Week 4 in Korea

Week 4 in Korea

Well, I have lost track of what week it is to title my email!! haha!!  It has been a really good week for me here.  I was able to go on splits for two days this week with Sister Spencer, we were so excited!!  She has been my lifesaver out here and I don't know what I would have done without her.  We spent those days in her area and headed out to some of the 시 걸 (countryside) areas.  It was so fun to see the more rural areas and I was in heaven being surrounded by hills and green everywhere.  We kept saying we were having "ensign moments" because we ended up on some random dirt road that led back to some house in the middle of nowhere.  One house back there had cages full of a ton of dogs...you know what that means.  We talked to the man that lived there so then we set out on a mission to find all the other "dog killing children of God" haha, we thought we were pretty funny!!  That day we also went to the open market and got a few Korean treats along with the best peaches ever, they were like candy to us.  Needless to say, Sister Spencer showed me how to work hard those two days.  I have the blisters, sunburn, and sore feet to prove it but it felt so good to work my hardest.  Also during those days we taught an eight year old that is preparing for baptism and you will have to tell Phoebe that I told him about her and that she had just gotten baptized!!  Our two investigators (the mother and son) were baptized this week!!  It was such an exciting day especially because they were so excited to be Baptized.  Our district sang a song at the Baptism, always an adventure.  The Korean elder loves to sing (and sing loud) but doesn't have the best voice...we all laughed the whole time we practiced.  The son also ended up having to get Baptized on Sunday morning because the font was freezing cold and when he went under the first time his feet came flying up and we could not get him to do it again.  It was an adventure filled Baptism but also the spirit was very strong.  I love Korea more and more all the time and feel really comfortable and at home here.  I have made cabbage and onions a few times as comfort food, it hit the spot.  Mom and Dad, so glad you were able to try Korean food and kimchi.  Kim chi is good but I definitely would not choose to eat it alot.  We just threw out all the kim chi in our food.  But all the other Korean food I have tried is amazing, they definitely know how to do meat here.

I hope everyone has a great week and that everyone is getting excited for school!!  We have a busy week here in Korea with zone conference on Wednesday!!

I love you!!!

 

Love,

 

Sister Jacklin

Week 3 in Korea

Family!!!

 So excited to email today, except I forgot my paper that had everything I wanted to share!!  So, I'll do my best to remember everything.  Last Monday after emailing my zone (minus two elders) went to an ice skating rink for p-day.  It was so much fun and the cool air felt amazing.  It was quite the entertaining experience since we have so many different personalities in our zone.  I attached a picture from that day, as you will see we were rocking some awesome outfits with the skates, helmets, and gloves.  That night we went and visited a member and shared a message about referrals and getting members help.  She took us out to dinner to eat shabu shabu.  It is AMAZING!!  I guess it is Vietnamese food, mom I thought the whole time how much you would love it.  There were a bunch of different courses but the main ones was a spring roll type thing that you made yourself.  Elder Oehler calls them "invisible tacos", hahaha!!  On our way to dinner I discovered that the member spoke perfect English, and since then I keep discovering even more members who speak English.  I think they are all keeping it hidden from me!!  Tuesday we had combined district meeting which was actually our whole Zone.  (we are very small)  We also taught our investigator 헤 연 that night.  She is in her upper twenty's and is so nice.  She likes our message but is just not following up with prayer and the Book Of Mormon.  Work is so important to Koreans that they don't want to put religion as their top priority.  We will meet with her tonight and hopefully we can help her understand the importance of it.  Thursday we met a referral we received from a woman visiting our ward from Seoul.  It was her mother, 팤 영 희, she was so sweet even though I did not understand the conversation at all.  She is really lonely right now and a bit bitter towards the church but wants us to visit and share spiritual messages.  WE are going to slowly warm her up to the church and get some help from the members.  I loved the area of town where she lived.  it was surrounded by trees and much quieter,  I am realizing I am not a city girl.

 

Friday we met with a recent convert and taught the first lesson.  I struggled through teaching the Restoration and I think her grandma and my companion repeated everything I said.  It was good practice.  It is also funny to visit people's apartments because I think everyone's apartments are as terrible as ours so when I walk into these nice apartments I am just so amazed.  When you visit anyone they also bring something to eat, which has been fruit usually.  It is my favorite thing and so refreshing from the heat.  Saturday we visited a member's restaurant, had amazing food, and then headed to English class and dessert party.  English class had ten people today and we asked a few members to attend English and the dessert party which was so helplful.  It was an awesome day and having members makes all the difference.  I encourage everyone to always help the missionaries with the work because we appreciate it so much.  We have a Baptism next Saturday so Sunday was filled with preparations for that.  Our two investigators (mother and her 11 year old son) are so ready to be Baptized, I know it will be an amazing day.  We had a ward meal after church which was so fun, I am slowly being able to converse with more members, slowly but it is coming.

I miss everyone so much and some days are really hard, but I am loving being a missionary and being in Korea.  I am growing to appreciate it more and more every day.  I love you!!

 

-Sister Jacklin

 

Week 2 in South Korea

Hello Family!!

 

It has been a good week here in Cheong Ju City!!  I imagined my first few weeks to be unbearably long so I have been shocked by how fast time is moving.  I still honestly know barely any Korean so I am not able to talk to very many people which is hard especially with the members because I want to get to know them, so I need to just start trying my best.

 

Alright, I thought I would just tell you a little about everything day by day.  Last Monday after emailing we headed to the shopping area.  My companion loves clothes and has so many, she is a fashion Diva.  It was really fun to see the Korean clothes but culture shock after being in the sheltered MTC for two months.  Some stores were playing music that would not even be allowed to play on the radio or in stores in the states.  Tuesday we had district meeting.  We have three sets of Elders and two sets of Sisters in our district and they are all so great, I enjoy spending time with all of them.  (we are going ice skating together this afternoon which will be quite the adventure, haha!!)  My companion is a Sister Training Leader for our zone so on Wednesday we headed to Daejeon with the zone leaders and district leaders for mission leader conference.  So those of us that were not attending the meeting (about ten people) all went out together.  We were almost all greenies which was so fun to see some of my friends again.  Sister Choi came and we were ecstatic to see each other.  We both talked non-stop the whole day talking about everything that had happened in our first week in our areas.  We headed over to a shopping area and did english surveys.  We were all so gross and sweaty but it felt so good to work hard and I had a great time with all the missionaries I was with.  

Thursday was just a normal day but that night we went out with a member named So-Ra, she is home from her mission in Busan for a few months because she got sick.  We went to an "American" buffet called Ashley's.  The Koreans love it but it is quite a funny take on American food, a little more spicy than anything we eat.  But it was still yummy and the cheesecake was SO delicious.  I am already missing American food!!  Saturday we had a district meeting about something called English Village that we are beginning to prepare for.  It is going to be a huge event where we simulate all these different places like an airport and movie theater where people can come and practice English.  They did this in Daejeon and had a lot of success.  It is going to be a lot of work but definitely worth it.  Afterword, we headed to the shopping area as a zone to do a proselyting activity.  I worked with Sister Spencer and she helped me a lot to learn good ways to approach and talk to people.  We handed out lots of Book of Mormons and I had so much fun.  I always feel so much better after I have worked hard.  We also had country time lemonade afterwards that Elder Ward brought.  (he got it when he served on the American army base here.)  When we were leaving I had some drunk guy come up and shake my hand and was saying stuff to me I could not understand and just doing all these bizarre things.  Some of the elders just watched but once the sisters saw what was going on they pulled me away.  It was quite funny!!  Yesterday I was feeling very American and made fries for dinner!! I thought of Seth the whole time.   They weren't quite as good as his.  It is an adjustment to going back to making my own food after the MTC.  I am doing great and enjoying my time here.  Just trying to make the most of every moment I have because I know time will fly by! I am working with amazing people and am in a great area.  Apparently this is considered a small city...I am not really sure how that works, it seems so big to me!! 

I love and miss you all!!  I hope everyone has a good week and can't wait to email again!!

Love,

Sister Jacklin

p.s. The picture is terrible but thought I would take a quick picture so you could see my companion!!

 

 

 

1st Week in Korea

Hello!!!!

Well I have almost made it through a whole week in Korea! It hasn't been easy, but I made it through.

 

We arrived Tuesday afternoon/evening and were met by the APs (President Shin was at a meeting) We took the three hour bus ride to Daejeon and lets just say the humidity hit me immediately!  I have already figured out that I do not handle humidity well and honestly miss the "Utah hot".  We were at the Mission Home for probably the most relaxing two days of my mission because we weren't super busy and just did training with the APs and President Shin.

 

I already love Korean food!!  We went to a yummy restaurant with this meat you made into little lettuce wraps and lots of other sides.  I tried Kimchi, and it was really good!! I don't know why people made such a big deal about it.  I am still trying to learn how to handle the hotness of some of the food.

 

Thursday we met our trainers!!  They put a board up and we saw our trainer and area and then they lined us all up and let our trainers in.  Well, I was the sister who said that I think it would be good to have an American trainer and then have a Korean companion later...It turns out that I am the only sister who got a Korean trainer, haha!! I set myself up for that one.  Her name is Sister Cho and she is from an area near Seoul.  She attended BYU-Hawaii so she speaks good english, but it has also been very difficult for me.  I am the first foreigner she has ever trained and I think she just doesn't understand the frustration and difficulty of learning the language.  She speaks so fast and I can hardly follow along during lessons and meetings and have to ask what she said afterwards.  Hopefully it will get easier.  I broke down a few nights ago because I was just so overwhelmed realizing I wasn't seeing family for so long, how hot it was, and just the overwhelming feelings of being in a different country and attempting to learn the language.  I pulled it together and have been fine since, and am really trying to practice my Korean.

 

My area is called Hng Dok (my best English spelling).  It is about a 40 minute bus ride from Daejeon and is a city area.  One of the elders from my MTC district, Elder Oehler, got sent to the same ward which is so fun.  I went up to him right after we found out and said, "guess who doesn't get to get rid of me!!" haha, it is good though cause we can sympathize for what each other is going through.  We have six missionaries total in our ward; four elders and me and my companion.  The ward is really nice and I attempted to understand what other people were saying, but I pretty much just smiled and looked like the stupid American.  We had to introduce ourselves and bare our testimony, and I felt okay about it I just want to be able to say more.  We also taught two lessons yesterday to a mother and to her 11 year old son.  I attempted to teach the beginning of the plan of salvation, but when I was done I think Sister Cho had to repeat everything I said, but I wouldn't know cause I had no idea what was going on.  The mother and son both agreed to baptism so we will hopefully be having a baptism on the 25th of August.  I am so excited.  Street contacting is something I am going to have to get used to and as I can understand and speak more I think it will get much easier.  I think they have as much of a problem understanding me as I do understanding them.  We live in a tiny little apartment with two other sisters.  They are sister Choi who is Korean and speaks just a little bit of English and Sister Spencer who is from California, and she is going to be my lifesaver.  I ask her lots of questions and she kind of understands the difficulties of being a greenie.  Our apartment has no air conditioning and I honestly did not think I could survive the first few days.  We have two fans and that is it.  I am beginning to get used to it and the fact that I am constantly sweating.

 

I am doing better and better everyday there is just so much to learn and get used to.  Everything feels like a blur this week, but next week I will make sure to write down stuff that happens.

 

Tell Luke good luck with his diving meet and tell Seth to be safe on the roads, I am nervous for everyone!! haha!!

 

I love and miss you all!!

 

Sister Chloe Jacklin

Made it to Korea

Hey Mom and Dad!!

 

Just emailing to let you know we made it to Korea and are now at the mission home and office.  Our plane got delayed in San Francisco so we got to Korea around 4:30 in the afternoon but we haven’t seen President Shin yet.  My sprained ankle swelled up like a balloon which is quite a site!!  Korea seems so cool and I am excited to see more tomorrow in the daylight!!  The humidity is already killing me so hopefully I will adjust quickly.  There is so much Korean all around me and I realize I don’t know anything!!  I love you so much and our p day is Monday, so I will write you then and let you know who my trainer is and where my area is!!

 Love,

 Chloe

Week 9 in the MTC

Hey Family!!

 

I am on my last few days here at the MTC before leaving for Korea!! I can hardly wait:) Somedays I am terrified because I realize I don't know the language and am headed to a new country but other days I am so excited that I can hardly contain it!!  Well, I think we have officially had the craziest last week possible here at the MTC.  I hope that Drew, Seth, and Luke are going to get really entertained of this next story.  Sunday morning we were leaving our residence on the way to breakfast and I tripped on the stairs.  All the sudden I was on the ground and crying...I was hoping it wasn't a big deal but it turns out I sprained it.  It has swelled up so big and been quite a pain this week and I don't even have a good story to tell about it.  It was so funny though, because I hadn't seen Jarrett since Wednesday and he walks up to me at breakfast and is just like, "what's wrong??" cause my eyes were still full of tears.  But it is not too bad and will hopefully not be much of a problem by the time I get to Korea.  So the other big news this week is I got a new companion, her name is Sister Choi.  She is from Australia (she has the best accent ever) but her parents are both Korean.  She came a couple weeks ago in the accelerated program so she has been in a different zone, but they moved her over to our district for the last week and split up our trio.  I have loved being with her and we get along great but it has been hard splitting up our companionship after nine weeks, we are going through separation withdrawals even though we are still together a lot.  The past few days have just been crazy because we had in-field orientation yesterday which is a day long seminar and all of our last minute errands before leaving.  I was so exhausted yesterday that I literally stared off into space during our whole evening class, my teacher was a little concerned.  One of my roommates went home last night, which was so sad but we have to understand that she has to do what is best for her.  I was able to host Jennica on Wednesday and it was so much fun to see her.  Jarrett met up with us inside the MTC and it was so cool to be standing there with them and all be missionaries.  I have seen them quite a bit the past few days and it is so nice because it feels like seeing my brother and sister.  We are going to all get a picture before I leave.  Thank you Tonya for the Thai food!!  It literally made my day and was a much needed break from MTC food.  Things have just been busy here as we are packing up, saying goodbyes, and cramming in as much Korean as possible.  I can't believe the MTC is over with and now my "real" mission is about to start.  It will be an adventure to say the least.

 

 This week I started re-reading the Book of Mormon again.  Sunday I listned to a devotional by Elder Bednar that really inspired me.  I have been studying the first few chapters of Nephi in depth and have been amazed at the new things I have learned.  The scriptures are such an amazing tool and I have truly gained a testimony that they can help us answer questions and our problems.  I encourage everyone to truly study the Book of Mormon rather than just reading it.  I have learned this so much in the MTC and know it is something that will affect the rest of my  life.

 

I love and miss you all!! Hope everyone has a great week and my next email will be from Korea:)

 

Love,

 

Sister Jacklin

 

Hope Seth has fun at scout camp, can't wait to hear about it!!