Hi everyone!
So today was transfer day! Sis. Beckstead and I were sad to say goodbye to Sis. Musser at the mission home, but we're excited to start another transfer together! Sister Musser is going to serve with an amazing sister, Sister Min-hee Jung, who was my roommate at the MTC. Sister Jung and I came to the Korea at the same time- which means we're in the same "dongie". And just to clarify- transfer day is every 6 weeks- but every missionary doesn't usually transfer every 6 weeks. It varies, but many missionaries stay in an area for 2-4 "transfers", which means 12-16 weeks. I hope that makes sense!
Anyway, I'm starting my 3rd "transfer" serving in the Goejong/Daeshin/Yeongdo areas of Busan. I love it here! And guess what- Su-hyun got permission from her mom to be baptized! We set her baptismal date for 11/8 and her mom plans to come! We are excited for her. She has been waiting for a long time! Thank you for your prayers. I also found out from my last companion, Sister Young-bin Lee, that Hyun-ju Kim in Daegu got baptized! When I was there, we taught her younger sister Hyun-a, and she got baptized the week before I left. Their brother Dae-hyun got baptized in March, and their mom got baptized after Hyun-a. So now everyone except the dad has joined the church- and he is now the sister missionaries' investigator! I was so excited to hear that. It's amazing to see a family growing closer together as they accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that families truly can find happiness through the gospel because then they can all have the same goal of living together for eternity.
I wasn't able to see the Yoga lady again because I only met her while I was on splits in Changwan. I hope she is still meeting with the missionaries over there. She had a lot of questions about our church, and seemed to have a little interest.
We asked Soon-Young Yong to bee baptized on Saturday, but she said her heart isn't ready yet to make that commitment. When she joins, she wants to be a faithful member of the church, so she said she wants to wait until she feels that she has developed the faith she needs. But we made a goal to keep working towards being prepared for baptism. She wants to find answers to her prayers and is really learning a lot from the scriptures. We pray everyday that she will be able to strengthen her faith as she learns about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
On Thursday, we met a waygookeen (foreigner) on the bus who was...guess what....teaching English in Korea. (That's what a lot of Americans do in Korea). She said she served in the Peace Corps for 2 1/2 years and was in Morocco where she learned Arabic. She had to be covered from head to toe- her face too! I was amazed at what she experienced in Morocco. I decided that if she could learn Arabic as the ONLY English speaker in her village, then I CAN conquer (or at least learn more of) Korean! It's possible! AND we can make eye contact with whoever we want, male or female alike. That's a plus! It's really safe in Korea...except for the whole North Korea situation, but no one here is too worried about that, so I'm okay!
I'm glad to hear everything is going well at home. That's awesome that Chris is making a computer game! I hope Chelsea enjoys Spanish! I'm glad your concert went well Mom! And San Diego sounded awesome! Dad, I'm glad you didn't get attacked by bears while you were camping! I love you all!
Have a great week!
Love,Alyssa