Grateful to be a Longshore

My Darling Family,

First to answer a question: Aunt DeAnn (thanks for the email!!!) ---at the baptism I sang one verse in English for fun, mostly I sang in Korean. Really, I only sing in Korean now; it's actually a little strange singing in English or reading from the English hymns. Lol I'm excited to come home and sing in Korean for y’all!! I love it!!

This week has been a week of faith!! I think I mentioned in my last email that after the baptisms on Sunday we didn't really have anyone to teach...Which ends up making missionary work a little difficult, but we were determined to show Heavenly Father our faith and our love, knowing that doing so blessings were sure to follow... and they DID!!

To start off the week we got a mysterious phone call from a less active member in Gyeong Ju (same zone, different district).  He said that his girlfriend had questions about the church and he wanted us to meet with her! Later that week, they both just showed up at the church. An initial meeting turned into the first lesson. It went really well. The boyfriend’s personality is a little strong. We were able to have this less active member not only remember his own conversion, but also share it with us. During the lesson he was willing to help explain parts more fully and it was really good. Now we just need to get him back to church so he can be the best example for his girlfriend. She took the lesson well, though she is on the shy side. We are excited to meet with her again!! (new investigator #1)

Next, Thursday night we went and visited a Less-Active member at her part time job. It's become a weekly thing and she loves seeing us!!  As we were talking a few days ago, she mention that her daughter, who has not been baptized, wanted to go to church with her son!  We were excited at the prospect and mentioned that it would be fun to meet the daughter. Well, this week we show up and the daughter and the son are both there!!!  We ended up having a fun talk and getting to know the two a little better. The daughter is 11 years old (American 9) and she is adorable! We had fun talking and she agreed to come to church and meet with us every week (new investigator #2).

Friday night had to have been my most favorite night of all!!!! OK, it was about 7:30 at night and my companion and I were finishing up some weekly planning when we got a phone call from the Boo. The Elders had a referral for us! They explained the rather confusing situation...a member from the DeJeon mission was in Ulsan with her friend that wanted to learn more about the Gospel. So this member called the Dejeon Boo, who call the Busan Boo, who called us!! The elders gave us the information and told us to call as soon as we could.

When I hung up, I handed the phone to my companion and with a slight shrug said, "Well, we have time now". What a phone call that was!! As soon as the member answered she went off a mile a minute. Pretty soon our quiet evening turning a little crazy as we realized that we needed to go meet the referral that night because the member friend was leaving the next day.  So we run to the huge map and start searching for the apartment...apartment found! We literally RUN outside to catch a taxi...By this point it is almost 8pm and so we give our DL a heads-up that me might be home a little later then 9pm....A short taxi ride later and we arrive at the apartment.  The member meets us downstairs and takes us up.The meeting that followed was amazing!

This grandmother, the non member, Yoon Bang Ja, has a daughter that lived in America and had traveled back and forth many times. On one of those travels, she went to SLC Temple Square. She remembers how she felt when she was there and how kind everyone was. She has a really really good image of the church! 

While we were talking with her, her granddaughter comes out of her room.  We introduce ourselves and I strike up a conversation with the granddaughter as my companion continues to talk to Bang ja. The granddaughter brings out some English books and begins reading them.  Holy cow! Her pronunciation was awesome!!!! Come to find out, this little girl, 8, was born and raised in America and only recently moved back to Korea. hahah Well, needless to say, after that Angie and I just spoke in English to each other. You could tell that she was excited to use her native language.  And what an amazing girl she is!!

Angie has had a hard life.  Her mother has passed away and now her grandmom takes care of her. We talked about the churches she went to and she said that her favorite thing was singing songs!! So I taught her "I Am A Child of God" and wrote the words down for her.  She loved that!! After singing for a little bit, I asked her what other things she knew about God. She taught me some very sweet things; things only a little child can put so perfectly. On the same paper as the song, she wrote God+God=Love, Love+Love=God, Me+Me=Family, Life+Life=Happy Life, and then Jesus+God= love and happy.

After meeting with this sweet little family, not only did the grandma want to come to church with Angie, they wanted to find a building in L.A. they could go to when they traveled that way.  It was an amazing miracle!! (New investigators #3 & #4) The funny part is, the member who introduced us was baptized just a couple of weeks ago. I love missionary work!! And I love the knowledge that I have that Heavenly Father is aware of us and is literally waiting to bless us completely!!  

Sidenotes: As I read the emails this week I couldn't keep back the tears. How grateful I am to be a part of such a grand family. The Wells-Longshore name is something very dear to my heart. Thanks to everyone for making this name an honorable one!

My heart and prayers go out to Nick and Caroline. I love you both dearly. How grateful we all are for a Heavenly Father who loves us most, and a Savior who knows how to literally run to those in need. I can see Him drawing near to you at this time. And I know the whole family is doing the same. 

In Gwen's email she said that we have the greatest family in the world, and I whole-heartedly agree!! Thank you for teaching me how to love, how to serve, how to have fun and most importantly how to have faith.  I love you all!!!!!

I am grateful to bear not only the Savior's name, but my family name as I continue to serve here in Korea. 

kiss love hugs, and extra prayers