When It Rains It Pours...Blessings :) May 11th

Dear Family,

 

It was SO fun to call and talk to everyone on the phone! It was my favorite! 45 minutes definitely isn't enough time for such a big family, but I wouldn't trade my wonderful family for anything!! I love you all!

 

So last night Sister Sexton and I had a great experience. We had to have a late dinner so we finished up eating at about 8pm and had an hour left to go talk to people. The only thing was that it was raining outside. And when I say it was raining, it was raining REALLY hard. Like. I've actually never experienced rain like that in my whole life. The parking lot outside our apartment was literally a giant pond comparable to the actually river to the west of our apartment. We considered staying in and making calls, but we both felt like we should go out and just do missionary work. Anyway, so we got ready to go and went out in the storm. haha. Our landlord told us we were crazy, but it was great. We had to talk to 5 more people too to reach our goal, which normally wouldn't have been too hard, but in a storm like this it was definitely a challenge. I'm not sure I've ever been so wet, including in a swimming pool, but it was so fun to just go out and try to talk with people in the POURING rain. There wasn't hardly anyone out, but we had some really great experience. We helped a mart owner clean up a bunch of stuff that had fallen over in the storm and then we met this lady without and umbrella and tried to give her one of ours, but she wouldn't take it. haha. So we just held one above her head  while we talked to her and walked a little ways with her. Anyway, we were just wading in water basically, but it was so great. I have never liked rain, but somehow it was just so fun to be out doing missionary work with Sister Sexton!  Anyway, at the end of the hour we had only had 4 conversations and needed one more, but it was 9 and had to go inside. So we dried off a little bit and decided that we needed to call people until we reached our goal. We've been doing this thing lately as a companionship called, "when you set goals, reach them." We can't always, but we've found that when we pray for help and go about doing all we can, the Lord blesses us to accomplish what we've promised to accomplish. Anyway, so we called someone off a potential investigator sheet who ended up being a boy, so we set up an appointment with the Elders for him. But it was just so awesome, because Heavenly Father helped us reach our goal in the midst of this crazy monsoon-like rainstorm. Heavenly Father truly is with us, and I love being about His errand.

 

Also, another incredible blessing is that this week at English class we had a whole family come and they brought a friend. They said they had a lot of fun and are going to bring another friend next week! I'm just so happy! The Lord is really helping us serve people and putting good people in our path. This week we had two appointments set up with new people, but they both canceled, unfortunately. One high school girl was so nice and wanted to meet, but when she told her parents they got REALLY upset and said no. So that was sad. And then the other lady just stopped answering our calls and texted us to never call her again.... so that was a little sad as well, but I'm just realizing that it's ok. We keep doing our best and things work out and Heavenly Father blesses us. Also, this week I saw the Mormon message about Hugh B Brown and the current bush, which is my favorite thing, but this time when I saw it, it really hit me that Heavenly Father knows what He wants me to do at this time. Apparently it's not teach investigators haha, although of course we keep trying our best to do that, but I felt really impressed that there is a lot a need to do to strengthen the ward here, so we are going to continue doing that, especially with these young women.

 

I am sure I have told you all before how much I love the young women in our ward, and how I've felt so impressed that I need to help them realize the potential they have. I seriously love them so much. They are so strong and just such amazing examples of living the gospel when it's hard to do. We got to go to mutual for a few minutes and see the girls as well, and that made me incredibly happy! I miss being with the young women. But yeah. I feel like we are really starting to get to know them and their testimonies and I love that!

 

Also, we met the cutest pair of grandmas yesterday (who took our picture and set it as the background on their phone hahaha) and we're going to try to meet them as well! I think Heavenly Father is just so good. I'll send a picture of them too:) haha.

 

The Grandmas

And last of all, this week our ward had a ping pong tournament, and man. There's nothing that makes me feel more like I'm in Asia than people playing ping pong haha. Our bishop and stake president are SO good. Also. I'm SOOO bad. But it was really fun... playing with the kids. haha playing with other people was more stressful. But I finally figured out the rules to ping pong after loosing a lot of times! So that's good! haha. Making mistakes really does help us learn.. sometimes we just have to make mistakes a lot, but eventually we improve and get better! How fun. We we also introduced our ward to mint brownies! Some of them had never had brownies before, and I think as a general rule Koreans don't like mint, but most everyone said they were really good. haha It was just a fun time with our ward. I love them so much, and I'm grateful to be here serving with them!

 

Anyway, happy mother's day and hope everyone has a great week! Love you all!:):)

 

Love,

Sister Hunter:)

Who's on the Lords Side? May 4th

Dear Family,

So this week has been really busy, but also not. We couldn't meet with either of our investigators this week, which was really sad. Kim Geeae has a cold, which she may or may not have passed on to me, and E Jongwha didn't have time to meet. But I have also had a very instructive week this week.

One experience we had this week several times (every day), but one time in particular I'd like to share with you. Sister Sexton and I were walking in a part of our area we haven't been very much yet, and it was about time to head back home. We were trying to find people to talk to, but for some reason there wasn't really anyone outside. But then we saw this older couple taking a walk by this park, so we went up to them and started talking to them, and they were super nice. I'm pretty sure they thought we were lost though, so they said they would help us find our way back to our house. Anyway, so as we were walking with them we asked them about their family, and had a great talk about families and how important they are, and then we invited them to hear our message about families and their whole demeanor changed and they just said no and got really awkward and said they had to go a different way. It was really depressing actually, because we are really just trying to find people to teach, and we genuinely want to help them. It's not that we are just trying to talk at them and tell them what they are doing wrong. We just genuinely love them and want them to find happiness. Anyway, I feel like that happens a lot in missionary work, but it happens a lot more frequently in this area.

As I've been pondering on this experience, something President Morrise told me a couple weeks ago has just kept coming back to my mind. He talked about how sometimes in the Book of Mormon, whole cities rejected the prophets and the gospel and weren't ready. He said that sometimes the people just aren't ready, which is also kind of hard, because if no one is ready for the gospel here, then why are missionaries here. But of course the Book of Mormon holds the answer to that as well. The answer is that God loves all of His children. Sometimes we just have to keep working hard so we can find that one- that Alma the Older, or whoever it is. We just have to keep working, and honestly even though I don't have the kind of baptismal and teaching success that I might have hoped in this area right now, but I don't know if I have ever felt so confident before the Lord. I know that He know I"m doing all I can, and that Sister Sexton and I are working hard. This week I was reading at the beginning of 3 Nephi and the people are so hard heated and there are many people preaching the gospel, but the people still aren't listening. And I asked myself, why aren't people listening? Why are the missionaries still there? And then the answer really came. It's because if we aren't fighting against Satan, than he wins. If we don't keep doing good and following the commandments, even when it's hard, and we can't see the results, then Satan wins. Really it's those hard, and stressful and depressing times when it is the MOST important to keep working and doing what's right, because if we don't, Satan is having power over us. The Book of Mormon teaches so many times how foolish it is to let Satan gain ANY advantage over us, even a small one. So, "when life gets dark and dreary, don't forget to pray":) I just always have to remember that however desperate it may look from my perspective, God is in control. These are the days to prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Satan will NOT win again, and so we must be sure that we do all we can to be found on the Lord's side. The Lord really can do His own work, but it is by obedience to His commandments that we prove our love for Him, and grow closer to Him. I feel that Heavenly Father is with me, and I know He is with all of us.

This is a pic of me and some of my MTC district that went to the Seoul Mission! So fun to see them!

This email will be a little shorter since I was setting up a time to call you guys this week for mother's day:) But A few funny things about this week too, in case you need a little smile:) First of all, this week I told a lady that her scarf was delicious- haha that was embarrassing! Haha. the whole bus heard it too, and they thought that was pretty funny. Oh well. it's the difference between potato and patato basically. haha. And then last night I asked one of our members if she was a fish, instead of a teacher. Haha. Korean is still hard, but it's ok. Making mistakes help us learn! And I'm learning a lot! Also, soy sauce and testimony sound really similar...... good thing! haha. But yeah! It's been a great week, and we have some meetings with people next week, so we'll just keep pushing along and trying to find those people willing to hear our message! Super excited to talk to all of you this week:):) So happy! Have a great week though and remember how much Heavenly Father and I love you all! It's a LOT:):)

Love,

Sister Hunter

Why Do Ye Fear? April 27th

Dear Family,

 

So this week has been incredible. Sometimes, in my hurry to tell you all everything that happens in a week, I neglect to tell you all how incredibly happy I am to be on a mission! This has been the very happiest time of my whole life. Sure, it's been filled with some hard and challenging times, but I have never experienced such great joy as I am now. I think so frequently people talk about the responsibilities we have to do missionary work, but people don't talk NEARLY enough about the overwhelmingly wonderful blessings that we experience from it:) I'm just SO HAPPY! The past few days I've cried several times with joy-an experience I never really had before preparing to go on a mission. This work in the best:):) Also, transfer calls came and Sister Sexton and I are staying right here- Something we screamed for joy about:) haha. Hopefully our neighbors don't hate us too much;)

 

Last Monday, we had the wonderful opportunity to go see some traditional Korean sights. We saw a wall around this city, which we hiked up to the top of the mountain and saw how beautiful Korea is! I was just in awe! I don't know  if I have told you all before how beautiful Korea is! Much of Korea is skyscrapers and all of that, but I love it because in the midst of these great cities, there is so much greenery and mountains! It's the perfect mix of my two favorite things! It's green like Virginia and has awesome mountains like Utah. I just get so excited every time we leave our apartment because of how beautiful everything is! God has made such a wonderful place for us to live:) Also, I found a cool new feature of my camera, which takes a video at the same time as a picture, and then links all the little video clips together from a day which is way cool. Not sure I can send the video to you, but it's really cool to see, and made our hike a lot of fun:)

 

Lately, I've been reading in the New Testament, and Jesus has been repeating something a lot regarding fear versus faith. I feel like it's a lesson He's trying to teach me, but I"m not very good at following yet. But, this week I've been trying:) I was reading particularly about the instance where His disciples are on the boat and He's sleeping and they are really afraid that they will die, and he just says, why do you fear oh ye of little faith. And then of course He calms the storm. That really struck me this time around. Jesus was so calm, that he was able to sleep- He really trusted that His mission was not fulfilled, and because of that He was a peace and was able to calm others. This week I was able to remember this principle and apply it to two experiences. One was English class. We started a new English class in our ward, and so Tuesday night class is still a little empty, but usually we at least have a few people. Two weeks ago apparently no one came, so last week everyone was being really pessimistic about it, which kind of bothered me. So I just went on preparing our lesson as usual, and then set up the room for a bunch of people haha. My companion and I just waited at right at 7:30, which is when it starts, we had 2 people come, and by the end we had all the chairs filled. I think sometimes we let our fear get in the way. If we hadn't been prepared, maybe God wouldn't have wanted to send people for us to teach. Sometimes we just have to move forward as though a miracle is bound to happen, and through that we show God we are doing all we can and expecting His help. The other experience was incredible. All the missionaries in our area decided to do this big English activity on the street to get some contacts and find people to teach. We were mostly targeting our activity towards junior high and high school kids, and because of that did the activity near a school when school gets out. However, that particular day, apparently the kids had gotten out early from school because of a test. So as we started out, everyone was really scared that it wasn't going to be successful, but before we left we remembered to say a prayer, and I just knew that because we had begun by asking for God's help everything would be alright. So at first no one was really coming by, and we had to go somewhere else because some big trucks were parked on the sidewalk where we wanted to be. But soon, people came and we had many good conversations, and we blessed by the Lord to get 46 numbers in only 2 hours!! An incredible thing! We also have made an appointment with someone, who seems really interested, from the girls, and I think the Elders are having success with their list of people as well. I'm sure that as we continue to follow up with these people we will be able to meet with others as well:) I just know that when we have faith and do our best, that God makes up the difference:)

 

Also, this week, we had Sister Burton-the General RS President come to our mission, which used to be her mission when she and her husband were mission President, only it was called the Seoul West mission at that time. It was incredible to have her and her husband teach us and give us some training. She told us that a big reason for the age change of missionaries was not just to have more missionaries in the field, but because of the incredible strength and missionary spirit that would return to the church after missionary service. She really impressed upon me how important it is to not go back to my old self when I go home, and that there is so much to be done in the church, and missionaries alone cannot do that task. It makes me happy, because I really just want to be a good member missionary, mostly because I know how happy it will make me and those around me. I want my children to want to serve missions because they see me doing missionary work in my home. Also, afterwards, we got to talk to Sister Burton personally for a minute, and she said something that really touched me. She said, "whenever I try to explain faith to people, I tell them just to look at a sister missionary." It's not so much the words that she said, but the way she said them with tears in her eyes that made me think they were true. I truly hope that people can see our faith as we do missionary work. What a blessing it is to be an example of the believers:):)

 

Also, in Young Women's (my favorite part of the week:)) we were asked to share our testimonies of Joseph Smith and the Restoration. This was such a touching experience, and I"m not sure I've ever born such a powerful witness of Joseph Smith. The girls all shared their testimonies as well, and also some experiences they have had with sharing the Plan of Salvation with their friends at school after the horrible accident. I just have such respect for young women and especially those who grow up in situations where they do not have many Mormon friends. These girls are so incredible:) I love our ward.

 

As a grand finale to this week's letter, I just want to share this incredible thing that happened at a meeting with Sister Burton. One of the meetings was opened to the general public, and afterwards I got to see Sue- the incredible ward missionary from my last ward! I have never had a more joyful meeting with anyone at anytime:) I just cried tears of joy! I really thought that I wouldn't see her again, but I was so grateful to see her! I'm so grateful to have served here in Korea, because without that I never would have met the incredible people here. They have changed my life, and I think I'll always be a little (or hopefully a lot) Korean on the inside.

 

Have a wonderful week everyone! I hope everyone's finals week is going went well! You all are incredible and I pray for you every day, and I know Heavenly Father answers our prayers:) Love you!

 

Love,

Sister Hunter

Two Types of Pepole April 20th

Dear Family,

 

There are two types of people in this world. The people that run into the road and dodge traffic to avoid talking to you, and the people that meet you and pour half of their (messy) lunch into their coat pocket, so they can share the other half with you (a perfect stranger). haha. We encountered both of these types of people this week. Both are pretty hilarious, and keep missionary work interesting and fun, but seriously the people here are mostly really kind. Sometimes too kind and possibly a little creepy, but honestly I love the Korean people. They are amazing, and have taught me a lot about Christ-like love.

 

Something kind of crazy here that I guess must be pretty big news is the boat that sunk in Ansan this week. That is really close to were I'm serving and people here are all really sad about it. We've had several members start crying as they told us about the people in the boat and some of them know the effected families. It's so sad to hear about that kind of thing. In young women's yesterday, one of the YM was crying a lot about it, and it helped us have a really good discussion about the plan of salvation with her and the other young women. It's always a sad thing to loose people we love, but they will be reunited with their families. Thankfully no one in Ansan ward was on the boat, but it also makes me wonder how people could ever deal with this kind of tragedy without the knowledge of the gospel and the plan of salvation. I can't even imagine how sad and horrible that would be.

 

It's also been a wonderful thing to think about that kind of tragedy so close to Easter, and remember that because of the atonement, and Jesus Christ's sacrifice we will all be resurrected and reunited with our loved ones again some day. Jesus Christ truly has covered all of our pains and despair through the atonement so he can know how to help us better. It's a beautiful thought to remember all he did for us, and that He is always with us. He loves us and strengthens us in hard times. That's His mission. I truly know that our Savior lives and loves us!

 

Something else awesome about this week is that we have a new investigator!! It's so exciting! She's the wife of someone the Elder's are teaching, and she's the sweetest lady in the whole world:) She has a disability which makes talking hard for her, but her mind is perfectly fine, and she is really open with us and taught us the story of Adam and Eve. haha. She's really great, and we are so excited to teach her! Also, this week we will hopefully be meeting with 2 new people, so hopefully by the time I write next week we'll have 4 investigators! So exciting! Her name is Kim Geeay- I think maybe that's how it would be spelled in English. I don't know though. But she has the cutest little baby too! So cute:)

 

Easter here was not at all like Easter in America. haha. I actually forgot about it until after it started, and so we couldn't buy chocolate or anything. haha. But really it was a MUCH more meaningful Easter than I have ever had before. I loved teaching about the Plan of Salvation in Young Women's and then also with Kim Geeay. It is so wonderful to think of the atonement and Resurrection in that context, with someone who doesn't know about it. I love missionary work SO much!!

 

Also this week I went on an exchange with a Korean Sister, who doesn't speak English, so that was exciting! I got to speak only Korean for 25 hours! So fun! And by the end I was thinking in Korean and responding to English in Korean, which was so good! It was nice to know that I can kind of communicate when I need too:) haha. I learned a lot from it, and also had a lot of fun. I 'got' to eat Pig Intestine Soup as well, which was... interesting, but I'm grateful I ate that instead of Pig's feet, which is what Sister Sexton ate in Ansan haha. So yeah. I lucked out on that one:)

 

But I hope everyone has a wonderful week and that finals go well for everyone! I'll be praying for you all! :):) Make it a great week! Love you all!!!

 

Love,

Sister Hunter

General Conference April 13th

My Dear Amazing Family,

This week was really good. Hard, but good because of conference:) We got to watch all 12 hours of conference and that made me SO happy. I loved all the talks, but there were a few that really were what I needed to hear. The women's conference was incredible, and I felt the greatest spirit when I watched that. There is just something to special about women, and I know that Heavenly Father truly has given us special nurturing and loving abilities. I also really appreciated all of the talks in the priesthood session, particularly Elder Oaks talk. I have been studying a lot about the priesthood and the differences between keys and authority and such and really had been praying that someone would speak about that in conference. It was such an answer to my prayers, and I learned a lot about the priesthood through that talk. I also thought it was a really good message for the world to hear about why women are not ordained to the priesthood and how motherhood is a complimentary power to the priesthood.  It was just really really good. President Monson's talks were so good as well. I really loved his talk about love and service and the powerful influence kindness can have for good, and in sharing the gospel. I loved Elder Holland and Elder Ballard's talk about missionary work and standing up for what you know is right. I haven't had mashed potatoes thrown at me (yet haha) but being on a mission definitely makes you stand up for what you believe in, and is a real catalyst for testimony because you have to truly believe what you are teaching and testifying of. It's been a great lesson to learn out here. Also, I really really appreciated Elder Bednar's talk about spiritual traction. It was just what I needed to hear. This past week I've been really frustrated with not knowing Korean, and I feel like my brain just reached it's limit of Korean knowledge and doesn't want to hold anymore. But I know that as I keep putting good, hard, diligent effort into learning Korean, I will eventually feel myself move forward more easily with the language. It's a little frustrating still to feel like I'm not going anywhere, but I know things will work out and this is just a time to rely on the Lord and do my best. Also, President Uchtdorf's talk was a wonderful reminder about gratitude, and I think it's something we all can try to do better, especially in our trials.

 

Overall, I felt like conference talked a lot about doing what is right in the midst of hard times, and I think that's so critical for the times that we live in. Satan is warring against all of us, and truly wants us to be miserable. I see his influence on people every single day here, more clearly than I did before, and it's heart breaking. But as we keep pushing forward and reading our scriptures and praying sincerely each day, we will have the inspiration of how to strengthen ourselves and our families testimonies and conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ. I truly know that He lives and he loves each of us perfectly. He died for each one of us. He went through every hard thing in this world, and has felt every disappointment, failure or guilt each one of us experience. He knows us in that personal way, and because of that He just wants to be there for us in our time of trial. I feel that that is true with all my heart. Sometimes we feel that He is not with us, but He is. The scriptures and our baptismal covenant teaches us that he mourns with us and comfort us when we need comfort. It's such a blessing to think the He is so near to us always. President Monson has quoted the scripture "He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee" two conferences in a row now, so I feel that that is especially important to remember. He is with us, especially when we work each day to be His hands, to touch others' lives for good. After all, you can't go too far from your hands:) So let us always be about the Lord's errand.

This week we found some more potential investigators, but all of our appointments canceled. That was really sad, but I know that as we keep doing our best things will work out. Sister Sexton has been a great support to me as we have been opening this area and trying to find people to teach. She's so wonderful and so open and positive. She always tells me how much she loves me and and said more than once with tears that she doesn't know what she'd do without me as a companion and friend. For this I'm super grateful, because I need her too, and I know Heavenly Father is soo good to us. He blesses us so much and gives us what is best for us always.

Also, some fun things that happened this week-- haha our hot water broke. So I'm pretty good at taking fast ice cold showers:) haha but after 4 days of praying, and some tinkering from our landlord, we now enjoy hot showers in the morning:) What a blessing! haha the little things become so much more wonderful when you don't have them for a while. Also, our landlord is the cutest little grandpa ever! haha. We see him everyday and he always asks us if we have eaten. He asked sister Hales if she can cook, and she said no, so one morning he called us and said he was coming to bring us Kimchee! haha. I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MUCH KIMCHEE IN MY WHOLE LIFE. haha. The container he brought takes up half of our bottom shelf in the fridge. It weighs at least 5 pounds. Not even kidding. And oh man. It is the BEST kimchee ever! Just talking about it makes me really excited to go home and eat some more of it. I think the past two weeks I have turned the kimchee corner. I officially love it. I will be eating it when I get home, so be excited haha. I think it smells good too, which I know I didn't think 6 months ago, so I guess I'm going to be a little weird when I get home next April :) Sorry about that:)  Also,  I can't remember if I told you this already, but a couple weeks ago boy started talking to me to ask me for directions, but then he looked at me and realized I wasn't Korean. haha so basically people think I'm Korean... until they look at me. haha. I think this is pretty exciting news:) One last thing is that spring is happening here, which means bugs are also happening. So sad. But Sister Sexton is pretty amazing. There was a bee in our house and we all screamed and ran out of the room, but Sister Sexton just walked up to it and said, "It's just like a butterfly." and it crawled on her hand and she calmly walked it outside. It was maybe the craziest and most amazing thing I've ever seen. I'm glad we're companions haha. Except she says she'd never pick up a spider like that. Darn. haha.

But anyway, it's been a good week and I just am so grateful to be here serving a mission in Korea! I love you all so much and pray for you every day! Hope all is well and that you have a good Easter next week:) Love you!

Love,

Sister Hunter

New Investigator :) April 6th

Dear Family,

 

This week I have some pretty exciting news! haha. Sister Sexton and I have our first investigator! We're so excited! It's that cute little grandma we met on our way to the temple! She's the sweetest lady and I still don't understand most of what she says to me, but she says it all with a warm smile, so hopefully she's as wonderful as I think she is! haha. But yeah. We met her by this store and she was SO excited to see us. And we went to her house and there were a bunch of Jesus pictures and crosses everywhere, so it's good to know she really has a testimony about Jesus already. And then, she sat us down and said, "can we pray?" haha. It was perfect! So we prayed and she got us some strawberries and she prayed over them and then we had a little mini lesson, and told her about JS, and the book of Mormon and showed her our family pictures (my picture book is so great btw! and I love the pictures of the 12 apostles and the prophet, because it always segways nicely into the church. haha) But yeah. There are also tons of pictures in my book with temples in it, and so we talked about temples a lot. I feel like since we met her on the way to the temple and she has been to the grounds and now we are talking so much about them that the temple will be really important to her. We found out that her husband has passed away, so hopefully we can help her with that:) Anyway, so we talked for a little bit and she was so cute, and then we heard some babies in another room, and she goes and pulls out the two most adorable little Korean boys I have ever seen! Both almost 2 years old. Oh my goodness. It was so fun to play with them for a few minutes. I forgot how much I love kids. It made me so happy! haha. But yeah. Apparently she does this thing kind of like foster care, and those two boys are being adopted by families in America. So cute. Also, they know four English words- hi, mom, dad and doctor. haha. Random. But super cute! Anyway, it was a great meeting and she wants to meet again this Wednesday, so we'll see how that goes! She told us she thinks God has brought us together, so that's always a good sign. She's really great though. Cutest lady.

 

Also this week, we visited this man in the hospital from our ward. he's having a surgery next week I guess. Hospitals here are really weird though. I'm not sure exactly how they work, but people can just walk around and leave (in their hospital clothes) whenever they want. It's really weird to be walking down the street and see people in hospital clothes wandering around. But yeah. Not at all like they are in America. And people go the the hospital for EVERYTHING. There isn't a doctor's office I don't think. They just go to the hospital. So yeah. really weird, but it was nice to visit with him and his wife for a little bit there.

 

This week I've been really studying about the restoration and the priesthood. I realized that I know almost nothing about the restoration of the priesthood, which is bad, because that's like one of 3 things in our church that is different from other religions. So I've been trying to find out a lot about that. It's also made me realize how little I know about the priesthood itself besides the basic. But I also am learning how grateful I am to have the priesthood, and all of the many wonderful blessings we have because of it. We couldn't have this church without it. It's crucial! We wouldn't have callings or prophets or modern day revelation or anything. We couldn't have temples or baptisms or the gift of the holy ghost.  Everything depends upon the priesthood. It's really incredible, and the more I learn, the more I'm shocked at how I've never learned these things before. So I would encourage everyone to learn more about the restoration of the priesthood, and build your testimonies of it. It's been a wonderful experience:)  I truly know that this church is true and that the Lord has blessed us with so much. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and he truly saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. I know that they responded to his humble prayer, and it was because of his faith and God's love for us that this church was restored. It's also interesting to note that the Priesthood was restored only after Joseph Smith followed this same pattern, and read and pondered on scripture, acted in faith, went to a secluded place and prayed to God. Sounds like a pretty powerful and effective pattern to me. I've been trying to be better about applying that in my own life, and I'm learning so much because of it!

 

The trees are blooming here, and everything is beautiful! I love spring here! There are cherry blossoms literally everywhere! It's so beautiful! We went to visit a less active this week, and she has the most amazing view! The mountain outside her window is simply covered with cherry blossom trees, so rather than being a green mountain, it's mostly white! SO PRETTY! I took a bunch of pictures, but this computer isn't really working for attaching pics. I'll try, but I might just send pics next week!

 

I'm super excited to watch conference next week too. We watch it a week late here, but hearing from you all how wonderful it is makes me happy! I love conference and it's crazy to think I'm almost a third of the way through my mission! So weird! But life here is SO good, and I'm really happy every single day. I tell everyone how much I love the Book of Mormon, and even though my Korean is still not good, I think the power of my testimony of the book of Mormon still comes across. We had dinner with the bishop's family and I was able to bear testimony of the Book of Mormon, and it was just a really really good experience. His wife thanked us a lot later and said it's what she and her boys needed to hear. She's such a cute mom, and really wants her sons to gain a strong conversion. But yeah. My testimony of the Book of Mormon has really been the thing to grow the most the last 6 months. I know it's true with all my heart, and it makes me so so so very happy!

 

I love you all! Send me your favorite conference quotes too! That'd be my favorite! Have a great week:)

 

Love,

Sister Hunter

God Opens Doors Mar. 30th

Dear Amazing Family,

I love you all SO much. This week was great! It was filled with SOOO many blessings! Every night, Sister Sexton and I take some time to write down the blessings we have had, and I'm sure they were always there, but just listing them has made me so so grateful. There are so many I almost don't have enough space in our planners to write them all. But seriously. Miracles happen so frequently.

One of my favorite miracles happened this past Thursday on our way to the Temple. We were on the bus to go to the subway to go to the temple, and we started to talking to this SUPER adorable grandma. She was so sweet! Anyway, so we gave her our card and got off the bus, and realized that it was her stop too! And she was taking the same train as us to the same stop. I don't know how much you guys know about this, but holy cow. That doesn't happen ever. It's seriously not something that just happens. I am certain that God placed us exactly there at that time, and inspired her to go where she was going. Also, she didn't have a set appointment, so she was able to go with us the whole way to the temple, and wanted to walk around the grounds with us. She gave us her number and told us she wanted to meet with us! It was incredible! This just doesn't happen. But she's the sweetest lady, and I can't understand a word she says, but I can feel her love when she talks. It's great. Koreans are really big about holding hands, and so she kept holding our hands and telling us how glad she was to talk with us. Anyway, so she lives near us too, so we are going to meet on Wednesday! I'm so excited! haha our first real lesson here in Geumcheon! haha It'll be great! And then hopefully by next week we'll have 1 investigator:) That will be awesome!

Another miracle happened on Saturday when we were visiting 4 less active sisters in our ward. They live in the nicer apartments in our area, which means we need a code to get in, or they have to let us in from downstairs (haha basically the worst invention ever) but before each of the visits we prayed and asked for the doors to be opened one way or another, and they all were! It was incredible, because they all happened in different ways. We also took the time after to pray and thank Heavenly Father for the miracle that just happened and I just felt how much He loves the people we were visiting. One door especially was cool, because we were standing there and we had tried to ring the people up in the apartment, but nothing happened. But there is this side door thing that all of a sudden just made a noise, and so i went and tried to open it. It totally opened. It was the coolest thing, because that door is NEVER unlocked! It was soooooo cool. I know that this is Heavenly Father's work, and He truly loves each of His children! It;'s wonderful to see and feel that everyday:)

Also, a huge miracle is that I feel like I'm learning way more Korean in this area. I don't know why, but recently memorizing vocab has been almost effortless. I keep expecting to forget what I learned because it was so easy, but it just sticks. I am forced to speak more too, and that is really really wonderful. Sister Sexton makes me make all the calls, which is really hard, but is cool, because every time it works out. Not because I'm good at Korean, but because God is working through me. But yeah. Things are SO good here.

Missionary work really is so much fun. Sister Sexton is so awesome. I seriously feel like I knew her in the Pre-earth life. We are so happy here and we are always laughing and smiling and working hard. It's great. I think that if I had any other companion right now, things would be a lot harder, especially since we don't have any investigators and that's hard, but because we are focused on our purpose as missionaries we are just so happy regardless. She's the sweetest girl, and I"m so grateful for the opportunity I have to learn and grow and serve with here in this area. I am so happy all the time:) haha. I also think our happiness is rubbing off on the people here, because they were really grumpy the first few days, but now they know when they see us they are going to have a nice friendly conversation with some nice, cheerful missionaries, and they are a lot nicer. It's great. We see many of the same people multiple times a week, which never happened in my last area,  but it's pretty nice here.

Also, I feel like I"m learning so much about the gospel and God. Every morning when I study, I just feel like I"m on cloud 9 and I"m so hungry to learn everything, but heavenly Father always gives me exactly what I need. I am so so so so grateful I'm here on a mission! I am glad I never let my fear of going and the unknown stop me from doing what I knew God wanted me to do, because I"m learning and growing so much.

One last thing is that Ho Sunhee (the lady we were teaching back in Songpa that is golden) just emailed me a picture of her boys. She also told me that she doesn't drink coffee anymore because she always thinks about me. It was the cutest thing ever. I love her, and I'm so glad that Heavenly Father let me meet her, and I feel so blessed that my example and teaching is helping her grow closer to God, even when I can't physically be there with her.

Anyway, life is SO incredibly good right now, and I couldn't be happier. Thanks everyone for your love and support and testimonies and good examples:) I have the best family and friends in the whole world! Thanks everyone! Love you all tons!!!

Love,

Sister Hunter:):)