Week 44

Dear loved ones..

Wow it was a crazy week! So much happened I don't even know where to start. I hit 10 months out this week.. I can't even believe it.. I'm in the double digits. I'm officially kind of an old missionary. Well shoot. I'm actually expected to know things now!

This week was a week of miracles. I learned so much, grew so much and felt the spirit in a way that I never have before. Jong Sung Kyong (the lady that said God wanted her to meet us), our new investigator who we picked up last week, is getting baptized next month on Sept. 20th. That's the plan right now anyways. Well when we met with her on Wednesday, she came into the church completely hung over. The smell of alcohol was so strong, it was hard for me to concentrate at first. We started doing english with her, and we could tell it was very hard for her  to concentrate. As soon as we finish english, she bursts into tears talking about how much she wants to change her life. She doesn't want to be this kind of person, she doesn't want to drink and smoke. She has depression and a lot of very hard things in her life. Well from there I can honestly say that the spirit took over the lesson. We testified about the atoning power of Jesus Christ and how through Him she can start over and become completely clean. We watched the video "Come unto Christ" with her. It was powerful. It was one of the most spiritual moments on my mission so far. Coming unto Christ has never felt so real to me. To be able to see someone who truly needs and wants that change in their life, and to see them shed tears of sorrow and joy to know that they can change through Jesus Christ.. is something that is indescribable. In that moment I felt the Savior's love for her so strongly, and I felt His love for me. That is one of the most wonderful things about being a missionary.. Through helping others come unto Christ, you get to come unto Him and strengthen your relationship with Him as well. It is so amazing. Well we talked about baptism with her, met with her again on Friday and set the date! She is so excited. We made an action plan with her, helping her list out when and where she faces her temptations the most, and made a list of things that she can do to overcome them. She is so so happy. She keeps saying it over and over. And you know how happy we are. I feel so blessed to be able to have witnessed this miracle. I hope and pray every day that she is able to continue to overcome and accept our message as we teach her. 

Our other investigators made some good progress this week as well. We had an awesome member present lesson with Kim Koe Young and our member Kim Ji Hey. She shared her experience about her stroke and how through it she has come to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I was so grateful for the way she bore her testimony so willingly. Wow we have such awesome wonderful member missionaries here.. I love our members so much.

Also.. Leann. She is doing well. She reads the book of mormon and prays. But fear is still definitely holding her back from action. This week we had an awesome lesson with her about the feelings of the spirit. I was on exchanges with Sister Young at the time, and she helped explain it in a way that she really got it! I was so grateful to her! At the end of the lesson I told her how happy I feel when I'm with her, and she said "That's the 성신!" She got it. We've commited her to daily reading and prayer. She's been having a really hard time understanding the book of mormon, so we asked her to pray specifically before and after she reads, to understand, and to focus on those good feelings we talked about, which come from the spirit. She said that she would. She had desire to know what we're saying is true.. But I am not sure how strong the desire is yet. This week our 6 week Family English program with her ends this week. We are hoping and praying she will have the desire continue to meet with us and learn about our message.. I think there is a very big possibility that she will continue to meet with us. I HOPE!!

Well we went on exchanges with the DongHae sisters twice this week! In fact we're still in DongHae right now! Sister Young (our sister training leader) came to Taebaek with me on thursday, and then I went to DongHae on Saturday night. The Elders in our district have two mexican investigators. Yep. In Korea. In Taebaek. Most random thing ever right haha? I don't understand. But anyways, Sister Ness (who is in DongHae) speaks fluent spanish, so she went to Taebaek to translate for them on Sunday for church! So I didn't go to church in my area this week.. it was so weird! But it was fun! Sister Ness and Sister Lykins came to DongHae today so we could all spend P-day together. We were gonna do something fun like have a picnic and play sports.. but its raining hard.. so it looks like we'll be playing games at the church. Just like every week. Haha we need more fun p-day ideas. But there's not much to do out here.

Well basically I am so so happy and I love live. I love it more every day. I love Taebaek so much. I am so grateful to be able to witness the miracles I am witnessing right now. I can't express my feelings! 

Love you all! Have an amazing week! Shout out to my siblings who start school. Have fun suckers! ;)

Sister Holmes

홈스 자매

"I like serving da Lord" - Encarnacion. and me.