The One With Miracles...and Pig-Part Soup

Hello Everyone!!!

Last week was a really great one and this week is going to be even better because we are going to start teaching our first real investigator! I am so excited! I just can't even!

A few weeks ago a less active sister who is about 24 showed up at church and continued to come to church every week after that. All of the members encouraged us to help her in any way, so that is what we did. She had a really hard childhood and a tough background with her family. When she was 15 she met the missionaries and was baptized. She was super diligent in coming to church, YW activities, etc. but after a lot of her friends left to study in America, she was kind of forgotten. The people who would drive her to church stopped bringing her, etc. So years went by and one of her friends from church came back from America and realized that she wasn't there. He sent her a simple text and invited her to come, so she did. When she was at church she felt really happy again like she did when she was first baptized. But church is early in the morning and she worked the night shift, so she had a hard time waking up. However, every Sunday morning at about 6:00 she said that she heard a voice telling her "wake up!! wake up!!" And she knew that meant that Heavenly Father was telling her where she needed to be on Sunday. So she kept coming to church. And the YSA took such great care of her. Last weekend she went to this big YSA camp for the whole Pusan area and during it she felt the spirit so strong. She said that she kept getting a feeling that she needed to serve a mission. But she has forgotten a lot of what the missionaries taught her so she wants us to re-teach her the missionary lessons in a mission-prep setting. When she told us that, we just about died of excitement. So we started preparing and praying and really pondering what would be best for her. During personal study, I felt really strongly that we needed to invite her to find a friend that we can teach together. That way she can re-learn the gospel at the same time that she is practicing and preparing for missionary work. Sister Kim Yeji felt the same way. So we met with her and she was so excited. Yesterday morning, we got a text from her telling us that she was bringing her little sister (who is not member) to Stake Conference with her. Sister Kim Yeji and I were dying of excitement. We called that night and they want to meet with us together on Thursday. Please keep praying for them. They are so golden! I have never seen so much faith from one person in my life. This sister is such a wonderful example to me! I can't wait to help her more!

We also had another miracle this week. The lady that we teach English to (but who has zero gospel interest) kept a commitment. In all of the time since the sisters started teaching her in January, she has never kept a commitment. But she read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet that we gave her. We were so excited! She also opened up to us about some bad experiences she had at her friend's church when she was little and why she feels weird about religion. Now we know her needs and how we can help her. I am so excited. I have been praying for her a lot lately. At transfer meeting on Monday, President Barrow told us about how we need to look at others as God looks at them: with no limits. When God sees us, He sees our divine potential. And he doesn't just see missionaries, or members, or Christians, or religious people that way. He sees every single person who has ever lived that way because we are all His beloved children and He wants us to become like Him. Anyway, I decided that I wouldn't look at anyone with limits. Ever since her first lesson, missionaries have put limits on this girl. Basically, everyone has seen her as if she has no hope for progressing. But that is not how God sees her. She is his loved daughter, and he send missionaries to her for a reason. So Kim Yeji and I have been praying really hard for her because we know that she has the potential to progress if she chooses to (you always have to add agency to the equation). And this week, she kept a commitment. It was so small, but we know if we continue to believe in her and help her, she will be able to have a lot of the doubts, confusion, etc. that bother her about religion resolved. If that's all we do, just help her feel less confused about life, that is great. Every effort is worth something even if there is no numerical result.

Miracle #3: This week I went on splits in Jinhe with Sister Morton (STL). It was super fun, I learned so much, and we found a really beautiful hiking trail that leads to a Buddhist temple on our morning run. But best of all, we saw a miracle! We were walking home from a lesson with Bible-bash Grandma (super hard...I hate Bible bashing!!! Ugh) and this random dad-aged man said hello to us in English. In Korea sister missionaries are not allowed to talk to men unless they talk to you first for safety and cultural reasons. So usually, late at night we would say hello back and keep on walking. But both of us just decided to stop and give him a Because He Lives card and invite him to English class. Five minutes later, he called our number on the card and said he wanted to meet with us. Again, for safety/cultural reasons we had to refer him to the Elders. So we had him call Jinhe B-Team (the new set of Elders who are white-wash training). They are meeting next Sunday. This man has interest in the gospel and not English, which is such a rare blessing! I am so excited to see how that goes.

Well, I'm sure everyone is wondering exactly what "pig-part soup" is. And I'll tell you right now. It is pig part soup. As in soup made out of pig parts...like ear, liver, intestines...you name it and it's in there. During our exchange we had MCM meeting with our ward mission leader and he took us out to eat this special (emphasis on the *special*) dish which is unique to the Pusan area. Yeah. That was really hard for me to eat. But I did it. And Sister Morton actually really likes this dish, so we switched bowls halfway through the meal and she ate the meat for me. I really owe her one! But MCM went really well. I had to do the progress record and present our investigators, their needs, etc. all in Korean. And I did it. I have no idea how, but I did it and I understood everything that our ward mission leader said during the meeting, which was a first for me because usually I have no idea what he is talking about. But that was a huge miracle because I was so stressed that I would die without Sister Kim. But I survived. And 5 minutes after I had no idea what anyone was saying again. Hehe. But I am just grateful that I was able to survive that day on my own!

Okay, one more fun story. After Saturday night Stake Conference the former bishop (my favorite person ever) drove us and the Relief Society President and this other adorable old lady from the ward. He played this super old Karaoke-style Korean music for the old ladies. The Relief Society President belted along and danced like a 17-year-old girl when her favorite song comes on the radio. I was squished in the back of the car with a big plate of kimbab on my lap and a Korean on each side of me. I don't think I have ever felt happier in my life. I love this place. Jinhe ward is magical. The members are so much fun and so kind. I told the RS President that after I am done with my mission I would come back and go to a 노래 방 (Karaoke)with her because missionaries aren't allowed to go during their service. I am pretty stoked for that day to come. Haha.

Well, that's all I've got. Have a wonderful week! Don't forget to write me!! ;)

사라애오!!

I You love!!

잔스 자매

Sister Johns

This is what missionary work looks like in Korea during a typhoon

Pig-part soup

Our new district! (Well, about half of the missionaries are new! Haha)

Super delicious 떡볶이 

The One with 6 Weeks Down

You know what's the absolute worst? Getting on your email and realizing that all of the people you love got married, engaged, fell in love, etc. and you missed it. I haven't really felt homesick at all until now. I am so happy for everyone and Lauren and Marcy both looked so beautiful. I am so happy Kayleigh is so happy. But it is like getting stabbed in the heart when you realized that you missed out on such special occasions and that you will continue to miss out for a year and a half. But all of that just makes me want to work harder because if I don't then missing out was worthless. I do not want to waste my time in Korea! I only have 15ish months left to do this work!

This week was super busy and we had a lot of adventures and we received lots of blessings. I am so excited to tackle this next transfer! My Korean is still so Elementary and I still have no idea what anyone is saying, but the language has improved so much over the last 6 weeks. I feel so blessed and I just keep waiting for something really awful to happen because I have had such a charmed mission so far! I have the world's best trainer, the most wonderful area and ward, the missionaries I have had the opportunity to serve with are so wonderful, and the language is finally beginning to click just the tiniest bit. The only thing we're missing are investigators, but we had a few miracles this week that may turn in to investigators.

Okay, so where do I begin?

I'll start with English class last Wednesday. Sister Kim Yeji and I have been working really hard to find. And this transfer especially we are trying so many new things because we know that if we show Heavenly Father that we are willing to do anything to find, we will find people who are waiting for us. Anyway, two new non-members showed up to English class. One is a member's friend and she is really cute. The other is the sweetest girl that the Elders met who works at the Post-Office and helped them when they were sending a package so they invited her to English class. She is my favorite! And her name is Yeji (means intelligence) like my companion! She is the cutest, has the cutest clothes, and she is really good at English. She comes to my class because I teach advanced level. After class, I noticed that she was looking in the Hymn book and we started talking about how our different churches sing a lot of the same hymns. I had the best feeling about her. Even if she just wants to learn English and that's the only way I can serve her, I am so glad to do it. When members of other churches are friends with members of our church it makes me so happy. We all just need to love and respect each other and be excited that we have common beliefs. Especially because people in Korea have really weird ideas about our church. Usually, in Korea if people have heard of our religion before, they hate it and hate you because of that. It's really sad. It's not like it is in the states where people *generally* (there are still hateful people there for sure!! I have experienced them on so many occasions) are accepting of lots of different beliefs. The hatred is just different in Korea. I can't describe it. Anyway, I have been praying for her because I can tell that she is a very special person.

Later in the week we taught our "investigator" lady who wants to learn English but doesn't really have much gospel interest. In the past other missionaries have really hated her because of this, but I must be insane because I really love her for some reason. I just can't ever forget the fact that, just like me, she is God's daughter. And if the only way I can share His love for her is through teaching her English, so be it! During Christ's ministry, he took on the role of servant. So I will do my best to do the same thing. If lonely old ladies want me to come over and listen to them talk about Revelations for hours and other people want me to teach them English, that is what I will do. President Barrow always quotes Christ in the New Testament and reminds us "by this shall men know ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another." If we simply love others, they will see what our purpose as missionaries is and they will know we are Christ's representatives.

I has a really cool experience the other day when we were on the way to an appointment. I was thinking about the part in PMG where it talks about being a blessing and not a burden to the bishop of your ward and it made me think a little broader. Am I a blessing or a burden to my companion? Am I a blessing or a burden to my mission president? Am I a blessing or a burden to the Lord? I was thinking about this and how I need to be better about opening my mouth when a voice came into my mind (this has never happened to me ever before!) and said "So do it." I realized that thinking about being an effective missionary wasn't going to make me one. I need to act. So I just started talking to the lady next to me on the bus. It was a really simple conversation and I just gave her a Because He Lives card and I'm pretty sure she didn't understand a word I said, but I showed Heavenly Father that I will work and I will act. From then on have been trying to talk to everyone at every chance I get. And I saw a blessing come from that! After I chose to show Heavenly Father that I was willing to work hard by acting, the Elders called us and said that they found a FAMILY for us to teach! We will meet them this week! I am so excited! We will see how that goes. I will be praying so hard.

On Thursday night we had transfer calls. It was super funny. Sister Kim Yeji and I were doing planning when all of the sudden the phone rang. And the phone never rings on the night of transfer calls unless you're getting transferred...and trainers and trainees usually never get split up. So we were freaking out and screaming and finally I went to answer the call. Usually if it's the Korean AP on the phone, the Korean companion is getting transferred and visa versa with the foreign AP. But the call was from President Barrow...and that only happens if something big like a call for training, STL/ZL/DL, is being extended to you. So we were freaking out. Sister Kim answered it and President Barrow just laughed and said that he meant to call the Elders, but he called us on accident. We just about pooped our pants of fear. Haha. But we knew before the Elders did that Elder Trentman would be whitewash training on Jeju, so that was fun to know. I'm gonna miss that kid. I told him he has permission to marry Aubrey. Lol. (Sorry Aubs, but I tell that to every Elder who I am pals with so you'll have like 50 husband options soon). 

Well, that's really all I have to say about this week. I have learned so much in one transfer. And I am so excited to learn more and work even harder this transfer. I know there are people in Jinhe who are prepared and waiting to hear the message of Christ's Gospel. We just have to find them. That's the hardest part. But I will walk in the rain and humidity and heat until there are holes in my shoes and my feet are bleeding and talk to strangers in Korean until my voice is gone and serve the members and less-active members until all of the love in my heart has been squeezed out. I know people who are waiting for us exist in Korea, even if it is hard to believe when you receive rejection after rejection after rejection. But I have faith. And faith and action on that faith are all you need.

I love you all! Don't have too much fun without me! Aubrey: don't grow up too much. Kayleigh: don't get married (or I will die), Mom: don't worry about me, Dad: don't kill yourself from working to hard! I am so thankful for my friends and family. I am so thankful for this mission. I hate thinking about the day I have to go home. Yesterday at transfer meeting one of the returning sisters got up to share her testimony and she was just crying and crying and one of the Elders asked why/if she was okay and through broken/muffled tears she said "because I have to go home!" She sounded like a tired/whiny toddler (in the best way...lol). I have a feeling that will be me in 15 months. I love this place. I love these people. I have never prayed harder for anyone in my life than I have for the people of Korea and Jinhe especially. I never knew it was possible to love so much. Yes, this is hard. And I'm fatter, more tired, more stressed, and more busy than I have ever been in my entire life, but I have never been happier. I love this mission. I am so grateful for this experience I am having. To anyone out there debating whether or not to serve a mission, if you get the answer from God to go, do it. I promise you will never be happier anywhere else, doing anything else. God is so great. He has changed me so much in just 6 weeks. The longer I am here, the more inadequate and small I feel because every good thing I do does not come from me. It comes from God. Gosh, I just can't put how much I love my Heavenly Father into eloquent words!

Okay! I love you all! Congrats to all of the new married couples, engaged folks, etc. Love y'all!!! Write me letters and emails and I will love you forever!

사랑해요!!!

I you love!!!

잔스 자매

(Sister Johns)

Playing in Sister Mortensen's Hanboks at Zone Pday

Hi, I'm Kenzie and I'm acutally Korean

zombies

My first district (Don't mind the BOM we used to prop up the cameras)

 One of the American members from the military base gave the Elders real deal taco ingredients, so they made tacos for us! Q-T's!

 My comp's very first taco ever!

Our cute apartment! 

The bishop's wife makes the most delicious and beautiful food for us.

Stinkin cute!

The whole ward all together before all of the young people left for BYU and before transfers! We are getting 3 new Elders because one Elder will be white wash training in Jinhe! Way exciting!

Reunited with my MTC pals at Transfer Meeting!!! I love these humans all so much!

The One with the One-Month Mark

Hello everyone! Can you believe I have been living in Korea for a whole transfer after this week? How crazy is that! Time flies when you're serving a mission!

This week was a fun one, packed with adventures and embarrassing moments. And I am becoming more Korean every day. My companion jokes that my hair is gradually turning black every day. Haha. She is so fun and funny. We laugh and joke so much and I don't even know how because I can't speak Korean and she can't speak English. But we have so much fun. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful trainer.

Okay, so I'll start with last P-Day. We went shopping in 마산 and I got a ukulele! Yay! After P-Day was over, the former bishop (and one of my favorite people in the world), 박경섭 (Pak Kyoung Sop), took us and the Elders to a fancy Chinese restaurant. Bishop is the nicest. He treats us missionaries like we're his kids because his family has been in Provo learning English for the last two years, so he has been all by himself. It's so sad! And he just got released as bishop too, so we love to visit him and make sure he's not too lonely. The restaurant we ate at was so good! And let me just tell you something. Korean Chinese food and American Chinese food are two completely different things. So yummy!!! I can't even begin to tell you! And I ate a shrimp with it's head on! EW! Hehe. I am pretty much convinced I could eat anything these days and not die. Bring on Fear Factor. I could kick butt on that show! After dinner, we went down to the pier and there are all of these cute families camping out together and cooking food while they fished. It was pretty magical. They use starfish as bait to catch this special type of fish that is really delicious. And the starfish are coated in this stuff so they glow when you throw them in the water. We hung out at the pier and shared a message and threw glowing starfish in the ocean. It was a pretty unforgettable night. Korea is the best. I love this place more and more every day.

On Tuesday, we did service at the hospital. We stuffed envelopes with newsletters and shared funny stories. It was super humid. We were dying. Later that day, we taught our investigator, the really cute grandma. It went really well, but she was just having a really hard time connecting the Bible and the Book of Mormon. We just kept telling her over and over that they are equally as important as each other and that God expects us to study both equally because they support each other. But she invited us back and said she wanted to meet twice a week.

Random fun story: There is this super spicy ramen here in Korea that is allegedly so spicy that it is illegal in America. Every missionary who eats it poops their pants and cries because it is so spicy, but you have to eat it at least once during your mission. I kept telling Sister Kim Yeji that I wanted to try and she said I could because I am really good at eating spicy Korean food. In fact, I love it. So we bought the ramen even though the Elders kept telling me not to eat it because if I did I would die. So we ate it. And I LOVED it. It is SO good. And yes, it made my nose run and my eyes water, but I was totally fine. It was even less spicy to me than it was to my Korean companion. She was super shocked. She's going to take me to try Korea's spiciest 떡볶이 (my favorite Korean food...it's just the yummiest spicy red pepper paste soup with Korean rice cake in it...holy yum!). I am so excited!

Another funny story: A few weeks ago we were sticker-boarding for English class at the pier when this random lady came up and said that she and her husband were friends with the missionaries years ago and that they wanted to feed us dinner. So we got their number and contacted them. We set up an appointment to stop by, but it was her husband's number. We called like three times to confirm that his wife would be there and he said she would be. But I just had a feeling we should bring the Elders with us. It just kept nagging at me. But they were busy doing Zone Leader stuff and they had a lesson, so we didn't want to call them and interrupt. Plus, this guy said his wife would be there. So we knocked on the door and started to walk in, but Kim Yeji got a bad feeling and we both immediately knew that we needed to ask where his wife was. He said she was exercising and that she wouldn't be home for a while. We politely explained that we couldn't come in because of safety rules and he got super mad. We said that we could come back later or we could call our friends, the Elders, to come but he said that his house was "too small" for four missionaries. It was way creepy. So we just left as quickly as we could. And made sure that Sisters didn't try to contact him again. But now Sister Kim Yeji and I have a funny joke about the creepy grandpa randomly showing up everywhere and scaring us. When something like this happens, you just have to make something funny out of it. And we learned to follow the spirit, no matter what the circumstance is. And we also are so thankful for the missionaries rules and we want to keep being 100% obedient. Obedience is the key to happiness!

This week we had a conference for all of the Sisters at the mission home in Pusan! SO fun! We had an awesome meeting and were fed spiritually...but also literally because we all cooked a huge Korean lunch together and learned some new recipes! It was so fun! Then that night we taught the cute grandma again, but it didn't go very well. She is really set in her ways. I really don't blame her though. She is a grandma and they tend to be that way. And we are just happy that she goes to a church, loves the Bible, and loves God. We tried to explain that to her. We tried to explain to her that we only want to teach people that want to be taught and that we are not out to destroy other churches. We respect other religions and if she doesn't want us to meet with her we won't. But she keeps inviting us back and insisting we meet her preacher. It's weird. Lessons with her are rough. Like all old Korean ladies, they just talk and talk and talk and don't stop. She talked for 30 minutes straight. I almost fell asleep because I couldn't understand a word she was saying. My head hurt so bad. She just kept saying that the Bible was important and that we needed to read it more. Finally, I had had enough. The spirit wasn't there and my head was spinning and our mission scripture, 3 Nephi 5:13 just kept repeating in my head. She stopped talking for about three seconds and I could finally say something. We were teaching about repentance and faith and I had her turn to the story in the New Testament about Paul's conversion. Then we read about Alma the Younger's conversion in the Book of Mormon and we talked about repentance and conversion. I felt like I needed to tell her why I was on a mission. So I did. I shared with her 2 Timothy 1:7, 11. I told her that I am not out to destory other churchs, but I am also not in Korea to Bible bash with her preacher. I told her that I am in Korea to represent Christ as Paul did. I am still an imperfect kid. I miss my home. I miss my family. I don't understand what people are saying, I have to eat weird food, I don't ever have any time for myself. But I am a representative of Christ, so none of that matters. I told her that the entire reason why I am struggling through all of this here in Korea is because I love Jesus. Kim Yeji also shared her testimony and the spirit was finally back. We are going to meet again on Tuesday, but I think her preacher will be there. I am a little scared because I really don't want to Bible bash. That is against everything missionaries do. Ugh. But it will all work out.

Finally, last but definitely not least, we had a miracle this week! Remember the less-active sister we met with my second week here. The one with the son taking all of the big tests? She was at church on Sunday with her two kids! They loved it and the Young Women really welcomed her daughter. I was so happy! Keep praying for them!

Okay, well that's all I currently have time for!

I love y'all! Have a great week!

사랑해요!!!

I you love!

Sister Johns

At the pier!

I succeeded at making cookies in Korea in a toaster oven, which is almost impossible. Faith is real my friends.

Cute cookies and message cards for the members and less-active members

YUM

 "Fire" ramen

This stuff turns your lips red like a clown

 Mango heaven!

We needed help with English class, so the Doghe sisters came and visited and we got Bing soo! YUM!!!

The One with the Stinky Kimbab

Hello friends and fam!

Once again, there's a ton to write this week and not a lot of time, but I will do my best to fill you in on all of the details.

This week we...

Found an investigator!

Went on exchanges for the first time

Ate the most delicious thing I've had in Korea so far

Had my first Zone Conference

Met an amazing less-active sister

...and almost died from the stench of rotten week-old kimbab. But more about that later.

Let's start with our new investigator. Last week, Sister Kim Yeji and I were on our way to get some Baskin Robbins in honor of it being the 31st when we started talking to this sweet old lady. We sat with her on a bench for a good 25 minutes and talked about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and about how God and Jesus love us. She was really interested and seemed to already know a lot about the Book of Mormon. We set up an appointment to meet again on Tuesday. So Tuesday came along, but we had to go on exchanges with the STL's so Sister Kim Yeji had to go to 마산 for the day and I was with Sister Steward, one of the STLs who served in Jinhe with Sister Kim Yeji before I came. Luckily, her Korean is really great, so I wasn't worried about the lesson. We taught about The Book of Mormon and she said she had read the whole thing (still not sure about that...haha) and she seemed to know a lot. That was good. We taught her about the Restoration and she really seemed to like it, but then all of the sudden she just started talking and talking and didn't stop for like an hour. And there was no graceful way to leave. Korean grandmas are kind of like that. Once they start talking, they don't stop. Haha. She just kept going on and on and on about John the Revelator and Joseph Smith and a bunch of stuff that I couldn't understand. Haha. And at the end of the lesson she invited us back, but she wants a guy from her church to come too, so we're a little nervous that a Bible bash might go down. We are bringing one of the YSA members with us on Tuesday because we are a little scared. Haha. But other than that, we are excited because she really seemed to relate to our message.

Okay, now I must let you all know that if you are ever in Korea, you MUST and I mean MUST try 빙수. I don't even know what it is, but it is so good. It's like frozen ice milk (like heaven snow in your mouth) that is topped with different delicious things like redbean paste or choco powder...or my favorite yummy soybean powder and almonds. You put this yummy milk cream on it and pretty much just die of yummy happiness. We had it for dessert-dinner after we unexchanged and we have eaten it three more times since. Whoever said you couldn't get fat in Korea had no idea what they were talking about and has probably never been to Korea before!

On Friday we had Zone Conference. It was amazing! This transfer, our mission is reading the entire Book of Mormon together before the end of the transfer. The entire conference was about the Book of Mormon, it's amazing power, testimony of Jesus Christ, and importance to missionary work. I know that the Book of Mormon is God's word. Go read it. Now. I have learned so much and received so many blessings from reading it every day. We have to read about 4-6 chapters a day to finish in time and at first, that was really hard and boring (not going to lie! Haha), but now I can't get enough. Lately, I have been getting at least a day ahead every day! To all of you at home: It is summer and I know you have time on your hands. Go get a cheap copy of the Book of Mormon and underline: 1. Any reference to Christ or any of his names 2. Any Christ-like attributes (as listed in Preach My Gospel) you see in Christ or other people in the BOM 3. Any time the Lord speaks. That's what we have been doing and it has been amazing! My testimony of the Book of Mormon has been strengthened so much and I cannot deny that it is true. I have recognized God's hand in my life so much more since I started reading it and it has brought me closer to Christ in every way. So go read your scriptures!! You won't regret it! ;)

Last P-day we met up with the 마산 (Masan) missionaries and went out to eat. During lunch, this lady came to our table suddenly and said that she is a less-active member of the church and that she is really grateful for the sacrifices missionaries make and she paid for all of our food. Sister Kim Yeji and I got her number and set up a time to come by and visit so we could thank her. We met on Thursday and it was such a great experience. This sister served a mission on Temple Square and went to BYU so she speaks perfect English. She lives in the nicest house! It is two stories! She fed us pizza and we talked about her family and about how she loves art. She has a really pretty Klimt print on her wall and she really loves that I am an art history major. We talked about art for like forever. It was so nice! After chatting for a while and playing with her adorable baby, we shared a message about the Book of Mormon. The spirit was so strong. She told us she wasn't ready to come back to church, but she would really appreciate it if we could visit her whenever we have time. We are going to go back next week. I think the key with less-active members is love. Well, the key with everyone is love. We will just continue to pray for her, give her love, and pray to know how we can help strengthen her.

Okay, now the moment you've all been waiting for. The incident that will go down in history as the stinky kimbab nightmare. So, all week when we would come to the church to do various activities, like teaching lessons, English class, etc. Sister Kim Yeji and I kept noticing this weird smell upstairs. We thought it was the trash or something and that it would go away when the Elders took the trash out...but it didn't. Oh, it did not. It stayed and it lingered. And on Saturday it got about 10000000 times worse. On Saturday, we came to the church to prep for English class and we went upstairs to use the copying machine when the most ungodly stench punched us in our noses. Clean words can't even describe the smell. It smelled like straight up EWWW!!!! #%()U#_% We were dying. So we started looking for the culprit. We thought maybe one of the Primary/Nursery-aged kids pooped in a corner or something...or that some sort of animal died. After about 10 minutes of hunting, we found a roll of week-old kimbab baking in the heat of the windowsill. We don't know who left it there, but they need to repent because they almost killed two innocent sister missionaries with that smell. The kimbab was so gross! I was the only one brave enough to touch it, so I had to clean it up. It was oozing with week-old kimchi, tuna, ham, veggies, and sauce. Somehow by God's grace, we survived it and got rid of the smell before class started...miracles happen. Moral of the story: always refrigerate your kimbab, otherwise someone might die.

And that's all I have to say about that.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. I would love to hear from all of y'all! Just send letters to the mission home. They pass them out at Zone Conference/transfers. Or just email me. Whatever is easiest for you. And I'll do my best to respond, but I can't make any promises. There is hardly any time for anything--especially writing letters--in missionary life. But that aside, I love you all even if I don't have time to respond to every email/letter. Just know that I love you and pray for y'all. And I mean that. It takes me about 35 years to finish my prayers at night and in the morning because I mean it when I say I'll pray for you! ;)

사랑합니다!!!

"I you love"

Johns 자매

The sweet YW president in the ward takes such good care of us! During ward council she noticed that I was a little sunburned so she bought us these cute parasols that everyone in Korea has. We had a few minutes before an appointment so we went by the ocean to look at the cool fishy boat and took some glamour shots. Lol. The only catch is that I'm a sweaty Sister Missionary, so there is no glamour here!

 Random cool boat we saw the other day on the way to an appointment

 빙수 aka heaven

Choco 빙수

One of the moms in the ward found out that we didn't have any kimchi in our fridge, so she gave us some. And her kimchi is my favorite kimchi!

Kimchi, rice, and Korean clothes: I am one happy Korean missionary!

밥 (bab=rice) Burger is the cutest chain in Korea! 

Cute new Korean clothes! 

Reunited with my Seoul Sista at Zone Conference!

Random shot of Jinhe 

The One Where She Learned What Missionary Work is All About

Hello friends and family!

There is so much to write always and never enough time!

This week was a fun one with lots of ups and downs, but I learned so much from the people around me including members, less-active members, random people on the street, and my fellow missionaries. Gosh! So much to share! Where to begin??

I'll start with funny story. Here in 진해 the ward members are really awesome and they love to feed the missionaries. So last Sunday, this sweet lady in the ward offered to feed us lunch on Tuesday. Just a few minutes later, the bishop's wife told us that the young women in the ward need some strengthening, so later that night we texted them and asked them if they would want to get some lunch with us at some point during the week. The girls responded that they were busy with school and Tuesday at lunch was the only time that would work. See the dilemma. We couldn't cancel, so we had to eat two lunches...yikes! We were praying that the YW would maybe just want ice cream or something small, but of course they wanted Chicken. And you don't know chicken until you've had chicken in Korea. I don't even know how to describe it...just think Panda Express on steroids. It was a real 사면 초가! Sister Kim Yeji and I just laughed and started joking that our lunch appointment with the members would be chicken and then we'd have to go eat chicken with the YW right after and that we'd eat so much chicken that we'd start throwing up chickens or eat so much chicken that we'd turn into chickens. And guess what? Heavenly Father has a real sense of humor because we had chicken (but it was homemade...thank goodness!) with the members and then we had to go eat chicken again. And somehow we managed to survive! Both appointments were really great and we had a really good discussion/lesson with the YW about being missionaries. On Sunday they both shared their testimonies about how they did missionary work this week. I was so proud! It was worth is to eat all that chicken...and did I mention that I hate meat? ;)

The next day was district meeting. It was soo good and I really learned what being a missionary is all about. We have a stake-wide English camp coming up and we have been working really hard to prepare for it and to improve our weekly English classes. We talked a lot about this and the Elders shared a really great story about English class and why we do it that applied to missionary work in general. So, a few transfers ago in one of the other zones, one of the areas had an English class that a TON of members attended, but there were little to no non-members/investigators there. The bishop of this ward really wanted to shut English class down because he felt that it was ineffective for missionary work. The missionaries didn't know what to do, so they called President Barrow (the mission president). President Barrow's response was really awesome. He said, "The sole purpose of English class is to serve others, not to teach the gospel." I really needed to hear that because I have felt like everything I do has been ineffective because we don't have any investigators to teach. But I realized that what everyone out there says really is true: missionary work is not about statistics, numbers, or quotas. It is about service and love. Every time I stop and talk with an old lady or help someone carry their groceries or teach English, etc. and the person doesn't want to hear about the gospel, I am not failing. I am giving a little bit of myself to that person, as Jesus did. When I do that I am being a disciple and representative of Jesus Christ: the definition of a missionary. If I never have high stats on my mission, if I never see a baptism, if I never have an investigator, but I have been working hard, serving everyone, talking to people, being obedient, and doing the very best I can I will not have failed as a missionary. I will have succeeded because I will have tried my best to be like Christ who was rejected over and over again. But I have faith that I will see miracles, I will find people who need the love and happiness of Christ's gospel and that I will get to be the person that brings the gospel to them. And I firmly believe that these people do exist in 진해 even if it seems like there is no one here who wants to hear our message. I just have to keep working hard and never give up because I love those people who I haven't met yet and they need this gospel, so I will try my best to ignore the miserable heat and humidity, my aching feet, my inability to speak Korean, the 5ish pounds I've gained, and all of the other things that drive me nuts and make me want to quit going. I am here to serve, so that's what I'll do. Missionary work is hard and I've never been more physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted or drained in my entire life, but I have also never been happier. I am not going to lie. Waking up every day and realizing that I have to keep going and not stop for 16 more months is so hard, but I have never been happier so it is so worth it. Missions are so worth it. Loving other people is so worth it.

After District Meeting, we went to McDonald's and I think for the first time in my adult life I actually ate a full McDonald's meal! There's a first time for everything! I am so proud of me! Basically, if you are a health nut or a germaphobe, never go on a mission, especially to Korea! As a missionary you are constantly having to eat tons of food...even food you don't want to eat! You just can't be picky! And in Korea everyone shares everything. All food is family style and you just dig in and double dip and it doesn't even matter. I love it! There's this Korean saying we learned at the MTC "even one bean should be split amongst friends." And it is so true here! Korea is the best!

On Friday, we met with a recent convert who was baptized and then never came to church again after. She is 16 and she really has no idea why she was baptized. We are working really hard to teach her and make her know that she is loved and welcomed always. I really love her! We also taught English to this really beautiful and kind lady who the missionaries have been teaching English to, but she has no interest in the gospel. According to 김 예지 자매님, she usually really dislikes the missionaries, but she really liked me and that was really surprising. I really loved her a lot. I couldn't imagine her every being a hard English student, even though she has been really difficult in the past. I think it is because I am really bad at Korean so she can relate when we are working on English. Even though she doesn't have a lot of interest in our lesson, I love serving her and I am so glad she didn't drop us this week like we thought she might. We also visited an old lady in the ward who is really lonely. She is SO funny. I just love her! She made us this really sick-nasty tomato juice stuff and told us stories about how when she was young, a British man tried to get her to marry him and how he offered her a huge diamond ring, but she said no. Haha. She also went on forever about how she loved foreign men. Lol. That was so funny!

I had to do math this week! Yes, I said math! Ick! Before one of our appointments, we got a call from a less active member who works at an English academy. She needed me to come translate and solve English math problems for her so she could be sure she was teaching her students the right thing. I just about died! It was super basic algebra, but I haven't done algebra since like 10th grade so I just couldn't get my brain to work! But somehow by the grace of God, I did it!

Well, that's all I have time for this week!!

사랑해요!

"I you love!"

Johns 자매

Our cute YW!