Me (my hairs are brown! I pretty much look the same though) with Sister Torgerson and Sister Cope. Sister Cope is leaving on February 1st--sad day:(
Eating our special homemade pizzas!
Dyeing Sister Barrett's hairs. We had a grand ol' time even though I've never done that before.
Family,
This week has been pretty okay. We had some sadness because a lady we've been teaching went to the hospital and none of her family visited her there. We couldn't come because the hospital was out of our area. When we came to see how she was doing this week once she got home she told us she would never go back to Church again, and we could have our books back. She said she had no prayers in her heart because no one came to see her, and she told us to give her some space. We didn't know what to do. When she came to Church she loved it and told us she felt so much peace there. But now she says she's too bitter to come back. We couldn't tell her anything to comfort her, so we sang her a song. She loves when we sing because it gives her peace. She appreciated the song and was happy for about 10 minutes until she remembered her situation and then said it was time for us to leave. It was heartbreaking.
On a brighter note, we spent a lot of time with the Koreans this week! There are only 2 families in our area who are members of the Korean Branch, so we went to see both of them. Some of their members come from New York! Anyway, the first member we saw was Brother Lee. He is moving back to Seoul in February. He told us that he joined the Church because when he was 12 he was wondering if any Church believed in a more positive afterlife than the Church he attended. He loved learning about his ancestors, and couldn't bear the thought of them being sent to you-know-where just because they'd never heard about Jesus Christ. And then a friend of his invited him to play Church basketball with the friend's ward. He soon listened to the lessons and found out about baptism for the dead and how much we care about our ancestors, and he joined! I thought that was super neat!! And he showed us a book, about 4 inches thick, of his family's genealogy--it was really cool.
The other family we saw is the Park family. Apparently their daughters, Senna and Sae, had been talking about our visits for a few weeks and were so excited! We got there and the girls were pretty shy. Sister Park was still finishing preparing dinner with Brother Park, so they had the girls entertain us. It was pretty quiet at first, but then we got talking about books, and Senna ran to get her Arthur books. We took turns reading a page from Arthur's Tooth and then Arthur Gets a Puppy. There was a lot of giggling and funny voices. It was a blast! And throughout our time together, Brother Park got out a HUGE camera and was darting about documenting the girl's first visit from the missionaries. I love seeing these strong families who have so much faith. They make time for each other and don't let unimportant things get in the way. We see a lot of that from other people we teach.
We also joined the Korean Branch for a Lunar New Year Lunch! I should've taken pictures, because there were some...items. We got a helping of bright red squid salad (it was covered in spicy kimchi sauce, thank goodness, because the spice overpowered the other ingredients). We also had a bowl of rice ball soup. Sounds innocent enough. It consisted of oxtail chunks, smooth chewy white discs (that were apparently rice, but tasted more like opaque, chewy gelatin), dried seaweed, and white/clear gravyish goo. It was pretty bland, but had a few too many textures. But it was still a fun time. It's hard not to have fun with the Koreans. And the Branch President told us he'd been to over 70 countries!
In other news, I've been reading in 3 Nephi 28, and that was a brain explosion! It's about the three Nephite Apostles--it was superb! I suggest you read it!! Apparently they were 1) Thrown in a fiery furnace three times without getting burned. 2) Multiple times thrown into pits that couldn't be dug deep enough to hold them. 3)Thrown into dens of wild beasts twice and just played with the ferocious beasts. 4) Cast into prison, but no walls could hold them, and 5) Something I can't remember. Anyway, super cool.
I can't believe I've already been out here 6 months!? This is goin' by! Oh, we also went to Specialized Training for Sister Torgerson, and I got to sit in on the top secret trainer's meeting. I felt pretty awesome.
I love you kids. Keep safe and warm! Give each other hugs!! Oh, do a cinnamon roll for me on Sunday!
I love you!
Miss
