Special package

Oh, my!

The best part of Christmas...

I CAN'T WAIT!

Testimony time!

So we're all participating in the #ShareTheGift campaign. It's so amazing to see everybody sharing their testimonies! This Christmas Mission Conference is AWESOME!

Totally decked halls

Nampo Dong is crazy! As one of Busan's major shopping districts, it's always that way no matter what time of year, but at Christmastime they just go crazy with their light displays. They're everywhere! And so are the people -- the perfect place for missionaries and pass along cards!

Let the wild rumpus begin!

After all this time planning, it's finally here! The missionaries are arriving for the Christmas Conference!

Looking back...

Holy cow! We've been SUPER busy (I'll get to that) plus we had some technical difficulties, so I'm way behind on my updates!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here. Maybe too much. And it's starting to get cold. Not Idaho cold, but it's been hovering around freezing. Yikes!

So here's the deal. I've got a bunch of stuff to catch up on, but I'm going to post it when it happened, so you might have to look back. And I'm going to try to keep up with the present, as well. More about that later, too!

Letter of the law

Spheres of influence

There's a LOT of work and planning that goes into a big mission conference! Sis. Green had a great idea. We always ask the Relief Society to help with the food, or else we (the sisters) get stuck doing most of it. Why not ask some of our investigators to help? It would get them in to the church, meet a lot of missionaries and probably a few members too. Why not?

Many hands lightly work

I'm sure there are a billion things to do to get ready for the Christmas Mission Conference. I know that we can do it. I can ask the other sisters in the area for their help. And the elders in the mission home said that they would pitch in, too.

Let's see what the sisters can do!

Where much is given

*Mission home

I know that I should be way excited to help with the Christmas party Conference. I like planning, I like parties, and I like any excuse for presents! But I've only got a few weeks left! There's so much I haven't done and so much more that's left to do! I'M NOT READY!

Sorry. Some missionaries get trunky. I'm getting anxious. Anxiously engaged, that is!

Getting there is half the fun!

Happy U.S. Thanksgiving!

So, yeah... It was really awesome when the turkey came out of the oven. It's not exactly like my grandma used to make, but not bad for a couple of sister missionaries overseas! It smelled so good — it even overpowered the fishy and kimchi smells in the neighborhood!

The one thing we forgot to think about was how we were supposed to get the turkey over to the zone activity. Oops!

Baste it every thirty seconds

Sis. Green has a lot of good qualities. She has a strong testimony, a lot of courage, and enthusiasm for the work. I just wish she would have picked up a few more kitchen skills before coming out on her mission!

It's not always neatly wrapped in plastic

OK, maybe I should have thought of Costco first. But, hey! I grew up in Idaho. I know all about where animals come from!

A little something for the meal

*Will you please give me a turkey?

I liked Sis. Green's idea of making something that no one else would. This could be fun!

Zone activity

It seems a little funny that we're celebrating U.S. Thanksgiving here, especially when we have so many missionaries not just from the U.S. but Korea, Canada and other places, too. But then again, it'll be fun to get together with everyone. I know it's not just about Thanksgiving.

But it's my last Thanksgiving in Korea!

Music to our ears!

So let me catch you up on things. We met our neighbors; their mom that I met in Moscow was there. She remembered me! She's going to be here through Christmas, so we'll (hopefully) see a lot of her and her daughter's family. They seem really nice, and were at least sort of interested in our message.

But here's the cool thing.

Sis. Green felt like she should invite them to a stake musical night program thing that the Busan Stake put on. We invited them and they came! They had a good time and met some people. It was So. Cool!

And speaking of cool, it's starting to get cooler here. It's not cold yet, but I can certainly tell it's fall!

The gospel is true! Keep sharing it!

From the Stake Music Night

When what to my wondering eyes should appear?

Oh.
My.
Goodness!

I can NOT believe what happened!

You know how long it's taken us to look up the daughter of the lady I met in the airport in Moscow? Months! Every time we would try, something would come up — and now I know why!

Her mom is here visiting! It's been like forever since she's come back to Busan to visit, and it just so happens that the day after she arrived, guess which door we finally knocked on! Is it coincidence? I think NOT!

It was so fun to see her again! It was almost like we were long lost friends even though we only talked for a few minutes in Moscow (that almost sounds the the title for a spy novel, doesn't it?). Anyway, we'll see where it goes from here.

Her daughter is awesome, too! She was surprised to see us. Because it had been so long, she thought we were never going to show up. But now we can teach BOTH OF THEM!!!

So how long is this going to take?!

I don't know how many times we've tried, or how many weeks we've put it in our plan. But for some reason we have never gotten around to calling on the daughter of the lady I met at the airport in Moscow! Even after we found out she was our neighbor...or at least in the same apartment building!

The weather keeps getting colder, but at least we have the gospel to warm our hearts!

We are sowing, daily sowing

Well, I guess it didn't work out with our investigator. Maybe he just wasn't interested after we turned him over to the elders! I hope we at least planted a seed. Maybe some day it will sprout.

In other news, the weather is turning cooler; the leaves are all beautiful — it so gorgeous here in the fall! We've got a lot of good prospects we're working with, and we may be starting another English class soon.

Sis. Green reminded me that I should be getting my flight plans soon. I don't even want to think about that yet! There's so much left to do, and I feel like I'm just getting started!

Zone defense

I don't know what it is, but I every time we teach Bro. Kim, I get the feeling we should let him go. But like Sis. Green says, he does everything we ask him to and he seems very eager to learn — almost like he'll be in trouble if he doesn't get it — so we've kept teaching him. He does seem to keep referring back to the "Meet the Mormons" movie, though. It's weird.

It occurred to me, thought, that if these feelings are persistent, then maybe we could pass him on to another set of missionaries. What else are zone leaders for, right?

Suspicions

Our lessons with our new investigator, Bro. Kim, are progressing. But there's something about him that bothers me. I can't quite put my finger on it. 

Teaching and questions

So I've told you now about our new investigator. We thought it was a little strange when he came out of nowhere and started asking questions about the Church. That just NEVER happens, unless someone wants to practice their English skills.

Wait. There's more to come about this particular investigator.

On a completely different note, we made it through transfers once again! I have at least another six weeks with Sis. Green!

Our new mission president wants us to keep in shape and "lengthen our stride," so at the transfers we all meet at the mission home and run. It's kind of cool, but I'm glad it's only every six weeks!

We're kind of in the middle-ish back. Ish.

And that's how we got our new investigator!

The search is on

Dynasty

Deep background

Back story

Every investigator has a story of how they found the missionaries. 

Mysterious happenings

We usually don't hear much about politics or the government, so it was kind of unusual to hear people talking about — can I say his name? — the Dear Leader up North. Apparently he hasn't been seen for some time, and that worries people who pay attention to such things.

In the meantime, the work here continues to go well. The weather has settled down and it's turning into a beautiful fall! I love it here! I love the people! I don't even want to think about going home in a few months! There's still so much to do!

Good to go!

*Let's go!

Being able to reread talks from General Conference really helps me get excited about doing the work — even if things are miserable outside, I can still be happy inside!

Speak your language

Fall is here, and things are awesome in Daegu! We've been studying the talks from General Conference, thanks to some quick downloads from lds.org. It's fun to hear the things we missed the first time! It's all so amazing and really strengthens my faith!

Gift of tongues

I asked Sis. Green what she thought of General Conference, and she really liked it — what she could understand, that is. I can TOTALLY relate...from my experience just a year ago.

One thing that I thought was really cool was the people who spoke in their native languages (even though what we heard was Korean). But still, the idea that they did that was chemi. It shows we really are a worldwide Church!

My favorite was Pres. Uchtdorf's talk from Priesthood (yes, we got to listen to that session too!). It was really powerful and really made me think. I hope it isn't me!

I can't wait to see the Liahona or the Ensign to read all the talks again.

Conference time...again!

I've been here in Korea a year already?!

Where help is needed

Always happy to help wherever we can!

It was even on the Mormon Newsroom website!

General Women's Meeting

OK, I have to say I LOVED the General Women's Meeting! From the opening prayer all the way to the last "Amen!" But I have to say that my favorite part was the Korean Primary kids singing! They were so CUTE in their hanboks! And it was amazing to see the Seoul Temple there, too!

"We have been given spiritual light to bless the world around us." That was one of my favorite quotes. "Discipleship does not have to be a bitter experience."

The rain, rain, rain came down, down, down!

OK, I knew it was raining hard, but until we went into the tabang and saw the TV news, I didn't know how hard! Lots of rain, lots of flooding, and it looked like there was even a bus that got washed away! From the TV reports, it looks like there's a lot of damage in our beloved Busan!

I think Sis. Green is right. We're going to go home, change clothes, and get ready for some Helping Hands service!

The heavens are opened once again

Now that Sis. Green is feeling better, I thought we could get some good work done. I may have been a little premature in my thinking.

교리와 성약 제 4 편 (D&C 4)

I should have posted this a long time ago:

   1  이제 보라, 기이한 일이 바야흐로 사람의 자녀들 가운데 나타나려 하는도다. 

   2  그러므로 오 너희, 하나님을 섬기는 일에 나서는 자들아, 너희가 마지막 날에 하나님 앞에 흠 없이 설 수 있도록 삼가 너희 온 마음과 능력과 생각과 힘을 다하여 그를 섬기라. 

   3  그러므로 만일 너희에게 하나님을 섬기려는 소망이 있을진대, 너희는 그 일에 부르심을 받느니라. 

   4  이는 보라, 밭은 이미 희어져 추수하게 되었음이라. 또 바라보라, 자기 힘을 다하여 낫을 휘두르는 자, 그는 곳간에 쌓아 두는 자니, 멸망하지 아니하고 자기의 영혼에 구원을 가져오느니라. 

   5  그리고 하나님의 영광만을전념하여 구하는 눈과 함께 신앙, 소망, 자애와사랑이 그로 하여금 그 일을 행할 자격이 있게 하느니라. 

   6  신앙, 덕, 지식, 절제, 인내, 형제애, 경건, 자애, 겸손, 근면을기억하라. 

   7   구하라. 그리하면 너희는 받게 될 것이요, 두드리라. 그리하면 너희에게 열리리라. 아멘.

An Ensign to the world!

Have you seen the new Ensign/Liahona for September? One of the feature stories is about the growth of the Church in Korea! It started back in Korean War times.

The president sent Kim Ho Jik to the USA to learn how to improve nutrition in the Korean diet. Bro. Kim met some members of the Church, and he got baptized. He came back and started teaching Sunday school in a military camp in Busan, and it grew from there. Missionaries started coming in 1955, and then in 1973, Pres. Kimball organized the first stake.

Now we have a temple, a bunch of stakes, four missions, TON of missionaries and more than 86,000 of some of the best members of the Church in the world!

Some of the early pioneers of the Church in Korea have been mission presidents in my mission: Han In Sang and Rhee Ho Nam. Pretty amazing!

• The Church Newsroom has even more information.

Called to be served

I swear, nobody does service like the Saints! We had all kinds of people willing to help out when Sis. Green was sick. Some of the service was more appreciated than others, but we were willing to receive it all the same. It's so WONDERFUL to see how willing people are to help those in need — even if it is the missionaries!

Side effects

The good news is, it was the medicine that was messing with her head. I'm glad she's feeling better!

In which my companion has a problem

I really hope it's the medicine!

Power of the priesthood?

So the zonies came over, and Sis. Green perked right up! And that was before she got a blessing!

Happy Holiday (추석)!

Monday is 추석 (Chuseok), kind of like the Korean Thanksgiving — it's pronounced "chew suck" and I don't think I want to use EITHER of those words around Sis. Green right now!

Chuseok is the Korean harvest festival, and everyone get together with their families and has a big meal and visits their ancestral homes...and ancestors. It's also a time when a lot of folks imbibe in rice wine. Major holiday.

It's also kind of a mix of Memorial Day, too. The tradition is to visit the ancestral graves and clean up around them. Korean graves are pretty cool. Instead of holes in the ground like we're used to in the USA, they're buried in mounds so the cemeteries are all bumpy.

I'm not sure how much celebrating we'll be doing with Sis. Green being under the weather. There are a lot of people traveling, especially since it's a Monday holiday. We'll see. It should be fun, though, and may be a chance to wear my hanbok! We'll just have to wait and see!

Mosiah 2:17

It's probably wrong to say that I'm getting sick of Sis. Green being sick, so I won't say it. I feel sorry for her — it's got to be miserable being so sick so soon after coming into the country!

I'm beginning to relate a little bit to what it must be like for parents when a kid gets sick. You still love them, but you've got to clean up after them. I keep reminding myself what it says in Mosiah in the Book of Mormon, that when you serve another person, it's just like serving the Lord.

I really hope she gets better soon!

Using my training

Sis. Green doesn't seem to be getting any better, so I called the Mission President. He'll know what to do!

I remember when we were in the MTC they told us that if we didn't know a word we could sometimes use the English word, make gestures or use sound effects. It works!

Oh, Kermie!

Poor Sis. Green!

I don't know if it was something she ate or what, but she's been feeling AWFUL! We were able to find a place for her...to, um, go...so I just kind of had to stay there and wait. For a very long time.

It wasn't as exciting as you may think! t tried talking to some people, but let's face it — people think you're weird if you try to make conversation with people when you're hanging out next to a public bathroom!

For some reason, I started to think about the Muppets: Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal...and Kermit. And Kermit's favorite song, "Feeling Green." What!? I couldn't help it — I had to wait a long time!

I hope she gets feeling better soon!

Crash course in vocabulary

You know how sometimes everything seems like it's going right and things are falling into place...and then something happens?

Something happened.

We were talking, I turned around, and my companion was GONE!

Not really gone, I found out, but not feeling well.

Close to home

So as we were getting on the subway, we looked at the address of the referral lady...

Mysterious ways

After talking with the couple that answered the door, we found out that the lady we were looking for had moved! I was all prepared to be disappointed, but they (1) had the address, and (2) were interested in what we had to say! They thought it was really funny that Sis. Green didn't know much Korean, but they were really impressed that she was willing to try — and that made them want to know more!

They gave us the address AND made a return appointment? Who could ask for anything more?

Door approach

OK, so Sis. Green is brave — but she still needs to learn the language. She got us in the door, though. When they answered, they thought it was pretty funny that she could only remember how to say hello!