December 8, 2014 Final Week

December 8, 2014

Final Week
 

Hey Family,

Next week on Monday I will be traveling up to the Mission Office so since there will probably not be much time to email, this is basically my last week of email.  I can't believe my mission is coming to an end.  Near the end of Sacrament meeting yesterday the Bishop stood up and asked me to come bear my testimony because I go home in a week but yet somehow I still have to give my final talk next week!!  It made me realize how soon I go home!

 

We had a good week this week.  We have an investigator named Sister Kim, who has begun to progress and have interest in the things we are teaching her.  She had no religion but has began to be curious about religion and if there really is a God.  Plus her two little boys are the cutest, when we go to their house they want to show us all of their toys and everything.  Constantly hearing, "JACKLIN!! come here!!"  They are the best!

We also had a mission tour in Gwangju with Elder Aoyagi of the Seventy.  It was a really good meeting and really interesting because he spoke in Japanese which was then translated into Korean for us and then one missionary translated it into English for the younger missionaries.  There were so many languages going on there!!  Elder Aoyagi spoke to us about spiritual self-reliance and I realized how important this really is.  If we rely on others for our testimonies and to keep us strong, when the trials come we won't have a strong foundation to protect us.  We must make the decision and through, prayer, study, and church we can come closer to our Savior and build habits and a testimony that can help protect us our whole lives.  I hope to take the things I have learned on my mission and really apply them as I come home and go back to college life.  I have really been able to see that if we put the Gospel first everything works out.

The funny part of the meeting was his wife's talk.  She doesn't speak much English but did the whole talk in English.  At one point she was teaching us to "push" so she had everyone get up and while singing put your shoulder to the wheel she had us all doing this pushing motion with our hands while bending our knees up and down, basically dancing!!  It was the most hysterical thing and all of us missionaries were laughing so hard!!

I feel so grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve as a missionary in Korea.  It has been a once in a lifetime experience and I have learned so many things I would have never learned if I didn't come on a mission.  I have had some very trying times but those experiences have caused me to learn to rely on my Savior and know that he understands and loves me more than anyone.  I have also had the opportunity to share the gospel and see the blessings that come to people when they accept it and are baptized.  It has brought me so much happiness and helped me deepen my testimony.  God loves all his children and that is why as blessed members of the true church of God we have the responsibility to share it with others so they can feel God's love and receive the same blessings as us.

I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and am so grateful for all that he suffered and endured to restore this gospel.  I also know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that if we sincerely read and search the scriptures we can learn so much and find answers to our questions.  Before my mission I read the scriptures but never realized the real power they contain.  Over the past year and a half I have received answers over and over through the Book of Mormon.  I am so grateful for our loving Father in Heaven, our Savior Jesus Christ, and his Atonement.  The power of the Atonement is real and if we humble ourselves and reach out to Him He can help us overcome our mistakes and our hard times.

I feel so blessed to have had this experience and feel more blessed to have had the opportunity of meeting so many wonderful people in Korea; missionaries, members, and investigators.  And I am so grateful for all of my wonderful family and friends who have supported me through this and I have really felt your love and prayers.

Love you all so much and can't wait to see you in a week and a half:)

Love,

Sister Jacklin

 

-Got a ton of snow this week!! me and my companion are just figuring out how to stay warm enough!!

December 1, 2014 December 1st!!!!

December 1, 2014

December 1^st!!!!

Hi Family!!

Only 2 weeks and I'll be back home to spend the Holidays with you!!  I am so excited to be home but it is definitely sad to end the mission.  I have mixed feelings every day.

This week was very good.  We made an extra effort to talk to people on the streets and buses this week; no matter how long I am a missionary it is still scary.  But it is fun to meet new people and funny things always happen.  This week a group of three women got on the bus, one sat down next to my companion, one next to me, and one in front of me.  The one next to my companion asked for directions so then my companion asked me since I know the area best.  Well those ladies got a hoot out of it and got the whole bus laughing.  They thought it was so funny that the Korean asked the foreigner for directions in Korea.  They laughed for about five minutes straight; funny but hey, I am completely competent with directions and can speak Korean!! haha!!

We have a super sweet investigator, Sister Kim, and we are studying English with her two seven year old sons.  They are the cutest and always take us out to show off their bikes when we finish.  They don't have a religion so she is really open to listening to our message.  Last week we gave her the B of M and when we visited two days later she had read and marked it and come with questions!!  Yay, this was a miracle in my eyes since lots of investigators don't keep commitments.

Our investigators are doing good and we are really trying to get some of them to progress.  A few of them really don't feel the need for religion so we are really working to see the things they worry or are curious about and how the gospel can help us find answers.  I have received so much help from Heavenly Father and feel so blessed that I have grown up knowing the gospel; I just want other people, our investigators, to have this same blessing.  But we cannot make anyone feel that way and I know that God in his timing will open their hearts to the gospel.

Love you and hope that you have a great week:)

Love,

Sister Jacklin

-Sweet members took us to lunch and out to see this beautiful place:)

 

-One of my favorite foods in Korea, tteok bokki!!

 

-Elder Driggs baptized Brother Lee when we both served in Cheonan and he came down to visit Elder Driggs and wanted to say hi to me!!  Such an awesome man!!

 

November 23, 2014 광주 Stake Conference!!

November 23, 2014

광주 Stake Conference!!

Hi family!!

 

This week we had a good busy week.  Tuesday our investigator took us to her English class she teaches to a group of moms.  I walked in there and I basically became like a famous person just for being American and having blonde hair.  And our investigator decided to make me sit right in the front of the class. They asked me questions, I answered in as slow of English as possible, and they tried to understand!!  So they asked me to explain what was different about our church, it was a bit difficult to do that in simplified English so they could understand but I think I was able to get the message across.  It was a lot of fun and a bunch of them got our number and will hopefully call us this week which will give us a chance to meet one on one and introduce our church a little more in depth.  

We also met a new investigator this week.  It is a mother with two twin 7 year old boys who are the cutest little boys I have ever seen.  After meeting they took us out to the playground and were showing off all of their tricks on their bikes!!  They may become my new favorite family!!  We will start our English program with them this week.  They don't have a religion and the mom seems to know a little bit about our church so I am excited to see how things go this week!

This weekend was Stake Conference here; we attended the Sunday morning session and were also able to attend the Saturday night session with one of our investigators who is 23.  It was a super awesome meeting and her favorite talk was the conversion story of a member the same age as her.  It was a good experience for her to see that our church is bigger than Mokpo and there are a lot of people her age.  We'll see this week but I hope it will help her have a greater desire to attend church and receive baptism.

The meetings focused a lot on strengthening our own faith and coming closer to God.  As I was thinking about this yesterday I came across a part in the Liahona and scriptures that stuck out to me.  This was shared by President Packer and was counsel Given to him by Harold B. Lee; "You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness; then the light will appear and show the way before you." he then shared Ether 12:6; "I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.  This was a big answer to me about a lot of things I have been thinking about.  God loves us and wants to help but sometimes he wants us to exercise faith and find the answers.  But if we go forward with faith relying on God he will show us the way.  We may not see the end from the beginning but if it is a righteous desire and we move forward with faith, the light will come and God will lead us in the right way.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!!  Can’t wait to see you in a short few weeks:) 사랑해요!!!

Love,

Sister Jacklin

Pictures:

-Playing at the playground with our cute investigators

-This picture is for Esther and Phoebe!!  Eating kimchi raw Octopus at our investigator's house for dinner:) It was really yummy!!

November 17, 2014 Updates from 목포!!

November 17, 2014

Updates from 목포!!

Hey Family!!

How was everyone's week?  We had a good one but winter is starting to set in...!!  

This week we had a combined district meeting with our zone focused on becoming one as a companionship, district, zone, mission, members, and with Christ.  It was a super good meeting and also gave missionaries time to open up a bit more and talk about our concerns.  Our zone leaders ended it with a fun activity.  We blew up a billion balloons...well really I just watched since I can't blow up balloons..and then on a balloon we all wrote one thing we are going to do to help our mission become one.  Then we put them on the ground and zone leaders put a table on top of them and then started having missionaries stand on the table.  Then there was a smaller collection of balloons and a table which we called the "Busan Mission", haha!!  and then saw how many people could stand on that!!  We all got a good laugh and it was an example showing us that if we all start improving one thing at a time we can help our whole mission improve.  Which is the same in families, wards, with friends, and others.

Lately we have been teaching our investigator Sister Jung about the word of wisdom, law of chastity, and other commandments.  She is a mother and she really thinks that our standards are really good but she asked us and gave us homework to tell her about how we can live these standards because the world has changed and so our beliefs are so different from the world.  Wow, good question.  Me and my companion thought and talked about it and came back with our answers.  I think the most important thing is our desire and reason for keeping the commandments; if we just keep them because that is what our Mom tells us to do then we have no motivation, but if we keep them because we know it will bless our lives and bring us closer to God then we personally have a desire to keep them. The second thing is, no matter how alone we feel we have our families, friends, wards, and members all over the world who are living the same standards and facing the same opposition.  So, as we stand together we can strengthen each other.  With another investigator we have been studying the story of Esther. (I think Esther has one good name^^)  She had so much courage to do what was right even at the risk of her own life.  We all know what is right and as we stand up for our beliefs and be an example we can have the companionship of the Holy Ghost to help us.  Sorry that was so long, just the things I have been thinking about and learning about this week.

Sunday we went with some members to visit a Phillipino member in our ward.  Her family is having a hard time right now so the sweet members brought them a bunch of food and are trying to help her oldest son find a good job.  It made me grateful for the church and that ward members support each other out of their own free will.  It also made me and my companion so grateful for all we have and for the families we grew up in.

This week one of our investigators introduced us to our friend so we are now studying the Bible in English with both of them.  The friend is very curious about the church so it was a big blessing we could meet her.^^  This week we also get to go with our investigator Sister Jung to  her English class she teaches because her students (moms) want to meet a foreigner.  Should be fun and maybe we can find some new investigators.  She also has a teenage daughter who is quite a handful, but her daughter showed some interest in meeting us so we get to meet her this week.  Hopefully she will feel comfortable with us and we can talk with her a lot.  Our investigator really likes the things we teach her but I think she would be more likely to come to church if her family also had the desire to come.

My companion is most likely going to be going home in December, the same time as me so we are not really sure what is going to happen to our area, we are praying there will still be sisters here.  But the goal is to give it our all this last month and help our investigators progress and learn as much about the Gospel as possible before we leave.  This home stretch is definitely not easy but we are trying to motivate each other and give it our all.

Love you all and hope you have a great week^^

Love,

Sister Jacklin

Pictures:-our zone meeting activity:)

 

November 10, 2014 Updates from the past transfer in Mokpo

November 10, 2014

Updates from the past transfer in Mokpo
 

Hey Family!!

 

I apologize for the lack of letters and updates on what has been going on over here in Mokpo.  Let’s just say it has been a transfer full of ups and downs and some of the weirdest experiences of my mission.  God doesn't want me and my companion to end our missions in a boring way!!

Fun events lately...we had a super great Halloween party last week!!  The missionaries did everything so we were exhausted but it turned out so well!!  Fun games, cute decorations, and the Elders awesome haunted house!  

Today in church was the primary program!!  They all wore traditional Korean clothes and it was so cute.  I have to say my favorite moment was the little boy who shoved about 8 pieces of bread in his mouth during the sacrament and then drank two waters and proudly announced it to the whole ward!!

We also have a new ward mission leader, Brother Lee.  He is a super funny guy and loves the missionaries and making the greenie Elders attempt to speak:)  On our first weekly coordination meeting he brought his flute and played us a song, best ward mission meeting!!

 Two weeks ago on p-day our investigator took us to the famous Wochal Mountain.  It was so beautiful and made me so happy to be out in nature.  Our investigator is in her seventies but she booked it up the mountain like a pro.  There was a bridge between two parts of the mountain.  Terrifying but SO cool!!  Korean hiking involves a lot of stairs.  Also at the top we met a less-active man from my companion's hometown.  He joined when he was in high school but went less-active in college.  It was so crazy to meet him there!!  

 Last Monday we went to Gwangju for a Zone Sister's activity, and we ended up running into a whole other Zone of Sisters so we ended up going to lunch and ice skating together.  Just picture eighteen sister missionaries together for lunch...insanely loud and a big party!!  Thank goodness the restaurant was smart and put us in a sound proof room!

Our area, is still difficult but we are trying to make things happen.  The Elders have an investigator who has been coming out to church for over a month and has a baptismal date for the 30th which is super exciting!!  He is super humble and has accepted everything so well. Mokpo needs a baptism.  Our ward mission leader has convinced his mom, who by the way never opens her door for us, to be baptized in July.  Well me and my companion would like to move that up to December so we are putting together a plan to make it happen, including making homemade kimbap!!  Everybody please pray for Sister Yoon and that she will want to be baptized.  Our other investigators have a lot more English interest than gospel so it has been hard to have real gospel progressing investigators.  We love them and there is still possibility but I am really focusing on finding new investigators right now.  Only six weeks left so I am trying to focus and give it my all.  Mokpo is a special place and there are always crazy things happening so I am sure it will not be a boring last transfer:)

 

This week I have been reading in Alma and was reading about Moroni and the title of liberty.

Alma 46:12

"And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it--In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children--and he fastened it upon the end of a pole."

I love how much passion Moroni has in his beliefs and is determined to protect his people.  We are fighting different kind of war but it is just as serious.  The world has moved so far away from our standards and people may think our standards are outdated but we must be strong and stand up for what we believe.  Just like Moroni I think we can look upon this title of liberty for inspiration to help us stand strong.

I love you all and hope you have a great week:)

 

Love,

Sister Jacklin

 

Pictures:

-me and one of my favorite primary girls:)
-our District last transfer

 

October 20, 2014 Power of the Book of Mormon

Power of the Book of Mormon

October 20, 2014
 

Hey Family!!

 

How is everyone doing??  Sorry,  I have been so bad at writing emails.  Missionary life has been busy and I just haven't had the time to write.

Things are going well for us right now.  We are really trying to find new investigators who are interested in the gospel.  We have one investigator, Sister Jung, who we are really focusing on right now.  She has made the realization that the Book of Mormon and the Bible are teaching the same principles.  This is one of my favorite moments when investigators realize this.  It is not some strange new book, it is another testament of Jesus Christ.  We are hoping to have dinner with her and a member this week so she can make a friend in the ward and hopefully attend church this week.

Right now we are planning a Halloween party so if anyone has good ideas let us know.  Especially if Alyson has some kind of simple craft idea she could send me.

Sorry Mom, I have no time so this is all I can send.  I'll be better next week.

 

Love you!

 

Love,

Sister Jacklin

October 13, 2014 Busy Few Weeks

Busy Few Weeks

October 13, 2014

Family, 

Sorry for no emails the past few weeks and today's will be short because we have been in another city the whole week for general conference.

 Wasn't general conference just the best?!!  I have never loved it as much as when I am a missionary!!  This time I wrote down some questions I wanted to find answers for and literally all of my questions were answered.  I am so grateful for our Prophet and wonderful church leaders.  One talk I loved was Sister Neil F. Marriott from the general women's meeting.  It was such an answer to prayers.  I loved how she talked about our utter need for the  Jesus Christ our Savior and that he is our only hope to overcome our weaknesses. And he can help me change into a better person if I give my whole heart to Him.

Not much time so I'll make this short.  Our area is kind of in a transition point.  W e are dropping a lot of investigators and trying to find new ones.  We found one amazing woman this past week and I am trying to have faith to find the prepared people.  

Love you and hope you have a great week:)

Love,

Sister Jacklin