One of those weeks you don't really have a title for.

Right! So!

Family, friends, others. (Hehe there are no others, that's a joke.)

This week was great!

I don't remember anything!

Well, I do remember a few things.

So we met with one of our investigators this week, her name is Sister 부 she attends a church next to ours, but comes to English class weekly and is now doing the 30:30 English program with us. She was an investigator in the past as well, but never really progressed because she didn't accept new things and she always said she was "Afraid to lose her faith" so they ended up dropping her. She's super nice though. She always brings us bread haha. Anyway, these past two times we have met her she's been progressing a whole bunch! She used to not even look at the Book of Mormon, but now she's opened up so much! She even accepts commitments to read certain parts of the Book of Mormon on her own (as long as we copy the part she's supposed to read. She doesn't mind the Book of Mormon, but she won't accept a copy just yet.) We taught the Plan of Salvation last week and she asked a lot of questions and opened up a lot. Its been such a miracle! 

In other news, on Thursday we went and played badminton with on of the Elder's investigator and her club. Well. Sister Bae and I kind of just watched and talked to people while everyone else played. We played a bit. We met a woman who also plays there- she might be interested in meeting us, we just need to work on building a relationship with her first. She's really adorable though- her English name is Annie. Looks like from now on I'll get very good at badminton. Who knew?

We visited a member a few days ago, but she was late for our appointment so we went and checked out a traveling food market by her house, that was cool.

So in Korea there area  lot of meat shops and stuff- and its funny because you are just walking down the street and look into one and two whole pigs are just kind of chilling, hanging from the ceiling half-carved. Its cool. Kind of random. Slightly surprising sometimes.

Speaking of, my companion is scared really easily. She always gets surprised at the smallest stuff. Its really funny. She always asks me "How come you're not ever scared?"

We had Zone conference this week and learned all about being positive, especially about other missionaries. I just learned again the importance of out words and thoughts and how they influence others. Our words carry a lot of weight everyone, lets be careful how we use them. We are all God's children, and just as a father doesn't want his children to speak badly of each other, Heavenly Father expects the same of us. Let's do our best to please him, and to show our love!

That's it for now!!

Sometimes you just need to share the love March 20th 2016

Good morning everyone!!

I can say that because it is morning here.

Can I just say for a moment, I can't remember for the life of me if half of the conversations I've had with people here were in English or Korean?? I keep having "Oh yeah, I speak this language" moments.

Right!

So we were going to heart attack a member who is having a hard time one day, so I had a bunch of red hearts in my bag. We were sitting at a bus stop and the girl next to me looked like she was having a rough... everything. So, I opened my bag, took out a heart and said "I don't really know why, but I think I need to give you this." And handed her the paper heart. 

She looked so tripping happy.

:D

It was so adorable. We got on the bus right after and I looked out the window to see her keep grinning. 

Oh yeah, the next day we went and visited another member. She really doesn't know a whole lot of doctrine, and she really doesn't understand the Atonement. We are working with her weekly now. It feels like teaching an investigator. She always has really interesting questions. This week it was about why God made Satan bad. So, I learned the word in Korean for "Intelligences" and was given the honor of answering her question. XD

We met some old guy on the bus who loves Motab. Cool beans old guy.

Temple Thursday this week! It was great. The Korean session was full, so they pulled all the missionaries out to do an English session, which ended up being in Korean. XD

After the temple my companion went to take an English test to see if she could go to BYUH I waited with the secretary and was going to write letters, but I ended up helping her staple stuff, translate the seminary instruction manual, and chatting. XD

Friday was my companions birthday. I wanted to make her seaweed soup (its a korean bday tradition) but I didn't know how so I didn't haha. It ended up being okay though because we visited a member who gave us the soup and didn't even know it was her birthday! God really does watch out for the small and simple things that will make us happy. We met with an investigator that day and when we taught English she just asked me to read a little picture book out loud in a theatrical manner. It was Anne of Green Gables haha. My companion and the investigator thought it was the greatest thing.  

I made my companion a strawberry cake for her birthday. She loved it :D I was just glad I was able to do something for her.

Saturday I sang "If you could hie to Kolob" and my companion played the violin at a RS activity. 

You couldn't really call it an RS activity though. A lot of the priesthood brothers were there! Including the Elders haha. It was so funny, when they came in and sat down Elder Young looked at me totally confused like and mouthed "I don't know what's going on" hahahahaha 

We figured they just came for the food.

Yesterday there was a baptism!!! The Elders in our ward baptized a 13 year old boy. He's really adorable and awesome! He always comes to English class.

BTW He's Savannah's future husband. Just saying.

His baptism was great though. Super spiritual. :) We sang again. His whole non-member family came and I think they all felt the spirit and really enjoyed it :) It was awesome! 

Besides that, I have not much to report other than that life is great and I love being here!

:)

Because life can't get much better than this. March 13 2016

So! This week. Was a week. And stuff happened.

And.

Yeah.

Stuff.

I seriously feel like Pday was yesterday no joke.

Well actually this week we went to the senior center in another area and served food to the old people at the cafeteria. It was a lot of standing in one place for a long time- but it was great! The old people were so funny XD One old dude saw me and the other American sister and was like "Is this really Korea?" And a bunch of old people were like "Is today some special day?" It was cute :) And a few of them spoke their limited English to us. Hehe. 

Ah! Gosh! Tuesday, on the way to meet with our new investigator we had to travel kind of far, so we got on the bus by our house and a guy (maybe 22?) got on the same bus as we did, got off on the same stop, got on the same subway, got off and transferred on the same line, and got off on the same stop as we did. We totally felt like stalkers the whole time. After we met our new investigator we went and got some boxes for the Elders, The one set of Elders (ZLs) were gone, and Elder Lant and Elder Reis were stuck at home because Elder Reis can't walk. They were moving, so they didn't have boxes. We brought them and a bunch of snacks and food to help Elder Reis cheer up. He went home the next day because of his legs (I think his kneecap was fractured and something wrong with his ankle) his last companion who was also hit had to go home as well, but hopefully they'll be back soon!

Ah yeah, so the 3rd elder in the last week has come to our area and we hope this is the final change. Sister Bae doesn't want to keep memorizing their names XD

This week at Zone training we did some 'unity' activities. One of them included a two person push-up. Its basically like, unless you can do a one-handed push up you fail. We didn't fail. Mwhahahahahaha. Well for reals, you have to only use one arm and the other connects you and your comp as you do a push up at the same time. Its no joke. We had to do the girl push-up version. But then we (us and the other set of sisters) got cocky and did a 4 man push-up. We succeeded. AHAHAHAH. It was so funny. All the Elders were like "The heck?!?"

After zone conference we met with another investigator that night. She loves the Bible, and she loves her church, but she also loves the missionaries and knows there is something different about us. Teaching her is hard, I won't lie. Every time we ask a question (and sometimes even when we don't) she brings up some random verse from the Bible that may or may not be related to what we are talking about. This time was no different in that sense, but on the other hand, my companion and I were on fire. After the lesson was over we both slumped in our chairs and acknowledged we had never taught a more unified, spiritual lesson than the one we just had. It was tripping awesome.

On Friday the mission had a conference for all the Korean missionaries, so while my companion went to the conference I went on exchanges with Sister ~~. My mission life hasn't been very long, but this exchange may stand to be one of the most interesting, one of a kind exchanges I've ever been a part of.

Sister ~~ is a wonderful missionary. She's got a great testimony, desire to serve and work, a love for the Gospel, a relationship with our Heavenly Father, and she needs a fake elbow.

Yep, you may be wondering what a fake elbow has to do with anything. You may also be wondering why that makes her a wonderful missionary. You may also be wondering what I ate for lunch. You may also be wondering why I keep telling you what you're wondering. You may also be wondering when I'll finally get back to the point. 

Well.

Keep wondering.

Just kidding.

Sister ~~ visited the hospital recently because the pain in her 'elbow' (it's not actually an elbow bone, she had it replaced a long time ago with some other bone) was really bad. It turns out, she has bad arthritis. Not only that, there may be a problem with the nerves in her arm, which means she has to get an elbow replacement ASAP otherwise her arm will die. Lastly, they don't know whether or not she really has the nerve issue and they can't find out until they actually preform surgery.

So when I went to their area, Sister ~~ was awaiting a phone call that would inform her whether or not she would be sent home. But you know, go home, come back, finish up, whatever. Almost. Sister missionaries can't return to the mission if they've been out for over a year. The day I exchanged was Sister ~~ year mark on her mission.

We visited a RC together and during our lesson we got a text from the president to call. So we finished and she called him.

Its interesting walking next to the missionary who gets that call. I'll be completely honest, before my mission I was extremely judgmental of missionaries who came home early due to 'health problems'. Granted, lots of missionaries go home using the excuse of health problems when they are truly capable of finishing the mission they have been called to. On the other hand, I experienced firsthand the sorrow, frustration, despair, and sadness of a missionary whose only desire was to fulfill the mission to which she committed her heart and soul. She was scared, and upset, and shocked, and overall in need of comfort. When we got to the house she called her mom and worked things out for her return trip and such. She cried. 

I couldn't really do anything but sit and watch as my perspective was changed. Guys, there are a lot of missionaries who go home early because they are bums. And there are a lot of missionaries that are sent home early who have an earnest desire to do the Lord's work and be His tools for the salvation of His children. Don't miss that difference. I did. I know I did. 

I don't know if what I said to that sister helped her, but I do know that that experience changed me. I am a weak person, but I want to change and be strong. I want to let these experiences break my stubborn opinions and bring light where my walls kept me in the dark. The mission is great! I feel it.

Sister ~~ will probably leave for home on Thursday. Keep her in your prayers. :)

On another, lighter note. After English class we had an impromptu musical! Starring guess who? Oh, right. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Sister Brooksby. My companion really likes to hear me sing broadway songs. So, she volunteers me to sing everywhere we go. 

It's fun. I love singing and acting, and she loves watching. It works out. 

When they heard I would sing the Elders all grabbed chairs and sat down to listen. The new Elder, Elder Young, asked "What's the big deal?" And Elder matthews replied "No, she's a really good singer." Aww thanks! Its nice to hear.

Actually, because I sand at the members house last week I suddenly acquired 4 requests to sing at different meetings. RS, the baptism yesterday, a RS activity on Saturday, and in church next month. 

Magical. Haha.

Speaking of the baptism. It was an 8 year old girl, her LA dad baptized her. It was funny, the primary kids sang the same song we prepared, so everyone ended up hearing the same song twice, but two very different versions. Sister Bae played the violin and Elder Karlson played the piano. It was great! We all got lots of compliments after :)

That's the week! Its been pretty crazy! 

Transfers are more interesting when.... March 6th

The Elder transferring in gets hit by a car?

HELLO EVERYONE!

So! Its been a grand week! Also an... interesting week!

Lets start with this. So, yeah on Sunday my companion and I were planning and we got a call from the APs and both of us were like "Why are the APs calling?" so she picked up and he was like "This is the transfer call" and we both laughed because we totally forgot about transfers. 

Hey you know as it turns out... I'm staying here :) Hehe of course. I'm still a new missionary, so they haven't quite decided to ship me off just yet.

Right right, so we went to visit a member on... Tuesday? Wednesday? Some day this week. And her dog was so adorable! But it also shed a lot. I've been trying to get black dog fur out of everything I own all week.

And this week we've been reading Alma 56-57 with one of our investigators, apparently she really likes the war stories of the Book of Mormon. XD 

Ah yes, and then there was transfers. So originally, Elder Ries was supposed to show up here on Wednesday, but we got a call and it turns out he was hit by a car while standing at the bus stop Tuesday evening and was in the hospital. Fortunately, nothing is broken, but he had shards of glass in both his legs and his left arm. He arrived here on Saturday and replaced the other Elder who had transferred here as a temp until he recovered. He's doing better, but went to the hospital today to get checked out again and to get some x-rays.

Ahhh yes and on another day (I really don't remember which one) we were at a bus stop and we talked to some girls about English and stuff. They were very friendly and adorable. Ahh middle school. Anyway, we gave our number to one of them and later that night she called us and we had a fun conversation in English and it was great and dandy. Then, later that night at the members house we got a call from the number again, but this time it was her mother. 

Her mother was not a happy person.

I think she ate something bad that night.

To be frank,

She was ticked.

So she "Spoke very sternly" to my companion and I about how we can't do things like this, that we are bad people, if we call again she will report us to the police, (Which is funny, because her daughter called us) and that we should be grateful she wasn't taking this any farther. 

Honestly, it would be upsetting if it wasn't tripping funny. It was like some sort of drama! The lady was so dramatic about all of it, it was hard to take it seriously! Of course, we can't talk to the daughter again, but we did give her a great impression of missionaries, so in the future when she isn't under the "Iron thumb" she will be able to talk to the missionaries easily.

Ohohh after English class on Saturday a member asked me to translate something for her son. He's studying architecture and needed his paper translated into English, which was not a simple task because #1 although I like architecture I haven't formally studied it yet #2 I have no idea what the vocabulary is for most of it and #3 It was all super complicatedly written. So! We had some fun translating, and it all turned out alright and such. I hope it goes well XD The member seemed happy with it, and she knew English pretty well.

Ahhhh this sunday was fast sunday.

I broke my fast before we went to a member's house because she doesn't usually feed us, but then she fed us and we ate a lot and were super full. Then we taught a lesson with a member, and after we were going to head home to study, but we were invited to the FHE at another member's house and there we ate again. 

I ate 3 dinners yesterday. XD

I was going to die!

It's okay guys, I'm alive.

Don't worry.

Ahh and after we ate at the members house they asked for a spiritual message, but we hadn't planned one because we didn't expect to go there. I was all ready to just kind of go by the spirit and teach about something awesome when someone said that instead of a lesson I should just sing for them. XD (There were 3 families there at the time)

So I sang "Because I have been given much" for them in English. They all loved it :) I'm glad!

Another member family drove us home and on the way the Brother said "Sister Brooksby, I'm going to have to call the mission president." And I asked "Why?" To which he responded "You're just going to have to serve your whole mission here in our ward so you can sing for us all the time." HAhahahahaha So funny. :D

I really love this ward- everyone here is so great and so nice! There's a member lady here who gives us meat every week! And the members always ask if we have rice, and fruit, and side dishes. So sweet. We hardly have to buy groceries because the members always give us stuff!

And to wrap this whole thing up: 1 Peter 1:6-7

Guys, our trials are more precious than gold. I know that. I've seen it. I've already learned so much here, and I didn't learn it from class. I learned it because I have had hard times, and I have been able to turn to the Lord and I've been able to change. Don't take the hard times for granted, they are precious moments that will make us the people God wants us to be. 

I love you all! I love this work! I love Korea! I LOVE MY SAVIOR! I cannot wait for the day I will see him again. He is my friend, my Lord, and my King and I will always follow him.

Until next week.

Here we go round the bus stops Feb 24th 2016

Righy-O! 

Hello family, friends, others. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

I hope you all have been having a good week, and if you haven't- it probably has something to do with you. XD Just keep up those prayers and such. This week I've learned sometimes we forget what peace feels like until we feel it, and until that reminder comes we forget to ask for it. So take a few minutes out of your day to ask for that peace. God is so willing to give it.

Right, other than that. It's time to talk about my week! Really though, its been God's week. We have 2 new investigators! One was someone I met on the bus, she wants to go to school abroad so she wants to learn English. We met with her for the 30:30 program (30 minutes of English and 30 minutes of Gospel) she seemed to enjoy it and was very open minded about everything. We will see how it goes, but I pray that all will work out as its supposed to and that I will be able to play my part in the process. If those of you at home pray for her I can't say I wouldn't be absolutely delighted! Pray for Sister Kim. :)

Right! So we went to go visit one of our investigators! She's 14 years old and she loves Heavenly Father! Her Dad is a Christian and goes to a different church. We went to visit her with a member but we came from a different direction, so when we got off the bus we weren't sure exactly which direction to go. My comp and the member (also 14 years old) decided to get on another bus that would take us closer instead of walking the rest of the way. The bus ended up taking us in a huge circle for 20 minutes and when we got off we were only 3 minutes closer than we had been before! So, sometimes guys, walking is better. XD

The investigator we visited is doing great. She still needs to find an answer for sure about the truth of the church, but we are constantly trying to encourage her and help her find her answer. Her father will probably oppose her getting baptized, so we also want to work with her on that, but other than that she really is doing so well, and she understands the things we teach her!

Ahhh we also had interviews with our mission president this week. During our interview we discussed the 12 week language program that's been set up here in our mission by our mission president. He made these fancy yellow books for us that have phrases to memorize from each of the parts of each of the lessons in PMG. You have to memorize the phrases by a certain time and then have a practice lesson where you say them. Its a really great book/plan for new missionaries to help them learn Korean faster.

It's not an effective book/plan for missionaries who already speak a lot of Korean. This past 5 weeks I spent a lot of my language study time memorizing phrases. And where I learned some new gospel vocabulary, I really wanted to spend time studying something else.

So in our interviews we discussed the book. President said I could just skip the whole thing!!!! YESSSSSS!!!! I was so happy!!!! And since then I've started the other book TIP (Teacher Improvement) which is a lot better suited to my level of speaking. Great stuffs. 

We met a less active member this week. She has social anxiety and once passed out in church because of it, so its been hard for her to come out, but she really loves Heavenly Father, so we had a lesson with her and helped her with her English. Its been really great, and she has gotten a lot better since she passed out, so she came to church this week! :)

We also met with the 14 year old investigator again, in order to more efficiently explain the need for the Restoration I tied a scarf around her head so she couldn't see and then asked her to take it off only using her head while we continued to teach the lesson using mostly pictures.

Of course she couldn't take it off, and she couldn't understand what the exact message was that we were trying to teach because she couldn't see. So I took it off and explained that, during the apostasy, just like her, people couldn't see. They were in spiritual darkness and because of that they couldn't fully understand the words of the scriptures. We explained that those people couldn't remove the darkness themselves, they needed a prophet to restore the church so they could see and understand. That was why we needed Joseph Smith.

Woo yeah, so one of the Elders in our zone is going home tomorrow, so he asked that we have a special big Sticker boarding activity. It was a huge success! There were so many people there! We talked to a lot of people, and got a lot of numbers for people interested in English class. Some students saw me and the one girl was so excited she said "Oh look at her face! And her eyes! Her eyes are so pretty! Take a picture! Take a picture!" So I was suddenly a model. She took a picture with me and ran off giggling. Girls are so odd. 

Ahhhh so transfer calls came this Sunday. Honestly my companion and I both forgot about it. We are both staying, but the Elder who will just finish being a greenie will transfer. Sad day. Bye bye Elder Roylance. 

In church the ward secretary came up to me and said "Sister Roylance, I heard you're transferring. That's so sad." So I had to explain to him that I am Sister Brooksby, not transferring, and that Roylance is an Elder that's been serving in the area for the past 3 months. Too funny.

Other than that, I have no idea what happened this week, but I know it was awesome! XD

Honestly missionary work is pretty great, and its a lot of fun if you let it. As long as we focus on the right things and continue to ask God for those things we need, he will lead us in the direction we are supposed to go, even if we don't know why. 

Alma 58:10. When you want help, pray. Even in the midst of war when they had hard times, the first thing they did, the thing they always did, was pray. Ask God for the things that you need, then wait and watch for His answer. It will come in His time and it will be great. :) I love you all! Even those of you who forgot I exist.

Just kidding.

You can't forget me.

I'm too awesome hahahaahah XD 

For reals though, I love you all!