Today a few members, other sister missionaries, and I will go shopping for hanboks - the traditional dress for women, worn to weddings and other special holiday events.
So many things happened this week... here's a quick summary:
~Our investigator 정나연s was baptized on Tuesday!! She is the sweetest, cutest, most faith-filled 16 year old.^^ We've been meeting with her since the end of November and helping her with English (her family lived in New Zealand for about 4 years), but she loved the gospel message. While talking with her one time during the English bit, the conversation turned towards temples and we showed her a few pictures we had. She absolutely loved it! And said she wanted to go... so we talked about how she could go and she decided she wanted to be baptized! It was a special moment. ^^ On Tuesday it was very cool because we had a District Meeting at the chapel, then right after we had her baptism. Our whole district attended and sang, and Sister Shin came along as well. Super spiritual and special time! What touched my heart was when she came out of the water and was talking with us. She was just beaming! And said she couldn't explain her feeling... just "weird" and so happy! Seriously, she is one of the happiest people I have seen be baptized! It was a great day.
~Sister McQueen and I had to run back to the mission office before our next appointment to grab something the elders forgot to bring... as we were about to leave, in walked 하여정s!!! My trainer!!! She came down to visit President and Sister Shin with two other return missionaries!! It was a special moment. I seriously could not speak. She cried a bit and I was just in shock! haha. It was a moment of pure joy to see her again... it seems a bit like a lifetime ago when I was with her as a greenie and couldn't speak Korean much at all. HUGE TENDER MERCY!
~On Thursday Sister McQueen and I were heading to an appointment when we passed by the Korean girl on the street near our house. Before we could say anything she just yelled "Hello!" Sister McQueen and I were both super confused... because it seemed like she knew us or something. Nope! Total stranger. We talked for a bit and apparently she was an English Literature graduate who's preparing to take the TOEIC test. We talked about helping her and maybe she felt pressure. (Sometimes people are really sensitive if they feel pressure.) She said she didn't have a number, so we gave her ours and told her to contact us on her home phone or something. About 20 minutes later we got a text from her, and she wanted to meet the next day! We met her and at first she exhibited just an English and foreign friend interest, but as we got a chance to sit down and talk more about the gospel, she brightened up! It was amazing seeing the difference in her face. ^^ We talked about God and also the Book of Mormon. She kept saying how grateful she was to us. It was a cool experience! A bit of a miracle... and I'm hoping she continues to progress.
~So it turns out, that guy we met on the subway last week is a huge miracle! He met with the elders again and had read the entire Book of Mormon. He had previously studied a ton in the Bible, and loved learning more about Christ. They met for a while and taught him quite a bit about the restored gospel. He agreed to be baptized! What a huge miracle!! And it's crazy to look back on that time meeting him on the subway... Sister McQueen and I are pretty much in shock and awe over it. I'm so grateful God knows what He's doing. This is not Sister Hatch nor Sister McQueen's work... this truly is the Lord's work. I'm reminded of that everyday!
~So much more... so little time...
Anywho, one thought that truly struck me this week stems from a message from Elder Uchtdorf in the Feb 2016 Liahona. He talks about trials in life as a comparison to turbulence. As we go throughout this life, we are experience rough times. Whatever we focus on the most becomes the biggest part of our life... we can choose to only see hard times, or we can choose to be happy! One of the greatest ways to not only be happy, but experience joy is to focus on Christ!
"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:26) I know in my own life that as I focus on Him, every other little hard struggle seems a bit easier and fades away. I know that it's because of Him that we can live happily lives and become better people... He is the good news of the gospel!!
Love ya'll!
--
Sister Marissa Hatch
해치 자매
So many things happened this week... here's a quick summary:
~Our investigator 정나연s was baptized on Tuesday!! She is the sweetest, cutest, most faith-filled 16 year old.^^ We've been meeting with her since the end of November and helping her with English (her family lived in New Zealand for about 4 years), but she loved the gospel message. While talking with her one time during the English bit, the conversation turned towards temples and we showed her a few pictures we had. She absolutely loved it! And said she wanted to go... so we talked about how she could go and she decided she wanted to be baptized! It was a special moment. ^^ On Tuesday it was very cool because we had a District Meeting at the chapel, then right after we had her baptism. Our whole district attended and sang, and Sister Shin came along as well. Super spiritual and special time! What touched my heart was when she came out of the water and was talking with us. She was just beaming! And said she couldn't explain her feeling... just "weird" and so happy! Seriously, she is one of the happiest people I have seen be baptized! It was a great day.
~Sister McQueen and I had to run back to the mission office before our next appointment to grab something the elders forgot to bring... as we were about to leave, in walked 하여정s!!! My trainer!!! She came down to visit President and Sister Shin with two other return missionaries!! It was a special moment. I seriously could not speak. She cried a bit and I was just in shock! haha. It was a moment of pure joy to see her again... it seems a bit like a lifetime ago when I was with her as a greenie and couldn't speak Korean much at all. HUGE TENDER MERCY!
~On Thursday Sister McQueen and I were heading to an appointment when we passed by the Korean girl on the street near our house. Before we could say anything she just yelled "Hello!" Sister McQueen and I were both super confused... because it seemed like she knew us or something. Nope! Total stranger. We talked for a bit and apparently she was an English Literature graduate who's preparing to take the TOEIC test. We talked about helping her and maybe she felt pressure. (Sometimes people are really sensitive if they feel pressure.) She said she didn't have a number, so we gave her ours and told her to contact us on her home phone or something. About 20 minutes later we got a text from her, and she wanted to meet the next day! We met her and at first she exhibited just an English and foreign friend interest, but as we got a chance to sit down and talk more about the gospel, she brightened up! It was amazing seeing the difference in her face. ^^ We talked about God and also the Book of Mormon. She kept saying how grateful she was to us. It was a cool experience! A bit of a miracle... and I'm hoping she continues to progress.
~So it turns out, that guy we met on the subway last week is a huge miracle! He met with the elders again and had read the entire Book of Mormon. He had previously studied a ton in the Bible, and loved learning more about Christ. They met for a while and taught him quite a bit about the restored gospel. He agreed to be baptized! What a huge miracle!! And it's crazy to look back on that time meeting him on the subway... Sister McQueen and I are pretty much in shock and awe over it. I'm so grateful God knows what He's doing. This is not Sister Hatch nor Sister McQueen's work... this truly is the Lord's work. I'm reminded of that everyday!
~So much more... so little time...
Anywho, one thought that truly struck me this week stems from a message from Elder Uchtdorf in the Feb 2016 Liahona. He talks about trials in life as a comparison to turbulence. As we go throughout this life, we are experience rough times. Whatever we focus on the most becomes the biggest part of our life... we can choose to only see hard times, or we can choose to be happy! One of the greatest ways to not only be happy, but experience joy is to focus on Christ!
"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:26) I know in my own life that as I focus on Him, every other little hard struggle seems a bit easier and fades away. I know that it's because of Him that we can live happily lives and become better people... He is the good news of the gospel!!
Love ya'll!
--
Sister Marissa Hatch
해치 자매