Week 6: pictures from the field!

"my last day at the mtc i got your package! (i'm wearing them in one of the pictures jeehee! i love them!)"

[Sonhee with her district and district president before they left for Korea!]

"thanksgiving was a blast at one of the members homes! we all made rolls together!"

[sportin the casual wear on thanksgiving! :P]

"there was a man in one of our wards who has a donkey! so we went and saw her and the smell totally reminded me of the epic farm visit i had before bahaha! but this time i knew the mud wasn't mud. it's.. gross stuff :P"

[Sonhee with her new companions]

"That girl getting baptized is dylan! isn't she awesome? i wish you could meet her!"

Week 6: first week in the mission field!

JEEHEE! I NEW YOU'D GET IT! i'm so happy for youuu! that's gonna be great especially for the pcat :) wow and you got your CAMERA??! bahaha speaking of cameras and pictures, a couple weeks ago when i was at the mtc on our temple walk, i was getting everyone in my district together for pictures and this girl came up to me and was like "are you jeehee's sister? i figured sing you're asian, and you have a bow in your hair and you're organizing a cute group photo!" bahahaha i guess she was in your ward last year or something; i'll have to show you a picture of her later. and by later i mean like 17 months :P anyway, I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU! :D

so this past week has been CRAZY! but in an awesome way! so i left the mtc on tuesday morning, right? and i left with two other people waiting for their visas; a sister going to argentina and an elder going to new zealand. and all three of us were wondering why they'd send us out so early in the morning cuz it's just an hour-ish drive anyway. but when we got to the mission building, the mission president was there and he gave a little welcome introduction and paired us with companions and SENT US OFF TO WORK! My companions are sister Mousseau from PA and sister Thompson from long beach california and we're in a "tri-force" as sister M calls it :P Sister M has been out for 15 months and she is AMAZING at talking to people and asks so many good inspired questions! so i'm learning that from her :) and sister Thompson's been out for 3 months and she's AMAZING at being able to relate to people no matter who they are! and they are both so strong and exactly obedient! (for example, right when the alarm clock goes off in the morning, one of the sisters immediately says a companionship prayer and it just starts the day off so great! at the mtc, my comp and i just made sure to say a companionship prayer before leaving our room, but it really does invite the spirit when you do that right off the bat!)

You know what's so cool? this mission is the highest baptizing english speaking mission! so guess what i did that night i got to the mission? i contacted people with the sisters in my first area of West Valley, taught about baptism with my companions (who are AMAZING TEACHERS!! i'm learning soo much from them!), AND I GOT TO EXTEND AN INVITATION FOR BAPTISM! AND HE SAID YES!! oh man, i can't even describe what it feels like to see someone make changes in their lives to be happier by accepting the gospel! his name is dylan and he's 13 and i didn't know him too well because that was the first day i met him but my companions say that he wasn't even interested but his sister wanted to know about it so then he started listening in and now they are both going to be baptized in the next few weeks! 

Also, this past saturday, we had a baptism! Her name is Dylan (i know, two dylans!) and she is the sweetest 9 year old everrrr! and she is so smart; when she told us about what she read, she can recount every little detail :) her mom's been less active but now they both come to church together! 

I love it here so much! it's cold but i don't care because i can feel the spirit so strongly wherever we go. and the spirit of god is like a FIRE burning... hahaha. i know lame.. but i thought it was funny :P anyway, miracles do still happen! we just need to put forth some effort to make them possible and watch for God's hand in everything. I don't know everything; in fact, it says in alma 37:11 "now these mysteries are not yet fully made known unto me." but i do know the things i need to know. i know that god lives. and he loves each and everyone of us. and jesus christ is my savior. and his church has been restored to this earth. and through this church, we can be eternally happy! act on what you know and you will find so much joy as well! Pres Eyring said "there is danger in the word 'someday'" so when you feel prompted, make sure you ACT! and you will be blessed; i know this because i experience it every day :)

I love you all :) 

-Sister Cho

Explanation for pictures:
-thanksgiving was a blast at one of the members homes! we all made rolls together!
-there was a man in one of our wards who has a donkey! so we went and saw her and the smell totally reminded me of the epic farm visit i had before bahaha! but this time i knew the mud wasn't mud. it's.. gross stuff :P
-my last day at the mtc i got your package! (i'm wearing them in one of the pictures jeehee! i love them!)
-that girl getting baptized is dylan! isn't she awesome? i wish you could meet her!

ps. jeehee, sorry if i don't address everything you talk about! but i read everything and i love hearing about everything, don't worry! and i do care about everything in your life so keep updating me! but sorry if i can't respond to everything :P love you!

pps. this is my address for here but i don't know how long i'm gonna be here but oh well :P
3487 South 1300 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84106

Week 5: Korea delayed, New [temporary] Mission Call!

Hiiii!

 

So I actually have to go do a little more packing so this is a short letter but I'll make sure i write more next week!

 

I hope all is well at home! I am writing a day earlier because I'm leaving for my temporary mission tomorrow morning at 6:30! And i know you've already heard family but i'm going to be in the SALT LAKE CITY MISSION until my visa gets cleared :D I'm so excited for another change that is full of opportunities to meet more people and learn more! (I hear you can take investigators and teach them AT temple square too! how awesome is that?!!) I don't know how long i'll be there but nonetheless I'm excited to enter the field :) and this morning I said bye to all my native korean friends in my district and the american missionaries going to korea! Total of 15 missionaries!!! yay for missionary work in korea too! :D i'm excited for them too! it's so great to see all these missionaries being spread around the world to preach the gospel and help people come unto christ and gain ETERNAL HAPPINESS! It's been such a great experience here at the MTC, but i'm ready to leave :)

 

Thought of the day: we had President Harris of one of the district presidencies speak to us this past week and he said "There is NO LIMITATION to who you are. but you must know the Savior." and i thought a lot about that this past week, and i realized the only way to know the Savior is to put forth work and effort. President Benson said, "One of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work. if a missionary works, [she] will get the spirit; if [she] gets the spirit, [she] will teach by the spirit; and if [she] teaches by the spirit, [she] will touch the hearts of the people; and [she] will be happy. there will be no homesickness, no worrying about families, for all time and talents and intrests are centered on the works of the ministry. That's the secret--work, work, work. There is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work." ISN'T THAT GREAT?! :) I know that in all things, we can reap the best rewards when we put in our everything. yep. give 100% and you'll see everything work out the way it's supposed to. Because God loves us and gives us exactly what we need exactly when we need it :) I know this church is true and i love it! and i'm so grateful that families can be together forever. Love you all :D

 

-Sister Cho

 

Jeehee: got your package! gahhhhh i LOVE THEMMMM! yuck she dong sang bba kkae op so :) i got your email dearelder, and i don't have time now but i'll write you a letter when i have time!

Week 4: changes to departure date/mission call!

Hiiii :)

I hope your week is going well! Because mine's going great! But i have some crazy news:

so i'm supposed to be going to korea on the 21st of this month, right? BUT my visa hasn't been worked out yet; I talked to the travel office and the guy who's in charge said that the whole dual citizenship paperwork has to be processed before i can apply for a visa and that isn't going to be done til January!! so I GET ANOTHER MISSION CALL THIS THURSDAY! weird huh? it'll be stateside, and maybe here in utah somewhere but i'll be spending the next month and half somewhere not-korea--but i'm so excited! (it's weird because i thought daddy and i talked to the embassy people in sanfran and they said that we could apply for a visa as long as the paperwork was in and it didn't need to be fully processed before applying for a visa. but i guess that's not possible!) BUT NOW I GET TO CLAIM TWO MISSIONS YEEE! more experiences + meeting more people + a chance to preach the gospel in English = perfect for sister cho, right? yay :) anyway, so I'll be able to call home before i get on the plane for wherever i'm headed whenever i'm headed out from the MTC. I'm usually not a big fan of uncertainty and unexpected change but I've realized that it is through adjusting to change in a Christ-like manner that we can progress and become better; so i'm not too worried about anything right now :)

That takes me to addressing your dearelder miss j cho. I think change is a great way to improve and become better so i'd say don't do research and instead, try anatomy too. I think you'd be great at it! just make sure you're not overwhelming yourself with too much to do; physiology and lab should be a breeze for you especially after you've had anatomy, and nutrition is really not bad in terms of work load. yeah drop history of creativity and build up experience. looking at the class load, i'd say this would be the semester to do it because you've got your ochems out of the way too! i'd say if you have the chance, to go for it. i'm glad you're keeping your options open! that's what's in 2 nephi 2:26 and what elder bednar called acting and not being acted upon. i think it's great that you went out of your way to keep that option open for you so now you can think about what you want to do and pick the best choice instead of just letting the choice act on you so you have to take what's left, does that make sense? DON'T BE AFRAID OF CHANGE jcho. i'm not super good at that either but change often brings the opportunity to grow and learn more about yourself and that's exactly what we're here to do. and i love hearing from you so don't apologize for "talking about you" or whatever. i love hearing how you're doing :) also, you're a GREAT teacher so whatever class you teach, you will be a blessing for your students. write me if that wasn't clear enough and i'll write you a letter :) (also i wrote you a letter but maybe it didn't get to you. my last TRC is tomorrow, thurs 1:35-2:35 and last time we didn't have anyone come cuz they're short on volunteers who are korean! but if you can't, no worries cuz i'm guessing you have class! :))

Dad: don't worry! i'm excited to have two different missions :) but i know you did a lot of work on my dual citizenship paper work so if you just wanted to know for your personal benefit what's going on with my situation, you can look it up and the guy you'd call to get travel information/visa information at the MTC is Don (1801) 240 5167.

Mom: that's exactly what i needed! thank you for the order! i just wanted to make sure i had some blush ;) love you!

Thought of the day: i was reading in Matt 14: 30 about peter walking on water and i remember learning from someone that when it says that they SAW that the wind was "boisterous," it probably means that peter was looking down at the water instead of at the savior (because you can't SEE wind being boisterous unless it's acting with something like water!) so don't look down! look up at the savior! church is true i love you all! i have 23 seconds now haha!

-sister cho

*(finishing my thought) look up at the savior and you won't fall into the water!

Week 3: New happenings in a new district!

Helloooo!

It's been another amazing week here at the MTC :) Sorry for writing a day later; my P-day has actually changed to Tuesdays now because I got transferred to the Korean district this past Wednesday! (Sister Bulouniwasa actually left for her mission today to Georgia!) I miss my old district and sister bulouniwasa but it has been such a great experience being with the native korean elders and sisters! My district has three korean elders and four korean sisters (including me) and my new companion's name is Sister Lee! Turns out we were in the same group at the young single adult camp in korea a few years back! how awesome is that? she is so great! she helps me out a LOT! Being in the Korean district is really fun but i have to work harder because obviously i'm not a native korean so I don't know the gospel words in Korean so sister lee's been helping me build up my church vocab and we've had so much fun together. yesterday, during gym time, we ran on the ellipticals and sister lee and i practiced discussions together and seriously, time flies when you are not staring at the timer on the machine and instead are engaged in an awesome conversation about helping others come unto christ!

so my new teachers are sister lee jin sook (yeah jee, chan ok's sister!!) and Brother Cho (remember that guy we played angry birds with at hyeku unnnie's house jeehee and minhee??! yeah he came as our "new investigator" and he recognized me as "the girl who wasn't very good at angry birds! lol) and they are just so great! Learning about the atonement in Korean from two Korean returned missionaries just made me want to go and study like crazy and be as knowledgeable as them! So the korean district all sit together and it's so funny because one day someone will be like "i brought go choo jang today!" and another day someone says "oh i brought kimmm!" haha i love being korean :D

Today was actually a really interesting day. a camera crew from LDS media came (people who do mormon messages) and they needed to film our district doing day to day things at the mtc! The purpose of the clip is to encourage Koreans to serve missions and apparently the clip is going to be shown nationally in Korea in all the stake centers when Elder L. Tom Perry and Elder Choi (of the seventy, who was here today!) speak in two weeks! So they interviewed us and i was just so grateful to mommy and daddy for teaching us korean so that i could be a part of something cool like that! Also, the camera crew was all american so they needed a translator (cuz the interviews were all done in Korean) so i did a LIVE TRANSLATION FOR THEM! and seriously, heavenly father prepares people for what comes later in life and i remembered back when i was little and daddy always had me translate during sacrament meeting and i was so grateful! gahh, cho family, you are AWESOME. i am so glad i can be a part of the cho famil-hee foreverrrr! :)

Okay, six minutes left gahh! So i want to share something i learned this week that absolutely made me so happy :) I was reading in 2 nephi 31 where Christ is talking about baptism. He seriously repeats baptism like a bunch and then baptism is all over the book of mormon. i was thinking about how nephi had to engrave the plates with his own hands and i wondered why he put in the same stuff over and over again; i mean i would have been like "oh my hands hurt and i've written this stuff previously so i'll just stop now" but instead he keeps writing it! i realized it's kind of like how our parents want us to succeed and they tell us over and over and over and over again things like "are you done with your homework?" or (minhee) "have you practiced your flute?" or "make sure you don't forget that deadline." HEAVENLY FATHER WANTS US TO SUCCEED! i know that with all my heart. our parents tell us things because they love us. and likewise, heavenly father tells us things over and over again because he truly loves us and only wants us to be with him again in the celestial kingdom and be eternally happy! i know this church is true and that the doctrine of christ is the only way for us to be truly eternally happy! And i'm so excited to be able to share this knowledge with people who don't have it and only settle for what they believe is "happiness."

Thank you for all your support! I love youuuu! :D

-Sister Cho