Its time to say hello to a new transfer! I can't believe another
transfer has ended. However, I did not get transferred, but I did get a new
companion. She is a native Korean sister and she is wonderful. This is the
first companion to whom I speak Korean to full time. It's pretty amazing,
partly because it's made me realize that I can spend an entire day speaking
Korean and get along just fine. It has certainly made me feel better about how
much of the language I have actually learned, because it's still easy to feel completely
Korean challenged. Sometimes a stranger will say something to me and I have
absolutely no idea what they say, but then magically I remember, "hey you
talk to your companion in Korean every day and you understand her, so you can
do it." I just give myself a little pep talk and almost magically I can
figure out what I am hearing.
This past transfer was a little bit rough. Beginning the very first week in
the area everyone started to cancel their appointments with us. It seemed as
though our investigators, who had been so reliable in the past, dropped off the
face of the earth. It got us a little down, but we tried our best to do everything
we could to find new searching souls and keep the area progressing.
Unfortunately, all of our best efforts seemed to come to naught. At times that
made it a little bit harder to keep going every day. We were trying as hard as
we could, and I kept trusting the Lord that if we would work and strive to do
our best the Holy Ghost will reward us. It may not be immediate, but I have
faith that it will come.
I was able to see this magnified this past week. The
Saturday or Sunday before the transfer ended the elders in Sujeong gave us a
number of a woman who wanted to learn English. Honestly, my thoughts might not
have been as positive as they should have been. They may (or may not) have gone
something like this, "great, another investigator who wants to learn
English but has probably zero interest in the gospel." However, we were still thankful for the referral and
called her to set up an appointment for this past week. When we met her and
came to get to know her we learned more about her. She has had some struggles
in her life and wants to make a new start for herself. As we talked about her
religious background we learned that she had been to a few different churches
in the past but none of them really felt right. A few days later we met with
her again and she told us some of the things that she struggles with. She wonders
about why we are here and worries about where we will go after this life is
over. She said that people tell her that it is senseless that she worries about
these things, but they constantly trouble her. I couldn't believe it. Every
question and concern this sister had expressed was one that could be answered
through this gospel. I marveled that I had answers for her, ones that quieted
her fears and calmed her worries. I feel so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to teach her about the Plan of Salvation. I felt this was a
miracle.
There wasn't any big show or sign but I still recognized the miracle,
and it reminded me again that Heavenly Father is aware of me and sees my
efforts. I also know that it was just not my miracle, but hers too. She was the
one who was searching for answers, wondering if she would ever find them. We
were only the hands that delivered the message. I hope you all can come to
realize and recognize the small miracles of hope that you receive in your own
lives. I know that each of us can see the hand of the Lord in quieting our soul
and lifting our spirit toward a brightness of hope. This is true for everyone, but
we must “trust in the Lord, and do good” to see it for the miracle that it is.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week.
Love,
Sister
Annie
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