Kenzie+Korea: The One With Lots of Miracles and Kimchi

Hello! Yes. I did! I made kimchi this week! But before that, I have to tell you about all of the miracles and blessing that were poured all over us this week!

Miracle #1: We decided to make this Christmas program focused on missionary work that counts down until Christmas Day and each day the members read scriptures, watch Mormon Messages, etc. all to get them focused on Christ and sharing His light. We got it all prepped and ready and presented it to Branch President who LOVED it. We really gained a lot of his trust by doing that and that is crucial in this area.

Miracle #2: So the family that got baptized this week is part of this super cute friend group of moms that includes the branch president's wife, Kim Unjung (the mom of the family who got baptized) and this other way cute mom named Jung Yoo-mi who all do fun things together with their kids. They have been trying to get Jung Yoo-mi to warm up to the missionaries for a while and we had just finished this term of kids' English class (it will restart in January) so we weren't sure how we could keep sharing the gospel with her. But then on Thursday we got a random text from Jung Yoo-mi inviting us over for dinner!!! It was amazing! We ate with Kim Jung-ah (branch president's wife) and Kim Unjung at Jung Yoo-mi's and played with their kids and ate STRAWBERRIES!!!!!! Yes, strawberries! I haven't seen strawberries or had them in months. I almost cried at we were eating them. It was so great and they want us to start coming over once a week until we start Kids' English again. I am so excited. We think we are going to do a Christmas FHE with them this week or next. Please pray that she will become interested in the gospel!!

Miracle #3: We sticker-board jundo SO much. Like SO much! Just to advertise our free English class and also find people with gospel interest. Anyway, the Elders got a random call from this girl (who they're not allowed to teach...oh bummer) who they passed onto us so we could teach her. She is soo dang cute and SO good at English. Her English name is Alice and it fits her so well. We are going to be meeting with her for an hour every week and practice English and talk about the gospel. I would really appreciate it if you could all pray her (and Jung Yoo-mi) to have the desire to be baptized. There is so much power in prayer and I feel like if everyone is all praying together miracles will happen.

Yeah...this week was amazing. And the cherry on top was the fact that we got to go do a Christmas FHE at a member's house last night and their mom taught us how to make kimchi!!! I have wanted to learn since I got my mission call! It was so much fun, but a lot of work! I'll send lots of pictures. It was so funny and so cute because the mom was dying about how well I can eat weird Korean foods. She called like two of her friends while we were there eating to tell them how crazy it was. Haha. We ate freshly made, STRONG kimchi (sooooo much garlic and red pepper and tiny shrimp go into that stuff it's not even funny) with pigs' feet and eel (yes. I ate pigs' feet...ew.) and rice for dinner and then we all sang Hark the Herald Angels Sing in Korean and I'm sure you can imagine the "Gloria" part was pretty stinky from all of that kimchi breath. Haha. It was probably one of my favorite moments of my mission so far. The spirit was so strong and it felt like Christmas at home even though people don't really celebrate Christmas in Korea. It just made me realize how much more we should focus on Christ at Christmastime. In Korea Santa and presents and trees aren't a thing. The only thing the members really celebrate is Christ and His birth. It's really cool and I think it would be really good if we were more like that in America too.

Anyway, last week was really great. And this week is going to be really great because I get to go on exchanges with Sister Cooper because she's my STL this transfer!! I am so stoked!!!! We are both so excited!

Love y'all!! Tell Grammy Linda I love her and Happy Birthday! I wish so bad I could have been there to see her!!! I cried when I saw the video of her getting surprised by everyone! I just love her!

사랑해요!!!!

"I you love!"

Sister Johns