Week 52

Dear friends and family,

BIG NEWS! Saturday night we got our transfer calls. The aps told Sister Lykins that she'd be transferring to a new area... and then they he said "Sister Holmes! You better bundle up because you'll be staying in Taebaek this winter! And your new companion is.... well, actually we don't know yet. Because you'll be training!!!" I can't believe it! I have a million different emotions running through my mind. I feel so excited, and honored to have this opportunity. At the same time I feel inadequate and scared haha! The anticipation is always the worst part! I know it will be such an awesome experience. Everyone says training is the best and hardest thing. We'll go into Seoul tomorrow and I'll pick up my greenie on Wednesday! I'M GONNA BE A MOM!!

Well besides that big crazy news, this week was also a crazy one. We had exchanges with the Donghae sisters, which felt like it almost took up the whole week. We met them after district meeting on Wednesday and because of lessons, we weren't able to exchange back until friday morning! It was such a wonderful exchange though. This time I went to Donghae with Sister Jackson, my sister training leader. It was awesome, I learned so much from her in the short time we had together. Loved it. She was super awesome about setting goals, applying them during our exchange and evaluating. Some of the things I asked her to help me with was to make conversations (on the street, with members, with investigators) more meaningful. We decided to focus on using short, powerful statements of truth. So we applied it in our lessons and jundos together.. and I really felt a huge difference, it felt so much more meaningful to me. Often I find myself going through the notions, saying the same things over and over again.. and if I'm not really focusin on it, those things just start feeling like empty words. This exchange with Sister Jackson helped me be a lot more conscious of what I am saying and more importantly WHY I am saying it. 

Jong Sung Kyong was sick this week so we weren't able to meet. But she did come to a couple conference sessions! We talked to her about what she liked from it last night on the phone, and she really loved the idea that if she wants to know something she can ask God. We're over here like WELL ASK HIM THEN ALREADY! Hopefully we're able to see her a lot this next week and help her really apply what she learned. As for our other new investigators.. Sister Lykins met most of them while I was on exchanges in Donghae, and a lot of people cancelled. Hopefully this week we'll be able to see a lot of miracles! Hopefully my new companion brings some greenie miracles out here to Taebaek!!

Conference was amazing. Being a missionary has made me so much more appreciative of general conference. Every single talk is packed with gold. I get so much more out of it. Hopefully I can do so for the rest of my life. I am so grateful for a living prophet who guides our church today. Something that was interesting to me was how many talks were about prophets, their role, and the importance of sustaining them. It must be important or something.. in an increasingly evil world!

 One question I had for conference was how can I love others more like Christ does? I feel like there was such a huge emphasis on Christlike love this conference. Elder Holland's talk hit it right on the head. I also loved Elder Bednar's talk. It helped me focus again on that WHY.. why I am a  missionary, why I am a member of this church.. and how to love others enough to share the knowledge that has brought me so much help, happiness, and comfort. Pres. Uchtdorf's talk from women's conference was also wonderful. Through all these talks, I felt a strong sense of God's love for me personally.. and  through that I felt his love for the Korean people. I want to share this love! :) And seeing all my babies (the korean primary girls) sing I love to see the temple brought tears to my eyes... I am so blessed to be serving among God's children here in Korea. 

This week I literally got to thrust in my sickle with my might.. Yep, we helped harvest a buckwheat field this week!! This is why I love being in Taebaek. Only in Taebaek to I get to do things like this! And let me tell you it wasn't easy! Metaphor for missionary work? OH yeah. But was it worth it? Oh yeah. I love this work. It's God's work. So it's the best.

This new transfer brings some awesome new experiences and adventures.. stay tuned for next week! AHHHH GOODBYE LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Holmes

홈스 자매