Hey!
We finished exchanges for the transfer this week! I went with a native Korean sister, who is super awesome. It was a lot of fun and it was really good to do exchanges there. I really felt like I could serve the sister during that exchange. As she has been training a foreigner, she has been pretty stressed out and really hard on herself. I really felt like I could help her and just talk with her and tell her how well and how much good she is doing. I felt really good after that exchange, and like I was able to help with something. I love these sisters so much! They are incredible examples.
We had a lesson again with the new investigator that we taught last week! Her name is Go Sae Young. We did English, and then followed up on her commitment of reading some parts of the Book of Mormon. She did it, and had a lot of thoughts and questions! GSY is so smart. She has a lot of experience with the Bible and her own church, and yet as she reads the Book of Mormon and talks with us, she is very open. She is very analytical, but when we come to a little difference in doctrine she tries to understand and really learn. Gosh, she is perfect. I could just talk with her all day! We are hoping to give her the baptismal invitation next time.
I got a haircut! I had cut a few inches of Sister Call's hair a couple weeks ago, and this week she did the same to me! I kind of like having it shorter.
Another really fun thing we did this week was the Stake Roadshow. All the wards and branches in the stake performed. With Jinju ward we sang some popular old Korean pop songs (what we call "adjussi" or old man music) and with Sacheon we sang and danced to Arilang, and then did a rap and dance. It was SO fun.
On Sunday we went to Sacheon branch for church. KML, the quiet girl that we met with last week came. We stayed with her the whole time and then did a lesson at the end. We taught the whole restoration, and committed her to baptism! It was awesome. She really is SO prepared. She is still very quiet, but we can tell that she really likes the church and loves the gospel so far. We still want to go pretty slowly with her and really help her feel God's love, but we are hoping that she will be baptized next transfer. She doesn't really talk very much during the lessons, but after church in a mission prep class that we are teaching for the youth, I talked with her during the teaching practice part. We talked a little about the "God is Our Loving Heavenly Father" of PMG, and I showed her my favorite part and asked what hers was. She was quiet for a little bit, and then said really confidently, (in Korean) "I like THIS part." and pointed to a sentence about prayer and how God wants to communicate with us. I asked her why, and she said, "If God wants to talk with us, then he is a good person." When her mother was pregnant with her, her father left them. She has never had a father or something like that that really cared for her. I love that she is starting to connect with Heavenly Father. I love that girl so much. I just want to stay with her all the time and show her how much God loves her!
This week we have transfer calls! We'll see!
We had Zone Meeting on Friday, and Sister Call and I led a workshop teaching thing in it. It was so fun! We really focused on the Doctrine of Christ and how it affects everything that we do. As I had been studying and preparing for the workshop, I had a story come into my mind. I remembered hearing about a couple who lived in Berlin during the communist era. They were soon to be married, and one morning the woman went out to get some groceries or something and went to the other side of the city. When she was coming on her way back, she was stopped by men, building a wall. The Wall of Berlin. She was not allowed to go back. For the rest of her life, she was stuck on the opposite side of the wall from her fiance. Finally, years later when the wall finally came down, the man went across the border, looking for his fiance. However, he learned that she had passed away the week before. They never saw each other again. As I thought about this story, I thought about my family. What would it be like if I couldn't see my family again? There is a wall like that between us and our Heavenly Father, and our families in the eternities. We cannot get over it. There is no way. That is, without the Doctrine of Christ. It is through this doctrine, of having faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, receiving baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end that we can get over this wall. It really is the only way. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's plan, that through His Son and His teachings we can overcome all things. I love this gospel!
I love you all so much! I'm praying for you all!
Sister Stapley
We finished exchanges for the transfer this week! I went with a native Korean sister, who is super awesome. It was a lot of fun and it was really good to do exchanges there. I really felt like I could serve the sister during that exchange. As she has been training a foreigner, she has been pretty stressed out and really hard on herself. I really felt like I could help her and just talk with her and tell her how well and how much good she is doing. I felt really good after that exchange, and like I was able to help with something. I love these sisters so much! They are incredible examples.
We had a lesson again with the new investigator that we taught last week! Her name is Go Sae Young. We did English, and then followed up on her commitment of reading some parts of the Book of Mormon. She did it, and had a lot of thoughts and questions! GSY is so smart. She has a lot of experience with the Bible and her own church, and yet as she reads the Book of Mormon and talks with us, she is very open. She is very analytical, but when we come to a little difference in doctrine she tries to understand and really learn. Gosh, she is perfect. I could just talk with her all day! We are hoping to give her the baptismal invitation next time.
I got a haircut! I had cut a few inches of Sister Call's hair a couple weeks ago, and this week she did the same to me! I kind of like having it shorter.
Another really fun thing we did this week was the Stake Roadshow. All the wards and branches in the stake performed. With Jinju ward we sang some popular old Korean pop songs (what we call "adjussi" or old man music) and with Sacheon we sang and danced to Arilang, and then did a rap and dance. It was SO fun.
On Sunday we went to Sacheon branch for church. KML, the quiet girl that we met with last week came. We stayed with her the whole time and then did a lesson at the end. We taught the whole restoration, and committed her to baptism! It was awesome. She really is SO prepared. She is still very quiet, but we can tell that she really likes the church and loves the gospel so far. We still want to go pretty slowly with her and really help her feel God's love, but we are hoping that she will be baptized next transfer. She doesn't really talk very much during the lessons, but after church in a mission prep class that we are teaching for the youth, I talked with her during the teaching practice part. We talked a little about the "God is Our Loving Heavenly Father" of PMG, and I showed her my favorite part and asked what hers was. She was quiet for a little bit, and then said really confidently, (in Korean) "I like THIS part." and pointed to a sentence about prayer and how God wants to communicate with us. I asked her why, and she said, "If God wants to talk with us, then he is a good person." When her mother was pregnant with her, her father left them. She has never had a father or something like that that really cared for her. I love that she is starting to connect with Heavenly Father. I love that girl so much. I just want to stay with her all the time and show her how much God loves her!
This week we have transfer calls! We'll see!
We had Zone Meeting on Friday, and Sister Call and I led a workshop teaching thing in it. It was so fun! We really focused on the Doctrine of Christ and how it affects everything that we do. As I had been studying and preparing for the workshop, I had a story come into my mind. I remembered hearing about a couple who lived in Berlin during the communist era. They were soon to be married, and one morning the woman went out to get some groceries or something and went to the other side of the city. When she was coming on her way back, she was stopped by men, building a wall. The Wall of Berlin. She was not allowed to go back. For the rest of her life, she was stuck on the opposite side of the wall from her fiance. Finally, years later when the wall finally came down, the man went across the border, looking for his fiance. However, he learned that she had passed away the week before. They never saw each other again. As I thought about this story, I thought about my family. What would it be like if I couldn't see my family again? There is a wall like that between us and our Heavenly Father, and our families in the eternities. We cannot get over it. There is no way. That is, without the Doctrine of Christ. It is through this doctrine, of having faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, receiving baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end that we can get over this wall. It really is the only way. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's plan, that through His Son and His teachings we can overcome all things. I love this gospel!
I love you all so much! I'm praying for you all!
Sister Stapley