I'm in Korea!

Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 09:34:35 +0900
Subject: I'm in Korea!
From: christina.segovia@myldsmail.net

I made it safe and sound to my new home! It still hasn't quite set in that I will be here in Korea for the next 14 months. I am so excited! I imagine it will hit me once I go out and proselyte for the first time in Korean :)

Our mission president and his wife, President and Sister Gilbert are awesome! We are staying in their home (which is pretty big for Korea) until tomorrow morning, and then i find out my companion and area! I can't wait.

It was so great talking to you yesterday, and I'm sorry I couldn't talk longer or hear a thing you were saying. But I did hear you both say "I love you" which is all I needed to hear! So thank you! I love you Mom and Dad

Dear Sister Christina Segovia,
We do LOVE YOU too! So sorry about the not hearing part! We could hear you just fine! And it was so wonderful to me! -LUVU!, Mom

	Fri 7/26/13 1:16 PM

THREE MORE DAYS!!

 

Thank you so much for your emails and dear elders and everything. I absolutely love hearing from you! Tell Kru and the Hansens that I love them lots! And Caom and Carla better write me soon! :D I have gotten a letter from the Alzerrecas and Diana drew me an awesome picture with the two of us in South Korea. Also, Aunt Keira has sent a few as well!

 

Okay, so an update on the calling information. It turns out that I will most likely be calling earlier in the day, like from 8-11am. So make sure you are up early! Get to bed on time the night before, so I'm not making you miss any sleep. And I hope Kru will be there when I call, but it might be earlier than he gets there. I can't wait to talk to you! I got a five dollar phone card today for it, and the rest of our P-day will be dedicated to packing. Also, I will be sending a package home with some stuff that I don't need, so that should come in the mail sometime in the next week. You are welcome to open it and see the treasures that I was able to obtain in the MTC! haha

 

This past week has been insane. Yesterday we had our In-field Orientation, which was very helpful since the MTC really is nothing like it will be when I actually get to Korea. For one, I will actually be moving around instead of sitting at a desk all day! I'm pretty excited about that. I am so ecstatic to head to Korea; I'm ready to get out of here! Of course I'm nowhere near good at Korean yet; I won't be able to understand a thing they are saying. But I can at least give lessons (very slowly, I might put a few Koreans to sleep cause apparently that happens haha) but I can do it!

 

The thing I am going to miss most at the MTC is 1. my teachers 2. the amount of study time we have.
1. My teachers are some of the greatest people on the planet. No exaggeration. They really are the best of the best, and our district has come to love them so much. I have never felt so much genuine love toward anyone outside of my family. I don't know what I will do without them! Brother Sung is one of the most caring men ever (he is the Korean), and Campbell has become the biggest role-model (he's the six and-a-half-foot giant). They are both going to be people I look to when I am struggling. I will just have to remember them and what they taught me and I'll be reinvigorated to go out and serve the Lord.
2. There is so much time here to just study. Like at least 5 hours every day on our own, and then classes too. So it's great! But there still doesn't seem to be enough time. When I get to Korea I will have to come up with creative ways to study the language. Maybe the fact that I can't live unless I know what they are saying? haha

 

The thing I learned this past week, among many, is the importance of having goals that will stretch me. I have always been the type that was okay with just being "good" and if I was really good at anything, it was those things I didn't have to try at. But now I have come to realize that I can do so many things if I just push myself a little further! I have so many abilities, and if I go and waste them because I'm not willing to perfect them, what kind of message is that sending to God? He may just get the idea that I don't really want them. So I'm "putting my shoulder to the wheel." I will work as hard as I can while on my mission. And I vow to never forget the things I learn in the next year-and-a-half. The thing about missions is, so many people say, "Don't waste this, it's the Lord's time." And yet they are always talking about working you hardest on the mission. But what about after? I think it's just as important to keep the things you've learned as a part of you. No matter how hard you worked on your mission, if you forget His lessons, you still wasted His time. I know it's pretty crazy for me to be talking about after my mission when I'm just barely started, but I think it's important for me to have this goal before I even start.

 

I love you all so much and send you my love every day. I hope you can feel it as it travels across the ocean from Korea!

 

Love, Sister Christina Segovia

Getting Closer!!!

Mom and Dad!! Guess what!! We got our travel plans today!! The people going to Busan pretty much got the best flight plans possible. We leave on the 29th at 7:30am to head for the airport. Which means no waking up at crazy times of the night (most Koreans have to leave at like two to four in the morning). We have two layovers, one in San Fransisco and one in JAPAN!! One of our district-members, Elder Luke, is half-Japanese (he can speak it pretty well) and can totally show us around and get us the best Japanese food there. And then we get to Busan two hours before bed-time which resolves the big concern about having to go a whole day speaking Korean when you have jet-lag. SO! It's all so exciting! We still are unsure how the calling home works, but we do get to call you sometime throughout the flight, probably in our lay-over at San Fransisco. So I would expect a call on the 29th around 12:20pm to 1:25pm. If you want to work anything out as far as what phone I call or anything, let me know!

 

This week has been awesome. I definitely loved the thunderstorms that we got (though I don't think that was this week, maybe closer to July 4th?) and wished we could just stand out in it and watch it all night. Sadly, MTC time is spent mostly indoors. But I was able to hear it and got a little rain on my face!

 

I am so glad you got to go to Utah and see everyone. Did you remember to pick up my phone from Aunt Kim? I gave it to her.

 

So, the investigator I was telling you about last week, he committed to be baptized! The Spirit was strong again in our lesson and when we asked if he believed the Book of Mormon to be true he said there was no way he couldn't after our last lesson. I am so happy for him and so excited to help him prepare!

 

We have had the popportunity to be taught by some of the other teachers this past week since our teacher is the zone coordinator. It was so amazing to see the different teaching styles, and though I loved all of the other teachers, my testimony was strengthened in how everything is exactly what we need. Our teachers are OUR teachers. They are who we needed to have. I know that, and I love them so much! They have helped me learn more than any other teacher besides you two. I love you both! 사랑합니다 (sa-rang-ham-ni-da - I love you)!

 

Sister Christina Segovia

17 DAYS LEFT UNTIL I MUST SPEAK KOREAN TO SURVIVE!!!

 

This week has been one of the best weeks so far. I don't have much time to share everything, and I honestly can't even remember most of it (it's a good thing I keep a journal). But I will try to tell as much as I can.

 

First off, I have seriously seen just about everyone here at the MTC. I started trying to take pictures with everyone I knew, but didn't get all of them. I know Sydney Baldridge has a picture with the two of us and Dylan Johnson (yeah, I saw him!! I didn't even know he was at the MTC!) has a picture with all three of us. So be looking out for them, hopefully they will be shared on Facebook or something.

 

Also, another update on my running: I did indeed improve this wekk. I ran a 5k!! 31 laps in the little gym. I now can officially do 2/3 of the mini-triathlon that they do on the Air-Force base. All I need now is biking muscles! haha

 

So, really exciting--the other Sister companionship in our district, Sister Jackson and Sister Pope, had asked me to accompany them for "Come Thou Fount" and we tried out yesterday. In order to make it into any of the meetings (which always have fantastic musical numbers) you have to try out. And we made it!! So hopefully we will be receiving a letter in the mail soon saying when we will be performing. I love that song so much. It brings the Holy Ghost like nothing else!

 

Okay, the final piece of information I want to share with you is the miraculous lesson that we had yesterday. We have been teaching one of our investigators for a while, but have never really connected with him. We were really becoming frustrated because it was like he wasn't feeling anything! The lesson before, he had told us he didn't really think the Book of Mormon was true and had no desire to change. Yeah, kind of a huge disappointment to us. But we didn't give up and decided we would do the daunting lesson where we read a chapter in the Book of Mormon with him. This is very scary because it requires you to actually read, and talk about what you just read. In Korea. Anyway, we chose to read 3 Nephi 11, when Jesus Christ comes to the Americas after his resurrection. As we read, we would stop every three verses to explain the verser, connect it to his own life and needs, and ask him how he felt. The Spirit was so strong the entire time. That man, who we had just barely thought of as emotionless, had eyes watering for the last half of the lesson. It was amazing! I know that we didn't do that. It was all his Heavenly Father.

 

I know that Jesus Christ WAS resurrected, He DID come to the Americas because He and Heavenly Father love all people. The Book of Mormon is true. And anyone who comes to know that will never want to be the same as they were. The Book of Mormon is one of the most powerful books. If makes a man want to change. I have experienced it and I have seen it.

 

I love you all, talk to you soon!

 

Sister Christina Segovia

HAPPY 4th July (late)!

Wow! I just had a holiday in the MTC! Crazy. The fireworks in Provo were awesome! And we got to stay up late to see them, which was a MTC novelty. But that also resulted in exhaustion this morning but since today is P-day I already took a nap and am back up to par!

 

Correction to my last letter: I definitely meant to say that withOUT the member's help the missionaries are just walking blind. Sorry, typos are common when in a hurry. And yes, the lady that did the devotional was indeed Siser Janice Capp Perry! She is so awesome! The duet that I was talking about is indeed new, though I think the only new part is that the lyrics for the Sisters is changed. She wrote a new version meant for Sister missionaries. The old one is Called as Sisters in Zion; the new is called Sisters of Zion I think.

 

Wow, Dad is home! I can't believe it; I'm sure the house is a party for two now! haha I love you both, Mom and Dad :)

 

Alright, I have ten minutes, so I will tell everything as fast as I can. First big news: last week was our last time attending the temple until I get back from my mission. It was really disappointing, because they closed it for the month of July in order to clean it. I might be able to attend the Korean temple once on my mission, but no one knows for sure. However, though I have been able to feel the power of the temple and the blessings that come from attending, I have been thinking about it a lot and received comfor this past devotional. The temple is such a uplifting and spiritual place, but I realized that on my mission the temple was a place to regain my focus and have a little breathing time. Other than that, the MTC has all of the other spirituall uplifting things as well! Rather than the Spirit being infinitely stronger in the temple, I have the Holy Ghost with me all of the time! As long as I desire his company, he is there. That's the miracle of the MTC, and I know that anyone can experience that, not just missionaries! If you keep your sights on the Lord and his work, you will have his consant companionship.

 

The language is coming well, and we just found out yesterday that we "get" to memorize Korean scriptures before we leave. That will be difficult, but I know I can do it.

 

The lessons have been going so well! We taught both of our investigators about the Gospel of Christ, and one has committed to baptism! The other has been challenged to baptism, and told us he would decide next lesson. I have really grown to love these investigators, and know that they can become who the Lord would have them be. But it's nerve-wracking that we are the means of getting them there! Well, I shouldn't say that. The Spirit is definitely the means, we are just the messengers speaking broken Korean.

 

Sadly, my time is out, but I love you all and can't wait till next week to keep telling you more!

 

Love

 

Sister Christina Segovia

We love to hear from you too Christina!   love, Mom