You'll never believe it!‏

GUESS WHAT??? I have so much good news for you this week! For one, It snowed this morning and actually stuck, so it's a white morning today! My first one in Korea :)

So we are pretty happy about that, and also there's more to tell about the stuff that's really important--missionary work!

So this past week was pretty busy, because we've been planning a program that we want to do in a couple weeks with our members, in order for them to feel a little but more connected to the cause of getting our investigators to become committed. We want to do a two-week program where they read certain passages from the scriptures, General Conference, and PMG every day, and then the two weeks will end right on Fast Sunday so that all of the members can do a big fast for our investigators next Fast Sunday (first of the year!). It should be really great, if we can get the support of the members for it. :D

So yes, we've been trying to make appointments with all of the members, but everyone was busy and the odds weren't looking so great. But this past Sunday we randomly got invited to come to dinner at a member's home that hardly ever invites us over, and another family came too, so it was a perfect time to introduce everything, and it was soo fun to talk with them. The two mother's had served their mission together, so you can imagine how fun that would be to listen to their conversations. :)

Also we have were finally able to make quite a few appointments with the members, including a member who's baby is due next week. We were way surprised by that invitation, and wonder what will happen...... haha

Anyway, so the members are great, and the investigators are even better! We were able to meet with the investigator that is our age this week, and it was a miracle. Such an amazing person. 

She has been reading the Book of Mormon pretty consistently, usually one chapter per week. But this past week when we met, she had read FOUR chapters, all about Nephi's dream, and she was able to understand and apply it really well. We asked her if she thought that Nephi could be a real person, and she replied that the Book of Mormon was a record of his life, so he must be real, right? Wow. Then, we taught about the Gospel of Christ, and how there were certain steps she can take in order to return to God. She took it so well, and when we asked if she would prepare to take those steps, she said isn't that what I'm already doing with you? Again, wow. She was more prepared than even we thought she was. 

So yes, the miracle of the week, and the joy of my mission: Sister Lee has a baptismal date for the end of this month! It was so amazing how happy we felt after that lesson. Especially because when we first started meeting with her, she didn't know anything about God or religion, having only gone to church once when she was a tiny kid. And yet not, she is so willing to do anything required to return back to our Father in Heaven. She is amazing!! Such a sweet spirit. <3<3<3

Yep, that's how I'll end. It's the perfect ending in my opinion. :D

I love you all, and will be seeing you soon!!

Sister Segovia

Happy Holiday Season!!‏

It's begun! The best time of the year, when there are so many things to make you joyful. I love this time of year! Anytime I see Christmas decorations, hear a Christmas song, learn about the True Christmas Spirit, it all just makes me smile! Can't wait to be able to smell Christmas smells again too :) (There will be a Christmas tree at home right?? it's a necessity! :D)

The last week of November was great, and lots of eating! We had three buffets, Monday-Wednesday. hahaha! Monday was in Nampo, then on Tuesday we went with our member and the Elder's investigator to Pizza Hut for a buffet deal they had going on. Then on Wednesday we had a meal at a members house with our investigator. THEN on Thursday for Thanksgiving (Happy Thanksgiving by the way! Sorry I forgot to say that last week) we went with the Elder's investigator again to a super nice restaurant and ate a ton there. Yeah, it was definitely Thanksgiving time. hehe

Anyway our investigators are all doing well! We met with most of them, and though none of them came to sacrament meeting, they are still faithfully reading. In fact, one of our investigators who just last week had said she doesn't want to read the Book of Mormon by herself randomly asked us about a chapter we had asked her to read forever ago and read it on her own, even without us asking her to! That was a surprise. 

As I think about what happened this past week, I realized that throughout the week I had been disappointed because our investigators weren't progressing how we wanted them to. But now I can see that perhaps I should have payed more attention to how God was helping them progress, no matter how small. It always important to look for any progression at all in the people we are working with, because the little steps are almost just as important as the big ones! I'm a firm believer in never giving up on people before they choose for themselves. :)

It was a great week, and keeps getting faster and faster! Just one more email after this...........Weird. 

So mom, as for your questions, I did really like water painting! if I can figure out a way to get the painting home, I'll bring it so you can see!

And wow, there are Koreans in Mountain Home?? I will have to find them and become friends!!

Finally, school starts on Monday the 6th of January. So I'm thinking I should be up a few days early so I can make sure everything is in order and such. :)

Anyway that's all!! I will talk to you again next week!

Sister Christina Segovia

Interesting Fact: Korean dentistry is a lot cheaper in Korea than in the US. And you already heard about the whole wisdom teeth fiasco, right? If not, I'll remind you. So pretty much every Korean missionary I know didn't get their wisdom teeth out before the mission, because the dentist always just says they don't need it. But then something happens like whats happening with my poor companion. Hers actually came in pretty much right as she started her mission, but the last one wasn't set right so it's been trying to come out but is stuck by the other teeth. So she's been in a lot of pain, and we will probably be getting it out this next week! SO Pray for her! She's super nervous about it <3

And the best is always for last :)

We had Zone Meeting this past week and I learned so much from our leaders! It's really interesting because the church is starting to really crack down on member missionary work through social media. It really seems like a great, easy way for members to bear their testimony to hundreds of people in small and simple ways. Something cool they said about Korea is that right now there are only three Koreans posting Anti-mormon stuff on the internet. So if every member who has a social media account (and that's almost everyone I bet) then those false Anti-mormon things would be completely out-ruled by the true testimonies of our members :) let's make it so that when our church is searched on the internet, our church websites always come up first!

One way to start with your social media missionary work is to share this Christmas video: http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529

Back in the Past‏

So I'm actually writing from an ever-so-familiar place right now.... Nampo Shopping Center! If you don't remember, I transferred from my second area to this area (Deshin) almost exactly a year ago. And I decided to come back! Missionaries who are in their last transfer get to choose one P-day and go wherever they want. I didn't really have anyone that I could see or make an appointment (all the people I would want to see again work at this time or live wayyy far away :[) so I decided to come back here! It's such an awesome feeling to be back, especially because when I served in this area we came to Nampo pretty-much twice a week. So it's been a blast to show my companion around!

Anyway, this past week was great. We didn't get to meet with two of our investigators because they were super busy, which was a bummer. But our other two investigators came to church! The one mother brought 6 of her kids with her, and they all absolutely love us :D

Also, we had exchanges! I was so proud of my companion, because she was with a third-transfer American, so neither or them could speak the other's language very well, but they both did a wonderful job. ^^ And I was with Sister Bonney, one of my MTC roommates--our second exchange together-- which was a last as you can imagine. I love all of these Sisters I serve with! 

Something I've been working on this past week actually started last Monday when we had Family Home Evening. We did water-painting, and I was so excited about it that I continued every night and morning during the hour of personal time we have. It was so fun! I finally finished the painting yesterday lol Sorry I don't have any pictures of it yet. Anyway, it was really do something like that again. I forgot how much fun painting/art is! 

Anyway... I don't have much else to say. We just continue to work hard and get our investigators to realize this church is the truth! I hope you all can know that too <3

Love Sister Segovia

Interesting Fact:They have a TON of children's songs that almost everyone (if not everyone) knows. Anything from learning to say thank you, to a song about tomatoes becoming ketchup. Hahaha Anyway it's really interesting how many they have, and how well-known they are. Us Americans were trying to remember all the little-kid songs in America but only came up with a small list, and those we couldn't remember very well. lol

Spiritual Thought:

When I went on exchanges, I saw this quote: "God and Christ care more about our growth and progression than our comfort and convenience." 

When I saw this statement, it struck me how much sense it made. Really, isn't our progression a lot more important that convenience? There's really no question about it. We may ask why He lets us suffer and curse Him for it, but that is actually the very thing that will make us grow the most! Probably the times when we are comfortable are the times when we sit on a plateau of knowledge. Thank God for the struggles!

Any progression is‏

Well, today was a great day! We actually had a P-day with a bunch of missionaries who came to Gyeongju to check out the sites, from the zone right next to us. I had served with a couple of the Elders before, so it was great to spend a P-day with them just like old times! We went to the Budhist temple, which I'd already seen two times, but it was way more beautiful this time because of the colors in the trees. I love Fall!

This past week was a great one, especially concerning our investigator Sister Choi. She has been coming to church for a while, but she never comes to sacrament meeting, because she always is too busy. But yesterday she came in the middle of sacrament meeting, which we were happy about because it's definitely improvement! And she also is willing to study the Book of Mormon with us when we suggest it, and acknowledges that it's a good book and that she should continue to study it. Her progression is slow, but it's there. We are determined to continue to love her, and we think she will eventually realize just what this church means in her life.

Also, our other investigators are also progressing! Both the investigators that are our age are continually reading the Book of Mormon on their own, and one of them finally is done with the huge College test which frees her time up quite nicely :)

We did meet with the investigator that has 7 kids this past week :) Though she didn't come to church yesterday, she did say that she wants to continue to come to church, though she would rather just learn slowly and not rush into anything. That's a little frustrating because it's like, she already knows it's true in her heart, it's just her mind that's keeping her from accepting it solid.

Looking at everything, this week was pretty great! Everything is going quite nicely. :)

So for the interesting fact, I'll answer mom's question about the Sound of Music. They don't have a Korean dubbed version of it, they just have it in subtitles. In fact, the most common way for Koreans to watch foreign movies is by subtitles, not dubbing. Usually the only movies that have dubbing are movies for little kids, since they can't read subtitles. And listening to English songs is totally normal and cool.:D

Anyway, have a great week!

Love, Sister Segovia

I was thinking a lot about the comparison between the cup "half-empty" and "half-full" a lot this past week. Especially lately, I've been seeing a lot of things that I can have and do here in Korea that I won't be able to in the US, and I was thinking about how important our attitude is about the circumstances we are in. Too often I think we focus on what we don't have, and miss the chance to enjoy what we do have. At least for me I've seen that a lot. For a missionary, perhaps I thought too much about what I couldn't do, and now--FINALLY--I'm thinking about all the things I CAN do! It's humbling to realize how much more I could have gotten from this experience if i had seen the glass as half-full earlier, but I'm glad I've been able to change my view now. :)

The Sound of Music‏

Helllo family and friends! I love you all. :)

This week was great, being a very happy and exciting week. One miracle that I was thankful for was with our members. We finally were able to meet with a member that we had been wanting to meet for so long. But at the same time we were so scared to meet her, because she had kind of been treating us coldly lately. But when we went to her home this week, we were able to really talk with her and I think from now on it will be good! Yayy

Also while we are on the subject of members, there's another member that we actually met with twice this week, both unplanned. One night we were at the church, and she called us saying she was in the area and invited us to go out to eat with her. Then yesterday she wasn't able to come to church so we called her wanting to give her cookies and when we got there she fed us again! Such an awesome, fun-loving Sister. :]

As for our investigators, two of them came to church yesterday! One was the lady that came last week, and she brought 5 of her 7 children this time. We were able to make an appointment with her for this week, so we will be able to know more about her soon! It was great though because all of her kids have someone already in the ward that are their age, so they were able to make friends fast.

And the other investigator that came to church also came to a stake activity we had the night before. It's a yearly activity, where each ward prepares a couple musical numbers. We prepared one song that our members sang, and then our President played a clip from his very favorite movie, The Sound of Music. He really does love that movie, playing music from it for every spiritual message he gives at activities. lol

Anyway, that's about all for the week. it's been pretty warm lately too, so we are all happy.

I was really sorry to hear about Feliza Segovia..  I wish I had been able to meet her. But I know that I, and everyone else in our family. will be able to meet her later! This life is not the end, and I know that she will be happy to see us again. :)

Glad to hear that mom and dad got back safely to home! Love you both so much. Thank you for all of your help, your testimonies, your encouragement, and your guidance. It's always what I need!

Love, Sister Christina Segovia

Interesting Fact: When you get your haircut, they usually will cut it dry, and then afterwards they shampoo. Is that a thing in the US too? I've always seen shampoo first and then cut. Anyway, I got me hair trimmed today, so that's what was on my mind.

This week our District Leader told the story of the man who saved and saved his money so he could buy a ticket for a cruise ship. When he was finally able to buy the ticket, he was unaware that all of the luxuries were included in the cost. While on the cruise, he stayed in his room, eating food that he had brought with him, and not participating in any of the activities. Everyday a crewmember would come and ask him if he would be attending the party that night, and this man said no everytime. On the last night of the cruise, the crew member wanted to know why this man never attended the parties. After finding out the man's misunderstanding, the crewmember was able to tell him that everything was already available to him!

When I think of this man, it always makes me sad how he must have felt to find out he had missed out on so much. Now, we as members of God's true church are like that crewmember. We have the knowledge of all we can do in this life and in the life after. We know our potential. And there are those out there that, while they bought the ticket to come to this world, they've no idea all of the wonderful things they could be doing. They've no idea about eternal families, or about becoming clean through Christ's Atonement. But we know! So when we see those people, don't wait until the last day to tell them what they could be doing. Imagine how happy and grateful that man would have been if the crewmember had told him the first day!

I hope that we all can "live up to our priviledges" and help others do so too.

Here's a Mormon Message about this same story:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?im=true&v=2081541444001

First of the last‏

Yeah, wow it's the first day of my last transfer. Weird thought. It still hasn't quite sunk it yet I don't think, because I'm not freaking out as much as I would have thought. Today we went to transfer meeting and heard the last testimonies of a LOT of missionaries going home. It was inspiring, and it's now my turn to start thinking about what I'm going to say for that last time. It's just six weeks away!

And this past week was such a great one to end out the transfer. We went to two halloween parties! One was in Hogye (yeah, I get to go back to my old area all the time! :D) and the other was here in Gyeongju. The one in Hogye was wayyy good, and a bunch of people that I would never had thought would come to a church party were there! It was so cool to see them :) I was so glad to see that progression in the area! And I like to think that their Halloween party had such good attendance because of how well we did on the Luau party last time :P

And our own party was really really great too! We had it for our English class and some members were able to come too. We did pumpkin carving, then had a talent show, then ate pumpkin pie along with other food that everyone else brought. It was so fun, especially because it was most peoples' first time carving a pumpkin. We just used little tiny cut green pumpkins (Interesting Fact: it's really really hard to find a big pumpkin like they have in America) and it worked really well! And we had a miracle happen! We still aren't sure how she came, but a woman who used to come to English class a LONG time ago randomly showed up at the end, and she came to church the next day too along with her friend! We aren't sure what will happen with her, but something big could be coming!

As for those we are teaching.... We had a HUGE miracle week. By miracle week, I mean that every single one of our lessons was WITH A MEMBER! That's like unheard of in all my time in Korea! We actually didn't have as many lessons as we usually do, but I was still super stoked because in my mind a lesson with a member counts as two lessons without. So yeah, it was awesome! One of those lessons was a meal invitation so we were able to go with our investigator to her home and eat delicious food. And then the next day we had a different invitation for a meal with a different investigator at a different member's home. And then the next day we had another meal invite for just us missionaries. It was a lot of eating. haha

Anyway, this week was fantastic! And I got all my needed classes signed up for so that's good! Mom you stay safe in OK and dad you stay safe at home! I love you both <3

Sister Christina Segovia

Like I said, today was transfer meeting, and in the meeting the Senior couple in our mission talked about gratitude. Something I liked from their talk was this: "Gratitude can be a window to perfection." When we are truly grateful, when we are able to see that all that's good in our lives is not from us, then we are on the road to perfection. Without gratitude, there's no way we can move forward. But when we do recognize the goodness of God, then He can help us so much more. I'm so grateful for everything he has let me experience here!

P.S. Here are some pictures from Halloween!

The Time Continues to Fly

Yeah, so about yesterday, it was so fun!! Our whole mission got together for a big mission activity. What was this missionary activity, you may ask? You'll probably never guess. Our mission president and his wife called us all together to Busan to run a 5k! That's right, we spent our P-day doing exercise. Haha Many missionaries were not too pleased with this, but I thought it was way fun. And yes, you will be proud to hear that I did indeed run the whole thing! Remember the last time I did that was in the MTC! So I'm pretty proud of myself :D

Our mission president's wife actually studied Physical Education and such, so she is super into being healthy and all her family likes doing marathons and such, so I guess they are going to get all of the mission to be just as excited about it as they are. :) And also, we all got tshirts, and were wearing the same shirt. It was very exciting. lol

As for LAST week, it was pretty busy. We had a Zone P-day last Monday, then Zone Conference on Thursday, and also we did exchanges and the Elders did exchanges so we have been seeing other missionaries all throughout the week. I've been really happy about it. One of my favorite things is gathering together and seeing other missionaries. It's just so fun, and we are like a big huge family. 

I actually caught a cold that has been going around our zone, so I've had an interesting week trying to get my health back to par. I got sick right before exchanges, with a cold where your throat hurts too bad to talk. Our Sister Training Leader was so nice and just kept talking and encouraged me not to (she had the same cold just the week before). I was really really worried because I had to sing for the musical number in our Zone Conference the next day. When Zone Conference came around my throat was so rough and I could barely hit the top notes, but I figured I'd just do it anyway. But THEN, during the morning meeting, my voice just all of the sudden DISAPPEARED. Like really, I couldn't get more than a whisper out. So I had to ask another sister to sing the song in my place. It was an interesting experience. My voice is back now, so don't worry!

Our investigators are all doing well! The two students that are our age are really fun to meet with, and have become comfortable with asking their questions about the Book of Mormon (they are reading when we ask them to! :D) so we are so happy. I love seeing them progress! It's amazing. I just want them to accept this gospel so bad! I know that it can help them with anything in their life! But one of them is studying for a super important test so she may start being too busy to meet :( Pray for them to realize how important this is to continue studying!

I think that's all for now; everything is going great! Say hello to Mariah for me, as she gets home this week! Tell her I love her lots :) And I love you lots too, Mom and Dad! Have a wonderful week <3

Sister Christina Segovia

Interesting Fact: 

Students have to study all the time, literally. When we talk about studying in the US, we usually can say "yeah I studied all day yesterday" but actually mean we may have studied for an hour, taken a break, studied for another two hours, break, etc. But in Korea, when they say they are studying, they are actually studying, like nonstop. And if they don't study, they feel this kind of regret/guilty feeling because they think that they are getting passed up by all the other students who are studying when they aren't. It's kind of not-great circumstances.

Spiritual Insight:

In zone conference, our mission president showed us a clip from the movie Walk With Giants. In the clip, a football player was told by his coach to carry a 160-pound teammate on his back and bear-walk down the field. The normal amount to do was 20 yards, but the coach asked this player to promise his very best and try to go to the 50-yard mark. The player promised to do his best, and then in order to not give up before he really had done his best, the coach blind-folded him. The player then started down the field, the coach staying right by his side the whole time. The coach didn't help with the burden, but he continued non-stop encouragement, not letting him give up. The coach's words to his player helped the player continue. With all the passion he could, the coach yelled, "Don't you give up! You promised my to give your best! I know it hurts, but don't you stop! Let it burn! Don't give up!"

This player was able to keep going because he knew what he had promised to his coach, and because that coach was there every painful step he took. He couldn't see where he was going, he had no idea when the end was, all he could feel was the burning pain with every move forward. And yet he kept going. When he finally had given his all, he fell to the ground. That's when his coach showed him where he had come. He had carried a 160-pound load all the way across the 100-yard football field, more than he or any other person had expected.

So I actually want you all to think about how this story can apply to you right now.. I hope that I told it well enough for you to be able to see yourself in the story. I certainly was able to feel a huge impact on me as I watched it, as I felt that Heavenly Father was just like that coach, encouraging me to keep going even when I said it was too hard, because I had promised him my best. 

Rain Day

So you all know that today is my P-day... And once again, it is raining! It seems that almost every P-day since I've been in this area has rained. The thing that's weird about it is that the rest of the week there's not even a hint of rain, and then it jumps up on us when we're most excited to go out and have fun. My companion pointed out something ironic... In Korean, the word for rain is pronounced like P, so when we say P-day now, we are thinking "rain-day" haha! 

But even in the rain, we can still have fun! Which we are planning to. As far as this past week, we have seen a lot of great things happen! We were able to meet with all of the investigators I told you about last week, and they are still doing great. :) Keep praying for them in their progress! 

There's actually not a ton to say this week, as it was just a week where we keep going forward and working hard and are still waiting for the results. Something we did decide to work on for the next coming weeks is our relationship with the members. We realized that this past month we have been so busy with investigators that we kind of forgot to keep working hard with the members too, so our relationship isn't the greatest right now. So we are starting to work really hard to show them our love, because members are an important link in missionary work! There really can't be success without them :) 

Yeah... the week was good! Sorry I don't have a ton to say.. It's all going well though! I love you all. Mom you must have had so much fun with Caom's family! I love them so much, and miss them a lot! Thanks for the email from Cami :) <3 and I hope Dad was okay at home on his own! :D

Love you!! 

Sister Segovia

Interesting Fact of the week:

I can't remember exactly when we learn algebra in schools... But it's not till middle school right? I just found out this week that Korean students are required to learn algebra when they are NINE years old! Talk about stress at a young age! Wow. No wonder Koreans are so smart!

Lastly and definitely not least, the biggest learning moment for me this week:

My companion, Sister Kim Yeji, had her very first talk in church as a missionary. :D She told the story from Elder Bednar's talk in General Conference, about his two sons. After the younger brother got a small injury, the older brother proceeded to clean and bandage him up. He used methods he had seen from his parents, first putting a big load of soap on the brother's arm, then using a full tube of soothing medicine for the small cut, and finishing off with bandages all up and down the boy's arm. He certainly didn't do anything perfectly, and perhaps others would have said he did a mess of a job. And yet, he did his BEST, and because of that, the younger brother felt the love and wanted to help others too. When I thought of this story, I realized that I am in no ways perfect, but if I'm doing my best, it's okay! Yeah I make lots of mistakes and sometimes I make a mess of things, but God knows when I'm trying my hardest and He will bless me for it. And others will be able to feel that too and be affected for good. It's not about how we do it, but about how much we tried.

The day we've all been looking forward to...conference!

Yeah, so I know you already saw Conference last week, but us over here in Korea just got to watch it yesterday and Saturday! And wow, it was absolutely amazing!!! I'll talk a little about the beginning of the week first and then come back to it.

So for one, we had interviews with out President on Tuesday, which was really great. I like him a lot. I can really feel that he cares for us like his family. And while we were waiting for our interviews we were able to talk with his wife, Sister Barrow, and she asked us about our families and what life in the church was like for us, etc. 

We met with the children we are teaching, and we talked with them about repentance and baptism! They are such smart kids, and always continue talking about what we taught even after the lesson. And they said that they want to be baptized!! Of course, now we have to talk with their father and get his permission, which we are still unsure about how to go about that..... But we are praying about it and hope that everything works out!

The miracle of the week has to do with one of our investigators that is our same age. I'm not sure if I mentioned them before but we have these two investigators that our both our age. One of them (Sister Joo) has a lot of church knowledge, having gone to lots of churches when she was younger, but she doesn't really have a testimony right now. The other girl (Sister Lee), she didn't know anything about church at all. We met with them and taught a lesson about the Book of Mormon, reading the first chapter of Nephi together with them. Sister Joo was able to understand pretty well, though Sister Lee had difficulties. So it was really great to have both of them their so one could help the other. 

The next time we met them was Saturday night, while the Priesthood Conference session was playing. So we explained what General Conference was a little bit and I was super excited about it so Sister Lee looked like she actually wanted to come. Sister Joo was busy, but we texted Sister Lee that night telling her the times we would be watching it the next day. We didn't here a thing from her. But then out of the blue as we were watching the last half of the last session she came in!! (probably right about where you got to watch conference Dad!) It was absolutely amazing. Especially because she got to hear Elder Bednar's talk that was directed specifically to those who aren't members. What perfect timing that talk was! I was so happy. :D 

So, we hope that she really was able to feel a little more about the truth of our church! I can't wait to meet her this week. :)

As for the interesting fact last week. sorry if it was unclear... I meant "open my bag" not back lol

This weeks' interesting fact: the tradition when a tooth falls out is to throw it on the top of their roof. I'm not really sure what this is supposed to signify, but the thought is if you don't throw it up there than you won't grow your new tooth!

Hope this was fun! I love you all-<3

Sister Segovia

To end, I had a really cool experience this past General Conference that I would like to share. It actually starts all the way back when I was being trained and it was time to watch my very first General Conference on my mission. We were all encouraged to go to Conference with a question, and were promised that it would be answered. During that time, I had a question about prophets, unsure of what the difference was between the 12 Apostles, and the actual President of the church, President Monson. I listened intently for any mention of prophets in that General Conference meeting, but the topic was not mentioned. A little disappointed, I just decided to set it aside and forget about it. Now -one year later- as I was sitting in the Sunday morning session, that question was answered in every way I could have asked, with 3 or 4 talks all about the prophet's role. It was absolutely amazing. I had never even thought that perhaps I would have to wait a few conference's before I would receive my answer. But now it makes so much sense. Heavenly Father didn't give the answer right then because he wanted me to learn this lesson-- that He will ALWAYS answer, but sometimes it may take some waiting on our part. We just have to continue on in faith and it will come, a sweet and clear answer.

First week is completed!‏

Wow, this past week was pretty insane. I get to tell you all about my trainee :)

But first, I'll explain the process that happened before I actually met my new companion. So on Monday we went to transfer meeting in Busan and Sister Harris and I became temporary companions. We returned to Hogye and did everything there to prepare for our trainees to come. Then on Tuesday we went to Gyeongju to prepare there (our purpose in preparing is to get everything ready so that the new missionaries don't have anything to worry about except missionary work). Also, a member in our ward took us out to eat....... DOG! whooohoooo I finally can say that I have indeed eaten dog! lol But interesting fact, though Americans all seem to think that's a common food here, most young Koreans are as much disgusted by the thought of eating dog as any other American. Anyway, I have been wanting to eat it for a while, I finally could! It's pretty good actually, though I probably won't choose to eat it again, just because of the poor little puppies... :D

Anyway, on Wednesday Sister Harris and I headed back to Busan and met all of the trainees, but didn't receive a companion. We did a couple-hour-long proselyting activity where we switch around with four different trainees. There were three Koreans and three American sisters. I served with all of the Koreans.... which confirmed my already strong suspicion that I would get a Korean trainee.

On Thursday morning we all met together again, and then found out who our companion was, after which we practiced studying and teaching together, then headed back to our areas. So my companion..... Her name is Sister Kim YeGi and she is absolutely amazing. We are the same age. She actually didn't get to go to the MTC, and just came straight here from her home. But dispite the fact that she didn't come with the knowledge that we learn in the MTC, she is just like a missionary that's been out for a year. She learns so fast and has so much courage to just apply what she learns right away. I'm learning so much from her!

And since she's been here, miracles have been coming like crazy! Yesterday absolutely exploded with blessings from God. So we went to church, and none of our investigators came to Sacrament meeting... But then in Sunday School our less-active, the mother of the three kids we are teaching, came and just did a little tour of the church. She saw all of the kids that come to our church, and I think she liked the idea of her kids coming here. Then she left, and we went into Relief Society. But five minutes in, a member comes and is like hey there are some young women here.... So we run out and it's the students we teach English to. We had invited them to come after church, but they got there early, so we were like okay come in to Young Womens! So we were like wow two students came to church! That was pretty exciting. But THEN, after church ended, another member came up and was like hey did you talk with your investigator yet? At first I thought they were talking about the students, but then I saw our OTHER investigator, who had apparently just gotten there. I was dumbfounded. Especially because we had been trying to contact her for two weeks since the last time she came to church, and she hadn't answered at ALL. But then she just showed up for lunch after church out of the blue. Wow. So we spent all day yesterday with both her and the students, making good relationships and teaching them. It was crazyyy!! But really exciting. :D

I'm so glad that all of these crazy awesome things happened for my companion's first week in missionary work. Hopefully this next week will go just as well! I think it will. :]

Before I close out, I would like to thank you mom for your testimony and your conversion story! I'm really excited to get to read it. Thank you thank you!

I love everyone, and don't forget it!

Sister Segovia

I'd like to share a story that the new AP Elder Sutton shared to us in our trainer meeting. He told his own story, of when he was young and was sitting on his father's bed while his father worked. His father called him and told him that if he would wait 15 minutes then his father had a present for him. So he went back to his bed wondering what this present would be, and incredibly excited to find out. He waited, and he waited. For minutes, hours... He waited for two days he thought. Then he ran back to father, but his father said, "Son, it's only been 30 seconds." Only 30 seconds? Well he went back to the bed, but continuedly ran back to his father asking "Has it been 15 minutes yet?" He ran back there numerous times. And finally, FINALLY, he received the present he had waited so long for. The lesson from this story is simple. It's not about our timing. Heavenly Father has told us he has blessings that He wants to give us. We just have to wait a little bit. We may think it's way past due for our present, but it's only been 30 seconds. The important thing is to never give up. Never give up on God, never give up on hoping. If we give up and just stay at the bed and think there's no present after all, then there won't be any! But God always wants to give that gift. He's always there waiting. He loves us. I know that. Thank you so much for everything!

Mom! Dad!‏

Guess what??? I can't believe it. My mind is going to explode. So.......... It's the start of a new transfer, and my companion Sister Kang Dahyeon is transferring to Jinju! My training area!And she will be serving with my old companion Sister Park Eun Gyeong! I thought that was super awesome. I'm so excited for her! 

AND....... Right now I am back in Hogye with Sister Harris, as a temporary companion until Thursday. Why, you might ask? Well, Sister Harris and I are both TRAINING!! That's right, my last 12 weeks of my mission will be spent starting someone else on their first 12 weeks. Wow. What a privilege. I am super excited but super nervous at the same time.... Especially because of the fact that of the 14 teams in our Ulsan zone, 11 of them are training this transfer. Yeah. It's insane. Our zone is going to be exploding pretty soon! And our district will have has 6 teams, all of which will be training. !! 80

So, I don't find out who my new companion will be until Thursday morning. I've no clue whether she will be Korean or American, and I'm super nervous to find out! I just hope that I can be the example that Christ expects of me, so that whoever comes to Gyeongju will start their legacy of faith in this mission. It's a big responsibility!

This past week was really awesome as far as missionary work in Gyeongju goes as well. At first, it seemed like everything was falling apart because pretty much all of our appointments cancelled and we were really super bummed. But then at the end of the week we were able to set up appointments with two new investigators, and also a different potential investigator came to church! So we should be able to start meeting with her too if everything goes well. :) I'm thinking a lot of miracles will happen this next transfer. Let's make this place soar! I'll need your prayers though. :]

Alrighty family, I love you all. I miss you all. I promise I'll work hard. Here we go!

Sister Segovia

Interesting Fact: At the Post Office where there's space for you to fill out your stuff, they have glasses you can use if you can't see. There are always three pairs, labeled for 50 year-olds, 60-year-olds, and 70-year-olds. I still don't understand how they can assume that all people of that age would have the same prescription, but whatever works.

This past Sunday I gave my very first actual talk in church! My topic I chose to talk on was about progression, and what we can do to continually progress. I have been thinking lately about the time I was in the MTC and training, when it was like I could see my progression just shooting almost straight up. It was like everyday I was learning something new and getting some awesome insight. But as missionary work continued, I felt like my progression was just slowing down. So I had the question of how we can continually progress unhindered? As I was studying, I realized that in order for us to continue to progress, and REALIZE we are still progressing, we have to do three main things: 1. Remember our objective, which is to come unto Christ (to become like Christ) 2. Follow the map God has given us (Christ's example, found in the scriptures) and 3. Believe in our potential, even during the slow times. I know that we all have a huge incomprehensible potential. And every good choice we make is getting us closer to that, even if we can't feel any difference at the time. :D

So busy. full of miracles

 

Wow, this past week was inSANE. so busy. full of miracles. So much learned.

So last Monday was indeed the same holiday that I told you about a year ago! lol And you are right, we can't make appointments ourselves on holidays, but if we are invited then we can go. :) 

Remember the investigator that we had dinner with on Sunday and then she came to lunch at a members on Monday? Well then that same night she came to Family Home Evening and we all played Monopoly with another member. Then, on Tuesday we invited her to go with us to a museum that was doing some special displays and stuff for the holiday, so she came with us to that and we were able to teach her a lesson there. We weren't able to meet her again the rest of the week because we were so busy, but she had been invited by the members to come to church on Sunday. So Saturday night we called her and texted her about church but there was no answer.... Sunday morning her phone was off. So we were really disappointed. But we tried one more time 20 minutes before church started and she answered and said she would come! She arrived late, and actually ended up leaving early because something came up, but she came! I was so happy. :D

And we were able to meet with the kids of Rosalinda, the less active Philipine! It went really really well! They absolutely love us, and the second time we met with them, their friends were over and so we taught all six of them. We taught them about prayer, and invited them to church, which ALL of them wanted to come, including the friends! They weren't able to come yesterday, but we hope that we will be able to figure out a way for them to come next week. They are all super great; I love them so much!

Also, we did TWO exchanges this week, one with a brand new trainee and her trainer, and the other with a trainee that is almost done and her trainer that is going home next week. They were both really awesome. I stayed in the area and my companion went to the other area for both of them, so she was super exhausted. Actually, she didn't even get to sleep in her own bed for three nights in a row, because Wednesday was exchange, Thursday we went to sleepover in a different zone because we had a meeting early the next morning, and then Friday was another exchange. She was just dead by the end poor girl. 

Friday exchanges was crazy, because the Sister that is going home came to Gyeongju, where she had served before. So she called up a bunch of former investigators and we met with them. It was amazing! We hope that we can start developing a relationship with them again and perhaps they will come back. 

Anyway, this week was awesome! Nonstop go go go. That's what a missionary likes. :)

I'm glad to hear that Carla is safe from the earthquakes, and that Chelsea is feeling better. And dad got a new truck? What did he do with his old one? And I'm so sorry to hear about Juanita Valdivia's death, please give my love and respects to her family, and all of the Spanish branch! <3

I love you all!!! 

Sister Segovia

Interesting Fact: They use pretty much anything to make food. I didn't even realize it till this past week, but a lot of the little appetizer-type things that are in meals would be considered weeds in the US. Anything that is edible and a plant is a vegetable here pretty much. lol and I just learned about a tea that they drink that they make with the silk from corn. Really, they are so great about using every form of nutrients here. Mom would love it :]

We had Mission Conference this past week, where a Japanese Seventy came and spoke to us. It was so great! His wife spoke to us as well, and she was so adorable. Something she focused on was how important hard work is. She had us do a little dance to "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel" and said something I really liked. "Sometimes the harder you try, the harder it gets. That's how it's been even with the best of people." Personally, I have a tendency to want to be pretty lazy. But perhaps the whole pattern of life follows this.. the harder you try, the harder it gets, and yet the more capable you become. I know that through Christ and His Atonement, no matter how hard things get, we don't have to turn back. We CAN be strengthened to fulfill the task.

Happy 추석!‏

If you remember last year (wow, it's been that long) when I was in Jinju and experienced my first big Korean holiday called Chuseok? Well, it's rolled around again! And actually, it's today! So not really anything special because it's already our P-day. But we were invited to a members house and were able to stay there for 3 hours cooking, eating, and playing with the four kids that were there. It was great :)

And also, our investigator came with us and was able to meet the members and I think she had fun. Actually, for the reason of this investigator, I'm so glad that it's Chuseok! We actually hadn't been able to meet with her at all since I've been here. I just met her my very first night in Gyeongju and then suddenly we weren't able to contact her or make an appointment. But then we called her up again this past week and she wanted to do something for the holiday, since she wasn't going to be with her family and didn't have any other plans. So we made kimbab (rice and veggies wrapped in dried seaweed) together with her and a member yesterday, then invited her to the lunch with other members today, and she will be coming to family home evening tonight! Super awesome! And she said that she will continue to do english/gospel program. :)

Other things that happened this week..... We had Zone Conference with the other missionaries and my companion gave the talk and I did the teaching practice. That was fun, though stressful up until it was done. lol Also, we went to Busan yesterday for another Leadership Coordination Meeting with other zone leaders and sister training leaders. That was great too. Learned lots of stuff from other missionaries and out beloved mission president!

Oh yeah! And last week on P-day we were able to go with the Elders and their investigator to see a village that is still old-style Korea. That was really cool! We just took a nice walk around and were able to see how homes looked like back then, with the grass roofs and stuff. It was beautiful. :)

We had a lot more miracles happen this week.... The Elders had two investigators come to church on Sunday, and one of them brought his wife and little daughter with him! And the other one is so close to being baptized, he just wants a real concrete answer... so he fasted on Sunday, and even payed fast offerings for it. Wow. I was awed by his faith. He's so close! Really, he is just like a member, but he's torn because he's really active in his other church. So he wants to be really really sure. But I know that he will receive an answer. 

Also, one last miracle I want to share. We finally met with the Phillipino less active that we had been trying to meet for the past couple weeks. She wants us to do the English program with her kids, so we will be starting that next week. Which means three new investigators! And we really think that they could receive baptism. I think they just need their father's permission, which is why they haven't been baptized yet. I'm really excited to teach them!

Anyway, this week was way busy. I hadn't even realized just how much happened until I had to sum it all up in this email! Lol I hope that everyone is doing well and has a wonderful holiday! It's not a holiday in the US, but it's a holiday here, so you have an excuse to celebrate! :D

I love you!!!!!

Sister Segovia

Interesting Fact: The tradition for Chuseok is to honor deceased ancestors by cleaning up their grave and paying respects to them. Families all gather together and pay respects and then eat and play together for three days. 

"I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people." - Leviticus 26:12

Where's Home?‏

This past week was pretty great! We were able to meet with members and help them out, though two appointments with the members I didn't even get to go to because we did exchanges that day. That was a bummer. But I was able to go back to my old home in Hogye! My old companion Sister Lee came here to Gyeongju, where she actually had served for a transfer a year ago. So she was really happy to come back here and get to meet with some members, and I was really happy to go back to Hogye! I was with Sister Harris, who was one of my MTC roommates! She is actually really similar to me, and I was able to learn a lot about her. :)

And not only that, but we were able to meet with two of my old investigators! One of which we hadn't been able to meet for a couple months, but I called her up and said I was coming back to Hogye so she met with us! It was really great, because Sister Harris was able to become friends with her and hopefully they were will be able to meet again in the near future and begin teaching her again. The other investigator was the one we found when we were knocking on doors. She seemed really happy to see me, and I felt that our lesson was guided by the Spirit. Sister Harris is doing so well in Hogye, and I have full confidence that she will help that area grow a lot! 

PLUS, they were able to meet with a different investigator again finally, that we have been trying to prepare for baptism for three months now, and she finally is actually going to get baptized, in two weeks! Yayy!! 

So those Sisters are doing so well! It was really great to do exchanges with them. <3

Also, my companion and I are continually getting better about working together and talking with one another. Sometimes we have kind of struggled because both of us are kind of quiet, and don't tell our feelings as much as we probably should. But we were able to get to know one another better and are doing better about the whole communication thing. haha

Sooo yea it was a great week! How was yours? I was SO EXCITED to hear that not only is Christal Segovia having a baby, but also Chelsea Hansen! Ahhh that's so awesome! Congratulations congratulations! I love you both, my beautiful sisters and amazing mothers! 

Thanks for everything, and for the love you send in your emails! Have a wonderful week. :D

Sister Segovia

Interesting Fact: Wisdom teeth are called Love teeth in Korean. hehe fun huh? And it's actually not as big of a deal to get them taken out here. Pretty much all of my Korean companions still had them, and a couple even had them grow in on their missions. Apparently when they give the papers to the dentist, the dentist doesn't feel it's necessary to extract wisdom teeth so lots of Koreans go on a mission without getting them out.

Once again, I'm going to change it up and talk about something from District Meeting with the other missionaries. 

In 1 Nephi 3-9, it's the story of Nephi receiving the command from God to get the plates from Laban, a not so nice ruler in Jerusalem. He and his brothers made a plan to receive the plates in order to have the record of their fathers, making both plan A and plan B. Plan A was simply to go and ask for the plates. When plan A didn't work, they went through with Plan B and attempted to buy the plates. However, Plan B didn't work either, and by this point both Nephi and his brothers must have been very discouraged. They had received a commandment from the Lord, so why wasn't it working out? They were trying hard, why didn't God help them so their plan would work? 

Perhaps we feel this way too. We know what we need to do and yet we try multiple ways and nothing seems to work. Perhaps at that point we could feel that God doesn't care, that He isn't helping us because He didn't make our own plan successful. But this is where we can look to Nephi for an example. After both of his own plans didn't work out, he didn't give up. Instead, he turned to Plan C, and completely gave it over to the Lord. He had no idea what Plan C was, but he had faith that God did know, and that God would guide him. Then, he acted. He went forward, and was indeed guided to know and do what GOD had planned.

Sometimes that's what it's about. Not knowing beforehand what we should do, but knowing that God has it all in His hands.

Rain, rain, go away‏

Come again another day.....

So yeah, I suppose you remember when I said that summer had officially started, about a month ago? Well actually, what happened this summer has been really interesting, and quite fantastic in my opinion. So the actual HEAT of summer only went for about a week at a time, and then there'd be a week of rain, and then a week of HEAT, and so on. And now it seems that summer is pretty much over! This summer has been way way cooler than the years in the past, and for that I am grateful. It happens to be raining right now, as it has been pretty much since I got here, aside from a few days. So as much as being soaked is not the funnest, I'm happy it's not from my own sweat. :)

We got to meet with two of our investigators this past week, and had a wonderful lesson on the plan of salvation. Actually, one of the investigators we are really excited about and praying a lot for because she has told us that she thinks the church is true, and when we taught about the plan of salvation, she really seemed to understand the importance of her choices in this life. So hopefully this next week we will teach about baptism, and perhaps even have a commitment from her! I hope so.. :)

We had quite a few meetings this week, all stacked into the weekend. Friday we went to Busan for a Missionary Leader Coordination Mtg, and then Saturday and Sunday I got to go back to Hogye for a District Conference with a Quorum of the Seventy. That was cool. It was Elder Whiting, who actually came to talk to us missionaries about a year ago. All of the missionaries were kind of surprised, because what we remembered from our meeting from him was that he was super intense and kind of scary. But in this meeting, he was hilarious and just making jokes and such. It was really interesting to see his different approach from a year ago to us missionaries to now while talking to the members. 

Anyway, I'm enjoying it here. :) And plus, I don't think I told you but we have a trainee Elder in our area, and he is super cute! Haha he literally just graduated college, high school, and then came, so he's still 18. Ahh it's so fun having an American trainee. And there's so many of them! In fact, there's a ton now, and TWENTY-ONE coming in next transfer. Soooo there's a very big chance that I will be training for my last two transfers, though if that doesn't end up happening I will be quite okay. Anyway, Elder Kunde is his name, and he's from Utah. :) His companion is Elder Richardson, who goes home at the same time as me. So we are having a lot of fun in our four-man team! 

I'm glad to hear that everything is going well! Dad, I didn't know you were still doing the English class! That's really great. :) I'll remember that now when I teach English, and be like, dad is doing the same thing! :D

Interested in Koreans?

Something I've actually started adopting, which I'm not sure I'm happy about, is the habit of talking to myself. In Korea, it's completely normal to talk to yourself. In fact it's like the language was designed so that you could talk to yourself. So yes, I have indeed started doing what I thought was so weird in my Korean companions, asking questions to myself and making little remarks about what's going on around me. But don't worry, if I do it when I get home it will be in Korean, so I won't look like a super weirdo, just someone speaking a weird language. lol

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week <3 <3

Sister Segovia

So instead of a scripture line, I wanted to say a little more of what we learned from Elder Whiting. He told a really great story about one of his plane rides. He makes it a point to always have pamphlets from our church ready when he rides planes so he can talk to the people that sit next to him. He was ready and waiting on a plane, when all the seats filled up except the seat next to him. He had prayed that God would send him someone he could talk to, so he was wondering what would happen, when the very last person walked on the plane. As he saw who was walking to the seat next to him, he started laughing. There came a 75-year-old nun dressed in the full outfit. He did indeed talk to her about many things, including her beliefs and his own. She did not want any of his pamphlets, and yet he was still able to show his love and admiration for her commitment to follow Christ in the way that she knew. He then said something I really liked: "Sometimes sharing the gospel is more to make us strong than it is to convert." Yes, we should always be looking for ways to share. But when we do share and get rejected, that doesn't mean that God isn't guiding us. Maybe the reason we were supposed to talk to that person wasn't to see immediate results in them. No matter what their decision is, we can see the change in our own selves immediately. It's just about sharing. :)

Remember how Gyeongju was the capital of Korea back in the day?‏

Alright family, here I am, an new citizen of Gyeongju city. And guess what that means? I get to go to all of the tour sites for free! :D :D Yep, interesting fact is that citizens of the city can get in for free but everyone else has to pay to see cool things. Yayyy... We actually were planning on going to a bunch today, but its POURING outside so we might have to postpone.. :( But still, I'm excited for when the day comes.

So this past week was pretty interesting. It was actually pretty hard too. The whole time I just felt like I wasn't doing my role, and instead of becoming any type of responsible missionary, I just felt like I was right back in training. Not the greatest feeling in the world, but it certainly helps in the acquirement of humility. 

I forgot how much you have to change when you transfer to a new area. In each area, missionary work is done a little bit differently and you have to change the way you think to match what best works in that specific area. For example, in Hogye we spent a lot of time looking for former investigators and less actives, but Gyeongju doesn't have much to look for. And this area is HUGE. We have to take buses everywhere. In fact, it's almost the same as Jinju. And guess what? There's a member here that lived in Jinju when I was there. She is amazing, and we got to go out to eat with her this past week. :)

We also met with quite a few other members and ate together. The members are great here. There's about 45, 50 that attend church. But surprising part of it is that around 20 of them are little kids under that age of twelve! It calls for a crazy time in church that's for sure. 

And awesome miracle that happened this week with English class--15 people came! My companion said that when she first got here, there wasn't anyone. But they have been putting out these flyers everywhere that have been really effective. Our three investigators came from the flyers, as did a lot of the Elders' investigators too. In fact, they have some of the coolest investigators ever. One is a student, and he reads the BOM everyday, and at church yesterday we were learning about the Priesthood and he decided he wanted to study more about it this next week. He is so prepared!! Also, Another of their investigators is monk. That's right, grey clothes and a bald head monk. He is studying English with the Elders, but he said that he would come to church at least once :D Insane.

Lots more happened this week, but I'll have to stop here before I get too carried away. I think I'm getting the hang of the area a little more now and y companion and I are at a more comfortable level, so hopefully this next week will be a smooth and happy ride! 

Mom I'm glad that you were able to go to the temple with your sisters! That would be an amazing experience. :) And dad, thanks for helping out Nelly with finding parts for her car! What happened to it?

I love you all lots! 

Sister Segovia

"Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it." - Exodus 35:5

This line really stuck out to me when I was reading. We that have willing hearts can bring them where God wants us. When I read this, I ask myself, where is my willing (or unwilling if that applies) heart bring me? If I truly do keep God's commandments with a willing heart, them I will be able to go wherever He would ask. I will bring everything I have and offer it up to the Lord. My time, my faith, my fears. Through a willing heart, I can give all those over to Him, our Father in Heaven.