Monday, August 25, 2014

Goodbye 안양!! Hello....



Hello Family,

So, do you remember how I really love 안양 and thought that I was going to stay another transfer? Well....President Morrise loves to keep me on my toes. This past Sunday, we received late transfer calls and I am leaving my beloved second area and going to 만수! Not only that ... but I will be Sister Training Leader. Yeah, I know ... terrible idea. There are about 14 sisters? So not that many, but that is like an exchange every meeting. We also have to go to monthly missionary leadership training meetings. I am super awkward around feelings. That is okay I am sure that I will learn fast. My new companion is Sis. Gapinski.  She is going to end next transfer. She is almost done with her mission and she apparently was companion with Sis. Blickenstaff at one point. Small world! I am not really sure if Sis. Blickenstaff will be in my area, but I will find out tonight when I get all the details about the sisters in my zone. It will definitely keep us busy, but I am excited.

Also, do you want to know an embarrassing part of my farewell talk to 안양?. I was super great at holding in my emotions, after all...I know I will see the members again. Then out of nowhere this liquid just comes out of my eyes. What is my knee jerk reaction....Let me give you an exact translation of what I said in English..

"What are these?!"
"No...I am a girl."

Yes, I am pretty sure that is exactly what I said in my farewell talk before I came on my mission. Apparently things don't change very much. Haha. Oh well, at some point I will come to the realization that this is natural...Or I will just have to learn how to control things better.

Other than that, Sis. Nebeker is doing well. She was a little bit shocked that we were being separated, but we both knew that it was for the best. Her new companion is exactly what this area needs and will be influential in the miracles just waiting to be happened. I cannot wait to see what will happen in my new area and my old one. I love Korea and I love being a missionary!! 

That is so exciting that Nana is going on a mission! She will do great and have lots of fun serving the Lord. 

-Sis. Chao

Monday, August 18, 2014

Last week before Transfer Calls!!



!!! I cannot believe how fast this transfer has gone. It seems like this transfer has been going a lot faster and slower in some ways. From the sounds of it, I might be here for  another transfer. The Area 70s want senior companions to stay in one area for 7-8 months. This past week, Sis. Nebeker and I have seen a lot of miracles and progression with some of our investigators.

One of the biggest miracles to have happened this week is that 김재숙 has returned!!  This past Thursday, Sis. Nebeker and I were planning on having a really fun badminton competition with the Young Women and our investigator 하영 (Ha Young). As we were preparing to leave the church and pick  하영 up, our telephone starts to ring and it is 김재숙! She randomly returned from the countryside and really wanted to meet. Now this is the dilemma, around the time she would be coming to church was about the time Sis. Nebeker and I would have to leave to pick up 하영. Well after some thought and a quick prayer, we decided that we still wanted to meet with 김재숙. So we invited her to come and when she arrived, we had a great chat. Turns out that she is still super interested in the gospel, but she will be leaving to go to Malaysia soon. Normally that would be quite the damper on things, but then it could actually be quite good for her and her spiritual progression. 김재숙 talked about how difficult it would be to leave her church because she has going there for so long, but this break in Malaysia could be what she needs to really consider attending our church. 

Another highlight of this week is the Badminton competition with the YW and 하영. It was such a great relationship builder for the sister missionaries, the YW, and our investigators. 하영 had a lot of fun and was starting to really open up with the YW and me. Also the young women are excellent member missionaries! Before this little activity, the YW each went out to the store and made a 하영 themed gift, which included heart felt letters. 하영 was so excited when she received it and I hope that she truly reads the letters!

Lastly, we had a wonderful lesson with 손순옥! She is so great, but one of the things that she really struggles with is faith. She wants everything to be proven to her through science or through actually seeing things. As I was thinking about this, I think that faith is one of the most difficult things to exercise. I mean, given the definition...it's all about hoping for things which are not seen but are true. As I was thinking about faith and ways to help her progress, I realized that having faith in Jesus Christ is a lot easier than we think. In the Bible Dictionary, it talks about how Christ is perfect in every possible way. He is someone that we can truly put our trust in and know that without any doubt that He will not fail us. Now, all I have to do is help 손순옥 come to this realization. 

Other than that, things are going really well. I cannot believe how fast time has gone and that Fall is around the corner. :) Next month will be one of the biggest holidays in Korea!! YAY! :)

-Love,

Sis. Chao

Monday, August 11, 2014

태풍!!!



안녕!

Oh how I love weeks where P-day is on Thursday and then the next P-Day is only a few days away! This past week, Sis. Nebeker and I had the wonderful opportunity of going to the temple with the zone that has lots of my favorite sisters in it (Sis. Kim Chun and Sis. Saunders). It was like old time! I did a happy feet dance with Sis. Saunders and got hugged by my old trainers! It was really good to see them both and talk about what has happened on our missions since we were separated several months ago. The temple was great and allowed me to feel some peace and guidance as I prayed for my companions and our investigators. 

The weather here has been absolutely insane! In the morning time, the weather is perfect and you feel like you are in paradise. Then 9:00 a.m. rolls around and it feels as if though you have just rolled into a giant sauna once it is time to go outside, I have literally sweated off all of my make up and 3 kilos. The a 갑자기 storm will come out of nowhere which then results in everyone seeing us getting drenched. It looks like we showered with our clothes on. I even have an umbrella the size of China! It's so much fun. It is absolutely insane, but Sis. Nebeker and I laugh a lot! The crazy thing is that everyone says this has been a relatively timid summer. I don't want to know what last summer was like at all. Haha. 

This past week, Sis Nebeker and I met with a new investigator. She is 21 years old and is currently in 안양 for summer break. She doesn't know what exactly she wants out of life, but she wants to learn English and more about the gospel. We have high hopes for her and we have loved getting to know her. After meeting for 10 minutes, we became instant friends and talked about our lives and joked around. We plan on meeting with her again this coming week. We want to help her progress as much as possible before the end of the month. In September she will be moving back to school and won't be able to meet with us for a while..

I know that I have been in 안양 for quite some time, but I really don't mind. I have really come to love the ward, especially the YW. They are the most incredible member missionaries. Lately, I have had the opportunity to talk with each young women. They really want to help our young investigator become a member of the church. So they have decided to organize a Badminton match on Thursday. They are perfect examples of what I want to be when I come home from my mission. 

Lately, we have been learning a lot about aligning our will with God's. Sometimes, I get super excited because I feel like things are working according to plan and then it doesn't. It gets super frustrating sometimes, but I have learned a lot recently that I am most happy when my will aligns with God's will. The hardest part is being humble about it and allowing Him to do what He knows is best. I think this will definitely be my focus for this week...learning to see the bigger picture. 

I love you!

-Sis. Chao

Also..this week has been 순대week (it is somewhat like pig blood sausage. They have Japchae noodles in it, which just makes the texture even more marvelous.). Everyone has been giving it to us and it is a bit challenging to eat it. It tastes like purple, squishy, intestine sausage. The best part is that it comes with a side dish of lungs. Thankfully, Sis. Nebeker is a gem and she has been taking quite a few 순대 bullets for me. Haha. What a gem!

Monday, August 4, 2014

방학



안녕하세요!!

Well, it is week 3 of my 5 transfer in 안양 and it has been interesting. The past few weeks, everyone has been going to the countryside because most of the schools are on vacation. I personally love vacations, until I realized that no one would be home the next few weeks. It has definitely made less active visits a lot more challenging, but the Lord always provides people for us to talk to. 

The other day, Sis. Nebeker and I were walking down the street when it started raining. As we were walking, we noticed a cute grandmother trying to use her wallet to cover her hair. Apparently, South Korea has acid rain and if you let the rain fall on your head, you will become bald. So, we thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to serve her. So we ran over to her and offered to walk with her to her house. She tried to tell us she was okay, but we were incredibly persistent. After all, we are sister missionaries. Once we arrived to her apartment, we thought she would tell us goodbye and then we would be on our way. Well, she didn't...she invited us upstairs! We ate some delicious fruit together and we talked about the missionary purpose. She wasn't super interested, but it gave her a more positive view of Christians and our church. Slowly but surely, the idea that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a cult is changing for the better!

Another miracle that happened this week is with one of our investigators 손순옥 자매님. She really wanted to meet with us this past Saturday. We were planning on teaching her a little bit about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, our plan drastically changed when she started asking about baptism and the priesthood. It was incredible. She doesn't want to get baptized right now, but she wants to know what makes our church true. 손순옥 자매님 is really famous for asking inspired and well thought out questions. The other day she asked "If we all worship the same God, does it really matter what church I go to?" Well, instead of answering her, we both felt inspired to tell her that is probably a question she will have to answer for herself. However, we will be there to help her obtain that answer. 

손순옥 자매님 finds the answer that she is looking for. 

Other than that, nothing really crazy has been occurring in Korea. Although, it is raining and it is so much fun to proselyte and contact in. You can definitely hear us coming because there is a lot of squeaky shoes and sloshing. It is a little bit gross sometimes because a cigarette butt totally flew into my shoe  because of the rain. Try not to be too jealous. It wasn't as bad as Sis. Nebeker though because she saw a floating smashed rat coming straight towards her. I almost died of laughter. 

I love being a missionary and I love serving in 안양. I miss you a lot, but time is going by really fast!!

-사랑으로

차오지매