Hi Mom and Dad!

This past week went by really fast! Last Friday, Sister Yoon and I spent an hour of quality time with our Hogye branch mission leader proselyting on the street after our missionary coordination meeting. It was an interesting threesome- Sister Yoon, me, and our former AP,a very confident ward mission leader Brother Jon (Something-something). Needless to say, I was a little intimidated. I learned a lot from about street proselyting!
On Saturday, Sister Yoon and I had the privilege to help a sister in the Bangojin branch make jello for the precise reason that I am American and thus must be pre-disposed to the art of jello-making. I warned her that I had never actually made jello (got me!), but we helped her anyway. And thus I discovered that yes, it is actually ridiculously easy to make jello. And it went over REALLY well at the baptismal service we had that night for a boy in the ward! Everyone was especially fond of the fruit-filled jello (haha!).
On Sunday we were excited to see three really important less-active members come to church in the Bangojin branch. Okay, so one of them already came every other Sunday, but the other two sisters hadn't been in a long time. We were happy to see Lee Ji-yae, a college student who hasn't been coming to church because the sister missionaries haven't been a presence in the branch for a while. Well, Sister Yoon and I are changing THAT! It's hard because we have two areas here and it's hard to split, so we can't be completely supportive of less active members in either branch. I feel bad for Ji-yae because there aren't really other singles in the branch, but Sister Hadden, who serves in a larger branch in the district, wants to get her involved with the district singles. YAY!
On Monday we had Zone Conference in Daegu! It was great- it had been nine months since I was in my greenie area! I was excited because I hadn't been to a Zone Conference in 5 months (that's what happens when you're on an ISLAND with only 5 other missionaries!). We were happy to see other missionaries serving in/around Daegu and Ulsan. We had a really good conference about helping the new "To the Rescue" program work in the branches where we serve. "To the Rescue" is a program introduced by President Monson to help less active members come back to church and find people to teach for the missionaries. We were excited to learn how to work with the leaders to make the program a success.
After the conference, I stayed in Daegu on splits! I had a really good experience working with Sister Crowther
who is serving in the Daemyong/Sangin wards! On Monday, after the conference, a Daemyong bishopric counselor and the elders went shopping with Sister Crowther and I for food for the missionaries. I thought that was so generous of the families in the ward who wanted to give the missionaries food. I am always impressed at how generous the people of Korea are. The missionaries feel bad accepting their tremendous generosity. We are humbled when we think WE are the missionaries and they are the members.
On Tuesday, she and I met with Kim Hyeon-a and her sister Kim Hyeon-ju for lunch. They're both converts from last year in the Sangin ward and I got to teach Hyeon-a before she was baptized! It had been FOREVER since we had seen each other. I really enjoyed seeing them and seeing how they had become a stronger family in the gospel. Everyone in their family was baptized in the past year (one by one), and now their uncle is an investigator! Hyeon-ju is really sweet. They're both so kind! I love and miss working with their family. Their brother, Dae-hyeon, is now a student at BYU!
Then, Sister Crowther and I had Sangin ward mission coordination meeting with the Sangin elders (Elder Ballam and Elder Kemmerer) and the really funny ward mission leader (Brother Jon Jung-shin)- otherwise known as (oori saranghanin songyochekimja- our beloved ward misison leader)- that's the nickname I gave him when I served here as a greenie! He is devoted to missionary work in the ward an is a big help (he used to be the Daegu stake president!). Then, Sister Crowther and I visited Jung Ok-nam, a convert of a few years ago with the Sangin elders. She is really kind to the missionaries and is so cute when she prays! When I served with Sister Young Lee-bin here last year, we used to visit her every week, so I wanted to see her again. She is so cute! She got really excited when I showed her a picture of Sangin ward members from a fireside last year and she got out her magnifying glass so she could see everyone's faces. When she saw herself, she got excited and said, "Harmoni eeda!" (It's Grandmother!). She really wants the elders to be able to teach her sons, so we prayed that they would have the opportunity to teach him.
After that, Sister Crowther and I went to the Daemyong ward area and had dinner with the Daemyong elders (Elder Lee Chan-joon and Elder Matsuura) and a cute family with a baby girl. She has grown a LOT since last year! I am really worried about seeing how big Ruby is when I get back!
Today, we had another sisters' P-day out and went to the Kyung-ju National museum. It is really interesting to see the artifcats they have here that are hundreds of years old! I am especially intrigued by the Buddhas that are here. (Oh yes, I'm still here- we're using the museum's public access computers). Korea has an amazing, rich, LONG cultural history. I can see why the Korean people have so much pride for their country. We've introduced ourselves to LOTS of people here- there's a ship of foreigners that landed for the day at Ulsan, so we got to meet lots of elderly Americans and Europeans. Plus, there are a ton of kids here on field trips! Sister Hadden and I enjoyed talking to an elderly man from America who was familiar with the church in Polynesia. He said his ship docked there once on a Sunday and they couldn't do anything because all the Mormons were resting! Haha! I thought that was pretty funny :)

I can't say enough how grateful I am to be serving here in Korea. I am SO grateful for my amazing companion, Sister Yoon. She is only in her second transfer but you wouldn't know that from talking to her! She has an AMAZING testimony of the gospel and wants to share it with everyone! I also know this gospel is true. I am so thankful for our loving Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith is indeed a prophet and that he translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God. bear testimony that as we apply the teachings of the Book of Mormon, we will become so much happier. Most importantly, I know the gospel allows us to progress, to learn, to stretch, to do better each day. We are not perfect- but we come closer to Christ as we TRY to grow each day. I bear testimony that we do need to TRY EACH DAY! Our testimony needs continaual nourishment. How can we nourish it? Through study, prayer, and sharing it with others!

Sister Yoon and I are committed to working hard and FINDING INVESTIGATORS for our area! I know if we work diligently everyday, the Lord will bless us. We saw how he blessed our work with less-active members on Sunday!

I just started reading the Book of Mormon again and I love 1 Nephi 9:6. The Lord will HELP us accomplish His work. He has promised us that! It CAN be done!

Oh yes, tell Jocelyn and Jason congratulations on getting married! That's AWESOME!
Oh yes, and I did get Chelsea's email last week. I think that's amazing that she wants to go to the Jerusalem center! Sorry I didn't write back Chelsea- and I just wrote a ridiculously long email so I'll write you back next week!

I love you! Have a great week!

Love,
Alyssa