Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

December 28, 2015

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

We had a great week this week. It was interesting trying to find new investigators though. We found people, but then realized that they are not ours, so we sent them off and tried to find other people. Our ward has been pretty empty these last couple of weeks, what with everyone being gone for the holidays. #YSAproblemsmuch. We spoke in church yesterday and actually had a few more people than I had anticipated being there. Anyways, our week turned out well and we were at least able to go out and talk to as many people as possible, which was good as far as conversations go.

Christmas Eve was a really great day. We had our district meeting, and from there went straight to the stake center for a baptism in the Olympic (Korean) ward. I had Sister Baek teach me some Korean so that I wouldn't have to just stand there while she did the missionary moment in Korean. It was very rough, very broken Korean, but they understood. Afterwards a man got up and told me my pronunciation was perfect (but it wasn't). However, as that guy continued to speak, he got more and more emotional. I was just sitting there trying to enjoy being still when Sister Baek leaned over to me and said that he was talking about my brief and simple testimony. 

All I said was that I know God lives and I know that the Book of Mormon is true. She said it had reminded him of when the missionaries came to teach them, and all they knew was very broken and rough Korean. He said that the Spirit touched him as I spoke and he was able to feel those same feelings and confirmations from the Spirit as he had all those years ago when he was being taught. I thought it was pretty cool, especially since I had absolutely no idea what was going on. We were able to enjoy dinner with some of the members after the baptism before heading out to work. (I even tried Kimchi, sp? and tofu!!) We had more than 20 conversations that night, and shared the good news of the Savior's birth with as many as we could.

Poor picture quality, but that is me about to try kimchi!! I used chopsticks the whole meal and I am proud because I did pretty darn good!

The district

Back: Sister Chavez, Sister Ericsen, Sister Ordaz, Sister Nikolaus,

Sister Meyer, me, Sister Baek, Sister Bergeson.

Front: Elder Staker, Elder Benimana, Elder Clarke, Elder Kuyoth

Then the next day was Christmas!! We had a busy day, and left early to go contact a referral. We were not able to contact him, but we were able to talk to the people around his apartment and share our Christmas message. It was so neat to talk to so many people who were happy on Christmas day. I enjoyed it. Early that afternoon we had a Christmas lesson with Anna at the Visitors' Center, and she LOVED it. She had read and learned about the Christmas story and told it to us, and we talked about the Savior and what a blessing that is in our lives. She enjoyed the happy Spirit that is there, and I enjoyed seeing her be so happy despite all of the opposition in he life. From there we went to our recent convert's home to Skype. It was so good! I loved seeing all of you and I was so thankful for the time we were able to spend talking to each other. That night we made dinner and ate with Sister Olson. It was a nice evening, and I think it was good to spend it with her. After dinner we sang a few Christmas songs together. 

Christmas Skype visit

Christmas dinner with Sister Baek, Sister Olson, Me 

Christmas dinner!!! We had fettuccine, Indian curry, rice and tortillas.

I didn't have time to open my gifts that morning (which turned out to be a blessing) so I got ready for bed, then opened my gifts. They were perfect, and I am good to go probably until the end of my mission. I also wanted to try and have that day be about the Savior, not me, so that is another reason I didn't worry too much about opening my presents that morning. 

I can't believe it was already Christmas and New Years. The months are going by faster and faster. Thankfully I have come to enjoy my mission more and more, and I am thankful for this time that I have to serve the Lord. I enjoyed spending Christmas as a full-time missionary, representing our Savior and sharing His glad message with everyone. It really was a unique experience that I am very thankful for.

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week and enjoy your vacation from school!!! I have a feeling that the next 7 months are going to go my super quick! EEK!

Sister Hatch :)