Letter - 6/1/14

Family and Friends,
So I realized last week that I said I hit my 6 month mark but I am mistaken and got a week ahead of myself. I apologize I am losing track of time while serving the Lord. BUT this week I hit 6 months and I can't believe it. Time is flying by and I still have so much to learn and so much work to do. This week was just amazing!!!! I don't even know where to start. I will start with Sister Ward's and I adventure to her old area.

Last Monday Sister Ward and I decided we were going to travel to her old area and go to the Korean Folk Village. It was quite the travel but it was so fun. We were able to see a lot of Korean Culture and the village. My favorite part was a little horse show that they did. The minute I found out they had horses I just about lost it. I immediately told Sister Ward that's where we are going because I haven't seen a horse in who knows how long. Yeah since December. I was so excited. They just did some trick riding but it was great. We had so much fun seeing all the Korean History. It was such a beautiful area and I loved every minute of it. We definitely made memories that day and I took lots of pictures.

Tuesday was another really fun day. We meet with a certain Less Active every week, Amber. I may have mentioned her before but Sister Ward and I just love her. She calls the missionaries every morning and every night. She has a mental disability so we always want to do something special for her. We recently started doing Personal Progress with her and have talked a lot about faith. When she received her very own Personal Progress book she just lit up. We also sing I am a Child of God with her and everytime we sing she says that the song makes her feel comfortable. Sister Ward and I just continue to tell Amber how much Heavenly Father really loves her and how precious she really is. She is truly an angel and such a great example to me. I don't think anybody loves the missionaries more than Sister Amber. After Sister Amber we had a practice lesson with a member her name is 김경화. We weren't really sure what to expect because all of our other practice lessons had ended up as dinner at the members home so we prepared but weren't counting on a lot of time. We started and we sang hymns for a good half hour. She loves to sing and just lit up when we all sang her favorite hymns. It really brought the spirit and I could tell she was enjoying it so much. We did end up doing a practice lesson!!! And after the lesson she said "Can I just be baptized again?" It was so funny! She has been a member for almost 40 years and is so strong. We asked if there was anything we could do for her and she said "Can we do this every week? I want to be your investigator weekly." It was great so we are going to begin doing that to help us teach better. I just have to say how much I love my area and my ward, especially the members. It is such an honor to be serving here and I am so grateful.

Thursday we experienced a miracle with a less active. So my area has a lot of less actives so we visit less actives a lot and just pray that they open the door or that they even still live there. This particular less active we visited at the beginning of the transfer and her mom answered the door telling us that we should visit again so we did last week. The girl we were looking for was there! She opened the door and we asked if the girl was home and she said "Yes that's me!" We were in shock. We then asked if we could share a message and she said "Yes." It was crazy because she let us in and we were able to talk to her. We found out that she was baptized about 15 years ago when she was in middle school. She is now married to a Japanese man and lives in Japan. She has been visiting her mom for 6 months and left on yesterday to go back to Japan. She said she hasn't been to church since she was baptized. We shared a message about Jesus Christ and asked what she thought about Christ. She said that it has been so long that she doesn't really know because there is this distance now that she just doesn't know how to fill. We asked why she stopped attending church in the first place and she said that when she was young her friends all judged her because she was Mormon so she stopped. She asked us if we had similar experiences. We were able to share a few. I then asked if she saw missionaries in Japan very often. She said no and said "the Mormon church is in Japan?" We said yes and told her we could get her the information if she gave us some contact information so we could let her know. She lit up and I could tell she desired to go back to church. She said she was a little afraid though because her husband is Buddhist and doesn't know how he will react but she said that she would find out. The whole time meeting with her I just had this overpowering love for her and wanted to help her so bad. I felt as if she is one of the reasons I am in this area. She was truly amazing and the Spirit was so strong. When we left she said I hope to see you again. She was so sincerely grateful for our help. It was such an amazing experience and now I have her email address and can stay in contact with her. Sister Ward and I both are still in awe over the experience.

And then the biggest event of all for the week. So when I first entered Korea we were told the Elder Quentin L. Cook would be coming to our mission for a joint mission conference with the Seoul Mission and indeed he did. Elder Cook was in our mission May 31 and it was amazing! When Elder Cook entered the chapel President Ringwood (area president) announced that Elder Cook had requested to shake each of the missionaries hands one by one. The minute he announced that I could feel Elder Cook's overpowering Christlike love for each of us. The minute I shook his hand he looked at me straight in the eye and I was filled with gratitude, the spirit, and honored to be a part of the greatest work on the earth. It was so neat to watch him acknowledge each of us individually being so proud of us for being there on a mission. When he spoke he had all the missionaries stand who had been out for longer than a year and noticed that most of the missionaries in the room had been out less. He spoke then on the importance of relying on revelation and inspiration from heaven because there aren't as many experienced missionaries. We have to live the standard and the gospel and our role as missionaries in order to receive all that we are entitled to. Everyone is an emissary of the Lord. All people feel inadequate but my inadequacy is made up by my love for the Savior. He then told us that we are the message. We testify of the Savior Jesus Christ everywhere we go and we succeed by inviting even if people reject us. He spoke of 4 areas of love 1. LOVE THE PEOPLE 2. LOVE YOUR COMPANION 3. LOVE YOUR MISSION PRESIDENT 4. LOVE THE SAVIOR. When and if I do all these things I know I will go forth and accomplish the Lord's will for me. He claimed to know three things 1. Jesus Christ Lives. 2. He knows His voice. 3. All the missionaries are where they ought to be. He then left us with a blessing that I know was directed towards all my needs. He wanted each of us to understand that our decision to serve will forever bless all the loved ones you will ever have. He blessed that each of us would have the assurance that we are supposed to be here in South Korea and that each of us will have peace that we will have a successful mission no matter what happens. He said "If you are the message you will have success and you can always hold your head high and be confident." I know that nobody is capable of this work without the Lord so I cannot let incapability interfere and just have to go forth with faith and I will be successful.

Missionary life is amazing when you have the right attitude at all times. It truly is what you make of it. I love this work and am so grateful for this opportunity I have to be here in South Korea sharing the Joy of the Gospel to the Korean people. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and know that He is always with me. Everyday is a new day and has its own miracles. I am blessed to be able to see with new eyes and see the miracles that the Lord sends me everyday. I love and miss each of you dearly but wouldn't trade this opportunity for anything. I hope you all have a great week. Keep smiling and stay smiling! I love you all! Thank you for your love, support and prayers!

Love,
드리스콜자매
Sister Ciarra Jean Driscoll