Perspective Feb.9th

Dear family:)

 

This week has been really great! I've gained some good perspective at how far I've come the past 4 months, and how far I still need to go.

 

On Tuesday, Sister Knox and I went with President and Sister Morrise to pick up the new missionaries from the airport! Yes, there are missionaries newer than me (apparently). But yeah. It was super nice to talk to them on the way to the airport, and see a lot more of Korea than I normally do. Korea is absolutely beautiful. It has mountains and lakes and those are beautiful, but also it has TONS of skyscrappers and bridges and those are breathtaking. It's a good mix of everything. But yeah. That was really beautiful. And president and sister morrise are hilarious. I love them. When we got to the airport, President Morrise got some fries at McDonalds and then helped me with Korean, which was awesome! I'm not sure I've ever had a more productive language study. When the new missionaries finally arrived, it was really fun to see them again. We were only together in the MTC for a week and a half, but a friendly face is always welcome on the mission. The sisters especially were really great to see. Anyway, then we took the 2 hour long subway ride back to the mission home with the new missionaries. It was so cool to see them talk to people and give out book of mormons and share their testimonies. It brought back lots of great memories from my first night in Korea. it was cool to see how much Korean I have learned since I got to Korea, and a wake up call on how much grammar I've forgotten;) But I was most happy to know that I'm TONS better at understanding people than I used to be, and better than I thought for sure. (I hope this doesn't sound like I"m comparing myself to other missionaires. I'm not. Just remembering how I was at first). But yeah. Seeing the faith of those new missionaries was pretty inspiring, and definitely a spiritual experience. I hope I get to do that often. New missionaries are my new favorite thing... even though I still am one. They are awesome though.

 

Another good perspective experience was that some missionaries left this week, and since I am at the mission home I get to see them right before they go for a few days. It's cool to hear their perspecives after finishing their missions. I have SOOOO much more to learn and do before I leave, but it's starting to hit me how little time I really have here in Korea.  I really need to do better and work harder and use the atonement more. 

 

Also, after one of our lessons, we were headed home to eat dinner, when we saw a white couple looking pretty confused. We stopped to see if we could help them, and then they revealed that they were coming to pick up their son from his mission, and were trying to find the church and a good restraunt for dinner. We helped them, and they bought us dinner, which was super nice of them. I was shocked to see how much I really can understand and read. The Lord has been helping me so much. I think sometimes I forget that and get frustrated with my slow progress, but honestly the Lord is blessing me much more than I realized. I think that's just life. So if ever you are overwhelmed or frustrated, just remember that the Lord really is there helping you, and if you could see where you were before this trial, or experience, you would be so grateful for what you have now. Don't take things for granted. I'm definitely going to try to be more grateful for trials and for the little things.

 

A awesome thing about this week is that Ho Sunhee's whole family came to church this week! Her kids were sick, so we couldn't meet with her on thursday, but she came to church and said she really liked it! She's so wonderful! I love her.

 

We also had an awesome lesson with our new investigator Oh Meerahn (which I will spell Miran from now on, but that's how its pronounced.) Miran is catholic and like 27 maybe and was originally only interested in our english program, but we ended up having an AWESOME gospel discussion last time. She said that she thinks God has sent us to her. Ha. She's right. But also, I know that Heavenly Father has sent her to us. I learn so much from my investigators. It's wonderful to see people change from the truths of the gospel. But she said she really wants to read the Book of Mormon, because right now that things we are telling her are just a story. She wants to gain a testimony of it for herself. She's so open with us about her relationship with God, and she really wants to improve her relationship with him. She's awesome. I think she will be baptised if she keeps reading the book of mormon and trying to understand what we teach like she has been. It'll take time, but I really love her and hope she can make that progress.

 

Finally, I just want to say how powerful the Book of Mormon is. It's incredible. I've been reading about Ammon this week, and wow. He's my favorite. His example is really really helping me every single day. I don't know how, but somehow every time I open the Book of Mormon, the Lord speaks to my heart and teaches me exactly what I needed to hear that day. It's amazing. I hope everyone is reading the book of mormon every day, because I truly have a testimony that it is true. It brings joy to my heart and peace to my life every day. I sometimes (every day) wish that I could just spend the whole day reading the book of mormon. It's the BEST book!

 

Anyway, I hope Stephen has a great birthday, and Alex too:) Have a great week everyone! The church is TRUE!!

 

Love,

Sister Hunter

 

ps. Dad, did you say you knew some Empey's in Idaho Falls? There's an Elder Empey here from idaho falls... one of the new missionaries... thought you might know his family.

March 8th:) Feb. 3rd

Dear Family,

I am so happy today. It's been a tough week, but also the best week ever!!!! AH. So happy! I'm trying to think where to even begin. I'll just start with the best news. :)

So. On Tuesday, we were going to invite Ho Sonhee to be baptized on a specific date. But I was on an exchange, and then she canceled because she was doing service (who cancels because they are doing service?? People the Lord prepares for the gospel. That's who.) Anyway, I was secretly glad she canceled. But then on Wednesday I was praying about a date to invite her to be baptized on, and I prayed about March 8th, and almost started crying. It was incredible. My companion had a similar experience. So we went with that. On Thursday, we met with her and before we even really started, she started telling us about how she thinks about being baptized a little bit every day. We were super happy about that. And then she said, "I want to be baptized in May I think." We were still happy, but asked her why she wanted to wait until May. She said she didn't really know. But then she shared with us that she prayed about the things we have been teaching her, and she didn't get an answer, but that she felt really happy and she felt the spirit. And she said she has been SO happy since we started meeting. So yeah. She's awesome. She recognizes the spirit, and she's praying about this, and wants to be baptized, and keeps all of her commitments.  Anyway, so we explained to her that we don't always hear an audible answer from God, but that a feeling of happiness and peace is an answer through the spirit (Galatians 5). She understood that. Then we told her that we had prayed about it, and were going to invite her to be baptized on March 8th instead of May. She thought about it for a second and then said, "Ok. That's a good idea! My son will start Kindergarten that week and will become a new man. If I get baptized then I will become a new woman that week too!" It was SO cute. I love her. Anyway, so she accepted that date and said, "We have a lot of work to do. I need to learn a lot." I'm so happy. The Lord has prepared her and her family so much! The spirit was so strong. And then, she asked about the Book of Mormon more, because she wants to know that it's true, so we talked about that. And we went over the family proclamation to the world, which she read. She said her husband and her talked about it and they loved it. She thinks it's perfect. So yeah. I just feel the spirit so strongly every time we meet with her, and she is so open and accepting. I know that the Lord placed her here because He loves her, and wants her to receive His gospel. She has such a strong desire to know for herself, and she really relies on the spirit to teach her. It's incredible.

Last night, I was pondering more on her and what a blessing she has been in my life so far. She teaches me more than I teach her I think. Anyway. I was pondering on it, and I thought about her and her family being sealed in the temple. It was the most beautiful thought. Then it occurred to me that if the rules are still the same, then she could possibly get sealed in 1 year, which I would still barely be here for. That's probably the most exciting thing ever, because that's the ultimate goal. We want people to be happy together in their families forever. I love her so much, and want nothing more for her. I hope and pray that she will have that desire and continue to work towards that goal after she is baptized. But yeah. Just thinking about that I realized how much Heavenly Father truly loves her and all of His children. It's incredible. I just know this gospel is true, and I'm SO grateful for the chance I have to be a missionary.

In other news, miracles just keep happening. Today has been really funny and full of miracles. Yesterday, a lady came to church and asked us for a President's of the Church manual. She wasn't a member, so I thought that was pretty weird.We invited her to sacrament meeting and she came in and sat by me. I tried talk to her, but well.... Korean is still not my forte. But she left after the meeting, without me getting a chance to ask her anything else. But then today, she called us and said, "Hi, When can I get baptized." UHHHHH. What? Where are these people coming from? She doesn't actually live in our area though, so we referred her to another set of Sister Missionaries. But yeah. Miracle! Also today, Sister knox had to renew her papers to be here legally since she's been here a year now. That was super stressful, but while I was sitting there waiting for that mess to be over I talked to this lady about her cute kid, except she didn't speak Korean, so that was embarrassing haha. She's Chinese. We basically communicated in our broken Korean for a few minutes, and then stopped because we exhausted our Korean skills. But then, this 30 year old guy sits next to me and starts talking to me in Chinese. It was hilarious. I have no idea why he thought I knew Chinese, but I don't. haha. He was trying to write some characters out for me, but obviously that didn't help. So then he started speaking to me in Korean, which was only a little more helpful. But he told me he wanted to add me on the Korean equivalent of Facebook. I then told him I was a missionary. He said ok, but later let's be friends. He gave me his number and told me he really wanted to help me with my Korean. I gave him my card and he said he'd call me. And then he declared that we were friends. haha it was so funny. But yeah. Hopefully we can meet with him with the Elders and he'll start the lessons. Also, I was sitting on the Subway this morning and my companion got really nauseous and so I let her sit down. After standing up this guy looked at my name tag and was like, "Are you Mormon? I used to take the lessons 3years ago.' So yeah. That's another miracle! I think he's going to come to our English class and hopefully take the lessons again. I'm not sure why he stopped, but he said he liked meeting with the missionaries. Anyway, lots of miracles every day. I love seeing them. And trying to speak Korean. Haha. It's hard, but always an adventure:)

Anyway, I love you all! I hope this week is wonderful! Thanks for all your love and support:):)

Love,

Sister Hunter