Week 74

Well... The time has come for me to say goodbye to this wonderful country and the people that I have grown to love. This week I'll be flying home >.< I can't believe that the time has passed by so quickly. I really wish I could rewind to being a greenie so that I could stay here for another year and a half serving as the Lord's missionary, but I guess the Lord needs me somewhere else. I've been trying to convince my mission president to let me stay, but he hasn't gotten onto the "let Sister Rindlisbacher be a missionary forever train" so I guess I'll have to get on that plane. 

I don't think I could ever express what the past year and a half has meant to me. There are no words... No words that could explain the love that I feel for the Korean people and more importantly for my Savior Jesus Christ. Last August I was thrown into this new world and it took some adjusting, but I don't ever want to leave! I can't imagine being anywhere better than Korea. It breaks my heart to have to say goodbye to so many people that I love so dearly. I am so grateful for the love that they have shown me. I have never met a more kind, caring, and considerate group of people. They have made my time in Korea the most amazing adventure!

I have learned so much and grown in so many different ways. I can't explain it, but the time that I have spent in Korea has changed me. Changed to be a little more patient, a little more loving, and a little more confidant. Changed to be a little closer to the person Heavenly Father wants me to be. I'm not perfect and I still have so many ways that I need to grow and improve, but Heavenly Father has shown me the path that I need to follow. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to be a set apart servant of the Lord for this short amount of time.

The biggest thing that I have learned is to have faith. President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: "With faith, accept the challenge; plead with the Lord for help; then go to work... Faith, the dynamic, powerful, marvelous element by which, as Paul declared, the very worlds were framed. The kind of faith that moves us to get to on our knees and plead with the Lord for guidance, and then, having a measure of divine confidence, get on our feet and go to work to help bring the desired results to pass. Such faith is an asset beyond compare. Such faith is, when all is said and done, our only genuine and lasting hope."  

I have learned to accept challenges even though I think that they are to big for me. To rely on the Lord in all things and just keep moving forward. To have a smile on my face when things are hard. To love a people that I can't understand sometimes. To love companions who are complete opposites of me and somehow make things work. To love the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I KNOW that the things that I have taught are true. I KNOW that this gospel was restored through a latter-day prophet Joseph Smith. I KNOW that through this gospel we can receive eternal happiness and be with our families forever. I KNOW that my Savior Jesus Christ performed His Atonement specifically for me and also for you. I KNOW that Heavenly Father is my Father in Heaven. I KNOW that He has a perfect and divine plan for me. I KNOW that as I follow Him I will find the right path. I KNOW that all of these things are true!!

If you are ever considering going on a mission DO IT! I promise that it will be the best decision you ever make in your life. I sounds clique, but it's true. Being a set apart servant of the Lord is a special experience that I will never regret. 

I hope that you have a wonderful week. See you guys on Thursday :)

For the last time....

-Sister Rindlisbacher

Death picture

My last English class party

The YSA of Cheongra ward

 Every minute of the past 18 months

Korea scenery

Week 73

Guess what! I had to leave my mission to the hospital this week >.<

(Me going 배도 and leaving the mission)

But don't worry I wasn't the one that was sick ;)  I actually went on exchanges with another sister and she had to go. She is such an amazing missionary and so dedicated to the work. I love her so much! We had a great time :)

This past Saturday was 빼빼로 (Bbaebbaero day) Every year on September 11th Koreans eat lots of chocolate dipped biscuit/cookie stick thingys. They are absolutely delicious and you better believe that Sister Hill and I consumed a good amount of them haha >.<

None of our investigators are progressing :/ which is a bummer so we are putting our focus back on finding new investigators. Lots of phone calls and street proselyting to come this week!

We also started having Sister Hill do the phone calls when we call potential investigators. She started the conversation and would go as far as she could before she needed my help. She was totally freaked out and stumbled over her words a lot, but she was able to get an appointment with someone for tonight all on her own! She is awesome!

This week was also zone conference. So that meant giving another training on my own. Let me tell you it is a lot less stressful doing it the second time around :) The whole zone conference was amazing! I also had to give another "last words" talk. This time I shared Isiah 43:1-3, which has become on of my favorite scriptures. I had the opportunity to talk about effective studying. Here are just a few things that I learned:

1. The things that we learn from the scriptures everyday not only affect us, but also everyone that we associate with in our everyday lives. This doesn't just apply to missionaries! Everyday when we study from the scriptures we are just a little more edified, just a little more spiritually fed, and just a little more prepared to help those around us. Don't forget to do your own personal study everyday!

2. Learning and growing through personal study is a "fundamental principle of enduring to the end" -Elder DeLaBruer It is all part of Heavenly Father's plan for us to find answer on our own as we learn to study effectively.

3. It takes faith and also patience to learn what the Lord would have you learn. Lot of times our answers don't come right away. It may take a few minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even years. BUT answers will always come. We just need to be persistent in finding them and also have patience.

I really liked one quote that I found by Elder Jeffery R. Holland. He said, "Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven, for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."

I know that Heavenly Father has a divine plan for each of us! I am so grateful for my own knowledge of His plan and the opportunity that I have to share it with the wonderful people of Korea. The past year and a half has been nothing less than amazing. There has always been hard times, but also so much joy! 

Have a great week!

-Sister Rindlisbacher

Sister Legaspie and Sister Rindlisbacher at the hospital

빼빼로

 Face mask with the comp :) "Face mask level sloth..."-Sister Hill

Phone calls (she's praying that they don't pick up so she doesn't have to speak to them in Korean hahahaha)

She' only a little freaked out

She really likes the floor

No shave November ㅋㅋㅋ

Fun fact... you can buy seaweed at the post office here #Korea

Week 72

We got smart phones! So of course I had to take a selfieㅋㅋㅋ We have a Samsung J5, which is pretty sweet. Although is can only do as much as our flip phone did for now. I think they'll slowly expose the missionaries back into the world of technology. The camera is pretty nice though :)

The old and new

The seasons are changing and holy dang is it cold here! This week just flew by. I can't even remember half of the things that we did, but here is what I do remember.

The leaves are changing!

My favorite quotes from English class this week:

- The response after I asked a Korean language question "Ask the 세종 대왕..." (the person who created the Korean language)

- "I'm a hot woman."

- "I like your face."

Since we teach the basic class we have a lot of fun correcting their English ㅋㅋ

Exchanges with my old companion Sister Cuary. We were able to serve in her area together (a ward I served in during my third transfer) and visit an English branch member for dinner. I got to go back to the place with THE BEST BURGERS IN KOREA! It was fun :) We also got there a little early and were able to see the Olympic torch run by! It was fun to watch all the people run after it trying to get pictures.

The Olympic torch

One funny story that I do have happened while we were at a service activity on exchanges. We were handing out food to old people at a soup kitchen type of place when they asked us to use scissors to cut peoples meat. Sister Cuary and I were running around (very safely) with scissors trying to calm all the old people down enough to cut their meat so that they could start eating. As I was going around one grandma came up to me and tried to forcibly take my scissors away so that she could cut her meat first. This lady was tiny, but grabbed the blade edge of the scissors so as we wrestled over these scissors I was just praying she wouldn't get cut. We went back in forth of her yelling "give me the scissors" and me relying "no" for about a minute or two before she gave up and just dragged me by the wrist to come and cut her and all her grandma friend's meat. Korea grandmas get real pushy sometimes >.< but they're really cute about it.

GaYoung (our Vietnamese investigator) dropped us this week :( super sad about that! She is just to busy with school and studying to take a Korean language test to meet with us. Our meeting with her this week was really weird and then she texted us the next morning saying she couldn't meet. Hopefully she will stay in contact with missionaries and learn more later!

We also had a zone proselyting activity. We teamed up with another zone so about 40 missionaries total and went to conquer the Inchon Bus Terminal. We set up 3 sticker boards and had half the missionaries roaming around to talk with people. It was really fun, but also freezing! The wind just cuts straight to the bone!

 Zone activity

Yesterday was stake conference so we headed to Buchon. It was fun to see members from two other wards that I served in. I also got to hear someone I taught bear her testimony. My trainer and I had started teaching her right before I got transferred out of the area. She was baptized a little while later. Her name is Hong SuBin and she is the most adorable 13 year old you will ever meet. She bore a strong testimony of the power that the gospel has and how she wants to go on a mission now! Amazing!

I love being a missionary! Hope you all have a great week :)

-Sister Rindlisbacher

Temple last week

Exchanges

Sister Hill ㅋㅋㅋ

Sister Hill againㅋㅋㅋ

Week 71

Dun... dun... duuuuunnn... October is coming to a close!

This week was filled with good and bad. We had really good lessons with 3 investigators, but also had 3 cancellations with investigators and potential investigators.We also had to drop two investigators because they no longer contact us or are to busy to meet these days. That was a bummer, but we were so busy this week.

Crystal (our Mongolian investigator) is doing great. We met her with a member this week and had a great lesson. She is so open and searching for the truth. Every time we testify of the gospel she just can't help, but smile. At first I was worried that she wasn't understanding us, but she just talks about the light that she can see in our eyes. When we talked about prayer she said she knew God would answer her prayers because she could see it in our eyes! She is amazing! We are going to try and give her a baptismal date this week so if you could pray that she accepts it we would be really grateful :D

GaYoung (our Vietnamese investigator) is also doing well. We met at a Cafe and taught her some English. She is so cute! For the gospel part she had a lot of questions about how our church is different from the Catholic religion. She wants to become a nun because she loves God so much. We are excited to teach her more and help her grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ!

Jon SeongMi (our Korean investigator) finally met with us this week! For the past transfer or so our schedules just haven't matched up so we haven't met her once. We were getting ready to drop her when she randomly texted us after cancelling our appointment and we were able to meet with her within an hour. We went to her home and did the English program. I think that she has some good potential. 

Thursday was our p-day and we got to go the the temple! What a tender mercy that was! It was such a blessing to feel the peace of the temple. It was long overdue. We were able to do baptisms and an endowment session. Meeting President Turner in the Celestial room has been one of my favorite things on my mission. We got some really good pictures, but I'll have to send them next week.

Afterwards we went to a ice skating rink and had zone p-day. That was hilarious. All of the elders were horrible at skating! We got some really good wipe-out pictures. but those will have to come next week also. We are having some technical difficulties here. It was so much fun to be with everyone :D

Last week I was also able to go on exchanges with the lovely Sister Eversole. We had a fun time in her area, Gimpo. It was a fun experience going to a new area. Sister Hill and Sister Knowlton (both greenies) had a really fun time in Cheongra. They met a member and also went skateboarding by themselves for 45 minutes because they misread a text from the Elders ㅋㅋ But they ended up getting 5 numbers all on their own.

English class is great. Sadly one of my students moved to Busan so our class is down to 3 students. The new program we were suppose to start in November has been delayed until the new area presidency can review it and make it better. One funny quote that happened when we had a potluck after class was my student telling met to "eat yourself". She was trying to tell me to eat a lot. I about lost it and spit out all the food I was chewing at the time. She is so funny!

Our ward also had a Halloween party. That was so dang stressful. We were put in charge of decorations so this week we were running around trying to decorate with the spare time we had in between appointments. It turned out really well though and the ward had a great time. Sister Hill and I made a spider piñata.

Some of our decorations

Piñata

Decorating

Yesterday we had a fireside with the Area Presidency and the General Young Men's Presidency. It was amazing! You could really feel of their divine calling to serve as leaders to guide us. Something he said really struck me hard. He said "When was the last time you rescued someone?" He talked about how we are here to rescue Heavenly Father's children. We are here to help those who don't have the gospel, who are less-active, or even those who are fully active but are struggling with things. His talk was amazing. He shared stories from his mission in Spain and man was it inspiring. I felt so pumped to go out for the next weeks and just give it my all to help those in need! I hope that you guys will do the same this week!

Love you all!

-Sister Rindlsibacher

P.s. Oh yeah... we got smart phones this week. We'll be opening them today. I don't really know how I feel about them.

Our Halloween costumes

A member from another ward came to have lunch

My English Class members

Me trying to figure out what a smart phone is again

Just some cute stairs we found while roaming the streets of Korea

 Ignore my tired face... My hot chocolate cup was super cute ^^

Week 70

Last p-day was great. We did some world traveling in 2 hours. We went to a little place called Aiins World, which had little miniature things of landmarks across the world. It was super awesome to look at all the little displays. They all looks so real! I'll make sure to put some pictures.

We had MLC this week, which is always a pleasure. I got to see Sister Earnshaw (the first sister I trained) since she is serving in my old area Noranjin. It was so awesome to receive more training from our APs, President and Sister Turner. I also had to give my 마지막 말씀 (final words) to open the meeting. I only cried a little bit as I talked about how much I have learned and appreciated the past year and a half. It was surreal to do that. It feels like you will never reach that point, but then all of a sudden you're the old missionary talking about how time flies by.

We me with Crystal on Wednesday and had a really amazing lesson. We talked about the Restoration of the Gospel. She had so many good questions and is really searching for truth. We talked a little bit about the Plan of Salvation also because she had so many questions about where we came from, what our purpose is, and where we go after death. She is amazing!

We met her again on Friday with her friend 가영 (Gayong) who is from Vietnam. She doesn't speak much English so we only use Korean. That was weird... But she is amazing. She is a strong Catholic with a good belief in Christ. She is so pure and cute. We are really excited to be able to teach her.

Friday we also had a zone activity. We went on splits and roamed the streets of Korea to talk with people. We met some really cool people and got some good phone numbers. One person that Sister Hill talked to was so excited to learn about our 30/30 program that she wanted to talk them our right them to get dinner. We planned to eat as a zone later so they declined and got her number. We have an appointment set up for this Friday :D So excited!

Saturday we went to our stake center and had a social media fireside. We got to work with our youth and help them to know how they can do missionary work using those little screens they have in front of them literally always. Our mission will also be getting smartphones soon. Not sure exactly when, but soon. I don't really want to trade in my little flip phone. I've actually really grown to like the simplicity.

Sunday one of our member's daughter got baptized. She is a super cute little 8 year old that is always running around with her cute little pigtails. We got to teach her a little bit in the beginning of Sister Hill's first transfer. Like most children she was hard to focus, but we had some good times. The service was really beautiful and we ate with the ward afterwards.

We are seeing so many miracles. I can't believe the time passes by so fast, but I am so excited for this week. Hopefully we can a week without cancellations. Pray for us :)

Love you guys!

Sister Rindlisbacher

A girl we met on the street

Paris, France

Sister Eversole and Sister Rindlisbacher

Greenie fights in the Colosseum 

Trainier fighter in the Colosseum

Neuschwanstein, Germany

Petra, Jordan

Week 69

How is it possible that October is half way over?! Korea is amazing :D

This week was filled with many answered prayers. We spent some time walking the streets as we delivered cards that we made for members. Most apartment buildings here in Korea have pass codes so you can't get in the building. BUT the day that we went out to deliver those cards we were able to get into every single apartment building after a prayer. It's nothing big, but it really showed us that Heavenly Father answers even the smallest of prayers.

Our new district is interestingly fun. It is going to take some adjusting, but we are all happy to be serving together. We had 3 new elders join us in our ward (that confused the members!!) since one team opened. Elder Swasey opened the new team with his companion Elder Schwartz (a greenie and my 'son' in terms of mission family relations) Elder DeLabreu (no idea if that spelling is correct but oh well) joined Elder Cleto. They are a little weird, but all really hard working!

Although two investigators cancelled their appointments the one that we did actually meet with was great. She is the Mongolian that we found a few weeks ago. She is so awesome! No religious background really so explaining some things gets a bit tricky. She really likes meeting with us so this coming week we will meet twice and the second time she is bringing two of her friends that are Vietnamese! So exciting!!! Pray that we can communicate well with them  and that they want to continue to meet with us :)

We also had a house inspection from the senior couple that came a few months ago. They are going through each missionary house and checking to make sure everything is okay. They are so cute! We had lunch with them before they came to our house because they got a little lost on the way to the elder's house, but the elders didn't pick up their phone. We ran out to save them and they bought us lunch. I love Korean people!

The weather has gotten really chilly lately. During the sunshine hours it is fine, but once there is no light it is freezing. We had busted out our winter clothes and bundled up when we go out. Sister Hill also discovered the blessing of heated floors (in Korea they don't have central heating, but heat everything through pipes that run throughout the floor) Needless to say she has spent a good amount of time on the floor this past week. I'll include a picture ㅋㅋㅋ

The blessings of heated floors

Nothing new really. Just the wonderful missionary life. I do have one funny story though.

Saturday we went to meet an investigator (she punked us and didn't even show up) and were making some copies when I heard some shuffling in another room down the hall. The night before we had chat with our elders about why it isn't safe to just leave the doors unlock in the church at night (especially for sisters) because weird people just seem to wander in the church. I figured I was just being paranoid so I shrugged it off. We continued making copies when I heard the noise again. Just to be safe I called Sister Hill into the hall so that I could walk over to the room to check things out. As I looked into the nursery there was a MAN STANDING IN THE DOORWAY! I about had a heart attack as I said hello and asked who he was. He just looked at me and shut the door. He called someone on his phone and this point I was so scared I just ran back to the copy room so I could be with my comp. The guy was talking to someone on the phone saying that he was waiting for the elders so they could do his lesson. I was so confused so I immediately called the elders. They didn't have any appointments and when they heard there was some strange man in the church they just booked it to the church. They were about 30 minutes away. During that conversation the man left the building. We went all throughout the church trying to figure out how he got in, but we found no doors or windows that were open. Right as we finished checking everything in the church we got a call from one of our members. Apparently the man was actually her younger brother who was just talking a break in the church between working and going to an academy (literally everyone in Korea attends at least on of these. They teach anything from English and math to art and computer programming). She had let him into the church, but he got scared when we showed up so he lied and said he was an investigator. She felt super bad that he scared us and wanted to make sure that we didn't call the police ㅎㅎ  

Weird things always happen, but they make some really funny stories. We are excited for this next coming week. We will be super busy with MLC, interviews, meeting our investigators, and also preparing for our ward's Halloween party.

Have a lovely week! Love ya!

-Sister Rindlisbacher

Scenery shots of Korea

추석 in  Hanboks

송편 (half-moon shaped rice cake a.k.a my favorite kind of rice cake)

Training Sister Hill right and getting her addicted to Gongcha

Week 68

Wow this week was awesome! Since it was 추석 (Korean Thanksgiving) we had so many opportunities to learn about Korean culture. 

Monday we had a interim training meeting for all the new missionaries. That was in an area that is 2 hours away by subway so the day was spent traveling to and from that. We also had a dinner appointment with a member. I love this ward so much!

Tuesday was zone conference and man that was SO MUCH FUN! We first learned about family history from a senior couple that just came to our mission. The 방s (Bangs) originally are from Korea, but immigrated to America over 40 years ago. Afterwards we played a few Korean games, which was super tricky to do in a 한복 (Hanbok - Korean traditional clothes) and ate 송편 (half-moon shaped rice cake). It is my favorite kind of 떡 (rice cake) but usually is only out around the holidays. I ate so much of that stuff this past week! :D 

Hanboks :D

Wednesday was our p-day and we spent it at the 한국미속천 (Korean Folk Village) It was super fun to run around with all the missionaries looking at everything. We had a blast! Everything is super traditional looking and they have a bunch of shows that you can watch. We ate some good food and took lots of pictures.

Greenie tortue

Sibling love

Thursday we had a language evaluation for Sister Hill. Since I am the STL (sister training leader) in my zone we did it with Sister Eversole after doing her companion's evaluation. It went really good! Sister Hill is progressing a lot in her confidence and ability to speak Korea :)

General conference was amazing!!! I don't think I could pick one talk that was my favorite. Everyone's words were so inspired! One quote that I really loved was "The gospel doesn't remove trials, but it remove the barriers to heavenly help." I can't remember who said it, but amen to that. I know that this gospel is true and that as we live it we receive heavenly help! I have felt it everyday on my mission! I know that this gospel is true!

General Conference with the district

Love you all! Have a great week 

-Sister Rindlisbacher

P.S. we got transfer calls. Sister Hill and I are staying together (of course since she is being trained) for my last transfer. It is scary how fast time has gone!

Our fearless leader dies on Thursday :'(

Last p-day adventures