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