HEY!
This has been a super busy week, but has been really good. We had to do two back-to-back exchanges so a lot of our week was taken up by that. In the first one, I was here in Jinju and a native Korean trainee came in. I admit I was really nervous. But it was SO much fun. It really helped me realize how much I have progressed with the language. I also realized how much I have missed living with a Korean. She was JUST like Sister Lee Handa, but brand new and young. We had a lot of fun!
In the second exchange I went to Milryang with another native sister. I think that was my favorite exchange so far. She could speak English almost fluently, and as we talked we found we had a lot in common. We had a blast! Anyway, exchanges were really good and the sisters are all INCREDIBLE.
One miracle of the week. We met with a woman that we talked to last week on a bus. She is in her twenties, and is super sweet. We met up with her to do a 30/30 English lesson in a cafe, and had a great time as we taught her. We asked if we could start the gospel part of the lesson, she said, "Yeah! I actually have a lot of questions." Umm. Please share. We then started trying to answer her questions, showed her the Book of Mormon, and read the introduction together. She really loved it. She even asked where in the Book of Mormon it talks about the doctrine of Christ, so she could see how to find salvation. Seriously. She is golden. She wants to come to church, but the only problem is that she has a full time job and works every day. As we keep teaching her and as she progresses, hopefully she will be willing change some things and make time to come to church. We are excited though!
While I was on exchanges with the Korean trainee here in Jinju, we got a call from a number we had never seen before. But it was one of the Sacheon elders, telling me that our Sacheon Branch President found us an investigator, and he was calling from her phone. He passed it over to her, but she spoke super quietly and I couldn't understand her very well, so I had to pass it to the poor trainee. She did really well though! The referral from President was really nice, and we set up a time to meet. On Saturday, we went to Namhae (the big island in our area where she lives) and met up with her. She is a high school student. She is extremely shy and quiet, but as we talked with her and tried to help her feel comfortable, she started talking more and smiling and laughing. First we took her out and got some kimbap, and really felt like we needed to spend time with her and be her friends. We could tell she liked to be with people, but didn't have a lot of friends. So we went with her to the library where she likes to go, and then to a cafe so we could teach her. We talked a lot about God's love for us, and that because of Him we always have a friend and can find a lot of peace in our lives. She seemed to really like it, and told us she wouldn't mind learning more about the gospel. The next day, Branch President even took her to church with his family! We had to be in Jinju that Sunday, but we heard that she seemed to really like it. She needs the gospel so much.
We have a stake talent show kind of thing this next week, that both our ward and branch are doing. We practiced with Jinju ward members yesterday, and sang some old Korean pop songs. They had me accompany them on the ukelele a little bit, and it was super fun! I am not sure what exactly we will do for the roadshow but we are still pretty excited. For the Sacheon branch we are doing a rap and dance with the youth. Heh heh...super stoked.
Lately I have been translating for some of the American members in the ward during church. We go with them to their meetings, and often if the other members need to talk with them or visit them they will take us with them to help translate. It is actually really fun. It can be kind of stressful, but helps me really focus during the meetings. Yesterday we had some more foreignors visiting, so we had to split up a lot more and sit by different members and translate.
One of the less actives we are trying to work with came to church yesterday! Her mom was less active and started coming back last transfer, and then as we have been visiting their house the she has talked with us more and participated in the messages.
I think I talked about this when I was in the MTC, but did I ever tell you about the talk by Elder Bednar (given in the MTC) about the Character of Christ? I have been thinking a lot about that this week. Elder Bednar says that the Character of Christ is that in hard situations (or really all situations) when everyone else's reaction would be to turn inward, Christ turns outward. When Christ was suffering and in pain, instead of focusing on himself, he put others first, comforted the apostles, and healed His "enemy's" ear. I think this has been one of the biggest lessons and things I have been working on during my mission. While there are times when things may be hard, when we give our all and nothing seems to come of it, or even when it seems like everything is going wrong, how will we react? I have so many weaknesses, and as I have been trying to become like Christ and be the missionary that He wants me to be, I have thought a lot about this. I know that even if sometimes it feels like there nothing else we can give, if we think of the Savior and turn outward, we will be filled with a peace that goes beyond our comprehension. I love this gospel. I love the Savior and this chance that we have to become like Him.
I love you all so much!!!
Sister Stapley
This has been a super busy week, but has been really good. We had to do two back-to-back exchanges so a lot of our week was taken up by that. In the first one, I was here in Jinju and a native Korean trainee came in. I admit I was really nervous. But it was SO much fun. It really helped me realize how much I have progressed with the language. I also realized how much I have missed living with a Korean. She was JUST like Sister Lee Handa, but brand new and young. We had a lot of fun!
In the second exchange I went to Milryang with another native sister. I think that was my favorite exchange so far. She could speak English almost fluently, and as we talked we found we had a lot in common. We had a blast! Anyway, exchanges were really good and the sisters are all INCREDIBLE.
One miracle of the week. We met with a woman that we talked to last week on a bus. She is in her twenties, and is super sweet. We met up with her to do a 30/30 English lesson in a cafe, and had a great time as we taught her. We asked if we could start the gospel part of the lesson, she said, "Yeah! I actually have a lot of questions." Umm. Please share. We then started trying to answer her questions, showed her the Book of Mormon, and read the introduction together. She really loved it. She even asked where in the Book of Mormon it talks about the doctrine of Christ, so she could see how to find salvation. Seriously. She is golden. She wants to come to church, but the only problem is that she has a full time job and works every day. As we keep teaching her and as she progresses, hopefully she will be willing change some things and make time to come to church. We are excited though!
While I was on exchanges with the Korean trainee here in Jinju, we got a call from a number we had never seen before. But it was one of the Sacheon elders, telling me that our Sacheon Branch President found us an investigator, and he was calling from her phone. He passed it over to her, but she spoke super quietly and I couldn't understand her very well, so I had to pass it to the poor trainee. She did really well though! The referral from President was really nice, and we set up a time to meet. On Saturday, we went to Namhae (the big island in our area where she lives) and met up with her. She is a high school student. She is extremely shy and quiet, but as we talked with her and tried to help her feel comfortable, she started talking more and smiling and laughing. First we took her out and got some kimbap, and really felt like we needed to spend time with her and be her friends. We could tell she liked to be with people, but didn't have a lot of friends. So we went with her to the library where she likes to go, and then to a cafe so we could teach her. We talked a lot about God's love for us, and that because of Him we always have a friend and can find a lot of peace in our lives. She seemed to really like it, and told us she wouldn't mind learning more about the gospel. The next day, Branch President even took her to church with his family! We had to be in Jinju that Sunday, but we heard that she seemed to really like it. She needs the gospel so much.
We have a stake talent show kind of thing this next week, that both our ward and branch are doing. We practiced with Jinju ward members yesterday, and sang some old Korean pop songs. They had me accompany them on the ukelele a little bit, and it was super fun! I am not sure what exactly we will do for the roadshow but we are still pretty excited. For the Sacheon branch we are doing a rap and dance with the youth. Heh heh...super stoked.
Lately I have been translating for some of the American members in the ward during church. We go with them to their meetings, and often if the other members need to talk with them or visit them they will take us with them to help translate. It is actually really fun. It can be kind of stressful, but helps me really focus during the meetings. Yesterday we had some more foreignors visiting, so we had to split up a lot more and sit by different members and translate.
One of the less actives we are trying to work with came to church yesterday! Her mom was less active and started coming back last transfer, and then as we have been visiting their house the she has talked with us more and participated in the messages.
I think I talked about this when I was in the MTC, but did I ever tell you about the talk by Elder Bednar (given in the MTC) about the Character of Christ? I have been thinking a lot about that this week. Elder Bednar says that the Character of Christ is that in hard situations (or really all situations) when everyone else's reaction would be to turn inward, Christ turns outward. When Christ was suffering and in pain, instead of focusing on himself, he put others first, comforted the apostles, and healed His "enemy's" ear. I think this has been one of the biggest lessons and things I have been working on during my mission. While there are times when things may be hard, when we give our all and nothing seems to come of it, or even when it seems like everything is going wrong, how will we react? I have so many weaknesses, and as I have been trying to become like Christ and be the missionary that He wants me to be, I have thought a lot about this. I know that even if sometimes it feels like there nothing else we can give, if we think of the Savior and turn outward, we will be filled with a peace that goes beyond our comprehension. I love this gospel. I love the Savior and this chance that we have to become like Him.
I love you all so much!!!
Sister Stapley