I like to believe 3 impossible things before breakfast

9
Apr
So yesterday and the day before I finally got to watch General Conference! There was a week delay because of the translation into Korean, although I watched it in English, anyway, with some other missionaries. My favorite talks were by far Hallstrom’s and Baxter’s. Here’s a quote from Baxter’s talk: Thank you, sisters, for all that you are doing to raise your family and maintain a loving home where there is goodness, peace, and opportunity. Although you often feel alone, in truth you are never totally on your own. As you move forward in patience and in faith, Providence will move with you; heaven will bestow its needful blessings. Your perspective and view of life will change when, rather than being cast down, you look up. - “A Message to Single Parents,”  David S. Baxter

So yesterday and the day before I finally got to watch General Conference! There was a week delay because of the translation into Korean, although I watched it in English, anyway, with some other missionaries. My favorite talks were by far Hallstrom’s and Baxter’s. Here’s a quote from Baxter’s talk:

Thank you, sisters, for all that you are doing to raise your family and maintain a loving home where there is goodness, peace, and opportunity.

Although you often feel alone, in truth you are never totally on your own. As you move forward in patience and in faith, Providence will move with you; heaven will bestow its needful blessings.

Your perspective and view of life will change when, rather than being cast down, you look up.

- “A Message to Single Parents,”  David S. Baxter

15
Mar
Last week my companion and I were crossing the street as we do, and as we were just about to get to the other side we hear this CRASH. I thought I was going to turn around and see a fender bender but to our surprise a car had hit a PERSON! We had no idea what to do. That person was just FEET behind us. The crosswalk was definitely green and the car’s light was definitely RED. The guy was just lying on the street moaning. The driver got out of the car and ran over to him and called 911 (I think it’s 119 here) and the ambulance came and got him. We stayed to be “witnesses” since everyone else that saw it LEFT! But we had no idea how to describe it to the police. My companion doesn’t know the vocabulary for a car crash! We just said we saw it and that the crosswalk was green but that we didn’t know where the car came from. They took our name and numbers but they haven’t called us. INSANE. If we had been walking just a little slower, or the car had been driving just a little faster, it would’ve been us. It’s scary to think that if it HAD been us that got hit, no one would’ve stayed to tell the police they witnessed it! And we wouldn’t have spoken enough Korean to tell them what happened or what hurt… it would’ve been a nightmare! The Lord was definitely protecting us. I just wish we could find the guy that got hit by the car and see how he’s doing.

Last week my companion and I were crossing the street as we do, and as we were just about to get to the other side we hear this CRASH. I thought I was going to turn around and see a fender bender but to our surprise a car had hit a PERSON! We had no idea what to do. That person was just FEET behind us. The crosswalk was definitely green and the car’s light was definitely RED. The guy was just lying on the street moaning.

The driver got out of the car and ran over to him and called 911 (I think it’s 119 here) and the ambulance came and got him. We stayed to be “witnesses” since everyone else that saw it LEFT! But we had no idea how to describe it to the police. My companion doesn’t know the vocabulary for a car crash! We just said we saw it and that the crosswalk was green but that we didn’t know where the car came from. They took our name and numbers but they haven’t called us. INSANE.

If we had been walking just a little slower, or the car had been driving just a little faster, it would’ve been us. It’s scary to think that if it HAD been us that got hit, no one would’ve stayed to tell the police they witnessed it! And we wouldn’t have spoken enough Korean to tell them what happened or what hurt… it would’ve been a nightmare! The Lord was definitely protecting us. I just wish we could find the guy that got hit by the car and see how he’s doing.

4
Mar

Jumping and chinning ‘round the world.

15
Feb

Transfer 1, Week 4

Being on a mission has made me realize how kind-of-a-crappy member I was before my mission. I never helped the missionaries! The ward here is SO missionary-friendly. They have us over all the time, they refer people to us, they LOVE us. And I love them, they’re the best.

I love the Korean people; I can’t imagine serving anywhere else.

14
Feb

Alma 26:27

We shared Alma 26:27 with a member one morning and then it turned out that the verse completely applied to us that day. We had to drop two investigators. But then we found more! We got another two investigators this week! It was amazing. I really hope they will continue to meet with us. One is a girl around my age and the other is a young man around my age. The girl has PERFECT English but still wants to meet with us to practice English and learn about the gospel. The young man is pretty much completely gospel interest and is best friends with a member who is about to go on a mission. I guess all I can say is that my companion and I have seen miracles happen in our work every week. 

“Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.”
~Alma 26:27, The Book of Mormon

7
Feb

Fasting about Finding

On Fast Sunday, my companion and I fasted so that we could find someone prepared for the gospel. It was amazing how instant our results were. As soon as we combined our faith with works—fasting and searching—we found someone after only knocking on three doors. It was funny because we had just knocked on the door and no one answered, but then she got off the elevator and she looked shocked that we were there. We asked if she had time to hear our message and she said of course, come inside, it’s cold! So we did!

She was so sweet. She said that when she first saw two strangers in front of her door she was terrified, but then she saw the light in our eyes and she knew we weren’t scary. She gave us some herb tea and rice cakes and we talked about her life and her religion. She said she was interested in learning English and about our gospel. So we’re gonna meet with her again tomorrow. Pretty exciting!

6
Feb
We have 2 areas and go to 2 wards. One of the wards has its own building (above), but the other is actually a branch so it’s much smaller and they just rent one floor in an office building. I LOVE all of our members so much. Before my mission I used to wonder what missionaries did all day, and my companion said she used to think they just knocked on doors all day, haha. Here’s what the missionaries (in Korea at least) do all day: WORK WITH MEMBERS. Member referrals are the best way to find investigators, and are the most promising, since they already know someone who’s a member and know we’re not a crazy cult. I feel like it’s really different in America but here we work with the members so much. And they’re great!! 

We have 2 areas and go to 2 wards. One of the wards has its own building (above), but the other is actually a branch so it’s much smaller and they just rent one floor in an office building. I LOVE all of our members so much. Before my mission I used to wonder what missionaries did all day, and my companion said she used to think they just knocked on doors all day, haha.

Here’s what the missionaries (in Korea at least) do all day:
WORK WITH MEMBERS.

Member referrals are the best way to find investigators, and are the most promising, since they already know someone who’s a member and know we’re not a crazy cult. I feel like it’s really different in America but here we work with the members so much. And they’re great!! 

30
Jan
truebluesue: A letter from Hannah’s mission president with a picture taken on her arrival at the mission home! “We are so excited to have your daughter serving with us here in the Korea Daejeon Mission. She is ready to go to work. We trust that your daughter will receive many blessings through her missionary service in Korea and extend to you our sincere appreciation for sending us your precious daughter. We look forward to a wonderful relationship with her and deem it an honor to serve with her at this time.”

truebluesue:

A letter from Hannah’s mission president with a picture taken on her arrival at the mission home!

“We are so excited to have your daughter serving with us here in the Korea Daejeon Mission. She is ready to go to work. We trust that your daughter will receive many blessings through her missionary service in Korea and extend to you our sincere appreciation for sending us your precious daughter. We look forward to a wonderful relationship with her and deem it an honor to serve with her at this time.”
29
Jan
MIRACLE OF THE WEEK: Yesterday an older man showed up at church, just completely prepared for the gospel. He stood up and introduced himself as a friend of someone in the ward and said that he attends the Presbyterian church, that he really likes the feeling of this church, and that he wants to become a member. The whole congregation just looked back at me and my companion like, “TAKE CARE OF THIS.” Haha. So the ward mission leader came up to us after the meeting and was like, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” And we went in the other room with him and talked. He’s so cool!! He said that when he was in college, he had a roommate that was Mormon and that he went to church with him and even met with the missionaries but didn’t convert. Then he got all serious and said that it was the biggest regret of his life because he’s only just now coming to church so late in his life (I think he is in his 70s) and that he’s committed so many sins that he could have avoided. We told him that the great thing about the gospel is that we always have the opportunity to repent and be forgiven and he said he knew that. It was so exciting! The only bad thing is that he actually lives in Seoul! So we have to refer him to different missionaries :( But he’s definitely going to be baptized. He’s read the Bible in English TWICE. He taught himself English that way! Insane, right?

MIRACLE OF THE WEEK:

Yesterday an older man showed up at church, just completely prepared for the gospel. He stood up and introduced himself as a friend of someone in the ward and said that he attends the Presbyterian church, that he really likes the feeling of this church, and that he wants to become a member. The whole congregation just looked back at me and my companion like, “TAKE CARE OF THIS.” Haha.

So the ward mission leader came up to us after the meeting and was like, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” And we went in the other room with him and talked. He’s so cool!! He said that when he was in college, he had a roommate that was Mormon and that he went to church with him and even met with the missionaries but didn’t convert. Then he got all serious and said that it was the biggest regret of his life because he’s only just now coming to church so late in his life (I think he is in his 70s) and that he’s committed so many sins that he could have avoided. We told him that the great thing about the gospel is that we always have the opportunity to repent and be forgiven and he said he knew that. It was so exciting!

The only bad thing is that he actually lives in Seoul! So we have to refer him to different missionaries :( But he’s definitely going to be baptized. He’s read the Bible in English TWICE. He taught himself English that way! Insane, right?

27
Jan

Dinner and a Show

This week my companion and the elders in our area were invited to a 식사 (meal) at the bishop’s house. Also invited: all the youth AND a young man in the ward who was leaving for his mission in Seoul. The youth LOVE this kid. He’s so smart and funny. (I know this because he speaks English really well, haha.) Everyone went around and told him that he’s going to be a great missionary and they’re really going to miss him. We 4 missionaries gave him some advice.

Then he said a little farewell and it was SO GREAT. I couldn’t even understand him but I was like, getting goosebumps. My companion translated it for me afterward. He told them that they all said that missionaries all have a light in their eyes and that he has it now because he’s been set-apart as a missionary but that missionaries only have that light because they’ve aligned their will with God’s. He said that missionaries are set-apart as full-time teachers, but they are also full-time FINDERS. I’d never thought of it that way before and it’s so true.

We could really tell how the Spirit had touched their hearts when he spoke because they all came up to us afterward and grabbed our hands and said they had friends they wanted to share the gospel with but they didn’t know how. We’re going to set up a youth dessert party of some sort so that the girls will have a place to invite their friends to that’s not as intimidating as church. It’s funny because these girls were so intimidating to us before when we had tried to speak to them! My companion had told one of them before that she was cute and she had responded “I know” and walked away, haha. But as it turns out, all these girls also want to serve missions!

3
Jan


3
Jan
Two of my MTC roommates, Sister Hansen and Sister Furner (my MTC companion) are going to Daejeon with me! We’ll stay at the Mission Home in Daejeon our first two days there.  This is my Mission Prez and his wife. Check out their Daejeon Mission blog here:http://daejeonmissionfurniss.blogspot.com/They are the best! So funny and understanding, I love them already. People say that you’re called to your mission president just as much as you’re called to your mission. So true!

Two of my MTC roommates, Sister Hansen and Sister Furner (my MTC companion) are going to Daejeon with me! We’ll stay at the Mission Home in Daejeon our first two days there. 

This is my Mission Prez and his wife. Check out their Daejeon Mission blog here:
http://daejeonmissionfurniss.blogspot.com/
They are the best! So funny and understanding, I love them already. People say that you’re called to your mission president just as much as you’re called to your mission. So true!

28
Dec
Our district being hardcore. I SERIOUSLY love these people.

Our district being hardcore. I SERIOUSLY love these people.

28
Dec
[Flash 10 is required to watch video]

This video, taken in our classroom, is pure MTC gold. What you’re seeing is our Elders playing hacky sack with a tiny hard plastic pumpkin from our Thanksgiving decorations. They pass it over to Sister Hansen who is eagerly waiting to play, even though she’s in a restrictive skirt and has never played before.

Remember, “nay” means yes in Korean!

Also remember that my mom is updating my tumblr for me—I can’t get on tumblr until I get back from my mission!

28
Dec

JUMP PIX! Because we leave for Korea in five days!! (find the flailers)