WE DIDN'T HAVE UMBRELLAS………..


Dear family and friends,

     First I want to tell you how sad I am to hear about the death of Stetson Lee.  He went to school with me and was the same age.  He was such a good musician and a kind person. Life is hard, but God is good, and He still lives…... and loves us, even through the hard times.

     So for p day today we are just cleaning and resting, and next week will be transfers.  I will be sad when my companion leaves next week.  Last week I got to sing a solo at a stake activity. Loved it!!  I  was asked to sing the song Imagine from the Beatles to a soundtrack.   Don't worry I got a video of it. haha!  I'll show you all when I get home!

     The ring worm that I got on my foot was caused by the humidity and moisture in the air I believe, and is finally slowly going away.  I have been putting some essential oils on it, and it's doing good.  OH I GOT THE p 90x3 AND THE WHOLE HOUSE IS VERY HAPPY!!  We work out to it almost every morning.:)  My health is doing pretty good, but I seriously can not wait to start drinking green drinks again, and getting back in shape like how I used to be.:)

       I was asked to sing the song, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives," at the big zone conference last Tuesday.  Elder Song, a Korean elder, helped harmonize and Elder Smith, from Arizona, who went to Mountain View High School, played the piano.  Elder Smith knows Justin and they were friends.  We just talked a lot about my bro Justin and how he is doing on his mission in Kentucky.  Anyways, it was really fun! The song turned out well, and our  voices blended great.  Then we had a conference filled with many wonderful speakers and talks.  One thing I learned is that everything starts with our THOUGHTS.  So you can do ANYTHING if you think it and believe it. 

     Last Wednesday my comp and I were walking out of a members house and realized it was raining.  We didn't have umbrellas so we had to walk fast to the subway station.  The rain came down harder and harder, when all of a sudden this man appeared and he asked us if he could help us, and we said, " Oh we're fine but thanks anyway."  This Korean man walked over to us and put his umbrella over us, and he got wet instead.  He asked us where we were going and told us that he would  walk us ALL THE WAY HOME.  We got talking to him and he tried to speak in his broken English.  It was so cute!!  He told us that he had been to Utah before, and then he looked up at us and said, "You two are doing very good things."  He dropped us off and we thanked him for his kindness.  We were very grateful for him.  That's why I love Koreans……….they are always filled with compassion and kindness.:)

     This week was good, but really hard at the same time.  It was probably one of the hardest weeks, but very rewarding spiritually.   On Thursday we went to the temple, and I, like always when I go, was relieved of so much stress and worry.  It was a good day.:)   Yes I have been so physically exhausted, but my soul has never been so at rest.  I truly love this gospel.  I love my mission and everything about missionary work!

     On Friday we had a lot of appointments, and one of them was with a less active family that asked for us to teach them the gospel again in their life.  It was really special to help a family try to remember all that they had been taught, and hopefully come back to activity.

     Saturday was the HARDEST but BEST day of the week, and I don't really know how that could be but it was. haha!  This whole week we have been meeting really rude and mean people on the street.   On Saturday not one person ever smiled or gave us the time of day, and I was starting to lose hope.  On top of that we kept running into pastors who wanted to bible bash.  We have met five in the past two weeks without knowing who they were and we were tricked and "set up" by several of them.  Well this day we had an appointment with a girl our age that we met on the subway.  We were going to meet at the church, and everything was going to be good. She asked if she could bring a friend who wanted to meet Americans.  Absolutely!!!  RIGHT???  Isn't that what we want???  We met in the station to walk to the church and the girls friend acted sooooooo nice, and she was sooooo cute.  She was 24 years old and had lived in California for 6 years, and she was fluent in English.  She wanted to go to a cafe, and so we sat down and she immediately started asking a billion questions about our church.  Her goal was to try and interrogate us and I knew immediately what her plan was.  I started to feel that same feeling I did with the other people we had met.  I knew we had to get out of there!   She was trying to back us in a corner and catch us in our words, but never once could she do it!  I stood strong and boldly shared my personal testimony!  As I did I had this overwhelming feeling (which I know was from the spirit of God) that witnessed to me that this church and this gospel are TRUE!!  I am SO HAPPY to be a representative of Jesus Christ and stand up for what I believe in, no matter who comes my way.  We ended up leaving, and the second I turned my head my companion and I just burst into tears!  I know that God has His hand over this and that it will all be ok.

     Later that day we had a big ward party to go to, and it was a blast!  We were leaving the party to go home and I said hi to someone as we were waiting for the bus.  This woman asked, "Are you Mormon?"  We said, "YES!"  She then put up her arms in the shape of an X and quickly backed away from us, and my companion felt very heart broken, and down, and I told my companion to ignore her because she would fight with us.  Yes, we were crushed……….AGAIN!  We went home that Saturday and just prayed for strength……….and we received it.:)  This Gospel is still true and I still love Korea!:)

     This woman in our ward had asked me if I would give her and another woman a massage, because she said, "We hurt."  It was Sunday and my companion and I went to their home after church.  (It's a good thing I had experience back in the day. haha)  I massaged this particular woman's back for about an hour, because she claimed she was in so much pain.  Long story short, I learned a lot of new vocab about the body in Korean, and I am on massage duty every week now.  haha! :) kinda strange………

     Someday when I take you all back here to visit my mission, I won't even need a map, because I know my way around the city like the back of my hand.  Sometimes I forget that I'm not a Korean, and that I'm a strange white American girl here with blonde hair, and maybe that's why people stare a lot more these days. haha! Speaking of blonde…..I'm not letting ANYONE EVER touch my hair here again!!  haha!! 

     I want you all to know that since I have been on my mission I have felt an overwhelming impression, and prompting, that when I get back home I need to dedicate all my music to God.  I also want you to know that I know why I'm here, and that I want to show my faith by working hard!

     I am so excited to work with Clyde Bawden when I get home in the area of music.  He and I "have more magic to make!"  I want you all to know how thankful I am for your support.  I love you mother and dad, and everyone!!!

                                                               Love, Michelle