don't let the BED BUGS bite!

Hi! 

It's been a CRAZY week. On Saturday morning, Sister Lyon discovered itchy bites on her ankles, wrists, and neck...a girl in our zone checked her bed to make sure there weren't bed bugs and found several in the first 5 seconds of looking. They like to hide under the tags on mattresses and in the cracks. Gross! Luckily I didn't get any bites, but as I was getting ready for the day, I found one crawling by my closet...eww! We told the front office and they immediately told us to cancel our plans for the day because we had a lot of work to do. We had to seal all of our belongings in garbage bags to suffocate the bugs, wash all of our clothes, spray our suitcases and shoes...It was a lot of work. Some of our clothes needed to be dry-cleaned. Turns out that Saturday was the worst day to get bed bugs because none of the cleaning services or dry cleaning was open until Tuesday (Monday was Labor Day). We washed only what we needed for the next four days, and moved into a new room. They gave us this super toxic spray, face masks, and gloves, so we felt pretty intense. 

But the fun didn't end there! Tuesday morning we had to unpack everything ans move into our new room and do all the laundry that we didn't do on Saturday. We had 9 loads of laundry all together. Now anytime I see a fuzzy on a shirt I freak out because I think it's a bed bug. 

Korean is still soooo hard. Our old investigator (ee dong son) is now our new teacher! Ha! His real name is Brother Christiansen and we really like him! We have two teachers now which gives us more structure and helps us learn more. It's nice. The Lord has been helping us more and more in lessons. I can bear my testimony (a tiny part of it) in Korean. I have gotten better at looking up at the people I teach instead of reading off my paper. The Lord is definitely helping me.

I had some really cool experiences this week. On Wednesday we had a guest teacher named Brother Wade. He was amazing! He served in Seoul and told us about an experience he had there. He was walking down the street with his companion and a teenage boy ran to them and asked to use their phone. They let him then asked if he was alright when he finished his phone call and the boy immediately broke down crying. He had just run away from home because his dad was an alcoholic and his parents abused him and was trying to get ahold of his only friend so that he could stay with him. Then Brother Wade had my companions and I teach him. (He role-played and pretended to be the boy.) (in English)

I got the opportunity to testify to this boy of his Savior and tell him that he has a Heavenly Father. I told him he was loved. I told him that he is not and never will be alone. I literally felt God speaking through me. I felt SO much love for this boy who I have never even met before. I felt God's love for him. This is why I'm here. I have a message that will change the lives of anyone who will hear it. I have the truth and I'm going to share it to whoever will listen. 

God has allowed me to feel His love for those I teach several times this week. I have come to know more and more each day that the Lord loves me too. I can get really frustrated with the language and at times things are really hard, but I know the Lord is with me. I feel it everyday. When I felt down yesterday I opened to Matthew 11::28-30. 

"Come unto me...I will give you rest..." 

We don't have to bear our burdens alone! Turn to the Lord. He is always there. He will take our pains and help us through every trial in our lives. He loves us.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

Sister Naatjes