Letter - 2/17/14

Dear Family and Friends,

Well I survived my first week in Korea. I LOVE IT! I am so blessed to be in 화 곡. This area is amazing and my ward is even better. The ward mission leader and his wife are a young couple with a little boy and one on the way. They have such a love for missionary work and help us out so much. In fact the wife came to 3 of our lessons this week. They have really planted a love for missionary work in the ward also. We have a Mini MTC Class every Sunday night for 2 hours and about 30 people come everytime. We have such a good turn out and we teach from Preach My Gospel. It is truly the most brilliant day ever and everyone tries so hard and listens intently to the message we share. I have the best ward. All the people are so willing to help me and just continue to compliment me on my Korean even though all I can say is hello. I don't really know how to describe it here other than it is so busy all the time. The weather is so nice and not nearly as cold as I thought it would be. It is a lot like Idaho weather so very bearable. The food is amazing! I never know what I am eating but it has all been really good. The only bad thing is I have to eat with chopsticks and OH MY GOODNESS! Eating with chopsticks is the hardest thing EVER! I don't have the muscles in my hands in order to do it! It is quite humorous to everyone to watch me try to eat but I am getting better. 

Last Monday I went on my first exchange because I don't know if I mentioned my Trainer, Sister Kang SeHee is the Sister Training Leader so she gets to meet with all the sisters in my zone. The Exchange was so fun. It was with  Sister Goodnough from Las Vegas and she was able to help me so much. We had a practice lesson Tuesday morning at the church with a sweet lady who served a mission at Temple Square. This lesson, in all honesty, was really really rough but we tried and I tried my best to help Sister Goodnough out. The lady really told us to study hard and she complimented my Korean but in all honesty if you can say hello the people say you speak great Korean so they are really kind. On our way to an appointment we were at a stop light and a young girl was standing there. I started a conversation with her without even thinking! That was the first time it happened because it is so hard for me to feel confident about opening my mouth in Korean but I continue to improve every day. I was just so happy with myself to start the conversation and kind of follow what she was saying. While we were traveling back to meet our original companions we were waiting for the subway and an older man came up to us and said Hello. He then said "Joesph Smith is a good prophet. Do you have a card? I want to go to your church." WHAT?! I couldn't believe what was going on so Sister Goodnough quickly pulls out our mormon.org card and explains where the church is. We had to rush because the subway arrived but oh my goodness I still can't believe it happened. It was truly a miracle.

Every Tuesday Night we have free English Class. It was my first time attending and I loved it. Our investigator 김미영 (Kim Miyoung) came! We met her at the subway station and walked up to the church together. It was a huge step for her because she has never wanted to come to the church for anything but she did for English! She also really enjoyed it and everyone welcomed her. For English class I worked with the Primary Kids on pronunciation for about 1 hour which was a blast! I loved it! Then Sister Kang and I went to the advanced class and sat in on a discussion they were having. I am looking forward to English class tomorrow and working with the Primary kids again. They are all characters and make it so fun.

Wednesday Sister Kang and I had a lesson with our investigator Bak HwonChan. We were to teach the Plan of Salvation and my part to teach was our life here on earth. I began and then I have no idea what happened but I couldn't understand anything and was not able to contribute at all. I kept having random questions and scriptures pop into my head but I didn't know what was going on so I didn't act on the thoughts. At the end of the lesson I was so down on myself. I felt like I let Sister Kang down and then she made sure to tell me that everyone is perfect. She said, "Nobody is perfect. Please forgive yourself."  When she said that it immediately reminded me of my dad always telling me to love myself and be kind to myself. I am my worst critic. I expect so much from myself but all my Heavenly Father expects is my best. She explained to me that our investigator said that he did not want to go to the Celestial Kingdom because it would be too hot (symbol is the sun) he would rather go to the moon (Terrestrial Kingdom). WHAT?! That's what I was understanding in the lesson but I thought I was crazy so I just assumed I wasn't understanding. I couldn't believe it and she couldn't either. All the thoughts and scriptures that ran through my mind would have been perfect with what was going on so I learned that I need to act on my thoughts because the Spirit was trying to help but I did not listen. It is hard to know though because I did not know what was going on so I did not want to ruin the lesson. It's a tricky thing to figure out what to do in that situation but I am starting to act on the prompting I receive.

Every morning and evening a sweet less-active sister, Sister Amber calls to talk to me. She has a handicap and we have the same conversation every morning and night but I absolutely love her. She calls and expresses her love for America, the church, and the missionaries. We met with her on Thursday and made Valentines that we could hand out while street contacting. She loved making them and loves meeting with us. She just brings so much joy each day she calls me. I am so grateful for her and her sweet spirit.

Valentine's Day was an Adventure. We had an appointment with a new investigator!!! YAY! 유은선 (Sister Yoo UnSon) She has met with missionaries before and is interested in practicing her English with me. She is so kind and is an English teacher so it makes sense. We established that we would do the 30/30 program with her. When we began talking about the gospel we talked a lot about the Book of Mormon. Sister Kang looked at me during the lesson and I just began bearing my testimony. When I bore my testimony the Spirit was so strong.  I wanted to say the Book of Mormon is so special to me but I couldn't in Korean so I did in English and I got emotional because is it so special. I paused and Sister Yoo UnSon said, "I can feel it." Having her vocally say she can feel it was amazing because I was definitely feeling the Spirit. It was a really special for me to know that my simple testimony could bring the spirit so strongly. I hope she will never forget that experience and that she will begin to cherish the Book or Mormon like I do now. Sister Kang and I's Valentine Street contacting activity was really fun. We handed out about 100 Candy Messages saying HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY FREE ENGLISH! So far though we haven't gotten any calls but it was the effort that counted. It was really fun though and I was able to carry on some conversations and know what people were saying. 

During personal study time this week I finished 1 Nephi. As I have been reading 1 Nephi I have realized what an amazing example Nephi is to me. I read the story of Nephi when he broke his bow. At that time his entire family murmured, even Lehi, but all Nephi said was yes this is a difficult thing and made a new bow. He accepted the trial and did not murmur once. Everyone goes through trials and all that matter is how you have overcome the trial. Did you overcome it with God's help? Or did you try to do it on your own? Did you search for something to learn from the trial? Or did you just blow it off you shoulder? Right now my trial is Korean and trying to be the missionary God knows I can become. It is hard but in 1 Nehi 20:10 God says He refines us in our furnace of afflictions. This entire mission Heavenly Father is refining me and teaching me through my hardest trials. He has a purpose for each trial we experience. We need to remember that our trials are for our good. I love being a missionary and all the obstacles that come with it because it is teaching me to rely on the Lord and turn to Him for help, comfort, peace, and love. The most comforting scripture I read this week was 1 Nephi 21:16. Christ has engraven us into the palms of His hands. If you think about your own hand and the saying "know it like the back of your hand" you realize that Christ knows us and loves us. He has us in His hands. A place where He will never forget us and will always see us. I love this scripture and put my name in to it so it says Ciarra, I have engraven thee into the palms of my hands.

I am so grateful to be a missionary and to have this knowledge of the gospel. I love being a missionary and all the difficult times because I know Heavenly Father is refining me and Christ knows my feelings. Each of them are forming me into the person and missionary they know I can be. I love this gospel and I know it is true. I am so blessed to be an instrument in the Lord's hands.

Thank you for all your love support and prayers. I pray for each of you daily and hope all continues to be well. I love and miss each of you!

Love
드리스콜 자매
Sister Driscoll