week 72: hi hi :D

3/4/13

Dear people i love.

Boy this week has just flown by! We are loving 봉천! and we actually cover the 노량진 area too so that should be neat! :) Our new missionary is sister 구수미 and she's from Busan and she's so cute and fearless! We are always so happy and really enjoying the work!! 

So this is what I wanted to share with you this week:

This week, I've been studying the war chapters in Alma and i'm reading the part about Amalickiah. it's really interesting to see that while Amalickiah really uses all sorts of tricks to try and reign over all the land, "Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God." It was as simple as that. It's a running theme i've seen during my mission: As we are trying our best, everything works out the way Heavenly Father wants them to work out. We had an experience on Wednesday (after transfers) coming back from meeting the new missionaries. We had all this luggage when we got on the bus (because there were lots of missionaries taking the same bus leaving back to their areas) and slowly, all the missionaries got off and we were the last ones on the bus because we figured out we can take the bus to our area instead of trying to lug our stuff through the subway. This man on the bus started talking to us about the shortest way to the area we were going and we shared a message with him and he wasn't interested but he was very nice. then it was our turn to get off. We were about to get off when we realized that one of sister Arthur's suitcases was missing! ㅠㅠ The other missionaries who got off before us must have taken it off thinking it was theirs! So we got off the bus and thought about what we should do. (It was so neat because both my companions were very calm :) The man who was on the bus with us came off with us and tried to help us. And while we were calling other missionaries to see if they had seen the suitcase, the man just stood next to us, thinking of how he could help! We thankfully got word that someone had turned the suitcase into the police station so the Assistants were able to pick it up! We were all so relieved and happy--and so was the man! We thanked him for just being there and trying to help and we were about to leave and he said "well, I'm not interested in your message or english, but my daughter might be interested; well, at least in the english part. Let me give you my number." wow!!! (it was cool because it was our new missionary sister 구수미 who brought up english class while we were on the bus! she was not afraid to talk! :) So it was so cool because we actually met his daughter last Friday and she brought a friend too! We introduced the program to them and they said they'd want to talk to their parents about it but they said they'd call us back. Regardless of what happens, I know that the Lord can work through us--through our strengths and our weaknesses! It was no coincidence. nope nope! :) We are excited to see more miracles as we try to just be faithful to our Heavenly Father this transfer! it's scary to think this transfer is so short but i'm working to make every minute count :D

love love love you!

sister cho

ps. thanks jee and leash for figuring out housing :P

pss. daddy, my drivers' license is at home ㅠㅠ can i get it to you next week? 

pictures: my mission "family pic" my two daughters: 이정빈 자매님, 구수미자매님, and my granddaughter (cuz sister이 is training too!) sister Hunsaker! :D okay just kidding, my camera just died ㅠㅠ next week!!!

week 71: Hello :D

2/24/13

Dear People I Love,

Sorry the past few emails have been so short! It's been a crazy transfer! Here's what's been going on:

1. First things first: so I thought 신당 was going to be my last area. but Heavenly Father has lots of surprises for us :) So for my last transfer, I will be whitewash training in 봉천 with a co-senior Sister Arthur, the one I went on exchanges with! (so it's a 3 some!) We have lots of good investigators here in 신당 and the members are so great so leaving an area is always sad but I'm excited to see what the Heavenly Father has in store for our three some for my last 4 weeks :D

2. Our mission President's wife (sister Christensen) and I had the opportunity to put together a mission wide sisters' exchange right before the lunar new year conference so we were busy with that and it turned out great! it's amazing what things we can learn as we learn how to best face change! We had a short sisters' meeting which closed the exchange and it was cool to see how the sisters were with people that they really needed to be with for that time and it was also neat to hear all the miracles that happened in each of the areas! One other cool thing was that at that meeting, I felt that we should ask a certain sister to bear her testimony so after praying about it, I asked her to bear her testimony at our exchange closing meeting. She agreed to do so. Like 20 minutes later, Sister Christensen came up to me and suggested that maybe it would be a good to have this sister bear her testimony in this meeting. Turns out it was the sister that was already asked to do so! It is so cool to see how the Spirit can work through all of us and confirm the things we are thinking or the impressions that we receive :) through these miracles, we then can receive strength to continue pursuing the path of discipleship that we are on. I'm so grateful that we have a loving Heavenly Father who watches over all of us and plans specific tender mercies in our lives to know that we are loved :)

3. So we have this family we are meeting with and teaching English and the Gospel. Last week, we had a member and her daughter there to teach with us and they were perfect for this family! We talked about Jesus Christ and His church established on the earth during His mortal ministry and it was so cool because our commitment we had planned was to invite them to come to church. During our lesson, the 10 year old raised her hand and said, "well, i don't know how to ask this but... uh... can i come to church this sunday?" sister lee and I were so excited and so were the members with us and the 17 year old was a little hesitant but the member's daughter had already become friends with her and helped her feel comfortable and so the two of them decided to come to church! The mother said she'd come another time because she has to take care of her autistic son but she's keeping in touch with our member so they're friends too! Members really can naturally work so many miracles that we as missionaries can't (or can but with more time and effort). The two girls came to church and we went to pick them up but the dad said he'd be willing to take us by car! So we had a nice chat with him and he's supportive of them wanting to come to church! The Young Women just fellowshipped the the 17 year old so so well! and the little 10 year old had fun but thought it was a little too long :P it was a real cool experience :)

4. Our ward mission leader was on the ball about getting a new English class banner put together and this lady just saw it and came to english class! Turns out she lived in Utah for about 3 months when she went with her 2 children for them to learn english and she said that she was impressed with the lifestyle of the mormons. she said that she attended church but didn't know what was going on because it was all in really fast english but she got a good feel from it. When we met with her, she asked about why we don't drink coffee and how polygamy is related to our religion. She seems to know a little bit about everything that we believe and doesn't seem scared by what others say about our church because her experience in Utah. We asked her about baptism and she wasn't sure exactly what that entailed so we were able to teach her the difference between sprinkling and baptism and she wanted to see the baptismal font too! it was cool. when we invited her to church, she said that she's Presbyterian and there are some problems at her church; because she's been attending there for a long time, she wants to see those things get resolved and then come to church with us. We were able to ask a question which just popped in our heads (inspired question? :) to distinguish whether she wants to meet for English and out of curiosity or if she's interested in learning if this religion is really for her. And she told us it was the latter reason! yay :) we are excited for her!!

Thought for the day: the Lord's way isn't always our way. But as we align our will with His, miracles just happen. Because this is His work :) Hope your week is going well! Love you all!

-Sister Cho

pics: at 설날 conference, before the sisters' exchange, saw 할아버지 at stake conference :), a gathering at a member's house (she's so awesomeee!)

week 70: sorry!

2/18/13

so i don't have time today cuz there are some other things i have to do but i'm alive and well and loving my mission! i'm so sorry i'm not writing more but i'll write next week!

Love you all! come what may and love it! 사랑해요!

sister cho

ps. mommy president said grandma and grandpa can come to our dinner when i get released. will you ask them if they would like to come?

also, releases are done by the stake president so i think we need to let him know when i'll be back to get released. eek! weird thinking about this stuff!!!

week 69: quick email for this week!

2/12/13

Sorry I don't have much time today!

So last weekend (new years' weekend) we had a mission wide sisters' exchange! It was so so cool to see how each person was needed in each area for that weekend! I was with a sister from Australia named sister Arthur and she was so so sweet!

So while on exchanges, sister Arthur and I 전도ed together and we saw lots of miracles! we saw a group of ladies coming our way so we were going to say hi but then they just whizzed passed us and then we saw two ladies walking by so this time we didn't want to miss them so we just said hello as they walked by and one of them stopped. she looked really confused and asked us "it's really cold. like really really cold. why are you out here?" and then we talked to her for a minute and she spoke really good English too. so sister arthur had the chance to bear her beautiful testimony in English! she asked us "are you really happy?" and we explained that yes, we are really happy no matter what because of our Savior Jesus Christ. and then this sister said "well, i'm kinda lonely these days. and i feel like something is missing in my life. so i'd really like to visit your church sometime." sister Arthur and I were so so so excited! it was like a scene from "the district" dvds!! so we just met her today upon HER request through text! and she told us she's been looking for a way to gain faith for the past year and half and it was cool because we showed her the sacrament meeting room and she said "i've been to a lot of different churches for the past year and half and this feels different." wow. we are going to meet her every week on tuesday at 3:30! we are very excited! 

This week I re-read an article by elder wirthlin and he said that "those who make happiness the chief objective of life are bound to fail, for happiness is a by-product rather than an end in itself. Happiness comes from doing one's duty and knowing that his life is in harmony with God and His commandments." So it's that simple. we just do what we are supposed to do as missionaries and we're good to go! I'm slowly learning line upon line throughout my mission that this is indeed true! yay for tender mercies :)

Anyway, we took lots of pictures at New Years' Conference but i'll attach them next week! love you all! 엄마 아빠 싸랑해요~ ^^

sister cho :)

week 68: hello from seoul :D

2/3/13

Dear People I love.

So last week, it was super warm so i was like wow maybe spring is coming sooner than i though! but then it snowed today so scratch that thought :P but things are going great here in shindang! (i'm going to romanize the korean because it seems to come up in chinese characters, right?) so we're we're getting busier these days but we love it! the past few weeks has been full of trying to find new people to teach and so we did a lot of jundo. but you know what's always so cool? blessings pop up from places and at times where you don't expect it. so we had been jundo-ing a lot but haven't been finding people who want to meet with us but we kept going--that's always the important part i've repeatedly learned, to keep going. and then last week, we got a referral from the office of this lady who wanted to learn more about our english program because she wants to teach her children english at her house. We went to her house and oh my, the house was sosososo nice! when we got there, a tutor hired to teach chinese to her kids was just leaving and there was another teacher coming later after our visit too. we found out she's a pharmacist and her husband is a doctor! (how cool cuz i want to pursue pharmacy too!) sister lee and i were wondering why she wanted us to come over when she could probably find a lot better qualified english teachers to come. as we were getting to know her, she explained, "so i really wanted to hire english tutors that could come to our house and teach my kids here, and so i went online to look and i couldn't find anything! they were all hawkwons that required my kids to go there and i wanted someone who could come to my house because my kids have some health problems and it would be easier to be at home. so i looked and looked, and the only thing i could find was your guys' church website offering a gospel and english program. i had attended your church missionaries' english class when i was younger and i thought those missionaries were really good people so i figured i'd give you guys a call. i'm not sure why i couldn't find anything else, maybe i'm just bad at searching online..?" sister lee and i looked at each other and we were both thinking "oh, heavenly father might have had something to do with this :D" so we are going to be meeting with them every week and they are interested in and very open to learning about our church too! yay!! so we're excited!

another cool thing happened yesterday. after church it started snowing a little but it wasn't too bad. so we went home and broke our fasts and then we looked outside and it had just kept snowing! when this happens, we are advised to wisely figure out what would be the best use of our time; we can go out if we feel so prompted, or do phone calls, or other things. for some reason, even though it looked like no one was outside, we felt like we should go outside. so we did. and guess what? there was like literally no one outside :( we got to the crosswalk that we wanted to jundo at and no one was there. but we decided to wait a few minutes. good thing we did because then people started come out cuz it was dinner time-ish. so we started talking to people. it was harder to give people cards because people were carrying umbrellas and they didn't want to take cards but it was still fun talking to people. after 20 minutes or so, we saw 2 women on the side of the crosswalk we were on. i didn't know which one to talk to: one of them was an older lady and older ladies are usually nicer when we talk to them and the other one was a an ahjumma and was wearing an orange coat and a face mask to protect her from the cold. naturally we might have talked to the other woman but after saying a prayer in my heart, i felt like we should talk to the orange coat lady. we talked to her and she just kept walking kinda fast and she looked like she was looking for a certain place. like even though she looked busy, we asked her if she wanted to meet us for 15 minutes to talk about our message of eternal families. usually, the answer is no :P but to our surprise she said "well, you see, i was supposed to meet my friend here at 6:40. and so i left the house thinking i'd walk here and meet her, but then the snow was too bad so i took a taxi instead. so i have like 30 minutes and i just need to find a coffee place that i can just wait for her at. do you know of any? oh and i don't like long boring religious talks but if you insist, (and we did :) a short chat's okay i guess..." sister lee and i were like so surprised :D we found a tous les jours bread store and sat and she asked about the book of mormon so we taught about it. she took our number and pamphlet and wasn't comfortable giving us her number. but regardless, i know that that was why we had to go back outside in the snow.

so anyway, things are going great! miracles always happen as we do our best even though we aren't perfect. Our mission president, President Christensen said something that was really cool pertaining to this fact. (jeehee this is for you since you love math right now ha) x + infinity = infinity. we are x and Heavenly Father who leads this work is infinity. so as long as we're trying our best--no matter how inadequate we feel or how imperfect we are--things will work out because God is adequate. and God is perfect. how awesome is that. 

Have a great week! love you :D

sister cho

pictures: our shindang district! and our zone at zone conference :)

week 67: hi hi!

1/28/13

so we had to move places that we email at today and the computers are slower so I don't have much time :P

But i'm doing great and there are miracles happening left and right! Just as an example: Yesterday, sister Lee and I were on our way to a member's dinner invite and we realized that we should have gone to 청구역 instead of 신당역 to get there the fastest. But we were already in the 역 and that's the direction that we were lead as we were just talking to people. So we stuck with our choice of going that way. We were walking down the hallway to get to the subway and we saw this man keep looking back at us on the moving walkway in the subway station. and then he asked if we were church people and if we could teach him Korean and about the church! Turns out he is a Thai man and speaks English and his wife is Korean and they are interested in learning about religion! (He asked us "Do you guys sing songs in church too? I want to see what it's like!) wow. you really just never know what is going to happen. So we just have to act and let everything else unfold :) We're going to call him today so hopefully we can meet his family! :)

thought for the day: President Uchtdorf said something that has really rung true to me the past week as sister lee and i have been learning our new area! It was something like "Those who are humble in this life will wear crowns of glory in the next!" Humility is so important in helping us receive revelation and promptings from the spirit :)

sorry it's so short! but i love you all!!!

sister cho :)

week 66: It's warmed up a little yay! :)

1/20/13

dear people i love,

wow this past week has been filled with change of all sorts! change in areas, members, district members (our district has the APs and the Office Elders and they are all so so 훌륭해 so we've been learning lots from them!) and 분식 places too :P but it's really been interesting that as we're thrown into change, we rely a lot more on our Heavenly Father because we have no other knowledge of anything else! and we also are so much more grateful for people in our lives as we depend on their help to get us adjusted to the change :) ahh this work is so great and it's always so fresh and new, if that makes any sense! :P 

so because the area's new and neither of us know anything about it we've just 전도ed-- the one thing we know how to do! and it's so cool because we were able to get several phone numbers of people interested and also give away book of mormons. When we do what we can, the Lord just provides the miracles :)

Thought for the week: I've been reading in Alma recently and it's cool to see again that there are alwayssss new things to learn. In chapter 2, the Nephites prepare to meet the Amlicites and we read that they were very detailed in their preparations; they had all sorts of weapons and they appointed captains and leaders to lead them to battle when the times called for it. They did all that was in their power to prepare and then they had the Lord on their side too! It's interesting to see that the church always works really hard to help people be prepared for anything starting from things like preparing food storage and staying out of debt and having a reservoir of faith for spiritual trials too. The Lord's way is indeed the same yesterday today and forever :) And so it is with missionary work too :) planning meetings, and study time = our preparation to meet God's prepared people and fight evil which is not in the form of the Amlicites today but definitely still exists in other forms :)

sorry i don't have any pictures this week; it's been a lot of just moving and stuff :P love you all!

sister cho 

ps. i've decided that max looks good in pear wrapper crowns.