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

August 11, 2014

Hello!!! 

Well, this week has been interesting. This morning the missionaries all went to a funeral for someone in the ward. He is actually not a member but his son and daughter are, and they are in the ward. Funerals in Korea are totally different and it was kind of an eye opening experience. We all (the missionaries, other close friends and members, and the family) all rode on a massive bus all the way up in the mountains to this tomb place and we all gathered around the spot where they bury the body. Someone spoke and said some things and then we all sang a few songs. Part of the whole funeral thing is actually literally burying the person who died. So each person in the family helped bury him. It was so different than anything I have ever experienced. His wife and another daughter were not members and were having a really hard time. Another daughter and son are members and were handling everything well. it was sad to see people who don't believe in the Plan of Salvation and feel like it's the end of everything. I am so thankful for the plan of Salvation and the knowledge that we have that this life is just a short part of the plan. We will see our loved ones again and this life is not the end. It was a really eye-opening experience and it made me so thankful to have the gospel and knowledge we have in my life.

Investigators:

On Tuesday  진영  came to English class and then we met with her and talked for a little bit. She asked some questions about baptism and being baptized if she has already been baptized. We explained a little about the Priesthood and told her we have to be baptized by proper authority. She seemed fine with it and accepted it well. She also asked some questions about the word of wisdom and she told us she loves to drink coffee. We briefly talked about it, but didn't have time to do an actual lesson since she was there for English. She came to church though on Sunday and really liked the RS lesson and Gospel Principles lesson. Some members were really nice to her and made her feel comfortable, which was good. After Gospel Principles, she went into the kitchen and was trying to find pans and stuff to make coffee. :( :( Sister Jeon and I were really bummed. She knows that it is against the word of wisdom but she kept saying it's fine! She couldn't understand why we seemed so sad and distressed that she was making coffee in the church kitchen. We were able to finish teaching her the first lesson and she understood everything very well. She loves learning about the Restoration and accepts it all. She wants to read the Book of Mormon but she has a hard time reading so she's trying to find an ap to download the audio. All in all, she is doing really well. She hasn't been taught everything yet so she doesn't understand all of the commandments completely, but she is on her way.

We met with 김선  this week and talked about wrapping up the Family English Program. We are almost to week 6. Sadly, I don't think she has much interest in the gospel. I think she believes our message is good and that it might be true. She thinks our church is good and has good standards, but she says she's too busy to come to church. She just doesn't understand the importance of the gospel and the priority it needs to be in our lives. 

조현, the recent convert we are teaching is doing really well. She is adorable and I love her! This week we talked about temples and baptisms for the dead. She wants to go to Seoul to the temple. This week she is going to meet with the Bishop and get a recommend so we can hopefully go next week with her.

Side note, 김휘  my recent convert in WonDang is doing great! She is still active and we text each other frequently. I love her so much. She is doing awesome.

I met with Sis. K, my MTC teacher (who I LOVE) last monday. She is living farther south. We went to dinner and caught up. It was so fun to talk to her and actually be able to speak some Korean to her. (compared to the MTC) :)

I have been reading Jesus the Christ lately and I have learned sooo much. I love learning about Christ and the way He acted to everyone. He was always so kind and full of patience. I feel so close to Him as I study about him in the Book of Mormon and learn about things He did when He was on the Earth. I know he is close by us and always assisting us in missionary work and helping us do everything he asks. I feel like when I learn about Him and the way He acted in situations, it makes it easier for me to react the way he would and be more Christ-like.

I am so thankful to be serving here. I am thankful to be serving with my companion. I have learned so so much. It hasn't been easy but it is perfectly what I need.

Rach: love hearing about your adventures and taking everyone to the JSM building for Jay's wedding. haha I'm so excited for everything you are doing!!! ;)

D-man: football sounds way fun! I wish i could see your games! Next year! spongebob and swimming. that's the life! haha "cover the tuba!"

Ellie: girls camp sounds like it was a blast!! the cave you went to sounds like it was really cool. did you paddle board and jump on the tramp at bear lake like we did last year?!

Jane: i love the "be happy" theme of girls camp! i love hearing about the devotional and the people that talked. DId you have fun boating?! it sounds like a ton of fun!

Addie: I would rather see a lion than a cougar becasue we never see lions in Utah! What would you rather see? I'm glad you had a fun week. have fun at cooper's party!

Isaac: This week I read in the Book of Mormon about Amalickiah when he swore to drink the blood of Moroni. Moroni is so cool and brave like you. Have fun swimming tomorrow! 

Mom and Dad: I love you! thank you for everything you do to help me. I am so thankful you are my parents. You are the best examples i have in the world. i love you!

have a great week!

Sister Tara Anderson

"After the funeral. (We had to wear all black)"

"Older picture from when I left WonDang - I gave these kids CTR rings"

"Sis Kil, my MTC teacher and I at church on my birthday"

"After a long time of proselyting in the rain, eating my birthday cake!"

August 4, 2014

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for the cute birthday package you sent! You are the best! It was so festive and it made my day happy! I love you!!!! Happy Birthday tomorrow (today in Korea) Dad!!! I love you!  Hope you have the best day.

This week was a little bit better than last week. We met a new investigator, which was a total miracle!!

Tuesday Sister J. and I served in the visitor center. Just as we were about to walk out the door to leave, a man and a woman showed up to the church and walked inside. The man said that he had met elders before, the woman was his friend that was with him. We found out that Elder M had found him and he had come to church a few times. The lady, 진영 wanted to look around our church and was filled with questions. We showed her around and she loved everything. She took a picture of the wall in the visitor center and said she was really interested. We set up an appointment and met with her again on tuesday. She came to the church and she had so many questions. We taught her about the Restoration and answered her questions. We watched the Restoration DVD with her and shared a Book of Mormon with her. She loved everything. While we were teaching her, she said "this is what I've been looking for." She is so prepared. We gave her the soft baptismal commitment and she accepted it. We invited her to church and set up another appointment. She told us she would come to church, but when we called to follow up on Sat. night and Sun morning, she didn't answer. We went to relief society kind of bummed that she didn't come, but 5 minutes after RS started, she came walking in and sat down by us. She stayed for most of church, but had to leave after the Sacrament for something she had yesterday. She loved church though and loved the member who taught gospel principles. We are meeting with her again on tuesday and are hoping to give her a baptismal commitment with a date!

We are continuing to teach 김정 and her son the Family English Program. This week when we met her, she told us that she prayed to understand our message and the Book of Mormon. She always keeps her commitment to read the Book of Mormon, but she hasn't been coming to church lately. I don't know her super well yet, but it seems like she thinks our religion is good, but doesn't see how important everything is and why she needs the gospel in her life. We shared the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet with her and she liked it. We talked a lot about the word of Wisdom and how the commandments and standards we have blesses our lives. This week we are thinking about teaching her lesson 3. I really hope she can come to church this week.

We taught a lesson on Saturday to Sister J's recent convert. She is so sweet and I already love her so much! We talked about Joseph Smith and reviewed the BOM and Restoration a little bit. We also talked about modern day prophets a little bit. She seems to be doing really well. She has been coming to church with her mom.

This week during study, I read a lot about the missionaries in the Book of Mormon. I love reading about Alma and Amulek and the Lord giving them the strength to be delivered. Something that I have been thinking about a lot is praying for the strength to handle hard things, rather than asking Heavenly Father to take them away. I have prayed a lot lately for the capacity to handle tough situations and to be able to do what the Lord needs me to do. As I have done this, I have had the strength to be more patient and understanding than usual. I love learning about the missionaries in the BOM. They were constantly being tried, yet they were instruments in God's hands and became even more solid.

Rach: Kingston sounds like it was a total blast!!! I loved the pics. Good job with the Half marathon! sorry about your foot :'( next year we will race togetha!!! 

Dman: priest's camp sounds like blast. The cliff jumping sounds so fun. Next year we will have to jump off the top cliff by the rope swing for sure. Did you like studying PMG?

Ellie: The manti temple sounds way cool. I love that you learned how to drive stick shift on the Allen's doon buggy. Are you going to girls camp tomorrow? thank you for the cute birthday present and card!!!

Jane: girls camp sounds like it will be way fun!! I love hearing about all of the fun things you did this weekend! The doon buggy thing and 4 wheelers and shooting sounds so fun! 

Addie: your week sounds so fun staying with the Oldroyds!! I'm glad you love school. did you have fun swimming with issy?

Isaac: that's so cool that you rode 4 wheelers with Ryan and got to press the gas! You are so cool. I can't believe you shot guns at George's house. That sounds so fun. I would rather see an elephant because i wouldn't want to get sprayed by the skunk. 

Mom and Dad: Happy Birthday tomorrow, Dad! I love you! I am glad that priest's camp went well. Sounds like it was a lot of fun. Mom, good job in your half marathon! you are awesome! Next long run, we'll run together! :) Thank you for the B-day package!! I love all of the gifts. Thanks for being so thoughtful and sending it! It made my day!

I love you! have a good week!!! xoxoxo

Sis Tara Anderson

July 21, 2014

This week we got transfer calls and I'm transferring to Nokebon. I am so sad to be leaving WonDang, but thankful for every day that I got to serve here. I learned so much from the ward members and from being in this area. I am excited to serve in Nokebon and look forward to meeting new people there. Nokebon is actually in the same zone and same stake so I will be close. I am sad to leave my district and the girls in my house too! We have had so much fun together. I hope i grow to love my new area as much as i love WonDang!

We met with park een young this week and talked to her about the commandments. We specifically talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy since she works everyday and can't come to church. We promised the blessings that come from keeping keeping the Sabbath day holy, and talked about trying to switch her schedule so she could come to church but she can't and doesn't really want to. We talked a lot about being obedient and the blessings that always come when we obey God. We found out that she isn't interested in the gospel enough to keep meeting with her without doing English. This week will be the last lesson we (or Sis. Ahn) will have with her. 

We got a referral from our ward mission leader!! It was a lady who visited the 일산 ilsan ward. Her name is 김애실 (kim aye sheer). She walked in and asked if it was the Mormon church and stayed for Sacrament meeting. She actually lives in our area and really close to our church, so they sent her information over to our Bishop. Anyways, we met with her and with the relief society president in our ward. I don't know how much interest she has in our church, but she had some questions about the Book of Mormon and about our church. We answered her questions and showed her around our church. We invited her to church and she said she would come. We tried calling her on Saturday to remind her and again on sunday, but she never came.

We met with a lady named Christina as well. We met with her about 2 months ago. (she is the one from Fullerton CA) She is gradually opening her heart up to coming to church and believing in God. She used to believe in God, but when she was newly married she had some hard things happen in her life and kind of gave God the blame. She stopped praying to Him and stopped believing that he was there. She said now days she feels lonely and wants to believe in God. She is being very cautious though and is slowly opening back up. She is starting to look for the truth. She actually said she would come to church in a few weeks. (she just started a job and can't come for a few weeks). She is so sweet. I really think someday she will come to know that this church is true. Right now, it is just taking a little bit of time.

김휘, Kim hooee (my recent convert) came to church again this week. We taught her part of the 5th lesson during Sunday School. We had a member (who is about her same age) come and help us. The lesson went well. We talked about eternal marriage and temples and family history. She had some questions and we are hoping to get her to the temple to do baptisms soon. She is doing great though. I am sad to leave now that she is coming back, but I think the ward will take good care of her. They all love her so much.

This week I was thinking a lot about feeling close to Heavenly Father and the times when I have felt the closest to Him. As I look back, I have always felt close to Him, but I realize that some of the times that I have felt the very closest to Heavenly Father are the hardest times in my life. I was thinking about my experience in the MTC and how my prayers were the most sincere prayers I have probably ever given in my life. I poured my heart out constantly, pleading for help. I felt so alone and Heavenly Father was the only one I could always turn to. I realize that Heavenly Father was and is right by my side every step of the way. I also realize the power of our personal prayers and that the more sincere our prayers are, the closer we will feel to Him. I am also thankful for these experiences that humble me and make me rely on Christ more than ever in my life. The power of the Atonement has carried me throughout my mission. I am so thankful for every day I have to serve. 

Yesterday was probably one of the most stressful days. I had to speak in church since I am leaving, and then they decided to do a missionary fireside and had me and 2 elders speak at it. Also, all of the missionaries sang Armies of Helaman and I played the piano. It actually turned out good. I was so nervous to speak because I had zero time to prepare, so I was writing my talk as we were in the car driving to the fireside after a dinner appointment. ahh. Everyone was so sweet though. I was so sad sayign goobye to all of the cute kids. Some of them made me cute cards that said sister anderson! we love you! always think about us... and tons of cute little pictures. I took a picture with some of them and gave the kids that were at the fireside Korean CTR rings. We all took pictures together. I hate saying goobye. they are adorable! I am so sad to leave this area, but I am SO thankful for the chance I have had to serve here. 

Thanks for all of your emails! I love hearing about all of the fun things that happened last week! 

Rach: your life is one party after the next. :) Everythigns sounds so fun. hiiiiii looonnniee

D-man: how are the braces? i can't believe LeBron is going back to the Cavs! s-bob every night. classic

Ellie: I love that you are making a quilt! Tiff is the cutest to teach you! Lagoon and Cherry Hill sounds fun!!

Jane: the picture of your afhgan is so cool! I'm so impressed! keep sending pics. did you have fun boating?

Addie: Good luck at school tomorow!! think of the fun breaks you will have when everyone else is in school :) i bet your teacher is really nice! 

Isaac: good luck at school tomorrow too!! you will have so much fun with all of your friends. And you get to eat lunch at school! i would rather get eaten by a whale too. a shark would be scarier i think.

Mom and Dad: i love you! Thanks for helping me and praying for me! :) You are the best parents. I l love you!

Love, Sis Tara Anderson

July 14, 2014

Hiii! This week was really interesting. Kind of a bummer as far as investigators go, but had some good times as well!
First of all, shout out to Baba and Grandma Anderson for their birthdays! I hope you both have happy days! I love you!
Thanks for all the emails! I love reading everyone's emails and hearing about life :)


On thursday we met with our investigator, 김경애. This time she brought her friend, who is another member of her church. Her friend was really nice and they taught us some stuff from the Bible. Then we started to share our message and talked about prophets and how there were prophets in the Bible, prophets in the BOM and a prophet who is on the earth today. For some reason 김경애 wasn't as nice as she usually is and quickly brought up the BOM and said that it is not the word of God, only the Bible is, and she kept trying to Bible bash. She was getting really worked up about the fact that we have another testament of  Jesus Christ for some reason that day. We just calmly testified that we know that it is true and that they can find out for themselves if it is true or not. Even though she kept saying really mean things about the Book of Mormon, I didn't let it get to me and we just testified. I felt the Spirit as we were testifying that it is true. At the end of the lesson she told us that there is no need to teach her about the BOM anymore. She is not interested and doesn't believe it. We ended on good terms and we thanked her for the chance to meet with her and share our message and for her to share some things from the Bible. Even after her telling us every reason why she thought the BOM isn't true, I left that lesson with a stronger testimony than I ever have had in my life that the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the word of God. I am thankful that we had the chance to teach her. I learned a lot from her and I hope someday she will gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon for herself.

We met with 박인영 twice this week. In the first lesson, we showed her the Restoration film and reviewed about Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon. She kept her commitment and read the scriptures we asked her to in the Book of Mormon, so that is good. In the other lesson we taught her how to study and apply the Book of Mormon and to receive answers when she reads. Earlier that morning, before I began reading my scriptures, I asked a specific question when I prayed and asked that I would be able to find an answer in my reading. I received a clear answer to my question while I was reading, and told her about that and how the Book of Mormon can apply to us personally. She has a lot of questions about our church, but I think we are going to have to be done teaching her next week because I think she is mainly English interested and we are done teaching her.

When we met with Anna Kim this week, she had a lot of questions. Last time we talked about baptism and she was pretty open to the idea, so  this time we talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and mainly focused on baptism. She always asks tons of questions about our church, the members, history of the church... etc. So we tried to answer some of those questions. She loves our church, but she is lacking a testimony of the Restoration. She is Catholic and has been her whole life. When we were meeting, she wrote on the white board: Catholic: believe  LDS: understand. We testified that in order to believe or to KNOW that our church is true, she has to read the Book of Mormon with an open heart and she has to pray about the message of the Restoration. She can't meet for 2 weeks, but we are planning on meeting at the beginning of August.

The highlight of my week was yesterday when 김휘 Kim Hooee (my investigator who was baptized in March) came to our ward!! I haven't seen her in a few months, but of course have kept in contact. She moved back to Seoul and is living in Schinchon right now. Because she is brand new, she wants to go to our ward until she feels a little more comfortable and then she will go to the Schinchon ward. She is doing great. There was something different about her. She has more of a glow about her now. She seems happier than she was when I first met her. She said that she read the whole Book of Mormon and that it was hard to understand, but she wrote down scriptures and things she liked in a journal that Sis. Koo and I gave her at her baptism. The ward was SO sweet to her and automatically welcomed her back. It was so great! I am SO happy to see that she is doing so well.

This week Zone training was really good. Side note, on the way to zone training, our district was on the subway heading to Nokebon in Seoul. Our train stopped for like 45 minutes and half of the train was underground and the front part was out. We thought it was broken down, but found out that our train had hit and killed someone. :( :( How terrible is that? We had to switch trains so the police could come investigate. We ended up being pretty late to training. So sad :(

One thing that really stuck out to me in Zone training was when Sis. Evans 9a sister training leader) said this: "If you want to teach by the Spirit, you have to have the courage to say something you don't know how to say." This month we are focusing on How to Begin Teaching and being examples that our investigators can follow.

Random thing: the other day we were about to start studies and I got up to go shut the door and I saw a massive cockroach or something like that on the floor. I freaked out! It was right by our beds. (which are also on the ground.) yes alarming. Sis Sung had to kill it for us because all 3 of us were freaking out. That night when I went to bed I was so afraid i was going to see another one. ehhh so gross. hahaha

On P-Day last monday we went to a way cool Buddhist temple. I took a lot of pictures. It was BLAZING hot and humid, but still fun. In a really pretty place by famous mountains so it felt good to be away from the city and kind of in the mountains. We also drank this Buddhist water that came out of the ground through this dragon mouth. ha ha. Everythign is SO Mulan. i felt like i was on Mulan when we were there. So fun!

ok i better go.
rach: your week sounds like a party. thanks for the updates on everything. pray for lex! haha
dman: how are the braces? hope you are doing good. "Save ferris!" (with the pop can collecting money)
ell: your classes sound like they are going well! I'm so proud of you for making hot water cake!
jane: yw sounds like it will be so fun. you have a really fun week planned. i love you!
add: the parade sounds so fun! You are doing so many fun things! What was your favorite thing in the parade?
kiddy: the other day i was walking down the street and i saw 2 baby sharks in a tank at a resturant. the people eat the sharks. crazy huh? i thought of you. have fun at cherry hill
mom and dad: love you! i love your emails. thanks for always helping me.
have a good week!!! xoxoxox

Sister Tara Anderson
ps sis Koo gave me a Korean name!
구민슬 Koo Meen sir

July 7, 2014

HI! 

This week was pretty good. I went on exchanges, had president interviews and met with each of our investigators so it went by pretty quick. 

 We met with 김경애 on tuesday and taught her the first part of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so mainly just faith and repentance. She agreed with everything we were saying and liked the lesson. She kept throwing in "amens" throughout the lesson. We are planning on finishing teaching her lesson 3 this week. She agrees with everything we teach and thinks it's all important, but she just really thinks that knowing the Bible inside and out is THE most important thing. I'm not really sure how to switch her mindset. She didn't read the BOM last week, which I was really sad about. :( I'll keep praying for her though.

We finished teaching 박인영 the gospel of Jesus Christ this week as well. She always has lots of questions, which is really good. She has a lot more interest than she did in the first place, which means she is heading in the right direction. We showed her that the principles of the gospel are like steps that lead us to live with Heavenly Father again. She understands and thinks it's good, but right now, that's not really her biggest interest. She mainly just cares about work and her social life. I wish she had more of a desire and could see the importance of religion. She is usually pretty good about reading the Book of Mormon chapters we assign though, which is good. I think we are going to really focus on the importance of the BOM as we teach her this week.

We were finally able to meet with Anna Kim this week! The lesson actually went really well. We brought a member with us, and she LOVED the member. They totally hit it off, which was perfect. We showed the Restoration film and talked about how we gained our personal testimonies of Joseph Smith, since that's what she is having a hard time with. She was actually a lot more open and accepting this time. The member we invited did a great job and shared her testimony of how she joined the church and came to know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. Anna Kim had a lot of questions and the member was able to help us answer some of them, so it was really good. At one point, Anna left to go to the restroom, and when she was out of the room, Sis Ahn asked me if we should still invite her to be baptized. (We had picked a date, and were planning on asking). The member said she thought maybe Anna should read the BOM, and then see, so maybe we should wait. Then, Anna Kim came back in and so we finished the lesson. While we were finishing, I kept thinking about what we should do. I was worried that the member would feel bad if we completely went against what she said, but I kept feeling like we should. So we did. She accepted the soft baptismal commitment, but said she doesn't know if she will be ready by the date. We continued to talk about baptism and she had some questions about it. She seemed more comfortable with the idea after we talked about it more. I am really glad we asked her and we will continue to help her work towards baptism.

We met with Sean this week as well, and finally referred him the elders. They came with us to the lesson and we taught him the Restoration, since it had been a while since he learned it in Australia. He said he isn't really sure about baptism right now. He can't decide if he wants to or not. The elders are going to start meeting with him now.

Random things:

- This week while street contacting, we were walking around and saw this lady sitting in the back of her little restaurant making kimchi so we went and talked to her. She was super nice and then fed us some of her kimchi. She told us it was spicy, but we didn't think it would be too bad so we ate it. I should have known, if a Korean person tells you it's spicy, then it's SPICY. hahah Sis Ahn and I were dying. hahahah our eyes were watering and I felt like a fire breathing dragon. ha ha ha. 

- We met this old grandpa named Sam. He was so nice. he's 82 years old and lived in America for 40 years. Speaks great english and told us he loves mormons. He was giving us all this advice on converting people. ha ha. he kept saying it's so hard to convert koreans. but you just get them to come to church and tell them about the word of wisdom. He was saying all of this as if he was a member himself. haha he kept saying you just gotta work hard honey. he was so sweet. he said he would be a member himself, if he didn't have a word of wisdom prob. Basically "grandpa sam" (he told us to call him that) was so great and i hope someday he uses some of his own tactics to convert himself. ha ha.

-A guy full on asked me on a date yesterday. A 50 or 60 year old man. I told him that i can't because i'm a missionary and he told me he would take me to dinner and drink water because I don't drink alcohol, but i kept telling him no and then i left. ha ha. no not happening. 

-4th of July was pretty much a normal day. We ate at KFC to celebrate. And the korean version of kfc is not the same. it was still fun though :) 

At interviews with Presient this week, one of the things we talked about was pondering and receiving answers to our ponders. After interviews this week, I thought a lot about pondering and I have been trying harder to ponder during each personal study. I was reading in D&C 138 this week and read about President Joseph F. Smith's experience he had when he saw Christ preaching the gospel to those who had died. I noticed that it said it all started with him pondering on the scriptures and thinking and reflecting on Christ's sacrifice for us. It also said later on in the section that as he wondered, his eyes of understanding were opened and the spirit of the Lord rested upon him. I think it's really cool that he was able to have such a cool experience and it all started with pondering.

I loved hearing about everything you did at Lake Powell! Sounds so fun! I'm so proud of the bunnies for slalom skiing and beaut and marv doing the ski skimmer! Ratch, i'm glad you skiied with one leg just for me. and D-man, i saw you got some sweet air on the wakeboard. Mom and Dad you are the best. I love you so much! thanks for sending me a letter from LP! i love you so so much.

have a good week!! xoxoxooxox 

Sister Tara Anderson

June 30, 2014

Hi everyone! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY D-MAN!!!! I hope you have had a good day!!! I love you and I'm so thankful you're my brother!!! Thanks for the emails. I love hearing about everything! Things are good in Korea. This week was filled with a few ups and downs. We were able to have a few lessons, but we had quite a few planned lessons that were cancelled. Overall, it was a good week. Thank you for all of your prayers for my investigators!!!! <3

On tuesday we got a text saying that we were going to have a Combined Zone Conference on thursday. It was a really good conference. A guy named PJ Rogers came and spoke to us. He served as a missionary here in Korea about 25 years ago. He came back and lived here for 15 years, mastered korean, and graduated with his PhD from a Korean University. He is now a professor at BYU-Hawaii. He taught us a ton about the Korean culture and things he has learned to help us adapt to Korean culture better. I learned a ton from him. It was so interesting. He had a good perspective on missionary work and ways to build trust with the people we work with. I am really thankful for the chance we had to hear from him. It was awesome. I could have listened to him all day. President spoke a little too and talked about being happy. He shared a few scriptures about happiness and spoke about the happiness that comes from keeping the commandments. It was great.

 

We were able to meet with 김경애this week though. We taught about the Holy Ghost and how it testifies of truth. We showed her some scriptures in the BOM and the Bible about the Holy Ghost. We talked about gaining a testimony of the BOM through the Holy Ghost. We asked her to read at least 5 minutes a day from the BOM. I really hope she will do this. She seemed hesitant at first, but it seemed like maybe she will. She told us that she believes that if we don't read the Bible and know everything in it, we aren't children of God and we won't be saved. She said the opening prayer to the lesson and as soon as she finished the prayer she said "angel". "there's an angel here" so we're not really sure what that was all about, but ok. haha. She always keeps the commitments of reading certain chapters of the Book of Mormon, so that's good. I was reading over her progress record this week and I realized that she really is progressing since our first lesson. In the first lesson with her, we asked her to read the Book of Mormon and she straight up said no. So we asked her to pray and ask God if she should read, and now she is. We will continue to meet with her. She told us she always prays for us and we told her we do the same.  She is so sweet and I really love her so much.

We also met with 박인영 this week and taught her about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and a little bit about the light of Christ and the difference. (She had some questions about that last week). We shared experiences and told how the Holy Ghost has blessed our lives. She seemed really interested. She also asked a lot of questions about the Priesthood, what it is, where we get it...etc.  We told her we can all receive blessings from the Priesthood. She was really interested in it. She also had some questions about baptism, so we taught her a little bit about that as well. We are planning on focusing on that more this week. She prayed at the end of the lesson and asked to have the Holy Ghost with her! She is starting to open up more and more. I am so thankful! 

We set up an appointment with 명훈(Sean) this week for Saturday. We also called to confirm it the night before, and he told us that he was out drinking with friends, but was still planning on meeting with us. (I don't think he was drunk though) Saturday morning we called again to follow up but he didn't answer. He never showed up when we went to meet with him. I don't really know what to do with him. We wanted to meet one time with him and with the Elders before we 소개 refer him, but he can't even make it to appointments. Whenever we call him, he is all for it and wants to meet and then he just no-shows. He didn't come to church yesterday either. I don't want to let him go because he is already on the path to being baptized, but he just needs help. I am a little unsure what we should do about him.

We had an appointment with Anna Kim this week, but she cancelled the night before because she had a family thing. I am really hoping for this week. As far as the two students we are doing the family english program with, they are testing these next few weeks, so we called their mom and set a date to meet with them in about 3ish weeks. 

I have been noticing many small miracles lately. This week when we were supposed to meet with Sean, we went to the 역 (subway station) where we were supposed to meet him, just in case he would show up... even though he didn't answer his phone. While we were there, we started talking to some people and met 3 really nice ladies. We got 2 of their numbers and are hoping to meet with one of them this week. After we were finished talking to them, we saw an elderly man fall down some stairs. He was laying on the ground and nobody would help him up. We ran over to help him and he had hit his head and was a little confused. We asked some people to help, but they sat him up and then left. We called 2 of the elders because they were at the church (really close) and they came and were able to help him up. Even though Sean no-showed on us, we met some cool people and were able to help somebody out. 

Another thing I have noticed is seeing cool things happen when we use ALL of our time wisely. Even the last few minutes before 9, or a few extra minutes we have between different appointments. On saturday we were at the church after the ward cleaning and we had about 10 minutes before MCM was going to start. We decided we would go out and 전도 (street contact) for a few minutes before it started. While we were out, we met 5 Cambodians in the market. We called Sister Sung (the cambodian sister) and they came over and met them, got their number...etc. It seems like we always meet really cool people when we give those extra few minutes. 

Yesterday our ward had ward conference. It was really good. We had a great turn-out. One of the less active members that we regularly visit came and brought her grandkids, and non-member daughter-in-law. I think they really enjoyed it. Her husband really wants us to teach her, so we are working on that. I went and asked her if she needed help with her grandkids, and she told us to take them to sit with us. So sacrament meeting was quite the adventure. They aren't members, so they're not used to Sacrament meeting, plus they're 6 and 4. They were super restless and were were trying to keep them entertained. We were sitting next to another lady (less active lady, who is starting to come back) who kept shhhing them the whole time and asking where their mom was. uhhhhhh. haha i was so bugged. haha. We ended up taking them out half way through. At least the cute less active grandma and daughter in law got to hear the meeting though!

This week I finished the Book of  Mormon, so  I started it again. I was reading in 1 Nephi and thinking a lot about the person Nephi was. I love that Nephi valiantly keeps the commandments and NEVER complains. Nephi's attitude is amazing! He always acknowledges the blessings they receive, even when their situation is less than ideal.  

Rach- your week sounds fun! Lehi rodeo sounds way fun. I can't believe you're taking a kayaking class at Utah State in the fall! How fun! teach me when i'm home. then we can go to jackson hole or something :)

D-man- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I LOVE YOU! I sent you a card in the mail. hopefully you get it soon. byu basketball camp sounds way fun! I can't believe you saw elder kaufusi!! We all miss him here. Sounds like it was a blast though! good job on winning your basketball tournament!

Ellie- your craft and cooking class sounds so fun!!!! You will have to send me pictures. I love hearing about all your friends and the fun things you do together. i love you!!

Jane- how was the pool party? when are you doing your next session of craft class? the king james phone cover you gave dman sounds sweet! i love you!

Addie- i would rather eat cheese for the rest of my life. Are you excited to have a break from ballet for the month? or do you miss it? dad's phone sounds really cool. yes i remember when you would rub my temples when i had a headache. you were the best. i love you!

Isaac- i can't believe there was a real cougar in sandy! That made me sad that it died because we are byu fans. I would rather see 2 cougars than 3. Would you rather swim in a pool of lemonade or a pool of root beard? (hahah) i love you rid! 

Mom and Dad- I can picture all of the birthday festivities. I am glad grandpa and Baba and grandma could come. I love you. thank you for the letters. I got a lot this week and it made my week! I love the pictures you send. Everyone thinks you are the most beautiful people in the world when i show them pics of our fam. I tell them you are and you are the best. :) I love you!

Have a fun week in Powell. Find some wild cliffs to jump off of. and maybe get marv to do a back flip off the top of the houseboat. ha ha. :)  send me pics! I love you! have a good week!!! xoxoxox

Sis. Tara Anderson