18 Months of Miracles

Darling Family!

Everyone seems well, thanks for all the emails this past week. I love you all dearly! It's fun to say that I'm writing y’all from my beloved ShinJeong.  For my last p-day I get to go visit an old area. Oh I love it here and its fun to see some of the people that are truly like my family!

This past week was full of some really neat miracles. My favorite day by far had to be this past Sunday! We started off the Sabbath day by teaching the last lesson to our 12 year old investigator who will be getting baptized next Sunday - my last Sunday in Korea. What a wonderful moment that will be. What I love even more is her father will be the one baptizing her!! This family, who has been Less-Active for several years, is once again united in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

After that we headed over to our other ward. For the last couple of weeks we lost contact with a progressing investigator. She was doing great, she was living the commandments and had made plans for her baptismal date, but then all of a sudden... nothing... no answer to calls or messages or anything. It was heart wrenching. But we would still send messages and let her know of our love. In preparation for my last week, we sent her a message telling her that we wanted to see her one more time. A miracle happened= SHE REPLIED!! Not only that, she said she would be at church. Seeing her   at church was amazing. It was a tender moment too when she decided to give us a little fashion show. In our last lesson with her, we talked about modesty and it's importance.  Usually when she would come to church, her skirt was a little short and her shirt cut a little low. But this Sunday, with a grin, she explains all the alterations that she made to make sure that dress was to her knees and everything else was covered. She remembered. She may not be ready yet to get baptized, but her heart is changing and she is remembering. It was awesome to see that!!

This next week is already jammed packed full of visits with investigators, LA and members. I'm excited for the hard work that is ahead.

For this last part of my email, I want to share with y’all some of the things I had to write for my "exit papers".  Not all the words in the world can express the things that I have learned and have felt and experienced since I have been on a mission, but here is a small taste.

Q. What have you learned from your mission so far that has most affected your life? Stairs. The ascending stairs of knowledge, understanding and intelligence are foundational guides for gospel learning and application. As we ascend the stairs, we experience the miracle of the gospel. With Christ as our center, He is also the catalyst that raises us to each new level. He allows us to repent, change and lighten our load as we continue to move forward acting in doctrines understood, the things that will bring us home.

Q. What was your most memorable experience? 
My most memorable experiences happened on several occasions with several different people. For me, the knowledge that I am a beloved daughter of God and I am granted opportunities to commune with Him is most precious. So to see and hear someone else, maybe even for the first time, calling upon their Father in prayer is sacred. To see someone recognize that God IS there and he WANTS to speak with them and then see them offer up their first prayer is truly a memorable and life-changing experience.

Q. What did you gain most from your mission?
I gained understanding. I now more fully understand who I am and I can more clearly see who Christ is and needs to be in my life. I understand a little more of the Kingdom of God and the privileged role I get to play in its development. I understand that love truly is everything. I understand that I want to have my life constantly governed by intelligent actions.

And now, a small part from my testimony that I wrote...

After receiving my call letter in the mail, yet before opening it up, I knelt in prayer to ask for comfort and again the confirmation to know if I really was meant to go on a mission at that time. Upon closing my prayer, the words of a scripture trickled into my mind. "Lovest thou me?" inquired the Savior of Peter in John 21:17. Peter's reply "Yea Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." Then come to me the same admonition that Christ gave to Peter, "Feed My Sheep".

For the past 16 months, I have sought to fulfill the command that come to feed the sheep of the Korea Busan Mission. It has been a labor of love and devotion. I have struggled and wept and I have experienced joy and successes. But most of all, I have sought to maintain the integrity of my love for the Savior in the divinely appointed calls to go forth and Feed His Sheep.

The Savior Lives. He Loves Us.

Thank you to everyone and anyone who has every prayed for or supported the missionaries. We cannot do this work without y’all. Thank you for your love and support.

I love y’all!!!
See you soon!!!

(side notes: Monday - last day in Busan with a birthday party.
Tuesday - 8 am from Gupo, we take a KTX to Seoul and get to go to the temple and play! 
Wednesday at 1:30, I get on my plane to Tokyo on.... but I'll give all those details to y’all when I see you.)