Letter - 11/2/14

Family and Friends,

First off HAPPY HALLOWEEN! This week here in good old 금천 we had a great Halloween party and so many people came out. Korea doesn't really celebrate Halloween but since all the missionaries in our ward are from America we had to hold a Halloween party! It was so great and we were able to have such a great turn out of members, members friends, investigators, people who we just handed fliers to and English class members. We had been planning this since the beginning of September and it just really fell together well because of how we worked with the members and the youth. The youth helped us make decoration and decorate the night before which made it even more fun for them to bring their friends to because they could say they were apart of it. We had games and food and just had a good time talking amongst everyone! I just conintue to think how lucky I am to have such wonderful memories as a missionary and how grateful I am to be here in Korea as a missionary. I have so much to be grateful for and have every reason to put a smile on my face everyday and serve my Savior.

Second off...I can't believe I hit 11 months tommorrow?? Where has the time gone? How does time continue to go by faster and faster? I don't know but I am doing my best to live it up every day being in the moment and fulfilling my purpose as a misisonary so the Lord can fulfill His purpose. I realized last week my letter was not a joyful and cheery as they usually are because of the trial and due to the start of November I have been thinking a lot about gratitude. I read President Uchtdorf's talk "Grateful In Any Circumstances" and I have been changed for the better. What an inspirng talk it is and makes me want to work at being more full of gratitude toward my Savior, Heavenly Father and all those who I associate with. I learned so much from this wonderful talk but I think what I loved the most is he said, "The choice is ours." We have been given our free agency and through that we can choose to be grateful, happy, sad, frustrated, we can choose to be anything we want to be! We can choose to feel however we want to feel! We always have our choice! How great is that! Who do you want to be? As for me I want to be grateful, happy, loving, patient, obedient, faithful, diligent, and above all I just want to be more like our Savior Jesus Christ and each day I live I have that choice to make to be more like Christ and follow His example more valiently and in the process I will be full of gratitude and develop His attributes because after all "Gratitude is the catalyst to all Christlike Attributes." I just want you to know that I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to be a missionary and to be apart of the Lord's great and marvelous work. I am grateful for each one of you for your support and prayers in my behalf. I am grateful for Korea and for the people here who I have grown to love so much. I am grateful for this gospel and the joy it continues to bring me each and everyday. I am grateful for my Savior and Heavenly Father who have never let me down and are always by my side each and everyday. I am grateful and I will give gratitude to my Savior and Heavenly Father forever.

Sister Stout and I this week still didn't have a lot of luck long the lines of people accepting the gospel but we had a lot of experiences that manifested to us that everything happens for a reason and no matter what our efforts are never going to waste. We went and visited a lady at her shop who we buy some stuff from and she isn't technically interested in the gospel but while we were there she had some customers and the fact that we taught free English got brought up and the customer just about fell out of her chair and wanted her daughter to do it so badly! We were so excited! We were like finally everything is paying off so we set up the appointment and planned to meet with th mom and daughter and Saturday. Well Saturday came around we arrived at their home and they inform us they don't want to do it. What? Did we understand her correctly? Yes our litte glimmer of hope for a teaching opportunity went down hill fast but I realized that it's okay because Heavenly Father is aware of the family and He is preparing them at His pace and according to His timing. That event was just part of their preparation process to accept this wonderful gospel. Next Sister Stout and I had some extra time before a dinner appointment with a member so we decided to go to a certain park where there were some ladies and try talking to them. We talked to them but they quickly got up and left but we decided to wait for 10 minutes and just see what would happen. We just sat and talked enjoying the fall weather when a lady walked up and said hello. She was immediately interested in what we were doing and who we were. We told her and she though it was neat and said she was Buddihst but she then asked us if she should continue being Buddhist or if she should believe in God. Sister Stout and I were like yes this is what we were waiting for! We asked her what she knew about God and she said not much and seemed to want to learn more. Then she got a phone call which then interupted our conversation. After she got off the phone we tried to tell her that we could meet with her and teach her about God but she quickly said Oh no I don't do that. We were quite confused but once again realized that it is all apart of God's plan and that we must just trust in His timing. I know that I am apart of the Lord's work and that each person I meet I am meant to meet. I love this work and I love being a missionary so much. It has been a life changing opportuinty and I will forever be grateful for the great foundation it is building for my life.

I just want you to know how great the members of Korea are. Due to our lack of investigators we have been spending a lot of time with our members doing practice lessons and so on. They are helping us so much to improve our Korean and build up the church in Korea little by little. I am full of gratitude that I have this opportunity to work with the Relief Society Sisters and teach them this dance. The relationships that I am gaining is just better then I could ever ask for. Because of this we are able to see members almost everday and they are just bending over backwards to help us as we do the same for them. Sister Stout and I are currently teaching a members son who will be getting baptized November 19 and I am just so grateful that his mother trusted us enough to teach him and loved him enough to have the missionary's teach him the lessons. They are just full of so much patience, love and work so hard to be the best they can be. They continue to inspire me and I am touched by their examples.

I love the people of Korea and I love serving here. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. I need these people to help me become who the Lord needs me to become. I am so grateful to be in their service and to be touched by their love. I love being a missionary and know with all my heart that this church is true. I love this gospel and know as we continually seek to know of it's truths we will grow stronger and stronger. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ loves you. They are who I represent and I know through them I am able to do this work and be who I am. I love them and I love serving them. Thank you for all your love, support and prayers. I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween! I love you and MIss you! Remember that the choice is ours and we have so much to be grateful for! Look for the Lord's hand in your life and simply thank Him for His goodness, love, mercy, patience, and blessings. Develop the attitude of gratitude! LOVE YOU ALL!

Love,
드리스콜자매
Sister Ciarra Jean Driscoll

Letter - 10/26/14

Family and Friends,

Well another week has come and gone and I don't even know where to start. Let me first start off by telling you how much I truly love being a missionary and how lucky I am to be a part of the Lord's great work even during the hard times which I love because they cause me to grow and draw closer to God each and everyday! This past week we had Zone Conference and the theme was "Live By the Spirit". We focused on 4 aspects of missionary work that the Spirit is absolutely without a doubt needed. The Holy Ghost is first of all one of the greatest gifts that our Heavenly Father has given us and sometimes we all need to be reminded that we have the gift of the Holy Ghost and that it can be with us at all times as long as we are living worthy of it's companionship. It brings peace, happiness, comfort, confirmation, and just a wonderful sense of belonging within your soul. But it speaks in a still small voice so small that if we are preoccupied with things of the world that we could miss it's wonderful promptings or companionship. In my father's words we must slow down and just listen. As we do that we can be more aware of the Spirit around us and block out those things of the world. The Holy Ghost changes our hearts and fills us with the desire to do what is right. We must be living everyday by the Spirit so we can qualify for all of its promised blessings. The Holy Ghost is the coach! As we gain confidence in the Holy Ghost and follow it's guidance we know that through it we cannot fail. I know that through the Holy Ghost we can do God's will and fulfill His purpose for us. As we live continually worthy of the Holy Ghost we can receive God's divine guidance for us personally and become what God truly sees in us.

This week Sister Stout and I worked so diligently but yet not a lot of success happened. I learned to internalize the wonderful scripture Alma 26:27. I didn't understand why so many people rejected us when we went out to proclaim this wonderful gospel or why out of all the people we talked to there were maybe 5 people who would listen just a little longer than the others. I still don't understand but I came to realize that all though people were turning us down and didn't want to listen to our message nothing could stop us from opening our mouths to the wonderful people in Korea no matter how many rejections we received. I know that our efforts every day this week were not wasted! The Lord uses all our efforts to hasten His work and bring His children closer to Him even if we cannot see the immediate results. I know that each day is for a reason and God is stretching and growing me to my maximum to the person He sees in me. I am so grateful to be serving here in Korea even if I haven't seen the success of many investigators or fluently speaking the languge because I have seen the success within myself with a solid testimony of this gospel and a firm love for my Savior, my Heavenly Father and the Korean people.  I love this work and love serving my Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ. They never have and never will let me down as long as I rely on them. They receive all the credit for what I am doing and who I am becoming. I will thank them forever.

I must say though despite the rejections this last Tuesday the Relief Society Sisters began learning their dance for the Christmast party and wow I am very impressed with how quickly they are learning the dance that I am preparing for them. I made it super simple and as I was showing it to them I was just filled with so much joy because I realized that I am sharing my talent and helping others make fun memories that they can always remember. It's going to be so fun and I am so grateful for this opportunity! I will be sure to video it and send it sometime!!! It is a lot different teaching dance in Korean but it's working out pretty good!

Well that's it for today! Sorry if I am a little scattered but I just want you all to know that I love you and miss you! Thank you for your love support and prayers in my behalf! You have no idea the affect each of you have on my day and the strength you give me. I am humbled to reflect and think about all the people who are supporting me through this life changing experience! I love you all! Thank you and remember In the strength of the Lord we can do hard things. Look for the Lord's blessings each day and they will always give us a reason to smile! Have a wonderful week!

Love,
드리스콜자매
Sister Ciarra Jean Driscoll

Letter - 10/19/14

Family and Friends,

First I have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE #1 DAD AND TO THE BEST BROTHER IN THE WORLD! Wow I can't believe it has already been your birthday! What a fun time that you had so I have heard through many emails. I just first want to acknowledge my dad. If many of you didn't know I am kind of a daddy's girl. Dad I am so grateful for you and for all the counsel you have given me throughout my life. Thank you for the memorie and the numerous Dadday-Daughter Dates. You are such an amazing man who has sacrificed so much for me and our family just to make sure we are happy. Dad thank you for always listening to me and for empathizing with my situations. I love you! Now, Tyler..Where to start. Yes since I can remember you teased me and tickled me but what good memories those are even though I was never really happy when it was occuring. I just want to say thank you for being the most amazing big brother and for always leading by example. I have looked up to you my whole life and admire your desire to always follow our Savior Jesus Christ. I hope you both had a wonderful birthday and that you have grown a little wiser this past year! I love you both so much! Thanks for being the #1 men in my life!!

Now for my life as a missionary. Well where to start. So I have new companion and her name is Sister Stout. She is absolutely amazing! Like I mentioned last week we lived together for three transfers in my first area and I am just so thrilled to be serving with her. She is from Illinois but grew up in Japan for 12 years and speaks fluent Japanese. She is the coolest and currently her dad took a job offer her in Korea so her family is living in the Daejon mission. Isn't that so cool. I just love her to death already! We have had quite the adventures since she has come and just by being herself she is pushing me to continually improve not only my Korean but just my way of missionary work. She truly is one who leads by example and I am honored to be serving along side her.  We both are just ready to go and conquer this little city of 금천.  We had a practice lesson with our sweet 황미주 and we taught the Plan of Salvation. The way we taught was just in so much unity and it was the best lesson I have ever taught as a missionary. This companionship truly has been an answer to my prayers and a tender mercy from the Lord. I truly don't know why but everday the Lord continues to bless me and my happiness just continues to increase. Just when I think I can't be happier I am showered with blessings and I am so grateful that I have been given the eyes to recognize them and receive them with so much joy.

One specific blessing that I really noticed this week was when we decided to go visit a particular Less Active family in which I have visited a lot before but I wanted Sister Stout to meet them so Thursday came along and we decided to go visit this family. The parents are less active while the kids come to church weekly. When we met with the parents it was actually the first time that I understood everything he was saying but at the time I wish I wasn't understanding because of the things he was saying and just continued to twist our words around. He was extremely hard hearted and the whole time and I was just praying that his heart would be softened. We shared a scripture with him to invite the Spirit and help him understand why the Lord requires us to be obedient so we can receive blessings and how we can show our love to God which is also through obedience. He then explained that he doesn't want those blessings and just told us that we couldn't talk to him and began criticizing us. It was hard because all he really wanted to do was fight and Sister Stout and I didn't know what to do. He then began telling us that we can't communicate with him because we don't know Korean so we should just leave. It was hard and it was frustrating because he was right our Korean isn't perfect but we  were able to rub it off our shoulders pretty well and just realized that we did what we could to help them.

So you may question why I consider this a blessing. Well its a blessing in disguise as I look back at the experience I can see what I have really learned as a missionary. I have learned how to be strong and not let anybody else's opinion affect what I think of myself. I use to worry alot about what others thought of me so I thought I had to be perfect in everyone's eyes and so if I would have been my old self that situation would have brought me to tears and I wouldn't have been able to handle it but the Lord has truly taught me the principle about accepting me and I am just happy to be me. I have learned to rely on the Savior and look to Him for strength through hard times and allow Him in so I can be perfected through Him. Like Moroni 10:32 says "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God" It's amazing to me how I can think back on different experiences I have had, see the lessons I learned, and see how the mission has changed me.

I just love this work so much and each day I cannot express enough gratitude to my Heavenly Father. He loves me and I have been shown so many signs of His love throughout my life. How merciful, patient and loving He is to me. I love Him and am so grateful for His love. I love being a missionary and sharing this love that is filled in my heart each day. I may just be like the Brother of Jared in Ether when he prepares the stones for the Lord to touch them. In a missionary point of view the stones are people and each day I am just going out preparing people little by little so the Lord can touch them one by one and light their lives with His love. I am a tool in His work and that is all I desire to be.

Thank you for all your love, support and prayers. I will never be able to thank you each enough but know that I love each of you and look to each of your examples so improve myself and become the person God wants me to be. I hope you are all doing well and continue to remember the Lord in your lives. I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU! Have a wondrful week full of smiles and memories!

Love,
드리스콜자매
Sister Ciarra Jean Driscoll

Letter - 10/13/14

Dear Family and Friends,

Well I don't even know where to start as I got on the computer today I was overflowed with photos of a brand new baby niece, Ember Grace. WELCOME TO THE WORLD LITTLE EMBER! Oh how I wish I could be there to see her right now but I know that Heavenly Father is taking far better care of her than I ever could and this is where she would want me to be anyways if she could express her feelings at this time. What a special time in my family's life and testimony builder as we receive a new life, a new miracle, and new assurance that God is aware of us and He Lives. What a blessing it is to have a family where we can love each other, support each other, make memories, build friendships and know that we can live as eternal families with God one day. I am so grateful that I have this knowledge and have the opportunity to share it with the Korean people. I love my family so much. They are one of the greatest blessings I have ever received and I thank my Heavenly Father each and everyday for them individually. They each teach me different things and have their own strengths that I am able to learn from to make myself better and more Christlike. I LOVE YOU DAD, MOM, TYLER, JOELLE, EDEN, EMBER, MALLORY, and HAILEY! Thank you for being YOU!

As for the missionary work this week! Well it was the last week of the transfer so we received transfer calls! Yeah we were all really nervous because currently we are lacking in sister missionaries so sister areas in the mission are beginning to close down. We thought for sure it would be one of our areas because it would be easy to close because both wards meet in the same church building. We waited and waited all night! Sister Lyman and Sister Hunter were pretty sure they were leaving as they have served here for 5 transfers now so it was just dependant on what would happen to Sister Hammerl and I. Well come to find out they didn't close us down and my new companion will be Sister Stout!!!  I lived with her when I was in 화곡  for 3 transfers!! Icouldn't believe it! Poor girl is stuck with me for another 6 weeks! haha Just kidding but I am so grateful for my mission president and for his worthiness to receive revelation for me that is according to the Lord's will. It is going to be awesome and truly is an answer to my prayers! It is a true tender mercy from the Lord to be able to serve with her this next transfer.  Even more exciting news!! Sister Hunter will be going to serve in my last area!! I am so excited for her but so sad to see her leave.  I have learned so much from Sister Hunter and it has been an honor to be serving with her. She is one of the most Christlike people I know and truly demonstrated Christ's attributes each and every day with me and others. I admire her so much and thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to build an eternal friendship with her.

Wasn't General Conference just great though!! I was able to watch it this weekend and I just loved it! How lucky we are to have this gospel and such great Church leaders that guide and direct this church under the will of the Lord. I especially enjoyed the new additions of allowing the Quorum of the Seventy speak in their native tongue! All of us missionaries were waiting for Korean but it never showed but it's okay because we still probably wouldn't have understood it that well. Good old Korean in the words of my missionary president "Korean isn't hard. It just takes a long time." That is the most true statement but I am just so grateful for the amount of Korean I have been given that allows me to fulfill my purpose each day. One talk that I loved was from Carlos A. Godoy's talk as he talked a lot about his Patriarchal Blessing. As most of you know it was my Patriarchal Blessing that really got me here on a mission and I cannot tell you how grateful I am for the direct guidance Heavenly Father gave me through it, but like Elder Godoy I too wondered what I could do to make sure all the blessings that the Lord has promised me come true. So these last two transfers I have studied my Patriarchal Blessing everyday, paragraph by paragraph and charted out what blessings I will receive, what I have to do to receive them and how I can receive them. It has been an amazing experience and I could not be more grateful for the spiritual guidance I have received. I love Elder Godoy's comment of "Just because things are going well doesn't mean that there isn't something that could be better." There is always something better and we can always push a little harder. We must do what it takes so we can receive the best of blessings that are available to us because we are God's children and He has the best of the best waiting to pour them down upon us. I know that as we are about doing the Lord's will doing our best and using Christ's atonement in our lives we can receive those most wonderful blessings. We are receiving them now but we can receive more as we do what it takes and give our whole commitment to God. HE WILL fulfill His promised blessings as we do our part and show our love to Him.

I also especially loved our dear prophet's words. Isn't President Thomas S. Monson such a wonderful man as so many of the church leaders expressed their love to him and shared his amazing stories of Christlike service and love.  How lucky we are to be led by a true man of God. I too know for myself through the power of the Holy Ghost that President Thomas S. Monson is God's chosen prophet in this day. I know President Monson is leading God's true church and as we give heed to his teachings we can be led safely through this life because we can always trust the prophet a mouthpiece to the Lord. Talking on following Christ I loved how he told us that "Decisions determine Destiny." The decisions we make truly are determining the rest of our lives and we are so lucky to know that Heavenly Father has given us the tools on how to make correct decisions. He did not send us out into this world without guidance or direction. He gave us the tools and now is the time to use them so we can make our way back to Him. I love his comment "Walking where Jesus walked is less important than walking as He walked." We can all walk the path Christ walked. In fact we all are. He experienced everything that we have experienced it just a matter of HOW we are walking that path. We all have the potential to walk our path the way that Christ walked it. There are still challenges but if walk our path the way Christ walked it we will have Him by our side supporting us, lifting us, comforting us, strengthening us and enduring with us. I know that Christ's path is the way. He will guide us as long as we turn to Him and rely on His Atonement to walk as He walked.

After conference yesterday Sister Hunter had to say goodbye to many of the members and the hardest was our sweet 황미주 (young adult mission leader).  We both cannot express the love we have for her but the relationship and friendship we have built is eternal. We did a practice lesson with her and then we just talked. She told us about the decision process of how she thinks God chooses where each of His missionaries need to go. She believes that there is also a counsel in heaven where they decide and say this person needs to go to this place because they can help that person who is living there. She told us that God sent Sister Hunter and I to 금천 for her because we are her angels. Sister Hunter and I both had tears running down our faces. We found one reason why we were sent to this wonderful ward and in the result of our effort we have established a friendship that will last forever. We are family. I am so grateful and I personally think that 황미주  was our angel as she brightened our days when things were hard, strengthened our testimony through bearing hers and giving us hope to carry on. I am so grateful for her and her love. I don't know how I have gotten so lucky to have so many wonderful people influence my life for the better but I am full of gratitude every single day and will thank my God forever.

Well I am running low on time and just want to close with my testimony.

I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and is aware of us personally. I know He sent His Son Jesus Christ out of love for His children to atone for each of our sins, sorrows, pains, and disappointments individually. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know He lives and through Him we can have the hope and strength to carry on through this troubling world. I know He will forever carry our load as we come unto Him. I know Jesus Christ is our perfect example and through following Him and walking as He walked we are on our way to a life full of eternal peace and happiness. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ restored Christ's gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Prophet Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ on that spring day.  I know the Prophet Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and he sacrificed everything for the gospel of Christ. I know the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It brings us closer to Christ and our Heavenly Father. I know it is God's words to His children manifesting that He loves us and He is the same yesterday, today and forever. I know God answers prayers. He hears each of our prayers and knows our needs and as we turn to Him He will give us the best gift to help us.  I know this church is true. I know it brings happiness to lives because I am a living witness of that truth. I know these things through the power of the Holy Ghost who is my constant companion and I know the Holy Ghost guides and directs me each day as I remain worthy of its companionship. I love this gospel. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.   

I love you and miss you all!

Love,

드리스콜자매

Sister Ciarra Jean Driscoll

Letter - 10/6/14

Dear Family and Friends,

Well I cannot believe that another month has come and gone! How is it possible that I have now been a missionary for 10 months! Time is truly flying by and now that I am on the downhill slide it’s going by faster then ever before. This week was just another great week in Korea and I am so grateful to be serving as a missionary at this time. I have been asked a lot these last two weeks when I will be able to watch Conference. I will be watching conference next Saturday and Sunday in English! I am so excited and can't wait to hear the words of our Church leaders. I know that through conference we receive personal revelation and guidance as we listen to the prophet's words and then act. I wish when I was younger I would have valued those General Conference Weekends and really realized what they contained. We have the opportunity every 6 months to receive direction from our Heavenly Father through His servants. Whatever is said in Conference is from God and we must listen to His counsel. "Whether by mine own or by the voice of my servants, it is the same."  As far as the Women's General Session when Sister Hunter and I heard that a Korean primary choir sang we immediately looked it up on LDS.og and watched it. When I was watching them sing I started seeing familiar faces and come to find out that 4 of those adorable Korean girls were from my last area in 화곡.   As I watched them sing in their Korean traditional clothing I realized the love I have for these people. The love that I have developed for the Korean people in just 10 months is so strong that I can't explain. I am so grateful to be serving amongst them and learning through their examples.

This week I found out that love and service truly paves the way and opens the hearts of others. As I mentioned last week Sister Hunter and I are short on investigators. We focused on one specific investigator who dropped us last week and tried to figure out how we could show our love to her and serve her. She is currently going through a hard time because she needs to find a job and the job her parents want her to have contains taking a three part test in which she has now failed three times. She feels like she has let her family down and told us that she just needs time because that will be the best medicine for her. We were so sad and just wanted to give her a spark of hope back into her life and let her know that we believe in her and so does our Heavenly Father so she just needs to trust in Him. So this week we turned to the scriptures and found Alma 38:5 where Alma is counseling his son Shiblon and reminding him to trust in the Lord because He will always support us in our afflictions. We made the scripture more personal to her putting her name in so it would say" And now my (my Daughter,신나리) I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust‍ in God even so much ye shall be delivered‍ out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day."  We wrote this wonderful scripture on a message card and made her cookies. When we delivered them she wasn't home but later that night after planning we received a text from her thanking us and asking us if we had time next week again!  She then said that she must try again on that test!  Our small act of love and service brought her to have just a little more hope and confidence. The scripture and cookies did the job we were asking for as we did it out of sincere love which gave her some confidence in the Lord to trust in Him and keep trying. I know that as we love her and continue to serve her she will feel God's love for her. I am just so grateful for the scriptures, they always have the perfect guidance and words of comfort.

I don't know if I have mentioned this but my ward Relief Society has asked me to choreograph a simple dance for them to perform at the ward Christmas Party!  Yes I am so excited because with my talent of dance it is kind of hard to share but I have been given this opportunity to share it with this wonderful ward here in 금천. I am so excited. On Friday we met with our Young Single Adult 황미주 who we do practice lessons with and she said they have decided on a song and it is "Dancing Queen."  It will be quite the experience and I can just picture our Relief Society now. They are all have such fun personalities and characters. I am just once again so grateful to my Heavenly Father that He is giving me this chance to share just a portion of my talent that He has given me. Speaking a little bit of 황미주,    Sister Hunter and I taught the third lesson to her this week and she was just amazed of how much we have improved. She truly has played such a huge role in my missionary work here in 금천. She has taught us just about everything there is to know and I admire her so much. The relationship I have gained with her is one that will last forever and I will never be able to thank her enough. We are truly family. Sister Hunter and I always talk about how we want to be like her and when we go home we are going to do skype dates with her all the time. The relationships like I have said before that I am gaining here in Korea is worth it all. I am coming to know my brothers and sisters here in Korea and there is just a special bond. I love these people so much and will serve them with all my heart, might, mind and strength for my Savior and Heavenly Father.

As I have been studying the Book of Mormon this week I read about Helaman and His wonderful Stripling warriors. The more I read the stories of the Book of Mormon the more I learn and the more I love them. As they introduce the qualities of the stripling warriors I am just amazed with their qualities. It says that they were true at all times, valiant, courageous and men of truth and soberness. How did they develop such qualities? They were taught the commandments of God and how to walk uprightly before HIm.  It's through the commandments and obeying them that we develop such qualities like the stripling warriors or Helaman or Moroni. The commandments are Heavenly Father's personal instructions to us that allow us to be taught by the Most High. The Book of Mormon is a guide on how to be a faithful follower of Christ and I love it so much. As the story continues Helaman and his stripling warriors go off to battle and when I read this story the song "We'll Bring the World His Truth" just kept running through my mind. As I read I noticed how Helaman continued to call his army either, "little force", "little band", or "small force." But yet these warriors accomplished the most in the war and went out and fought more courageously then any of the men in the Book of Mormon. It just showed me that Heavenly Father really does make small and simple things great as these young men fought valiantly in HIS STRENGTH. These stripling warriors were the little boys who had never fought before but because they had been taught the commandments of God and developed such qualities through God's teachings they could overcome anything that came their way because they were consistently relying on God and turning to Him at all times. I know that as we follow the examples of the stripling warriors in developing such qualities and faith that the Lord will make us great in His eyes.

I want you all to know how much I love you and appreciate your encouragement, counsel, prayers, support and love. I love being a missionary and realize that time is going by and this is the only time to live this wonderful experience so that is what I am doing. I am living in the moment and recognizing the Lord each day and becoming more and more aware of the tender mercies He gives me. I love this gospel and I know it is true. I know the Heavenly Father loves and know each of His children. He loves us so much that He sent His ONly Begotten Son, Jesus Christ to this earth to atone for our sins so He could show us mercy and allow us to enter back into His presence. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and He is your Savior. No matter what we go through in life He will always understand. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and restored the fullness of the gospel through him. I know that through God's power Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon which testifies of Christ and draws us closer to Him. I know the Book of Mormon is true and as we read it everyday the happiness of our lives will grow beyond what you can imagine. This gospel is true. I know it. I live it. I love it. Have a wonderful week each of you and remember that the Lord is always with us as we remain with Him. He will never leave us or walk away. I miss and love each of you!!!

Love,

드리스콜자매

Sister Ciarra Jean Driscoll

Letter - 9/28/14

Family and Friends,

Well it's been another great week here in Korea and I am so grateful to be serving here with so many wonderful missionaries and members. The church in Korea just amazes me everyday as they have such willing hearts, great love, and a desire to be obedient. I am learning so much from each person I meet and I know God puts in our path specific people to help us and strengthen us. This week was a great a week although our investigators decided to quit meeting with us which is okay because no matter what the work of the Lord will always go on. Sister Hunter and I still had great experiences and still are just working our hardest to fulfill our purpose by drawing others closer to Christ. What I love about our missionary purpose is that it is not just focused on those who are not members of our church but it's focused on everyone, missionaries, members, nonmembers, all of God's children. Everyone needs strengthening and everyone deserves to feel God's love for them individually. Also it can be applied to everyone! We have the opportunity to draw people closer to Christ everyday through our actions, words, and example. I have found that there is no better way to invite people to Christ then through our own example of drawing closer to Him and accepting His invitation of coming unto Him and doing as He would do. As a missionary I am set apart to represent Jesus Christ. I wear His name on my chest everyday. This means I am set apart to become more like Jesus Christ everyday, to apply His teachings and gain His attributes of faith, hope, love, humility, virtue, obedience, diligence, and patience. This is what the mission is teaching me to become more like Christ and do as He would do as I walk down the street or meet with members or just live in my apartment. Being a missionary is great isn't it! But you don't have to be set apart to become like Christ everyday each of us can do our best at being like Him and because of His atonement we can improve daily and take step closer to becoming like Christ.

Sister Hunter and I on Monday orginally had an appointment with the Chinese lady but she cancelled. We were already for a member lesson and everything but it didn't work out but no worries because we took the opportunity to teach the member and strengthen our relationship with her. It was really fun and we did a practice lesson with her to practice teaching as well as our Korean. We ended up talking a lot about obedience and she just talked about different commandments and how sometimes she doesn't know why she is obedient she just is and that tesitfied to me her faithfulness, love and trust in the Lord. Sometimes we can't understand everything the Lord asks us of because He requires our faith and then He works according to our faith. She then invited us to stay and make dinner with her. It was great time to gain a stronger relationship with her and make memories. I am so grateful for the relationships I am building here in Korea. They will be forever lasting.  I love the people here and it's an honor to be serving them.

Wedensday we were able to meet with a cute less active family. This family is just amazing and I don't understand why they are less active but Sister Hunter and I continueto visit building relationships with them and sharing our testimony of the church. The dad is really hard to understand and he knows that most the time he is talking we have no idea what he is saying so he finally asked us "If you can't understand how can you do this missionary work?" This the ngave us the perfect opportunity to share our testimonies of the Spirit and how when the Lord gives a commandment He will not allow us to fail as long as we do all we can to be faithful and trust in Him. Through the Spirit of the Lord we are able to do what we need to do as long as we are willing. It's like Nephi in Chapter 3 verse 7. Nephi showed God is willingness to do whatever He asked and then trusted in Him to send His spirit to guide Nephi so that he could accomplish what the Lord asked. Through the Spirit Sister Hunter and I are able to accomplish our purpose everyday by being obedient and living worthy of the Holy Ghost's companionship. Although we can't understand every word when someone is speaking to us the spirit can. We have been given the call from the Lord to preach this gospel in the Korean language and that is exactly what we are doing. Each day we are being taught from the Most High through the Spirit. There is no greater learning experience then what I am living right now.

I know I mention this probably every transfer that I am able to go to the temple and this week I did. I am so grateful for the temple and the blessings that we can recieve there. I have grown such a love for the temple over the past year that I cannot describe. Everytime I enter I am filled with a peaceful feeling of love because I know that it is our Heavenly Father's home and I can feel His love there. Everytime I go I realize that the temple and the way we feel is reality. The world we live in is not with all the distractions and difficulties of feeling the Spirit. We should always be striving to live so that feeling we recieve from the temple jsut becomes a part of us and we can be in the world but not of the world. When all the missionaries are gathered in the temple there truly is a special spirit and I am so grateful to be apart of it. Tears roll down my eyes everytime I hear prayers offered for the missionaries around the world because I then realize how many prayesr are headed my way to have succes, to be safe and to have the spirit always with me. Thank you for all your prayers in my behalf they strengthen me and determine me to work harder to your prayers are answered.

Sister Lyman and I went on an exchange this weekend and it was a dream come true. We were in the MTC together and we always talked about how great it would be if we lived or even served together and here we are in 금천. I am so grateful for her and her example. She has such a powerful testimony and fun personality. She told me about the Invite the Spirit box in Chapter 10 of PMG Tour. I have read that box I don't know how many times but this time she it clicked that it doesn't have to be applied only to teaching but to my everyday life. Knowing that I can apply that box everyday in every situation with my companion as well as other missionaries and people on the street changed my outlook on having the spirit with me. I know that as I continue to pray, share experiences with other, share scriptures, express my love for my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ, and bear my testimony frequently I truly can always invite the spirit into my life at all time. My life is beginning be based on that small box and those 5 simple things so that I can always enjoy the blessing of the Spirit and the constant companionship of the Spirit.

This week was full of scriptures as I am striving to finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the transfer and I want to share one specific scripture that I loved. Alma 33:23 says "your burdens may be light through the joy of the Son of God." Christ can and will lift our burdens. he will strengthen us and knowing we have His support and help will always bring us joy. He is always there and we can always rely on our Savior Jesus Christ for help, comfort, joy and strength. I love the scriptures and am so grateful for the testimony I have gained through them. The scripture especially the Book of Mormon has give me so much guidance comfort and encouragement. I wish before my mission I would have realized what a blessing the scriptures are and what they really contained but I have now learned and I will turn to them in all my times of need for joy, encouragement, peace, comfort, and help. I am learning so much as a misisonary and I coudn't be more grateful.

 Thank you for all your love and support! I love you and miss each of you! I pray for you daily and think of you often. I love being a missionary and I know this is the Lord's work! I hope you each have a wonderful week full of smiles and memories! Always remember the Lord each and everyday and thank Him for all the blessings of each day because there are many!

Love,
드리스콜자매
Sister Ciarra Jean Driscoll

Letter - 9/22/14

September 22, 2014
Dear Family and Friends,

Well another week has come and gone! My companion and I are trying to figure out where September went because it's almost over and I can't believe it. Fun fact about September-- last year September 26th I left for Europe and had the time of my life and then two years ago I left for Africa with Mallory and now in September 2014 I am in Korea! What amazing memories and opportunities I have been given and I thank my family for all the support, love, and prayers they have given me through all my crazy adventures. I especially thank my parents because I could not have done any of this without their help, love, support and encouragement.

This week was so memorable Sister Hunter and I saw miracles like crazy! Three major ones that I want to share! Then we played a super fun prank on our roommates and then visited Seoul Grand Park with a lady we exercise with every morning! It was such an exciting week and I am so happy and excited to share it with you all so ENJOY!!

SEOUL GRAND PARK So every morning us sisters go out behind our apartment and exercise at a school field and every morning there is a sweet lady who exercises with us. About two weeks ago she invited us to go on a picnic with her so that's what happened this week. All 4 of us went to the Seoul Grand Park and had a picnic with 김보영 (Boyoung Kim). She is the cutest lady and she was so happy to be spending this time with us. She is currently fighting cancer and her husband is in a hospital far from here so she is living alone. We had such a  memorable time and we just love her so much! It was so fun to spend that time with her and build a friendship with her that could maybe lead to her wanting to learn more about us as missionaries. I am so grateful for the people I meet everyday and how after a while we just become a part of the neighborhood here in Korea and people look forward to seeing us and saying hello to us. It is such a blessing.

PRANK So our sweet roommates Sister Lyman and Sister Hammerl are the Sister Training Leaders in our Zone so they have to go on lots of splits. This particular split they both went to the other sister's area and so we were left in 금천 (Geumcheon) all alone so we had to do something to show our love. So Sister Hunter and I went to the store and bought maybe 300 paper cups for our wonderful plan. After planning that night we started laying the cups out on the floor and filling them with water. This made it so when the sisters came home they couldn't get into their study room.  We covered a good portion of their floor with cups and then spelled out love you in Korean out of cups with a little letter that said "We missed you so much that we cried all night and to prove it we caught all our tears in these cups." Yeah it was such a party! Sister Hunter and I had way too much fun doing this and the Sisters died when they saw it! It was so fun!

MIRACLE #1 Last week when I emailed I told you about the chinese lady who asked us if she could give us her number but we hadn't heard back from her. Well about 2 hours after emailing we got a random call from a weird number and sure enough it was her. She apologized and said she had been busy but we were able to set up an appointment because she really wants to learn about the Book of Mormon! It was a miracle and Sister Hunter and I were so happy.  Her name is 임정자. We ended up meeting with her on Saturday and she is now a new investigator and will be meeting with her today! She has so much interest in the Book of Mormon and has studied the Bible her whole life. When we taught her for the first time our focus was why we need the Book of Mormon. We shared certain scriptures with her that were similar to what she was telling us about the Bible. She was telling us about the parable of the grain of mustard seed and faith. We then turned to Alma 32 and read that with her. At first she read it to herself and said some of it is right but not all but we had her read it again out loud. When she did that she said "Oh that is right. Why do I need this book? It is exactly like the Bible. Having two books will make my head hurt." Sister Hunter and I just bore testimony and invited her to begin reading because we know that through reading it the Spirit will manifest to her the truth of the Book of Mormon and she said she would! She said as she looked at the Book of Mormon that it is a good book and she wants to come to know it better like the Bible. She then told us why she met with us. She said when we said hello to her on the street she thought we were beautiful but it wasn't our outside beauty that caught her attention. She said because the light in our eyes was beautiful, so she wanted to meet with us. I am so grateful to know that the Light of Christ is shining through me. Each day I go out just hoping someone will recognize that light and their spirit will jump just a little to catch their attention and desire to have that same light. It was so neat to teach her and I can just see her now reading the Book of Mormon. We will be meeting with her today so pray for Sister Hunter and I!!!

MIRACLE #2 Sister Hunter and I have continued the role play on the street and our testimony of that just continues to be strengthened everyday! Each day we set a meaningful activity for each hour of the day so this particular day we had lots of time on the street so one of our meaningful activities was to focus on the Book of Mormon and give one away. As we walked the streets we role played to each other back and forth different situations we could have. I initiated one where I asked Sister Hunter what the book was that was in her hand. It was fun haha Well once we finished that role play about 10 minutes later we were walking the street and I saw this old and I mean old man, about to bend over to pick up a piece of garbage but I was worried that he was going to break so I quickly went to pick it up but he beat me to it. Well later we found out he is old! He said he was 93!! But when he saw us after I bent down with him he looked into our eyes and was just so happy. Just picture a 93 year old Korean old man with no teeth. He was the cutest. He looked at us and the book that was in Sister Hunter's hand (Book of Mormon of course) caught his attention and he asked to see it. We gave it to him and tried to talk to him but we couldn't understand him and he couldn't understand us but he was so excited and kept saying "This is good! This is good! Another Testament of Jesus Christ! This is so good!" It was so cool. We couldn't stay long though because we had another appointment so we said our goodbyes and we told him the book was a gift. He looked into our eyes, no I think he was reading my soul but he sincerely thanked us with the biggest smile on his face. It was such an amazing experience. So we went to our appointment but it cancelled so we went back to the same road where we met this sweet old man and he was still standing there on the street looking through the Book of Mormon. It had been like 15 minutes too! It was so neat though to see someone appreciate the book just as much as I do. Because we couldn't understand him that well we couldn't get his number or his address but we are committed this week to walk that street every night putting our faith in God that He will allow us to meet again. I just love all these special experiences I am having. I know Heavenly Father is aware of my efforts and as Sister Hunter and I continue to exercise our faith each day working diligently He answers our prayers and allows us to fulfill our purpose!

MIRACLE #3 So this week we had President interviews at the mission office so Sister Hunter and I had to travel about 2 hours to get there and then 2 hours to get back. When we were traveling home we were leaving the last subway station and went out an exit that we usually don't go out of. Actually I have never been out of that exit and we had no idea where we were but we just continued to follow the crowd leaving the subway station. As we were going down the escalator there were some salesmen type people selling magazines which is normal so we continued walking.  Just as we are about to cross the street we here "MISSIONARIES" so we turn around and this man is running after us, so we go to him. He asks us if we are a part of the LDS church but he says that old translation of the church's name but we recognize it. Well come to find out he was baptized into a ward some years ago but then he left to China for 11 years and never could find the church due to the new translation of the name.  When he saw us he knew we were the missionaries for his church. He continued to tell us that he wasn't living in this area but a different area so he gave us his number so that we could send his number to the Elders where he was living! I could tell how badly he wanted to go to church and how diligently he had been searching for it. I am just so grateful that we went through that exit at that time.  When we said good bye I was just full of the spirit and knew that was the reason we went that way so we could find that member. It's so powerful to see how Heavenly Father guides our work and leads us to places that we normally don't go but later find out we were meant to be there. I just love this missionary opportunity I am having and the strength that I receive each day to continue to go forward in faith and trust in God.

I just want you all to know that all these amazing things are happening because of Heavenly Father. I am still Sister Driscoll who can't speak very good Korean but Heavenly Father is blessing me everyday to see miracles and tender mercies. It is amazing how my eyes have been opened to see His hand in my life in even the smallest ways. I am so grateful that I know that He is on my side and as long as I have the willing heart to go, do, and love like Nephi then Heavenly Father will not allow me to fail. I am so happy being a missionary and serving amongst the Korean people. Everyday I am filled with just that much more love for these people and their culture. I love serving the Lord. I know that He loves these people and is preparing each of them one by one to hear the message of this gospel. I want to thank each of you for your love, support, emails, letters, and encouragement. I am motivated everytime I think of all of you back home cheering me on and because I love each of you. Thank you. I hope you have a wonderful week full of smiles and miracles! Keep smiling and open your eye just a little wider to see the hand of the Lord in your life!

Love,
드리스콜자매
Sister Ciarra Jean Driscoll