"INCOMPLETELY, TOTALLY UNPREDICTABLE DAY!"

WEEK 24- MONDAY OCTOBER 26 2015

Wow 2 weeks without talking to you all, a little two long... but it's okay I am still alive!! But I have so much to tell you! This past week was sooo amazing, I have learned so much these past couple weeks.

dressed for success.

"Hi" to my family!

Love you all!

Beautiful together!

Where do I start...So the start of this transfer we were feeling good about our investigators that we had set up from last transfer but as we started the new transfer we had a big majority of our investigators all of a sudden drop and said they were to busy to meet. That is the absolute worst, when you think you have investigators that are progressing and you are planning the rest of the lessons for them and then all of a sudden they drop you. But I have learned that, that is part of this work. It doesn't come as easy and we want it to be sometimes. And that is also not what we are here for, not here to just have easy work because we don't learn or grow from that. 

This week we spent a lot of time putting up English advertisements and trying to find people to teach. So the whole week we were lacking on our teaching lessons and so it was getting a little frustrating but we didn't give up. Then this is where the miracle came into place..

 This miracle I named the "incompletely, totally unpredictable day!"

It was Friday this week and we had appointments set up and we were feeling good about the day. Then of course, unexpectedly all the appointments cancelled so we had an entire day fully open. We had one appointment that was set with a Less Active so we were still able to go meet with her. She lives in a town called TECHNOVALLEY. Technovalley is a farther area from our apartment so we don't travel there very often but we wanted to visit this Less-Active. Her name is 이지연 자매님! Her and her family have been less active for years now and she hasn't let missionaries come visit her either. So it was already a miracle that she let us come over. We arrived in Technovalley a little early so we started talking to some people on the street. As we were waiting for the light to change to cross the street I said Hi to a lady and she stopped and said "oh where are you from? wait are you LDS?" and we were like YESSSSS. So we started talking to her and her name was 최마리(mary choi). She is from the Philippians, she has lived in Korea for 12 years now. Her brother is a member of our church and she said that she has seen missionaries before in the Philippians but we were the first missionaries she has seen since being here in Korea. She speaks fluent Korean, English, and Tagolic. SO amazing!! We are meeting with her this week and we are so excited! It was definitely a miracle that we met her! 

New shoes and cardi.

My Mommy knows what I like!

Then we met with the Less Active~ she is so pretty and her family is the cutest. She said that her and her family were coming to Stake Conference on Sunday!!! They haven't been back to church in a while. SO that was a miracle too. We were able to see them on Sunday and then our Bishop told us to come and talk to him and the family after the meeting. They were discussing have their daughter receive the missionary lessons so that she can get baptized. And through our lessons hopefully reactivate the family and gain relationship with the members through member lessons. IT was such a miracle to see that they want us to teach her daughter and hopefully receive baptism by the end of this transfer! We were definitely not expecting any of this to happen! 

Making a halloween party invite.... making my Daddy proud!

Then continuing on that unpredictable day we received a referral from the Seoul South missionaries about 2 weeks ago and met her one night and she has the cutest daughter, their family is pretty young and they live in our area. She said she was learning English from the missionaries there but stopped because she moved and still doesn't really have time to meet so we were sad they she didn't really want to continually meet. So we wanted to invite her to the Halloween Party that we are having so we went to apartment and put an invitation on her door. Then as we were getting on the elevator, they walk out! SO we got to talk to her and her daughter and tell them to come to the party!! They said they most likely will be able to!!

She is so cute.

Then after that encounter we were coming back to our area for dinner and we ran into our investigator on the street!! She hasn't been really wanting to meet as much but as we met her on the street randomly we got to talk to her and set up an appointment.

Then as the night was still open we tried calling all of the past investigators to see if one of them would want to meet missionaries again. And we got one to agree to have us over for a quick message. She has been taught all the lessons but doesn't have much interest right now but was the sweetest lady. Then as we left her house one of our members called us and invited us over and they happen to be living in the same apartment!! 

A sister being baptized in our area.

Baptisms are my favorite.

The whole day just worked out to every hour of the day!! IT was such an amazing experience!! I know that God is watching over every aspect of our missions. This is His work not ours!! I am so grateful for this experience to be a missionary and to get to meet these amazing people of Korea. These past 2 weeks have been a testimony builder for sure. I am grateful for my companion and our relationship. Without each other and our constant support for each other we couldn't do this work by our selves. 

I love you all so much and missed you a lot this week!! I am so excited that I will be able to call My Korean Grandpa on Christmas. Such a miracle as well!! PRAY REALLY HARD THAT MY KOREAN IMPROVES.  hahah I have faith that it will all work out the way it is suppose!!! Sorry there is never enough time to write everything but I love you!!!!!

XOXOXO

태너 자매❤

FIG FESTIVAL

WEEK 23- MONDAY OCTOBER 19 2015

Did not receive an email due to this trip she had with her mission:(

Last Monday on P-Day and half of the mission met at Songnisan National Park -- home of some impressive Buddhist monuments and buildings. We also visited a Fig Festival in a nearby town called Boeun. JUST PICS

Sister Tanner

President & Sister Shin

My MTC elders

photo bombed

 

My Sister Roomies

Sister Power

Colorful Latterns

Selfies with my camera. Got to love the Elders

Koreans have swagger.

We are Sisters for life

My companion Sister Kim

My Girl

Just leaving my message to all.

Kimchi for days.

Fig Festival

By The river

Bus ride

I'm tired:)

WHEN THE WATERWORKS STARTED....

WEEK 22- MONDAY OCTOBER 12 2015

안녕하세요 태너자매 선교사 입니다!! ^^ 

Okay.. where do I start?
GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!
We finally got to watch it this weekend at the Stake Center. I LOVE EVERY SINGLE TALK. I don't know maybe because I am a missionary or something, but this years Conference really left a deep impression on me. Every single talk seemed to answer some type of question that I had or just reminded me of I already knew but must have forgotten. 

I love this place!!

Beautiful wall art everywhere I go.

I wanted to share just a few of the talks and words that stood out to me the most!

Saturday Morning Session:

Dieter F. Uchtdorf
started off the meeting perfectly. He said "living the gospel doesn't need to be complicated". Those words are nothing but truth. This gospel is not complicated. It is so simple and such a happy ending. I am grateful that I have been raised in this gospel to know that it is nothing but truth, and that I get the opportunity to share that truth with the people of Korea. We aren't perfect even if we strive to be sometimes, but as our beloved Apostle stated, "God will take us as we are, He sees us with everlasting potential and a divine destiny."

Sister Neill F. Marriott
I loved her talk in her cute little southern accent saying the phrase.. "It will all work out". 5 simple words that have such a deeper meaning. Ever since I heard that phrase, it has been a comforting motto that I tend to keep in the back of my head throughout my mission. 

Larry R. Lawrence
I loved his talk. He expressed a lot of ways to reflect on ourselves and how we can progress. That through the spirit we can receive impressions on how to improve our lives and draw closer to the Savior. He challenged us to go home that night and pray to ask God specifically what is keeping us from progressing? what do I need to change? How can I do better? Then wait..
He promised that the spirit would give us customized, and direct revelation.
I went home that night and listened to his counsel and applied those questions to my nightly prayers. I waited to see what impressions I would receive. As I was waiting there in our dark, silent apartment, I had the word "인내 (patience)" come to mind, followed by the previous phrase "it will all work out". It was such an amazing experience to really rely and put my trust in the spirit. I now know what I need to work on and what will help me to progress in this work. He also gave an uplifting reminder.. "Be better today than yesterday, and better tomorrow than we are today"

Saturday Afternoon Session:

Jeffrey R. Holland
whelp... This one was when the waterworks started. His talk was so powerful I couldn't stop crying. Its so amazing when He speaks because instead of my pen glued to my notebook, it's my eyes are glued to the screen and I can't look away or I will miss one detail. His talk about Mothers was so amazing. The whole time I was thinking about my Mom. The role that a Mother plays no matter if you are apart of this church or not, a Mother's love is the same. A Mother would do anything for their child, and they sacrifice so much of their live's to support and nurture these children. I know I honestly would not be the person I am today without my Mother. My Mom, Dad & family have played the biggest role in my life. I think now that I'm miles and miles away from them I recognize how much they did for me. My Mom was the person there for me when I went through hard times with school or life in general. She was always there willing to be there to talk to me. I owe my Mom so much! The love a Mother has for a child is unconditional and I know that my Mom shows that love to each one of her kids. I have felt it everyday since being on my mission. She and my Dad and siblings are my biggest support. I couldn't do this without them. The message of eternal families is nothing to be taken lightly. I know that this message brings me so much comfort and peace that it makes me want to do all I can to share it. I love this Gospel so much and all the amazing blessings promised if we follow this simple but so profound Gospel. 

 I know that we have a living Prophet today. The Apostles and Prophet are guided by the spirit in order to relay God's word to us. We have so much guidance to keep going in this sometime difficult time we call mortality. But because God loves each one of us so much, He called a Prophet to lead and guide us. I am so grateful for General Conference and the opportunity we get to be spiritually enlightened to know how to be happy and endure to the end. 
할수있어요!!! (WE CAN DO IT) 

Haha, don't think its going to work out between us...

We are the same height;)

Weekly Baskin Robbins fix

Twinning

I love this Gospel, I love you ALL, and I love being a Missionary!!


사랑해요!!

태너자매 선교사❤❤

MAN... I LOVE THAT BOOK!

WEEK 21- MONDAY OCTOBER 5 2015

안녕하세요!!!
Okay first things first.. I am staying in my area for another transfer!! Wahoo!!! Ah transfer calls really stress me out! I cant believe I am going into my 3rd transfer already!! I have almost been out on the mission for 6 months. Time really does fly by! 

Rainy days.......

Korean wall art.

You look familiar?

 

Haha.. Look, Someone painted me:)

Transfer 2:
This transfer was a great transfer. My companion and I spent a lot of the transfer finding people to teach. We have loved all the people that we have gotten to know and we are looking forward to another transfer together. I know we will continue to see miracles as we work hard and trust in the lord. One of the people that we have met a couple times now is 이채원. She has met with missionaries in the past. She is mostly just an English interest but really loves our church and the missionaries. Whenever she meets new Sister missionaries she always says its like meeting more "Angels". She is the sweetest lady and we really love meeting and teaching her. We just don't know if she just wants English teaching and just loves having our company. But we know that this church is a good church. We met with her this week when we were on a split with the traveling AP sister. We were bearing our testimonies and I felt the spirit so strongly. I began to cry when I was explaining why this gospel meant so much to me. That I would come all the way to Korea, leave my family for a year and a half to walk miles every day, talk to strangers and have them ignore me, constant rejection, have a schedule of what to do at every moment. A lot of people wonder why we do this! Why 20 year old kids are wanting to go on missions. I know I want to be here because this gospel makes me happy. This gospel has blessed my family and I in so many different ways that I just want everyone here to be able to experience the same blessings. I know that as I was bearing my testimony to her, the spirit was working through me. She started to cry and the spirit felt so strongly. I am grateful for experiences like these because that is what we are suppose to do.. work through the spirit. There is no other way that our investigators or anyone can know that this church is true, without the spirit testifying to them and them knowing for themselves.

Noodle soup with my favorite gal!!

Happiness in a cup:)

Another thing I learned this week was during my personal study I was reading the Book of Mormon, man, I love that book. It always answers questions that I have or when I am going through a more difficult time, the words written inside always know how to calm me down and I know that it is God speaking to me directly. The scriptures are such a great source to find peace and answers. I was reading in
D&C 64:33  Wherefore, be not weary in well doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.
34:   Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in the last days.

I then wanted to study it deeper so I looked at the footnote for "requireth the heart" I was lead to
Mormon 9:27
"... doubt not, but be believing." It requires our whole heart to be believing and to have faith in Jesus Christ and God's plan.
I then looked at the footnote for "a willing mind" and went to
D&C 97:8  verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are hones, and are broken and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice- yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command -they are accepted of me.
If we are humble and teachable with an open heart and willing mind we will be accepted of the lord. What does it truly mean to be "accepted of the Lord"? I wanted to know more of what that meant so in the footnote it lead me to..
Moses 5:23  If though doest well, thou shall be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and Satan desireth to have thee; and except thou shalt hearken unto my commandments, I will deliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee according to his desire. And thou shalt rule over him.

After this scavenger hunt through the scriptures the ending point that I found was that we CANT LET SATAN WIN!! He wants us to fail he wants us give up. But we cant let him win! If we do all we can to follow our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ we will rule over him!
(sorry it was a lot of scripture references, It was just a good scripture study that I wanted to share it with you all!) 

I love my District.

In last General Conference in the talk called "Latter-day Saints Keep on Trying" by Elder Dale G. Renlund. He said- "A saint is a sinner who keeps on trying". We are constantly on the roller coaster ride called "LIFE" and we go up and down up and down and we find that sometimes we are mostly down. But through this gospel and our families we can get back to the top. I am grateful for my family and the amazing support that I have had throughout my life and my mission so far. I am not perfect and I fail and I fall down, but with the promise through the scriptures we shall rule over Satan and the unworthy feelings that we feel from Satan! We can't let Satan win!! I love you all so much! Thank you for writing me and helping me stay strong!


Lots of love from Korea!!!
xoxo
Sister Tanner❤