General Conference

So, we got to have General Conference this weekend.  It was spectacular!!!!  I went in with a list of questions and each and every one of them was answered at least once.  We had 5 investigators attend and they were all at sessions where all the talks seemed to have been written specifically for them.  The talks that really stand out in my mind right now are the ones from the First Presidency.

 

First, President Eyring.  I missed a few minutes of his talk (around the middle) because we had an investigator come in and we needed to show her where to go, but when he spoke it felt like he was speaking directly to me.  The part that got me the most was when he was preparing to speak at the University.  I have been having a hard time because I really don't measure up to my Book of Mormon heroes, Abinadi, Ammon, and Alma, but hearing him say that he had become them I felt so much peace.  I realised that I don't need to worry about measuring up to them right now, but I must NEVER stop striving to become them.  On a similar note, when Elder Packer talked about his testimony when he was younger, and when President Uchtdorf talked about helping in the Church while in Texas, I felt a similar peace.

 

Next, President Uchtdorf's talk....와!  It was basically the answer to life the universe and everything....and QUITE a bit more literally than 42!  I have never heard the relationship between God and man explained so eloquently.  It put everything we try to convey to investigators, especially when they have a hard time keeping commitments, and ESPECIALLY when those commitments are prayer and scripture study, it put it all into perspective.  It was spectacular!  Intense, but spectacular!

 

And then President Monson.  I love our prophet!!!  First of all, he quoted the Beatles in just about the BEST way I could've imagined!  I literally laughed out loud!  I love learning and teaching about the consistency of our Heavenly Father.  It is the only way the gospel is true, and if God isn't constant and unchanging, there really is NO truth in the world.  I love that the most powerful, infinite, loving, caring person in the cosmos not only wants us to pour out our souls to Him in open and honest pray, but He commands us to do so!  And when we do, and let Him know the bad things that happen, the things we're just not good at, our worries, our joys, and our desires, everything; when we let Him know those things, He blesses us.  I have felt that SO much the past few months.  I bear my soul to God not just daily, but sometimes hourly, and usually constantly.  I never quite understood what it meant to pray always till I was always truly striving to act in a way that I would not only feel comfortable if Christ was with me but in a way that would cause my Heavenly Father to be proud of what I was doing.  To even STRIVE to live in such a way, you need to pray always and believe God is with you.  And the great thing about that, even when, because of mortal weakness, you don't feel that God is with you when you need Him, if you just believe that He is, all it takes is a simple prayer and you can feel Him there.  Through God's strength we really can do anything...even knock on the doors of strangers and with excitement share a rather peculiar (but true) message (even if your shoe is held together with a piece of string, your hair is crazy, you're dripping with sweat, and you're scared spitless)...you can do it because God and all His angels are helping you, and it's all because you asked Him for the help.  I know this is true!  I know God loves me and wants me here and now.  I know I'm doing what's right and I'm doing work that is pleasing to Him because I can feel the Spirit and God answers my prayers!....yeah, I liked President Monson's talk! ^^

 

I loved conference.  I seriously can't wait for the Conference Liahona to come out!  I wish I had the time to focus on every talk.  They were all so inspired...and they all make me feel like something BIG is coming!  There is an urgency for so many missionaries and so may strong members of the church, seemingly more so now than ever before.  Something is going to happen and it seems like it'll happen soon.  It's gonna rock!

 

On a lighter note, I passed off lesson one pass-off this week.  I'm getting ready for lesson two and mid-way pass-off and then (in hopefully a week and a half) I'll be half way to becoming a senior.  GAH!  It's soooooooo hard!  But oh well!

 

Hope you're all doing well.  I love you all!

 

~McClellan 자매

A Day in the Life :) (of a missionary)

So, it was a holiday yesterday so we're emailing today!  Can I just start by saying that I LOVE being a missionary!!!!!

 

Ok, Evan (and everyone else) here's a story...it might not be super exciting to you all, but it has a special place in my heart. 

 

One day on my mission (it was actually this past Saturday) my companion and I were having a usual Saturday where we were behind on our 전도s (contacts) and putting our trust in the Lord that if we put in the necessary effort he'd help us meet our goal.  Well, it was night time and it was kind of cold and neither of us had jackets, but it was okay, because we were walking around Korea during the night, when it's all lit up and feels super like we're in Korea, and we were talking to everyone without fear and without hesitation because the Lord was on our side!  Well, we first ran into these three 15 year old (in Korean age, 14 in American) girls who were getting 떡뽁기 (not sure on the spelling but it's this super Korean food that is way spicy and super delicious) and we started talking to them and it was great.  They responded the way Korean teenagers usually respond, by first being astounded that we spoke Korean and second, being transfixed by the size of my eyes (it's really embarrassing and I'm pretty sure that my eyes scare little kids). Well, anyway we got their phone numbers and they wanted to meet with us the next day (really weird, THEY usually never make the appointments and it's ALWAYS exciting when they do!!!)  Well, we went on our way and we met this man who kept giving us free food while we talked to him (dumplings and the sweet bean pastries which are now actually one of my favorite foods...they are amazing fresh, but still, go figure!)  I was super wanting to give him a Book of Mormon because he was so nice and seemed a little interested in it, but he was blind in one eye and couldn't rea\d very well.  I still really wanted to give it to him but I didn't know how or what to say.  I told Sister Seipel this and we decided that we'd tell him that if he called us we would come to his little cart and read the Book of Mormon to him because we thought he was awesome.  He hesitantly agreed and tried to give us more food, but we didn't let him and we went on our way.  The next day (Sunday) came and our girls came!!!!!  Well, two of them and they brought three friends.  It was so much fun.  We spent the first half hour doing English and the second teaching the first lesson.  They were all really into it and all committed to read the Book of Mormon Introduction and pray about it and they wanted to meet the next day (Monday...yesterday) so we invited them to the ward dinner that was going on on account of our new bishopric and said we'd do some English and some gospel after.  Last night at the dinner they felt a little awkward and out of place with the other young women in the ward, but the Young Women's president came to our lesson and they LOVED her!  We got to watch the Restoration DVD with them and they got super into it and then we talked about meaningful scripture study and prayer...and they all committed to daily prayer and scripture study!  We love our girls!!!!!  We're meeting them again tomorrow (because we were busy tonight...they want to meet everyday) and we're so excited!

 

So there's your story Evan!  I hope you like it.

 

We are so excited for this week.  Our zone had a special fast this Sunday for new investigators and that day we got 5...the Lord truly loves and blesses His missionaries!!!!!  We have 4 people committed to coming to Conference (which is this weekend...and I will be able to see all of the sessions and in English...our mission president likes us to go to all of it and all in our own language...it's great!)...this work is too cool!!!!!

 

I love you all and hope you are all doing well.  I am so grateful for all your love and support and prayers!  Stay awesome!

 

~Mac 자매

Hard week, not much time...hope you enjoy it anyway.

K, so my email wasn't working for a WHILE so I don't have much time!

 

Thank you so much for letters (Davis, yeah, finally got it) and emails.  You have no idea how much joy and encouragement they bring.  I've been having kind of a hard time lately, and knowing that I was going to be able to hear from my family and know that you're all proud of me and cheering me on...it just means a lot, so thank you!

 

This language is basically beating me up everyday and stealing my lunch money, but it's coming.  I love my investigators and am starting to understand how hard it is when they don't keep commitments and when they punk out on their appointments.  It's really sad when you know they're going in the direction that would align themselves with the Lord, but they just won't let go of things like coffee or working on Sunday...it's so sad!!!  And on the flip side, it's just SO happy when you have investigators that at first seem hard and intimidating and then the next time you meet them they have read a bunch more of the Book of Mormon than you had assigned and they have all these questions that get you so excited you could probably fly.  I've also learned that I am a person of INTENSE emotions!  When I'm happy there is nothing that can bring me down...unfortunately the same can be said about sad and scared and anxious, but also excited.  I'm so grateful that anger doesn't seem to be a hard one though. :)

 

The Lord loves His missionaries, and one of the coolest things I've learned through recent study of the Book of Mormon is that when someone truly has an understanding of the Atonement and truly repents the FIRST thing they want to do is help their bretheren (ie missionary work) whether it be through prayer, direct service, or preaching repentance (all parts of missionary work.)  I love it!  And I know that it's the same way for everyone.  If Satan wants everyone to be miserable and if we are truly on the Lord's side fighting the good fight, then we need to be able to share our joy, but the only way to share it is to feel it first...and that's why everyone needs to repent all the time, so they can help everyine else repent too!!!  Isn't it cool?!

 

Well, I'm pretty sure I should go soon.  I'm sending some pictures so that you can get a feel for where I'm at...sorry the city ones are at night...the city looks the coolest then.  I'll get some more of the day time.  And Danny, as for what Korea is like, it feels like I'm in a big Final Fantasy (especially 7) city every day with a little bit of Firefly mixed in (and the pictures of the city are for you!)

 

Love you all and hope you are doing well!!!  Stay Awesome!

 

~Sister Manda

Hard...but rewarding week :)

So...this week was a little hard.  I occasionally feel pretty inadequate at teaching and talking, but the great thing is, the Lord's here to help me rather constantly.  I've also got an amazing zone that's more than willing to help with anything.  I just love being a missionary.

 

Well, today we got to go to the temple!!!  I love the temple, it's the greatest thing ever!!!!!  It was so great to be with so many missionaries.  When I'm around a lot of missionaries it reminds me of how it felt in the MTC -- like there is not a single thing on the planet that could even remotely be considered impossible!!!  Missionaries are the greatest!

 

Sister Seipel and I came up with a new contacting idea but haven't tried it out yet.  So, on Saturday we went to Young Womens to build a little 정 ("jung": kind of like trust, but not really...there's not an English word for it).  Well, while we were there I just started drawing everyone...just little thumbnails...it was a big hit!  They were so cute about it!  So, we're thinking about using drawing to get people we meet on the street during contacting to meet with us again.  We haven't actually done it yet, but we're hoping it'll be good.  We're not the best at being fun when we 전도.  (If anyone has ideas...)

 

We had a couple of MIRACLE lessons this week.  The first was with 오지연 (O-ji-yun), a theology student who knows the bible backwards and forwards in multiple languages.  She has some interesting takes on the bible and she gets off on tangents a lot.  It can be a little scary when we prepare, but she is seriously the cutest person, so it's always a blast meeting with her!!!  (Just some heavy "deep doctrine" questions every time...yikes!)  Well, it was amazing because at first she would NOT read the Book of Mormon unless we were there...and then, she got a little curious.  It was great.  I love it when people open the book for themselves and really start on the road to the truth.  It is so so so true that no one can convert someone, they have to do it themselves.  Well, we got about half way through lesson 1...major progress!!!

 

Miracle lesson 2: 유지수 (Yu-ji-su).  She seemed like she was just in it for the English, but when we met the second time she had not only done the reading (the Intro to the BoM) but she'd read the title page, the testimonies of the three and eight witnesses, and the testimony of Joseph Smith!!!  And she really wanted to keep going.  It was amazing!!!!

 

I love getting to teach all these wonderful people!  It is seriously so great.  But probably one of my favorite things is how different the Spirit feels for each person!  I love this mission thing!  It's the greatest!  Everyone should have the chance to be a missionary.  It's the hardest thing ever, but the things you get to experience, even the hard ones, are so amazing!  God loves us all so much and so individually!  I love how much I get to learn and I love how pure and undiluted the gospel feels as a missionary.  This work is truly great and marvelous!!!

 

Well, I love you all and hope you are doing well!  Gotta go!!!!!  Keep keeping me updated!  It makes the work that much easier and worth it when I get to hear how people are doing!

 

~Sister McClellan

 

P.S. Next week my P-day is on Monday again, so I'll be emailing Sunday your time...I think.  Just so-s y-all know!

I LOVE KOREA!!!!!!!

So, it's been a great week.  We got our email time moved due to 추석 (I think that's how you spell it) It's the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving and it was Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  So, we had to wait till Wednesday for things to be opened again.

We had Zone Conference/추석 party yesterday...it was awesome!!!!  I got to sing (Army of Helaman) and speak (New missionary testimony)...both in English.  It was awesome to see people I was in the MTC with.  It was also awesome to get to meet so many amazing missionaries.  It was so uplifting and so wonderful.

So, my companion is fantastic!  Her name is Seipel 자매님.  She's from Orem, went to Mountain View, (and knows Ruthie).  Her birthday is a couple weeks after mine, she's half Korean, super humble, likes pushing me in missionary work, and is probably one of the most grateful people I've ever met!  Every night after we go through key indicators and make goals she and I count the miracles we've seen.  Our goal is to have five a day.  It's amazing how great doing that is...makes even the worst days end happy!

I love our area and our investigators!  방예은 didn't end up giving cookies to a neighbor, she ended up giving nectarines to the apartment security guy.  She was super cute and it was so hard for her, but she was so so happy, it was perfect!  One of our new investigators this week, Ahra, is just about the cutest thing I've ever met!  She spent about a year in Jacksonville, Florida (and her English is amazing...hence her giving us her name in English and not Korean.)  She is so excited about the gospel and she's been online doing some research on our church (especially the Book of Mormon) and all she can say about the Anti-Mormon stuff she's found is that it's all lies, because she knows that the Book of Mormon is a good book and the people who write those things just don't understand.  She's amazing!  She loves learning about the gospel and wants to come to church and wants to read the Book of Mormon...it's great!!!!!

I am understanding SO much more than I thought I would.  I can pretty much follow what goes on in lessons and even though I can't say much and what I can say is really simple and slowly said, my companion always has me teach and bear testimony.  I get a little discouraged at times because I can understand SOOO much more than I can say and I can't think of things very quickly and I'm basically constantly struggling, but then I see what I know and remember how fast I've learned it and recognize God's hand in all of it, and those bad thoughts just melt away...it's great being a missionary!!!!

We're doing our kids English class again tonight...we're excited, we're going to teach them how to write really basic letters and emails in English and how to address an envelope in America.  The mom's will probably enjoy it a little more than the kids (especially considering we talked about American Thanksgiving last week and they each made little Indian headdresses...it was fun!).  I think it's pretty cool getting to teach English to people.  It makes me a little sad when they don't want to progress in the gospel though.  That's where it gets difficult.  But it's great!

Well, I hope you're all doing well.  I wish I could see Evan and Danny on the football field!  Mom, I hope your new calling goes well (I love that calling!!!!!) and Dad, hope your breakthrough stays awesome! (Ok, I don't know what to say to a scientist, it's ok though :) Oh well)  Korea is great, and the work is even greater!!!  Mom and Dad, you'll have some letters coming your way soon...as soon as I can get to a post office :).  Stay awesome everyone!  The Church is true!!!!  2 Nephi 5:27

~맼랠란 자매