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

뿅!!

안녕하세요!!!

This week has been incredibly fun, but incredibly busy. So I will start right away... I realize that I am at the point where emails have just because super weird and bullet pointed. Sorry!! Someday I will write better emails again. 

On Monday, all of the sisters met together for a sisters conference where we learned about budgeting, cleaning, exercise, and all those other useful things. The funnest part was probably being able to reunite with some of my old companions. There was a lot of laughter and talking about our new areas. After the sisters conference, Sis. Morrise pretty much ordered us to stay indoors until Sis. Reed was able to function at a pretty decent percent.  So Tuesday was pretty much spent inside doing phone calls, studying Korean, and losing my mind a little.

Wednesday, I went on exchanges with Sis. Jeong in 연수! . Sis Jeong is such an amazing missionary and incredibly fearless when it comes to street contacting. I am pretty sure we stopped every single person that went by us. At first, a lot of the conversations seemed a little fruitless, but then we started talking to a bunch of high school students. We started joking about pop stars, high school life, and then introduced why we were here. One of the students said that she has been going to church by herself and has been looking for a new church. Miracle!! During our exchange,  I also learned all of the English that she has been learning from the American missionaries. Here is a little preview....

"Whatever major loser"

"Shun"

"Shank"

"You are a weirdo"

I don't know who has been teaching her these things, but it always sounds oddly sweet when she says it!! 

Love you,

Sis. Chao

QUARANTINE

안녕하세요!!

Well, if the topic line didn't give it away....this week's focus is really going to be on being sick. My companion got a super nasty bug on Monday and has been out for most of the week. It has been absolutely crazy!! She has been taking medicine everyday and sleeping all the time but she hasn't been able to get over this bug. Even today she has the sniffles, headache, and congestion. I always thought that I was a really good nurse and cook, but this week has showed me that there are definitely areas that I can improve in. Sis. Reed is a champ and doesn't really complain about my cooking, but that might be because she can't really taste anything. 

It hasn't been super bad, but it has made missionary work very interesting. The past few days, we have been trying our best to contact less active members, investigators, and potential investigators.

Oh, miracles- Sis. Reed has been able to go out for small periods before she turns into a zombie. So on Wednesday, we met with our recent convert and a YSA who is leaving for her mission in a month. It was super great to be able to talk about missionary work and preparing for the temple. One the soon-to-be missionary is a bit nervous about the MTC food, but I promised her that you or some friends in the area could send her some tuna. She was going to try and bring it with her to America. 

Another miracle that has happened this week is that we found a new investigator!! She is 27 years old and has a deep connection with another Christian faith, but she really wants to learn about our gospel. She came to church yesterday and she said that she will be coming next week!!! This Tuesday, we will be having a member lesson with her...so keep us in your prayers!! 

Other than that, we are doing really well here in Incheon!! Missionary work is amazing and it is moving forward at His pace. I hope this week was wonderful!!

-Sis. Chao

Incheon!!!

Hello~~

Ah, can you believe that January is halfway over and that my birthday is this Wednesday? I really don't want it to be my birthday because I will be like 75 in missionary years. Seriously, everyone keeps sassing me about how old I am getting. I truly will be a grandmother missionary in no time. 

This week has been pretty busy, but filled with miracles. Towards the beginning of the week, we had a lot of appointments with members so that they could say goodbye to Sis. Gooch. She is super sad to leave, but she is having loads of fun in her new area. I know because she keeps rubbing it in my face with photos. Destruction I miss Sis. Gooch though. We definitely had our fair share of sibling conversations at night. It was ridiculous how fast we became friends. 

That being said, I love being with my new companion Sis. Reed. She is 21 years old (today!) and she is from Provo, Utah. She is in her 5 transfer and 3rd area! Crazy, right? Hopefully she will stay in this area for a while. I cannot imagine having to move so often. She is really excited to work here and her enthusiasm is definitely paying off. This week alone, we have met with 5+ potential investigators! We are hoping that most of them will become real investigators this week. So keep us in your prayers! 

On Wednesday night, we stayed in the mission home because of MLC the next day. It takes FOREVER to get from our area to the Mission office, so once a month we get to stay in REAL beds.  It was a great council and we talked a lot about being more responsible with our time and accountability. I think our focus will be on the call in report this coming zone conference... Exciting, right? Who doesn't love numbers? 

Other than that, missionary work is moving forward faster than ever here in Korea! We are super excited for this coming transfer and have several investigators who could potentially have baptismal dates in the coming weeks. 

I hope all is well!! 

-Sis. Chao