Week 22 (Week 13 In-Field)

Can you tell I am excited for Christmas? Our house has been filled with Christmas music for the past couple weeks and I love it! Since Korea already had it's Thanksgiving we won't be celebrating the American Thanksgiving much. We did get to have a Thanksgiving dinner with the English branch members. I never thought that I would eat pumpkin pie or stuffing on my mission so yesterday made my week :D

This week has been great! I love my housemates and serving in this area. It is absolutely huge and is about 3x the size of my last area. We take lots of buses, subways, and we also walk a lot. Usually it takes about 45 minutes to get somewhere and then a little more time to actually find the place that we are trying to get to. Neither of us know this area super well so it takes a lot of following the spirit to find our members houses :)

Our investigators are doing great. We had a few lessons with them this week. We are still not sure exactly what they need at this time or how we can best teach them, but the Lord sure is guiding us. This past week was Nara's birthday so we had a little party for her. The chicken was so yummy!

Sister Rindlisbacher, Sister Shumway, Nara, and Nayoung

She really enjoyed herself haha :)

Nara drew me :) Sister Shumway also made an attempt lol. Guess which one is which.

Last p-day was spent shopping for my winter clothes. It's getting a lot colder and tights are a must everyday. Some days we can wear a light jacket, but the next day will be freezing and we put on as much clothing as possible to stay warm. Once we were done shopping we went to a little place to get lunch on our way home. As we were sitting down we noticed that the people next to us couldn't speak Korean and were having trouble ordering. They ended up asking if I was Korean (something that's happened a lot while I've been here... I don't look Korean at all -_-). I replied 'no, but that I can speak a little bit'. The waiter ended explaining the menu to me and then I explained it to them. It was awesome to be able to help someone :) Even though it was only to help them order some food haha.

My talk yesterday was good :) I learned a lot studying the question "Why does Heavenly Father want us to be thankful." I'll attach a link to the recording. My companion let me borrow her recorder so that I could have a copy of it since I didn't write it down.​

During Relief Society yesterday in the English branch the teacher shared a song that I really liked. It is called One By One and was written by Elder David A. Bednar. You should definitely look it up! I know that the Lord knows us all collectively as well as individually. I know that He loves us on a personal level and that He is always watching over us. He has a specific plan for each of us that is perfect. What ever path you are on is the right one for you. I hope that you all have a great week! I love you all!

-Sister Rindlisbacher

P.S. Here are some random pictures :)​

Week 21 (Week 12 In-Field)

Wow, what a week it has been. This past week has been really busy, but also really awesome!

For p-day we had a district p-day! It was so much fun... even though the two Korean elders that were leading us had no idea what they were doing. We had lunch together and then went to some obscure park and played some games. We got bored of the games so we went off on our own and took pictures. The Elders joined us after a couple rounds of the game haha. It was so much fun! I absolutely love this district!

The entire 인천 district

Left to Right: Elders Partdrige, Swazy, Petijohn, Yoon, and Kim.... plus Sister Shumway and Sister Rindlisbacher awkwardly far from them... Just pretend that empty space is filled with the Holy Ghost ;)

The sisters :) Left to right: Sister Rindlisbacher, Sister Shumway, Sister Sannar, and Sister Ambrose

This is a long story, but I'm sure I'll tell you why we are holding our legs up like that one day lol.

This past week I got to meet all of my new investigators. They are all really sweet and I am excited to teach them. We have there here in Incheon 1st ward. Their names are Gloria, Nara, and Nayeong. They are the cutest things in the world!

This is what happens when your investigator is 14 years old and likes to take pictures on her phone during the lesson hehe. 

We had lots of meetings with our investigators and members. I got to meet lots of members yesterday at church. Also I will be speaking for the fourth week in a row at church haha. I think the Lord is trying to tell me that I need to start like speaking in public. Luckily this week it will be at the English branch so it's not as hard :)

Speaking of the English branch it is in 성도, which is a man made island here in Korea. It is super nice and all the members are great. Yesterday we got to go and it was so overwhelming because I could understand everything and everyone. It was such a weird experience. The members are amazing! Sister Shumway and I got to attend primary and watch Legacy with a 10 year old and an 7 year old. They kept saying it was a "rated R movie" because of the kissing scenes >.< so funny! When they said the closing prayer they blessed us that we wouldn't get nightmares from it. They are so funny!

I don't have much time left so I will just bare a short testimony. From the experiences that I  have had this week I know without a shadow of a doubt that this gospel is true. I know that my Savior lives and that He is guiding me. I have felt so much opposition in the past couple months, but I have never been happier. I know that the message that I am sharing here in Korea is true and that no matter how many times I am told that "I'm going to hell because I'm not Christian" I am doing the Lord's work. I know that Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to this earth and that the Lord speaks to us today. Rely on Him and everything will be okay. I love you all! Have a great week!

-Sister Rindlisbacher

Week 20 (Week 11 In-Field)

It has been a crazy stressful week. We had packing, cleaning, traveling, visiting, and transfers all packed into one week. It was a pretty rough week, but now everything seems to be settling down. I love 인천 (Incheon) so far!

Here are a few pictures of my investigators in 개봉 (Gaebong). We were able to meet with almost all of them and say goodbye before we both left. 

Leanne, Tom, and Sister Rindlisbacher

(I would type their Korean names, but I type too slow in Korean haha)

​Sister Rindlisbacher, Shany, and Sister Blom

The beginning of the week was the craziest. Since Sister Blom was going home we had to have everything packed and cleaned by Tuesday. I packed almost everything on Sunday except the things that I had to use throughout the week. Then Monday we sent our bags through the post office. That was really stressful because they kept saying that they couldn't do it. If they didn't send them we would have to carry them all week as we traveled to see people from Sister Blom's old areas. Luckily we had the Elders with us and Elder 이종혁 was able to figure everything out. We ended up having to tape two big boxes together and put our suitcases in them. 

Tuesday was spent visiting with all of our investigators and one member. It was back to back appointments all day. A huge miracle happened that afternoon. Sister Blom lost her wallet on the bus that we were riding, which had her foreigner card in it. Without it you are not allowed to leave the country and they usually take about two weeks to get. We were calling so many people trying to figure out what we needed to do so that she would be able to leave on Friday, but had no luck. We decided to go to our first appointment and then go to the mission home afterwards to get things figured out. As we were at our appointment with Tom and Leanne we told them about everything and they were able to call the bus and find her wallet. It is almost nearly impossible to find things once they are lost like that, but it was a tender mercy from the Lord. 

Wednesday we had zone training in the morning and then went around half the mission to visit people for Sister Blom. I'll have to tell you about everything next week because I am out of time. I love you all and hope that you have a great week. Here are a bunch of random pictures. Love you!

-Sister Rindlisbacher

Week 19 (Week 10 In-Field)

Wow what a week it has been..SO BUSY! Everything has melded together so I'll just give you some of the highlights.

The biggest news that I have is that I am being transferred! It breaks my heart to leave 개봉, but this work is inspired and the Lord needs me in the 인천 1st ward. I think the thing that I am most excited for is living in a 4 man house with Sister Sannar! I am also excited to learn from my new companion, Sister Shumway. She unfortunately will be dying (going home) after this next transfer, so I will be killing another companion. I have heard so many good things about her and am really excited to have the opportunity to serve with her! Because transfers are not until Saturday this next coming week is going to be insanely busy again visiting Sister Blom's old areas and being in a different area for the last part of the week until transfers. 

This past week we didn't have many people come to English class, but it was a party nonetheless. I am really going to miss everyone that I have taught here in 개봉. They have brought such a light into my life. This is a picture of Anna, she was in my class and is so good at English. She studies so diligently and always comes with sentences for me to correct so that she can learn better. 

Sister Blom, Anna, and Sister Rindlisbacher

We were able to meet with all of our investigators this past week which was such a huge blessing. We also picked up a new investigator 홍수빈 자매님. She is 14 years old and goes to the Liahona School (a school run by our bishop to help students get into BYU Hawaii) and all of her friends there are members. We were able to meet with her and her friends. It was such a tender mercy to have them there so that she could hear their testimonies of this gospel. I am so sad that I won't be able to teach her more. She has a lot of interest in the gospel and how it can bless her family.

We also had our ward Halloween party! It was so much fun! We had spent most of Friday and Saturday helping to put up decorations and get everything prepared. We also finished the pinata that we were making for it. Here is a picture of the aftermath...

The Strong Pinata, didn't give up without a fight!

​We made the pinata a little too strong.... the kids went nuts trying to get the candy haha :)

I wish I could send the videos that I got off the ward members trying to break it open. We had started with the youngest kids and went all the way up to the 할머니s (grandmas). It took a lot to get it open and Sister Blom ended up just tearing it apart because it wouldn't break when we hit it. We broke a broom, a wooden stick, and some other plastic sticks that the kids had tried to break it open with. We made it a little too well haha, but it gave everyone a good laugh.The Halloween party was such a blessing because a few people in the ward we able to invite their non-member friends. They all had a blast! It was awesome to see the ward members really reaching out and trying their best to do member missionary work. I am so grateful for their efforts!

Another blessing that we saw this week was two of our investigators coming to church yesterday! They came a bit late, but it is the first time in the past 3 months of teaching them that they both came! It was such a tender mercy to have them come to our last Sunday here in 개봉. We have another meeting with them tomorrow to say goodbye before we both leave the area. I am going to miss them so much! I have grown to love everyone that I have met here, but I am excited for new adventures in a different area.

I know that this work is inspired and that the Lord has His hand in it all. I have definitely felt Him strengthening me this past week. I wouldn't have been able to do it without Him. I am so grateful for this gospel and how it has blessed my life. I know that it is true and that our Savior Jesus Christ lives. I know that Heavenly Father loves each of us individually and is watching over us. I love you all! Continue to seek Christ and move towards Him. He makes all the difference in our lives! Have a great week! 

-Sister Rindlisbacher

Week 18 (Week 10 in Korea)

SEOUL

Here is another picture from my last last p-day when we tried to go biking :)

This past week was AMAZING! Besides the fact that I got the stomach flu on Sunday and then passed it to Sister Blom. This past week was spent at home a lot since both of us were sick. Last p-day we went to 부평 with the 목동 sisters (Sister Carnahan and Sister Greenwood) and went shopping. Nothing better to do when you have the stomach flu haha. It was a lot of fun! 

Wednesday started off rough, but Elder Bednar made up for it! Sister Blom got the stomach flu and we almost had to stay home because she was so sick. The Elders came to our house in the morning to give her a blessing and we ended up taking a taxi to and from the conference. ELDER BEDNAR WAS AMAZING!!!! He is super sassy and so funny! Here are a few things that I really liked/learned:

1. Our language has such a huge impact on EVERYTHING. Although we may not use foul language, the way that we talk about people makes a difference. Elder Bednar talked a lot about us being 'agents' rather than 'objects'. It was talked about in the talks that we were given and we spent a good amount of time on it during the conference. Homework: read Alma 32 and ponder being an 'agent' rather than an 'object'. In our normal language we often talk about others as 'objects' rather than 'agents'. I've noticed I do it with my investigators and really don't like it. This past week I've focused a lot on it when I pray and it really does make a difference. How do you talk about people? How do you pray?

2. Going along the lines of us being 'agents' something that I really learned personally is that I need to be asking for help when I need it. I'm a perfectionist and often want to do things on my own rather than getting help, but let me tell you everything is easier with help. Instead of praying for the Lord to do the work for you pray to have help so that YOU can do the work.

3. The sacrament is an ongoing process of sanctification. 

4. Even if you have a testimony that doesn't mean that you are protected from darkness. Each day we have to choose to follow Christ and to prepare ourselves for the day.  The scriptures are such an important tool that we take for granted. I challenge you to arm yourself with light. It makes all the difference, I promise! We have to constantly choose to be converted, it's not a one time thing.

5. Words don't have meaning, they have a definition. The meaning comes from the person. Certain words will hold different meanings for different people. 

6. There is never a real sacrifice. Everything that we have and are is because of our Heavenly Father. No matter what we think we are giving up the Lord has given up more.

Wednesday were also were suppose to go on exchanges that day, but ended up cancelling because we were sick. We rescheduled for this week :) I'll be staying in 개봉 and Sister Legaspi from the Philippines will be joining me. We're both greenies so it's going to be an adventure trying to not get lost haha. I'll be sure to tell you about it next week. 

This past week we were only able to meet with two investigators, but the meetings were great! Both are progressing and we can really see a difference from the time that we met them last.

Yesterday I also had to give a talk in sacrament on patience and obedience. I will never again complain about giving a talk in English because doing it in Korean is so much harder and way scarier! Although I wasn't able to express everything that I learned this past couple weeks I know that it has made a difference in my life. The things that I was able to gain through my study of the topic has made such a difference in my everyday life. 

After church we had a ward 전도 (proselyting) activity. I was really nervous for it because we had to go on splits with members, but it was so much fun! I went with Sister 조성민, who is a recently returned missionary from the 부산 mission. She is so funny and really helped me a lot. It was raining a lot, which made talking to people hard, but we got into the groove of things. We talked to lots of people and gave out a couple Books of Mormon, pamphlets, and our information. 

I'm out of time, but I hope you all have a wonderful week! I hope the things that I said made sense because I am typing so fast and don't have time to check my grammar, which is deteriorating the more I learn Korean haha. I love you all! 

-Sister Rindlisbacher

Week 17 (Week 9 in Korea)

T-2 days until Elder Bednar comes!!! I can already tell it's gonna be a great week :) This past week was a bit rough. All of our investigators and members except 1 cancelled, so hopefully Bednar will make up for it!

Last p-day we had made plans with some other sisters to ride bikes along the Han river, but the bike place was closed when we got there :( It is too late in the year for them to rent bikes, which we didn't find out until we got there. We decided to just have fun and take pictures. I got Sister Carnahan to send me pictures so here they are :)

​Sister Carnahan and I imitating the tourist pictures >.<

​​

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Still the darkest one in Korea haha

Pinocchio and Sister Rindlisbacher

​It was a little Pinocchio and you could turn the lever to make his nose grow.

On our way home from the river we met a man in the subway. He approached us and told us that he had seen missionaries from our church, but only knew a little bit. He asked more about why we are here in Korea and what we believe in. He then told us that he was a pastor for another church and I was a little worried that he would try to bible bash us, but it was actually a really good conversation. We were going to the same station so we talked with him all the way there. We ended up teaching the entire Restoration on the train and gave him a Book of Mormon and Restoration pamphlet. At the end he got a little worked up saying that we believe that people have to have faith in Joseph Smith in order to be saved, but we quickly corrected him. I bore a simple testimony about how I know that this gospel is true and I know that the Book of Mormon is true! As we left we gave him our card and said that he could contact us if he has any questions. I don't know if he will ever read the Book of Mormon, but I'm grateful that I got to be a part of his first experience with it. 

On Tuesday we had a zone proselyting activity that was really fun. We got to switch up our companions and hit the streets. We talked to a lot of middle school students and old grandmas. They are the best people to talk with because they are always so nice. The students are really funny because if you call them pretty they will not stop giggling ^^

Wednesday we had a district meeting and ended up having lunch with everyone because all the greenies had our language evaluations. In our district there are 3 greenies so we had to be there early because other companionships had appointments right after our meeting. 

Thursday we had interviews with President and Sister Turner. They are my favorite people to see! I absolutely love them! Sister Turner made cookies and they reminded me so much of home. President Turner is absolutely amazing and I am so grateful to have him as a mission president. 

Time is up so I'll just leave you with a simple testimony. I know that this gospel is true! I know that the Savior died and redeemed all of us from sin. There is nothing that will change His or Heavenly Father's love for us, nothing! I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet to restore this wonderful gospel. Heavenly Father is determined to to lose any of His children and has provided everything we need to return to Him. 

I love and miss you all! Have a great week :)

-Sister Rindlisbacher

P.S. You should check out the cover of the October 2016 Liahona. Apparently the girl looks a lot like me haha. I've gotten a lot of comments from the ward members the past few weeks >.<

Week 16 (Week 8 in Korea)

I love Korea so much!!!! Okay story time... We were walking home from the church when we had this conversation with some old man on the street:

Man: Hi

Us: .... Hi. (mind you we aren't suppose to talk to me on the street so we were caught a little off guard)

Man: You're some pretty ladies.

Sister Blom: Thanks want to learn about Jesus? *hands pamphlet*

Man: *looks at pamphlet* I will read this.

Us: Okay.... 

Man: *walks away*

This week has been another amazing one in Korea! Last p-day was spent at Lotte World in a Folk Museum. I was going to send pictures this week.... but it's not working. The folk Museum was really awesome! We got to see a lot of displays about ancient Korea. We spent almost the whole day with about 8 sister missionaries and 1 girl a companionship met on the way. The girl was from Spain, but is living in Korea and speaks English, French, Spanish, and Korean. She was really cool! After p-day was done we had a practice lesson with one of members which turned into a 식사 (eating together). 

On Tuesday we had an amazing lesson with one of our investigators. She is a student and wanted to learn English at first, but has gospel interest now. Last week we realized that she knew nothing about God... Like absolutely nothing except that He exists. This week we focused on His love for her and how she can recognize that. It was a miracle that she could understand me! The entire lesson I had to keep repeating myself because she couldn't understand me in English or Korean, but after she said the prayer she could understand me perfectly. The prayer that she said was the first one that she has ever said out loud in her entire life. It was such a simple and sweet prayer! 

Wednesday we watched Women's conference with all the sisters in 강서 zone. I absolutely loved the women's session! President Uchtdorf's talk was really inspiring! Afterwards we headed back to 개봉 for my language evaluation and had English class afterwards. I love teaching English here! All of the people in my class are so funny especially when they speak in English. After class finished we played 탁구 (ping-pong). They tried to make it so you had to say an English word before you hit the ball in the order of the alphabet, but that was to hard so they resorted to playing around the world ping-pong. It was pretty entertaining to watch.

Story time round two: Walking home from English class we got to the intersection that we cross and saw a bunch of drunk men so we decided to keep our distance... It was pretty entertaining to watch them because one of the drunk men started to climb a tree, but fell. Then his drunk friend tried to help him, but that was no use. We were laughing so hard and got a couple weird looks from other people waiting for the light to change. 

Friday we had zone training and it was amazing as always. I will never get tired of the skits that they do. We also had the opportunity to have President and Sister Turner come. They were going to come to 개봉 with us to do missionary work, but plans changed last minute and they headed back to the mission home. They were really sweet and gave us a ride to the bus stop because it was raining and I had a big box (shout out to my wonderful mom) The Elders were also really nice and carried it all the way home for me :) The bus ride home was pretty fun especially when the Beatles kept playing on the radio haha. That bus driver had good taste in music ^^

Saturday we had English class in the morning and then had lunch afterwards. Our investigators had plans so we went to their house early. The lesson was good and we talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy. We had to keep the lesson really short so that they could make their other plans. We explained General Conference and then invited them. They said they would try, but didn't commit. Afterwards we went home, had dinner, and watched the Saturday morning session of General Conference.

Sunday was a bit crazy. We started to watch the Sunday morning session at the church with some ward members when our investigator Margie showed up. We went into the clerk's office and watched it in Tagalog for her. Then we got a text from the Elders saying our other investigator came. We quickly went upstairs and found him with the other members watching in Korean. We had to go on splits with members so that each of us could be with an investigator. Needless to say I didn't understand much of conference since I watched it in Tagolag and Korean. Later that day we got to finish Sunday morning session, but then had a 식사 with the ward mission leader at his house. We had our coordination meeting afterwards.

This week has been busy and full of growth. I've learned a lot about my weaknesses and the things the Lord needs me to change. I am excited to see who I will become as the Lord changes me. Being a missionary has exposed all of my faults and at times is really uncomfortable, but I absolutely love it. I love learned about this gospel everyday and helping my investigators discover the light that it brings. I am so grateful to be a missionary and have the opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father! I hope you all have a great week! I love you!

-Sister Rindlisbacher

P.S. This is the talk given by the former 70 who attends the ward I am serving in. It is really good :)

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/10/sacrifice-is-a-joy-and-a-blessing?lang=eng