Moving! And Sunday was GREAT!

So….this week we moved. So it doesn't really feel like we accomplished much, we taught a couple lessons, and talked to a few people, and cleaned and cleaned our nasty dirty house. But now that it's clean, it's beautiful and big!

Monday - we didn't have time to weekly plan for the week last week, so we did that. Then we had a 식사 (a dinner appointment, but we just call them "sheik-sa" here. "Dinner appointment" sounds weird in my mouth.) with some members - they're super great, and have been strong in the church here since the beginning. He pulled out an album and showed us pictures of how he was in the first stake presidency here, and the ground-breaking for two meeting houses and the temple, etc, etc.. . .

 

Tuesday: TEMPLE! and guess what - That was the first day the new movie was there! It's the same and so different at the same time. I'm so thankful for the temple and just the pure feeling of peace that's there. 

 

Wednesday-Saturday: I'm very happy that I'm not an office elder. Moving is exciting, but then it keeps going on and on and becomes a pain, especially when you could be out talking to people, and the longer you don't talk to anyone, the harder it is to start, and then you get all grumbly and in a bad mood and don't want to do anything or talk to anyone but then you finally do get a little time to talk to people on the street and as soon as you overcome the little fear barrier that builds up, it's AWESOME! Hehe I like talking to people! Even if they don't exactly want to listen to your message at all (hehe, one student I talked to said that she'd give us her number the third time she saw us at the subway station. It's also fun talking to fun people ;)) And on Saturday, we met the family again - which was entirely different, none of the people there were the same. The wife and kids flew in from America and we played English games with them, and then shared very simply about the Book of Mormon and prophets, and the importance of having prophets, and that through them, we can receive guidance to know about God, to know for ourselves if He exists, and to follow His will. She said that she had been attending another church ever since she was married, but never really received a surety that God exists or loves her - she asked us to share our experiences with her about how we came to know that He loves us, which was a special experience. We're really excited to continue meeting with them :) And we also gotour transfer calls and I'll be in Shindang for another transfer! Nothing changed in our house :)

 

Hooray for Sunday! It was a beautiful day! There was a double baptismal service, the gospel principles class was entirely full (we couldn't attend because there were so many people ^^ (granted, that includes a whole BUNCH of missionaries, but a lot of recent converts, investigators, and others! I really like our gospel principles class :)), a 다 같이 식사 with the ward (all-together meal…I'm not sure how to make that sound normal in English…), and just some really great spiritual experiences.

So Sister _______'s husband, Brother ------ was baptized, and so was another young man, which was also special, because that young man's friend, who was baptized maybe four or five months ago, got to baptize him. President and Sister Christensen came, and President Christensen conferred the Gift of the Holy Ghost upon Brother _____ - in Korean O.O We talked to Sister _____ after, and she was so happy; "My husband has truly been reborn today." We're so excited for them :)

 

Also, a recent convert, Sister ___, she's Chinese, was studying in Canada, heard the gospel and was baptized, traveled to France, and is here now. She speaks English very well, but a lot of things are new, so she said she doesn't often know what's going on, but she likes how she feels at church. And for the first time, a member translated Sacrament meeting into Chinese for her - she said that "you can't imagine what it's like to hear it in your mother tongue". It was a really special experience! 

I'm also very thankful for the sacrament, and the cleansing power of the Atonement. There is very little that feels worse than regret, or knowing that you knew what you were supposed to do, didn't do it, and now situations have gone wrong because you didn't do what you knew you should. (I hope that made sense) And that, my dear friends, is precisely why I feel that baptism and the sacrament is so important, because it is through those moments that, if you listen and ask, you can feel that forgiveness, and that new start. To go and try it all over again is the biggest blessing~

 

Love you all! 

Sister THOMAS!