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!!