Dear fam and friends,

     This week has been very tough but also super great.  I had to say goodbye to my trainer and my best friend.  We cried everyday the last few days.  She was the best trainer I could ever have had and it was really tough saying goodbye, but I know that I am supposed to be with my new companion, sister Mortensen.  She is lovely, and I actually love her already.  She is the hardest working missionary I've ever met so far on my mission and she is patient and kind.  She helps me every minute of the day with the language, and I would say that I have never heard a better Korean speaking missionary than her. She is very good.  She goes home in three transfers and will be very missed. She is taller than me and has the most beautiful hair in the world:]  I love her.

     This past week on Turesday (my last day with my trainer) we visited a less active member.  We stopped by to say goodbye and we got to sing our favorite song to her in Korean. We sang "Savior Redeemer of My Soul," arrangement by Rob Gardner.  Tears filled up in our eyes as we sang the words, and you could feel the spirit so strong in the room.  I was so overcome.  I honestly haven't felt the spirit that strong since the MTC.  I looked into this struggling woman's eyes and could see so much pain and sorrow in her life and I felt so much love for her.  I know that God loves her so much. This is why I am here!  I'm not here necessarily to baptize everyone, but to also bring people back to Christ, and to bring happiness in their lives.

     MIRACLE FOR THE WEEK!!!  This girl called us and said, "Hey I heard you are sister missionaries and I have interest in the Book of Mormon.  Can I meet with you two?" So we met on Tuesday, and before we even could get very far in to the discussion she asked to be baptized. She will be baptized on January 25th. I was just thinking to myself, "WOW this is only something you see in the District! (missionary video)" We taught her about Joseph Smith and the restored church.  We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and she just soaked it up.  What happened was that she lived in Missouri for 3 months with a Bishop and his family.  She at first thought they were really weird, but after every week of having family night and daily scripture study she started to feel something in her heart.  She felt an unusual feeling that uplifted her.  This family was doing what was right and now she has been affected by it.  I am so excited for her and for the joy that will come into her life!! Family night is so important! I want to say thanks to you mother and dad for ALWAYS holding faithful family home evenings every week, and for all the daily scripture reading and family prayers we had. It helped me also to feel the spirit in my life and to desire a testimony of my own.  Oh….also….funny thing….I showed her Stephen and she thought that he was very handsome!!! haha I told her "Hey you should marry my brother!"  haha jk anyways I will send a picture of us together.

     I am devastated to hear about the sudden death of your best friend and mission president dad!   I just covered my mouth in shock as I read about it.  I am soooooo sorry!!!!!!:(    Thank goodness for the Plan of Salvation:}  We will all see each other again someday. 

     We will be putting on another music night very soon, and I am so excited to plan for this event. Also would you mind sending me some more shoes? I can not find any here that are flat, and my size, and that are sufficient for every day walking. And if it isn't too expensive it sure would be nice to have a little package of maybe some healthy snacks of American food:}  haha  Oh by the way it's true that the Korean's actually do eat dog meat here. Just sayin….Don't worry, I won't be touching that. 

     I feel like my companion has helped me so much with the language already that I am progressing fast and getting so much better at it. She is such a help to me.  I just love the people here!!  I love teaching and serving people! I love Korean's more than anything! And just plan on me sitting on the floor a lot and possibly lowering my bed to be on the ground when I get home. haha I'm going to miss the Korean culture.

     Hey thanks for everything!!  I love you all so much!!

  

        Love, Michelle