Heart and Seoul: June 22, 2014 - "A Piece of Mom's Heart in Every Dish"

My new companion Sister Seegmiller biking on our P-day

Jin

You can thank a neighborhood restaurant slogan for the subject of this email.

Oh Koreans. Gotta love 'em.

This week was so so good beginning with a bike ride along the river trail with our district for p-day! It was so pretty and felt so good to be on a bike again. Then that night, Sister Seegmiller and I took to the hills in this area called Itaehwon which is known for a lot of sketchy foreigners. It has a very wierd feel over there and we're told to avoid it at night. But as we were walking down this hill we smiled, bowed, and said hello to a Korean lady we were passing (as is customary among the missionaries) and she stopped us and said "You have such beautiful smiles! Foreigners never smile." It opened up for a converstation about who we are, what we are doing and why we are smiling. And she agreed to meet again! It really goes to show that there is something different about us and that, even though we don't always realize it, it is evident.

We also had a funny experience this week that brings a smile to our faces whenever we talk about it! We were teaching a less active grandmother and her son, as we have for the past few weeks. She's the sweetest lady, but has a lot of doubts and a hard heart toward certain aspects of the gospel. We knew she loved hymns, so we decided to sing "I know That My Redeemer Lives" with them in Korean. We were about halfway through the second verse and we don't really know what started it, (we think we h\may have both struggled prounoucing a word) but my companion giggled a little, which made me giggle, which led to us shaking trying to hold in more giggles which ultimately led to us not being able to breathe or sing--only laugh. I haven't laughed that hard in a loong time and it felt so good. I felt bad at first, hoping that the Spirit of the song wasn't gone, but as I looked at her and her son through tear filled eyes and saw them both laughing as hard as we were I knew that Heavenly Father was laughing with us. It took several attempts to regain composure from the four of us and a lot of effort to stop the laughter. It actually ended up being perfect as we were sharing Moroni 2:41 and talking about how God wants each of us to be happy. I have no doubt that Heavenly Father really does have a sense of humor and really does want for each of His children to be happy. And I know that this gospel brings that happiness and I love that I am here to share that with the people of Korea!

This week we also got caught in the rain on a number of occasions, which always brings laughter. We are getting pretty good at getting caught in the rain, but it makes for some good conversations when we hop of the subway, dripping wet.

And Quinn! Guess what! This week we got to go on the army base and meet with a recent convert, Sister Wen. She is from China, but she is an American citizen and the coolest part is that she is a soldier. That's such a cool phrase, don't you think? "She's a solider". Boo yah. But I definitely got to brag about you and it reminded me a lot of you seeing all the military get-up. It was such a cool experience and we get to go back every week which will be awesome!

One more cool experience. Word has gotten out in my new ward that I can draw. Bad news. So this week they had a ward service thing where they sold clothes and food and the missionaries got to help out and they had me draw a big advertisement for it on the chalkboard. It was a lot of fun and a big hit. I really feel so blessed whenever I get the oppotunity to use my love of art and drawing as a missionary.

Uh... This letter is all over the place. Did I miss anything?

Oh! I did final pass off this week! (which my companion and I celebrated with some tubs of ice cream and the other sisters surprised me with a cookie tower thing--don't worry. we go running every morning) But as one of my commitments, the AP told me to say the first vision in Korean during a lesson. And two days later I got to do just that! We were teaching the restoration to this new cutest couple and I did it. The Spirit was sooo strong and it was such a cool experience. Everytime we teach I feel like my testimony grows that much stronger that this gospel is true as I feel the Spirit testifying through me. It is one of the many amazing priviledges of being a missionary!

I love my companion, the sisters I live with, the rain, the people I get to teach, Korean food, Korean people, whoever is reading this (so my mama and pop ;) ), all the other missionaries out doing this same work, and most of all the Lord.

Keep smiling! And mom, I'll try to avoid eating your heart, but I never know what I order when I eat out here, so I apologize in advance.

Love,

The sister that everyone thinks is from Russia. Everyone.

P.S. The letter finally came, so as my family now knows, I cut my hair! I've been with holding many a picture these past few weeks so brace yourself. :)