Dear family and friends,
Well this is it! Christmas is finally here! I can just imagine how busy you must be right now with trying to get everything bought and wrapped. Good luck! We have been really busy as well, and last week we had our Ward Christmas party. I sang the song Hallelujah, (Christmas version) and I played the guitar to it. There were so many miracles that day. I also sang at our Christmas Zone Meeting a medley of "Oh Holy Night", and "Hallelujah." I really wanted to sing the original version of Silent Night by Clyde Bawden but the song of Silent Night was already going to be sung. Anyways, the song made President Morrise cry. Koreans got up to bear their testimony and said how much they felt the spirit in the room.
I also sang at a Korean wedding the day of the ward Christmas party, which was so gorgeous. I will send pictures of that. We got to sit in the third row and just basked in the beauty of the room. It was an experience that I will probably have only once, so I really enjoyed my time there. After I sang they had this HUGE buffet and when I say huge I mean HUGE. By the time I walked by the tables with different foods to put on my plate it was all cold. haha! None the less, it was delicious.:)
Today for P day we are shopping for my companion because she has no winter clothes and is freezing. My companion hasn't gotten anything for Christmas and won't get her package until December 30th. I feel bad for her.
I want to share with you four miracles we had this week.
First Miracle: We had to leave a little early to pick up our new investigator so we could go together to the ward Christmas party. I will tell you a little bit about her in a second. On the way while waiting for the bus, I said hi to this one lady. Long story short, she started asking about our church and she was touched that we would be in Korea, away from our families, serving without payment. The bus came and I didn't have time to ask for her number. I quickly gave her my card and told her to call us. Later that night during dinner at the party I got a call from an unknown number. I answered it and it was her. She wanted to know where the church was. WOW! I couldn't believe it.
Second Miracle: Now I will tell you a little bit about our investigator. She is a student who is 17 years old and who suffers depression. She has tried to commit suicide, and she is currently having suicidal thoughts. She really has no friends and no confidence. She lives with her grandma and her parents are NEVER around. She was a referral from our ward mission leader. We met with her this week and tried to cheer her up, and she actually started to look happier. We called her one night just to check up on her and she was very depressed. We went over and just tried to make her laugh and we told her how much we love her. We picked her up to go the the ward Christmas party, and all the young women friend shipped her so well. The bishops daughter did a fantastic job. Then all of a sudden she said to me, "Hey what is that book you have?" I told her it was the Book of Mormon. She said, "Can I look at it?" She started looking through it and loved all the pictures. I told her to keep it and she held it close to her the rest of the night. What a special moment that was for me. We will meet her tonight.:)
Third Miracle: This woman that has been coming to English class for months now told us that she will be moving to the United States on December 16th. We were really saddened by this news because she was our FAVORITE student. She has interest in the church but said she couldn't meet because she has no time. So we waited……..Then she moved. I was really sad and thought we lost our chance. Then during the Christmas party she suddenly walked in with her daughter and surprised us all. I was shocked and asked, "Why are you not in America?" She said, "I am not going to move now until next May!" My first thought was, "It's because she need to joint the church!" To me it was a miracle, and she will be our investigator soon.:)
Fourth Miracle: We had five investigators come to the party! Also every single one had a member who was being their friend. I have never been so stressed out, because all of them were sitting at the same table. It would've been impossible for just us two to focus on all five investigators, but because of the members helping us out by talking with each of them, it all worked out. Members are VERY vital to missionary work because of helping with fellowshipping.
Dad, I remember you saying to me before I left on my mission, "Michelle, when I came home from my mission to Brazil I had this thought in my head that If I can do this (learn Portuguese, speak it, and live and teach with these people for two years) I can do ANYTHING." Well…….I think the same thing. This language was and is SOOOOO hard to learn but I am amazed everyday at the fact that I can read, write, understand, and speak this Korean language. Heavenly Father has truly blessed me to do this. I have a lot more confidence from being on this mission because I have stronger faith in Jesus Christ.:) This mission has done wonders for me, and I am so grateful! It has also helped me have more confidence in speaking in public, and I know if I can speak Korean in public I can speak English in public. Everything will be easier from now on in my life……(well not everything, but you know what I mean.) I have gained a lot of confidence on my mission and I look forward to speaking now:)
The Koreans who are buddhists here are very content with their religion, also because it's important to their parents and ancestors. We eat out at members houses fifty percent of the time now. Also I said I wanted to go one more time to the public bath house because it's a fun experience that you can't have in America, and it's also super clean.
Don't get me wrong……..I am actually really excited to come home. My body is ready to come home but my MIND is not. My heart definitely is torn in two. It is usually too hard to think about and I can't wrap my mind around it. This is my plan for when I get home. The next day I am home I want to go to the dentist. Please make an appointment for the next day I am home because I think I have a lot of cavities. Second, I want to go to the doctor to make sure everything is ok with my body and my skin. Third, I want to go to the hair salon and have the lady fix my roots and the mess ups I did. Fourth, I want to get a MASSAGE really bad. hahaha Then I want to get right into crossfit, and also recording music, and just relaxing. Dating would be nice too but not the first few days.:)
We don't really have a lot planned for Christmas Eve and Christmas day yet but we are caroling twice on Christmas Eve. A member said we can Skype on December 25th which would be Christmas Eve for you. We figured out a time and that would be 10 am for me and probably 7:00 or 8:00 pm for you. Let me know if that works ok? Probably after you eat Christmas Eve dinner.
This week was a special one because last Christmas I was a greenie (brand new missionary) and felt kind of sad that we as missionaries couldn't have our P day on Christmas. I was frustrated that we had to WORK on that day. NOW Christmas is here again once more and I am not a brand new missionary anymore. My whole perspective has changed. This Christmas is still a work day and not a rest day. For the first time, I am actually grateful that we GET TO WORK on this special day. What better way to spend Christmas then by serving others. Who is this day really about anyways? I GET TO BE A MISSIONARY FOR JESUS CHRIST ON CHRISTMAS DAY. I don't know if you understand how much that means to me, but it means EVERYTHING TO ME! What a special day that will be. Let us remember this Christmas why Christmas even exists. It is because of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.:) I hope you have a MERRY MERRY Christmas everyone! I love you all:)
Lots of love, Michelle
No comments:
Post a Comment