Darling Family!
HI!! How is everyone doing this week? Sounds like there was some fun times. Daegu’s weather has been absolutely bi-polar!!! I've had to get my winter coat out again a couple of times. It's a little ridiculous. I'm ready for warm weather!
I'm REALLY excited to share with y’all what I learned this last week. Heavenly Father really answered my prayers (and I'm sure your prayers as well). The answers I got this week could not have come without all the love and prayers and letters from each of you, family and friends. So, thank you.
Part 1
I wanted to share this with y’all. These are the thoughts I wrote after conference. My email last week just didn't do it justice. From the Journal of Sister Wells-Longshore, Thoughts of Conference. "2 Days. 4 general sessions of 2 hours each. 1 Priesthood session of 2 hours. 1 session of either Relief Society or Young Women’s of 2 hours. That is a very small combination of 12 hours in which we have the honor and privilege of hearing the humble and powerful words of Prophets, Seers and Revelators, of men and woman devoting their lives to the Lord. Only 12 hours to have temple-learning experiences, only 12 hours to gather with the Saints of the world and hear the voices of our heroes. It is only 12 hours, but those 12 hours are most dear and precious. They are 12 hours that change our hearts, and help us resolve to do more, to be more, to stand a little taller and be a bit more converted. They are words of peace, comfort, and encouragement. They are words of warning, calm, and clarification. Their words draw us to heaven and an eternal perspective, they take us from the world and put us in a sphere of sacred learning. They are words of testimony, conversion, and refined faith. They are words to strengthen, to humble, and to love. My heart soars as I listen to the choirs sing praises and the voices of our leaders testify of Jesus Christ. This year they focused a lot on the family! Especially the Doctrines and Principles that are found in "The Family: A Proclamation to the World". It's a testimony to realize the Lord prepared this declaration from the Prophets nearly 10 years before it was blatantly needed.
They talked of the Law of Chastity, with all the love, respect and boldness that it is due. They talked of the responsibility of the Husband and the Wife, especially to each other. There were talks of encouragement. Keep going forward! If not in complete faith, then in growing belief, that is part of the process. We were reminded to rely on the Lord, depend on Him and love Him completely. People are imperfect, but the Lord is perfect to love, save, comfort, and forgive - and we can learn from His example. There were messages of encouragement to journey on and move forward through the world. There is always darkness around us, but we know the source of Light that can penetrate all. Walk in the Light and let the shadows fall behind. Obedience is our love and our liberty. Commandments are our foundation and strength. The Family, a family created by God's divine design, is of eternal and everlasting importance. We are to stand in Holy Places and be not moved. We are the light to the world. And a world growing in darkness is in perilous need of the Hope we can bring.
Christ Lives and this is His Church. WOW! I Love Conference!
Part 2
This week I was able to go to Busan with my companion for a training meeting with the other new missionaries. There, we were able to have a discussion with Sister Gilbert. The Spirit there was so strong and the things we talked about really touched my heart. We talked a lot about love and charity, sacrifice and pride. One of my favorite parts came after I shared what Rory Eyring sent to me via email last week. In his email he shared a portion of Elder Holland’s talk about the Atonement and Missionary Work. Elder Holland talked about how every missionary is called to follow in Christ's footsteps. Christ's life was devoted to love and service, helping those in need and doing the will of the Father. Through His faith and obedience He wrought many miracles. But if we are to completely follow Christ's example and life, we will, at some point, need to enter the Garden of Gethsemane. There we will experience pains and sorrows, agony and weakness. Though our personal journey into the Garden does not come close to the Savior's Infinite Atonement and Sacrifice, we each will have trials and hardships to face.
Upon sharing this thought, one Elder made a comment that gave we a whole new perspective. He commented that the Savior's walk in the Garden was a journey of Love. We step into the Garden not just when we are experiencing trails or when making sacrifices, but we must step into the Garden with love, drawing nearer to the Savior. When Christ stepped into the Garden, He stepped into Love. The same Elder went on to comment that Christ chose Gethsemane. He chose to love beyond Himself. The hardest times in our lives, and for me right now on my mission, will come because I choose them. There is always an easier way = giving up. But when we choose to try and love outwards - love my companion, love my family, love my friends and neighbors, love my Savior- then we are choosing to follow Heavenly Father's will and Christ's Example and enter into our own Gardens.
So we have a choice. We can choose to walk into the Garden. We can choose to draw nearer to our Savior. I can choose to have a hard time because I am a Disciple of Jesus Christ and I am trying to love as He did, or I can back out. The opposing way is easier. You don't have to act to hate or have hurt feelings. But it requires action, sacrifice, refinement and courage to love as the Savior did.
This week was still hard, but now I am choosing to enter the Garden and walk closer to my Savior. I am choosing to love as He did.
Thank you again for all the love and prayers. Thank you for your wonderful examples! I love you all dearly!
Till next week!
kiss love hugs!
Darling Family,
Thank you Thank you Thank you.
Thank you to all of those who have prayed for me. Thought of me, showed me love. You are truly Heaven Sent. Each of you. Friends, family, everyone. Thank you thank you thank you.
What a wonderful surprise it was to open up my inbox and see the messages that were there. How grateful and humble I am to have the opportunity of associating with such wonderful people. I hope each of you know that I would not be ME if I hadn't had the influences of each of you in my life.
Those emails of love weren't the only things Heaven Sent this past week. I had the chance to listen to General Conference. Oh what a blessing from Heaven that truly was.
This morning I thought about this past weekend as I wrote in my journal. 4 sessions, each 2 hours. 2 Hours of Priesthood session, and 2 hours of either Young Womens or Relief Society. That is only 12 hours. 12 hours to gather with the Saints of the World, the Christians of this, and other, Churches. It is only 12 hours to hear the inspiring words of the Prophet of the Lord, of the Apostles, of the other various leaders that have devoted their lives to serving the Lord. 12 hours to have the Spirit teach, encourage, warn, comfort and promise blessings. 12 hours to hear the words of our heroes. Yet, those 12 hours are ones of great development and growth. I looked forward to those 12 hours for weeks and cried when they were over.
I learned so much. I loved the focus on the family, and the need to unite together and protect it. I love the call to stand in holy places, to stand up for our beliefs, our faith, for what we know is right. The call to obedience and liberty was inspiring. I have so many things that I am grateful for! So many things that I learned. And I'm excited to continue to learn from them in these next couple months. ((I wrote it better in my journal, I'll bring it next week and include it in the email then))
I think one of the things that I love most from Conference is that it is messages from the hearts of those who are devote servants of the Lord. It is messages to our hearts, fellow servants and followers. They are messages from Heaven given to the world, not just to members of our Church.
I have to say thank you to my family. Thank you for being that family that you are. For the things that you have taught me, for helping me become someone who loves the Lord and loves doing His work. Thank you mom and dad for loving each other and loving each of us. Thanks to my siblings and the love we have for each other. How grateful I am to have a family built upon the gospel of Christ, truly that is the only way to have a happy family.
Being a missionary has been the highlight of my life. I know that it is not easy. As a dear friend reminded me, that especially when we look at the Savior's example, the most important things in life and the ones that require the most of us. The most work, the most determination, the most effort, but they are also the moments that give us the most joy and love and opportunity for growth. There will always be hard times, but those are the times when we get to go homeward, and heavenward to for the strength that we need. I know that our Loving Heavenly Father will always send down the sweetest blessings. Thank you for being some of those blessings.
I love each of you.
May we always stand in holy places, together and with love.
Thank you again, for everything!!
FAMILY!!
Hello dearest family!! Sounds like everyone had a wonderful week! I'm jealous that y’all have already been able to watch General Conference! I have been fasting and praying in anticipation to hear the powerful words of the leaders of the church. It's strange to think that it will be my last conference here in Korea, but I am excited for the special messages I'll be able to hear and apply to both myself, and those I am serving.
This week.. well it has been hard. If I would have written y’all last weekend, I know my attitude and words would have been a lot different then what I will be writing to you today.
With new beginnings and new transfers and companions, it is hard to make adjustments sometimes. There has been lots of frustrations, tears, misunderstandings, hurtful words, and long conversations. But I know that, without these experiences, we would not be given the opportunity to learn something new and grow.
This past week we have talked a lot about pride. What pride is, whether or not we can see it in others (if we can, it usually means that we have it as well), how we get rid of pride... these have been questions on my mind a lot. Seeing weaknesses in yourself, or having others point them out to you, is never an enjoyable experience. Either way, it gives us a very special chance. It gives us the chance to do a self inventory and ask Heavenly Father how we can, and should, change. (For truly, His opinion is the only one that matters).
This past week I realized that I was fighting off that conversation. I didn't want to have it because I was afraid of what I would feel. The moment that thought popped into my head, I realized how wrong it was. Change is good. Change brings us closer to Father in Heaven, and a prayer of repentance is what helps us feel more deeply the love of our Savior. Why wouldn't anyone want that experience? Pride is within all of us. I realize now, that I have let too much of it creep into my heart. If there is pride in my heart, that means there is part of my heart that is not full of the Love of Christ, and that part needs to go. I had an interesting thought the other night. We are the supreme creations of a loving Father in Heaven. Our bodies and spirit are sacred, they are our personal Temples. Just as we are to be worthy to enter into the House of the Lord, we must be worthy for the Lord to reside within us. And like the Celestial Room of the Temple, the place where we can feel closest to God, our hearts need to be the Celestial Room of our souls. Our hearts need to not only be a place where God can visit, but a place where He can reside forever.
I understand a little bit more of who I need to become, and what I need to change. I know that this change will take time, and there will probably be a few more nights of tears, but I am excited for the opportunity to fill another chamber of my heart with the bright love of Heavenly Father. I pray that this General Conference will help me understand what I need to do to be more and do better.
Other phases of the work went well this past week. We had the miracle of meeting an old investigator on the subway and we were able to meet with her last week. We have an appointment with her today again!! I met with her when I first came to this area, and then she stopped meeting with us in January. I can see such a difference in her now. She seems more ready to accept the message, more hungry to know the truth. I'm excited to teach her again the beautiful message of the Restoration. It will be amazing!
My companion and I were working hard this last week calling old contacts, Less Actives, and members for appointments and such. I'm grateful for her and her words. Of course she can use Korean FAR better than I, but the way she uses her words, full of understanding and love, is a wonderful gift. Makes me not want to say anything at all for fear that I'll ruin it all! Haha
Yesterday, we had Zone Conference and it was FILLED with new things to learn. Sister Gilbert had just a small meeting with all of the sisters and it was my favorite part. How grateful I am for her mother's heart. It is what we sisters need!! She shared a scripture with us and a new perspective that I really enjoyed. D&C 42:6 - "Lifting up your voices as... like unto angels". What does an angels voice sound like? What words would proceed from their mouths? What messages would they allow to pass through their thoughts and their words? We are the angels of the world, as missionaries and as members. We are to lift up our voices, declaring, as angels have before and will continue to do, the glorious Gospel! We are to allow our voices, our conversations, our words and deeds, also reflect the Divinity we have within each of us.
It's been a week of deep thinking, and I have a feeling that it will only continue, especially after General Conference! But I am thankful for the times in our lives that allow us to see us as we are now, how we need to change, and who we can become, with the Savior. I know this Gospel is true. I know people are not perfect, but I know that this gospel is. I know the Savior is full of perfect love and is Perfect to Save. And I know that both He, and the Father, know us perfectly, yet they love us unconditionally. For that I am truly thankful.
I love you family!! Thank you for everything that you do for me.
Thanks for the thoughts and the prayers!
LOVE YOU MEAN IT!!!
Darling Family!
Hello all!! Sorry for the confusion yesterday! Yesterday was the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, and like last year, the entire mission got permission to go and see the BEAUTIFUL flowers! It reminded me of fairs in the South with all the food stands, fair food, and pigs roasting over the fire. The weather was perfect and it was fun to meet up with the other missionaries. It was a bit surreal thinking that I was there last year as a new missionary. I have a feeling I'll be having LOTS of those thoughts these next couple of months. It was fun, though, to have MY new companion with me and show her around!!
So that brings me to the fun news!! MY NEW COMPANION!! I knew that I would be training again, and I had the feeling that I would once again be training a Korean sister. Especially seeing as, out of the 7 new sisters that came, there was one New Zealander, one American, and 5 Koreans! Training Day was fun!! The beginning of all the fun was lunch with Sister Kersey, Sister Cutler, and Sister Kent! We were all in the MTC together, and now were all training at the same time (Sister Baker is training too! But she is in the middle of training, so she couldn't come to lunch with us)! To celebrate our official one year mark together, we all got to eat out together. What a fun time it was to laugh and giggle, speak in Korean and share all of our fun stories! I love those Sisters with all of my heart!
After a Day of Proselyting and eating out together, we all gathered together again on Thursday with the 20 trainers and 20 new missionaries and awaited President Gilbert announcing who was with whom. Of course I was at the VERY END! Me and Sister McKay, we are both training in the 4 man house together, were the last to be called and President had the new missionaries close their eyes, we stood behind our new companion as President directed, and then he had them turn around. hehe It was a fun, squealing hug!
My adorable new companion is 최한나 Choi (pronounced chweh) Hanna! She is 25 Korean, 24 American age. She is from Seoul, and she studied at BYU for a couple of years so her English is fantastic. When she smiles, her eyes go the perfect crescent moons, and she is really good friends with MY trainer Sister Lee! I love her already! Yes, it once again is an adjustment being back with a Korean, but it's nice to switch in between Korean and English and not have to worry about any misunderstandings. Our conversations are actually pretty entertaining since we both just switch in between both languages without really thinking.
Actually, I have to admit that I felt that she was going to be my companion long before I met her last Thursday. Here in Korea, when we get the Liahona, it has an insert about what is going on in the church in Korea, and it announces and has pictures for all the missionaries who are going to serve missions. When I saw the insert, I was drawn to her smiling picture and I prayed that my companion would be the one with the beautiful, shining smile. I know that God answers prayers, even the silent ones of our hearts.
This past week in my personal study has been really neat. I tried to focus a lot on the Savior and His Atonement, Death and Resurrection. It was wonderful to have studied His life before, and save Friday, Saturday and Sunday for those days of Sacrifice and Miracles. Church on Sunday was a little disappointing since the talks weren't really focused on "Easter". However, the Sacrament, that special time as we remember the Savior's body, blood, love and promises, was tender. How grateful I am for those little moments. In the Liahona, under the talk "He is Risen", it says that the Sacrament is our personal interview time with the Savior. I am excited to continue to make the effort to really have the Savior at the focus of my study and thoughts. It's a goal that I made to strengthen my testimony and relationship of the Savior and all that He has done for me and mankind.
Also during study time and talks with fellow missionaries, I realized again the importance of questions. Questions help us learn, they allow us to stretch our knowledge, dive deeper into the scriptures and really allow for the Spirit to teach us. But this past week I realized, with the help of Sister Gilbert, that one thing that is just as important as asking the questions is be willing to search for, find, and accept the answers. When we ask for a question, we have to want to find the answer. If we just ask the questions and not allow our heart to be open to be taught, then we will find ourselves confused and doubting. While we ask questions and journey to find answers, we also need to make sure that we do not forget. Don't forget everything that you have been given, all the other answers and blessings you have received, and we cannot forget to be grateful! If we ask questions with the faith to find, remembering to be grateful for what we do have, then our questions will be a great source of learning. Asking questions is part of the Savior's way of teaching. Trust in the Savior and learn from Him.
I love missionary work!! I love being here and seeing all these new missionaries come to the field. As we welcomed in this new group, the Spirit testified to me, with great power, that Heavenly Father could not wait any longer for these young men and women to come to the Vineyard as we labor with the Lord. Truly Jacob 5 is being fulfilled.
Love y’all! Hope everyone has a good week!!
Love ya, mean it!
Dearest, Darling Family,
HELLO!! How are all y’all doing? First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!! 축하합니다!! Sounds like y'all had a fun weekend! Daddy, that movie theatre sounded amazing! Can I go there too!?! Haha
Last week was a wonderful closing to my privilege of training the dear Sister Sarah Meliana Eliza Rose Taylor! We had a wonderful 10 weeks with each other and there was lots of tears as the end of training came up. I wish we had had more time together, but now she gets to learn from someone new!!
Ok, y'all ready for this!?! Transfer Calls were on Thursday and......I WILL BE STAYING IN SANGIN!.... and....I WILL BE TRAINING AGAIN!! Yep, round 3 here we come! I wasn't surprised about the training part; I was more surprised about the staying in Sangin part. With the large influx in missionaries, there is only ONE companionship of sisters that is not either IN training or will be training!! This transfer, 7 sisters are coming and next transfer 10 sisters will be coming. That means that by the end of 2 transfers, pretty much every sister in the mission will be training. So fun right?!! I am so excited with how many missionaries are coming in and I am so excited that I get to be a small part of it all.
Today was lots of fun. The training and transferring missionaries all gathered to the Boo and we had the opportunity to hear from President and Sister Gilbert about where the Lord wanted us to go this next transfer. They have us reading 2 articles from the Liahona {Ensign}. One is in preparation for this coming week of Easter. It is titled: "He is Risen" by President Eyring. I am excited to see what I will be able to learn as I remember the Savior and as I strive to do His work the way He would do it.
The other talk is "Mission and Ministry of Jesus Christ". That one we are studying, especially the scriptures, in preparation for Zone Conference. It would be fun to have y’all study them as well, so I can get your thoughts on the matter!! {Follow the links of the Articles to read along with her this week!}
Especially when I am able to gather together with other missionaries, I am grateful that I am serving in the Korea Busan Mission. The work is hastening and I know that the Lord is looking out for all of the missionaries in this Mission and the World. I heard a rumor that the Church is projecting nearly 100,000 missionaries in the world by this next year I think! Can you imagine!?! Heavenly Father loves His children SO much and He is ready for them all the hear His gospel! President Gilbert commented that it is the fulfillment of Jacob 5. Amazing.
I have to say thanks to my dear family! Thanks to Mom and Dad for their examples, and for teaching me to, not only obey the commandments and standards, but to obey them with love and exactness!! I am so grateful for the love of doing what is right that you instilled in me. Thank you for the love y'all have for each other. That, too, is one of my greatest examples. Thanks dear sisters for all that you do! Thank you for your love and service and always thinking of others. A special shout out to Gwendel, thanks for keeping up my blog. Two of the Sisters that just came in last transfer said they were looking up things about the mission when they got their call and they found my blog and were able to follow along with all the posts!! Small world, huh?! Not gonna lie, I was a little embarrassed, haha! But if someone out there reading these posts gets to feel a portion of the love that I have for this people and this work, then I don't mind who stumbles upon the blog! Matt and Kaylani, I love y'all dearly!! Thanks for working hard in school and at jobs, and especially at church. I know that y'all have a huge impact on those around you. Let your light shine for everyone to see! You have lives to bless.
Thanks to everyone for all the love and support! For all the kindness and the hard work. I am grateful to know y'all and to have you in my hearts as I serve the people of Korea! In the Trainers Meeting, they always ask what some of the things are that we learned from our Trainers... but I think that my list of those things can include the things that I learned from y'all as well. Without your love, patience, encouragement, courage, faithfulness and testimonies I would not have had the strength to serve, nor the heart to train.
I love each of you!
I hope and pray that this week each of us remember our Savior and really prepare ourselves for this Sunday, as we once again partake of the sacrament in remembrance of not only His death, but also His life, and the Life and the Light that He gives to all of us.
Love y'all, mean it!!
Oh, and as for the subject line, this week on Wednesday I will have been in my beloved Korea for one year. Oh how quickly time goes by! It's fun to think that I am training, in a sense, ME one year ago!!
Darling family!
From the various complaints I've gotten about ME sending this off at a weird time, I am assuming y’all went through a daylight sayings (which has just been confirmed by emily). haha That, and everyone seems to be doing well! Life seems to be jammed packed full of fun times which is exactly what it needs to be!
Well this week here in Daegu started off normal. We were doing great missionary work! Meeting with members and investigators, proselyting and all that good stuff. We had a fun mountain hike (a favorite past time of Koreans) with our investigator and some members. During that hike, I was able to have an amazing talk with one of our members about faith and enduring to the end. She said that EVERY DAY it is a struggle to study her scriptures and pray, but the easy alternative is much worse. I asked her how she did it, how she kept going forward if everything was so hard. Her first reply was, when things get hard, when you might get offended or have a hard time, the first thing you DO NOT DO is leave church. She said "do not stop going to church! You need the strength of the Church." We touched on a few other topics as well, but I was just in awe at her amazing faith and testimony. She has the heart of a missionary, the heart that I am striving to develop. It was an amazing hike learning from her.
Thursday we had our English Book of Mormon class with the Elders and our (now their) investigator. It was a neat lesson and we were able to also teach the Restoration and commit him to be baptized when he received the confirmation that these things were true. It was neat. After that lesson we went over to a members house to follow up on their "day of service.” Their 'reward' of sorts for their day of committed service was that we baked them an apple pie!! They absolutely LOVED it! It was a delicious dinner of Duck, and then followed by an apple pie, made it perfect! I'm grateful for the members here being so willing to strive to be a little better.
But that's when the crazy began.... dun dunnn dunnnnn. So we knew that we would be moving houses... but we didn't think that the move would happen till next month... and then the call came on THURSDAY night that we would be moving at 9am on SATURDAY!!! 헐
Thursday night we also had some sisters from another area come to our house for the night... yeah, six girls...one house. Y’all understand. Then comes Friday...our day of packing and cleaning. And it was literally ALL DAY LONG!!! There was SO MUCH stuff!! Different from just packing up your own stuff for a transfer, we had to go through everything. Twas a very long and tiring day. But by the time night time came around we were in pretty decent shape. That night, for our last night in our house, we had some fun! We were all a little slap happy from a long day and lack of sleep, so we relaxed with some Korean face masks and reenactments of Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean.. I was Voldemort, my companion was Jack Sparrow... it was epic! Haha Though I admit 10:30 bedtime was absolutely Heavenly!
Saturday morning comes around and the real crazy begins.. I'll have to give you the condensed version...we had the AP's, our bishop, and our district of Elders all at our house moving things downstairs and out (it was really really weird to have men in our house!!!). While they were coming in and out, I was finishing up the cleaning of.. Well everything... bathroom, kitchen, fridge, stove, cupboards etc. Then it comes time for the big stuff to be moved and they realized that there is no way the dressers and table are doing to be able to be taken down the 3 flights of stairs, let alone out of the window. In the middle of this, the people who are going to move into the house after we are done, decided to show up. As we are trying to move, they decided to take a look around and begin complaining about everything that they didn't like or they felt was wrong!
At this point, the Bishop and the AP's (Assistants to the President) are no longer there (they went to the new house to start putting furniture in)... so we have these angry people asking the Americans and ONE Korean all these questions that none of us understand, nor have the answer too. During this, a moving truck is called and through the window gets all the large stuff out. As they are loading up their trucks we get a call from the other sisters saying that the house is different then the one we saw before... different and smaller!!! So now we are trying to decide there, what stuff we can and cannot take with us... Good bye couch, good bye mattresses, good bye 2 out of the 4 desks.... Finally things are loaded, old house is empty, and we are about to leave when new people start getting angry again... apparently something was up with the water! Anyhow, they were throwing a fit over 600won.. the equivalent of $0.60...
By this point I’m stressed out, and it turns out it is only the beginning as we go into our new TINY TINY TINY apartment and have to figure out how to fit 4 girls in a house meant for maybe one and a half people! Closets in one room, desks and table in the bigger room, 'beds' in the other. Our bathroom is the size of about 2 airplane bathrooms put together and our kitchen probably smaller then a camper's kitchen. It.. well... it was an adventure to say the least. An adventure and 3 very very long days!
Some highlights were: eating "dinner" amongst the boxes, sleeping on the floor, the contagious giggles brought about from lack of sleep, stress, and the ridiculousness of the entire situation. It was a weekend to remember!!
But I have to say, that not doing missionary things for about 3 days was really really really hard! It made me realize how much I love the study time, prayer time, and mindset of a missionary. It was an interesting perspective that I am grateful for! I love being a missionary!!
We also had a very special moment as we knelt in prayer in our new house. Amongst the boxes and zero walking space, we thanked our Heavenly Father for our blessings, and we asked that this new house be a place of learning, and of the Spirit, a place where future missionaries will come to and be able to have a place of refuge as they prepare to go out each day and serve with all their heart, might, mind and strength. I may have a face now full of stress acne, but I have a heart full of gratitude that I am a missionary and I get to dedicate myself to the work everyday.
I love you all! and I miss you! Be safe this week and have fun!
kiss love hugs!
