January 19, 2015

Hey hey!

So this week was actually very busy. lots of lessons and interviews
with president. (which by the way are the best. President Christensen
is so amazing and I learn so much from him every time!)

So this week we had a lesson with Kaya again. She is the one who lived
in Utah and did the ESL program at the U. Well yesterday our lesson
was on how the gospel blesses families and how the righteous example
of a mother can affect her children so much. Her sister was there too
and she was really fascinated by us doing missionary work. She asked
us lots of questions and we taught them together. So here is the
shocking thing: Kaya said "I didn't tell you this last week, but I
actually already got baptized." And so I thought she meant into
another church so I was going to talk about the Priesthood Authority
and all that but then she told us that she got baptized in our church
when she was in Utah. But at the time she could hardly understand
English and her LDS friend just kind of helped her and she got
baptized not really fully understanding everything. She said the
reason she contacted us is because she doesn't know the gospel and
wants to learn it now. WOW. I wasn't expecting that. So now I guess
she isn't our investigator anymore.... Less Active- but kind of like
an investigator. I hope we can find her records and stuff. I don't
even know if she even got confirmed though... We will be looking into
that. Crazy!

sister lee (our investigator) is kind of hard to know how to help.  We
found out that she has some mental problems and It's extremely hard to
teach her. That's why she acts so immature and can't focus on what we
are saying... and says odd things in the middle of the lesson. She is
doing some medical treatment right now for that.  We tried talking
about the Plan of Salvation but couldn't even get through anything
much. I prayed about her and  I feel like she just needs love. So we
are going to show her our love as much as possible. And also talk
about how much HF loves her and Jesus Christ... etc. We found out some
other things and are going to hold off on baptism for a little while.
keep praying for her please :)

We are working with a LA who got baptized forever ago but now attends
another church. I don't know how she got baptized because she
literally knows nothing about our church... but we are trying to
re-teach her. we met with her this week and it was ok. she wants her
daughter to be baptized- but the daughter doesn't want to.  We are
also working with a few other RC's who are LA now. :(

So a little miracle that I saw this week was when we were walking
somewhere from an appointment and i saw this lady and i felt like i
should talk to her, but sadly right then the light changed so we went
(my bad) and a little after, i realized that one of my gloves that was
in my pocket had fallen out. I knew it couldn't be too far away
because i knew they were in there a little before... so we turned
around and walked back a ways, but couldn't find it. then we walked
the same path back again because I said a prayer and felt like it was
that way. It wasn't THAT big of a deal, but they were expensive gloves
and i didn't want to have to buy new ones. So anyways, this time after
walking the same path a second time, i talked to the lady for a little
bit and she was nice and then we went back one more time. This time we
saw my glove sitting in plain sight on top of something on the
sidewalk. i know it wasn't there the first and second times because
sister lynn and i were scanning our eyes everywhere for it on the side
walk and on top of things. So we got it, and right after started
talking to this lady. We talked about the church and the BOM for a
long time. I testified of the Book of Mormon and offered her a copy.
She rejected it but took my card, then we said goodbye and told her to
have a great day. She walked a little ways longer and then stopped and
turned around and asked if she could have the Book. Of course we gave
it to her and she told us she would read it! It was a little miracle
and we wouldn't have met her if I hadn't lost my glove. :)

r: LOVE that you saw some of my friends at your meet! GOOD JOB!!! yay
first college meet over! remember how nervous i was for mine-
blessings and tears.. eek. hahah can't wait til we race together
again. weeee and i love that you busted home after you got back.
classic anderson special
d: nice job for your award in the basketball banquet. geez i miss
sports so bad. basically the only thing i miss anymore besides you
guys. seriously. how's snowboarding? love you phe! good luck with the
math.
e: yes ell i got your emails!! your week sounds fun! that's cool that
you got to hear from some RMs about serving!! the only thing a mission
is is serving!! all the time! so that's cool. way to go on the BOM
reading every night. you can totally do it!
j:  way to go in your basketball game!! that's so awesome. is
basketball fun? you and ell are super cool!!!! and the spa night with
your friends sounds so fun!
a: hey beaut!!! wow you are going to have so much fun at crystal hot
springs. remember the 40 or 50 year old lady that kept doing hand
stands in the pool a few years ago? so classic. hahaha i hope you see
her again. are you excited for soccer?! yay! way to go for cleaning
the house for mom. you rock!
i: i am doing good in korea. yes you can sleep in my room. that will
be fun. i remember when you slept in my room before my mission. that
was so fun. thank you for sending me a snap chat. i will see it after
i am home. i love you!

I learned a lot in studies this week but I will have to tell you next
week. because i have no time. I love you! I love being a missionary!!!
I love the gospel. it's true. I love the book of mormon!!!! I know
this is Heavenly Father's work.

Have the best week!

Sis Tara Anderson

January 12, 2015

HEY.

This week was so good! (I just realized I say that for every week.
haha sorry) But anyways, it really was great. We met some new people
and have some new investigators so we are excited about that. Oh by
the way last week was transfers. nothing changed though for me since
i'm training sis lynn. Transfer #9 out of 11. weird.

random classic highlights from the week:
- each saturday we do a service activity and pick up trash along the
streets by our church. while we were doing it, we saw a huge dead rat
in the street and sister lynn picked it up by the tail and threw it by
me and sis yang. hahaha we were freaking out. dying of lauhter. so
funny and so gross.
food we ate this week: teeeny tiny fishes in a bowl. like a half an
inch big and you just eat a whole scoop of them. they have their eyes
and bodies and all. so gross. but we had to eat it.
these sea shell things (like the white kind at lake powell) filled
with muscel things inside - but not muscells. so bizarre. but i ate
it. haha
chicken soup with dates in it. not good. :/

정주윤 (jeong joo yoon) got confirmed yesterday which was really good.
She is really happy and is doing great. She told me she has been
reading the Book of Mormon every day. A chapter each day. It's a
little confusing and hard for her to understand but it helps when we
follow up and review what she read with her and explain things.
Imagine me trying to explain Laman and Lemuel tying up Nephi on the
Ship in Korean. not really sure but somehow I was able to explain.
hahah. Sometimes we read together and learn things together. She is
great. She finds out this week if she is accepted into the ESL program
at BYU!!! I'm praying hard core. i want her to get in so bad. Either
way Heavenly Father will do what is best for her.

We met with 이유진 who is our new investigator. She is the Elder's
investigator's girlfriend. (Bro. Shin). We are doing the family
English program with her and our first lesson went well. She has no
concept of God so we talked mostly about our Heavenly Father and how
we can strengthen our relationship with Him through prayer. I think
the lesson went ok. She is a little hard to teach because she acts
kind of immature, but we're just trying to help her and love her the
best we can. We are meeting again with her again tomorrow. In our
lesson she's like um um what do you think is the meaning of love? like
falling in love? sister lynn and i were like ummmm. and i was like i
haven't thought about that for a year because i'm just doing
missionary work. haha weird.

Our other new investigator is 인영, or Kaya. She is so cute. She is in
her 30's and has 2 cute girls ages 2 and 4. She is actually a huge
miracle because she has tons of interest and so much potential. She
actually lived in Utah a few years ago. After she and her husband were
married, they went to the University of Utah and lived there and did
the English Secondary language program. They lived in the married
housing and made some LDS friends and really liked it. They even went
to the married student ward a few times with their LDS friends. So she
actually knows quite a bit about our church and is looking for
guidance in raising her cute girls. Her husband works for Samsung and
she said she basically never sees him. She feels like she is raising
them alone and she wants religion that can help her know how to raise
them and teach them what is right. She's basically crying for the
gospel. I automatically thought of PMG where it says "people are
looking for the gospel... they just don't know where to find it." (or
something along the lines of that). So yeah. We are doing the Family
English Program, but it seems that she has a lot more gospel interest
than English interest. She wants her whole family to come to church.
If she can just get her husband to come. She actually wants to move
back to Utah someday becasue she was so impressed with the people and
their kindness there and feels like it would be a safe place to raise
her children. We talked to her a lot about Eternal families and the
blessings of the gospel in our lives. I'm sooo excited to teach her.
She is awesome! LOVE HER.

This week I studied a few big topics, but one was in Jacob 5- the
allegory of the olive tree- and I focused on the "laboring in the
vineyard" part.
As I studied the allegory of the olive tree I found some important
things: If we labor dilligently with all our might, we will be blessed
and have joy in our lives- and the joy that comes from serving.
Another thing I kept recognizing was that the Lord always says that He
is laboring with us. Even though sometimes we feel like we are alone-
we are never alone. He is always with us- working with us and we just
have to rely on Him.
I'm so thankful that I get to "labor in His vineyard" with Him. I know
that the chance to be in Korea serving the Lord as a missionary is a
major opportunity and a gift to me and I am just so thankful.

r: good luck at your track meet in boise!!! i went to that meet 2
years ago. watch for my BYU peeps!!! good luck!!! you will have a
blast!! love you
d: hope you're doing good. how's jr high? basketball? what are you up
to? snowboarding? lvoe you!
e: good job in basketball!!! i love the pics!!! you are so awesome!!
:) lvoe you!
j: i'm glad you found the ipod! how were baptisms at the temple? i
miss the bountiful temple!
a: visitng rach sounds so fun!!! and scrapbooking with issy sounds so
fun! love you!
i: dad told me you went and did a work out at the church. you are a
baller. you are so cool. i love you. i think a cougar would beat a ute
AND an aggie if they fought. what do you think? love you!


BYE i love you!!!!! xoxoxox

sis tar anderson

December 29, 2014

Happy Birthday MOM!!!!! i love you!!!!

And on dec 30th, happy birthday bunniesss!!!! love you!!!!!!!

have the best days! :)

This week was so good! I had the best Christmas! Christmas Conference was amazing. I felt the Spirit so strong and learned a lot. We had a ward Christmas party which turned out great, and then being able to go out and share my testimony of Christ all day long on Christmas day made it the best.

Christmas eve was our ward Christmas party. 정주윤 came and brought her mom!!! I was so excited!!! Also the same lady 신해재 (who got baptized forever ago but goes to another church) came again with her daughter. The members were so welcoming and did a great job of fellow shipping. Especially to Sis Jeong and her mom. 

We had a meal with 정주윤 and her family this week and it was really good. We taught her yesterday after church and reviewed the baptismal questions with her. She is all set for her interview this wednesday. Her baptism is on sunday after church. Elder Lee her cousin is going to baptize her. Her mom, dad and aunt are coming. She is really excited. I'm really excited for her. I hope it is a special day for her. yayyy!!!

Anna is doing ok. We invited her to come to the baptism and she said she will think about it. She loves meeting with us and she can feel something different. I really want her to come to church so she can feel the same feeling- even stronger. She said she will sometime. Hopefully this week. I really really want her to come. She is barely progressing. She keeps commitments but kind of half heatedly. She seems to be more interested now that we are talking about the Plan of Salvation.  We are trying so hard to find her needs.

the other night we went with some members to a place for elderly people and had a little music night. Missionaries sang and i played the piano. it was super fun. I LOVE the elderly people!!! i miss my CNA just because i could see so many old people that i love. hahah it was so fun to be with them and they loved it. so fun!

Christmas conf was amazing. I told you on the phone. SIs christensen talked about stars and light and us sharing our light to the world. Pres talked about the spirit and "tuning in" we watched Ephraims rescue, stuffed stockings for orphans and had such a good time!

I'm so thankful to be here in Korea serving the Lord. Christmas was the best. I did my best and gave it everything I could. We wrapped up 33 Book of Mormons and set up a table showing He is the Gift and talked to people all night. It was the best Christmas ever. I think it was also probably the happiest Christmas I have ever had. I loved sharing my testimony of Christ. I LOVE YOU. it was so good talking to you!!!!!!! 

today i'm going to the big palace in seoul where the pres lives. i think it's from this way famous dynasty in korea. it will be fun! pics later!

lovesss!!! xoxoxoxox   happy bday!!!!! :) hopefully the letters will come to you in the near future!!

Sis Tara Anderson

December 15, 2014

This week was really good! A lot of little small miracles happened which was so cool. 

By the way, i met with Rachel, that Korean girl that brought the package to our house. I met with her and we had hot choco and ice cream last tuesday! She is so sweet and i love her! Also you can open up the package that i sent with elder smith anytime. It will probably be anti climatic on christmas eve compared to all of santa presents on christmas!

정주윤 is doing really well. We met with her on wednesday and then had a 식사 with her at a member's house which was really good.  Lately we have been focusing a lot on the commitments we have given her and are really trying to help her understand the importance of reading the Book of Mormon and what she can get from it. We talked some more about her relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. A few weeks ago we gave her a commitment to share her testimony with her mother who has been LA for over 20 years. Each week we followed up but she didn't. But finally this week she did! She asked her mom how she felt when she came to church as opposed to another church she went to. Her mom said when she came to our church she felt the spirit and it felt like Heaven. Sis Jeong was so excited because that is the same feeling that she has. She always tells us about the good feeling that she has when she is with us or at church... etc. Of course we talked about that as being the spirit testifying to her that this is good and our message is true. She really was so excited. Also, this past week I have been praying specifically for her "to have her prayers become more comfortable" because she told us that when she prays it feels awkward. I didn't tell her that i had been praying for that, but in our lesson, she said "oh! by the way my prayers are becoming more comfortable!" It is an answer to my prayer. I am so happy! Also her mom didn't want to see missionaries because she said it was too much pressure but his week sis Jeong told us that her mom wants to meet us! So hopefully this week we will meet her mom :)

Anna is doing good. She loves our visits and tells us how much she loves meeting with us. She said when she meets with us she feels so peaceful and happy and good. She said she feels like we share God's love with her. We talked more about the Restoration and Joseph Smith. We also tried to give her a baptismal date but she said she wants to take it slowly and maybe decide a date later. The hard thing with Anna, is that she keeps some of the commitments but not all of them. I'm not sure if she is fully grasping onto our message and stuff. I think right now she just feels really good when she meets with us and is trying to wrap her brain around the Restoration.

I am trying to work with a family that comes to our English class. It is the family that came to the game night we had a few weeks ago. Our ward mission leader wants to have a dinner with us and them so we are doing that on sunday. I'm excited. They are slowly becoming more interested. I really hope it goes well!

This week Sister Lynn and I went and proselyted with the DVD player and showed the "he is the gift" DVD to anyone who would watch it. We got some people to watch it and it was good. We are focusing on testifying of Christ- it seems like lately i have been meeting a lot of people who don't believe in God or Jesus Christ. Christmas is a great time to testify of Christ and what He has done for us. I love showing the DVD to people even though people are actually really mean sometimes.

 Sadly, Korea doesn't really have the christmas magical feel. :( sometimes you see a christmas tree, and lights but not too much. I miss the magical christmas feeling so much! Where there is that excitement in the air. :( it's not here. it's those moments i feel homesick. not really for hom, just that magical christmas feeling! half the people don't even celebrate it because theyre buddhist and the other people barely celebrate it. so it is kind of sad. but at least next week we will have a zone conference and i can call home. we probably will just work on christmas since it's pretty much a normal day. 

This week when i was studying for Sis Jeong I looked up a lot of scriptures that talk about Christ and how He can help us. Alma 36:3- SUPPORT in trials and afflictions, verse 27- DELIEVERS us from our "prisions" v. 19-21- JOY that comes from repentance 1 Peter 5:7- He UNDERSTANDS our suffering becaus He has experienced it. With this perfect understanding he knows how to HELP us.  You can cast all care upon Him because he CARETH for you. Mosiah 24:15 He will bless us with COMFORT, and STRENGTH to bear up our burdens with ease. Matthew 11:28- come unto me... and I will give you REST. John 16:33 PEACE. 2 Nephi 25:26-28- REMISSION OF SINS. Helaman 5:12 Foundation- devil can have no power. These are just a few but I thought it was cool that we can see the direct blessings and help we receive if we come unto Christ.

love you lots! sorry it's kind of a plain email. most of it is what went to president so that's why it' s kind of boriong. sorry! love you! have a good week!

Sis Tara Anderson

December 8, 2014

hi! 

so this week was good! we saw lots of cool things. sister lynn and i are having so much fun and working so hard!
Sis Lynn rocks at giving out Books of Mormon and she is pushing me to be better about giving out more. We gave
out a lot this week.

wednesday was zone training. Our focus for the month is using time wisely. super good training and a good
focus- especially right now because it seems like time is picking up a lot. We are focusing on setting better
goals and acheiving them. also helping our investigator set goals and achieve them. I want to be better at setting
personal goals. so it was good. dad- do you have any advice on goals? sometimes i'm afraid of setting goals
because i'm afraid of not being able to achieve them. (not good) but i feel like that sometimes. 

on thursday (dec 4) :) we met with jaynie who is sister lynn's friend. She lived with sister lynn for 5 years as an
exchange student or something like that. She is korean and is from Gangnam. (like as in the song gangnam style)
and they are seriously loaded. haha she brought us lunch and gave us tons of food and it was really fun. We shared
a message and taught a little bit of a lesson, but jaynie's mom isn't really interested. They are catholic and mostly
just wanted to see sis lynn. But, they really like our church and jaynie loves our church and went to mutual and
church every week in America and has read the BOM two times. So hopefully she will have interest in the future.
Right now she just wants to meet for fun. So we are meeting them on a p-day again in a few weeks.

friday we did a lot of street contacting and met some really nice people. We were able to set a few return
appointments and are planning on meeting some tomorrow. One lady we met was nice and talked to us first.
She told us to come by her place which was close to the church. She had seen lots of missionaries because she
was right by our church. So she gave us her card and it said she was a minister. Anyways, the next day we went
and met her and she has this church thing in the basement of a building and we went down and found all these
people practicing a dance thing in this chapel/ dance room. seriously so weird. haha but they were all really nice.
She invited us in and we sat down because she told us to wait. they said this weird prayer thing really fast and then
practiced more. We waited for a while (we set the appointment for that time- not sure why she set it for that time)
but we found out that the people (6 or 7 people) were all ministers or missionaries. So we talked to them and told
them about our church and gave them some Books of Mormon and testified about it. It was kind of scary standing
in front of a whole bunch of ministers testifying of the book of mormon but we were confident and bore our
testimony. Seriously one of the most bizarre experiences. I wish i could describe the setting better. so bizarre but
kind of cool. haha

later that day we were out street contacting more. it was freezing and we were about to head home. it was about
8:50 and we were about 10 min away from home. as we were walking i saw a lady up ahead of me and felt like i
should talk to her. I had the thought that it's always the last person, and it's always inconvenient times for yourself
when you find people. so i ran ahead and started tallking to her. she asked questoins about the meaning of our
church name and we talked about some other stuff. We gave her a Book of Mormon and testified. She said she
would meet again with us. So that was cool. We are meeting her tomorrow. 

sat- we met with Anna- who is one of our investigators. We are doing the family english program with her and she
is super nice. She is catholic and our first meeing with her we talked about the restoration. on saturday we showed
her the restoration DVD and she loved it. She was so touched and felt the spirit. She really opened up and shared
some personal experiences that she had when she prayed for help once in a hard time. It was really cool. She isn't
keeping the commitments we give her, but we invited her to church and she said she might come. We also gave
her the testimony of Joseph Smith pamphlet so hopefully she will read that.

sun we met with 정주윤 (sis jeong) and talked about her questions she has. She is really quiet and never has
questions. So we are using the questions of the soul thing in PMG to help find some of her need and answer
questions. So sister jeons's cousin is e. lee who is serving in our zone. E. Lee's younger brother unexpectedly
died two months ago. So sad. I asked sis jeong how e. lee's family is doing (they are members) she said "because
of church they are doing good" So later on in the lesson one of the questions she picked was "how can a belief in
Jesus Christ help me" or something like that. We read the scriptures it said in PMG (amla 36?) can't remember....
but anyways, it talks about how believing in Christ will help us in trials and hard times and stuff. We talked more
about E. Lee's family and how it's helped them during this hard time. They are a really good example to her.  We
also watched the video "he is the gift" and "because of Him" It turned out really good. She is doing good. She tries
to read the BOM even though it's hard for her to understand sometimes. She is so sweet. I love her!!

ok i have to run. sorry i have no time left!! i love you all!!! have a good week!!! xoxoxox

ps how is the BOM reading going? I am about to finish Ether. I'll finish this week. :) 

love you tar

December 1, 2014

 

Hi! Moab looks like it was so fun!! i'm so jealous! blue skies and red rocks. i miss it! Glad thanksgiving was fun and horseback riding with the whole fam. so fun! 
This last week was kind of rough.  I got so stressed out about training and then I got really sick on thanksgiving, so the week was hard, but it’s ok. Wednesday we went to transfers and i said goodbye to all of the missionaries that went home. (tons!) :( like sister j and sister f and sister a! :( i was so sad saying bye to sis j. i love her! she will be at byu in january... and i'll see her when i'm home :)

 

After that me and the other 2 sisters who were training went up to trainer's training. (You asked about the piano. I played at training and I play in church a lot) In training we have all of the new missionaries and then all the trainers and we do some separate training and then training together. It was SO good. Seriously I could listen to President Christensen talk all day long. He is so inspired and the spirit was there so strong and it was just so so good. President talked about him and HF recognizing us as someone who is obedient and dilligent but he also knows our weaknesses and we can always become even better. He said we know who you are and we respect you and we expect you to be better. (he said it in a nice way- meaning always improving and trying to be better. sounds kind of harsh but it wasn't that way) anyway, just so good and motivating and so inspiring. I seriously love and respect President and Sister Christensen so much! Anyway, he announced the trainers and who they would be training. I'm training sister l! exactly one year later. so crazy! She is feeling a little overwhelmed and discouraged, after having been in Korea such a short time last Feb and then going home to recover from her injury for so long. It’s hard for her, but I'm trying to help her and encourage her as much as i can.

 

Anyway, so this week was my chance to be strong even though i felt sooo inadequate and worried that i couldn't do it. I was really worried about meeting with investigators and members and being able to understand them but this week I have been able to understand more than I ever have before. Seriously a miracle. This week we were walking down the street and i saw this little old lady walking and I felt like we should talk to her. (we were walking towards each other) and i stopped and talked to her and at first i couldn't understand her (the old ladies are hard to understand sometimes) but i wasn't sure what she said but i felt prompted to talk about the plan of salvation and that we will live with our families again after we die. and then she told me that she was out walking around the streets because she was sad because her husband just died. she kept holding my hand and thanking me and she was a little teary and we talked for a little while and she didn't want me to go. i asked her if we could meet again later and she said yes but she didn't want to give me her number or address. she was so sweet. I gave her a BOM and told her that it teaches about HF's plan and she was so thankful. she was so sweet. it was a miracle! I feel like we saw lots of little miracles and things like that last week. 

Thanksgiving was on thursday. Sadly it was a pretty miserable day for me since i was so sick but still dragged myself out and worked. We went to outback for din din and i got the cheapeast thing which was a hamburger- so good though!:)

 

This week is my 1 YEAR mark!!! soooo crazy! I can't believe it's already December 1st. I can remember the feelings i had one year ago as i said goodbye to everyone and got ready for the mtc. so weird. 

it's been a year since i've:

seen you guys!! 

driven a car

watched a movie

been on social media

slept in my bed

read a non-church book

watched TV

 

it's been a year of:

Speaking Korean!

Bowing to everyone i see

saying hi to everyone i see

carrying a Book of Mormon all the time in my hands

Spending hours studying the scriptures

wearing a skirt everyday

representing Jesus Christ

wearing His name on my chest everyday

eating bizarre things

Church in Korean

sleeping on the floor

having an extremely structured schedule

praying before we leave- no matter how much of a hurry we are in

appreciating the temple- savoring our visit each transfer

meeting the BEST people in the world!

Being sooo humbled

Learning to rely on Christ

my testimony being strengthened more than it ever has before

Growing closer to Heavenly Father than I ever have in my life

understanding the Atonement more and learning about it daily

Turning my will over to my Heavenly Father and letting Him change me into who I can become.

 

it's been the hardest and the best year of my life so far!! I'm so thankful that I can be here in Korea serving with these people! i love it. i'm so thankful that Heavenly Father gave me the chance to serve a mission. I looked at a picture of me when i waved goodbye to you when i went into the mtc and i looked at myself and realized that i'm a completely different person. I've been through so much and it's changed me so much. I am so so thankful. I know that It is entirely because of Christ and His Atonement that has allowed me to serve. I rely on the Atonement daily and because of the enabling power of the Atonement, I can do things I could never do on my own. I am so thankful for Christ and His Atonement and the chance to serve the people here and tell them about it.

 

I love you!!!   

love sis tar anderson

 

ps kiddy rid i can't believe you got bucked off the horse. that's s

November 24, 2014

Hi. This week was really good! A lot of good things happened. 

 

First. We met with 정주윤 on wednesday and we talked about testimonies. We talked about knowing through the Holy Ghost that this message is true. We also talked about how testimonies usually come little by little as we continually live the gospel and pray to know the truth. Sister L and I both shared our testimonies with her and then we asked her to share hers. She was so sweet. She said when she was in high school she tried to find a religion but nothing was right to her. She also said she feels good when she meets with us and something makes her want to keep meeting with us and something makes her get up and come to church every week even though it's early and she is tired. She is seriously so sweet. Her mom hasn't come to church for over 20 years and her dad is a member. yet every sunday morning she gets herself out of bed and comes to church by herself. she is so sweet and i love her so much. Her testimony is small right now but she is on the right path and I know that it will continue to grow into a strong testimony.

 

On the subject of testimonies, last night for our "house family home evening" the lesson was on testimonies and we talked about President Uchtdorf's talk from this past conference. All 4 of us sisters shared our testimonies with each other and the spirit was so strong. Just us in our own house sharing our testimonies with each other. It was a really special experience. Sister Yang shared her testimony and it was so powerful. She has been a member for less than 2 years, yet she has so much faith. It was really neat and a good experience to strengthen our testimonies from sharing ours and hearing each other's testimonies.

 

We met with SIster L's friend this week. She is really nice. She is Catholic but when we met with her she asked questions about the Book of Mormon. She wondered if it was in a book store so she could get it, but of course we gave it to her. We are actually meeting with her tonight and we will be talking to her about the restoration- dispensations and apostasy and the need for a restoration so she can understand our church a little bit more. 

 

This week we had a church tour and a game night. Lots of members came and it turned out really good. The cute family that comes to our english class (the one that wants to do the family english program) was really touched again by the message during english class and they are beginning to be interested in the gospel more. They came for the very end of the church tour (sadly they missed the first part) but they were there for the part that we talked about RS and Sacrament Meeting. It was good for them to be in the chapel and to see the bishop and other members. They came to game night and had a ton of fun. Their daughter is sooo cute and loved playing with the other primary kids. The parents played the game with all of us and the other members and the members were SO nice and did a great job of fellowshipping. It was so good! At the end, the mom told me that she is interested and has felt a deep impression of our church and the message. Good things are happening! They want to start doing the family english program as soon as they finish moving into their house. :)

 

Sometimes it's hard to see how i'm improving and progressing with my Korean. This week someone said something to me (a native) and it just got to me and I felt really discouraged.  That night I was teary and I prayed to HF and I told him i'm so sad and i'm trying so hard to speak korean but that it's so hard and i feel like such a bad missionary because i'm not perfect but sometimes i feel like the more i try to be better- the more imperfect i feel. Anyways, as i was praying, I felt his love so much. I knew he was listening and it felt like he was there with me listening to me. I asked him to help me feel better and find answers to help me during study the next morning. So the next morning during study i read the Book of Mormon and then i randomly pulled out a talk that you sent me (mom) when i was in the MTC called Look Up by Elder Carl B. Cook. He said "Look up to see how Heavenly Father sees us. He doesn't look on the outward appearance but on the heart. And he knows, better than anyone else what each one of us needs."

That talk was such an answer to my prayer. I didn't even think about the talk. Just pulled out a little folder i had with some papers in it and pulled out the talk without thinking. I know that HF knows my heart and knows that i'm trying my best and it doesn't matter what other people think. He knows what i can do and he knows that i am trying. It was such a special little answer to my prayer. Anyways, that night i got transfer calls and found out i was training and i was kind of shocked! (After my confidence had been shot down) But i'm trying to remember that HF knows better than I know or anyone else knows what is best. If he knows I can do it and President Christensen knows, then I can!

 

Tell everyone thanks so much for the extra prayers. I have felt buoyed up this week. Really. I have felt even more motivation and more of a desire. I really have. I know it is from the prayers from everyone so thank you.

 

I love you!! The new carpet looks so good! CLASSIC about Rid saying the gum just fell out. So funny. And playing football in his b-ball game. Haha! 

 

Mom, New Beginnings or whatever it's called sounds like it was amazing!!!  I love that you had the girls bring paintings of Christ. So cool. It sounds like it worked out so good and the spirit was there.

 

Buns, the flash mob sounds so fun! i want to do one! Sewing, yw, and all of that sounds fun.

 

 Beaut, the nutcracker sounds sooo fun! Did you see my friends?!  Karaline sent me a pic of the program. Hahaha classic. Rach have fun with jacob these last few weeks. this week Sister Atwater (in Naylor’s ward) goes home. If you're around you should go to her homecoming! Also elder smith (who will be taking a package for me) and sister white (the one that's dating shirley beeton's grandson - girl in Kar's ward- is going home) all my Kaysville/ Farmington friends here are leaving me! Sad. 

 This week we don’t do anything for thanksgiving. Maybe we'll go eat something yummy somewhere to celebrate during dinner. Thanks Fath :) ok i love you!!! Have a good week!

 

Love, Sister Tara Anderson