Happy Independence Day!

Darling family!
Hello!! It was wonderful to get all y’alls emails this week. Sounds like everyone is doing well.  Hope you are surviving the heat of summer...I think I am...if you call sweating 24/7 then I think we are surviving.  At least the AC in our house makes it feel a little less like girls camp this year, so that is good.

This week was a fun week for sure! Independence Day in Korea was wonderful!  We certainly did NOT let anything rain on our parade... quite literally actually. In honor of Liberty's Land, my companion and I spent our dinner in the best way we could imagine. First we headed to the near by Costco and got ourselves the most American pizza you can find in Korea!  With our pizza box in hand, we head over to the beach near our house. This is when the rain began to fall.  Luckily, there were little tiki umbrellas set out on the beach!

It was so much fun sitting on an empty beach in the rain under a tiki-looking umbrella eating a Costco pizza and singing patriotic songs at the top of our lungs!!! haha Definitely going in my top 5 most memorable July 4ths! We were bummed there wasn't any fireworks, but Heavenly Father made up for that with a little bit of lightning. Truthfully it was pretty relaxing sitting on the beach thinking about where we were last year (me in Korea, Sister Scott in Cali) and where we will most likely be next year (Sister Scott in Korea, and according to her, me married!) haha

This week it was also my privilege to go on another round of exchanges! I was able to head back to my FIRST area and spend 24 hours there. We were able to see a couple of the members, and it was fun to still be known as the tall sporty one that saved the day last year! haha The members are wonderful, and the missionaries there, including the beautiful Sister Taylor, are doing so well. I'm grateful for all their work.

At the end of the exchange I asked the sisters a question: If there were in my position, what advice would they give to the other sisters? I loved Sister Taylor's reply. She said "it all comes down to Christ.  You need to build that relationship with Him, and when you do that, that is when missionary work becomes fun, that's when you understand your purpose. Everyday you need to look in the mirror and ask 'Do I love Christ?  Do I love Him enough to do what He asks of me?'  There is nothing to loose, only love to give"

As my time is winding down, President and Sister Gilbert have emphasized the dire need to have Christ at the center of our hearts. To have Christ's love fill every chamber.  If Christ is not at our center, then we have done our mission in vain.  If He is not at our center, then when we go home we will not be able to sufficiently defend ourselves against the world that we have not had to battle for 18 months.

Someone dear to me advised that it's not only proper but necessary to ask in prayer and fasting of what Heavenly Father has thought of my efforts as a missionary.  To gain the confirmation that I have done all that I could have done, and I did serve with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength, and that Christ is willing to sanctify the work I have done and put His name to it as well. The prayers I have been able to offer have been sincere, and I'm excited to continue to show the Lord my efforts for these next couple of weeks, and for the rest of my life. Oh how I love missionary work!! I love doing the grand work, and I love being able to do it in the name of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for all of you love and support!
Have a wonderful week and remember that I love you!
kiss love hugs!

Hastening the Work

FAMILY!!! 안녕하세요!  잘지내고있죠??
You know it is going to be a good day when you walk into the world's largest department store as it is opening and having all the workers bow to you, welcoming you in. Yep, it was fantastic!

Anyhow, How is everyone doing? Me, great! Sounds like weather is getting pretty toasty for y’all, and I guess it is for us too.  We had a day that was about 91*  but other than that it hasn't felt too bad...

This week we were able to mix some things up a little bit with exchanges!  Sister Scott had to finally break her 7 week record of being with the same person 24/7!  Never before has that happened. (and it probably never will.)

I was able to go over to the nearby SuJeong and serve with Sister Redford. That area is beautiful.  Over there is what I initially expected all of Korea to look like. Everything built up on the mountains and just a maze of color houses all squished together with no rhyme or reason. It was fun being able to walk those streets as we went out finding Less-Actives.

The neat thing about exchanges is to see that no matter who you are with, you are united under one purpose and the work continues to move forward.

As the Sister Trainer Leader, I was able to see how they were doing and help them set goals. They are whitewashing into an area and figuring out where to even begin is always a killer!  But at the end of the exchange, I felt like I learned more, and I am grateful that I get to be with the amazing Sister Scott for these last 2 transfers! If anything I feel like she is not just my friend, but my co-senior companion.

Next mix up of the week is we gathered again with the Zone Leaders and STL in the mission for a training meeting.  President and Sister Gilbert already having seen the broadcast on missionary work, it was amazing to see their excitements in the hastening of the work, especially where new convert baptisms are concerned and working with the members.

Sunday gave us the opportunity to watch the broadcast for ourselves!! ((and thankfully in English!)) It was amazing! Afterwards my companion and I talked about it a lot and these were some of our thoughts:

We love how they emphasized that the call for member missionary work has never changed or dissipated.  It just needs to be remembered. I feel that Heavenly Father is calling us all to remembrance of the covenants we made at baptism to stand as a witness of God at ALL times and in ALL things and in ALL places.  I know that I have not kept that covenant as well as I could have in the past, but now the servants of the Lord are asking for a recommitment to that covenant and ordinance of Salvation. We are a covenant people and our Master expects us to fulfill it to the highest. There will be overflowing blessings comparative to the diligence and love we put into this work. We loved that the Church is embracing technology for our benefit and they want all of us to do the same.  It can and should be used for so much good. All the things they talked about weren't high lofty goals, they are as easy to achieve as we have the love to serve. Fear is a child of pride.  That is what is bringing so many people down. But when conquered through love, lives are changed.

I'm excited for the internet usage, especially because EVERYONE is plugged in on the subway. And I can't tell you how many people have said they have been to our church, but no one is ever there!! The church tours will be an amazing blessings!

Another part that I thought was interesting is when they mentioned that something that might be holding the members back is a lack of understanding. That reminded me of a quote by Elder Bednar.  He said. “Miracles= The natural result of the correct application of true principles" So what doctrines and principles do we need to understand and then apply to see the miracle of baptism, and growth in activity in the church?? The broadcast included many!!

Oh, I love missionary work!! As a missionary with a tag, and as a member with one printed upon my heart. The work is going forward, and the Lord is leading us on in boldness! I LOVE IT!

**So funny moment of the week, and especially fitting with Will Hatfield coming home from Russia. There is a lady in our ward that goes to Russian often for her job. So she speaks Russian well.  She brought back a song from there for us to sing as a choir.  At first glance, with the Korean written under the Russian, it looked like she had just translated the song...NOPE!! The Korean written is the pronunciation of the Russian. haha I am currently learning a Russian song through Korean pronunciation. So Will, if you want to sing together that would be awesome, though I may do it with a Korean accent!!! Hahahah

I love y’all! mean it!
kiss love hugs!!

YOLO

Darling Family,

HI!! All is well by the news that trickled in!

This week was one of those weeks that shows me that missionary work is not only the greatest work ever...But it's also FUN TOO! Seriously, Sister Scott and I had way too many chances to giggle this past week. It was a blast.

Sister Scott has taken it upon herself to fill me in, occasionally, on some key phrases that I should know when I go home.  This past week was "YOLO". (For those of you who don’t know...YOLO means “You Only Live Once”. It’s kinda like Carpe Diem) She said it...I looked at her like she was strange... She said it again... still strange look... and she just shook her head while mumbling "wow, you are old".  Haha

Some other fun adventures with Sister Scott this past week, took place yesterday.  With our busy schedules, we tend to forget to schedule in meal times... and the meal times that we do have are with members and they feed you so much food that it makes you not want to have any other meal for the day! When we go shopping every p-day, we tend to get nothing more than what is needed to survive at breakfast time, and for the past 7 weeks that has been perfect!! Well...Sunday night found us without an appointment... and without any food in the house... Well, no...that's not true. There was food. This is what we had to work with: 2 slices of bread.  Eggs. 1 lemon. and a little bit of baking goods. What did we have for dinner, you ask??? We had french toast, pancake like "biscuits" ((we didn't have enough of.. well everything.. so we just kinda winged it!)), and lemonade! It was a dinner for champions! Now we REALLY don't have ANY food in our house! haha Luckily we are going to Costco today! whoot.

Fun moment #3.  I am convinced we have the worlds coolest Ward Missionary Leader. EVER. He works for the Department of Defense in the US gov.  He is the one that signs off on any operations that go on in the military.  In his words "things that you never will know about and never should. And things that you will never know about and probably should".   That night we were supposed to have MCM, but it turned into a question and answer session! haha Though some of the answers were cut short with "that's classified" or "I can't officially say".  Needless to say it was the coolest entertainment we missionaries have had since reading Alma 52 this morning! Other highlights of the night were going to the meeting at his home on the 53 floor of the tallest and nice apartments in the area and seeing Haeundae at night! Yeah, I could wake up to those 180 views every morning.  This man in his 30's has a pretty interesting life!

On the other facets of missionary work, this week was really neat.  We were able to meet with our progressing investigator and had some pretty key lessons on the commandments this past week. The spirit was there as we sat by the beach talking and teaching of the Word of Wisdom and The Law of Chastity.  To contrast the eternal laws we were teaching, to the world around us at the time, was powerful.  She knew that she too wanted to change and luckily there isn't anything standing in her way for living them from that point on. We might have to push back her date because school and work makes meeting during the week hard, but every time we meet, I am amazed at her pure and humble heart.

This last week was lots of fun, but it wasn't without some tears. This past week we had a zone meeting... it was my last zone meeting as a missionary. There are still zone conferences (2 zones combined) but in this smaller setting the Zone Leader, Elder Gomez, and I gave our 'good bye' testimonies... It gave me a neat time to begin to reflect a little bit about what has happened and what has been learned over the past year and a half.  So many things really, it's hard to put into words.  But as I was thinking about it, I kept thinking about Stairs. In our mission, with the teachings of Sister Gilbert, we have talked a lot about Stairs. There are the steps of life, the steps of progression, of moving forward and going heavenward.  Each step takes our efforts in the pursuit of knowledge, understanding and intelligence, but we can never rise to the next step without the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Then, at the landing of the next step is the refiner’s fire. Think of it as a bucket, sitting there waiting for you to empty out whatever would be there keeping you from going through the same progress and rising again to the next level.

These steps are in each of our lives, yet we cannot and we are not meant to take them by ourselves. We need our companions, our leaders, our family, and our Savior. These steps have taken me closer to my purpose, closer to my call, closer to my Savior, and closer to who I am. People may ask me how I feel like I have changed while I have been on my mission, and my answer will simply be "I have become more ME". I am different then I was before, but I just feel more like me.  The Me that Heavenly Father created me to be.

I still have more steps to climb these last couple weeks and MANY more to climb after this time is over, but I know that with every step we take, we draw closer to Heaven and closer to Home!

I love you family!! Thank you for all that you have done!

Be safe, Be good, and Behave!!

kiss love hugs!!!

12th Transfer, Day 1

Family!! HELLO!!
How is everyone doing this week??  (Don't worry I'm making sure my email is saving so i don't lose it like I did last week...again, sorry about that one...)

FIRST HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!  Daddy, I love you!! Thanks for being the best daddy in the whole world!

This week was so amazing!  I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!

We had a fun P-day with all the missionaries last week at the Haeundae Sandcastle Festival.  It was fun to go again this year. I love getting to see all the other missionaries.

So, last week I didn't get to tell y’all much, but we have been continuing to work with our investigator who has a baptismal date for next month on the 7th. She is so amazing!!  This past week as we taught about prophets and Christ’s ministry, we talked about the 10 commandments.  After going over them and discussing them a little bit, we asked her what commandment would be difficult to keep. Her answer "thou shalt not murder"... slight awkward silence... and then we asked her to explain. She said that even killing a bug, a creature of God, could be considered as bad. And then thinking ill of someone, or wishing bad upon someone, could be considered breaking the commandment as well. The discussion that followed that, about keeping the commandments in our actions and hearts was really neat. I'm grateful for the bubbly, humble, and faithful heart of this investigator.  It's neat to see her progression. ((She even sent us some scriptures the other night of where she was reading in the Book of Mormon))

I think the really learning points this past week was the exchanges I got to go on Friday.  The missions have added a new calling for sisters. Called Sister Trainer Leaders.  And I have the privilege of helping 6 companionships in my zone and the one neighboring it.  As a part of the call, I get to go out on exchanges with the sisters. This past weekend Sister Scott and I went to Daeshin and GuPo. 

I have to say that we have the best sister missionaries EVER in our mission!  The sisters are so amazing. I learned some pretty neat things with them.  At the end of both exchanges, I asked the sisters to share with me some words of advice they would share with other sisters if they were in my position.

Here are some of their replies: 
One companionship, who are both newer missionaries, was worried about whether or not they were doing the work "right". At the end of the exchange one sister said that she was most grateful to see that even though we are all different people with slightly different styles, that each of us are doing the work through our purpose and the Spirit.  There may be doubts of "am I doing it right?" And "Is there another, better way?" but to see that everyone else was figuring it out too, that there was no one set way, but each was going forth relying on the Lord, was a relief to see.

Another sister talked about sharing God's Love. We constantly strive to tell investigators and members and people we see on the street that God loves them, but we also need to constantly be telling our companion those things as well.

In the other set of exchanges with the sisters, a discussion we had led to some really neat insights. We discussed that what people need most to understand is the importance of personal revelation and relying on the Spirit. We cannot do this work by ourselves, that is why we have a companion. The relationship between you and the Spirit, and then you and your companion is very similar. Just like you rely on the Spirit for guidance, support, comfort and peace, you need to rely on your companion for the same things. If you companionship is weak, then your relationship with the Spirit cannot have the strength that it needs. Unity in the companionship begins with your efforts to be united with the Spirit. ((I'm sure these things are easily applied to other things outside of missionary work))

Again, thoughIi went on those exchanges to help, I felt like I left with much more.

I have had a special feeling in my heart these past couple of weeks. I feel Heavenly Father's love filling my heart. It's comforting and wonderful, and if I focus too much on it, it makes me want to cry. I love it here. I love Korea. I love being a missionary. And I vow to have nothing left in my heart but love, obedience, and satisfaction at the end of these 6 weeks.

I love missionary work!!!!!
kiss love hugs! 

Fail.

Well, I typed a really great email... and then the computer ate it.
ㅠㅠ
Time is up and I have to go, so I'll fill y’all in next week.
highlights
*Singing American pop songs with Korean ladies in the car
*Being told I have Jesus hair
*Spending the day on a farm
***and now having an investigator with a baptismal date!!

I love y’all!
sorry...

JUNE!!

FAMILY!! HI!! Everyone sounds like they are doing fantastic so that makes me happy! Lots of fun little surprises this week huh??

Honestly, I'm a little weirded out that it is already June!! Where is the time flying to!?!

Regardless of time, it has been another fantastic week here in the Korea Busan Mission (have I mentioned that it is the best mission in the world??) Sister Scott and I are still going strong and Heavenly Father is paving the way.  Oh, the miracles have had our hearts brimming with gratitude!

My favorite moments all accumulated into this past weekend. Leading up to Saturday we had been trying to set up an appointment with the parents we met up on the mountain during morning exercises. As we were figuring out meeting places and schedules, we reminded the dad that we needed his wife there if we were going to be able to meet. Thats with the text came.... Dundundunn

He said that he was feeling a lot of 부담 (pressure) and sent us a message to have a good day. OH NO!! That had us in near tears.  Usually if a message comes like that, they never want to meet. But when that message came, our prayers began. We prayed for their hearts to be softened and we prayed to have the chance to meet them, even at least once. Saturday rolls around and we get a message from the father again. He says that he will see us at the subway station at 3:30 and then take us to meet his wife. That message came and again our prayers began, prayers of gratitude!

The meeting on Saturday was the GREATEST first meeting I have EVER had with someone!  We met the entire family, except the daughter who is finishing things up in her Utah high school.  The spirit of this family is absolutely amazing. They have such a great love for each other. Really, it felt like we were meeting with a member family. As we talked, we set up everything for the twin boys to come out the the English classes and church activities. We also set up a time to come again when the daughter arrives next week. The family just kept making mention about how much they really like our church and how the daughter will probably want to come to church when she comes home...etc..

During that meeting we were able to give them a For Strength of Youth pamphlet and explain a little bit about what their daughter was learning from Mutual. When we meet the daughter, we are going to challenge her to do Personal Progress with her mom. WE HAVE A FAMILY to teach and it is the best feeling ever!

Sunday only made it better as we had 2 investigators at church in one ward, and in our other ward that night we put on a Fireside and probably had a total of about 6 investigators there.  I got to sing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" that night and that was lots of fun. President and Sister Gilbert came and it was amazing to see the love the people have for them, and they in return. They are truly amazing people.

There are some amazing things happened!! And I am SO excited to be apart of it and do it with my wonderful companion.

(Ok, funny moment of the week, it's not mine, but Sister Scott said I could share it... Last week in Sister Scott's email, she made mention of a "sickness" that she's caught since being on her mission in Asia.  Like any worried mother might do, her mom immediately inquired of Pres.Gilbert and wondered how serious this 'sickness' was.  A small reply later, and a little more explanation from Sister Scott's sisters, the mom was comforted to know that her daughters "YELLOW FEVER" was not life threatening. Hahahahahaha *the best part was, President Gilbert reminding her to be careful what she writes home in her letters hahah)

I love y’all!! Thanks for all the love and support!
Help me keep going till the "day that shall not be named" haha
kiss love hugs!

Wonderful Things are Happening!

Darling Family!
HELLO!!! Glad to hear everyone is doing so well. Though I'm really sad to hear that the cutest of our family had to go today. ㅠㅠ I'll miss Rosie.

Besides that sad bit of news, this week has been absolutely, fantastically amazing in EVERY WAY!! Oh my heavens, I love missionary work!! Even more, I love seeing Heavenly Father taking such an active role is His work.  He has given us so many miracles this past week I don't even know where to begin!!

The week started off with a day of spiritual enrichment. Tuesday was President Interviews and discussions with Sister Gilbert. I love the Gilbert's SO MUCH!  The topic for this round of interviews was charity, but it was amazing to see where the Spirit took us as we all learned from each other.  We talked about 3 levels of obedience (1. you just don't want to get in trouble 2. you want a reward or recognition 3. Love for the Savior and the desire to obey) and empathy (Us feeling God's love for others).  A lot of our discussion was around the Mormon Message "The Coat" and how Christ-like that little boy really was.  It was neat. We'll have to do an FHE about it or something! =] That day was just a spring board for the miracles that were heading our way!!

A couple of weeks ago, as the Elders were out doing some proselyting, a woman came up to them and told them that she was a member of our church, but she thought the church was only in Seoul and had been living in Korea again for 4 years, and had nearly given up hope of finding the church. From there, the Elders got her info and we were able to meet her in her home this past week. It was a tender experience; one where we were really able to feel Heavenly Father's love for this sister. We talked about how she first came into the church (met the missionaries first in GA, moved to OH and was baptized, lost track of the church on her move to IL, the Sister Missionaries found her the week she was leaving for Korea and searched for the church by the English name, not realizing that the church was in her native tongue!!) and then we talked about the things that she still remembered. Since being in Korea, she has been going to another church but just kept saying how confusing it was to go there and how she would often think of the "mormon" church. She realized that when she was coming to our church, she was truly happy with her family.

Then, my favorite part, is when we could teach her and share with her the message of the Restoration in her native tongue. I wish you could have seen the way she lit up when we handed her a Book of Mormon in Korean!  All the lessons she took, every time she went to church, it was all in English.  At the end of the lesson, she expressed her great gratitude and said that it actually made sense.  I know that she had a testimony before; but now, as her understanding of it is now met, her testimony will be able to grow into a strong conversion!

Next miracle came as my companion and I were working out the next morning. We were taking our run up the mountain, but that day found us really tired and we didn't have the energy to go up the next switchback like we normal did.  As we were standing there and stretching before making our way back down, a man comes up to us and asks us if we were Mormon. With enthusiasm we answered yes! And he goes on the explain that his daughter is in Utah right now going to high school to learn English. He explained that our church had opened their arms and hearts and had taken care of and included their daughter. They were so grateful for everything the members of our church had done for her as she had been away in another country.  He explained that he had found our church here, but when he called (the church phone) no one had answered.

There on the mountain we were able to talk with these wonderful parents and get their information to meet again.  We don't know if the daughter is a member, but because of the Christian examples of some families in Utah, Heavenly Father has given us the chance to teach a family. We are excited to share with the family the things the daughter has been experiencing in America.

Next miracle came over 2 days. One day, we met a lady on the subway and started talking like we were old friends!  She was so adorable. She explained that she was Christian, but that she wasn't going to any church at the moment. Then, suddenly she was like "I want to come to your church!".  We gave her the details, and got her information to meet up again and go together. The next day we were in the subway station. We just got of the train and as we were headed out I look into the train and see her again! Though it wasn't her stop, she jumps out and starts talking to us again!  She was so excited to see us. She explained to us that her mom needed her up in Seoul this weekend, but the next week she really wanted to come to church.  Again, we are excited to see where this will go!

Last miracle (well not really, but the last one I will share) came on Sunday as we taught our investigator at church.  She got accepted into BYU and so we will be going back to school together this fall.  We were able to have a really sweet lesson with her and a member that is about to serve a mission.  We taught about the Savior and all that He has done for us.  At the end of the lesson she was so grateful that we had taught simply, because she felt like she really understood.  Then as we extended the commitment to read and pray about Christ, I have never seen an investigator take a commitment with such excitement!! Her testimony is growing and it's wonderful to see!

Oh I wish I could tell y’all all that has happened this week! So many wonderful things are happening! Heavenly Father has some really neat plans for these areas! 

Thank you for all the love and prayers and support. 
I miss you all, I love you more!
kiss love hugs!