September 29, 2014

helllooo

This week was good! Sister Fuller and I pick a topic to focus on each week and this week was our happiness week. We studied a little about happiness and made it a happy week. It was really fun. Nothing much happened to make it extra happy, but we just were focusing on being more happy and we were. kind of fun. 

Anyways, going to the temple this week was so good. It always feels so good to be there. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to go each transfer. I have noticed that I kind of rely on the temple in a way. I look forward to it so much each transfer and I begin to feel a need for it when I haven't' gone in a while. I am thankful for the chance to go regularly and to depend on the strength that we get from the temple. That will definitely be something that I rely on regularly for the rest of my life. After the temple, we went to a buffet with all of the missionaries (2 zones) and then went to President Christensen's house and made cookies and played games. It was a blast! Probably one of the funnest p-days yet. 

As far as investigators go, this week we were able to meet 진영선 and miraculously with a member! We have been trying so hard to meet with her and a member but members would cancel, or sis jean would cancel and we couldn't seem to make it work. But finally, on friday it worked out perfect. We met with the stake president's wife. She is awesome. Sis jean was kind of difficult to work with. She went over to the corner of the room and plugged in her phone and kept texting on it all throughout the meeting. We had a whole lesson planned for her that we really felt she needed. We planned a lot for it and practiced it and then she didn't really want to have a lesson. I still don't understand what she was doing, if she didn't want a lesson, but we were still able to talk a little bit. We followed up on last week's reading in JSH, but she didn't read it so we read some with her. The member shared her conversion story and sis. Jean was touched by it. I was really thankful that the member was willing to share her testimony. Sis. jean thinks that the reason her dad went into the hospital is because of her baptism. (a negative result). And so that's one thing she is still having a problem with. We haven't met with her friend lately because her friend has cancelled. We continue to invite her to church but she doesn't come. We will continue to meet with her and try to help her back.

We meet with 박정미 (park jong me) each week and she is awesome. She read the chapters we asked her to read and always understands. We taught her about our purpose on earth and why we need the gospel of Jesus Christ. She gets everything. I really think she knows it's true. The only problem is she goes to another church and so every week when we invite her to come to church she tells us that she is going to her church.  I think making the change is the hardest part for her. This week we are going to focus more on the plan of salvation. I love her so much and want her to have the faith to take action.

We met with the lady that followed us from the park last week. She is really nice but the lesson was a hard one. She was bouncing everywhere in the Bible showing us 1000 verses and none of them were connecting. We were trying to teach about the Book of Mormon, but had a hard time with her taking over the lesson. We want to try and meet with her and a member but I don't know if she will meet with us again. We shared our testimonies and asked her to read a chapter from the Book of Mormon. 

조현 (cho hyun) is doing awesome. We are going through the lessons again and teaching her. Her mom (former LA) is great too. They come every week and are making more friends. They are so sweet. She came with us to the baptismal service on Saturday and I don't think she has been to one since she was baptized so it was good.

 Recently I have been studying about the Apostasy and dispensations...etc. and going into depth on each part of the Restoration. It has been really good. Dad, I have also been going through and reading the conference talks from last conference and preparing for this conference. I am so so excited for conference!!

randomness:

This week our ward is having an activity and we're all going hiking somewhere up Bukhansan mountain. I'm sooo excited! So apparently back in the day, North Korea dug tons of tunnels under this mountain to send spies and tanks and stuff into South Korea.  So, When we go we have to bring our foreigner ID cards so they know that we're not spies. haha 

cockroaches: i saw one on the floor of the bathroom in the church last week and freaked out so of course the elders came and went in and caught it. They are always telling us their stories of catching cockroaches at their house and freezing them and stuff. So classic. hahaha but really the cockroaches are so sick. 

anyways..... there are lots of random great things happening but i'll tell you later. After my mission remind me to tell you about the cross man on the bike and phillip o'martin. ha ha.

i better go. i love you! glad Lake powell was fun! always is. sounds like you all had a blast. i'm glad the ticcaboo ward was fun! i love that cute branch!!! have a good week!! 

xoxoxo 

Sis Anderson

Here's a link to articles and photos from the Seoul Chuseok Conference

http://korealdspanewsletter.com/2014/09/24/chuseok-conference-2014/

"We all got matching pants. Everyone in Korea wears these. Oh and you can see our yo's (bed mat things) on the group. Yep that's my bed. hahaha"

 "Elder Fonnesbeck, he is one of the AP's and is going home in two weeks."

"My district at the temple."

September 22, 2014

HI everyone!

This week was good. It went by really fast. We were able to meet some new people and are finding some new investigators so that has been good. We had Stake conference and it was so good!! I got to see some members from my last area which made me so happy! Kim Hoee my RC from WonDang came and we got to sit together. She is still doing great and it was so good to see her! <3

This week we met with 진영선 (this time only her because her friend couldn't meet) so that worked out good. She brought her Bible and she showed us a whole bunch of random verses in Revelations. Nothing against what we were saying, just random things. We are learning that she really doesn't have a testimony of the Restoration and she feels like the Book of Mormon is like "going to another country and not knowing the language."  Before, she was really accepting about the Book of Mormon and really wanted to read it. she has a hard time reading so we got her the CDs to listen to when we were at the temple. Now she doesn't really care anymore. :( We were supposed to meet with her and her friend again on friday (she doesn't want to meet with just us anymore) but she cancelled. She didn't come to Stake Conference and wont answer our calls or texts. We are supposed to meet with them 2 times this week, but I'm not really sure what is going to happen. If we meet with them, we are going to teach the Restoration- specifically the part about dispensations, Christ establishing his Church and dispensations.

We met with 박정미 this week and told her that we wouldn't be able to do the 6 week english thing again, but that we could teach her once a month and teach her gospel stuff the other times. She is actually still intersted and wants to do that. So she has some gospel interest. She reads the Book or Mormon and understands pretty well. She reads the chapters we assign over and over so she can understand what is happening. She always comes filled with good questions. This week we are going to talk more about our purpose on the earth and why we need the gospel in our lives. We are also going to give her a baptismal date.

We met someone this week on the streets and she agreed to meet with us again. We went to the park and taught her on the benches. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and while we were teaching her, I saw another lady come down and sit on another bench near us. I didn't pay much attention to her but she could hear what we were saying. After the lesson was finished, we got up and started walking home. (us with the investigator) We walked through all these different streets of the neighborhood for about 5 minutes when we heard someone say something to us. We looked back and it was the lady who was on the bench by us at the park. She had followed us ever since we left and asked about our message. She is interested in learning. Her and our investigator both bonded really well and we all walked together and talked. Today  Sis. Fuller and Sis. Lee (because we are on exchanges) are meeting with the lady who was on the bench, and then our new investigator a few hours later. It was a cool little miracle! 

Yesterday that guy I met on the streets last month was baptized. He is really awesome and I think he will be a solid member. He is dying to have a calling so hopefully the Bishop will give him one soon. He knows the Bible inside and out and can recite like every scripture. ha ha so maybe he can help the elders in lessons or something. He loves the BOM and is so happy.

We had stake conference this weekend and it was SO good! Elder Whiting from the seventy came and spoke. It was great. He talked about hastening the work. He talked about President Christensen and President Lee (temple president) holding keys but that we the members have to help turn the keys. We watched that video they showed last year in the world wide missionary broadcast thing about families preparing themselves and watching for opportunities to have missionary experiences. Pres Christensen spoke a little and so did the temple pres. President had all the missionaries stand up and say our purpose. It was really cool. Elder Whiting said "if you want missionary opportunities, prepare and seek for opportunities, and you will find them" I know that if we look we will find chances to share the gospel with people!! Stake conference was great and i got to see lots of members I love and especially the cute kids from my last ward! I was so happy!

I have been studying Jesus the Christ a lot lately and always learn so much from learning about Christ's life. I read about Christ calling his apostles to go preach the gospel and telling them to be fearless. The worst thing that could happen is that they die and that's not as bad as someone not having the gospel. So my goal for this week is to be completely fearless. Another thing I have learned while reading is that faith is a means of power. Every miracle Christ performed came because someone had faith. 

classic side note: yesterday at the baptismal service i was playing the piano and i thought they said hymn 60 in korean but 

they said hymn 65 so i started playing 60 and they had to stop me and change to the other song. hahahahaha so funny. my life is so many embarrassing moments

well i better go. i love all of you!

rach: gald you are loving track!! sounds so fun. did they ever get a new sprint coach? 

dman: way to go in football! sorry about your ankle :( i'm so glad byu won!!! who are the key players this year?

ell: send a pic of the roasting stick bag! that's so awesome. your yw activity sounds so fun!

jane: the temple dedication sounds really good. how was hanging out with your friends?!

add:  glad you got my letter! i heard you are still dominating in soccer! way to go!

rid: i heard you are a goalie now! that's so cool. i would rather see a tiger too. thanks for teaching me about your library book! 

i love you all!!! have a good week!!! xoxoxoxo

Sister Anderson

September 15, 2014

This week has been a harder one. 진영선 (jean young son) was the lady who got baptized a few weeks ago, but hasn't been to church to get confirmed. The bishop called me a few nights ago and told me that he talked to her on the phone and basically her friend (the one she referred to us) is not the best influence for her. She is against our church and trying to prevent sis. jean from becoming a member. Now sis jean is going back on her testimony and can't the Bishop said she can't be confirmed for a while. She isn't keeping the word of wisdom and has some other problems. She didn't come to church yesterday just because she was tired. I talked to President Christensen about it last night and he said all these things happening is Satan trying to stop her. We are going to teach her the post-baptism lessons, so basically teach her everything all over again. Hopefully she can regain a testimony. Her faith is so shaky right now. Basically the Bishop told me to teach the friend well because if the friend gets a testimony, then sis. jean will be solid. if not, she'll probably leave. Please pray for her! :( 

 We have a few other investigators we are meeting with this week. Doing the 30/30 english/ gospel thing with them.

This week we will meet with 박정미 again. She is a former investigator we found that has english interest but seems to have a lot of potential. We are going to talk about doing english once a month and her coming to english class, but still try to get her to meet with us. 

Randomly a lady called us up this week and asked us about our Family English program and is interested in doing it. I'm not sure if she has met with missionaries or not before so we will find out with her. She seems really nice so hopefully that will go ok.

We found a less active family that we are going to try and work with. They are all members and the mother served a mission and used to be the RS president. The whole family is LA now. :( It makes me so sad.We want to get their family to come back. They are really nice people. 

We went to the temple this week with 초현 (Cho hyuen- Recent Convert) and did baptisms. It was really good. I think she really liked it. it felt really peaceful there and I think she could feel that. She was happy. 

Also, this was kind of crazy! Right as we were leaving the temple I ran into Amy Doxey (now Amy Hatch) a friend from High School outside on the grounds. It was so crazy. She has been living in China with her husband and came to korea for the weekend because of her travel visa. it was so bizarre to run into someone I know in korea! it was fun to talk for a few minutes and take a picture. I think Heavenly Father was watching out for me because i was feeling so sad on saturday about 진영선 and it cheered me up to see someone I know! So crazy! 

Random things that happened this week:

We had tons of member appointments this week which was fun. We got fed tons of fish, which i loved! (starting to love korean food more and more)

I was at the post office the other day and this Buddhist monk started talking to me.  He was dressed in his "monk" clothes and all. We see them around sometimes but i've never actually talked to one. He was super nice, and asked about missionaries and what we do. Also, right after that I saw a foreigner and so he started talking to us and asked if we were missionaries. He said he was from Arizona and is a member but not active. I told him I am a sun devil fan and he was way excited. ha ha. so random.

r: wow. you have so much happening in your life right now. haha. i love hearing all about it. i love you!

d: your letters are classic. i can't believe byu football is actually doing pretty good. and asu is ranked 15. that's sweet. keep me posted.

e: the Guatemalan kids carnival thing sounds so cool! i'm so proud of you and jane for going running! next summer we can run togetha!

 j: how was the movie you saw? hope it was good. how was tennis? remember when we would go all the time last summer!?

a: the blue bird will be sooo fun! i totally remember. of course i remember reading stories at night. and painting nails. we will for sure do that again! 

i: do you have a soccer game this week? i heard you don't have school in 2 weeks! that will be so fun. i love you!

have a good week! i love you so much!!! xxoxoxoxo

Sis Tara Anderson

"My town! :)"

"Roaming through some neighborhoods trying to find some less actives"

"Found some Ute stuff!"

"Dinner!"

September 8, 2014

Hey everyone!!!

This week was good! My new companion is Sister Fuller. She is really nice! She is from Salt Lake and comes from a family of 13 kids! We graduated the same year and she studied at BYU for 2 years as well. We have been working hard ever since she got here and it feels so good! I really like her and am excited for this transfer to learn from her and to work with her. 

We are trying to find some new investigators so we are focusing a lot on finding right now. We talked to some really cool people this week and were able to set up a few appointments. I followed up on the lady that accepted a Book of Mormon last week and she told me that she has been reading it and it's a little hard but she wants to meet so we can talk about it. So that was a miracle! We will be meeting with her next week. I'm really excited. 

Our investigator/ RC (not really sure what to call her right now) is doing good. She was baptized on Aug. 30th but missed church again yesterday because she was down in Busan again spending Chusok with her dad who is in the hospital. So we were bummed she couldn't come and be confirmed but I guess it's important that she is with her dad. We did see her twice this week though. She wanted to see Sis Jeon before she left so she took us to dinner one night. So she invited a friend to her baptism and she referred her friend to us. Her friend has English interest and not very much interest in the gospel, but we met with her and started the Family English program. I think that 진영선 will be a good example to her. She understands our purpose as missionaries and so we are excited to teach her. 

Sister Fuller and I are trying to work with some less active members in the ward so we have been contacting some members and looking through records. We set up an appointment with one and are planning on meeting with her this week. We are also going to meet with some members to find out who some less active members are that we can go find.

The man who the Elders are teaching that sis. jeon and i met is doing great. He is going to be baptized next week! He comes to church every week and now comes to our English classes. The elders meet with him a few times a week and he is doing awesome.

This week I read Ether ch. 6 about the Jaredite's journey to the promised land in the barges. In verse 6 it says they commended themselves unto the Lord their God" then it talks about the mountain waves and furious wind that blew them. Their vessels were tight like unto a dish so they were protected and the winds always blew them toward the promised land. I thought about their journey and compared it to a mission. I liked the part that talked about commending themselves unto the Lord. Giving it all to him and letting His will become theirs. I think this stuck out to me because President Christensen talked about consecration in Mission conference. I love the part about the huge waves and furious winds. I thought about all of the ups and downs and good times and hard times on a mission, but if we are obedient, we will always be protected. Just like the Jaredites were protected because they obeyed and their boats were tight like a dish. I like that the winds always blew them towards the promised land. I think that the "winds" of our missions will always blow us into the direction that we need to go, and then we will progress and become what the Lord wants us to. I'm thankful for the Book of Mormon and the way we can apply it to our lives today.

Mission Conference was really good! It was on Saturday and it was a lot of fun. President and Sister Christensen spoke to us a lot about prayer because that is our focus for the month, and then about obedience, sacrifice, and consecration. It was so so good! We talked about doing all 3 of those things so we can call down on the powers of Heaven to help us in our missionary work. We had a big lunch and did some stuff to celebrate the chusok holiday. Then we had zone training with our zone leaders and sister training leaders. It was really good. It was so fun to see all of my other friends in the mission! i will send some pics.

rach: love hearing about everything at utah state! sounds like a party!

dman: how's football? did you have a game this week?

ell: the ogden temple looks beautiufl! i'm glad you had fun!

jane: i love that you practice spanish with Scott! tell me more about fault in the stars!

add: your birthday looks SO fun! did you get my letter! watch for it! i thought about you!! happy birthday!!! i can't believe you are 9!!!

rid: i'm so proud of you that you are a beast on the soccer field. i would rather jump off of a cliff into the ocean. what would you rather do?

hey R,D,E,J- so this week i am going to be finishing the BOM so I will be starting it again and i have a challenge for you! Let's all start the BOM this week and try and read it before the end of the year! (personal reading) can you do it? I think you can!!!! tell me if you're in!

i love all of you!!! have a great week!!!

Sister Tara Anderson

 "Me and Sister Jackson at conference"

 "My trainer Sister Koo dressed in traditional Korean clothes for the holiday"

 "Sister Atwater from Kaysville"

"Cute little girl in the ward in her traditional clothes at church"

September 1, 2014

Hi everyone! loved the letters. glad everyone survived the first week of school!

On saturday our investigator 진영선 was baptized!!!! Thanks for the prayers!!! It was a complete miracle. She was really happy on her baptism day and everything went really well. She said she had a really deep impression and felt really good. It was great! The missionaries all sang the Armies of Helaman and the Spirit was there. She wanted to bring a friend to her baptismal service but her friend got there late and was only able to be there for the very end when we ate food. At least she got to come to our church and meet some members. She was supposed to be confirmed yesterday but didn't show up to church. We were panicking wondering why she wasn't there or responding to any of our texts or calls,  but she text us later on and told us she had to go down to Busan to be with her dad who is in the hospital. She felt bad, but hopefully she can come this week. I am just glad that everything is still OK. I think she is doing really well. Please continue to pray for her! She told the DL the other day that she is going to drink coffee after her baptism. :'( So we're hoping that this doesn't happen. She needs the gift of the Holy Ghost! Hopefully this sunday.

Remember that guy that i randomly met on the street a few weeks ago? The Elders are teaching him and he is loving everything. He comes to church and came to the Baptism on Saturday. He wants to be baptized so bad. He wants to serve in our church too. He believes that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and is so accepting. He has to attend church 3 times and this sunday will be his 3rd time. So he may be getting baptized the following saturday. He is great! 

Again, we were home most of the time this week, but the first few days of the week were a little better. We were able to get out and do just a little bit of street contacting. I met a nice lady who accepted a Book of Mormon and said she would read it. She also gave me her number. I think that because I haven't had very many opportunities to get out and talk to people these last few weeks, I am able to notice the small miracles that do happen more. Somebody accepting a Book of Mormon and saying that they will read it meant so much more to me than it ever has. The little things mean so much more.

This week I got the letter from Dad with the talk by President Monson called "Decisions determine Destiny" Thank you for sending it!!! i love it. It's such a good talk and it has made me think a lot about the little decisions we make that can have large consequences. One part that stuck out to me was when he said "I urge you to not take counsel of your fears." He talked about the consequences that can come if we are too afraid to pursue something because it is too hard or you are afraid of failure. I was thinking about that and I applied it to missionary work. If we take counsel from our fears and are too afraid to talk to that one person, there can be major consequences. A decision to share the gospel with someone can change their destiny and our destiny. I have just been thinking a lot about that this week.

I'm getting a new comp this week! Her name is Sister Fuller from Utah. I dont' know anything else. I'm excited to work with her! It will be good. My first non-Korean companion! i'm so used to being with koreans. I am excited!

Rach: USU sounds like it is a blast! I am glad everything is so fun! Your classes sound good. I loved Sociology. it's super interesting. College is a party huh?! When does track start? Have you started practicing? Whatever happened to the sprint coach? is there a new one? love you!

D-man: your letter made me laugh way hard. Hearing about marv taking kids out in order to score a goal. hahahha. yeah marv! (like yeah mars) and you saying "if you dont' score 3 goals you're grounded." haha classic. marv's a beast. i can't wait to see it next year. classic. oh and the crowd surfing thing sounds so funny. I would have loved that! haha

Ellie: i'm glad school is good! i love hearing about your classes. The teacher that is obsessed with his electric guitar and pokemon characters. eh eh eh eh. hahaha that's so cool you are making a roasting stick holder in sewing for mom! I want to see a picture. you are so cool! Good job on giving a talk in church! I'm glad it went well.

Jane: i can picture the first week of school feeling long because you're used to playing everyday! But it gets a little easier after the first or second week. Think of all of the fun things that happen in the fall like football games and cool weather etc. The rope swing at that pond sounds way fun! 

Addie: i loved the pics of you in your adorable soccer uniform! I am glad you are doing so good! HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK BEAUT!!!!! i can't believe you're 9!!! that is so crazy! i will think about you and hope you have a great day!!! send me tons of pics! Have fun shopping with mom and going to the temple open house!

Isaac: i heard you are the BEST soccer player. Everyone told me that you scored so many goals. You are so cool! I like your uniform. It looks really cool. Are your cleats cool too? You are awesome. MVP marv. send me more pictures this week. how is 1st grade?

I love you! Thanks for being the best fam! Have a great week!!! 

Sister Tara Anderson

August 25, 2014

Hey!!

We were able to meet with our investigator 진영선 (Jean young son) on friday and she said she has been keeping the word of wisdom!!!! We taught her lesson 4, and she took everything well. We brought up the baptismal interview questions and asked her the first one: Do you believe God is our loving Heavenly Father.... and she freaked out. She thought we were doubting her past faith (she has always believed in God) and so she got so upset and told us she didn't want to be baptized anymore. (totally unexpected reaction). We helped her calm down but we ended off with her saying that she didn't want to be baptized but that she would continue to keep the Word of Wisdom and come to church on sunday and meet with the Bishop. I asked her if she still believes everything is true and she said yes. I think she just got a little worked up.

 Yesterday she did come to church and met with the Bishop. She is planning on being baptized this Saturday and she said she has still been keeping the Word of Wisdom! Some members at church were nice to her and made her feel welcome. I think she feels comfortable with everything. We are meeting with her on wednesday and she will probably have her interview with the DL after. I hope she can take the interview ok. Cross your fingers. :/ ehhh.

Pray for her this week please!!! She is a huge miracle! At the beginning of the transfer (before we even met her) Sister Jeon and I circled August 30th as a day we wanted to have a baptism. We set a goal to find someone and teach them and have a baptism on that day. We prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help us achieve our goal. 3 days later we met 진영선. She has to be baptized on Saturday!!! 

This hard time has given me the opportunity to study Christ's life more and focus on the way Christ would act in tough situations. I am so thankful for the scriptures and for the strength they give me when I read them. I know that by reading the scriptures daily, we will have those thoughts in our minds and be able to react more Christ-like in any situation. There were a few times this week when people said some really hurtful things. There was one time that I wanted to defend myself and say things back, but immediately I thought about Jesus Christ and what he would do.  The scripture 1 Nephi 19:9 came to my mind and I said it to myself in my mind. "And the world, because of their iniquity shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him and he suffereth it and they smite him and he suffereth it and they spit upon him and he suffereth it because of his loving kindness and long-suffering towards the children of men." I am so thankful for the example of Jesus Christ who gives us a perfect pattern to follow. It is not easy, but when I think about Him and they way he reacted in certain situations, I truly feel strength to act as he acts and do what he did.

random:

Sister Fulcher, the sister from Brisbane Austrialia likes to run so she has been running with me in the mornings lately! Yay! Also, we hung out together this p-day because the 2 koreans went shopping and she is so fun! We are really close and have so much fun. We went and ate lunch at the new Popeyes that is by our house! It was way fun!

Rach: good luck this week at USU! you will love college! so much fun!!!! tell me about track! you are the next USU track star! :) i love you!

D-man: good luck at school too! you rule the school now. what what. have fun with football! goodluck! love you!

Ellie: have fun at school! help the new students to not be afraid! you will be awesome! i love you!

Jane: don't be nervous for school! you will do good. it will be fun to see all of your friends and stuff again! i love you!

Addie: i'm sorry that your soccer game got cancelled! :( i can't wait to hear how it goes next week! send pics! i am sending you a birthday letter today! love you!

Isaac: I would rather see a sun devil because they are the best!! what would you rather see? i can't believe you jumped off a cliff! you are brave. i love you!

Have a good week! good luck with school! dont' be nervous. find someone who looks afraid or lost or someone who doesn't have friends and help them! i love you! xoxoxox

Sister Tara Anderson

August 18, 2014

Hey Everyone!

Thanks for all of the emails! Sounds like everyone is having fun :) I can't believe it's the last week of summer. Are you excited for school? Good luck! You will do great!

This week our investigator, 진 accepted a baptismal date! This week we taught her the Plan of Salvation, and she liked everything. She takes notes on everything we teach her. She loves it. On friday we taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ and taught her the Word of Wisdom- this time more in depth. She has an addiction to coffee so she is having a little bit of a hard time with it. She can understand why we don't drink alcohol or smoke, but she doesn't understand coffee. We told her we don't understand everything, but because we know that Joseph Smith is a prophet, we know the Word of Wisdom is true and we obey it. She believes in the Restoration and everything we have taught, so I think she believes that the Word of Wisdom is true, it's just hard to understand. Yesterday Sister Jeon and I fasted for her. She wasn't able to come to church but we talked to her on the phone and she is trying to keep the word of wisdom. She still really wants to be baptized and really wants the bishop to baptize her. She heard his testimony the first week she came to church and really likes him. We will keep praying for her to have the strength to overcome drinking coffee. She has to keep the word of wisdom for 2 weeks before she can be baptized. So in order to be baptized on the 30th, she has to keep it until her baptism. Pray for her! :)

Another miracle that happened this week happened on tuesday. We were out walking down the street heading to find a less active address when a man stopped me and asked who we were. We told him we are missionaries for the church and he recognized our church. He also asked about a book we have so we showed him the BOM. He said he was really interested and wanted to meet with the Elders. We got his number and met with him and the elders yesterday. We did some how to begin teaching and then taught him part of the first lesson. He said that he wanted to become a member right then, but we explained baptism and told him he needs to be taught everything first. He accepted a baptism date of September 20th. Elder G. and Elder M. will be teaching him and they are meeting again on thursday.

This week in my scripture study, I read Helaman 5: 12. This is one of my favorite scriptures and I have been thinking a lot about it. I also read a talk from the April 2010 conference by Elder Wilford W. Andersen. He spoke about the hard things we go through in life, but that we can get through anything as long as we have Christ as our foundation. He said, "I speak to all who suffer, to all who mourn, to all who now face or who will yet face challenges or trials in this life. My message is to all who are worried or afraid or discouraged. My message is but an echo, a reminder of the constant comforting counsel from a loving Father to His children since the world began." Then he shared Helaman 5:12. I am so thankful that as long as we build our foundation on Christ and trust and apply the Atonement in our lives, we can withstand anything that comes to us and the  Atonement will protect us. I am so so thankful for Christ's Atonement. I have seen the power of the Atonement as a missionary more than I ever have in my life. 

Random things: 

Lately I have to play the piano for the ward choir and our ward choir is the most intense choir and it's so stressful. It's like the most stressful part of my week. Trying to understand what the director is saying to me in korean while playing the piano. hahaha but it's fun too :)

The other day I was at the market and this wayyy old sweet little man came up to me and asked me where I was from. I told him I am from America and he bowed to me and said thank you. thank you. In Korean culture, old people never bow to younger people. We always bow to people older than us, especially if they are a lot older than us, so this was very unusual. He was so sweet. Koreans, especially older Koreans are so thankful for America because of the help America gave during the war.

The September Liahona or Ensign has an article about Korea! There are pictures of members of the WonDang ward (my last ward) that I love! If you look on the little square pictures on the left page, there is a picture of an old grandma  praying. She was one of the members i loved visiting in wondang! I think i sent you a picture of me with her and some of the other sisters a few months ago. At the bottom of that same page is another member holding her daughter. Remember that adorable daughter i sent pictures to you of? She is also the member who posted that pic of us on facebook before i transferred. haha anyways, i wanted to tell you who those people were in those pictures. 2 of my favorite members!

I'll write more to you all individually in a different email. love you!!

Have a happy week!

Sister Tara Anderson