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