Me, being the senior area companion

Wow, this week was crazy!! Me, being the senior area companion (the one who knows the area) it was a test of just how much I had payed attention the past couple months. Luckily, I did pretty well at leading us to all the places hat we needed to go:). That's a relief. The first week is always hard too just because the new companion can't really help that much 'cause they don't know any of the people, but now it will be fully working together to help our investigators and branch grow from here on out! 

My companion is awesome! She is so fun, and really has done a lot in her mission to become the best missionary that she can be. I admire her so much, and have already learned so much from her! Definitely the first week in a new companionship is sometimes shaky, but I've never loved someone so fast. :) 

This past week we did a lot of going around and trying to visit members so she can meet people and see where everything is, and just get acquainted with the area. Actually, it was really cool to show her everything, because at the end of last transfer we had had a lot of disappointments so we felt like we weren't doing well and that our area was going really slow. But then this past week I was telling Sister Lee about our investigators and I realized, yeah maybe we didn't have the baptisms we were hoping for last transfer, but we still have a baptismal date and some solid investigators, and some outstanding members that are really getting excited about missionary work. So it was really cool to have someone come in and be amazed with the area and remember, oh yeah, we really do have it pretty good here. :)

Which speaking of our members, one of our members gave us a referral this past week, which we hope to start teaching this next week with the member. And a different member volunteered (on her own) to go with us to visit our young investigator who we hadn't been able to talk to much. And with the member's help we got her to agree to come to Family Home Evening tonight! Yes! So amazing. I love my branch!

It's really going well here. And this next Wednesday we are going to meet our new mission president and his wife! No clue what to expect, but we are so excited!! Can't wait. 

I love you all! Tell congratulations to Nora for me, and "Love you" to all of the family you will be seeing in the next couple weeks. <3 <3

What's Interesting this time? Well, the culture is to bow as a greeting right? Well -there are a bunch of places that have these life-size doll robots that are SUPER creepy and just bow to you as you pass by. Seriously so creepy. Haha I sent a picture just so you can see what I mean.

LOVE! Sister Segovia

"It was not easy for the Savior, why should it be easy for us?" - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

I read the talk that you told me to mom, and it was so so amazing. Really, if we want to truly become like Christ, we have to walk with Him at least part of the way through Gethsemane.Even He, perfect and complete as He was, had a moment where He didn't want to do what He needed to. But He never made  His will more important that God's. So yeah, there will be times when we don't want to do what we know we have to. But we have to go through the hard times in order to become our potential. I want to remember this whenever it's hard, too hot, etc. I want to do my part, not just expect Christ to suffer it all for me.

It's the Newsies!‏

So I may not be an orphan selling newspapers, but I've sure got news for you! 

Our transfer just ended and a brand new transfer is begun. The past transfer was actually changed to just be 5 weeks instead of six, and this next one will be seven to make up for it. The reason for this peculiar change? Our mission president is leaving and the NEW president arrives this next week! So the Gilberts closed the transfer and the new president and sister Barrow will start serving at the end of this week. Weird. We just got back from traveling to Busan for transfer meeting (our mission gathers all of the transferring missionaries into one spot and the mission president talks with them, then we all head back home with our new companions) and pretty much the whole mission came in to say goodbye to our beloved mission parents. And also, 13 other amazing missionaries are returning home, including Elder Charles whom I was just serving with, and Sister Freeman, my follow-up trainer. So much change in the mission this next transfer!

And that's not even mentioning the huge amount of change my area has just gone through. So we originally had 6 missionaries, but FOUR of them just transferred out. Including Sister Ellingson, my companion! We were surprised about that because she only has this next transfer left before she goes home. But yeah, she left and now I have a Korean companion, SIster Lee Subin. :D So pretty much I have no clue what this next transfer will be like, probably drastically different from before.

But actually, this past week we had some great miracles! Some happy, some a little sad, but all miracles. 1. We were able to clearly figure out which investigators we will have to stop meeting and who actually still have potential. It's sad to have to drop investigators, but it's a miracle that we were able to so clearly see it before the new transfer started. 2. We met with two investigators that we hadn't been sure about before, but this past week BOTH of them said something along the lines of "I've been thinking that I need to come to church." Which seriously, we never would have thought. And it was amazing because the lessons that we planned really were what they needed to be able to realize and tell us that. So we will be working hard to get them to actually come! 3. We have a baptismal date! And this baptism actually will happen, I'm sure. She is family of a member, and has been coming to church for a while, and we were able to finally teach her again. And I think she really likes us now, since we gave her an apple pie this past week :)

I love this area so much! I'm sad to see my old companion go, but I know that this next transfer will be awesome! I have a feeling I'm going to ave to do a lot of growing too. It's all for the cause of my Savior, so I say bring it on! I love you al so much! Have a wonderful week. :)

Sister Christina Segovia

P.S. Mom and Dad, I got both the memory card and the debit card! Thanks for sending it to me! <3

Interesting Fact: Pie is not common in Korea at all. We can't even find a round pie pan, so we just used a normal pan. We made 4 pies this past week, and I am officially pro at making simple apple pie, even without measuring! haha mom would know how terrible I am without measuring cups.

"I will trust, and not be afraid." - 2 Nephi 22:2

I was really quite nervous for this next transfer the past couple days, but I realized that it all just comes down to how much I trust God. If I know that He's guiding what's happening down here, then there's no problem! I'm determined to do everything I can to do what He is trying to help me do.

Hope is the Anchor of the Soul!‏

So, first off, I would like to apologize for my email last week, and how weak I was. Remember how I said I was without hope, but that I would be studying about it this week? Well, I have and did indeed learn so much about it! Not much has improved this past week from what I explained last time, but I have gained the hope that everything WILL eventually work out. It's all up to God, and just because I don't see results right now doesn't mean that He isn't watching over us every minute. One talk that I studied this week was "Brightness of Hope" by Elder Neal A. Maxwell.

Anyway, so yeah, we didn't have any baptism this past week, and it looks like it will be a little longer before we are able to have a baptism, but I think that we will be able to experience miracles next month for sure. Things are going slower than I wanted, but it's not about what I want right? We just got to keep going towards our goal, and it'll happen in the Lord's time. I certainly have people that I don't want anyone to give up on, so I won't give up on these people either! 

This past week I went on exchanges with one of the most amazing Sisters I've ever met, She really is a sincerely HAPPY Sister. It was amazing to serve with her for a day and see how she is affecting everything around her for good. :) 

Also, we were able to meet with the investigator (Sister Gang) who we had a member-lesson with last week, and we taught her about prayer. Whenever we had talked about prayer before, she didn't really feel any connection to it, but we found out that was because she hadn't fully understood it. We taught her again, and stressed that fact that prayer is more for US than anyone. That prayer doesn't change God's mind, but rather our own minds. Suddenly she understood just why we need to pray! So we are hoping that she will start!

So yeah, that's all from this side of the world. And HAPPY FATHER's DAY! I love love love my dad, that's for sure! <3 I hope you have a wonderful Father's week. Tell me all about it! 

I love all the rest of you too! :D

Love, Sister Segovia

Interesting Fact: So remember when I told you that they cover corn dogs in sugar (and ketchup)? Well, they actually like to do that a lot. This past week I also had tomatoes drenched in sugar, and also potatoes dipped in sugar too. The potatoes were delicious, but I really do just prefer tomatoes like they are :) 

"Whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall." - Moses 7:53

One thing that we have learned in our mission is about how we are continually climbing up stairs, and at times it even seems as we are climbing up cliffs. When we are climbing cliffs it's those times that are the hardest, when we sometimes think we won't make it to the top. But if we have Christ as our belayer making sure that we don't fall, then we can climb even faster than we thought possible. And with no worries about whether or not we can do it!

hard to express just how I feel

I'm not really sure how I can do this email this week. It's going to be hard to express just how I feel right now. Honestly, this week was the hardest week I can remember. It started out with so much hope, as you saw from last week's letter. I wish I could say it was still that way, but right now I feel pretty hopeless. It seems that everything that I had hopes about has fallen apart. I'm sorry that this letter wont be a very cheery one. :\

So with the investigators that we were hoping would have baptismal dates, things have just come up that are preventing anything from happening. We can't even meet with either of them at the moment. And the Phillipina's husband is against her going to any church, so even if she does gain a testimony, we have no clue if anything could actually happen. 

And the lady that had a baptism date............. Well, we don't know what's going to happen. Her family also does not want her going to our church, and because of that she couldn't even come to church yesterday. We will be meeting with her today, but we've no clue if she can still be baptized this next week. 

Honestly, all six of us missionaries in Hogye are struggling right now. Poor Elder Charles is going home in two weeks, and he has been experiencing the same pattern for the past 2 years, where we have these huge miracles, but then nothing comes out of them. Somehow those God-sent people just fall of the face of the earth and lose contact with the missionaries. What's wrong? Is it something we as missionaries aren't doing right? Or is it just the hardness of the people in this mission? I don't know. I know there are miracles happening everywhere else, but it seems like we aren't seeing any results that we thought were sure to come. 

So sorry to send this email with absolutely no cheery news. But actually now that I think about it we did have one miracle this week. One of our investigators that has not wanted to meet anyone had lunch with our member and absolutely LOVED her. So we hope that they will be able to develop a relationship that will help her come to church. :)

Okay, so next week will let you know how it's going, if we had the baptism or not, and whether or not I have been able to strengthen my faith so that I can once again have hope for the future. That's what me and my companion will be striving for this week. I love you all and hope that you are better able to keep your hope even in the midst of trial. :) I really do know that we all have the potential to live with God again, and we really can become like Him. I still haven't lost hope in that fact. 

I love you. So much.

Sister Segovia

I'll still give an interesting fact of course: to start school and to end school all of the kids bow to their teacher. One kid in English class, when asked what his favorite part of school, said, "bowing time." Then, when asked what the worst part of school was, he said once again, "bowing time.. the first one." Haha! 

"His name shall be in their foreheads." - Revelations 22:4

So I have heard a lot about having Christ's name in our hearts. Especially as missionaries, we need to not only have His name on our name-tags, but in our hearts. However, when I read this scripture during personal study I realized that there's more to it. When we have Christ's name in our hearts, this represents our DESIRES. We desire to be like Him. But we must also put His name on our foreheads. Why the difference? Well, think about if someone has something on their forehead. That is the only thing that anyone would look at or care about, right? So if we have Christ's name on our foreheads, this represents our ACTIONS. We act in a way that even before people know our names, they can see that we are followers of Christ. I think I've got His name in my heart, but I'm still working on getting it to my forehead. :)

Mosiah 3:19 "As a child"‏

Wow, you are about to hear the biggest miracle in the world. At least in my world. 

This past week on Tuesday we met a new investigator through tracting. Lately tracting (door to door proselyting) is NOT very effective, especially in Korea where they won't even open the doors but just yell at you that they already go to a different church. Because of this, I have actually only gone tracting once my whole mission, and that was just with my trainer so she could show me how ineffective it was. So I wasn't too excited when my branch president told us we should go tracting in his apartment complex. But, I thought about Sister Mariah Johnson's amazing experience when she went tracting, and decided it was worth a try. And man did God have something for me to learn. 

The very first building we started at, the third floor down, last door we were going to knock on of the night, an old lady and her daughter let us in. We were able to teach the Restoration, though at first the daughter was just talking about her church (she even invited us to come haha) as we were teaching, but when we got to the part where Joseph Smith saw God, she stopped any talk of her own church, so caught up in the story. She said that she has been trying to find God like that and wants to know how. We explained that she might not be able to see God like Joseph did, but she can know Him in the same way. We have seen her almost everyday since then, and she has a baptismal date for the 15th. :) :D It certainly has been a roller coaster of a week; it feels like a month has gone by! 

I've never taught an investigator like her before. She seriously is one of the purest people I've ever met, and my companion and I think of her when we read Mosiah 3:19. She has an illness that just makes her a little different, but I think that illness has been what made her so open and acceptive to the message. She is truly like a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, and full of love. She still has full capacity to think and choose for herself, and she is doing everything in her power to be able to get baptized, even though her family doesn't approve. And she understands the Book of Mormon so well, even able to apply it to her own life before we even taught her how! It was so cute, because after we first gave the Book of Mormon we asked her what she was going to do that night and she was like "Well it looks like I will be studying the Book of Mormon" :) <3 

Basically she is a little (or big) gift from God, and I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father allowed us to find her. He was looking down at me and saying, "Watch this Sister Christina Segovia, I'll show you that my work can be moved forward through ANY method."

There was a lot of other pretty great things that happened this week too; it was so eventful that we have been quite exhausted the whole time! And the Phillipina looks like she will be very great! When we first taught her she said that she was really serious about finding out if this was true or not. We will be meeting her today! :]

Though I would love to tell you everything, I'll stop here and give you the continuation of the story next week! I know you are dying to know what happens--I am too! I love you all. 

Sister Segovia

Interesting Fact: So you have been asking how the language is coming, and actually it's going great! I wouldn't consider myself fluent, but I am still continuing to get better, so that's good right? Haha anyway an interesting thing about Korean is that the word that they use to say "Excuse me" actually translates to "I'm being rude." Such humble people :)

"The Earth was lightened with His glory" - Revelation 18:1

So true. The more the world knows about Christ, the lighter, happier, cleaner, and holier it gets. And though right now it seems as if it may be impossible to have the world full of light, when we start with those around us (especially ourselves) then it's that much brighter, until our own little sector shines with a radiance that others can't help but notice. Shine!