Sunday, December 29, 2013

she brought us out food...uh oh

This week was wonderful! I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! 

Early on in the week we went to a grandma's house to visit and give her a Christmas card. In turn, she brought us out food...uh oh...haha. There was a soup that looked and smelled like cement. Sure enough, it tasted like it too. With a few prayers I got it down without gagging (in front of her haha).

Presents! Yum! :)Christmas was great and full of miracles! We had a ward christmas party on Christmas Eve and it was so great! We had some inactive members show up and some investigators! 

When I walked in to the Christmas party there was a dirty, old man with very worn clothes sitting alone at a table. As I approached him, I saw that he was looking at the pictures in the front of the Book of Mormon. I had the amazing opportunity to sit with him and teach him very simply about Jesus and what the Book of Mormon is about. As I was teaching him I felt an overwhelming feeling of happiness. Something amazing happened: I loved this man who I had never met before and couldn't even understand. God let me feel His love for this man, His son. I'm so grateful to have gotten that opportunity. 

On Christmas day we had no appointments, but saw so many miracles! We walked down a street to go knock on doors in an apartment complex and I felt like we should turn around to talk to a lady we had passed. We walked back and ended up running into a man who got baptized 35 years ago and doesn't come to church anymore. That definitely wasn't a coincidence! On the bus I sat by two sweet girls who talked to me about God and I got to give them Book of Mormons and bear my testimony. It was a very sweet experience. It was amazing that we were able to communicate through my broken Korean and her little bit of English.

Sister King and I on ChristmasWe had dinner with a member and they made delicious food! We had chicken pot pie made by their English future daughter-in-law.

This week we went to visit 박양순 and found her talking with two ladies. Turns out one of them was a preacher. She immediately started speaking against the Book of Mormon and getting pretty upset. It was a little bit intimidating. But Sister King and I just simply said what we could. We know that it's a good book and that it's true. And 박영순 totally stood up for us--it was awesome! She said that she knows that the gospel makes us happy and that we're good people. It was really cool.

I love the gospel! I know that God is real. I love my Savior and I'm so grateful for Him. Love you all!!

Sister Naatjes :)

Sunday, December 22, 2013

"life child. I talk comfortably and it is the."

매리 그리스마스!!

This was a great week!! We saw a lot of miracles :)

Lets see...something funny that happened...

On Saturday we traveled to teach one of our investigators in a city that's pretty far away. We later had a zone activity doing a survey downtown. I was talking to a bunch of people and a man came up to me and told me he had seen me earlier on the bus that day. We talked about the Book of Mormon and I gave him one. I was really exited! 
...but he called the next day and told sister king he thought I had pretty hair. He texted us later and wanted to have coffee. Sister King told him we don't drink coffee and asked him why he wanted to meet. He said, "life child. I talk comfortably and it is the." We laughed really hard when we got the message. No idea what that means! haha

This week we met with 박양순 three times and she's doing great! She has been reading the Book of Mormon and studying a lot. She calls herself our Korean Momma. She's awesome! 

신문정 prayed again at the end of our lesson and we are so excited! She's nervous about coming to church, but she's praying!! Big deal! She is such an awesome lady! 

We met with 김현숙 for the first time on Saturday and she tearfully told us about her relationship with God. She told us she thinks we were sent from God. She has such a kind and soft heart. We're excited to keep teaching her! 

This week we had our mission-wide Christmas party and it was fun to see everyone! We watched "Home Alone" and had a big Korean Christmas feast. At the end we had a bunch of musical numbers and read the story of Christ's birth. It was incredible. 

We set up the x-mas tree you sent! :)It hardly feels like Christmas here because Koreans don't celebrate it much, but I think that this is the closest I've come to understand the real meaning of Christmas. I am closer to my Savior than ever. We are celebrating Christ's birth! Our Savior and Redeemer! He was born in a lowly stable, was spit upon, was mocked, atoned for our sins, died for us...And now we can return to our Heavenly Father! He suffered so that we could be saved! He suffered so that we could have hope! He suffered so that he could understand us in our times of trial. 

I have been so blessed through my Savior. He understands me. He knows how it feels to learn Korean. He knows how it feels to be rejected. He is my best friend. Glory to God! 

Have an incredible Christmas! I love you all! 

Sister Naatjes :) 

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

"What should we do?"... "Pray!"

This week was incredible! God let me see so many miracles!

Some funny things that happened:

We met with our new investigator, 윤인자, this week. We taught her a little lesson and gave her a Book of Mormon. She loves it. ...we were about to leave when she told us to hold on for a second--always a bad sign. She brought out some unidentified, grayish meat wrapped in plastic wrap. Sister King asked what it was. She said "고기" and pointed at her foot--pig feet! Yikes! She sat there and watched us eat it. It was really gross! Haha. And it was cold. She left the room for a second and I asked Sister King, "what should we do?" She said, "Pray!" then took a bite haha. We survived, but felt a little sick afterward. :)

Yesterday we ate at a member's house and had 떡볶이...There was a mysterious purple/gray meat in the dish...I found out later it was pig intestines! I ate pig feet and pig intestines this week! I was also served seaweed soup and mushed-up red beans. And I ate it all. It was quite a feat. I'm getting better at just eating whatever is put in front of me. haha.
we made christmas cards for people in our apartment complex :)

So...now for the MIRACLES!

We met with 신문정 for the first time in a month this week! She loves English and really likes the Book of Mormon, but doesn't know if she completely believes in God. We have had a really hard time getting her to pray at the end of our lessons, but she prayed! I told her at the beginning that we were going to ask her to pray at the end of the lesson and she got super nervous. We talked about how it's very simple and how we just tell God how we're feeling. Sister King demonstrated how to pray and she took notes. :) When the end of the lesson came, after a lot of encouraging, she said the most simple, but the sweetest prayer I have ever heard. Afterwards she said, "I did it!" It was an absolute miracle. I was so happy. 

One night we were planning on visiting a member, but when we got to her door, Sister King and I both felt like we shouldn't knock for some reason. We prayed about it, then decided not to visit. Instead, we took a bus to visit a lady we met in a convenient store a couple days earlier. She was working and we got an appointment for Saturday! Awesome! We taught her Saturday and she wants to meet three times a week--almost unheard of in Korea! This is truly the Lord's work.

Ana, our American investigator has tons of questions and is reading the Book of Mormon! She even said she'll get baptized when she comes to know this church is true! :) She's awesome!

we made christmas cards for people in our apartment complex :)I'm learning more and more everyday that I need to totally rely on the Lord. As we do our best to do so, the God lets us find people to teach. Whenever I feel discouraged, He is there. I love being able to devote all my time to the Lord. I love the gospel and just want to share it with everyone! I know the Book of Mormon is true. If you don't, read it and pray about it. Ask God. He is real. He will answer you.

Love all of you! Keep reading the scriptures and praying. 

Sister Naatjes :)

"ELF!"

This week was a miracle week! 

First, a few funny things:

A man named "Richard" (his american name) came to English class this week and he was hilarious! He loves speaking his broken enlish really loudly and with a lot of energy! We played Christmas catch-phrase and he stood up for his turn. He said, "A big sheep...with BIG horns!" ...Someone then yelled, "ELF!" ...they were right--HA! All of us missionaries laughed for a long time. 

We ran into the same grandpa two nights in a row this week (which never happens because we're in such a huge city). He loves practicing his english. He came up to me and said, "You are very beautiful. I especially like your hairstyle!" It was super funny. He gave us his address and wants us to come by. We're excited because he's hilarious! 
We had a dinner at an old grandma's house last night and it was soooo hard! There was a soup with big fish cakes in it and I have a hard time with them, so I tried to eat them first to get them over with--big mistake! ...she insisted on giving me more haha. I'm still learning. 

Now for the miracles! 

pics from combined district meeting. :)
We had no appointments and the former investigators we tried weren't home, so we 가가호호-ed an apartment complex and the manager stopped us! We taught him about the Book of Mormon and was reading it super intently when we left. He told us to stop by anytime! We also found another interested girl from 가가호호-ing! (tracting) People usually don't open the door when we knock, so it was a miracle! We set up an appointment for this week! 
pics from combined district meeting. :)Sister King had to re-charge her bus card this week, so we went into a little store and the worker was super interested and talked to us for like 30 minutes! It was so great!

We're are now teaching 3 new people! We got to meet with Ana, the American girl we met on the street this week and it was so awesome! She had tons of questions we were able to answer and is really interested! She's reading the Book of Mormon! It was such a cool experience to be able to answer questions she has had for a long time. 

이지영 came to church this week! Yay! She seemed to really like it, so we're excited! 

I love this gospel! I love being a missionary, even though it's hard a lot of the time. I feel so blessed to be able to share what means the most to me with others. I am blessed each and every day from my knowledge of the gospel. I know my purpose. I know my God. I know that He loves me and that I can pray to Him anytime. It's amazing. I am blessed by the Book of Mormon daily. I just want to share it with the world! ...I guess I get to start with Korea :) 

The Lord is strengthening me everyday. As I pray for strength, the Lord makes up for my MANY inadequacies. My Korean, my teaching skills, my faith...and so many other things are lacking, but through the Savior I become good enough. 

Keep praying and reading the scriptures. Pray to God. He is listening and will draw closer to you as you do so. 

Love,

Sister Naatjes :)

Thursday, December 5, 2013

A miracle happened! A blonde-haired girl walked by

This week was awesome!! 

Some funny things from this week:
Me on my street!
One morning I was doing my sprints in the morning up the hill by my apartment. At the bottom of the hill I said hi to a couple girls walking by in pajama pants...I sprinted up the hill and looked back. One of the girls was sprinting up behind me and giggling. It was cute. I walked back down the hill with her giggling. So funny.

The other night we got let into a ladies' house (woo! doesn't happen much!) but I started talking and she quickly turned to Sister King and said, "She doesn't speak well." I told her she was right! She was very blunt and funny.

We got fed twice this week. I am getting better at eating the food...mom, you would be impressed. The other day I ate mussels and shrimp and various sea food in a soup...Last night was so hard! We had 떡복기 (rice cakes, fish cakes, egg, and unidentified meat) and they served me a lot. Toward the end I thought I was going to explode, but it's rude to leave food so I got it down. I wasn't a big fan of the fish cakes, but I did it!!

This week we got a new investigator!! Yay! Her name is 이지영 (ee-jee-young). She is in her 40s and super cute! She had seen missionaries before and always said no, but this time something made her say yes. She's really curious. I'm excited to keep teaching her. This week I was really nervous for a lesson because I taught a part I don't have experience teaching. But after lots of praying I did it! Really slowly, but I did it! And she understood me haha. 

Our makeshift Thanksgiving meal hahaI sat next to an older man on the bus last Monday and started talking to him. He was eyeing my Book of Mormon, so I started talking to him about it. He said he knew about it and is an Elder for another church. He said he hates the book. I asked him if he had read it and he said no. I bore my testimony that it is a good book that has blessed my life. It was a cool experience. He was smiling as he got off the bus (probably because my Korean is bad, but I'll take it haha)!

Her first Thanksgiving! She's eating Turkey with chopsticks--HA!We did a district survey this week (we go into the middle of the big downtown shopping center and advertise free English and get people's numbers on surveys) and it was so fun! You just have to be super bold and walk with people as they pass by. A miracle happened! A blonde-haired girl walked by and I stopped her. Turns out she's from Nebraska, has a good friend who is a member of the church and wants to learn more about the church! I'm so excited! 


I keep getting frustrated at my inability to speak Korean, but I learned a lot about patience and I'm learning everyday.

I really like Romans 5:3-5--read it! 
As we go through hard things, we develop in patience and become better people. 
I wonder sometimes why I got sent to Korea where I can't speak! Why wouldn't I go somewhere English speaking? But I read a cool talk this week: "As Many as I Love I Rebuke and Chasten"--D. Todd Christofferson May 2011.

He tells the story of a currant bush that was cut down by a gardener because it wasn't growing fruit... 

"Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn't intend for you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with much fruit, you are going to say, "Thank you Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.'"

It snowed this week!! :) Pretty, huh?"Thank  you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me."

I know that I'm in Korea for a reason. The Lord knows who He needs me to be. I know that as I'm struggling to learn Korean, I'm becoming a better person. I'm becoming who He needs me to be. 
I know that the God has a plan for each of us. He loves us all. I know it! 

Love you all! Have a wonderful week!!

Sister Naatjes :)