"Prophet"

안녕하세요!!!

So....everyday I look at the calendar and I freak out a little bit. I cannot believe that I will be coming home so soon. Don't worry, I am definitely not trunky yet but knowing how much time I have left has really pushed me to be more courageous and loving when it comes to missionary work. 

The other day, Sis. Reed and I were talking about how rewarding being a missionary in this area has been. We have so many amazing and real relationship with the members, that we have been able to learn from them and help them strengthen their personal testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel. We are just so lucky to be serving here in Mansu!

This week, we met with one of our investigators. We were sitting at Baskin Robbins and we somehow got talking about the definition of our names. Our investigator told us that her name means Chosen by God. Immediately after saying it, she gasped with surprise and said "Oh my gosh, I am chosen by God...I am a prophet." Sis. Reed and I just looked at each other and burst out laughing...she definitely remembers what the definition of a prophet is, but I don't think the application was correct. 

Another miracle from this week is that we were able to meet with Jay again! She randomly called us this Friday and asked to meet at a coffee shop near her work. When we arrived, she talked about how she missed meeting with us and wanted to meet again before we left. Sis. Reed and I are super excited because she has a sincere desire to learn about Christ. Not to mention, she has the cutest baby of all time. We have another appointment to meet with her on Saturday :)

Sis. Reed and I are working harder than ever to get our investigators progressing towards conversion. The two investigators we met last week and invited to church were not able to come yesterday, but they promised us they would come this coming Sunday. We will pick them up if we have to! :)

Also, we promised one of our investigators that we would make them Fajitas. Do you think it would be possible to send me the recipe?

-Sis. Chao

Halfway

        

안녕하세요!!

I cannot believe how fast time is flying, I just got my flight plans through email today... ㅠ.ㅠ It can't be time already, but thankfully I have a solid month or so to finish up my mission strong. This week has been filled with a lot of miracles, especially when it comes to our investigators in 만수!

Every week, we go and visit one of our investigators and her cousin at their makeup shop. Usually when we go, we talk about a principle from the missionary lessons but we never really had a real sit down lesson with both of them. On Tuesday, we decided to drop off this little pastery that we picked up at a bakery. On our way over to her store, we noticed that there were a lot of people. Instead of coming back later, we decided to go introduce ourselves...after all one of them could have an interest in the gospel. Being the gem that she invited us to sit down and chat. As we sat there, there was so much awkwardness...seriously....so much awkwardness. Her friend kept staring at us and talking about us, but never directly to us. Finally her friend asked us to see the scripture case that we carry around with us. Then she started asking us all about why we needed the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, Priesthood, etc. We pretty much had an entire lesson. The miracle was that she was so interested about what we were talking about that she invited us to come back on Sunday (yesterday).

Yesterday, we went and we just talked about the Bible/Book of Mormon and how it testifies of Jesus Christ. While we were sitting there, I just felt prompted to ask them about their plans next week. Their entire underground market has the day off next Sunday.  Then I just asked, "Are you really planning to come to our church someday?" They immediately said "Yes, of course...In fact, why not next Sunday?" Sis. Reed's and our mouths almost dropped to the floor. They pretty much invited themselves to all 3 hours of church.  They also really want to have a member lesson so that they can ask their super hard questions to a native korean. ㅋㅋㅋ I am not sad about that. Some of the words they used are really hard to understand. Yesterday, we were whipping out all sorts of dictionaries to translate what she was asking. 

Korean- definitely will be a lifelong task of learning. @.@

-Sis. Chao


 

First week of March

안녕하세요!!!

Spring has officially arrived in Korea, but you probably wouldn't be able to tell because of the weather. For some reasons, the weather has decided to play games with us and randomly goes from hot to cool. Just like Utah :) Perhaps Korea is preparing me to come home soon. Yikes, I don't want to think about it yet!! I cannot believe that I only have one month left in this amazing country!!

This week, we met with a lot of investigators and had really interesting lessons/conversations. One of our investigators (Ms. Park) asked a lot of questions about how our church functions. Actually, now that I think about it...a lot of the people we have met on the street/train/church have asked us about how a church can function without a paid clergy or minister. It has been really fun to talk about how members and revelation drive the church.

On Tuesday, I met with President Morrise for my last interview before my final interview. President Morrise and I just joked for 10 minutes and we just talked about miracles that we had both seen. He apparently still remembers the one time he came and visited me at the Law Library. Apparently, I am a lot different than I was before. I honestly don't know how much I can believe because he is definitely biased. ㅋㅋㅋ He is our mission president after all. He told me that he is really excited to see where I go next.

This week, I also was able to go on exchanges with the new STL's companion. Her name is Sis. Kil and she is from the southern area of Korea. She is super cute and is a fantastic missionary. One of the things that we talked about is street contacting. It has been super hard for her because people are just brutal to Korean missionaries. So, during our time together...we did a lot of street contacting and we made it fun. Towards the end of the day and the rejections got a little bit brutal, instead of crying we just burst out laughing. I'm not really sure why, but sis. Kil has started to change her mind about street contacting. During our daily planning session, we just talked about we have to give everyone a chance to accept the gospel.

On Sunday, I had the best surprise!! My favorite Korean companion has officially moved back to 인천 and is in 만수 ward boundary!! It was such a great surprise and we just laughed all throughout RS (Sorry teacher). She looks absolutely amazing and is such a solid YSA now. We plan on having a lot more member present lessons in our area now!

Have a great week!

Sis. Chao

Happy Lunar New Year

안녕하세요!!!

This week has been incredible and we have seen so many miracles. One of the biggest miracles we have seen is with our investigator Sooyun, who works at a beauty shop in our area. She has known missionaries for quite some time, but has never really been interested in learning about the gospel. So this past transfer, we have been working really hard to build a good relationship with her. On Wednesday, we decided to buy her some lunch and invited one of our member missionaries to come along. During the lunch, Sooyun really opened up about her belief in God, how she is actually interested in learning about the gospel, and how the only real barrier for her to come to church is that she has a hard time understanding religious words. So, Sis. Reed are super excited because we actually have a direction to go and have a member missionary who has built a good relationship with our investigator. 

Thursday- We had the big 설날 conference with our zone. All of the missionaries got together and had a wonderful day celebrating Lunar New Year in Korea. The first activity, we all made dumplings and kimbap. We did make a lot of dumplings, but the ones we made with the bishop's wife was definitely a lot more delicious than the ones we made as a zone. Definitely missing the years of experience needed to make delicious dumplings, but that is also because the elders tried to help...ㅋㅋㅋ (just kidding, they did a great job). We also watched “Meet the Mormon”, a very inspiring movie for sure. Then we went to China Town and did a scavenger hunt. In Chinatown, there is a huge statute of General McArthur.  Everyone here loves him...I guess that means I have to do more research about him when I get home. 

On Friday, a member called us and wanted to have dinner at our favorite hot pot buffet restaurant. Her daughter is leaving for a mission (today) and we are pretty close with her. Her daughter asked a bunch of questions about missionary work, but her biggest fear was the MTC and American food. Her mother told me how she wanted to sneak tuna into the MTC. I told her that she probably wouldn't get it past customs, but that you or some friends would be more than willing to send her some at the MTC. So...if you could do that :) She would absolutely love it and I would be super thankful!

This week has been good, but I am excited that the holidays are over. Now, there will be a lot more people to talk to on the streets and buses. Time to find some new investigators! :)

Love you-

Sis. Chao

Final Transfer - 시작!!

Hello Family,

So I just realized that my final transfer as a missionary is about to start and I am freaking out a little bit. Sometimes it feels like I just started my mission, but now I am one of the oldest missionaries in the mission. WEIRD. Okay, I have always been one of the oldest missionaries in the mission but now I am both in age and mission experience. WEIRDER.

This week, we received transfer calls and it looks like I will be finishing out my mission with Sis. Reed in Mansu!! Yay! I could not be happier. I have come to love this area and this week we have had a lot of success finding new investigators. Hopefully, we can get them to progress towards baptism and the temple! The only new thing that happened with transfers is that I am no longer STL! I am actually pretty happy with that because I can focus a lot of my time on helping Sis. Reed get to know the area and people, which was super hard when I was STL because we were always exchanging. 

On Wednesday, I was able to exchange with Sis. Moyer. She is this super talented musician who is a powerhouse missionary. Seriously, she is so innovative and uses her music ability to share the gospel with people on the street. It was so much fun getting to serve with her and for her to experience a new area. She hasn't been to another area since arriving in Korea. Usually, Sis. Reed and I introduce our bathroom as being a little ghetto, but Sis. Moyer thought it was the coolest thing ever. She literally died when she couldn't find our shower. After exchanging we had dinner with a couple members of the ward. After that we taught English Class and then met a couple of less active members. It was so much fun serving with her and she will change a lot of lives in Korea. 

This week is a big holiday (new year) and we are super excited to celebrate it as a district and zone. On Thursday, we will be meeting in 답동 and making dumplings and watching Meet the Mormons. The next day, we are meeting with one of our investigators. She is going to show us 인천 and then we are planning to teach her from the Book of Mormon. We are super excited for this coming week. 

Love you and have a happy Chinese New Year!

Sis. Chao

Meetings Week!

Hello Family!

This week has been absolutely crazy!! Sis. Reed and I have literally been running from one end of our mission to the other all week. It has been really good because on one of the days I was able to go to the temple, visit an old area, and meet new investigators.

On Monday, we didn't have regular P-Day because of our temple visit on Thursday.So we did regular missionary work and planned for FHE with our favorite ward member. Sis. Reed had this great idea to make a game of LIFE, but use churchy things as life markers. It was actually really fun and we got to share experiences that we had keeping commandments, getting baptized, going to ward activities, etc. From this activity, 이두레자매님 really emphasized us to find someone that has the same values as us. She wants nothing more than to have a temple marriage, but can't really do that until her husband decides that the gospel is something that he wants. 

On Tuesday, Sis. Reed and I went to the mission home for MLC. It was really good and I got to hear a lot of the last words of some of our graduating missionaries? I don't really know what to call them, but that is kind of what it sounds like in Korean. It's really weird to see that the people giving these talks are my the older districts from my MTC experience. Yikes...that means my last words is just around the corner. Don't worry, I am not getting trunky... I really love being a missionary and will probably still be doing it when I am on the plane home. Okay, maybe I will pass out because of exhaustion...but it will be great!!

On Wednesday, I went back to my last area to help the sister missionaries meet with this past investigator family. It was so weird being back there, but it felt like going home. Not a whole lot has changed besides the age of the children. Seriously, when I left them...they were so small and now they are walking. It was surreal. The meeting was great and the family decided that they want to meet sister missionaries now!! :)

Friday, I went to have a 20 minute lesson with a member who is about to send off her daughter on a mission. She was asking me all sorts of questions about clothing, shoes, bags, etc. It was so funny because she was showing me these shoes that her daughter wanted, which were cute and girly...and then showed me the ones that she ordered. HAHA...I have never laughed so hard. I didn't even know that non-cute shoes existed in Korea. It is okay though, the member kept reminding me that we have to look with missionary eyes.

Other than that, this week has been really good. I am so excited for the up coming week because it will be 선날!! This year, the zone leaders and I are in charge...so we are freaking out a little bit. Elder Lee proposes that we just let the missionaries run wild...I feel like we should make them make dumplings. 

Love you,

Sis. Chao

February!

Happy February!

This week has been incredibly busy, but a lot of great things have happened! First of all, this week I was able to do an exchange with Sis. Kelly. It was super weird at first because we haven't seen each other since 안양, but it was super great to see her again. She has progressed so much in terms of Korean and her ability to teach as a missionary. That being said, in some ways she is the same. We literally spent a lot of the nights after daily planning talking about life, goals, funny moments on the mission, and our companions. It was really great to reminisce. She is doing incredibly well and is trying her best to change her area and strengthen the ward. 

I also found out who has been teaching Sis. Jeong a bunch of American slang... Sis. Kelly!! We laughed about how much Sis. Jeong loves those words, and then I try to give Sis. Kelly a bit of a hard time. But then I realized how easy it is to accidentally teach someone English slang. I am pretty sure I am the one who taught Sis. Jeong "You're a weirdo." 

This week, we have been meeting with a lot of less active members and members who just need a bit of strengthening. One of the members is really worried about her daughter because most of her friends will be leaving for missions soon. She asked us to help her daughter make more friends in the church and strengthen her faith. In order to do that, Sis. Reed and I have been working shameless to try and make an appointment with her. 

Another noteworthy things is that we were able to attend the wedding reception of one of our YSA members. I must say, that all people should throw weddings like Koreans do. At the reception, we were able to see a lot of members and chat with a few non-members. We gave them some cards and hope that something comes of it in the future. 

Love you all!!

Sis Chao