November 17, 2013 Let it Snow!! Let it Snow!!

November 17, 2013

Let it Snow!!  Let it Snow!!  Let it Snow!!

 

Hey family!!

We received our first snow of the season this morning!!  I am ecstatic because it is so pretty and magical!!  I know a missionary Christmas will be different but amazing in a totally different way.  This week....hmmm.  I had to eat mushrooms, and yes I survived!!  My companion scooped some of them out of my bowl while the member wasn't looking, it was hysterical.  But they weren't half as bad as I thought they would be.  This week we also took a different approach with finding investigators.  We called some former investigators and asked if we could just practice teaching to them cause we really need teaching practice.  Well a few said yes and we now have two new investigators.  One of them is a 40 year old woman who is really nice and good at English.  We got into a huge discussion about how God would let the world be unfair and have only some people suffer.  It was really deep and got us thinking.  We are really hoping we are going to help her understand more and she is open to our message.  This week was such a miracle.  The past few weeks we have had hardly any appointments so we have just spent so much time out talking to people on the streets which can be exhausting.  But this week we had about two appointments every day.    And some incredible investigators.  We read the Book of Mormon in English with a couple of them and I loved explaining the Bof M to them, it strengthened my testimony as I realized how true it is.  We also had Stake Conference this Sunday which was broadcast all over Korea.  It was Elder Cook, Elder Hales, and Sister Linda K. Burton.  They talked a lot about strengthening families especially through family prayer, family home evening, and family council.  It was an inspiring meeting.  We also had two other Sisters come stay over night because of the meeting and of course it is always a big party with six sisters in one little house.

This church is true and I am so happy to be sharing it with the people of Korea.  The Lord is watching over us and I see the little blessings and miracles every day.  I encourage all of you to try and find those small blessings every day and I know you will see that God loves you and is watching over you!!

With Love,

Sister Jacklin

Picture #1: this is how missionaries enjoy a cold night.  Joseph Smith Movie, and some yummy Korean snacks..on our desk!!

Picture #2: I was just a little excited to wake up to snow!!

 

Happy bae-bae-ro day from the Heungdeok Sisters!!

Happy bae-bae-ro day from the Heungdeok sisters!!  It is 11/11 here in Korea, and yes we have a holiday for it where we just eat pocky sticks (bae-bae-ro)!!!  Celebrating with some yummy treats and a game day:)  Just wanted to celebrate the holiday with all of you!!

 

With Love,

Sister Jacklin

Spaghetti with Chopsticks?! November 11, 2013

Hey Family!!

Another week has literally flown by, I can't believe it.  This week feels like a whirlwind and I can hardly remember anything.  We did not have many appointments this week so we spent a lot of time contacting less actives and doing street contacting.  It was exhausting especially with the temperatures dropping but me and Sister Son always make a good time out of it.  Also there are yummy and cheap Korean treat stands all over the streets so we will take a break and get a warm treat:)

Last Monday we headed out to the Sangdang fortress with the Elders.  It was beautiful with the changing leaves and beautiful views.  We were all in heaven and had such a good time!!  Some random camera guy came up to us and asked to film me for some tourist video they were making. Ahh, it was so embarrassing and all the other missionaries just took pictures of it and laughed.

Missionary work this week:  we met a crazy lady on the street this week that basically taught us for 30 minutes about her insane religion, it was an odd experience to say the least, good thing I only understood half of it.  My favorite investigator came to church, yay!  We are meeting her this week and I am really hoping to get her to be more gospel interested.  I'll keep you all posted on her and our potential investigators we are meeting this week.  There are so many little miracles everyday that I could go on forever.

I wanted to share something I learned in personal study this week.  I was reading an article in the Liahona from David A. Bednar. It talked about Nephi, Alma and Amulek, and a Pioneer praying to God for help.  Elder Bednar said, "He did not pray that his circumstances would be changed.  He prayed that he would be strengthened to deal with his circumstances."  This quote really gave me perspective and is something I have truly learned the past few months.  When things are tough we just need to pray to Heavenly Father and we WILL feel his love surround us.

I love you all and hope you are having a wonderful Fall!!

With Love,

Sister Jacklin

p.s.  The title is because we had to attempt to eat spaghetti with chopsticks at the Bishops last night.. it was an experience!!

November 3, 2013 A Grandma Can Always Brighten Your Day!!

Hey Family!!!

 

Hope everyone is doing wonderful and had a great Halloween this week!!  This week had many adventures and it has been amazing as me and my companion notice the little miracles every day.  I want to share one of my favorite ones.  On Wednesday we were out street contacting and trying to visit people but no one would answer or let us in.  We were very discouraged and decided to stop and pray on the side of the road.  Right after our prayer we ran into the cutest little grandma.  She was very old and half her body was paralyzed, but she was determined to do everything on her own.  She invited us into her tiny house and I was kind of shocked.  I kind of felt bad for her and it made me sad but she seemed so happy and had lots of humor.  I think she loved having visitors since she lives alone.  I can't understand a word she says but I could just feel her love.  We are hoping to go and visit her again, and she really was a gift from god to brighten our day.  Thursday was Halloween, and we were able to celebrate by helping my favorite investigator (Choi So-He) with a Halloween party at her English party.  Alyson would be so proud, I made a don't eat Pete game and played it with them.  It reminded me of all the Halloween parties at Alyson's growing up.  She also took us out for a wonderful pasta dinner that actually tasted like normal Carbonara (no Korean twist), haha!!  We also celebrated Elder Graf's birthday this week, so at English class we brought him a little cake and sang since of course the elders did nothing for him.  I attached a picture cause I think it is so funny how short we look compared to him.

I am so happy right now, and me and my companion are perfect for each other. Everyday we say how lucky we are to be companions.  Being co-senior adds a little bit of stress but it is exciting to plan our own days and is helping with my Korean so much.

Sister Son is also introducing me to all kinds of delicious Korean foods.  My favorite of the week are these yummy bean sprouts we make and something called.  ho-ddok, it is basically a scone filled with a yummy brown sugar and nut filling.  I have been talking about them all week.

I am so happy right now and love missionary work so much, when someone accepts our message it really is the best feeling.

Love and miss you all!!

Sister Jacklin

 

October 27, 2013 I'm a Real Missionary Now!!!

Hey Family!!

 

I officially am with my new companion and it has already been the best four days of my mission.  My trainer left our area in really bad condition and left me completely unprepared to introduce it so we are having to work really hard to figure things out.  And we are co-senior now so we both have a lot more responsibility.  It is the most tired and happy I have been.  We are working very hard and have goals to make this area much better.

Saturday of this week we had a stake sports day that was such a blast!! The missionaries from our Zone and half of another Zone were there.  It was so fun to see everyone and meet the new missionaries.  It was also a great time to bond with the ward and I really made an effort to attempt to talk to people.  All the women played a game of kickball and unfortunately my ward lost.  Somehow I signed up to kick first, thanks to the language barrier.  Our recent convert, of one week, was the coach and it was so good to see them bond with the ward.  Some of the moms in the ward were hysterical and had no idea what they were doing.  There was hula-hooping contests, dodge ball, and delicious ward picnics.  I have to say food at Korean ward parties is better than in America!!

I have already begun to see the miracles of hard work.  Yesterday we wanted to visit a less-active but could not find their house on the map, so we decided not to.  After visiting a recent convert and some other failed visits we somehow stumbled upon the less-actives home.  It was such a miracle that we magically found it.  They let us in so we were able to talk and introduce ourselves.  Her son is active and her daughter actually attended church that day.  So we are very excited to work with her and hopefully help her become active again.

It is starting to get cold here in Korea though the mosquitoes are still eating me alive.  My companion is teaching me to make yummy Korean food and I am just so happy.  Missionary work is so incredible and I feel so blessed to be out here right now.  Love and miss you all!!

 

Love,

 

Sister Jacklin