Hi hi!!!
It was a good week! It was a week of eating with members. Which is great of course! But there is no such thing as a skinny-re-entry program when serving in a ward like this. I'm not complaning though--I just told Sister *** that we have to exercise more in the mornings!!! Haha we have been getting up at 6:15 and going to the track behind our house, which is nice because we can go at different paces. On Thursday, we hiked the mountain (big hill) that is right behind our house too which was sweet!! It was a little foggy from the rain the night before so I felt like I was in the jungle!! There's nothing like the greenness of it in Utah!!
Monday, we went to a drama-filming set on the beach with the Masan sisters which was sweet!! Then we took food from the Relief Society to a less active and a recent convert. I really love this city because there is the downtown area, which is HUGE, but there is also like neighborhoods so you don't feel like you are in a huge city. Like our house--we live right up next to a mountain!
Tuesday, we did exchanges with the Miryang sisters. I stayed here which was fun. We were in the same district for 3 transfers when I was in Andong, and now again. I really love her!! We went to our service project, visited a less active, and then we had to get something from a member, and he bought us dinner!
Wednesday was district meeting, which was good as usual. Afterwards, we had a area meeting with the Elders and talked about our ideas for this area and what we can do to continue to improve it and to help the members. Then we had English Class which was fun as usual.
Thursday, we had lunch with a member and her daughter. Her daughter is 4 and so cute! She kept giving me princess stickers, and wanted to hold my hand everywhere we went. Then she wouldn't eat her food, so we had to have a race to see who could eat it all first, and she won (of course) haha. The member's husband (he's a member too) works for the UN in Baghdad and is there for 4 weeks, home for 10 days, and then that schedule repeats. We shared the scripture Alma 26:37 with her about how God is mindful people in every land, and how we can feel him watching over us no matter where we are!
Friday, we had MCM with our mission leader, who, like I told you last week, has SO many ideas for our area, so we talked with him about that. It is fun to see his excitement. I called *** and talked to them for a little bit which was really fun. They were really happy to talk to me and were on their way to meet with the sisters and the senior couple, who serves in Daegu,in Andong. They said they are doing well, and are going to probably go to the English branch in either Seoul or Daegu from now on, but the Andong sisters will keep teaching them. Then Friday night, we had dinner with a member's family. The sister is the relief society president and so great! She met the missionaries on the street when she was in high school, and then served a mission in Seoul, which was fun to hear about.
Saturday, we had lunch with another member's family, which was great. Their daughter who wants to learn English really well, and when I asked why, she said because it's attractive haha. So cute! Then we had English class again that night, and I taught the kids class, and acted out the whole story of Goldielocks and the 3 Bears for them. I felt like Dad when he used to tell us bedtime stories, except I'm not that creative, and just go for the classics!!
Sunday was church which was great of course. It is so neat to hear the members testimonies and the love they have for the Lord and this gospel. Then we visited a less active member, who's sister is a member in Daegu, and the sister called us an asked us to visit her. When we went, she wasn't home, but after waiting for a minute and as we were about to leave, she came up to her door as she was coming home, and said "Oh, the missionaries" Haha. She said she doesn't have any interest right now, but we told her we were going to visit later with one of the members that remembers her, and she said that was alright. Still a miracle that she came home right as we were there though~ Then we had dinner at a member's house. The parents, and then their daughter and her husband and daughter all live in our ward. The daughter's husband served in Busan mission and served in Andong and Daeshin, as well as here, so it was fun to talk with him about that and the people there!
I have been thinking a lot lately about what my purpose is on my mission. The first think I think about of course, is our missionary purpose to invite others to Come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through Faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. We say this every morning. (I won't type it out in Korean for you haha) Of course this is the most important thing, and really outlines our goal as a missionary. This is the same for all missionaries though. I wanted to focus on what my individual role is. As I think about my mission, I didn't put a lot of thought into my decision to serve. I just knew that I needed to, and so I acted on that knowledge. When I came on my mission, I had lots of knowledge about the gospel, and I had a testimony that I needed to do what was right, but it wasn't something deep in my heart. I feel like I kind of just went through the motions. This really bugged me when I first got here, so I studied lots about Christ and His gospel, but most importantly tried to put these things in practice. I could talk about the gospel as much as I wanted, but I needed to make it a part of myself. As I think about this, I think of Enos. Enos's father Jacob and uncle Nephi and grandfather Lehi were all great prophets. He had so many examples and such a rich heritage to learn the gospel from. He knew lots about Christ and His gospel, but Enos's soul "hungered" and he really wanted a personal testimony, not just a knowledge of the Savior, so first he repented of his sins, then as he continued to pray, his faith began to be unshaken in the Lord. I would say that this story is similar to my mission. I have learned about Jesus Christ and His gospel my whole life, and always just accepted it to be true. But as I said earlier, I wanted Christ to be deep in my heart, and that couldn't come from just knowing about Him, but was really applying His teachings in my life and dedicating myself to living after the example He set. So first, I had to repent of things that would keep me from this--which is obviously a process and something I am still working on. But as I strive to do that, that is where I can see parts of me that I can improve, and set a goal to work on it. As I have done this, I know that my faith-which is truly faith in Jesus Christ- is becoming unshaken . I have developed a personal relationship with Him, and have received a little glimpse of understanding of the sacrifice He made for me. I know that this is something I will need to work on for my entire life, and a goal that I have to dedicate myself to now. I have come too far to go back, and KNOW that my testimony will never fall back. It will only get stronger from here, and the love of the Savior and His place in my heart can only expand as I finish my mission, and then return home and continue this pattern throughout my life.
I love you all so much and am so grateful for your amazing examples to me!
I LOVE YOU!
Em
