Week 31

Sister Rindlisbacher and Sister Carnahan

This week was filled with lots of adventures. Last p-day we decided to go golfing.... I am horrible at golf >.< but it was a really fun. We went to a screened golf place that Sister Carnahan and I walk by all the time when we go to our investigator's house. Needless to say we all need some lessons.  

It is also freezing... all the time. It has been snowing lately and the wind chills you to the bones. Lots of layers and trying to moving quickly through the snow. It is a bit scary because there are sometimes random patches of ice. We sort of waddle around now >.<

The pictures below are from our 2 1/2 hour walk that we took while trying to find a member's house. It was freezing, but we had a pretty great time. 

Sister Rindlisbacher

We weren't able to meet with many of our investigators this week because we couldn't get in contact with them, but we kept ourselves busy. We went on our last exchange for the transfer with Sister Risenmay and 김주은 자ㅏ매님. They are both wonderful missionaries and such great examples to me. We also had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Sister Turner, our mission President's wife. We had dinner with a member and it was a party. It was a fun game of charades because of the language barrier. They did a really good job of communicating though with only a little bit of translating from Sister Carnahan and I.

We had interviews with President Tuner and talked a lot about our goals for this coming year. We will also be having a special missionary conference this Saturday. We'll be watching the world wide missionary broadcast. Since this week is also New Years in Korea (설날) our p-day was moved to Friday. Hopefully we will be able to meet with our investigators before they leave for the holiday.

I hope that you are all doing well. I know that this gospel is true. Although the past couple of weeks have been struggle I wouldn't trade them for anything. These past weeks I have learned a lot about how I can be improving and how perfect this gospel really is. It applies perfectly to every person in every situation. I know that is it true. I am so grateful that I get to share it with the people of Korea. I hope that you will share it with someone else this week. I love you all!

-Sister Rindlisbacher

P.S. Look up 'Be Strong and of Good Courage' by Elder Yoon Hwan Choi  Aug. 2014 

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2014/08/be-strong-and-of-a-good-courage?lang=eng

Week 30

This picture doesn't do it justice, but we literally climbed a mountain this week.

Sister Rindlisbacher

As you can tell by my face I was less than excited to climb all those stairs. We walked around for a while trying to find another way to get to the less-active's house that we wanted to visit, but had no luck. In the end we just endured to the top of the stairs. We did meet a nice grandma while we were wandering the streets though. She didn't seem all there, but was really nice to us.

This past week has been really hard. Every single appointment that we made that week fell through and we weren't able to meet with any of our investigators due to random things. It has been a very humbling week. Normally we make a big list of the things that we want to get done during the week if we have extra time. We usually only get a few of them done, but this week we got everything done and found some other random things that needed to be done. 

Our exchange with the 봉천 sisters also fell through because of appointments that came up for them. Our zone has seen a lot of success this past week, which is awesome. SYL week was so much fun, but also so challenging. About 3 days in I started to really feel the stuffiness of not being able to fully express myself. I learned so much and got a lot better at speaking comfortably, but it was a definite struggle. My companion helped me a lot though.

Our big miracle this week was setting a baptismal date! Our investigator actually set it herself ^^ We have been teaching her for a while and she is progressing really well. We had gospel principles class with her where she announced that she decided to get baptized and that is why she came to church. When we went to sacrament she went and talked to all her 할머니 (grandma) friends about it and then when we asked her after church when she thought she would want to get baptized she said February 5th. We had been planning on setting the date of March 5th so that was a huge surprise! She is so amazing! We'll be busy for the next couple weeks as we help her to prepare for her baptism.

Through the ups and lots of downs this week I really learned a lot about how this really is the Lord's work. He is always looking after us and making sure that things are exactly the way that they need to be. I know that this gospel is true and that Jesus is the Christ. I know without a doubt that this gospel brings true happiness. I am so thankful that I get to learn more about it and share it with the people of Korea. I hope that you are all doing well. I love and miss you!

-Sister Rindlisbacher

P.S. Here is a picture of our new pajamas. Sister Carnahan insisted that we buy matching whale ones so we finally did last p-day. She had been waiting for so long haha. They'll be keeping us warm :)

Sister Rindlisbacher and Sister Carnahan

Week 29

What a week. There were lots of meetings and my first zone training that I was the one training... that was weird. Let me just say translating into Korean is so much harder on the spot and in front of people. Everything worked out though and training was great. 

Our schedule was a little off so we didn't have as many lessons, but it was a good week none the less. We met with only a few of our investigators, but none were able to come to church this week. We did have a great time bonding with our young women. We also went on exchanges with Sister Hawkins and 이하연 자매님. I went to their area and we had fun sticker boarding and dropping off cookies for their recent convert. This week should be pretty normal with another exchange with Sister Risenmay and 김주은 자매님. I will be staying in my area with 김주은 자매님. It is going to be a party :)

Today we got a text from one of our investigators saying that she had been in a car accident. It wasn't too serious, but we won't be able to meet her this week :( On the bright side our other investigator finally came back to town after visiting her husband in another city. 

Some thing that I am really excited for is our SYL challenge. SYL stands for speak your language so we going to have a week of all Korea for non-Koreans and English for the Korean missionaries. At the end of the week the best missionary, companionship, and district will get a prize from the zone leaders. We had originally suggested it to the 안얀 (Anyang) zone leaders, but then got them to challenge 노량진 (Noryangjin). It's going to be so much fun. We are doing it as a activity to build faith in our zones. We are so excited! >.<

We didn't take many pictures this week except when we got really good smoothies at the end of one of the day.

Sister Rindlisbacher

We decided to treat our selves with smoothies as we made calls.

​Sister Carnahan

On a more spiritual note, one thing that I wanted to share this week was a talk that Sister Turner mentioned in MLC. It is entitled Enduring to the End by Stephen E. Robinson. It is a wonderful talk so you should all read it this week. Here is a link :) 

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1993/10/enduring-to-the-end?lang=eng 

I hope that you all have a wonderful week. Remember to rely on the Lord and have fun. Love you!

-Sister Rindlisbacher

Week 28

Happy New Year!!!! 모두들 새해 복 많이 받으시길 바랍니다. 

Sister Rindlisbacher

So many miracles! I love being with Sister Carnahan because she is so good at seeing all the miracles. We have had some of the good and bad this week, but it has been an amazing week.We met with all of our investigators and also found a new investigator. Some lessons were really good and the spirit was so strong, but others were just plain bad. A few of our investigators are progressing really well and I absolutely love teaching them. They love finding the truth of the gospel and meeting with us weird foreigners. They are all a lot older than us so I don't know why they like us so much haha.

The things that you find on exchanges >.< 

This week I was also blessed to go on exchanges with Sister O'laughlin. She is such a wonderful missionary and we had lots of fun. We did lots of less-active finding and met with a member in her area. That is where I found the giant ear :) It was a lot of fun to talk with that member. She also had a try some weird Korean remedies. Let me just say it was an adventure. Sister O'laughlin will be going home at the end of this transfer. I am so sad that I only get a little time with her. While we were on exchanges a quote that a friend shared in church one week came up.

"The same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe had given at least equal attention to the placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others, but warm them as well. This is a stunning thing for us to contemplate in all seasons! His planning and precision pertain not only to astrophysical orbits but to human orbits as well... Therefore what about our individualized orbits and schedules? Do we appear on the scene on time, and 'Shine as lights in the world' as the apostle Paul urged? Yes, there is a personalized plan for each of us. Like the Christmas star, if each of us are faithful, has an ordained orbit, a prescribed path, as we pass through this second estate. There cannot be a grand plan of salvation for all mankind, unless there is also a plan for each individual, the salvation sum will reflect all it's parts".

I have been thinking a lot about the great plan of happiness that we have been given. We taught a few of our investigators about it this week and I have really been seeing how amazing it is. The knowledge and comfort that we have from it is so precious. I am so grateful that I get to share it with the people here in Korea. 

My testimony has been strengthened so much over the past months. I know that the Lord has planned every detail of our lives. Everything is perfect because it is His plan. I hope that you all have a wonderful week. This week pay more attention to the ways the the Lord has planned your life. I promise that you will find them every where. I love you all!

-Sister Rindlisbacher

Week 27 Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas it has been this year! Sister Carnahan spent a lot of time trying to make it the best Christmas ever :) and it was great. She wrapped up four pairs of her pajamas so that each of us could open up a present on Christmas Eve and have new pajamas to sleep in. We also sang Christmas hymns and read Christmas stories.

My favorite Christmas present this year was the onesie from my family ^^

Big news... ELDER HOLLAND IS COMING TO KOREA! At our Zone Conference this past week we were given our Christmas present, hearing the news that another apostle of the Lord will be visiting us! I AM SO EXCITED!!! Two of my favorite apostles come to visit in my favorite country :D Life is great here in Korea hehe. This time we will be going to the Seoul Mission on February 24th of next year! We were among the first missionaries to find out so we had to promise our mission president that we wouldn't say anything until he had the chance to tell everyone. 

Also this next month (January) we will also be having a world wide missionary training conference. Since there is such a big time difference from Utah to Korea our mission president will be recording it and then we will watch it the next day. I'm excited to hear what training they have for us and the changes that they will be making. President Turner said that our daily schedule will be changing soon, but probably not until next transfer.

I forgot to bring my journal today so I'll have to let you guys know what I learned at zone conference next week. It was such a special experience being together as a mission family with President and Sister Turner. It was filled with lots of laughter and good music.

솔남 Zone Conference at the mission home

​​노량진 missionaries 

​Skyping with the family this morning :) Love you guys!

Missionary work is going great here in ​​노량진. We have had a lot of success and just keep seeing the miracles. One big miracle that we saw this morning was finding a new investigator. As I was skyping my family this morning we got a call from a random number and ended up getting a new investigator! We've had lots of awesome member present lessons and other lessons. Our four investigators are doing well. We are planning to give two baptismal dates this next coming week and hopefully a third in the next few weeks. Unfortunately we may have to drop the fourth because she never keeps our commitments to act on the things that we teach here. She is such a sweet woman and her daughter is adorable, but we may have to use out time doing other things.

The ward is also so loving here! We had a Christmas party this past Saturday and it was a blast. We did a play as missionaries about the 3 wisemen... that was a struggle to do in Korean haha, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. They also had karaoke and other games. At the end we did piñatas that the missionaries made. The funniest part was when they drop kicked the Santa piñata.... it had fallen off the rope so they couldn't wack it with the stick anymore. Korean people are a blast to party with haha.

I love being a missionary and being able to feel so much love for Heavenly Father's children here in Korea. There are so many amazing people here! Everyday is an adventure and I love it. I know that this gospel is perfect and true. I know that our Savior Jesus Christ lives! I know it with every fiber of my being! He lives and He loves us. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it was through Joseph Smith that we are blessed with such a wonderful book. I am so blessed to have this opportunity to share the joy of the gospel with the people of Korea. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Years! 

-Sister Rindlisbacher

Here are the goofballs in my zone... they started singing 'How Firm A Foundation' >.<

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