Hi everyone!
Sorry, I'm short on time, so this will be a quick email!
This week, we had a fun family home evening group at the church where several boys from young men's showed up. They had fun playing cops and robbers, running around the outside of the church. I stayed warm inside and chatted with Gook Hyung-mi, whose sons Kim Song-su and Kim Myung-joon were playing with the others. Kim Myung-joon, by the way, is the boy who was in the hospital. He's fine now! It must have been a 24 hour flu kind of a thing.
Last night Sister Jung and I met with a less-active high school student who got baptized in elementary school. We hope to keep meeting her every week- she is really nice!
We also had the opportunity to meet the friend of a junior high girl in the ward on Saturday and spend some time with them. She said she'd like to meet with us again! We ALMOST got her to come to the young men's/young women's activity with us, but then she had to go home. Oh well- at least we can still see her!
I am excited for this week- this past week Sister Jung and I had a day where everyone we wanted to meet with canceled, and we got dropped by an investigator. It was really hard, but we realized that as long as we do everything we can on our part, the Lord will help us find people who are ready to receive the gospel.
I love you all so much! I'm so thankful for this gospel. I love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and am so thankful for the wonderful examples of others. I hope I can become more like them! (companion, church leaders, FAMILY, mission president, prophet!)
Have a great week! I love you!
Love,
Alyssa
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Hi everyone!
Well, it's been another great week! On New Year's Eve, we had a fun branch meeting/party that turned out great! I found out that it was the first time they have done it, but I'm sure it will happen again next year! There was karaoke, which also turned up at the Christmas party. I loved seeing the members in the ward get into the "classic" Korean music of 20-30 years ago. It was really funny! That night, Sister Jung and I went home- and you guessed it! We went to bed at 10:30 pm as usual. But the next morning, we got up early to see the sunrise from a beautiful spot with the branch and what seemed like HALF of the city of Jeju! Seeing the sunrise on January 1st is a Korean tradition. After we saw the sunrise (Kind of- it peeked through the clouds), the branch members found a quiet spot to say a prayer for the new year together. It was a wonderful experience! Later, we celebrated New Year's/ our ward mission leader's birthday with the same "family" group that was together for Christmas: us, the elders, our ward missionary Jung-ee Kim, and the mission leader Hyung-tae Moon. On Saturday, we stopped by the restaurant of Jo Soon-shim and Kim Gi-wan, a couple whose three school-aged daughters joined the church earlier this year. They are so kind! The problem is they are busy working at their restaurant everyday to make money for their family. But they love what the church has done for their daughters- I hope we can get to know them better! On Fast Sunday, we got up early again for a special Fast Sunday prayer in a quiet, wooded area with the branch president, the Jeju-do district president and wife, the mission leader, Kim Jung-ee (the branch missionary), us, and the elders. I found out they do that every Fast Sunday! I was excited about getting up early, but it was a special experience. I could feel how much the leadership of the branch cared for its members.
Today, we had an amazing P-day! We went to Sogwiepo, at the south end of the island with the elders, Lee Hyun-jung, our investigator, and her son Pak Joon-hyung(a member). We walked along the coast on a special trail with AMAZING VIEWS of the ocean. It was gorgeous! I'll definitely send you pictures. We got to explore on the rocks a little bit and had a lot of fun. We were excited to have our second Jeju-do adventure (the first being the teddy bear museum!) and enjoyed spending time with Lee Hyun-jung and Pak Joon-hyung.
It was a great week!Thank you Mom and Dad, the family, Cheryl, Grandmas and Grandpas, Brandon and Jenn, for all your Christmas greetings! I was so excited to see the Christmas cards. Everyone looks great!
I love you all so much!
Love,Alyssa
Well, it's been another great week! On New Year's Eve, we had a fun branch meeting/party that turned out great! I found out that it was the first time they have done it, but I'm sure it will happen again next year! There was karaoke, which also turned up at the Christmas party. I loved seeing the members in the ward get into the "classic" Korean music of 20-30 years ago. It was really funny! That night, Sister Jung and I went home- and you guessed it! We went to bed at 10:30 pm as usual. But the next morning, we got up early to see the sunrise from a beautiful spot with the branch and what seemed like HALF of the city of Jeju! Seeing the sunrise on January 1st is a Korean tradition. After we saw the sunrise (Kind of- it peeked through the clouds), the branch members found a quiet spot to say a prayer for the new year together. It was a wonderful experience! Later, we celebrated New Year's/ our ward mission leader's birthday with the same "family" group that was together for Christmas: us, the elders, our ward missionary Jung-ee Kim, and the mission leader Hyung-tae Moon. On Saturday, we stopped by the restaurant of Jo Soon-shim and Kim Gi-wan, a couple whose three school-aged daughters joined the church earlier this year. They are so kind! The problem is they are busy working at their restaurant everyday to make money for their family. But they love what the church has done for their daughters- I hope we can get to know them better! On Fast Sunday, we got up early again for a special Fast Sunday prayer in a quiet, wooded area with the branch president, the Jeju-do district president and wife, the mission leader, Kim Jung-ee (the branch missionary), us, and the elders. I found out they do that every Fast Sunday! I was excited about getting up early, but it was a special experience. I could feel how much the leadership of the branch cared for its members.
Today, we had an amazing P-day! We went to Sogwiepo, at the south end of the island with the elders, Lee Hyun-jung, our investigator, and her son Pak Joon-hyung(a member). We walked along the coast on a special trail with AMAZING VIEWS of the ocean. It was gorgeous! I'll definitely send you pictures. We got to explore on the rocks a little bit and had a lot of fun. We were excited to have our second Jeju-do adventure (the first being the teddy bear museum!) and enjoyed spending time with Lee Hyun-jung and Pak Joon-hyung.
It was a great week!Thank you Mom and Dad, the family, Cheryl, Grandmas and Grandpas, Brandon and Jenn, for all your Christmas greetings! I was so excited to see the Christmas cards. Everyone looks great!
I love you all so much!
Love,Alyssa
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Hi Mom, Dad, and everyone!
You might be surprised to be getting an email from me in the middle of the week! Pres. Jennings just changed our P-day from Monday to Thursday, and what better day to start off than New Year's Eve! So from now on, if you could get your emails done before Wed. night that would be great! Anyway, not a ton has happened since I called you on Friday and emailed on Monday! Let's see...we had our Family Home Evening group on Monday night at the church. It was a lot of fun! We played the game where you you get a post-it on your forehead of a person's name from the scriptures, and everyone has to ask questions to figure out who they are! I had done it in the Yeongdo branch and thought we could try it out here. It turned out great! There were just 7 of us that night, the missionaries, Sister Jung-ee Kim, the branch missionary (she's about our age), and two boys from Young Men's, but we still had a lot of fun!
On Tuesday, we met with a former/potential investigator, Song-ja Kang, at the restaurant where she works. She is a really kind single mom who has known the missionaries for a long time, but has her hands full working all the time. I think she likes the church because she has two sons in high school and middle school who need good examples in their lives. I hope we can continue meeting with her! We gave her a booklet on how we can strengthen our families and are going to talk about that with her each week. I had my favorite food there- duejang jigae! Yesterday, we had district meeting down in Soguipo, on the other side of the island. We enjoy district meeting because of the mid-week spiritual boost and it's the only time we ever see the elders serving down in Soguipo! Elder Ryu talked about how we need to speak openly- but always with the Spirit. It was really good. I realized how important it is to recognize the way we are communicating with others and see how we can improve. He said that you should consider others' feelings when you talk and always try to speak through the Spirit. It was a really good lesson that prompted us to consider how we can improve our relations with others as missionaries. Communicating through the Spirit is something we especially need now, but we'll also need it throughout our whole lives too!
After the meeting, Sister Jung and I visited one of the Soguipo elders' investigator with them, Jung-soon Kim. She was busy, so we were only able to talk to her at the door, but she was really kind- my comp hadn't gotten the whole scoop on her and thought she was a member because she was so nice! We live far away so we can only visit her with the elders when we're down in Soguipo every other week, but we were glad we could meet her.
Last night, we had family home evening with Soon-hyung, a recent convert high school student, and his mom Hyun-jung Lee. Sister Jung and I taught about how Christ can help us overcome sin and also the principle of faith. Hyun-jung isn't a member but is really grateful for the church because of how it has changed her son's life. She LOVES the missionaries. She showed us a picture album of all the missionaries that have worked with them in the past year or so- and we were at the end! We really love Hyun-jung and her son and enjoy working with them. Today, we were surprised to wake up to a Winter Wonderland! Kind of. There was a lot of snow coming down, anyway! I guess it's an early start to the new year! Sister Jung and I are excited for the year 2010 and all that has in store. We're having lunch with a member in the ward and her children to celebrate New Year's Eve. Tonight, the branch is having a New Year's meeting/party and tomorrow morning the branch is going hiking at 6:30 to see the sunrise and welcome the new year! It'll be interested. I'm excited right now, but it's not yet the dark, cold, snow-filled morning that it will be when we get up tomorrow!Dad, I read the talk that you sent from Pres. Utchdorf. That's amazing! I loved what he shared about the experience people had when Joseph Smith dedicated the Kirtland temple. I especially liked this part of Pres. Utchdorf's testimony:"indvidual and collective trials may sometimes seem overwhelming.That is when we need, more than ever, to draw near unto the Lord. As we do, we will come to know what it means to have the Lord draw near unto us. As we seek Him ever more diligently, we will surely find Him. We will see clearly that the Lord does not abandon His Church or His faithful Saints. Our eyes will be opened, and we will see Him open the windows of heaven and shower us with more of His light. We will find the spiritual strength to survive even during the darkest night."I am so grateful for continued revelation from our latter-day prophets.I LOVE Pres. Utchdorf. I feel sometimes like we're on the same wavelength of some unseen radio channel.
I am so grateful that we can pray to the Lord and receive strength each day as we strive to do His will. It's hard, but I'm have a testimony that the Lord will help us to overcome the obstacles in our lives. He wants us to succeed and be happy!I love you all and am so excited for the new year. The new year is amazing- it's a new beginning!
Don't forget to make your New Year's resolutions!
Have a great New Year's Eve!
Love,Alyssa
You might be surprised to be getting an email from me in the middle of the week! Pres. Jennings just changed our P-day from Monday to Thursday, and what better day to start off than New Year's Eve! So from now on, if you could get your emails done before Wed. night that would be great! Anyway, not a ton has happened since I called you on Friday and emailed on Monday! Let's see...we had our Family Home Evening group on Monday night at the church. It was a lot of fun! We played the game where you you get a post-it on your forehead of a person's name from the scriptures, and everyone has to ask questions to figure out who they are! I had done it in the Yeongdo branch and thought we could try it out here. It turned out great! There were just 7 of us that night, the missionaries, Sister Jung-ee Kim, the branch missionary (she's about our age), and two boys from Young Men's, but we still had a lot of fun!
On Tuesday, we met with a former/potential investigator, Song-ja Kang, at the restaurant where she works. She is a really kind single mom who has known the missionaries for a long time, but has her hands full working all the time. I think she likes the church because she has two sons in high school and middle school who need good examples in their lives. I hope we can continue meeting with her! We gave her a booklet on how we can strengthen our families and are going to talk about that with her each week. I had my favorite food there- duejang jigae! Yesterday, we had district meeting down in Soguipo, on the other side of the island. We enjoy district meeting because of the mid-week spiritual boost and it's the only time we ever see the elders serving down in Soguipo! Elder Ryu talked about how we need to speak openly- but always with the Spirit. It was really good. I realized how important it is to recognize the way we are communicating with others and see how we can improve. He said that you should consider others' feelings when you talk and always try to speak through the Spirit. It was a really good lesson that prompted us to consider how we can improve our relations with others as missionaries. Communicating through the Spirit is something we especially need now, but we'll also need it throughout our whole lives too!
After the meeting, Sister Jung and I visited one of the Soguipo elders' investigator with them, Jung-soon Kim. She was busy, so we were only able to talk to her at the door, but she was really kind- my comp hadn't gotten the whole scoop on her and thought she was a member because she was so nice! We live far away so we can only visit her with the elders when we're down in Soguipo every other week, but we were glad we could meet her.
Last night, we had family home evening with Soon-hyung, a recent convert high school student, and his mom Hyun-jung Lee. Sister Jung and I taught about how Christ can help us overcome sin and also the principle of faith. Hyun-jung isn't a member but is really grateful for the church because of how it has changed her son's life. She LOVES the missionaries. She showed us a picture album of all the missionaries that have worked with them in the past year or so- and we were at the end! We really love Hyun-jung and her son and enjoy working with them. Today, we were surprised to wake up to a Winter Wonderland! Kind of. There was a lot of snow coming down, anyway! I guess it's an early start to the new year! Sister Jung and I are excited for the year 2010 and all that has in store. We're having lunch with a member in the ward and her children to celebrate New Year's Eve. Tonight, the branch is having a New Year's meeting/party and tomorrow morning the branch is going hiking at 6:30 to see the sunrise and welcome the new year! It'll be interested. I'm excited right now, but it's not yet the dark, cold, snow-filled morning that it will be when we get up tomorrow!Dad, I read the talk that you sent from Pres. Utchdorf. That's amazing! I loved what he shared about the experience people had when Joseph Smith dedicated the Kirtland temple. I especially liked this part of Pres. Utchdorf's testimony:"indvidual and collective trials may sometimes seem overwhelming.That is when we need, more than ever, to draw near unto the Lord. As we do, we will come to know what it means to have the Lord draw near unto us. As we seek Him ever more diligently, we will surely find Him. We will see clearly that the Lord does not abandon His Church or His faithful Saints. Our eyes will be opened, and we will see Him open the windows of heaven and shower us with more of His light. We will find the spiritual strength to survive even during the darkest night."I am so grateful for continued revelation from our latter-day prophets.I LOVE Pres. Utchdorf. I feel sometimes like we're on the same wavelength of some unseen radio channel.
I am so grateful that we can pray to the Lord and receive strength each day as we strive to do His will. It's hard, but I'm have a testimony that the Lord will help us to overcome the obstacles in our lives. He wants us to succeed and be happy!I love you all and am so excited for the new year. The new year is amazing- it's a new beginning!
Don't forget to make your New Year's resolutions!
Have a great New Year's Eve!
Love,Alyssa
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