Surprise!! It's New Years again!

Yeah that's right, HAPPY NEW YEARS!! My interesting fact of the week shall come first in order to explain. So Koreans actually do celebrate two New Years holidays: lunar AND solar. This next week is the Solar New Years, which is an even bigger deal than the one Americans celebrate. It's the biggest holiday of the year for Koreans--even bigger than Chusok (Korean Thanksgiving)!  They have traditions to get together with the family and celebrate their ancestors. The old tradition is to clean and decorate their ancestors grave, and some people still do that. It's way cool. So that's what is happening this next week :)

As far as this past week.... It's been pretty crazy. Lots and lots of district proselyting with the before-mentioned sticker-boards! We actually figured out a really good system for getting contacts. Before, the sticker-boards were fun but really hard to get contacts. And we have this other thing we did to get contacts, English surveys, but it was too much pressure to randomly walk up to people and ask them to do it. So this past week we came up with the fantastic idea to combine the two! The first time we did it we got like 15 contacts in an hour, and the second time we did it was with our zone in Nampo (famous shopping place in Korea, and in my area:]) and in one hour we got SEVENTY contacts! Crazy right? that's 8 contacts per person. We were ecstatic with how it turned out. So now we just have to figure out how to include a gospel portion in the survey.

We really did have a lot of fun this past week, and I'm still getting along great with my companion <3 I'm learning how to actually communicate my feelings with someone, and it's helping with our relationship SO much as I'm sure you can imagine. 

To answer your question, when someone leads a song, it's just kind of whoever wants to do it. And when no one volunteers then everyone nudges the person known for having musical talent. Fun, huh?

Okay I've got to end here! Not much time left in our P-day. Love you all!

Sister Segovia

PS I got the Christmas cards from Chelsea and CJ Hansen, and from the Gibbons too! Thanks so much! You all look great :)

"Put on the armour of light." - Romans 13:12

Doesn't this just sound awesome? I like to think of how this would look in an epic movie, with the hero wearing brilliant and blinding armour that withstands any and all weapons aimed at him. And that's how our spirits really can be if we always keep Christ in our hearts and follow the Spirit, always giving thanks to Heavenly Father when strength is added to our armour. I know that! I wish I could draw a picture of what I see in my head.

I love my new companion!!

This past week was amazing! So the pictures that I sent last week were of last transfer's companion and district, but everything has changed now! I have a new companion, and the district gained two new companionships, so now we have 12 people in the district and 4 sisters :) It's going to be so much fun!

 

The board we were holding is something we have 전도 (jundo=proselyte) boarding. That particular board is a survey asking what the most important thing is to them. Most people choose family, though health and money are also pretty common. It's just a good way to have fun and get our name out their, and we try to talk to them based on their choice. It's way fun! We actually just did it last night, and met this awesome guy named Michael from the US (though he is Korean by blood) who was so down to earth, and really accepting of us and ou common ground as Christians. He was a huge example to me of how to just accept people and their beliefs.

 

So about my companion, she is so amazing! Her name is Sister Choi Yein. Her name means "holy place." Beautiful right? We get along very well and already love each other so much. We have started this thing where we speak Korean every other day and English the other days, which is super fun. We even got our Elders in on it too :)

 

My companion is exactly what this area needs! We are really working to change things for the better. There were quite a lot of things that needed to be changed, and we are determined to make this area have one of the best reps in the mission!

 

So mom, how did your talk go? I'm sorry I forgot to give you some ideas, but really I had every confidence that you would teach exactly what the Spirit told you. And you're one of the best missionaries I know! :)

 

Which, it's mom's birthday this week! No one forget. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mom!! I hope you enjoy it with family and friends, and I am praying that your injuries will heal quickly! Love you sooo much <3

 

Sister Segovia

 

Interesting Fact: When starting a hymn or song without a piano, one person will set the note by singing the first phrase, and then start everyone else. It's a great idea to get rid of the confusion that always happens when starting a song without a piano.

 

"That which I am commanded to do, I do." - JST Romans 7:15

This sounds a little familiar right? like maybe something Nephi said in 1 Nephi? Yeah I thought so too. Both Paul and Nephi knew what it meant to have faith in God, no doubt in their minds about the things God had commanded them to do. We too can go out and do, without any fear or doubt. it's all for a reason, even if we don't know what the reason is just yet. I will go and do!

New transfer, new start!

That's right, it's a new transfer! Transfers here are 6 weeks (different from Sister Johnson, who has 9-week transfers). So I have a new companion, another Korean who I actually served with for one day my very first transfer, when she was Sister Training Leader. So I already know how cool she is! I'm so excited for this next transfer, and the opportunity to serve with Sister 최예인, I can already tell it's going to be a blast! Deshin will be going toward the stars by the time we are through :D And this is my first time staying in an area with a new person coming in, so hopefully I can remember the important things!

Holy moly, I have heard so much about the CRAZY weather that has been happening over in the US and Canada. Did any of you over in the West experience anything? Is it true that it got so cold that Niagra Falls froze?!? Ah that sounds terrible! It's just like "The Day After Tomorrow" movie! I was so shocked when I heard. The crazy weather was here too, snowing in Busan for the first time in who knows how long. Not much, but it was enough to make me happy!

 

As far as our investigators go, this last week kind of stood still; they are not really progressing and really just interested in English. But I'm still happy to serve them by teaching them. This next transfer I hope to be able to concentrate more on and receive more revelation for our investigators, so we can help them gain interest in the gospel!

Right now, we are just trying to build everyone's faith, and help them see that faith has power. And they all have at least a little faith, so I want to show them the things they can do with even that small amount.

 

Interesting Fact: When eating a meal together, the main dish and side dishes are in the middle and everyone just eats from them. There's really no such things as "coodies" when it comes to eating. Sometimes there will be such things as chopstick wars, where people fight for the last piece of food. Super fun!

That's all from me for now! Love and miss you all :)

 

Sister Segovia

 

"God hath given thee all them that sail with thee." - Acts 27:24

Especially with transfers, I've been thinking about how the people in our lives are meant to be there. Either we are meant to teach them, they are meant to teach us, or we are meant to teach each other! But always, God has given us our family, friends and people on the street so we all can have the chance to become our best. He knows what can/will happen, and His plan is far more organized than ours. Personally I'd much rather follow His. :)

Brand New Year!

Hello family! Sorry I'm writing this a little later than usual; we actually had time to just stay at home and rest today for P-day, so we took advantage.

 

I am so glad to hear that you got the package! I was nervous that it wouldn't get there, because I sent it the slow way. And I was also very glad to hear that you got it in time for Christmas! Perfect :) There should be one coming this next month sometime too, with a special prize that I found: Sherlock Holmes with the English and Korean translation side by side! I was estatic when I found it at a second-hand store.

 

All of the things that happened for the holidays sound amazing! Davis has a pet snake? :O woah... that sounds intense! And the ornament you recieved is a wonderful gift! I have some thanks to give to the 4th Ward young men. They sent me a Christmas card and package, with some pretty interesting presents. I'm sure I can use the toy soldiers and playdough for something! haha Also, I got a picture of the Jaramillo family; their son is so cute, and so big! Say hello and thank you to them for me :)

 

So this week was amazing as it was the start of a brand new year. We did indeed get to see the sunrise with our ward, and it was beautiful! We actually were supposed to wake up at 4am and go with Deshin ward, but I set the alarm wrong and we woke up late! But luckily our other ward, Kwejong (I don't know English spelling) was doing it close to our house so we booked it over there. We were on a beach, and there were some traditional Korean dancers and drummers, and they were giving out free rice-cake soup to everyone, which is traditional to eat on New Years (interesting Fact). After the actual sunrise we got to take a walk along the cliff and I got a ton of beautiful pictures. It was fantastic!

 

We also started putting our plan to strengthen the youth into action, having an activity on New Years as well as this past Saturday. We are going to be having an activity every week in the effort to help them invite frends. And Saturday turned out to be a success, so I think it may just work! We've got just two months before they have to go back to their rigourous school schedules (they have school on Saturday usually, but it's school break).

 

Also, we met with a new investigator this past week, and she is so amazing! Her heart truly does seem prepared. It was really interesting becuase usually with the English program, people will actively participate in the English but not show interest when we start the gospel discussion. But this lady was just as excited to learn about the church as she was to practice English. So I am so stoked to meet with her again tomorrow!

 

It was a very eventful week, and this next week will be super busy too! I love you all and hope to hear from you! It always brightens my day :) Thank you for everything you've done!

 

Sister Segovia

 

"Be His witness unto all men." - Acts 22:15

Though I am a missionary and this is my call, this is also everyone of our responsibilities. As the new year unfolds, remember that! Maybe some of your new years goals can invlove how you will stand as a witness of Christ. I know that as we show others what we know, we will become, as individuals and as a society, more prepared for His Second Coming.