Well, this week was a better one. :) Things were still pretty slow.. everyone has been so so busy with work lately so its been a rough one for lessons. But it was still great. Attitude makes all the difference!
This week I had the craziest experience. On Thursday around noon we were headed up to the temple because we had a lunch with on of the temple missionary couples, the Cases. The temple missionaries live in a little house right by the temple. We were supposed to have lunch with them on Tuesday, but they weren't home. Remember that now.. Anyways, the temple is right behind our church building! In fact to get to the temple you can go through the church. There is a back door and a little gate that leads to the temple. SO, we are going through the church to get to their apartment. We go up the back stairs to go through the door and we go out and find that the gate is locked, so we're gonna have to back through the church and around. Oops except one problem. The door closed behind us and it locked. So we are trapped in this little area between the door to the church and the gate to the temple haha. We were like great what can we do?? we're already kinda late for this lunch thing. So there's this stair case that leads off the side but there is a gate that is locked on it too.. but since I'm super limber and what not I decided that we needed to climb over it and get down the stairs which leads to the church parking lot. So we get over this gate which takes forever haha we almost ripped our skirts. And we finally get down these stairs.. and it leads to nothing. There is a 15 foot drop into the parking lot because there is this weird high ledge all around the church. I don't know if this story is making any sense but bear with me the good part is coming! So we walk around the whole church on this ledge and I get to the front of it, where the ledge is smaller, but still about 6 feet, and we jump off of it and finally we are no longer trapped haha. Such an adventure. So THEN, we look over, and there is a lady just standing there in front of the church doors, just staring. She didn't even notice that we just appeared out of no where. So we went over to her and asked her if we could help her! She said "I'm looking for a new church.. is this your church?" The doors are usually locked but we have the code to get in as missionaries, so we told her that and that she could tour the church! She was like "Wow! God guided me here!" Then we gave her a tour of the church, gave her a book of mormon and the restoration pamplet.. and we got her phone number.. MIRACLE. Haha we couldn't believe it. This is why lunch got canceled on tuesday right? We needed to be in front of the church at exactly that time on thursday right? I like to think so. We literally dropped from the heavens and appeared to this lady hahaha. It made my whole week.. We are trying to schedule and appointment with her this week.. I can't wait to tell this story at her baptism someday ;) I hope it made sense haha!
Yesterday was Jong Da Young's last week in our ward.. she moved back home, which is 3 hours away and in the Seoul South mission. I was so worried that she wouldn't come to church. She hadn't been for the past two weeks, and her phone is turned off now so we had now way to contact her. But I was determined to stay calm and not get stressed out.. Sundays are the most stressful days for me. It is the only day that both of our investigators have been able to meet lately, and a billion people are asking me a bunch of things in korean.. its just a hard day haha. But I woke up with the determination to have a good, happy day. So sacrament meeting comes around and Jong Da Young is there. Neither of our investigators came, or Kim Tae Hee.. But Jong Da Young is there so I could be happy. She shared her testimony in the fast and testimony meeting. She talked about how she wasn't doing things that were good in her life before her baptism.. It turns out that she had a lot more going on than we knew about. She told us this week that she used to be a heavy drinker and smoker. She was so addicted to these things that she got so ill and so in debt. Her life was in a really bad place. But she said that when she met us and learned about the word of wisdom, her life changed completely. She threw away all her alcohol and cigarettes and was determined to start fresh. She came to know that she was a daughter of God, and because of that she learned to love herself. It was the most perfect testimony. My heart was full. After church so many people came up to her, giving her their love and appreciation for sharing her testimony. It was so amazing.. my prayers were answered. I had been so worried about her, with her leaving and because she hasn't been very firm in her faith lately. I am not worried anymore. I know that as long as she is in this gospel, she will have family. She will have that love wherever she goes. God will take care of her. It was such a tender mercy. So although our investigators didn't come to church, and things fell through, I was so happy. :)
Well those are pretty much the highlights of my week. I am doing so much better. I am learning to take things one day at a time. I am learning to be grateful for the hard times, seeing them as an opportunity to grow so much. The days that are slow, the challenge of learning this crazy language, the heartbreaks, everything... all for my benefit. As I rely more fully on the Lord he always helps me to see that! I love being a missionary! Everything that is hard about being a missionary is so worth it! I TESTIFY OF THAT. :)
Love you all, thank you for the love and support like always! Until next week! 사랑해요
홈스 자매
Sister Holmes
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