

So while we teach the youth English, we can't help but have a little bit of FUN!! hahah I love it when Koreans speak English, they sound so cute! Because there are some sounds in English that they don't use (and vise versa) we have discovered that words like Rural, Squirrel, and Plural are really really really really hard!!! As a bonus to class, we always work on these words at the end...I'm proud to say that they have progressed!!

Matt, this one is for you!  The other day we were riding on the bus to an appointment when a song came on the radio.. it was so unexpected I literally busted out laughing!! I couldn't help but think of our childhood adventures as I heard "Who Let the Dog's Out" on a bus in Ulsan Korea haha

I love you all.  Thank you for everything!! Have a good week!
kiss love hugs