----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Alyssa Linford
To: cmlinford@yahoo.com; penny linford
Sent: Sun, June 13, 2010 8:58:16 PM
Subject: Hello again!


Hi Mom and Dad!

So when on wrote on Thursday, I neglected to tell you that my mission changed P-days again...back to Monday! I hope you don't get too confused! :)

Anyway, I'll tell you about our weekend! On Friday night, Sister Alcazar and I met with Choi Yu-jin and her husband, less-active members in the Hogye branch. They were so nice to us! It was my second time meeting them, but it had been a while since we saw them last. Sister Choi shared her experience from her mission, which fit right into the conference talk we had decided to share with her from the General Conference Liahona (an overseas church magazine.) We shared testimony about Sister Cook's talk in the Young Women conference. The sisters in our mission were able to all get together to watch that a few weeks ago, and we had an amazing experience. Sister Choi said she really identified with Sister Cook's talk about never giving up, even when it gets difficult. Sister Choi's husband, a convert from last year, flipped/skimmed through much of the Liahona and said he would read a little bit! He really seemed interested in a few of the talks. And we were able to make an appointment on the spot to come back and read Book of Mormon stories with them and their (almost) 8 year old daughter!
On Saturday, we had a successful English class in Bangojin with the cute little boys that attend. At the end, when I taught a spiritual thought about prophets, Moon-hyun recalled what he had learned about Joseph Smith and said we needed to give Dong-oo a Book of Mormon! He's not even a member of the Church but he's already becoming a missionary! The boys are really smart and seem to enjoy the spiritual thoughts and praying at class. We are happy to be able to work with them, and hope their mom will become interested in learning more.
After Bangojin, we went to a new English class we started in the Hogye church to get our investigator Do Ha-yun and her brother Gyung-hoon more involved with members in the branch. They were the only ones who showed up, but it was our first class, and more kids said they could come next week! Sister Alcazar and I were excited to be able to hang out with Ha-yun and Gyung-hoon more. They're great kids!
On Sunday, we stayed after church to practice with the District choir for the district conference that's coming up in two weeks. It's getting intense! It's nice to be singing in the choir because it's the one time we can spend with several members of both Hogye and Bangojin branches. Since we're kind of the only missionaries serving in Hogye right now, it's been hard for Sister Alcazar and I to get enough facetime in Bangojin. It seems like at church, half the time when we talk to people, we have just enough time to say we have to go to the other branch!
After choir practice, we went to Bek Myong-sook's house, a sister in the Hogye branch. She is amazing! She is a kindergarten teacher who lives with her husband (he isn't a member of the Church). Her two children are grown and she was introduced to the gospel through her son, who joined 7 years ago. Sister Bek was just baptized in 2007! She decided recently to go back to school and graduated in a degree with piano, but also studied the violin and flute! Not to mention, she just got back from a trip to Vietnam. She loves children (hence being a teacher) and said she has never really grown up. At lunch after church, I had seen her eating with all the five year olds! She talked about her experience with the missionaries over the past few years, and told us all about Elder Kent, who was clearly her favorite. I remembered Elder Kent because he was the AP when I came to Korea...over a year ago!
Anyway, we had a great weekend! I am excited for this next week and am so happy to be serving in Ulsan, Korea! I love the gospel. I know that Heavenly Father has provided a way for all His children to come back and live with Him again someday. And that's why I'm here!!

Thank you for everything! Have a great week!

Love,
Alyssa