신동현 and 이송이 got baptized!

Hello!

Another crazy week!

The biggest news of the week is that 신동현 and 이송이 got baptized! It was a beautiful baptismal service filled with the spirit and I was so blessed to be a part of it! A lot of people were able to come and both girls were so happy!

The opening song was "nearer my God to thee," one of the only ones 신동현 knew from our hymnbook :) It was very fitting. Then one of our members who is only 19 and preparing for a mission gave a little talk. She helped us with a lot of lessons and talked about seeing both of them progress and their desires to follow Christ. 이송이 cried. It was a special experience for both her and our member.

They both got baptized and were just so happy! They were glowing! After the baptism Sister Lee (a sister who would end her mission that week) bore her testimony. The most memorable part for me was at the end--before the baptism we had asked 시동현 if she wanted to share her testimony after she was baptized and she didn't think she wanted to, so we didn't schedule it in. But! as we were about to sing the closing song she interrupted and said she wanted to share her testimony!

It was one of the most beautiful, simple testimonies I've ever heard. She talked about her experience meeting with the missionaries and growing to know God more and then told of a little miracle: Before someone gets baptized they need to attend church at least 3 times. Initially her baptismal date was Sept 28th (yesterday). A few weeks ago she had plans to go to Seoul, but they fell through and she was a little disappointed, but because she couldn't go she came to church. The next week she decided she wanted to get baptized on the 22nd because it was the date that Joseph Smith received the gold plates from the angel Moroni. If she hadn't come to church that weekend, she wouldn't have been able to be baptized. Also yesterday was her grandma's birthday and she had to travel with her family out of town, so she couldn't have gotten baptized. She talked about how God always has a greater plan and how God loves her so much.  Her testimony was pure and perfect.

I know that God loves her so much and is so proud of her!

She's really excited about being a member and has been attending institute and activities! She's so great!

We got a couple new investigators this week and one came to church yesterday! Yay!

I had the chance to teach the spiritual message at the end of English class and it was a really spiritual experience for me. Our old investigator who hasn't been meeting with us in a long time came and I was so grateful she was able to hear. I love being a missionary and being able to testify frequently of the things I know to be true!

I love My Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and I know they love me. I am so blessed in so many ways. I love being in this beautiful country, I love this gospel and love sharing it. I know that God knows each of us personally and perfectly and is waiting to bless us. He hears our prayers and answers them. I know that this church is true. I know that miracles still happen--I see them all the time!

I love you all! Have an amazing week!

Sister Naatjes :)

Pig intestines and loach soup

Hi everyone!!

Another week of learning, growing, and lots of miracles!!

Crazy things I ate this week:

Someone I met on the bus owns a restaurant and wanted us to come, so we did...it was a crazy restaurant--they ordered for us--pig intestines! Lots of them! The smell was really bad and it tasted how it smelled haha, but we had to eat it! My companion really likes intestines, but I was on a split with another American missionary, Sister Mikesell, so it was hard! Sister Mikesell swallowed the pieces whole so she didn't have to taste it haha! It was quite the experience!

I also ate loach soup and actually really liked it! You should try it sometime!haha

So this week we met with 신동현 a lot and she ended up wanting to change her baptismal date to Monday (today) because it's the day that Joseph Smith received the plates from Angel Moroni--cool! So she and the other sister missionarys' investigator, 이송이 are both getting baptized tonight at 7! Woo!

It's been cool to see them both and how excited they are about the gospel--they love it! They both say they have found truth here and their testimonies are growing more and more everyday!

This Sunday was ward conference and they both participated in the ward choir with us--it was super cool! Also our other investigator, 조은정, came to church! It was a busy, awesome Sunday!

조은정 자매님 has been meeting the missionaries on and off for 2+ years and finally, yesterday said that she wants to get baptized soon! She has a son and daughter who also come to church sometimes!

It's fun to see people find joy in the gospel. I've been thinking a lot about joy recently--there truly is a special joy that comes through the gospel.

Doctrine and Covenants 101:36

"Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but it me you joy is full."

Through Christ and His gospel we recieve everlasting and a fulness of joy!

I know that this is true! I love my Savior and His church with all of my heart and I'm so grateful to be serving Him!

Have an incredible week!!

Sister Naatjes :)

She started reading and couldn't stop!

Miracles happened this week! I really learned and grew a lot and I feel so blessed.

First of all, our investigator 신동현 shin dong hyun is getting baptized! She wants to get baptized in 2 weeks! She's amazing! She is 21 years old. She's a former investigator who stopped meeting with missionaries because she went to Seoul for a while, but she came back and wanted to meet again. She really loves the gospel. She has believed in God ever since she was little and has tried attending many different churches, but was always disappointed because of mean things said to her or abuse she received from workers at other churches. She also worked at another church as a financial secretary and was disappointed and shocked about how the money was being used, so she left. She found pure doctrine and truth in our gospel. 

She reads the Book of Mormon everyday and loves it! On Sunday morning at 6:30 she texted us and said she hadn't slept at all that night because she started reading the Book of Mormon and "Our Search for Happiness" by Elder Ballard and couldn't stop! She still came to church, but was really tired haha! I feel blessed to be able to see her find joy in the gospel and to be able to share it with her.

The other sister missionarys' investigator (we have two pairs of sisters in our ward) is also getting baptized the same week and she's amazing too! 

This week I has an experience that really impacted me and strengthened my testimony. We were waiting at a bus stop and were on the way to visit Beth, one of our recent converts, and started talking to some grandmas and grandpas that were also waiting. They had heard of our church and showed a little interest, so I gave them our phone number and were telling them where the church is when a man suddenly approached me and reached out his hand, so I gave him a mormon.org card with our phone number on it. He saw "mormon" and immediately got angry. He loudly accused us of being "이단" "heretic" and saying various other anti-mormon things and asked how I could possibly be proselyting for such a church. He took the card I gave him and tore it up into pieces in front of my companion and I and walked away angrily. I thought it was over, but he came storming back and kept persecuting our church and my companion and I. Then he looked at the mormon.org cards in my hands and swiped them all away and told me not to proselyte to anyone. During the whole thing I felt totally calm. I know that this is true with all of my heart. I felt again how true this gospel is and how sacred and special it is to me. I will never be able to deny it because I feel it everyday as I teach and testify of it. I feel so blessed to have the chance to stand up for what I know is true! 

I'm so grateful for this church. I'm grateful for my loving Heavenly Father and for His son, Jesus Christ who strengthen me everyday. I am so indebted to them and become more and more so everyday. I love them and will never leave them. I am grateful to be able to teach people what I know to be true. 

I love you all so much! Have an amazing week!! 

Sister Naatjes :)

I'm a strong teletubby doll!

We had a great week this week and saw many miracles!

A few things I thought were funny:

My companion told me that my face looks like a teletubby--I guess teletubbies are in Korea too! Ha!

I get comments on my looks a lot--I hear fairly often that I look like a doll as I get on the bus, on the street...etc... Also a man in a convenience store told me I have a strong body--haha! I'm a strong teletubby doll!

Our investigator 조은정 (jo un jeoung) fed us some crazy things this week

One day she made us lunch--she plopped a whole fish in front of us--with scales, eyes, bones and all that good stuff! And we ate all of it! (besides the eyes and the big bones). I ate fish head right by the eyes--she said I had to eat it because it's the best part. It actually wasn't bad!

We ate dinner with her last night and she gave us shrimp, but didn't take off the legs or tail or anything, so we ate them! It was a little strange, but not horrible! haha!

This week we found 4 new investigators! Miracle! One of them is a former investigator who stopped meeting with the missionaries because she moved to seoul, but she's back and doing great! She asks a lot of great questions and has a lot of interest!

Our other new investigators are all english-interest, but also listen really well to the lessons! We're excited for what the Lord is preparing!

This week is 초석 (Korean Thanksgiving), so we haven't been able to meet a lot of our investigators lately, but we're excited to see them again next week!

Dad asked last week about more details about what we do everyday...

We wake up, exercise, study (personal, companionship, and then language study for 60 minutes each). Then we set up as many appointments as we can with our investigators. The remaining time we fill with recent convert visits or member visits. When nobody has time we sometimes put up English flyers (we have a free english program) and our missionaries tend to get a lot of calls off of them, or we go to the big bus terminal near our house and talk to people who are sitting and waiting for the bus. Our area is huge! So as we travel to appointments or other things we talk to everyone we can--I like the bus because people can't run away when I start talking to them (it happens more frequently than you would think--people literally run!) ha!

We have missionary meetings sometimes...every week we have English class on Saturday nights and it's been a pretty big success--lots of people come and many of them become investigators. We also have family home evening at the church every weekend and less people come, but it's improving! Misisonary work is fun! I feel blessed everyday to have the opportunity to be the Lord's missionary

I keep learning more and more about Korean culture through being with Korean companions. I love it! Sitting on the couch feels weird now--I prefer the floor! I also love kimchi.

Everyday I feel again and again that this gospel is so true! It's perfect, wonderful, and can help everyone. I'm learning everyday--I have so much to improve! I'm grateful for the chance to change and become better.

I know my Savior lives. Through Him we can overcome anything and live happily. We can overcome weaknesses and recieve strength everyday. I know that the Book of Mormon, along with the Bible is true and that we can receive revelation through it everyday--I love it! I'm so very blessed!

I love you all! Happy Korean Thanksgiving!!

Sister Naatjes :)