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

September 22, 2014

September 22, 2014

 

Hey Family!!

 

Today we receive transfer calls and next week I will only have two transfers left!! So crazy!!

 

We had a good week this week, nothing too special but a good week.

 

This week we were reading the Book of Mormon with one of our investigators and we read 2 Nephi 2 because we also taught her about the Plan of Salvation a few days earlier.  After reading it she started saying how it is really similar to Genesis and so we explained that it is the same exact story as in the Bible; the Bible and Book of Mormon are books that took place in two different lands but it is the same God and the same history.  She was really able to finally understand this.  So many people look at our church and the Book of Mormon as being so different but it is cause they don't really understand.  We are Christian and the Book of Mormon is an inspired book from God.

 

We have a new investigator named Kim cho-ah, who we met for the second time yesterday.  She is 25 and just the sweetest girl ever.  One of the Elders met her on the bus and her purpose is to learn English but she is super open to learning the Gospel.  We taught her yesterday about God, families, prophets, and prayer.  She really was listening to what we said and I really felt the spirit there more than I have with other investigators lately.  It made me realize how big of a difference the spirit makes.  I think she has so much potential so I am so excited to see  how things go:)

  

It will be a busy week this week with transfers and Sunday is ward conference so we have lots of work to do to get as many invetigators and less-actives there as possible.  Love you all and hope you have a great week!! 

 

Love,

 

Sister Jacklin

 Pictures:
1.  Enjoying lots of good food at our Grape Harvest activity a few weeks ago.
2.  Our new Investigators

September 15, 2014 Technical Difficulties

Last week we had issues emailing so here is last week's email:)

 

September 15, 2014

 

Hey Family!!

 

We spent a great Chuseok Holiday here in Mokpo.  The members made sure we were taken care of so we had a delicious meal with members for four days straight:)  Lots of delicious food and of course the traditional Chuseok rice cakes!!  Monday night we visited Brother Lee's family with the Elders for Chuseok dinner.  When we all arrived he was excited to tell us and his two kids that he had secretly planned to do family home evening.   They had not done family home evening in 10 years and he wanted to show his kids what it is like.  We all made an attempt to sing Love At Home, the Elders gave a short lesson, and we played a hysterical game of signs!  It was just so fun to see how excited he was to be doing family home evening.  I really have seen the importance of family home evening on my mission.  FHE is an inspired program and though we may not always feel it, it really helps our families stay anchored together.

 

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday it was almost impossible to meet anybody because of the holiday but Thursday and Friday we were running around town like crazy so we could meet all of our investigators and less-active appointments.  I love the feeling of going to bed at the end of a busy day:)  Friday we taught we taught our new investigator about the Restoration.  She is a strong personality and boy did she have a lot of questions.  Explaining the difference between faith and belief, and then really random questions like how big the Salt Lake Temple is and how many people can fit inside!!  My brain was hurting after that appointment but it went well.  She is English interest but totally open to learn about our church.

 

Saturday was the speech contest in Gwangju and our investigator, Yang Hansor participated.  But we cut it close and were almost not able to go.  We usually go to Gwangju on the weekdays so we never have trouble getting tickets...little did we know all of Mokpo goes to Gwangju on the weekends and there were no buses available to get us there in time!!  So next we had to hurry to catch a bus across town to the train station, buy tickets on our investigators phone, and literally sprint through the train station!!  But we made the train and got there on time!  The speech contest was really fun and our investigator did so great!!  She talked about her hobby of traveling.  I have to say I was proud watching her after all the time me and her put into it:) haha!!

 

I love you all.

 

Sister Jacklin

 

September 8, 2014 Happy Chuseok!!

September 8, 2014
Happy Chuseok

Hey Family!!

Happy Chuseok!!  Today is thanksgiving in Korea!!  We are going to a members house tonight for dinner and to celebrate!^^  On this holiday people usually visit the husband's parents so yesterday a bunch of our members were gone and replaced by people visiting from other parts of Korea.  It was fun to meet some new members and I got to see one sister I served with as a greenie and she has now gone home.

 

There is going to be an English speech contest this coming Saturday hosted by an American member who is famous here in Korea.  We have an investigator who is going to be participating so we spent time with her this week helping her make her speech and answering her other questions! I thought my brain was going to explode!!  English!!  Teaching English in Korean is no easy task, I am learning all the words for verb, noun, etc.  Also we met a new English interest investigator this week and guess what?!...she is fluent in  English!!  This is my first investigator in Mokpo who is fluent so I was really relieved we can just talk instead of trying to teach.  She also has lots of questions about our church and is not scared to learn about our beliefs.

 

Friday was my English night!!  It was our Canadian member, Courtney's Birthday so she invited us to go out with her and a couple friends to dinner!!  We went to a steak house and ate pizza, pasta, and steak!!  First time I have eaten American style  steak in over a year so I was in seventh heaven!!  I am still dreaming of Dad's steaks for when I come home!  It was so fun to hangout with English speakers (they are Canadian) and be able to express everything I wanted to.  We also met her friend, a man from Sri Lanka, who could have some potential interest.

 

We didn't have any huge progression this week with our investigators because of the holiday but our goal this week is to give some big commitments to really see where they are at in regards to the Gospel personally.

Here is my favorite scripture of the day:

D&C 78:19

And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.

 

There are so many hard things in life but if we remember our blessings and how much God has given us we will be so happy even in our trials.

 

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

 

Love,

Sister Jacklin

Pictures:

-Celebrating Courtney's Birthday

 

September 1, 2014 Week of Travel

September 1, 2104

Week of Travel
 

Hey Family!!

 

We had a good week this week!!  Lots of travel and literally traveled to the bottom of Korea!!

Wednesday all of our plans fell through so we decided to go visit another town in our area called Haenam.  It is about an hour bus ride out there and it is so pretty.  It is famous because it is the bottom edge of Korea.  We first found and visited a less active and her adorable baby.  She is a returned missionary and knows she needs to come out to church but her husband isn't a member, and with her little kids it is hard to make the one and a half hour trip to church.  We are working with our mission leader's family who lives there to try and help her get to church.  I think that day we walked through the whole town it was so small.  But I loved the quaint little feeling of the town!  It might take some time adjusting back to America after living in cities for a year and a half!!

Friday we had interviews with President Shin so we headed to a different area in a city called Naju.  That city is famous for asian pears!  I was in shock at how big they are!  I tried to take a picture but it just didn't do it justice.  For lunch we all made kimbap together which was a first for me.  And let’s just say I didn't do the best job and President and Sister Shin were watching the whole time!! 

Saturday we had a ward activity out on Wan-Do which is an island about an hour and a half drive from Mokpo.  We went and visited a members home/farm to have a picnic and pick grapes.  It was absolutely beautiful out there!!  It may have been the prettiest place I have visited so far in Korea.  Right next to the house there was a really beautiful mountain and river, and you could see the ocean from the house.  It actually reminded me a lot of Gig Harbor.  It was wonderful to get out of the city and enjoy the peace and beauty of being outside.  Plus the grapes were amazing!!  We had one investigator attend and I think she had such a great time despite riding in a car with six loud children!!

Right now our ward is focusing a lot on less-active visits because ward conference is coming up this month.  So after church yesterday we went to visit a less-active sister with the Bishop and his wife and let’s just say it was quite the adventure.  She is friends with the Bishop's wife so from the time we walked in until the time we left she didn't stop talking.  She talks insanely fast, even my companion and Bishop could hardly understand.  And I am pretty sure she does not like missionaries because she did not acknowledge our presence.   The entire time, she had her back to us.  Bishop lied for me saying I was allergic to tomatoes so I didn't have to drink the tomato juice and then there was her crazy whirlwind 2 year old son.  He was all over the place!!  First he was eating so many snacks that were out and running around like crazy and next thing you know he had thrown up all over the house.  But it didn't even phase him, he kept right at it.  Running all over the house, attempting to eat more snacks, and pounding on the piano with his feet.  We tried to stop him but it didn't work.  All in all, it was a very...interesting visit.  We were exhausted by the time we walked out of there.  Now we know why Bishop did not want to visit there, haha!!

It turned out to be a really good week and hopefully this week will be even better.  Korean Thanksgiving is next  Monday so lots of people are heading out of town or busy so we are going to have to be creative with what to do this week but plan on working just as hard.  At our District Meeting last week President asked who the next missionary in our district was to go home.  It was terrifying when I had to raise my hand.  In my interview President kept repeating it to me that I need to give it my best these last few transfers.  There are hard days in life and hard days as a missionary but if we don't stop and just keep going we will see miracles and be able to accomplish all that we want to.

Love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

Sister Jacklin

 

August 24, 2014 안영하세요^^

안영하세요^^

August 24, 2014

Hey family!!

 

Another week come and gone...what happened this week?...it is honestly all a blur but I'll try and remember the important things!!

Our investigator, May-Hee. I talked a bit about her last week. She is a 25 year old student from China. She went to the dessert party with us and had a great time, even though we had to convince her to come with us. We planned to meet her on Thursday but when I woke up in the morning there was a text waiting from her saying her professor called saying she needs to go back to China early...meaning immediately!! NOOO!!!  We still have to teach her the Gospel before she goes to China!!  We were able to meet her one last time that day and she made us a delicious Chinese lunch!!  I loved it.  Some of the tastes were similar to the stuff I ate in Xian. We are really excited that she can go back and see her family but sad to see her go so soon.  We made sure to give her all the church materials we had in Chinese before she left^^

Tuesday night we had a dessert party with missionaries, members, and investigators.  It turned out to be super fun.  We did a relay game where you had to wear gloves and use chopsticks at the same time.  Not the easiest thing in the world!!  I was talking with one of the Elders investigators and he was telling me all about the missionaries he originally met in Seoul and how great they are and then he showed me a picture and it turned out to be my friend Riley Hale! It is a small world even here in Korea.

Wednesday we went to Gwangju for a meeting with our Zone. It was a great boost to start the transfer!! One thing I loved was something our Zone Leader, Elder Khan, gave a training on.  He taught us about finding our own Sacred Grove to talk with the Lord and receive guidance.  First he focused on the importance of preparing so for us as missionaries that is waking up, exercising, and getting ready. Then we find a quiet place alone and pray to our Heavenly Father and then spend some time thinking and being able to receive revelation from God. This should be our morning devotional with our Father in Heaven. I really loved this!! It is important to really take some quiet time to talk with our Father in Heaven and really feel how close He is.  As I am trying to do this I am already seeing myself open up to learn more and be guided by Heavenly Father.

Yesterday I gave my first try at translating church into English...hardest thing ever!!  During sacrament meeting there was one older man in the ward who gave a talk and I didn't even try to translate!! We have a Canadian member who just moved here last week so I think that me and Elder Driggs are going to get some good translating practice in the next few months! I just realized how much more I need to study Korean!!

Sorry, not much exciting to share this week! love you all and hope you are enjoying the end of summer vacation:)

Love,

Sister Jacklin

 

-May-Hee before she left for China

August 17, 2014 Favorite Moments of the week

August 17, 2014

Favorite Moments of the week
 

Hey Family!!

Transfer week has come and gone and I think the whole mission moved besides us, haha!! This was a big transfer because we had a huge group of missionaries go home.  I had a lot of missionaries go home that I knew really well.  There is this thing in the mission called dying calls where people going home make their last calls to all their friends in the mission.  This was one of the first transfers where I had people I was really close with go home so as I started receiving dying calls the reality hit me and that I only have four months left!!  Bittersweet seeing friends go but it will be fun to hang out with everyone back in the states.

So we have this awesome investigator named, Inson, she owns and runs a cafe where we go visit her all the time.  She just thinks it is so fun that I am a foreigner and speak Korean and she is just the most hysterical person ever.  Whenever we go visit her she always calls up her boyfriend and makes me talk to him on the phone.  This week I was talking to him on the phone and he asks the name of our church and proceeds to tell me he met with the missionaries ten years ago!! what?!! I was shocked!!  On his off day we were able to meet up with them and me the boyfriend face to face!!  It was a blast they just laugh and think it is crazy I can understand what they are saying and then respond, it is like I am some new toy they just received.^^  It was really good though cause we made him remember and tell us the things the missionaries taught him.  Our investigator Inson has more foreigner interest than gospel interest but having the boyfriend around might help.  Just to let you know mom and dad, I have to come back next year to attend their wedding:)

We had an elder in the ward finish his mission this week so instead of our missionary coordination meeting we had a big dinner at the church, the members here are so sweet.  Delicious korean chicken, lots of kimchi, and other sides!! I think it is a great way to end a mission.

We have a member in our ward who is Phillipino  she lives a ways out in the countryside but we were able to go out and visit her this week.  It was so weird to speak, share a message, and pray in English.  I was able to express and say everything just like I wanted to, I forgot what that feels like!!  She is an amazing woman.  Her husband has passed away but because of her children she is continuing to live in Korea. She speaks a bit of Korean but her children only speak Korean so she expressed some of the difficulties.  Her life  is definitely not easy but she kept talking about just pushing forward with faith and trusting in the lord, I really learned so  much from her.

We had a few new people come to English class this week and one is this darling 24 year old girl from China.  She has been in Korea for a little over two years now.  We arranged to meet with her this coming week but then as I was getting ready for church a text randomly came from her asking if we were going to church and that she wanted to come with us.  She came to church but it was really hard for her to understand anything since the Korean was really fast and complicated words and since she is from China she doesn't have much of a religious background.  We went to her house after church and spent some time with her; right now I think she is more interested in becoming friends than gospel, but it will come with time.  She is really lonely right now cause she moved from a city up north to Mokpo one month ago and doesn't know many people here.  We didn't do anything very fun but she kept saying she was so happy.  It was kind of funny though because it was a Chinese person, American person, and Korean person all hanging out together.  Hopefully we can help her be happy here in Mokpo and through the gospel she can find more happiness.

I have now begun my second transfer in Mokpo so I am excited to see what is to come and I think it will be a really great transfer with lots of miracles!!

 

Happy Birthday Esther!!  Love you so much and hope you have a fun birthday!!

 

Love,

Sister Jacklin

 

August 10, 2014 Miracles in Mokpo

Miracles in Mokpo

August 10, 2014
 

Hey Family!!

Last week was a great week and I wasn't able to write about it last week so I'll share a little bit of it this week.

I was able to take the long trip up to Cheonan (my last area) to attend the Baptism of my investigator Song Mikyoung.  One of the Elders met her on the bus and she came to meet us even though she had no idea who we really were.  She ended up having no English interest and we became friends and started teaching her.  She progressed all on her own and even stopped one of her jobs in order to attend church.  She had no idea I was going to be able to come to the Baptism so the other missionaries had me hide behind a door and they brought her in with her eyes closed and she was so surprised when she saw me.  She started crying and it was a happy moment.  It made the long trip all worth it.  Her baptism was the most spiritual Baptism of my whole mission; she shared her testimony about how much it has helped her as she has learned about God and accepted the Gospel.  I feel like God has given me such a blessing to meet her and know she is someone I will continue to stay in touch with.

I think we are setting a record number for how many appointments can cancel on us.  I think that has been one of my tests in coming to Mokpo,"what to do when all your appointments cancel, including the backup plans."  I was thinking about it on the bus the other day and it really is what I am learning.  Sometimes when things fall apart I just shut down and get frustrated but I am learning to just keep going and get out no matter what.

Miracle story this week.  We were walking between appointments on Friday and as we were crossing the street a man and his wife look at us and say, "Mormon?"  We start talking to him for a minute and it turns out he attended BYU and his son graduated from BYU and still lives in Salt Lake.  We were shocked, this kind of thing does not happen in Korea especially Mokpo.  They wanted to take us out to dinner but we had an appointment but hopefully we will be able to contact them and meet again.  It really is a small world no matter where you go.

Yesterday we had the Baptism of an 86 year old Grandma and a 89 year old Grandpa. They are the parents of a member and began coming to church with their family a few weeks ago.  We began teaching them with the Elders during Sunday school time.  They don't really remember or understand the things we teach them but they decided to be Baptized and believe with their family.   I think they really felt that peace and comfort after they were Baptized.  Two of our investigators were able to attend the Baptism and they said they had a good feeling when they saw the Baptism:)

The pictures are with our investigators  Go Chandi and Yang Hansor.  We went to a couple small museums with them the other day and were able to try on some awesome traditional Korean clothes, were thinking of starting that fashion again!!  We had a super fun time with them and it was very interesting but sad to see more of what happened when Japan was ruling over Korea.

All in all it was a good week.  The suspected typhoon for this week didn't come so the weather hit the real summer heat.  I am really beginning to like Mokpo and think I can make the most of my last few transfers here.

Have a great week:)

 

Love,

Sister Jacklin