turkey day. and questions

Hey mom! wow, that was a lot of questions in your email. so I answered them all...at least a little bit!

What is your apartment like? it is brand new and so cute. small, but cute. I think we are the first people to live in it! we have our little kitchen (with a washer under to stove...not an oven ^^) and a bathroom, our bedroom (our clothes and fold-up beds are in there) and our little study room.

How do you do your laundry? in our washer. then there is a tiny little room with a tile floor and a rack for drying them. they don't really do the dryer thing here. so we just hang them up, sometimes turn the fan on, depending how wet they are, and wait!

Where exactly do you live? I don't have the address right now...but the area is in Suwon. my little city is Songtan. my area covers from Osan to Pyeongtaek. so if you look up those cities, you can get an idea. i'll send the address next week.

How many are in your ward or branch? so in my area, we have our Korean ward with maybe 70 people, then our two military branches (from Osan base and Humphry's base) and each branch has like 40 in it. it is awesome. we go to Osan or Humphry's church every other week and our Korean ward every week. they are awesome. the church is so cool. Yesterday at testimony meeting, I bore my testimony about how grateful I was so soldiers who live their faith...because that brought my grandfather into the church, here in Korea, so many years ago. they are great.

How is the language coming? so hard. still. sometimes I feel like maybe I will just never learn it? and that's ok? but other times I feel like it is finally coming. it just depends. still a lot of work. I read something the other day in one of my study books, though, and I really loved it. It talked about how if we are sincere in our study and desire, we can master Korean. because the Lord has sent us here to do just that. but on the plus side, people say my Korean handwriting is really good. so that's cool! because I have never had a Korean companion, my Korean doesn't sound very natural. but people understand me! for the most part...

What is transportation like? we travel EVERYWHERE. subway and bus, mostly. the bus drivers sometimes forget that they are driving buses and not motorcyles, so that is fun! from one end to the other is maybe a 35 minute subway ride. once you get on the subway, that is. I can't figure our the exact schedule, so sometimes we wait for up to like 30 minutes for a subway! the Koreans have it in their blood I think...they will be sleeping on the subway, like so asleep, then the subway stops, they wake up, and walk off. What? how did they know where we were? it is hilarious. Sister Goines and I can't figure it out.

Do you volunteer as missionaries? yes! sometimes? Where? in my last area, we cleaned trash from a hiking trail. we delivered food to elderly people on government welfare once. and we are going to start visiting these old ladies in a hospital in this area. and no, we can't volunteer at orphanages.

ok. there you go!

This week for Thanksgiving, the members of our two military branches had ALL the missionaries in their homes for Thanksgiving. I mean ALL! between the two branches, about 130 missionaries were fed. it was the best! Our 'family' was the greatest husband and wife. Member missionaries for sure! and so kind. We all stood in a circle before dinner and said what we were grateful for, and I just cried! There was so much love in that home. and it was delicious. Turkey and cornbread and greenbean cassarole and mashed potatoes and stuffing. yes, the mashed potatoes were so creamy. It sounds like I had a more American Thanksgiving than Garret and Dad! We had such a wonderful experience. So much to be grateful for! Our couple, the Spillanes, were wonderful and so open hearted. they invited 5 other men there who don't have family here...one is a member who just started coming back to church and 3 were nonmembers. The fifth was a member who is such a member missionary! it was a great experience. One of the nonmembers, Rick, talked about how they are out protecting our country...but then he comes home to boys sagging their pants and doing nothing good with their lives. He said that we, the missionaries, give him hope for the future that he is defending. In turn, we got to tell about our church and missionary work, why we are here and what we believe. There was a beautiful spirit in the room that I'm sure they could all feel. At the end of dinner, Brother Spillane gathered everyone in the living room, explained that we would be sharing a spiritual messate (they all believe in God), and gave the time to us. It was great. And Rick will be coming with Sean to FHE tonight. I truly think that he is prepared. And he has a wife and 3 kids at home in the states. so we will see!

THANK YOU shoutout! to Ally, best sister! I loved the Christmas tree and the adorable pictures! and of course that skirt. and chocolate. YUM! and Aunt Lisa! I made the pancakes for breakfast! I laughed when I opened them! I feel so lucky and blessed everytime I open a letter from one of my beloved family and friends back home. You are the best!

I started reading Jesus the Christ last week. I have read parts, but never the whole thing all the way through. I made a goal to read the whole thing before Christmas. anyone want to join me?

I am so grateful for our Savior. I know this is His church. I know God loves us and He listens to our prayers. His choice isn't always what we wanted or thought we needed, but it is always right.

make it a great week!

all my love, Sister Bassett

hey mom! so this is the family I was with for Thanksgiving. it was so so wonderful.

from left to right, top row- Montrese (friends with Sean), Elder Pruner, Elder Atkin, Elder Sanderson, Vince (he is from Togo, in Africa! we talked all about Africa. I sang the Swahili song.  (friend of the Spillanes. so awesome!), Elder Breinholt, Rick (told the most hilarious stories about his kids and wife. they are back home in the states.) Erik and Sean (the BEST member missionary! we love him so much).

bottom row- me!, sister Saunders, sister Goines, Sister Carter, sister Spillane.