"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

It's my last week and it doesn't feel real in the least. I'm nervous and sad to leave, but God is definitely helping me!

This week we saw lots of miracles, as usual. I am just so blessed. Every moment in this work is precious and special. 

This week we got 2 new investigators and they are really great! 

We met with one of our investigators that we hadn't met in a long time which was a miracle! 

Yesterday was my farewell talk in my ward here and although I told myself I wouldn't cry, I cried in the first couple sentences and cried throughout the whole thing! I've served in this ward for 8 months now and all the members feel like my family. I'm not ready to say goodbye. 

A quote Mom sent to me last week that I really liked is, 

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

-Winnie the Pooh  

Recently I've started to reflect more and more on my mission and realized again how blessed I am to have had this experience. Every moment--even and maybe especially the hard ones are precious memories where I learned and grew closer and closer to my Savior. Some things I have really learned though my missionary service are:

•  Jesus Christ is my Savior. I have so many weaknesses and inadequacies, but I am not alone and I can be made strong through Him.
• God truly loves His children, especially these people in Korea. Before my mission I knew so little about Korea, but now it's so special to me. I love these people and feel so much love for them. I am so grateful to have been called to serve in this blessed land. 
• This is the Lord's work. I have seen too many miracles to be able to deny it. When we open our mouths and preach of Him and His gospel, He is always with us. 
• This church is true. I love The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I'm so grateful for the blessings that come through this restored gospel, including the Book of Mormon, the priesthood, temples, eternal families, ordinances, living prophets...I know it's all true and I can feel of its truthfulness each time I open my mouth and share.  
• The power of prayer is real. God hears and answers our prayers!
• And so much more. God is so good! He lives! I know it with all of my heart and will always be His faithful servant. 

I love you all! See you soon!!

낫제스 자매 선교사 

Sister Naatjes^^

I don't want this to end!

This week went by way too fast! I can't believe it's already Monday again. 

This week we saw so many miracles and so many blessings from the Lord. I feel so undeserving and just blessed. 

This week we started meeting with one of our member's older sister and her two daughters and they are so great! The two girls remind me lots of Bailey and Mikki which makes it fun to teach them! We had a lesson with them on Monday and also Wednesday. The mom has a lot of questions and it's fun to teach. On Wednesday we taught the first lesson and about baptism and we asked the investigator's younger sister (who was baptized about 5 years ago) to bear her testimony and she shared a simple testimony that was beautiful. After she shared it I glanced over to her and saw that she was quietly crying and I knew she was feeling the spirit. I was grateful to be a part of that tender experience. 

This week our recent convert 곽지원 who we have been praying like crazy for finally came to church again after over a month and I felt so happy! She still loves the church and is going to come every week from now on she said! She has such pure and simple faith and I really feel that she will lead the rest of her family to being baptized too! I felt so happy! Also at church all of our recent converts were able to come! One of them who has been having a hard time fasted and prayed and was in tears in church because she said she heard exactly what she needed! I feel so blessed to know them and learn from their examples. I don't know how I will leave them. 

We have started seeing a grandma outside of our apartment almost everyday limping down the street and pushing a big cart of garbage--many grandmas in Korea do this as their work. They collect garbage on the street and in trash cans in order to earn a little bit of money for each day. We started trying to help her a long time ago and she didn't let us, but this week she let us! We picked up trash with her a couple days this week and she started to trust us. Today on our way to get a few errands done we saw her sitting on the curb on the sidewalk and sat down next to us. She told us about how she works from 10 to 7 each day and how her body aches. I started massaging her knee and a couple minutes later she said, turning her back to me, "well, if you're going to massage me, massage my back!" haha! We sat there and massaged her back on the side of the road! I was grateful for the opportunity to massage her achy back and tell her how amazing she is and how much God loves her! It made our day today! She's amazing!! 

I don't want this to end! It doesn't feel real that it will end. I just feel so much gratitude and my heart is so full! I love this country and this people and my God! I know that this is His work. This church is true! The Bible and the Book of Mormon are the word of God! We have living prophets today! Families are forever! There are so many things to be grateful for! 

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! 

낫제스 자매 선교사 ^^ 

안녕하세요!!!

It's only been a few days since I emailed last because of 설날 the chinese new year, but we've seen so many miracles!!

On Thursday (Chinese New Year) it was P-day and we were invited to our recent convert, 조은정's house and we made homemade 만두 (i think in english it's dumplings)! It was really fun!! I love them!!

On Friday we started with no appointments because of the holiday, but then randomly we had 3 different members call us and ask us to visit! It was pretty cool! 

On Saturday we went to a young women's activity with one of our investigators and one of the girls in our ward who is pretty shy gave a spiritual thought and we didn't think much of it, but then later that night we felt like we should visit her family. They have 4 kids and one is 3 years old. We got there and tried to share a message, but things were crazy and friends were over...etc, but we talked with the mom about how her daughter gave the spiritual thought that day and did a good job...after that when we wanted to share the scripture and message we prepared but the 3-year-old burst out crying...he didn't stop crying...so we only shared a little bit of what we wanted to. We left a little disappointed that we couldn't have talked more. But the next day at church in Relief Society the lesson was about prayer and receiving answers...etc. The sister (mom) that we visited last night talked about how for years she was concerned about her daughter because she didn't like church and never smiled or participated while at church. She prayed for years for her daughter and then last night "two people" came and told her about how her daughter shared a spiritual thought and she knew God answered her prayers. 

Our visit wasn't a waste of time and we felt like we needed to go to that sister's house for a reason--God used us to answer her prayers! 

Being a missionary is the coolest! This is really His work!

Yesterday we met with an investigator who is a student and were able to just talk about Christ and how much He loved her. The spirit was so strong. At the end of the lesson she said the most heartfelt prayer I have heard her pray! 

We finished with a dinner appointment last night and then had no appointments, so we had the thought to visit a family in our ward whose mother is less-active. We went and only the father and 21-year-old daughter were there, but we had such an amazing visit where they bore their testimonies about the power of prayer and were able to assure the concerned husband and father that His prayers were being answered. The spirit was so strong. God is real and really hears our prayers! :)

I know that this is the Lord's work and I just feel so blessed.  I can't explain in words the feelings of joy and gratitude I have to the Lord for the countless miracles I've seen, people I've met, and joy I've felt on my mission.  This time is so sacred and important.  It's a blessing from the Lord and I don't want to waste a moment of the time I have left.

Have and amazing week!  Love you all!!

낫제스 자매 ^^

"Give me that"

Happy Chinese New Year!! 

It has been a great week and we have seen lots of miracles, as always!!

We were able to find a few new investigators this week, one being a former one that I taught who didn't have much interest before, but came to church last week and has starting progressing a little which is exciting!!

We had zone conference last week and it was super great! We're focusing on becoming more and more consecrated missionaries and worthy servants of the Lord as a mission and it's so great! We are doing a mission-wide fast where we go around the whole mission and one companionship fasts each day to be able to become more consecrated. I know that God is preparing so many miracles!

Oh! Something funny that happened recently! My companion and I were walking down the street with Book of Mormons in hand and a man saw us, ran up to us, and said "Mormon??" then looked at the Book of Mormons and said "give me that." So we gave it to Him and he ran away again... haha

This week we were waiting for a bus and I said hi to a lady waiting and then our bus came so we had to get on. I was a little sad I didn't have time to talk to the lady more when suddenly she quickly jumped on the bus, approached me, asked for our number and said she was really happy to find sister missionaries! She got off quickly at the next stop. It was so cool! She boarded the wrong bus to get our phone number--a first for me! I'm excited to meet her! We're waiting for her to call us! 

I know that this is the Lord's work and I'm grateful everyday to be a part of it. It's such a huge blessing. I know that God is helping us missionaries everyday and that He loves His children here in Korea. I'm grateful that He has allowed me to serve here and to feel a little bit of His love for this country and this people. I love Korea. I love this work. I love my Heavenly Father and Savior and feel more and more gratitude to them each and every day! 

Have an amazing week!!

Sister Naatjes :)

God takes care of His missionaries :)

It was another week full of miracles! It was a busy one-- I had to go to Daejeon for a leadership meeting (takes about 2 hours to get there). The night before the meeting my companion and I went to a little country town to stay at other sister missionaries house so that the next morning I could split with one of the sisters and come to Daejeon. We had a pretty cool experience! We had no idea where to go after we got to Jeoungup, but just got on the bus and started going...haha. We got on the bus to jeoungup (country town) and sat next to a girl and talked to her. She said she lived right next to the place where we were going and that her parents could drive us to the apartment we needed to go to. It was a little miracle. She didn't have interest in the gospel, but was super nice! God takes care of His missionaries :)

This week almost all of our investigators dropped us, but we are excited to work hard and find more! We also had someone scheduled to be baptized yesterday, but since she keeps not coming to church, it fell through. But I know that it will all turn out according to God's plan. 

My Trainie, Sister Lee, had a rough week this week and got food poisoning, but did a great job being strong and keeping a good attitude!

This week there was a special English speech contest in our Stake to try to find new investigators. Three of our recent converts gave speeches--신동현, 김연주, and 이송이. They could choose their topics and most people chose to talk about their dreams, the people in their families, school...etc...but they chose to talk about prayer, God's love, and God's plan and keeping His commandments! We were so happy! They pretty much all just bore their testimonies in English! :)

Yesterday we met with a recent convert of ours having a really hard time and had a really spiritual time together. She's the one who was baptized with her daughter. Her daughter came back to gwanju for the week, so we taught them together. She talked about how hard life is and asked how God could give nice people trials and why she has so many hard things in her life. We thought of a verse in the book of mormon that is super good:

1 Nephi 11:17

17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children;nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

It's so simple, but what we need to remember sometimes. We do not know all things, but we know that God loves us. We sometimes can't understand why certain hardships come in our lives, but we can trust in God and in His plan for us. He will never give us more than we can handle and will always help us through. I know that with all of my heart. Before we left, we invited her daughter to say a prayer and it was so sincere and powerful---the spirit was so strong.

I'm so grateful to be a missionary. I love being here and can't imagine leaving. I'm cherishing each moment--even the cold ones or the ones where I'm rejected! I know this is the Lord's work and I love preaching of Him all day everyday!

Have an amazing week! Love you all! 

Sister Naatjes

Training!

What a crazy, great week! I got my new greenie and she's a cutie! Her name is Gina Lee--She is 20 and both her parents are Korean, but she was born in Canada and moved to California 5 years ago. She grew up speaking some Korean with her family, but it's still not easy for her. She's a sweet girl and it's fun to serve with her! I'm learning a lot!

This week we had a lot of miracles and some hard things too! 

Earlier in the week when I was still serving with Sister Park, a member referred two of her best friends to us and they were so great! They are really open to the gospel! We're excited! Now that we split and each got new companions, Sister Park and her companion will be teaching them! 

On Thursday I went to Daejeon to meet my greenie and the night we got back we went to an appointment! I was impressed by how well my jet-lagged, tired, companion did! 

We got a call from one of our recent converts one day and she was crying. She wanted to meet, so we quickly went and had a really spiritual experience together just talking about God and the blessings we have in our lives. My companion read a scripture during personal study that we shared with her and it was just what she needed! 

16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The things we endure now prepare us for the blessings and glory that our loving Father in Heaven is preparing for us. 

I love you all! Have an amazing week!

Sister Naatjes

낫제스 자매 선교사 ^^

"We ate them deliciously the next morning"

Transfer week! 

We just got transfer calls.......I'm staying here, am still sister training leader, AND i'm getting a greenie! I'm training and pretty nervous about it! My companion, Sister Park, is also staying in the ward and another Korean missionary will be her new companion. There will now be four of us living together and serving in our ward. We're pretty nervous, but excited! I'm sad to have only been companions with Sister Park for one transfer, but excited for all of the miracles that I know the Lord has prepared here. 

This week we had a funny experience. We got done with our last appointment for the day and had some time before it was time to go home, so we proselyted on the street. My favorite places to go are bus stops because people can't run away :)

We went to the nearest bus stop and I said hi to a lady waiting for a bus. She looked at me a little bit angrily and asked why I am in Korea. I explained that I'm a missionary here and she said a little bit under her breath about how people have other religions and started reaching into her bag...we thought she was going to pull out a pamphlet from her church or something...when she pulled out.....two huge bananas! and gave them to us-HA! Her bus came shortly after and Sister Park and I laughed really hard. :) We ate them deliciously the next morning! 

This week a lot of our new members had a hard week, but there were lots of miracles too! One of our recent converts, 김연주 moved to Busan for work and we call her frequently. One night we felt like we should call her, so we did. Turns out that that day she went our to eat with her coworkers and they started drinking alcohol...etc...she told them she didn't drink because of her church and they asked which church she attended. She told them she was Mormon and they immediately got a little bit upset and started saying bad things about our church, but 김연주 just told them that she knows our church is good and explained what she knows. She said she wants to read more of the Book of Mormon and learn more about the church so that she can do a better job explaining next time. We were so proud of her! She wasn't shaken by it and has her own personal testimony. My companion and I were so happy to hear how well she's doing!

We met with one of our investigators, 임다미 who is progressing a lot and starting to pray and read the Book of Mormon by herself. We had a powerful lesson with one of our members about the Savior and His gospel and we can see her beginning to gain faith in the Savior. It's super cool. 

One of our investigators has been an investigator for a long time--her husband is a member, but she has no interest. Recently, she's been coming to church with her kids! It's super great to see them all together at church! 

I can't believe how fast time is going! I only have 1 transfer (about 6 weeks) left! I need to work harder than ever and have urgency in my work! I feel so grateful everyday to be a part of the Lord's work and to be His servant. I know that next transfer will be busy and difficult, but I know that the Lord is with me and won't leave my side. Through Him I can do all things! 

I love the Lord. He is my best friend. I know He loves these wonderful Korean people and loves me enough to give me the opportunity to serve them. 

I love you all! Have an amazing week!

Sister Naatjes :)