I accidentally texted a wrong name for English class, but she came anyway

You all sound super busy back home!! That’s good, my companion always says an idle mind is satin’s workshop... so keep on with the hard work!! So guess what.... these past two weeks we got cancelled on 9 TIMES!!!! Unacceptable!! Don’t worry dad, I’m not bulldogging it. Oh did I tell you?? I saw two bulldogs in the park the other day. 2!! My joy was so full at that moment. I was dying and my companion thought that that was the happiest she’s ever seen me.. That was my pick me up for the week. Especially after all these cancellations! But even though we had been cancelled on, we again have seen miracles with coming in contact with us and wanting to learn more.

Our finding ways recently have just been sitting on benches in big parks or city squares and we talk to the people who sit by us and have fun easy going conversations. Our mission focuses on building relationships with people because it is very rare when people want to hear our message when we directly say we are missionaries and ask them to listen to our message. But when we actually talk to them, get to know them and express our thoughts and feelings about certain things, people become interested and we are now friends and they want to meet with us. :) I really like it. I don’t feel like I’m forcing people do so something they don’t want. They can accept or reject our message and I know that I am doing my part in spreading the happiness God wants them to feel. This week a member bought us pizza and we took it into a park and ate it and a lady came up to us and asked us if we could teach her English and we explained our English program and that we teach 30 min of English and 30 min of gospel. She was very interested and we gained a relationship with her and she really is willing to meet. Miracle:)

Another miracle, I accidentally texted a wrong name for English class, but she came anyway and we found out she was a previous investigator 5 years ago and is interested in taking the lessons. We taught her last night and we talked about everything. We asked her what the most challenging thing is with raising children and she replied in English saying desire. Wanting something for her child, wanting her children to do something and they do something else and how she has to change and accept the way her children (ages 7 and 8) make decisions and still love them. We related that to Jesus Christ and how even though we make mistakes Christ loves and accepts us all. He comes down to our level and understands us all. We had a deep conversation on what we thought love was. My thoughts were the ability of understanding others is a huge way we show love. We had really deep conversations and she was really smart. When we introduced the Book of Mormon to her we didn’t have to commit her to anything, she told us she'd read parts of it and will ask us questions for next time! She reminded me of a member in our ward, Brother Ham. He’s a philosopher!!!! He’s crazy ha-ha. He almost got deported from Singapore because he couldn’t say "pardon" correctly and the guards were getting a bit cautious of what he was trying to do... hahaha he kept saying "paden" instead and got frustrated because they couldn’t understand what he was saying... we're planning on teaching our new investigator with the philosopher this week (sister Jung). (p.s. a lot of Koreans can speak really good English, we teach in Korean and they like talking in English sometimes, so we get Korean and English thrown at us).

So super sad thing that happened this week, our sister Jo couldn’t get baptized this week because she got pneumonia and we couldn’t teach her.  We visited her and it was weird, she seemed perfectly fine but she had IV’s stuck in her arm and her son stays with her in the hospital... it was strange... we sang a hymn to her and one of the sick ladies belted out an 'amen'. Ah it’s so hard; we see Satan trying so hard to get to those that are truly trying to find the truth.  She will get out of the hospital this week, but we don’t know when she will be able to be baptized because her husband isn’t fond of the church. :/ We stay hopeful and keep working hard to help others in need!  We got home teaching assignments this week. p.s. how’s Pat Smith?? Tell her I say hi!! And keep reading those Liahonas and Ensigns!! They are so good. I love personal study time. I’m a slow reader, but I try to focus and study what is being said. I am a slow learner and slow retainer of information, but I think it’s because Heavenly Father wants me to focus on the basics and not get mixed up with trying to retain all this information that I can’t fully understand all at one time. I’m grateful for being able to focus on the simple parts of the gospel. It has been a blessing in my teaching and learning. Loves!!

Sister Wright

Brother Ham in his BMW

 Silk worms.  They eat them

We believe the lord trusts us

 So... this week started off with going to the doctor. Nothing serious, my cold hasn’t gone away and it’s just making me real tired and dizzy. Good things doctors are cheap here.  I have a sinus infection and the doctor professionally blew my nose! Ha-ha anyways, besides all that fun stuff, we got cancelled on a lot this week. We met with only 2 of our investigators this week... It’s a bummer because one  of our lovely ladies we teach got pneumonia and cancelled and because there are  still a  lot of things we have to prepare her for, we might  have to push back her baptismal date. And her husband is not happy about her change of religion so we are trying to work with him so he can give consent that she can get baptized. We love her and want her to come closer to Christ through baptism but we don’t want to break up her family because family is so important.  It’s hard, and she is struggling but we serve her with love because we know that Heavenly Father loves her even more. We decided to show our love by banana bread ding dong ditching! Ha-ha it was fun and she watched us run off from her balcony. We ran down 6 flights of stairs!!  Glad it wasn’t 25 flights! We thought we got away safe but she saw us and her 5 year old son started screaming at us! Ha-ha he wasn’t saying any words, just screaming... ha-ha fun experience and she had a good laugh. (Sister Jo).

We had a sports activity this Saturday. They are going to have them every Saturday from now on. We play mini soccer and a game called cho-ku. It’s like volleyball but with feet. After that we decided to clean the church grounds because there was a baptismal service on Sunday and we were already in p-day clothes! We started weeding! Thanks mom and dad for making me weed my whole life, it was fun! And reminded me of all those times we had to go out and weed the front and back yard. It seems like my whole life has been filled with memories of weeding!  Ha-ha I truly love it now and we were able to get the youth and ward members involved! Then the members and bishop kidnapped us and took us out to a traditional Korean restaurant and ate noodles with ice! It’s like slushy ice and soup with thin angel hair noodles and it tasted like Chinese chicken salad… delicious! I think its called chae gook su. After we ate, they took us for a walk and see the nature out in the farm land. We came back to the church, taught a lesson to our lovely investigator who is moving to California soon. She is so sweet and growing in faith and understanding how prayer works. (Sister Kim) She’s like “you are advanced in prayer! I am just a beginner!!” she’s so cute, she was talking to our less active and she asked if Sister Kim is a member and she said, "not yet”!! She is amazing! Anyways, after we taught her, it started pouring rain outside and it kind of flooded the church.. Crazy. Two rooms were flooded and we cleaned it up with a mop and bucket and we filled up 2 full mop buckets of water. Then laid down newspaper to soak it up!  That was interesting.  

Well this Sunday was the baptism! A whole family got baptized!  It was so sweet and we got to sing “I am a child of God” (the missionaries) the primary sang and the youth sang. They are so happy and already feel like they have been members for years. All the missionaries this Sunday had either less actives or investigators at church!  We believe the lord trusts us and the ward to help do this work and we see the difference and feel the difference. The ward seems brighter and they notice the difference as well.

Last night as  we were out having  conversations with people,  we  ran into a  lady we’ve met  before and she talked and walked with us all over the area, we would say we have to go a certain way and she would just  say, ok  lets go together!! Ha-ha she’s a little quirky and silly and a little lonely and wanted to talk with us.  We talked and shared a message with her and she would accept our message and then change the subject and talk about random things. We were wondering if we would ever get home on time because she kept saying "let’s go together! Ha-ha but because of that event, when we were finally able to go home, we ran into an LDS member that actually came up to us! He’s form America who is Korean and visiting for the summer. He is preparing for a mission and he said it was so cool to run into the missionaries where he was staying. He didn’t know where a church was and is totally willing to come to church with his family. We have totally seen the Lords hand in this work and know that it is His and He will do what he needs to guide us to the people that need us! Really good week!! Love you! 

Sister Wright

Ice noodles--Delish

Squid Ban Chan

Weeding at the church

Water clean up

dessert:bingsu

I would just like to say I love this ward! The members in this area are so loving and willing to help and welcome new people that come to church. We have been blessed this and last month with having our friends come to church! It has been a blessing and really shows that through our faith that miracles can happen! I have faith that Heavenly Father sees the hard work and desires of our heart to bless us with such wonderful things. This Sunday, our investigator came to church and while I sat with her during sacrament, I asked her if she remembers what we taught her about sacrament. We talked for a little bit and she suddenly said “because I know you want to share with me about Christ, I know I have to listen intently to what you say". I was completely shocked when she said this because recently when

 we taught her, she said she has no desire to really be part of this church, she believes in the same values and enjoys us and has no prejudices against us, she just doesn’t have faith in Jesus Christ. But this week she has totally changed! She has been praying to overcome her simple challenges she’s trying to overcome and she is happier. I see her faith shining, even if she doesn’t notice it herself. She is amazing! A really cool thing our bishop did was came up to her and took her with us to his office and talked to her about her needs, concerns, her faith. It was really cool, we were kind of skeptical with what he was going to talk to her about but we realized he just wanted to get to know her and make her feel welcome. Our bishop is somewhat soft spoken and doesn’t have much to say but in his office, he is a miracle man and I could sense the pure energy and spirit he had. It was a really amazing experience. She is planning to move to California and we are planning to meet up when i return from the mission! She is a genuine person and is like our mom here. She is representing Korean hospitality while we are here because we are guests of her country. This experience with her really shows how making relationships with people in these areas is so important and how we are not done with our mission when we return home. I will already have so many opportunities to help others come to Christ when I return home, and our investigator is planning on going to church together when we meet up again! She is so amazing. I love her!

On the other side of things..

my companion almost got run over by a car... I was trying to yell out but only weird noises were coming out of my throat... embarrassing and scary and being hit by cars is very common in Korea.. Ha-ha anyways, the grandma in our ward is slightly crazy and makes me sit by her at church. Ha-ha she’s so funny and cute and makes random funny comments in church that I wish I could fully understand!! Korean fact, everyone carries around Asian fans with them because it’s so hot! It is very convenient. It’s the paper folded out fans and other traditional fans. They also have sun umbrellas. I wish I had one, but my fan will do!!

It was a really good week; I wish I could share more!!

Love Sister Wright

quesidilla!

message cards with magnets and put them on less actives doors!

No one liked the octopus so I had to eat it

Interesting way to decorate a road

This week has been Less Active Week! It was an interesting experience because a lot of our investigators cancelled on us and one of them broke up with us.. :(  so sad, but instead of those appointments, we had time to contact less actives and people who were interested  in the church. This past transfer, we have seen about 4 people come back to church! It has been a miracle and amazing working with the ward members and leadership of the ward. They really have jumped right in. This week really showed the way of the Lord and how he provides a way for us to help those who are in more need of our help. We called a less active Marina and she’s from the Philippines and we met with her on Sunday at church! She didn’t understand it because she doesn’t speak Korean very well and she hasn’t been to church in over 14 years, but we asked her afterwards of her experience, she said she  feels like she’s back home!  We love her already and are excited for her to be back. At the beginning of the week, we met with Joy Lees parents and we taught them a lesson on the conference talk "our 4 minutes" and encouraged them to fill their lives with the things the Lord wants them to do including coming to church and keeping the commandments. (the father is less active) The mother shared an experience and we bore testimony to them of the joys of this gospel the joys of missionary work, because our time here is so short and we want to fill our lives with happiness and joy.  I wonder what made them name their child, Joy. Maybe that’s a question for next time :) He really enjoyed our company and he actually was the one who wanted the missionaries over! We ate rice and soup and veggies and octopus. No one liked the octopus so I had to eat it, even though I rarely eat it either!!! There was a lot... but it wasn’t too bad, I’m getting used to it. Man these missionaries need to shape up or they’ll never survive! Ha-ha just kidding. I just turn out to be the one who has to eat all the fatty meat and fishy things....Anyways, unfortunately the father didn’t come to church :( it is hard, but we can’t do it for them so we will keep working with them.

This week I have been working on strengthening my faith. Do you have a PMG in the home??  I’m working on the Christ like attributes :) I want to progress as much as I can and become a better person, starting with my faith. Ether 12:12. It is a forever endeavor, but a happy one! Love you!!

Love Sister Wright

The trees have IV's 

We have a Costco near by.  It's the best!! 

It kind of reminded me of Alice in wonderland

This week during my personal study, I read in alma 7:19 and it says "I perceive that ye are making his paths straight." I thought this was an interesting concept, something I hadn’t really thought about too in depth. But it reminded me of a quote saying something along the lines of" I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul" we are the ones making the path, His path. It is his path but we are in charge of where and how it’s going because we have that agency that He provided for us. We are the ones making it straight or turning in other directions. It kind of reminded me of Alice in wonderland... anyways, interesting thought.

Anyways, this week, Elder Cook came to Korea with his wife and spoke to us!  Super cool and fun to have him here. He talked to us about how the younger missionaries can’t rely on experience and knowledge as much as the older missionaries, but more on relying on revelation and inspiration. I have experienced that in this work here because I am not as experienced or all knowing, but being blessed to learn how to rely on that revelation has helped me feel confident in this work. He also said that you succeed when you invite, even if they reject. This is something all of us can learn and try to put into practice. Whether it is just asking them to say hi to the missionaries the next time they see them. He also talked about the most important thing we need to accomplish in this work is love. Love for the people, not making fun of silly things, not questioning culture or anything like that.  Loving your companion. Learn form them as much as you can. Build each other up and help others see them in a good light. Next, love your mission president and how we will learn from them what we need to know that can affect us the rest of our lives.   And love the Lord. We need to recognize that it’s the savior’s message. I loved the conference! He made me feel so comfortable in doing what we need to do:)

Korea is great. We attract people who like to sing Christmas songs to us; the grandmas and grandpas make us do jazzercise with them for our morning workout.  Investigators are great and progressing. My companion and I tried sewing a makeshift hem on my slip. It was embarrassing and a disgrace... ha-ha. It’s hot, I sweat a lot.  The elders tried saving a cat out of a tree. They did it ha-ha but he got infected because it bit one of them... they’re fine now. I’m going to Costco today!!!  Happy pday! I’m going to go eat a hot dog and chicken bake!

Love Sister Wright

Members like to braid my hair!  At church at hair places and at cafes...ha-ha