Greetings~

It's been another good week in D___ - two new families came to church yesterday! 

E___ (who only speaks French) and R___ (who we asked the U___to visit in the hospital, and he works with a member in the ward) came to the service at J___, and we met with them that night, and they were so impressed by the warm welcome from the members, and felt the Spirit in the simpleness of the service, as well as when they got our text inviting them to church - R___ said he felt that "it was time" - they still don't know a lot, but are so willing to learn and in tune with the Spirit~

J___ and J___ and their four children came to the service on post this week, as well as the chili dinner after, and got to meet a lot of members -- there were a surprising number of families there yesterday, which was quite a blessing for a service geared to the single soldiers. All kinds of miracles! They said they really liked sacrament meeting, and felt good. 

We met with the O___ on Monday, and A___ and A___ used their CPR journals we gave them, and A___ sure searched the scriptures! 

Other miracles - after the post service, I saw W___ , a recent convert from ___! Also, in the office, they found 60000 won that I wasn't paid in ___ ...which is great. And then, in addition to the blessing last week, Sister Pihl had a dream that also really helped me to know that Heavenly Father really does know where I am and has faith in my future. We met a sister again on the train that we had met months ago, and this time we could get her connected up with the sisters in ___; we had no way to get dinner on Sunday night, but E___ and R___ gave us some ramen to take with us without us even asking. I got to go back to Korea for a day with Sister B___ , and see just how much is different. We met some great people on the street as well~

Overall, things are going well! It's always beautiful to see the hand of the Lord in the details.
Thanks!
Sister Thomas

So this week was really strange, though, too - schedule-wise, anyway. In an awesome way :)

Monday wasn't P-day, but because of that we got to meet up with the O___ , which is always hard to do - they're so busy! We went with the Elders to give A___ a blessing - poor girl has walking pnuemonia. But even though she "hacked all through the night" she still read the scriptures we gave her. She's the best, I wish you all could meet her! 

Tuesday, we went down to Seoul to get my passport to take care of the ID I lost - though while we were there, we stopped by one of my former investigators from S___ - shes doing good, but the sisters haven't called her, so hopefully they can all get connected up again :) She's really great!

Wednesday, we went with M___, an 18 year old sister, to help teach a little English at the orphanage. She LOVES volunteering, and it's a great way to get her involved and such! Super fun!

Thursday I went on an exchange back to real Korea (our area is America/Africa/Philippines/Korea) - Guess what! I haven't lost all my Korean! Hooray! :P We met some great people on the street, though!

Friday was P-day.

We left our mission boundaries. We went to North Korea this week!

Yep, the long-awaited DMZ trip. We went in a tunnel that North Korea dug, saw "propaganda city" from a distance -- buildings without floors, houses with painted on windows, all so you could see how prosperous North Koroea was from our vantage point. We also got to go the the Joint Security area - the small area that is heavily guarded and occupied by both countries, where they meet to discuss issues and such - and when you walk in that building where they discuss, you can cross over the officiall line, and go about ten feet into North Korea. It's a very tense area~ But so interesting to see and learn about it all.

Short and sweet~

Hello! 

I've been asked to keep it "short and sweet" this week because our zone is switching our P-day this week - we're going to the DMZ! 

Mom, to answer your question, yep! I'm in the same area, strangely fantastic bubble of America in the middle of Korea, serving with Sister T___ for one more transfer~ 

I'm very grateful for the priesthood power and blessings. We had a chance a couple of hours ago to give A___, an 11-year-old investigator with pneumonia, poor thing, a blessing with the Elders (fun fact: Elder W___ just got transferred to our area; we served together for only one transfer when we all got to Korea~), and she said after, "I just feel really cool, really good. It's really cool to have someone pray over you." And I also got a blessing from Elder Pihl on Saturday, and it was quite a testament of blessings, that the words are really not the words of the person giving the blessing - there were elements of blessings that dad has given me, of my patriarchal blessing, and a blessing I've received in the MTC ~ Heavenly Father truly does know us quite deeply~ 

Anyway, love you all lots! Have a great week :)

Sister Thomas

Hello hello!

For the sake of time, I'll just share and experience from my email home this week - We had a lesson with the P___ family this week, where we planned to talk about the Plan of Salvation, but then K___told us all about her sister, who's getting into about every form of trouble...it's hard for K___ because she's always been the one to help, especially when no one else will, but they're all the way over here in Korea. She has great faith, but it was just at the "helpless" point. We invited her to fast, and just shared testimony of how fasting has helped us in the past, and how when I don't know what to do anymore, fasting reminds me that it's all in Heavenly Father's hands, but that I can ask for help. We told her we'd fast with her, and asked their member friends to join as well, and we all fasted this weekend. (and they came to conference! You can always count on conference :) We need to call and see how it went!) Anyway, it was just an experience that increased my testimony of fasting -- I don't even know the outcome yet, but am grateful for the opportunity to pray and fast and fast and pray. 

Also, miracle of the week - a sister, E___, who speaks only French, recognized we were missionaries and motioned us into her house, exchanged numbers, etc. -- though of course, it's hard to communicate. This week she told us that her husband was in the hospital, and she was quite stressed and depressed - we called ___ to come over to her house, and an person who spoke English answered the phone...it was J___ - a sister we've talked to outside that door at her workplace quite a lot.  We're really good friends, but she has no time to meet with us (her personality and strength reminds me of S___ a little bit) and she invited us over to her house to see E___. On the way walking over, we ran into Sister Pihl in the car, and A___- who speaks beautiful French! We all went over to J___'s house and talked to E___, and are currently getting in contact with her husband in Seoul through the U___, and arranging a blessing in French with a less-active soldier and President Huezo up here in D___. It's amazing how our paths are prepared to aid in the rescue effort together. 

We met M___ a while back in English class (she's Korean, and actually started coming before I got to this area), and over the course of English class spiritual messages, and nice missionaries (she's explained what I like to term the "happiness fairy" effect that people seems to notice in missionaries -- I'm not sure how elders would feel about that term), and a music night at the ward, where she saw a lot of happy families, she decided she "wanted to learn Mormon". 

And so we've been meeting with her for a while! You know the "teaching people without a Christian background" section of Preach my Gospel, Sister Thomas the Younger? That's M___. Her only background is mission school, where they taught her the Bible, but she never really got it. She wants to know, but (as is typical among Koreans - teaching is very head-knowledge based and emotion is a little shunned) has a hard time feeling/recognizing what we explain as the Spirit. But she's leaning and growing quite slowly but wonderfully~And she came to general conference this weekend! YAY! And not just came, but she was watching VERY intently. She comes to Family Home Evenings an hour away with us every Monday night, and is becoming really good friends with A___, a recent convert (whose personality/learning-wise, is very similar to M___), and L___, another investigator who is a guard at Camp Casey.

Always waaaaaaaaaay too much to say. But! Generally, conference was absolutely beautiful! Lots of direction for lots of people I know, including me. I especially felt like "six steps" was written especially to me. Love it. 

Got to go. Love you all lots!

Sister Thomas the Elderrrrrrrr

Alert!!

Hello, hello! I'll probably just tell you one story this week, because it was the big happening -

J___ was already to go, we'd taught her everything, she loves it all. We had the baptism planned at 4 o'clock, Sunday, though we heard that the army was planning an alert, so we moved it up to 2 o'clock, enough time to travel to the U___ church (it has a font) and prepare. All the ward was notified. Hooray!

But as we got to church, we kept hearing rumors that the alert was going to take place earlier and earlier (from very credible sources, mind you - it's amazing how many people in our branch are high ranking military officers) and so we had to change it really quickly to 1 o'clock.

The alert is a Korea-wide army exercise, where they put all the soldiers sort of "on-call", where they need to be ready to be on the base at any moment. We joked that J___ is so awesome, that Satan tried to get the whole army against her for her baptism :P 

Then we jumped in the car before church was done, sped there, had a quick baptismal service (most of the people we planned for talks/prayers/music/programs couldn't be there because of the time change, but it worked out well) -- just a wonderful, wonderful time for her. She said "Thank you, guys" before she went into the font, and after, just said that everything was behind her now, and she was ready to move on. It was simple and beautiful. Not all according to plan, but all that it needed to be -- her and the Lord <3 

And the sergent called right after the baptism as we were in the car, ordering the alert. She got back on time, and it all worked out. 

miracles, miracles :)

We've got to split, but love you lots and talk to you next week! 

Sister Thomas

Never thought I'd help at a traditional African wedding~

Maybe I'll just start at "Sunday" this week, because that's what I remember best! 

Well, J___, who will be baptized this week (the member's joke about her as "the third missionary" because she's our age and is always with us at church and activities :)), and M___, who is Korean but speaks English super well (we had a good lesson on Saturday with her and R___, a brother who has recently found Christ and the Spirit again, they're good friends from family home evening (magic happens there!).  She seems to understand the Spirit a little better, which is a step up; she doesn't have much of a concept of God and is a little skeptical, though wants to know at the same time, anyway), and ___, a sister who the Pihl's met at the army base (she's been watching the missionaries come in and out for about three years, and a couple weeks ago met them on the train and told them she wanted to come to church, brought her sister last week and husband this week (though unfortunately, neither of the speak English, so it's a little hard for them at the English branch...) -- all three of them came to church this week! (How's that for a run on sentence! I've discovered I'm a very circular talker.  I start in one place, get off subject explaining, add in a couple of opinions, and then bring it full circle to the original point. I've met a couple more circular talkers like me here :) though unfortunately, circle talkers like us require a lot of time...)

And then we went to the post service on Camp Casey, a short sacrament meeting for soldiers who can't get off to base to come to the full meeting (usually they keep them on the base for a while so they don't run off and get in trouble in the "ville" or other sketchy places that I've never been nor want to go...), where S___ didn't come (pout. She promise for like, the past three months :() and spaghetti dinner after! We do that every Sunday now, the B___ family heads it up, Sister B___, wearing her tiara and blue mascara and apron, cooks all the soldiers spaghetti and "rollsticks", and the kids decorate a surprise dessert for us and make everyone eat it before the spaghetti's done :) (a real blessing, because without spaghetti dinner, it's really hard for us to eat on Sunday, since we are about an hour away from our area~). We had a great lesson with J___ and Sister B___  about the gospel of Jesus Christ~ I'm so thankful for the "perfect brightness of hope" in the gospel.

Also, A___ was baptized either yesterday or today! Hehe, I'm not exactly sure :) She's a very special person that most people don't really understand. Originally a kind of smart, mean, funny shell about her personality, but a very hesitantly, drivenly, sincere and deep inside. She's one not to put in a box. We've all been working with her for months; she doesn't want formal lessons, but through her own personal study, and finally fasting, she went from no concept of God to, finally, baptism. But technically, it's a secret - she and the Pihls went all the way out to the coast to be baptized in the sea. It is a very special, private event for her. I'm so happy. She's one who will stick it out till the end~ It's amazing to see the change the Spirit has worked in her over the past few months~

And then we headed over to S___'s house to help her out with her wedding! It was really interesting being in the middle of it; it was a little hard because we were needed to help things run semi-smoothly and keep things under control, but we were never briefed on how things were going to play out~ but anyway! After a lot of stress with late photographers and dresses and bridesmaids that didn't show up and such (African timing is significantly later than normal; if they say they'll be there in # minutes, times it by 2 and add 5 more minutes :)), we got there! I don't have my cord for you today, but I wish you could see the costumes - Bright, colorful dresses, matching man's clothes, head wraps, etc - maybe google "Nigerian wedding clothes"? Friends kept throwing money at them, and there's a special ceremony with a kola nut, and a cup (a little drama in the back room, "no, we CAN'T use wine! We don't drink!!! Go S___! ) They came in dancing and we were prepped for costume changes. Lots of members from the ward came. We saw a lot of S___'s friend that we've either taught a little or asked to teach them, it was great.

It's Been a Good Week

It's been a good week!

I'm learning to delegate all over again - That is one lesson that, unfortunately, I feel like I have to learn again every situation .  Hopefully, one day it'll be natural :)  But companionship is less stressful, misunderstood, or polar. Hooray!

So we have quite a happy story for this week! C___, from China, married for a year to a soldier (one of the mushiest couples~ they're adorable :) ), her family has started joining the church over the course of a few years.  She joined with her aunt, uncle and cousin eight years ago, and has been praying for her parents ever since. Her mother joined a year ago before she was married, and her grandparents, staunch Buddhists, joined a few weeks ago, and her father, around the same time, decided to be baptized as well.  So he and his wife came to Korea for a couple weeks so that Brother S___ could baptize him. So we met him on Friday, taught for four hours, Sister S___ translating into Chinese, and then Saturday morning, too; interview (our zone leader speaks Chinese!), and then baptism on Sunday! Wow! But it was beautiful to see this family come together!

An even more beautiful element; our companion, Sister L___, has a similar situation - she and her sister joined the church over eight years ago; she's been praying for her parents.  Her mother was baptized a few weeks ago - her father is still against it, but so was Brother L___. There is hope :) The Lord is good, and it's beautiful to see these things fall into place :)

Unfortunately, Sister Lee will probably be going home for a bit,  She got her letter from the Birmingham mission, and things are turning out a lot more expensive than she expected -- a LOT. So she's going home to talk about it with her parents, but will probably still be spending lots of time with us. If you can keep her in her prayers, that would be great! 

Lots of other great things, but I'm running out of time.  J___ felt the Spirit at the baptism, and is so excited for hers in a month! We met a family with four kids last night (the girls love us, and know a recent convert, M___!).  We heard back from an investigator that's been out of contact for more than a month and a half,  and all kinds of other goodness and fun-ness. And my wallet was found! In Bosan! A miracle in and of itself :) 

Well, lots of love, I need to email Lauren a little!

Have a lovely week!

Sister Thomas the Elder!

Come unto Christ~

We've spent a lot of time this week saying good bye to people with Sister F____, trying to help Sister L____become oriented to missionary work among all the craziness of appointments and cancellations. My new companion, Sister T____, is from New Zealand, has been in this country about as long as I have, and I think it'll  be good and it'll be fun. It's a weird transition from Korea to America, and there have been some bumps in the threesome, but it should work out alright.

There really isn't a lot to report this week investigator-wise, between traveling hours to meal appointments with members, introducing to members, last-minute appointment cancellations, and a mission conference, and now a day of cleaning, there hasn't been a lot of other stuff going on~

But I do want to share a little expeirence with prayer yesterday - After church, we had a half appointment (made, but not confirmed) with an investigator, who has a history of standing us up over the past few weeks, so we really needed to confirm with her so that, if not, we could go to the bishops house for dinner about two hours away~ she wouldn't answer her phone, and wasn't home - So we prayed to find her, opened our eyes, and hear "hello!". It was another investigator, M____ , off to a wedding with her friend. Kind of fun :) We talked to her for a bit, then went to the investigator's house again - and saw her daughter running down an alley. And so we met H____! And guess what - she cancelled our appointment (we're worried about her!). So we went to the bishop's house. So just a little expeirence to express that Heavenly Father truly does answer the little prayers, especially to forward His work!

This email feels really empty this week, but hopefully this will share a little bit more Spirit~ 

It's a beautiful depiction of the reality of the Atonement in lives. it's Youth'y, but I love it :)

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/come-unto-christ-2014-theme-song?lang=eng

Love you all, and hope you have a beautiful week!
Sister Thomas the Elderrrr