Mission Memories

So, since next Sunday is Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share my & Nate's Love Story over on my Love Story Sunday blog.  I spent all day yesterday working on it.....be sure to head over there this Sunday!!

So since we met on our mission, we both dug out our mission journals & scrapbooks.....so much fun!  I was stuck in the middle of tears & laughter as I read all of the fun memories.  I miss it so much.  Anyway, I wanted to post a few of my favorite mission memories.  These are more for my children to enjoy when they read my blog books later in life....but hopefully you will all enjoy them too!!

March 1, 2003:  "This morning we went to Pak In Young and Yoo Joo Sun's again.  (These were my FAVORITE people in Korea) We taught them the 5th, it talks about fasting and tithing.  We were a little nervous, but we prayed and had faith.  They did end up feeling pressure about tithing, but it wasn't detrimental.  And they are still excited about coming to church tomorrow!  Then they took us out to lunch.  They took us to this place that only serves mudfish in every form.  So we ate whole fish- fried, in soup, and mandu.  It was so scary and so incredibly GROSS!!!!  Sister Melver and I thought we were going to die!!  But at the same time, it was fun because it was such a crazy adevnture!!  I'm excited for tomorrow.  I have been praying so hard for them.  Right now, the Lord is blessing Sister Melver and I so much - right in front of our eyes.  Personally, He has blessed my Korean speaking skills so much.  I am speaking faster and saying things I didn't know I could say.  It has literally been an overnight change.  And I can teach now!  I have been praying and waiting for this!!  I am learning how to simply talk to these people and explain the Gospel.  We are being blessed, and more importantly, our investigators are feeling our Spirit and love, and they are progressing!"

April 12, 2003:  "Yesterday we went to visit Han Soo Hee.  We ended up having a really good talk.  She said that some of her friends don't accept our church, and she said that they told her that God doesn't answer our prayers.  So we bore testimony and shared some experiences.  She goes, "All of those churches are so different, how do I know which is right?"  I asked her how she thought she could know.  She said prayer.  Right!  I told her that people could tell her all kinds of stuff and try to persuade her one way or another.  But the only way she could really know anything for herself is to ask God."

April 28, 2003:  "I had a major turning point in my mission tonight:  I ATE DOG!!  We went with Elders Ahn, Campbell & Hatch.  And Ee Hey Sok and Ee Gwan Weh from the ShinPoong ward.  We were so scared!  I was shaking when I ate it!  I only ate 3 bites.  It wasn't so good.  It tasted like bitter, tangy roast beef!  Crazy.  At the end, Sister Melver asked for a doggy bag, and we died laughing.  It was so funny!  We ate ice cream with the elders afterwards."

Sunday, April 7, 2003:  "We had a Shihk-Sah (meal) with a member, but we couldn't find it.  We wandered around with Elder Armstrong and Elder Engstrom for like 30 minutes.  So I stopped a lady on the street and asked for directions.  She ended up taking us around the corner to where she owned a BAR!!  We ended up waiting there for 30 minutes for the member to come pick us up!  She gave us pears and juice.  Hilarious!"

July 26, 2003:  "I know I am going through the hardest tests of my life right now.  The Lord is testing me in so many areas.  But the hardest is that He is testing my devotion and willingness to serve Him.  I have 3 months left on my mission.  And staying motivated & focused out here is harder than ever.  I am so tired.  My body is tired, and my mind is even worse.  I've lost a lot of drive.  I don't study Korean very much, and I've seen my confidence in my teaching drop way back down to when I was really young in the country.  I don't like that.  I want to do better.  For August, I have set some goals.  I will spend my time studying harder in Korean, and I want to keep studying the Bible.  I really do want to show my Heavenly Father that I love Him and that I can submit to Him.........Okay, well my serious entry was interupted by a knock on the door.  It was our strapping Elders Doulas & Clegg.  They came to fix our light and kill more spiders.  It was so funny!

August 22, 2003:  "Today I understood EVERYTHING at our appointments!!  I have been waiting 16 1/2 months for this day!!!"

September 16, 2003:  "Today on the subway, I started talking to this lady.  She said she was Catholic, but she had heard of the Book of Mormon.  I told her we were in Korea giving away the Book of Mormon to all people and inviting them to read.  She just goes, "Oh, thanks!" and she just took it from me.  It was amazing!  She was so interested!!  It was so cool - I feel like it has been so long since someone has acted to happy to hear anything from us.  It totally made my day, and it made me want to work harder and offer that book to more people."

October 25, 2003:  "This morning I woke up at 5:45 and just started to cry.  Last night Elder Biehl called and said that my "next area is Mi-guk".  I just laughed and we joked about it.  But this morning, the meaning of that word hit me HARD.  Mi-Guk means America.  I am really going.  I have been getting sad lately, but I know that I have no idea how hard this is going to be.  We met Soh Yun Hee yesterday, and as usual, the Spirit was there, and I wanted nothing more than for her to simply UNDERSTAND our message and realize that it's true.  I am going to miss teaching the Gospel to the Korean people.  This has been a hard 18 months - sometimes it seemed unbearable.  But I have loved it with all my heart.  My mission has changed me, and I never ever want to forget what I have learned and felt here."

Oh, I could go on and on....I loved Korea.  I miss it every single day.