Week 61

What a crazy fast week it has been. The biggest blessing has been relief from the heat. The past week has been very rainy and wet. It rained almost every night and most of the days. It has been really nice not having to worry about melting every time we have to go outside.

This past week also marked my one year mark in Korea!!! How crazy is that... Time just doesn't seem real anymore. To celebrate we ate lots of yummy food this week. Mostly because members or potential investigators took us out to eat. My favorite was probably going to Outback with an amazing family from our ward. They are so awesome! We got to talk with them a lot about their missions and things like that. Their kids are also adorable^^

We also had interviews with President and Sister Turner :D This time around they decided to mix things up. We did individual interviews with President Turner as always and then we had "interviews" with Sister Turner, but we did that as a district. It was so much fun to talk with Sister Turner and also learn from everyone in our district. We did lots of different activities and talked more about companionship unity. For one activity we went up with our companion and were each given a squirt bottle. Sister Turner asked us a series of questions and if we got them wrong we would get sprayed in the face and the same for our companion. It really showed us how much we really knew about our companions.

There was also an obstacle course that we had to navigate blindfolded with the help of our companions. That was a bit tricky to do in a skirt because we were climbing over chairs, crawling under things, and going through tunnels. It was great! At the end you also had to shoot a free throw basket shot. With some crazy luck I actually made the shot blindfolded. I don't know how that is even possible because I can't even do it WITH my eyes open. I'll send you picture proof next week after Sister Turner sends me the picture :D

Sister Turner as always gave an amazing training. She talked to us about bank accounts. Not the bank accounts that we use for money, but the bank accounts that we use for our relationships with others. Like a real bank account you start out with nothing and have to deposit money to make it grow. Over time in all of our relationships we "deposit money" as we serve, love, and care for those we love. BUT we also "withdraw money" when we offend or do other things that hurt the other person. We talked a lot about life and how it is a constant "deposit" and "withdraw" between those we love. One of the main points that Sister Turner made was that we have to always make sure that the other person knows that THEY CAN ALWAYS DEPOSIT MONEY back in after they withdraw. We must always forgive and continue to love! Whether it is our companions, siblings, parents, friends, or just random people on the street. They can always deposit money! There should be anything that they do that makes it so that we cannot love them still. I love Sister Turner and her wisdom that she shares with us.

I always went on exchanges with Sister Munhk-Erende. She is from Mongolia, but grew up in California since she was 11. She is such a funny person. So random and always has such a bright smile on her face. She is a new missionary and her trainer is leaving at the end of this transfer. It was fun to work with her for a day. We taught 3 of their investigators and that was insane! We had 2 appointments that took over an hour to get to each of them on the bus, back to back. We ended up being a little late to both of them, but things worked out.

Sunday was also Stake Conference. We watched a broadcast that included Elder Bednar. Of course everything was in Korean so understanding was a bit rough. Elder Bednar is SO HARD to understand in English, let along Korean. Also our investigator and his family came! It was a miracle! We weren't able to meet them this week so we doubted that they would come. As an act of faith we texted them on Saturday night to remind them to come and they did! We were sitting down waiting for it to start when we noticed them at the very back sitting by themselves. The three kids didn't want to focus so we played tic-tac-toe for most of the meeting. I hope their parents got something out of the meeting though. It was also a blessing that I had packed some snacks in my bag that morning so I could share with them to help them be a little more quiet. It was great to have them there!

This coming week will also be super busy. We have a special MLC on Tuesday and some mystery mission activity on Friday. We don't have very many details yet, but I'll let you know what happens next week. I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week. Make sure that you are depositing into your various bank accounts!

-Sister Rindlisbacher

One greenie tried to run his way out of getting wet... it didn't work

Zone conference from a few weeks ago

Our epic water fight

Week 60

Wow has this week flown by! It literally feels like yesterday that I was emailing and now it is Monday again... I don't know where the time is going.

This past week we did an SYL week as a district. The rules were that we spoke Korean 24/7 and would send a nightly percentage of how much Korean we spoke in the day. Sister Cuary and I started out strong, but by the end of the week I kind of died. We also went on two exchanges so I kind of gave up and just spoke in English... whoops.

Speaking of exchanges they were AMAZING! I went with two of my favorite sister in the mission. Sister Eversole and Sister Davis. They are both so amazing! I love them to death. With Sister Eversole it was so fun to catch up and see how much she has grown. I met her when she was still being trained back when I served in 노랑진 (Norangjin) She has become such a wonderful missionary! Sister Davis is also just a ray of sunshine. She has so many incredible talents and I learned so much from her! Especially about how our trials allow us to feel Heavenly Father and the Saviors love for us and others. Both exchanges were a blast and it gave me so much strength to continue improving and working hard.

We also had a 전도 활통 (proselyting activity) in our area with the Incheon zone. It was really fun and we found some really good potential. I went with Sister Woo who is from Hong Kong. She is a funny girl that has no shame. It was great to work with her and see her confidence in talking with everyone! We all got dinner afterwards at a place near by. It was great to be with everyone.

This week only one investigator could meet with us. Originally we were going to meet with a member, but that member cancelled 5 minutes before our appointment. Since the investigator we were meeting is a child we couldn't go into their house so we decided to just all come outside so that we could still teach them, but be in public. They are a crazy bunch of kids that have no focus. Luckily I brought some gummy bears and we were able to get them to listen to us enough to teach about fasting. It was a real struggle! But they are adorable and came to church again this week. Their mom brought all three kids to church and they stayed for all 3 hours. I'm not sure where their dad was though.

The magic gummy bears

We also spent a lot of time outside on the streets talking with people as we went to visit less-active members. We were able to meet with a bunch of them and help them to feel Heavenly Father's love for them. Every time I meet with a less-active member is strengthens my testimony of how much I need this gospel to be a part of my everyday life. I don't know how I could overcome anything or improve in anyway without the knowledge that I have of my Savior and Heavenly Father's plan for me.

Last week we had a water fight with a group of missionaries in another zone and we will be heading there again to play more water sports. The weather is super hot and sticky lately so playing the water is so refreshing. 

We have met with a few member and have more appointments for this upcoming week. Lately I've felt that I haven't connect as well with the members, investigators, and other people in this area that I have in the past, but I'm hoping that it is just going to take time and work. We are starting to see miracles and we continue to work hard through the heat. Everyone has been telling us that it will start to cool down soon so I hope that is true. 

I've definitely learned a lot this week! I have learned so much about the love that the Lord has for each of us. Something that really impressed me this week was a quote that was shared in district meeting. It goes something like this "You will only achieve all of your goals if they are wimpy" Lately I have been trying to set harder goals to accomplish and it really has made me work harder. Although I am no where near achieving my goals I have definitely improved. Another quote was "the real overall indicator is loving one another". Both of these were by President who was the mission president before President Turner. I hope that you are also setting goals that will allow you to work harder, improve, and move towards the person that Heavenly Father wants you to be. I love you! Have a great week!

-Sister Rindi

Cute Japanese snacks that a less active gave us

Exchanges with Sister Eversole. We got stuck in the middle of an intersection because we could run fast enough to make it all the way

Exchanges with Sister Davis. A women we talked to on the street told us the Book of Mormon wasn't true and that we didn't need it, but then bought us ice cream afterwards... Korean people are super random sometimes!

Week 59

Last p-day was a blast! We went with our district to the mud flats. We kind of got lost on the way, but Elder Bigelow, our fearless leader, was able to ask a few people and get us back on track after leading us in the wrong direction for about 20 minutes. It took about 2 hours to get there from our area. The mud flat is located on the island that the airport is on so we had to take 3 different subway lines and then walk for about 20 minutes to get to the place. It was super fun! Just imagine 10 foreigners digging around in the mud and throwing seaweed at each other. We found lots of little creatures :D like crabs, sea snails, jellyfish, and some other things that I didn't know what they were. 

We were suppose to be looking for clams, but we just played around. When we got back the owners got a little upset that we didn't find anything so a man randomly walked up to me and handed me a bag that weighed about 10 pounds and was just straight clams. He then proceeded to tell me how to cook them in Korean, but I couldn't understand what he was saying because he was talking to fast. I just nodded my head and smiled until he went away. Sister Cuary and I brought them home and made soup with noodles. We also brought home a lot of cool shells and Sister Cuary accidentally brought home a little crab. I was in the bathroom when she started yelling that there was a crab in her bed. We got him and and put him in a little jar with some water, but unfortunately he didn't last more than 2 days. We had a little funeral service for him. I'll send you guys the video.

Sebastian the crab's funeral

This week we were also able to visit that less-active that I told you about last week. The one that has been inactive for 30 years and we only had the right address... Anyways we went to stop by again because we were in the area and HE WAS HOME AGAIN! It took him a while to come to the door, but we were able to talk with him again for about 30 minutes. He talked to us about his kids and showed us pictures of them. They are all in their 20s and don't really attend any church. He talked about how he would like it if they would come to our church, but they have no interest really. His third daughter who is about the same age as me has some potential, but she is going to Malaysia today for 6 months on a study abroad. She is studying to be a stewardess (a super competitive field here in Korea) and she has to learn English. He said that once she gets home he'll try and get her to meet with the missionaries. I hope that one day she does!

I was also blessed to go on exchanges with Sister Gamayeon, from the Philippians. She is one of the first sisters that I met when I got to Korea because we were in the same district. We haven't ever served near each other since then so it was so fun to talk and catch up on everything. She is such an amazing missionary!

Another highlight of the week was eating ranch for the first time in over a year. Shout out to my mom for sending me the stuff to make it. I had a great time cutting up some carrots to dip in it. Sister Cuary thinks that I am crazy, but I don't think I have every been so happy to eat ranch in my entire life.

We went out to lunch with  고유정 자매님 (Go YuJeong) this past Friday. She is the recent convert from another area that I met a few times when I was serving with Sister Blom and Sister Carnahan. She is such a happy soul. It was so great to meet up with her and talk. It was also such a tender mercy because I could actually understand her! I don't know if I have mentioned it, but she is SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND! I couldn't understand anything as a greenie and then with Sister Carnahan I could only get bits and pieces. It was nice to have a conversation and actually know what she was saying. Although I couldn't understand 100% it was nice to be able to recognize that I actually have learned how to speak Korean over that past year of being here.

Our week wasn't filled with much teaching because of 휴가 (Hyuga) which is basically summer vacation for everyone. All of the students are off of school and the parents also get off work so everyone goes on vacation. The streets have been empty also so we haven't had much success lately. People also just seem to not want to talk to us because it is so hot outside. We're trying to push through though.

This week was also zone conference. I miss the days when I could just receive training and not have to worry about translating. Everything went really smoothly though and we had a great time. Our mission has been focusing a lot on unity so we based our training on building companionship unity. We used the talk "Then Jesus Beholding Him Loved Him" by S. Mark Palmer and the Hymn entitled "Each Life That Touches Ours For Good". I had an amazing time preparing for zone conference and I definitely learned a lot about how I need to improve as a companion. President Turner had an amazing training on centering our life on Christ and making sure that He is the center of the things that we are teaching to the people of Korea.

We are having a wonderful time here in Korea. Although the days are getting hotter we still find joy in the little things. I hope that you all have a wonderful week! Love ya!

-Sister Rindlisbacher

My groceries vs my companions

Exchanges with Sister Gamayeon