October 27, 2014

HELLO FAMILY!!

Okay things are going super good here in the Seoul Hood, haha.. Okay So let's see what happened this week.

Last Tuesday we had a zone conference and we talked a lot about setting/keeping goals and A LOT about relying, recognizing, and feeling the Holy Ghost. I just want to first say that not only missionaries have to rely on the holy ghost everyone at home should also be doing their part of trying to feel the spirit in their lives. For some reason it has been really hard for me to recognize what the spirit is prompting me to do. I can definitely feel but sometimes I don't know what it wants me to do. So In the next few days I am going to try to pray hard to feel it, search scriptures to apply it, bear my testimony, share experiences with people so that they can relate to it, and lastly express love to the Lord and to people around you. In lessons especially it is extremely hard to do theses things because I am not even close to knowing what the language is (sometimes I think I have gotten worse, but I keep trying) but I promise that even not in lessons and you express these things to people they can know for themselves the things you believe. This will help you bring the spirit into the home, school, work.. So my suggestion to you is to try to bring the spirit where every you go. It requires a lot of work. Pray often and show your love to the people around you. So I am going to ask you all in a week how you have done this and I better get a response back haha. I don't write this stuff for fun because honestly my hand is crmaping up write now so please try this next week to be a better example of the believers. We also had this Fireside last night (which was in half Korean half English because everything was translated depending on the speaker) talking about media. I know we hear it a lot but we have to spread the word of the gospel because I think we would be wasting our time on earth. "The worth of Souls is great in the sight of God" So just think about that okay... Facebook anything that Christ would post, ( I am not sure if that is appropriate to say haha but just pretend) Tweet uplifting gospel quotes, Instagram a picture of service.. I don't know you all have brains use them for good! haha seriously though what good have you done today? Elder Whiting (of the quorum of the 70) talked in our English branch yesterday and fireside and he talked about sacrifice. What must we sacrifice in order to become the men and women god would want us to be... Do something differently in the next week. I am going to check up on you all so... DO IT! Please :)

So let me just tell you what I have experience so far since I have been here. I have eaten octopus jerky, lots and lots of rice (hopefully my stomach doesn't explode) lots of different spicy soups. My trainer Sister Kim cooks us Korean lunch everyday so hopefully I will pick up from her.

That's me in my 2 Week. Everything is good so far.Pray for me! I pray for all of you! Love you all! Remember God loves you!

Sister Leavitt

레벳 저매 (ohh yeah a lot of people call me sister rabbit because Koreans can't say certain letters so that is one of my names 토끼  or 이 하나 (lee hanna) which is very korean name)

2014-10-10

HELLO EVERYONE!

What? I am in Korea... This is so crazy to me that I am here. Uhh... yeah... I still don't understand a word anyone is saying but I love it here. I also love my new companions. I am in a tri-o. I have my trainer who is Sister Kim and my other companion which is Sister Allred. I am sooooo blessed to have them as my first companions. My trainer works me hard which I love. She is from America but she has lived in Korea and is full Korean so she knows the country and the language super well. I will be her last companion. She will be leaving in December which is super sad!! Sister Allred is awesome!! She works so hard even tho she doesn't think she does. The are too nice to me too!

 I am also blessed to be in the best area in Seoul! 영등포 (yongdunpo) our area has literally everything. The members here are amazing. Even tho there isn't a lot of them. Ohhh... let me just tell you... We are learning KSL. Korean Sign Language. It is way awesome. We are apart of a deaf/Korean ward and english ward (which is huge, about 400 people). It is really awesome. Also in the english ward there are a lot of Filipinos so I probably will learn like one or two words in tigaglyon. (have no idea how to spell that) Like in a few weeks the English ward is singing tigalyon music in one of our firesides I think so... yeah. A lot of new learning. We also see a lot of Chinese and Japanese people. My companion knows a little bit of both so I hope to pick up on some of that as well. 

This week was crazy good. So we first started off the plan by proselyting on the subway and then going to the Mission home. We had dinner all that fun jazz. Woke up did some meetings and then met our new companions and headed to our new areas. And on our way there had to do more proselyting again. The next day we met with a investigator that I couldn't tell you her name right now because they all kind of sound the same to me at the moment haha. Anyways, we also met with some of the young womens. Every Thursday and Saturday we play basketball with the members and (future) investigators. We also teach a english class every Thursday and Saturday which is really cool. I never thought I would be using so much English here. But I am striving to get better at my Korean. Hahaha it is funny because sometimes when we are proselyting I only know like two phrases when we are handing out our English flyers and our Gospel Question cards and its. "Is your english good?" and when I say that they hurry say no and like run away and I have to chase them to say "its okay we teach English classes" so my trainer said I have to find a new way to say that because it is intimidating hahah. The other thing I know how to say is " can you play basketball well" to invite them to basketball but most people don't understand me enough so I get embarrassed and start laughing and they get all confused and walk away. Ohh I guess there is another thing I do say and I say it wrong every time is. Have you had these questions before?" (pointing to the question card) They never understand so they eventually take it and hurry off. I actually like proselyting but the only hard part is keeping a conversation. So that is when Sister Kim does her magic and gives them a Book of Mormon. So that what I do is scare them until Sister Kim comes and saves them. hahaha

Ummm... food here is amazing... I haven't had anything too weird yet. One night as like a 10 o'clock snack we had octopus jerky... It was weird but they made me still eat it haha.. 

This week week we have a lot of service for members I will send you pictures of them and the stuff we did.

Keep me updated on life! Love you all! Be Safe!! And may the odds be ever in your favor.

Love,

레벳 서매

Sister Kim and Sister Allred

 Our apartment from the outside. We are on the very top floor on the corner so we have many widows to see the outside it is awesome!!

Looking at the Sunrise from my Apartment

Crazy lady spying on Hanna

On thursday morning I received Hanna's email.  She told me that she goes to the Temple on P-days around 2:00, so what does any abnormal loving mother do? I thought it would be fine to Spy. Hey, don't judge me, she leaves for South Korea in a week.  I just wanted to make sure she had all her fingers and toes. Kind of like when they are born.  Just wanted to check.  So I parked in a parking lot across from the Temple. I was so far away you could barely see it.  There was a road, a huge grass area, and a parking lot separating me from any unsuspecting victims.  I watched the Missionaries as they exited the Temple. They walked off the grounds down to the road on the grass and made a left to the sidewalk and then turned right and headed to the MTC. I was not in the line of fire so I  hunkered down as if I was in a fox hole and aimed my camera.  After an hour and half I saw her come out. Grant it, I was looking through a 400mm lens. I couldn't see her with the naked eye but with my stalking equipment I was able to find her.  When she came out she didn't go as the other Missionaries had. She came straight across the grass and headed straight for me.  She kept looking at the car and then would stop look and then walk again. Finally she met up with some other Sister and walked on down.  I thought I was so busted. I drove around the Temple and headed home. When I got to the light directly in front of the MTC I came to a slow stop.  I looked to my left and there at the cross walk was Hanna I honked and waved as I drove through. I could hear her yelling, "I told them that was my crazy Mother. I knew that was you!!" Awwwwwww I'm so happy.  I could see all her fingers and toes and she was smiling the whole way. Notice the one picture. She actually stopped to smell the Roses. That's our Girl. Love her so much. 

Waiting and Waiting

Smelling the Roses

Her and Sister Johnson

Stop Stop Turn Turn

This is where I wanted to run after her!

October 2 2014 One more week. Let the tears begin.

HELLO EVERYONE!

Time is seriously flying by soooo quickly here. I have been loving every minute of my mission. Yes, it is extremely hard and I am not even in the field yet. This week was a good one.

So after our devotional on Sundays we get to watch a video that they let us choose from. This week I rewatched this Elder Bednar talk. It is really a good one. It was talking about how we need to be turning outwards never inwards. And its talks about how when we are on missions it should never be about us. And he used the Sesame Street cookie monster as an example saying,"I want cookie, NOW!" We all need to remember that the Lord as a place and time for everything and we must not be so selfish and looking inwards and start looking outwards to people. So I have been thinking I will not know everything now and my prayers might not be answered now but they will. We are on God's errand and in his own time.

Okay, so I am going to tell you this super funny story but I might warn you it might be a "you had to be there" kind of moments. So me and my companion were teaching our "investigator" and I start off with my sentence that I had been practicing and I say," Today, we are going to teach you about how we are to prepare to meet God." Let me tell you that is a hard sentence because there is a indirect question and you conjugate different things... anyways... SO that was really good and then my companions says,"How do we feel?" and our investigator was confused so she reapeated the question and my companion was like yeah how do you feel? ( she totally meant to say something different) and our investigator was pondering like this is really deep and she was not answering the question so I say." Where are we going?" And she was like Uhhh I am here... I don't know. I figure out she doesn't understand what I am asking so I went to try to say to her, "After we die, where do we go?" but all that came out was 휘 죽여 which mean "haaeee, DIE!" Because I was trying to ask my companion what the word after was and that is what she told me... our investigator just broke and started to laugh soooo hard! So we started laughing because we had no idea what we said soo I hurried and flipped to the scripture I was going to share and try to forget that I just told her die. Seriously the funniest thing.. Sorry it was like a had to be there moment but it was the funniest thing. 

Other than that I am trying to learn new vocab but I don't have the patients because I forget them the next day so we will see how it goes in the field. Ummm... SO... TOMORROW WE GET OUR FLIGHT PLANS! CRAZY, RIGHT!? SO Next P-day I will let you know what time I can call you and such.  I have one and 1/2 more weeks left here. I hate to leave her but I am excited/nervous to leave to!