Hi Mom!
Wow, you all seem to be really enjoying summer back home! I bet you're really happy that you put the pool in! You're definitely getting a lot of use out of it! Sometimes I wish I could enjoy the pool right about now, but I know missionary work is MORE than the humid heat of Korea! Now I know why people have trouble describing humidity. It's like walking around with a big weight on your shoulders. The air is heavy!!
This past week, Hae-meen and Meen-joon got baptized by their uncle! Sister Lee and I were excited to see them take this step in their lives. They are kind of shy though, so their uncle had to drag them up to introduce themselves at the baptism. I am happy that their uncle's family can be such a good example for them. Even though their parents aren't interested in the gospel right now, I hope later their hearts can be opened to it through their children and brother. The next day, after lunch at the church (that's fairly regular), I taught Sae-un, another young investigator with a split (ward missionary) Sister Ma Uhee-jeen. We were able to finish teaching her everything she needs before baptism! Sae-un is really smart and remembers just about everything anyone teaches her- missionaries, primary teachers, etc. She is excited to finally be baptized later. She comes to church with her great-uncle's family. On Saturday night, we had the opportunity to go to a choir concert with a choir (from our church) from Seoul. The Daegu stake choir sang too, with many people from our Sangin ward. It was really cool! Hyun-a came with her whole family because Dae-hyun (her brother, a member) played in a special Daegu stake music ensemble. He is an awesome clarinet player! I got to sit with Hyun-a's family and chat with her and her sister Hyun-ju. Almost all of Hyun-a's family comes to church now but her brother is the only one that is a member! It makes me so happy to see the blessings that can come as a family grows together in the knowledge of the gospel. I am excited for the last two weeks of the transfer! Thank you everyone for your love and support. I love you so much!

Love,
Alyssa

Hi everyone!
Another week has come and gone. Wow, so fast! So every morning when we wake up my companion and I sing a hymn together before companion prayer. We go through the hymns one by one so right now it really is like Christmas in July! It's fun...ish. I like the Christmas part but the reading Korean (or anything for that matter) right when I wake up isn't always the easiest! My companion and I are excited because two of our investigators, Hae-meen and Meen-joon, will be baptized this Saturday! They are elementary/middle school students that come to church with their uncle's family. We're excited to see them take this step. I'm so proud of how far they've come. They are happy about getting baptized and especially because the day has finally come! (We had to push it back a couple of times).Tomorrow marks my 6 month mark of being a missionary. Wow, time flies! I can't believe it has been that long already! I'm a third of the way done, and yet I've only been in Korea for 3 1/2 months. That's sister missionary work for you! Sometimes, honestly, it's hard being a sister missionary because there are so many elders and so few of us, but I know we all can make a difference if we work together. Working together, elders and sisters, missionaries and members, is so important, but it requires a lot of effort. But I know how well things can be if we are positive, work with everyone, and try to do the best that we ourselves can do. If we love each other and build each other up, we can all grow so much together. Unity is so important, and yet so hard to attain sometimes!I am learning a lot and trying to take it one day at a time, learning something from every experience. I know that as missionaries, we need to BE the kind of people we are trying to help people become. We're NOT perfect, but we can always make progress, always come closer to Christ.Recently, we visited the stake president of Daegu and shared a message about 1 Nephi 8 with him (Lehi's vision about the tree of life). I know that by following the iron rod and sharing the fruit of the gospel of Christ with others, we can truly become as He is. I am grateful to be serving Him and am especially grateful for your wonderful love and support. It really makes a huge difference!Have a great week!

Love,
Sister Alyssa Linford

Oh yes, and I do have a Korean name:린포드If you can't read that, (it's in Korean letters), it says Leen-poh-duh.And my Korean companion/investigator said Dad probably got Im-Bong-Do because it "sounds" similar to Linford. You would have to know something about Korean to understand that!
Goodbye!
Oh and that's cool that Casey met up with Wesley. And that Brooke has her driver's permit. I can't believe she'll start driving next year!

Hi Mom!

It sounds like you and Chris are having a fun time at Grandma and Pete's! Dad said he, Chelsea, Casey, and Brooke had a good 4th of July at home. I did indeed receive your birthday card and package! Thank you SO much! My companion and I LOVED the cookies- we're big fans of Mrs. Fields now! And I love the cards- they're really useful! The toys are cute. It's a random mix of dinosaurs, cars, finger puppets, a rhino, and duck. My companion and I had a good laugh over that. It's a slightly random mix of things, but I'm sure the kids will love it!
Thank you EVERYONE for all your birthday wishes! And I think it's Grandpa Linford's birthday today (right? July 6th? ) Happy birthday! The fourth of July in Korea, as you can imagine, was no big deal. I asked my companion if we could eat American food for lunch instead of the regular shikdang (restaurant) fare, so we had bagel sandwiches and smoothies. It was cute. But we just had Subway a couple days before, so it wasn't a completely unique experience. Not that we go to Subway all the time or anything (I've been twice!). After that, I taught English class at Daemyong, but I totally forgot to talk about the fourth of July! Oh well. We had a good time talking about opposites and playing Hang-man instead. The English class is down to 4 regulars- 15 year old boys who don't have the best attention spans in the world (go figure!). They're really smart and know a lot of English though!
That evening, we visited two members in our Sangin ward. One of them is the one who asked the question about happiness. We learned a lot from her testimony of her first experience with the gospel and missionaries. I know she really appreciates the missionaries and the work that we do. As we met with her, I realized that I want to have as much respect for my calling as she does! People realize that missionaries aren't perfect, but they see them as an example to follow. If we respect our callings the same way that these people do, we can be so much better at serving others. I know that is true. If my companion and I are happy, other people can be happy too! My companion and I were SO happy after we met with this member. On our way to the subway, we talked about how much we want to truly fulfill our roles as missionaries. We were so excited to talk to a girl on the subway- she, in turn, responded positively to our message about the plan of Salvation. She was honestly interested in what we had to say! I know that is because we were so happy to share it with her. We could share the message through the Spirit. After she left, a lady jumped up and sat in her seat. She said she wanted her daughter to find religion and she had a good feeling about us and what we were saying to the other girl. I am so thankful for that experience. We truly felt blessed by the Lord that night. Honestly, it's hard to always have that happiness, but I've seen how it can truly make a difference as we proselyte each day. When we have these experiences, we get more excited about who we can share the gospel with next! I just wish it felt like that all the time :)
I am truly grateful for the Lord's blessings. I don't know how I could be here teaching others (in KOREAN) his gospel without his assistance. It wouldn't be possible! Yet we are here. I feel so blessed to know that we can live with our families forever in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that following them is what brings TRUE happiness.

I love all of you! Thank you so much for your love and support. You're amazing! I hope all is going well.

Sincerely,
Sister Alyssa Linford

Hi everyone!First off- Happy birthday/ belated Father's Day Dad!! Time goes by quick. I feel like I was just saying happy birthday to Brooke! Things are going well here. Daegu is getting into monsoon season- which apparently means it will just pour rain at random parts of the day. I heard Michael Jackson died ( but not Farah Fawcett). That was just kind of weird to hear- like when Heath Ledger died. It's not something you expect to hear! Aunt Cheryl mentioned there are violent demonstrations going in Iran- wow, it sounds like things are pretty scary over there right now. It's amazing how the media can revolutionize how people receive information. I hope things make progress over there. How's the North Korea nuclear situation? I haven't heard about that in a while. And, you know, I kind of have a vested interest in that! Korea has definitely benefited from the media. Everyone has a cell phone, mp3 player, etc. I'm not kidding. It's really cute to see elderly people texting or hear their pop song ringtones! I mention them because there are A LOT of elderly people in Daegu. I'm not kidding. It seems like every other person I run into is 60+ years old. And several are 80+ years old! Interesting tidbit. Needless to say, I do a lot of bowing (mostly head-bowing). Anyway, Thursday this week, Sister Lee and I received many blessings. One that is not the most important (but is funny): Food! The Sangin elders get food (not infrequently)from the members but since we have two wards, we don't get a ton. The ward mission leader randomly asked if we needed food this week. We mentioned that we like fruit and he promptly got us melons the next day. When we visited the bishop, he saw the melons and gave us yet another one. Then we got a call from the Relief Society president (she didn't talk to mission leader) who gave us a huge bag of food from the ward. So we're rolling in fruit now!!! We were really thankful to everyone in the ward. We definitely didn't mean to end up with so much! So yes. We were blessed this week. Many other things happened too, but that just showed us how the Lord is looking out for all of us. We are loving the work and feeling so blessed. I love the people here! We truly love them. I love you all! Have a great week!Love,Alyssa

Hello Mom, Dad, and everyone!
Today is the first day of my 3rd transfer! And I'm staying in Daegu with Sister Lee! We're excited! We have a lot we want to do this transfer...get to know the bus routes (we have the subway down), BRT with our members in Sangin and Daemyong, 3 upcoming baptisms (2 scheduled- Hae-meen and Meen-joon, hopefully Sae-un too), try to get a new investigator! I will probably leave next transfer so I have a lot of motivation for this transfer. And I'm quickly leaving greenie status! That's cool that Grandpa Plasterer is in Seoul right now. Does he know Seoul well? I didn't know that he spent time here. How long will he be in Seoul? I got Chelsea's letter a week and a half ago and am sending her a reply today (we only write letters on P-days and I didn't have much time last P-day on account of WooBang land!). I got your birthday card! Thank you everyone! I loved that everyone signed it. I won't lie- I teared up just a bit. I love you all so much! It's funny. I woke up and actually felt older! But it's not weird to say I'm 22 years old because I actually never say that. In Korea, when you're born you are one year old, and every New Year your age changes. So I've been saying I'm 23 years old for three months. That's good! Thinking 22 is old is nonsensical. I'm just getting started! It is kind of scary how time flies though. My birthday was fun. We got together with some missionaries at Mr. Pizza (a coveted missionary treat) and they surprised me with cake. Then it was back to work! We taught Hyun-ah with her brother Dae-hyun and a Sangin member, Han-nah. Wow. Thank goodness for lessons with members! They can share such powerful testimonies of the gospel. It brings a new atmosphere to the lesson! That night, we ran into an investigator Jeen Yoon Ok near her apartment. We didn't even realize we were close by where she lives! When she found out we were on our way to grab sandwiches for dinner, she insisted on treating us and we talked about the Church. Afterwards, we ran into her daughter on our way home. I told Sister Lee that we should just hang out by the apartments/subway stops of people we want to visit. We are ALWAYS running into people when we least expect it! It's funny how a big city can become so small when you're a missionary. We're in our own world, constantly traveling between Sangin and Daemyong. In fact, there's a man who is always selling something on our subway line- going up and down the train with his cart. He knew my trainer and met her and an old companion once, then met me afterwards. It's really funny. Every time I see him now, he says "Hi Reen-poh-duh! How are you doing?" in English and we exchange pleasantries. Wow. That's when you know you LIVE on the subway line. Haha. I'm just thankful we have a subway! Saturday, at the English class in Sangin, I had the opportunity to talk about our beliefs with one of the students. He had a question about the origin of our Church- why we cannot be classified as Protestant, like other churches. Because we were talking in English, I spoke simply (like it would be any different in Korean :) ) and testified of the Restoration of the gospel and Heavenly Father's plan for us with Jesus Christ as our Savior. I realized how important it is to teach simply. And really, the purpose of the gospel is simple! We all can find true happiness and live with our Heavenly Father again. As my companion and I talked with the man, I realized that everyone is searching for happiness. They just don't know where to find it. We propose that we do know where to find it, and then ask people to gain a testimony for themselves through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is so important I really like Ether 12 because it shares many examples of faith from the Book of Mormon. Thank you everyone for your scripture references! I wrote down three from Doctrine and Covenants. Random- I guess I need to study that more! There is so much opportunity for growth as a missionary. Well, I guess it's always there, we just don't see it. Now that I'm on a mission, I want to know everything I can- because, well, sometimes I really need it! Before I took the Bible for granted, but now I want to know all about it. There are so many different Christian churches in Korea, so some people know the Bible VERY well. It's like that in many other places too, but it's a little daunting when you're talking about it in Korean! I'm so thankful for scripture refs between Bible, BOM, and D&C. I think it's interesting to see how Heavenly Father uses the same words, teaches the same principles, throughout all of the scriptures. The gospel really doesn't change! This next transfer should be interesting. There is so much to do. But I'm going to take it one day at a time. Otherwise, it's just overwhelming! That's a big lesson I've learned over the past five months. You can't learn Korean grammar in a day, teach perfectly at the start, never make a mistake. Heck, I make mistakes left and right! But the important thing is that we always try to progress. I think a General Authority said your testimony can never just stay in the same place. It's always either growing or decreasing. I think that can apply in other parts of life too. If everything is just stagnate, something is up. Life can be amazing! We just have to work through the hard part to get there.I love you everyone!
Swim a lot for me!
Love,Alyssa

Hi everyone!
Wow- this is the last week of the transfer. Time is flying by! I feel like Sister Lee and I just became companions! We really want to stay together in Daegu next transfer. A few of our investigators are really close to baptism- they are so good! One is a middle school student and the others are elementary school students. They all have family ties in the church and come to church every week with their family members (their uncles). It's amazing to see how much they learn from Primary, Young Women's, and Sunday School! Hae-meen and Meen-joon are brother and sister. The other girl is Sae-un, who I mentioned before. Hopefully I'll be writing more about them later!
On Thursday this last week Sister Lee and I had an opportunity to go to a traditional Korean music concert with another investigator. It was really cool! At first the music was hypnotic (and a teeny bit boring) and I started getting sleepy. But later on, they had some amazing dance numbers with drums and other things like that. So that helped wake me up! It was a fun cultural experience and a good way to bond with Jeen-Yoon Ohk.
Yesterday, a member asked Sister Lee and I a question that I'm still pondering about today. She asked us how she could find happiness. Where do you begin with that? We share that message every day- that we have the way to find happiness through the gospel of Jesus Christ. But as we talked with this member yesterday, I realized that we are working with real people who have real lives. Missionaries come in and out, but these people continue on in their own lives. We want the changes people make in their lives to last. Everyone wants to find happiness. But it can't come through a job, through getting married, through finishing school. All these things are just markers in life. They cannot be the markers of happiness.
Receiving baptism is just part of the conversion process. After someone is baptized, they do not automatically find their purpose in life and are forever happy. Finding your purpose in God's plan takes time and effort. It requires sincere prayer, scripture study, and trying your best to become involved in the Church. When the member asked me how I found happiness before my mission, I first responded that sometimes I look back on a time period and think, "Wow. I was happy then!" But at the time, I didn't necessarily always feel spectacular. In fact, that was hardly the case. Sometimes things went wrong. I didn't always feel good. But I told the member that honestly, the times when I was the happiest were when I cared about others and tried to be their friend. I was happiest when I tried to follow the Lord. (In fact that applies now too!) We talked about that with the member for a while. Since she is going through a hard time, we talked about the true meaning of happiness.
Honestly, I don't know where I would be without the gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us hope that we can be eternally HAPPY- isn't that what everyone wants? Everyone has frailties, everyone has weaknesses. I recognized that yesterday, when someone who seemed so strong-minded quietly asked us that question. Through the gospel, we can overcome those weaknesses. The Atonement of Jesus Christ will help us to bypass all that. I know this is why we're sharing the gospel. We all need an extra boost. EVERYONE needs to know that there is someone out there who loves them, that they have a place in this life. We are all brothers and sisters. We can all help each other to find that happiness in our own lives. And if the person seeking happiness doesn't have the gospel, we can share it with them. That's why I'm here!
I'm so thankful for that experience yesterday. I hope the member can find strength from the Lord as she continues her search for happiness. I am thankful for prophets in the scriptures, for modern-day prophets, all who can help us to find our place in life. I am thankful for prayer because I know the Lord loves us and will help us when we humbly and sincerely ask Him.

Things are going well. I AM happy! Yesterday just put me in a pensive mood. But don't worry, it won't last for long. We're going to Woo Bong land today! I am way excited. It's going to be so much fun! So yes. Things are going well. I will continue trying to be a better missionary. Thinking about others is SO much better than thinking about yourself. Just don't get too worried about them!

Love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Alyssa