Hi hi from...not Andong.....Not Busan....Not Ulsan...but my new area a city called Changwon!!! My new companion is named Sister *** and she is SO CUTE! She studied at BYU-Hawaii for 3 years so speaks really good English, but I told her we have to speak mostly Korean haha
I am SSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOO excited about it. It was SUPER SUPER hard to leave Andong and all the wonderful people there (more on that later) but I am excited for a new area where I know I can grow to new levels due to the wonderful Atonement of Christ!!!
So last week was good!
Monday we Skyped of course. Then English Class that night!
Tuesday we jundoed for English Class, then our members daughter who was visiting with her 3 kids from America were leaving on Wednesday so we went and visited them and then went to the oldest daughter's Korean guitar-type-thing class to see her which was super fun. She loved me (even called me from the airport before they got on the plane back to California) so we decided we will be pen-pals haha
Wednesday was district meeting, then we had to come back and deep clean our house before transfers. Super exciting!
Thursday, we had lunch with the Indonesian woman that used to come to our English class every week but can't anymore, so that was really fun to see her again. Then we weekly planned, went and visited one of our members who has her mission call to Seoul then had a chicken party with our Young Single Adults before transfer calls. Guess what I ate. Wait for it. Wait for it. CHICKEN FEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes you did not read that wrong. The actual taste was kind of a bbq taste, but SUPER SUPER SPICY so wasn't too bad, but you had to like eat the toes of the chicken and chew them all up to and you basically just suck the skin off the bone, so I wasn't too big of a fan. I'll send pics of me eating them that are pretty funny. Then we got transfer calls and I am in Changwon follow up training sister ***!! Sister *** (who I was in a 3-some with last August in Shinjeong) is going to follow up train Sister ***!
Friday, we went and visited *** for the last time. We were talking about Moroni 7, which they had read the week before together, and *** had a question about how we can judge good from evil without really judging people. This was a really hard question and I wasn't sure exactly how to answer it (and don't think I totally did) but talked about the Plan of Salvation and how Christ will judge us all and how we just need to differentiate between good and evil so that we can make it back to live with God someday. I kept trying to get her to explain it in Korean so that Sister *** could help teach, but she just kept going back to English which was really quite funny now that I think about it now, but was a little stressful at the time! At the end I bore my testimony about how she can truly know for herself by prayer and reading the scriptures. I am counting on her baptism before my mission ends!!! *** is doing great and has already read half Jesus the Christ and the gospel principles book, and is continually studying the standard works each day. They went to church in an English branch in Seoul on Sunday so it was the last time I saw them which was really sad.
Then I had to pack all my stuff to send. I sent two big boxes home by boat this week, so wait for those in a few months haha.
Saturday, Sister *** and I celebrated our last lunch together by eating Sushi (haha my new favorite food) and then went and had English class. Then we had a Young Women's activity that the members planned making cake, which one of our investigators came to which was good! (there is one YW and then the girl that has her mission call who came) Then we went and had dinner with two of the members who got baptized last summer (an older couple who I love so much). They were really sweet and gave me a present of a traditional Andong mask!
Sunday was the last day at church which was really good. Haha on the way to church this lady who I had talked to on the road a while ago recognized me on the bus and started talking to me first. She said she doesn't have a specific religion, but her kids go to a different church. I got her number and told the sisters to teach her!!! We had 42 people again yesterday which was awesome!!!! One of the less active sisters brought her 2 sons which was great!!! It was really hard to say goodbye to everyone who I have such good relationships with there. The investigators, members, and just other people there have taught me so much and I have learned so much from them, especially about love. I said in my talk in sacrament meeting that when I first got called to Andong, I was talking with Sister Gilbert and she said "Andong is Love." It is so true! There is such a special spirit of love and service between all the people there.
Today was Transfer Meeting which was good. My trainer Sister *** goes home today so it was sad to say bye to her!! She wants us to go visit Gangnam (yes like the song. That's where she's from) when you come!
I am so excited for the new adventures that Changwon will bring!!! Yesterday at church, they had 79 people, and the elders or sisters have had a baptism for the past 3 weeks!!!! The building is beautiful too--I will send you a pic! I don't know much about it yet but I am so excited to learn!
I am so excited for this chance to serve here, and to push myself even further to keep Christ at the center of my heart so I can be more obedient, more grateful, and show more love to the people I serve. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!
P.S. I loved what you said about having the power to bind Satan. In the Book of Mormon it says that Satan will have no power in the last day (Ether 8:26) because of the righteousness of the people. Not because he will be bound by some high mighty force, but because we will love Heavenly Father and Christ so much that thoughts of disobedience will have not place in our hearts, and Satan will have NO POWER!!! What a day to look forward to!
I LOVE YOU ALL!
Sister Emily Maridell Burgoyne
Monday, May 19, 2014
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Success in Andong Continues
Hello my dear family!! It was SO GREAT talking with you this morning!! I love you all and it was so fun to see you move and talk! It made me realize how great it is going to be when we will all be back together in the fall. (Not in a trunky way, because I have also realized that everything at home seems pretty close to the same haha)
Anyway. Because Mom kept asking what happened this week-
Tuesday was our big activity that we have been planning forever!! The YM and their friends, and the elders played basketball, and we had other games with water balloons and such with our investigators and their kids which was SUPER fun!!!!!! About 20 missionaries came up from Daegu and they helped a lot, and it was great to see them. At night we had a talent show that turned out great as well. It was super hilarious. I will attempt sending a video, but I don't know if it will load or not!! I have a bajillion pictures (ok maybe only like 300) from the day and will send some of my favorites. Including the Young Men wearing my harmony pants.
Wednesday, we had district meeting. Great as always. Our district leader, Elder ***, talked about how Heavenly Father sees us not as an acorn, but the oak tree that we can become. I like the analogy and thinking of the potential we have. We just do what we can to follow the commandments, be obedient, serve others, etc, and when we look back, we can truly see what and who we have become. So neat!!
Thursday, we had to go renew my foreigner card because I have been here for almost a year (yeah I know. I can't believe it either!) and then went and visited one of our members. I have probably talked a lot about her because I love her. She and her husband were baptized last summer, and she has so much faith and trust in the Lord. I love talking with her.
Friday, we went and visited ***, which is always a highlight. We decided we would talk with them about a few of the commandments before fast sunday this week (because we had the dedication last week) and it was really neat. We taught about Tithing, and he already had a testimony of it and shared how it helped him when he was attending a different church. Then I asked him what he remembered learning about Fasting and Fast Offerings from the lessons, and he basically recited exactly what it says in PMG. Then we taught about studying the scriptures and he said, "so if we study for a little bit separately, then share what we learn and study some more together, is that what we're supposed to do? Haha yep that's basically it! They are studying the gospel principles book together along with the scriptures, and he is half way through Jesus the Christ. Awesome! We gave them a whole list of scriptures to study about what we taught so I can't wait to ask about it this week!!!!!
After we got back, we jundoed in the downtown part of Andong with the elders and only had about an hour. We had a sticker board we made and on the top says "What is your question of the soul"and there were 4 questions- does God exist? How can He help my family? Does He know me? And one other I can't remember (oops) that they could put a sticker on, then we had a survey where they could fill out about what they put, and write their number and a friend's who would be interested. In 1 hour, we gave out 40 copies of the Book of Mormon and received 53 contacts!!! We have only had time to call about 20 so far, and 2 already said they wanted to meet again!!! That has to be some sort of record.
Saturday, we had lunch with the youth/young single adults to celebrate our activity being over and all the work we did for it, and then visited one of the harmonys that we visit every so often who is 92 years old and has cancer. She has gone to another church in Andong forever, but she said she would come to our church this week and so
(drumroll please. this is where it gets good)
SUNDAY!! I love Sundays. We always see miracles. Especially on fast sundays. There were 41 people at church, and there wasn't even any special event going on!!!! Also we went and picked up our harmony and she came (get excited for the picture). Also *** fasted with ***!!!!! Ah I was so happy!!!! And there were 4 less actives at church!!! It was obviously a great day!!!
And then this morning, I talked with all of you!!!
So that's my week!!! I love serving. I have thought a lot about missionary work this week, and studied about basically what missionary work is. I found a quote by President Monson saying "The missionary opportunity of a lifetime is yours. The blessings of eternity await you. Yours is the privilege to be not spectators but participants on the stage of Priesthood service." How true that is. We are not here to be spectators of the world around us, but to make a difference, especially in our lives, and the lives of those around us. We have been called, and now we must follow through with that calling!!! I know that this mission has and will continue to forever change me, which I am eternally grateful for. One last quote from President Monson: "Dedicated missionary service returns a dividend of eternal joy which extends throughout mortality and into eternity." I encourage you to think about this too and how you in each of your lives can feel of this eternal joy. What a blessing it is!!!
I love you all so much!!! I hope you have a week full of miracles!!
Em
Anyway. Because Mom kept asking what happened this week-
Tuesday was our big activity that we have been planning forever!! The YM and their friends, and the elders played basketball, and we had other games with water balloons and such with our investigators and their kids which was SUPER fun!!!!!! About 20 missionaries came up from Daegu and they helped a lot, and it was great to see them. At night we had a talent show that turned out great as well. It was super hilarious. I will attempt sending a video, but I don't know if it will load or not!! I have a bajillion pictures (ok maybe only like 300) from the day and will send some of my favorites. Including the Young Men wearing my harmony pants.
Wednesday, we had district meeting. Great as always. Our district leader, Elder ***, talked about how Heavenly Father sees us not as an acorn, but the oak tree that we can become. I like the analogy and thinking of the potential we have. We just do what we can to follow the commandments, be obedient, serve others, etc, and when we look back, we can truly see what and who we have become. So neat!!
Thursday, we had to go renew my foreigner card because I have been here for almost a year (yeah I know. I can't believe it either!) and then went and visited one of our members. I have probably talked a lot about her because I love her. She and her husband were baptized last summer, and she has so much faith and trust in the Lord. I love talking with her.
Friday, we went and visited ***, which is always a highlight. We decided we would talk with them about a few of the commandments before fast sunday this week (because we had the dedication last week) and it was really neat. We taught about Tithing, and he already had a testimony of it and shared how it helped him when he was attending a different church. Then I asked him what he remembered learning about Fasting and Fast Offerings from the lessons, and he basically recited exactly what it says in PMG. Then we taught about studying the scriptures and he said, "so if we study for a little bit separately, then share what we learn and study some more together, is that what we're supposed to do? Haha yep that's basically it! They are studying the gospel principles book together along with the scriptures, and he is half way through Jesus the Christ. Awesome! We gave them a whole list of scriptures to study about what we taught so I can't wait to ask about it this week!!!!!
After we got back, we jundoed in the downtown part of Andong with the elders and only had about an hour. We had a sticker board we made and on the top says "What is your question of the soul"and there were 4 questions- does God exist? How can He help my family? Does He know me? And one other I can't remember (oops) that they could put a sticker on, then we had a survey where they could fill out about what they put, and write their number and a friend's who would be interested. In 1 hour, we gave out 40 copies of the Book of Mormon and received 53 contacts!!! We have only had time to call about 20 so far, and 2 already said they wanted to meet again!!! That has to be some sort of record.
Saturday, we had lunch with the youth/young single adults to celebrate our activity being over and all the work we did for it, and then visited one of the harmonys that we visit every so often who is 92 years old and has cancer. She has gone to another church in Andong forever, but she said she would come to our church this week and so
(drumroll please. this is where it gets good)
SUNDAY!! I love Sundays. We always see miracles. Especially on fast sundays. There were 41 people at church, and there wasn't even any special event going on!!!! Also we went and picked up our harmony and she came (get excited for the picture). Also *** fasted with ***!!!!! Ah I was so happy!!!! And there were 4 less actives at church!!! It was obviously a great day!!!
And then this morning, I talked with all of you!!!
So that's my week!!! I love serving. I have thought a lot about missionary work this week, and studied about basically what missionary work is. I found a quote by President Monson saying "The missionary opportunity of a lifetime is yours. The blessings of eternity await you. Yours is the privilege to be not spectators but participants on the stage of Priesthood service." How true that is. We are not here to be spectators of the world around us, but to make a difference, especially in our lives, and the lives of those around us. We have been called, and now we must follow through with that calling!!! I know that this mission has and will continue to forever change me, which I am eternally grateful for. One last quote from President Monson: "Dedicated missionary service returns a dividend of eternal joy which extends throughout mortality and into eternity." I encourage you to think about this too and how you in each of your lives can feel of this eternal joy. What a blessing it is!!!
I love you all so much!!! I hope you have a week full of miracles!!
Em
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
New Building Dedication
Hi hi!!
Sounds like you had a great week!!!
Sorry this is going to be quick today because we are in Gumi for P-Day and all of the missionaries have to use the computers here because it is a holiday and everywhere else is closed. Anyway!
YES! The dedication for the building was yesterday at it was AMAZING!!!!!!!! Guess how many people we had there. 70!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I could write that in bold letters with star stickers all around it just like I did in my journal last night!!!! Just imagine it! It was a great meeting!! When we started planning this meeting in December or January, we set the goal for the meeting as 70 people, and thought it was maybe a little crazy, but felt good about it. So we continued to plan, and despite the fact that things continued to go slow, we kept working and inviting people, so then yesterday at the meeting people kept coming and coming and coming!!!!! Lots of people from the stake visited, which helped our numbers but still it was fabulous!!! I taught primary again, but it was in English and Korean because there were kids from America as well as Korean kids, so I would say a sentence or ask a question in English, then have to say the same thing in Korean and write everything in both languages on the board. It turned out pretty good though, and I had lots of fun doing it!! President and Sister Gilbert came which was so fun to see them, and to introduce lots of our members (especially ***who came to church for the first time yesterday!!!!!!!!) to them. I translated for Sister Gilbert during sacrament meeting, which was good, but kind of exhausting! Haha I hope I did an okay job. There were also less actives there that we had heard about before, but never seen, as well as a former investigator that we have been trying to contact for a really really long time!!! I was too busy to take pictures during the meeting, but Sister Gilbert has some that she said she would email to me, so I will get those to you when I get them!!!
The rest of the week really just lead up to that. There was nothing too super exciting, just lots of planning for that, as well as the big activity we have tomorrow that I am still holding my breath that everything comes through, but should be great!
This morning, we came to Gumi for P-Day and hiked up to a waterfall that was SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I will send some pictures--it was SO MUCH FUN!!!
Anyway, I will send pics in a minute but I love you all SO MUCH!!!! I am SO EXCITED to talk to you next week!!
The church is true and i love being a missionary!!!
Em
Sounds like you had a great week!!!
Sorry this is going to be quick today because we are in Gumi for P-Day and all of the missionaries have to use the computers here because it is a holiday and everywhere else is closed. Anyway!
YES! The dedication for the building was yesterday at it was AMAZING!!!!!!!! Guess how many people we had there. 70!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I could write that in bold letters with star stickers all around it just like I did in my journal last night!!!! Just imagine it! It was a great meeting!! When we started planning this meeting in December or January, we set the goal for the meeting as 70 people, and thought it was maybe a little crazy, but felt good about it. So we continued to plan, and despite the fact that things continued to go slow, we kept working and inviting people, so then yesterday at the meeting people kept coming and coming and coming!!!!! Lots of people from the stake visited, which helped our numbers but still it was fabulous!!! I taught primary again, but it was in English and Korean because there were kids from America as well as Korean kids, so I would say a sentence or ask a question in English, then have to say the same thing in Korean and write everything in both languages on the board. It turned out pretty good though, and I had lots of fun doing it!! President and Sister Gilbert came which was so fun to see them, and to introduce lots of our members (especially ***who came to church for the first time yesterday!!!!!!!!) to them. I translated for Sister Gilbert during sacrament meeting, which was good, but kind of exhausting! Haha I hope I did an okay job. There were also less actives there that we had heard about before, but never seen, as well as a former investigator that we have been trying to contact for a really really long time!!! I was too busy to take pictures during the meeting, but Sister Gilbert has some that she said she would email to me, so I will get those to you when I get them!!!
The rest of the week really just lead up to that. There was nothing too super exciting, just lots of planning for that, as well as the big activity we have tomorrow that I am still holding my breath that everything comes through, but should be great!
This morning, we came to Gumi for P-Day and hiked up to a waterfall that was SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I will send some pictures--it was SO MUCH FUN!!!
Anyway, I will send pics in a minute but I love you all SO MUCH!!!! I am SO EXCITED to talk to you next week!!
The church is true and i love being a missionary!!!
Em
Rice Farming in Korea
Hello!!
Sounds like it has been a great week back at home!
The church move was yesterday and it was SO GREAT!!! The church is SO beautiful. I will send pictures in a bit. It looks like the inside of a real church building. The dedication is next week and the stake presidency will come up, as well as President and Sister Gilbert, so we are working really hard to invite everyone we can-members, less actives, investigators, etc. and want to work on getting the members to all invite friends as well. I know that it will be great!!
This week was good! Last monday, we went to Hahoe Maul, the traditional Korean village that Andong is famous for which was fun. The have the traditional mask dance/festival thing there so there was a mask museum with masks from all over the world which was super cool!!
Tuesday, we went and visited *** and his wife. We went to Pungi where they live and they showed us their 학원-English Academy. We were talking about how we were going to visit our Harmony later that day (which is really confusing to get there on busses and stuff) but they said that they would just drive us there because the road from their house to her's is only like 20 minutes!! "Are you sure?" we said! " Yeah we'll get lunch on the way! It's just our way to help out God's plan and to help his servants" was his response! I've never heard a recent convert say anything like that!! I love him and his wife SO much. They have lots of questions about the gospel, and are both so excited to learn. He showed us the pictures of his baptism in Tahiti and one of the sister missionaries there was a girl that went to Olympus a year older than me!!
Then we went to visit our Harmony and she was talking all about how the elders visited her, and how she made them food, but they couldn't eat it all so they took it home, and then she made us the same food. Haha here's the thing. The elders never went and visited her...and she talked about it the majority of the time we were there hahaha we were laughing pretty hard. Her dementia is getting progressively worse, but she LOVES coming to church. It is so cute! Yesterday, she brought the BIGGEST bag of bean sprout things that I have ever even imagined of seeing. Seriously it was bigger than she is. We ate some with lunch after church, and then each of the members took a grocery-bag size home with them. It was hilarious, but she was so excited about it!!!
Wednesday was district meeting, and then we did exchanges and I stayed in Gumi with Sister ***, and Sister *** came back to Andong with Sister ***. We went and visited one of their harmony members who made us dinner and then taught their kids english class which was super fun!
Thursday, we switched back, and then on the way home visited one of our eternal investigators. Her sister is a member, and she has met with the missionaries off and on for like 10 years, but doesn't have any desire to join the church. She just likes the people. We'll continue keeping a relationship with her, but I don't know exactly how to help her!
Friday, I got to cross RICE FARMING IN KOREA off of my bucket list!!! We went and helped one of our less actives and it was SWEET! Ok it's a lot less glamorous than it sounds. It was just planting day and there was a machine that you put a tray in, then it put the dirt, water, seeds, dirt in and Sister Choi and my job was to continually put these trays on a big cart for like 6 hours. We laughed the entire time. It was pretty fun! Haha
Saturday, we went and met with a girl that was on our contact list from last October before I got here. We have called and texted her every so often since then, but her parents didn't really want us to meet us, not because they are against religion, because they are fine with that, but they want her to spend her time studying. So when we were talking with her last week, she said "Oh if you have time let's meet" and we said of course we did so we went met her. Her parents said it was okay because she said she would practice English with me, which she did. She wants to be a chef and is going to a high school for cooking. She showed us some pics of her food and it looked so good! She liked what we talked about the gospel, but we don't know if we can continually meet with her because of her study schedule. We will defs try though!! Then we took the train to Yeoungju where the elders were playing basketball with a member and his friends, and then our investigator and her family were there watching, so we went and talked with them and all had dinner together. it was really good!
Then yesterday was the first day in the new church which I already told you about!!!
So it has been a great, fun week here!! I have loved being able to think about everything that is happening and the miracles that we are seeing!! I am so grateful to be a missionary at this time. I know that my personal testimony has really become firm as I have been able to share it with others! My knowledge and love of the scriptures has especially grown. Sister ***and I were talking this morning about how we have learned, and are still learning of course, really how to study the scriptures and apply it to our lives, and the lives of those we teach!! I love it!!
I love you so much!!!! I hope that you have a great week!
Em
Sounds like it has been a great week back at home!
The church move was yesterday and it was SO GREAT!!! The church is SO beautiful. I will send pictures in a bit. It looks like the inside of a real church building. The dedication is next week and the stake presidency will come up, as well as President and Sister Gilbert, so we are working really hard to invite everyone we can-members, less actives, investigators, etc. and want to work on getting the members to all invite friends as well. I know that it will be great!!
This week was good! Last monday, we went to Hahoe Maul, the traditional Korean village that Andong is famous for which was fun. The have the traditional mask dance/festival thing there so there was a mask museum with masks from all over the world which was super cool!!
Tuesday, we went and visited *** and his wife. We went to Pungi where they live and they showed us their 학원-English Academy. We were talking about how we were going to visit our Harmony later that day (which is really confusing to get there on busses and stuff) but they said that they would just drive us there because the road from their house to her's is only like 20 minutes!! "Are you sure?" we said! " Yeah we'll get lunch on the way! It's just our way to help out God's plan and to help his servants" was his response! I've never heard a recent convert say anything like that!! I love him and his wife SO much. They have lots of questions about the gospel, and are both so excited to learn. He showed us the pictures of his baptism in Tahiti and one of the sister missionaries there was a girl that went to Olympus a year older than me!!
Then we went to visit our Harmony and she was talking all about how the elders visited her, and how she made them food, but they couldn't eat it all so they took it home, and then she made us the same food. Haha here's the thing. The elders never went and visited her...and she talked about it the majority of the time we were there hahaha we were laughing pretty hard. Her dementia is getting progressively worse, but she LOVES coming to church. It is so cute! Yesterday, she brought the BIGGEST bag of bean sprout things that I have ever even imagined of seeing. Seriously it was bigger than she is. We ate some with lunch after church, and then each of the members took a grocery-bag size home with them. It was hilarious, but she was so excited about it!!!
Wednesday was district meeting, and then we did exchanges and I stayed in Gumi with Sister ***, and Sister *** came back to Andong with Sister ***. We went and visited one of their harmony members who made us dinner and then taught their kids english class which was super fun!
Thursday, we switched back, and then on the way home visited one of our eternal investigators. Her sister is a member, and she has met with the missionaries off and on for like 10 years, but doesn't have any desire to join the church. She just likes the people. We'll continue keeping a relationship with her, but I don't know exactly how to help her!
Friday, I got to cross RICE FARMING IN KOREA off of my bucket list!!! We went and helped one of our less actives and it was SWEET! Ok it's a lot less glamorous than it sounds. It was just planting day and there was a machine that you put a tray in, then it put the dirt, water, seeds, dirt in and Sister Choi and my job was to continually put these trays on a big cart for like 6 hours. We laughed the entire time. It was pretty fun! Haha
Saturday, we went and met with a girl that was on our contact list from last October before I got here. We have called and texted her every so often since then, but her parents didn't really want us to meet us, not because they are against religion, because they are fine with that, but they want her to spend her time studying. So when we were talking with her last week, she said "Oh if you have time let's meet" and we said of course we did so we went met her. Her parents said it was okay because she said she would practice English with me, which she did. She wants to be a chef and is going to a high school for cooking. She showed us some pics of her food and it looked so good! She liked what we talked about the gospel, but we don't know if we can continually meet with her because of her study schedule. We will defs try though!! Then we took the train to Yeoungju where the elders were playing basketball with a member and his friends, and then our investigator and her family were there watching, so we went and talked with them and all had dinner together. it was really good!
Then yesterday was the first day in the new church which I already told you about!!!
So it has been a great, fun week here!! I have loved being able to think about everything that is happening and the miracles that we are seeing!! I am so grateful to be a missionary at this time. I know that my personal testimony has really become firm as I have been able to share it with others! My knowledge and love of the scriptures has especially grown. Sister ***and I were talking this morning about how we have learned, and are still learning of course, really how to study the scriptures and apply it to our lives, and the lives of those we teach!! I love it!!
I love you so much!!!! I hope that you have a great week!
Em
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