Week 45

저의 사랑하는 사람들 안녕하세요^^ Hi my beloved people.

Its already the last week of my second transfer in Taebaek I can't believe it. I have loved it out here so much I just can't even describe it. Well in all honesty, this week was really kind of a hard one. Everyone cancelled on us.. But we worked hard and and as always the good happy things always out weigh the bad!

Well I told you about 정승경 last week, our miracle investigator who basically came to us wanting to be baptized. We met with her a few times this week. We taught her the restoration.. and she didn't accept it like we thought she would. And that's when we realized she didn't really understand that in order to be baptized she needed to become a member of our church. We told her that the first time we met her, but I don't think she really understood or remembered. She goes to 홯지교회, and she really loves it. She doesn't want to start coming to our church. She is perfectly content with her church. So after that meeting, I was feeling pretty discouraged. I had gone completely into getting her to baptism mode, since that was what she wanted from the beginning. The thought of her not accepting our message kind of escaped my mind. I realized I had kind of forgotten that my purpose as a missionary is to help her come unto Christ, to strengthen her faith in Him and the reality of His atonement. Not to just get her baptized. Well we met with her again, and at the beginning of the lesson she expressed her concerns to us. She says she is so confused. She told us that other people say bad things about our church, like that we are a cult (surprise), but she says she doesn't think we are that way, but she doesn't know what to believe. And because we had explained to her that if the book of mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, and that he did see God and Jesus Christ.. she had been feeling confused. She says that when she reads the book of mormon, it makes her so happy, and when she meets with us, or when we call her (which we do every night) she feels so happy. She said she believes the book of mormon is true.. but she also believes that her church is the best church for her. She doesn't have the desire to change churches. But she loves the book of mormon and she loves the way she feels when she meets with us. We testified that we knew that our message was true, and we talked about the happiness it has brought us in our lives.. but we told her that the only one who could truly tell her if what we were saying is true is Heavenly Father. We talked about prayer, and how she can ask specific questions, and get specific answers. We asked her to pray about our church, about the message of the restoration, about the book of mormon. She says that she will. We invited her to church again, and she said there was no way that she could come, that she has to go to her church. We told her that the best way to know if our church was true, or if the things others say about it is true is to come see for herself. She said that she will soon. But not yet. So that's where we're at with her.. There are definitely good things happening.. but she needs that desire and decision to change first. What do you think we can do to help her recognize truth and act upon it?

The only other investigator we were able to meet with this week was Leann. Our 6 weeks of english ended with her. We were really scared that she wouldn't want to meet with us any more. But we expressed how much we wanted to keep meeting with her and she said she felt the same way. She just has so many concerns about believing in God. She told us that if she makes the decision in her mind that she wants to believe, she will believe. But she says she doesn't want to yet because she's scared. She still hasn't really explained to her husband who we are or that we are teaching her more than english.. because he really hates christians and doesn't want her becoming one. She says that everything we teach her is good and she likes it, but it hasn't sunk into her heart yet. She says its still just information. Most of her close friends are christian, and she says she wishes that she could have been raised christian, because if she had it would be easy for her to accept our message. Well, the fact that she said that is evidence to me that she has felt something. She has, or she wouldn't have agreed to continue to meet with us. We had a really good lesson with her about faith. That it comes over time slowly, as she acts upon the things we ask her to do. I pray that we see a miracle with her. Looking back to when we first met her, it is a miracle already to see how far she's come. She would never even consider some of the things she is considering, and wanting to believe now.

This week as you know Brother An from Sinchon came to our little branch. It was such a happy day. Probably one of the highlights of my week! Also it was a huge confidence booster for me, because when he gave his talk in sacrament, I actually understood what he was saying! Whereas before, when I heard him speak many a time in Sinchon, I had a hard time understanding him. So that's always a good feeling.

One cool miracle we saw this week was while we were out jundoing, or as Sister Young likes to say, ministering. We were walking past a GS25 and there was a man sitting out on the table with a few other people, and he approached us. At first I was taken a little off guard, but he says "I need to talk to you two! Hey, I drink a lot. But about 20 years ago I met with members of your church (other missionaries). It is because of them that I can speak english." He went on to tell how fond of memories he and his wife have with the missionaries. They loved the things they taught them, and he says he wants to have us over for dinner to meet his wife and daughter. He wants us to teach his daughter about God. It was such a cool miracle! I hope we can really meet with them soon and see good things happen here. 

Transfer calls is this week.. and also next week whether I transfer or not, we'll be going to Seoul for Choo Suek, a huge korean holiday, similar to Thanksgiving for us. So we have a conference next week! I'm so excited!! All the mission conferences I've experienced on my mission so far have bee such uplifting, edifying and happy experiences. Well yeah I don't know what will happen with transfers.. But I'm pretty sure I'll stay here in Taebaek! Which is exactly what I want. I don't know what will be going on with my companion situation.. Its super likely that Sister Lykins will leave.. she's been here for 5 transfers. We'll see what happens! Stay tuned everybody!

This week I had an awesome experience during district meeting. Because our mission focus this transfer has been revelation through church attendance, we really talked about sacrament, and why it is so important for us, and for our investigators to understand. We did a cool activity where we went outside of the church and walked in as if it were the first time we came to the church. As I walked into the church with new eyes, I was overcome with the warmest happiest feeling that I've ever felt in my life. As I walked through the primary room, I remembered myself as a young child in primary, learning the things so clearly and plainly, exactly the way we teach to our investigators. As I walked through the young women's room I remembered my experiences there. My mistakes, my strong points, everything that built me to be the person I am today. As I walked into the sacrament room (not really a chapel here in Taebaek) I felt an overwhelming love and appreciation for the Savior and His atonement. I felt a new gratitude for the sacrament, the chance to become clean every week. This experience is kind of hard for me to fully describe... but it was a reminder to me why I'm here. Because I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And I know that it is true with all of my heart. I have felt it in a way that I can never deny!

Love you all!

Sister Holmes

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