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

Week 67

​Well... September has come and gone already. I honestly have no idea how time can pass by so quickly. It feels like just yesterday I was called to be a trainer again and now Sister Hill has already been in Korea for over a month! 

Last p-day was super fun! We had a zone p-day and ate lunch together before we played games and watched a movie. I was pretty stressed before the p-day started because I got put in charge of making sure lunch got there and was paid for. Ordering chicken for 20 hungry missionaries stressed me out so much I had dreams about it the night before ㅎㅎ It all turned out okay :D I really love being a missionary!

Lunch for zone p-day #chickenfordayyyyys

Don't mind the sweaty Chinese elder taking the picture ㅎㅎ

The typical game of BANG

We also had a zone 전도 activity here in our area. That was also stressful, but I made the other missionaries in my ward plan it muahaha! It turned out really good and we got a good amount of phone numbers. Unfortunately since the holiday in Korea they are all busy until next week sometime. One women that I talked to was so amazing! She really wondered how we could know God and how that would help her family. I was able to get her number and talk with her on the phone. She lives up in the Seoul mission so we're going to refer her after the holiday.

We attended a meeting about our new English program that will be standardizing how missionaries teach English in South Korea. It seems like a really awesome program that will focus on helping people ages 15-25 learn English skills that will prepare them for interviews and other things. We are trying to figure out how to make a smooth transition from the programs so prayers are very needed.

I was blessed to be with the amazing Sister Eversole this week for exchanges. It is always such a party being with her! We have way to much fun, which is probably why we were never companions, but got to live together twice. We had a lovely time meeting with a potential investigator Crystal who is from Mongolia. We were able to set up the English program and will start meeting with her after the holiday.

Exchanges

Right now we are just preparing for 추석 (Korean Thanksgiving) Everyone in Korea commits a mass exodus to the country side so all us missionaries in Seoul have no one to talk to for a week. We are making some paper 한복 (Korean traditional dress) for each family in our ward. We started last night and are almost finished :) Both Sister Hill and I got super tired of folding paper that we almost gave up haha

Making the paper 한복

Paper 한복

We had some appointments set up with investigators, but they all cancelled. That was a real bummer, but we kind of saw it coming because everyone just leaves from the holiday. We're just trying to keep our heads up and find things to fill our time. Last week we did a lot of street contacting so we have some really good potential investigators that want to meet next week! Pray for them :)

Our ward is super amazing and let us borrow 한복 to wear to our zone conference. They brought 4 or 5 different ones to church so that we could pick. They are all so beautiful and we are so excited to wear them tomorrow! They also played dress up and we were the dolls. At first we were just making sure they fit, but then they told us we had to wear them for church. We spend 3 hours in them... Not the most comfortable thing I might add. Lots of people kept staring at us during sacrament or commenting on them in their testimonies. It turned out to be a really fun fast Sunday.

The real 한복

I wanted to share something that I read this week that I really loved. It was an experience that President Gordon B. Hinckley had. He is speaking about an experience he had as he was conducting open house for a newly renovated temple.

"It was my privilege to speak to them and to answer their questions at the conclusion of their tours. I told them that we would be pleased to answer any queries they might have. Many were asked. Among these was one which came from a Protestant minister."

"Said he: 'I've been all through this building, this temple which carries on its face the name of Jesus Christ, but nowhere have I seen any representation of the cross, the symbol of Christianity. I have noted your buildings elsewhere and likewise find an absence of the cross. Why is this when you say you believe in Jesus Christ?'

"I responded: 'I do not wish to give offence to any of my Christian brethren who use the cross on the steeples of their cathedrals and at the altars of their chapels, who wear it on their vestments, and imprint it on their books and other literature. But for us, the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ.'

"He then asked: "If you do not use the cross, what is the symbol of your religion?'

"I replied that the lives of our people must become the only meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship...

"... No sign, no work of art, no representation of form is adequate to express the glory of the wonder of the Living Christ. He told us what that symbol should be when he said 'If ye love me, keep my commandments."

I know that the way that we live and choose to worship our Father in Heaven is the true symbol of our faith. I am so grateful that for the past year I have been able to show people everyday how much I love my Savior Jesus Christ and Father in Heaven. I am so grateful to be a missionary! I hope that you all have a lovely week! Love you! Don't forget to show people your faith~

-Sister Rindlisbacher