Bongcheon Five

Dear Family-

 

Do I say this every week? that it is SO HOT? because if I do, I'm really sorry. But it is! Like wake up sweating in the night hot. So crazy! Also, monsoon season came back yesterday and today with a vengeance! its so great! my rain boots are saving my feet...and my other shoes. It also does this thing where it's not raining, like water coming down, the rain just is in the air. hanging there. so everything gets soaked, but your umbrella doesn't really do anything. its so crazy! I love it though. Seoul is built right up to the mountains, so all the mountains are SUPER green and beautiful.

 

Can I just say that we are seeing miracles in Bongcheon? really! We have NINE investigators. that is SO MANY for our area. I love it! We are so busy that we didn't have dinner til like 9:30 on Wednesday. It was awesome. We go to this cheap little restaurant so much that the ladies there know us ^^ so we walk in and she is all happy. Asks if I want a 소고기 쥬먹밥, the little rice ball thing I sent a picture of, and of course I do. they are SO good! i'll make them for you someday! anyway...so investigators. We have had five member lessons, which is fabulous. Teach with the missionaries! they need your help!

 

and speaking of our investigators, Sister Pak needs all the prayers she can get. She loves the gospel...her faith is growing so much. She reads the Book of Mormon, comes to church whenever she can, prays with her son...But she says she can't get baptized because she's not a good person yet. and that, because she is at a low point in her life, she needs to wait until she is up at a high point again so that her baptism will be a happy experience. she asked us if she can still have a relationship with God before her baptism. we said of course! so so asked us to just give her more time. We want so bad to teach her husband also, but he's not really interested. Any ideas? She is 35 and is having to go back to university because her husband's job is slowly but surely going away. ah. so hard.

 

we are also teaching a young girl, my same age!, named Yoo-jin. She is so great. she just takes everything in, asks the simple questions she has, and then says that it makes sense. If she continues to progress, we will be giving a baptismal date soon! And we teach two girls from China. They have NO religious background at all. It is hard because we have nothing to build on, but it is great because they are like a clean slate. Any idea for quickly learning Chinese, Garret?

 

Oh Korea. It is so great. Mom..sorry if you want longer letters! i'm just not sure what else to say! I'll try and write down little things this week. Our trio is going great, by the way. 

I love you all!

 

XOXO, Sister Bassett

My new mission president -

President Morrise & Sister Morrise with me!

 

TRIO!!

Family!

SO we are in a TRIO! we picked up our other Sister on Thursday...Sister Fudge. She has been here for a month! So I have 2 more weeks of training and she has 8. She is 23 (same as Sister Arthur) and from Florida. So fun!

We have 'tides' with our investigators...just like the ocean! and right now is high tide. we have EIGHT investigators. that is LOTS for Korea! We picked up 3 new investigators this week because one brought a friend. They are both from China...Chinese Korean. Lena and Arena. They both speak Korean pretty well, but obviously Mandarin better. Too bad Garret didn't teach me more! They are both so open and receptive....especially Areana. She had never been to church before moving to Korea 2 years ago and she said that when she reads the Bible, she just feels like she need to learn more about Jesus...like He could help her in her life. They are lovely!

And Sister Pak. oh goodness. We taught about faith and repentance this week and the Spirit was THICK in the room. We taught with a sister in our ward...returned missionary, kids about the same age...we have had dinner with Sister Pak at this member's house. She was so helpful! And gave a beautiful example of how Heavenly Father loves us...If her son makes a mistake, we will always forgive. We pick them up when they fall. We encourage them to keep trying. and that is just what God does for us.

In English class we were talking about the light of Christ...EVERYONE has it. And about how following Christ has changed our lives. I said, "when you come to English class, do we seem happy?" and they all agreed that we do. And I told them that THAT is what the gospel has done for me...given me joy in my heart even when everything else is going wrong. We have talked a lot in my Zone about how happiness is a choice. AND IT IS! we can smile and be glad and see the miracles all around us. or we can chose to not. We can give away our umbrellas to a soaking wet high school girl or we can complain about the rain. We can laugh about how buff our calves are getting from all these hills or we can frown about how tired we are. We can joke about how shiny our sweaty faces are or mope about it. 

I LOVE being a missionary so much. Can you believe I have been gone for more that 4 months! because I can't!

Have a fabulous week! It is raining like crazy...monsoon season! so we are off to buy some umbrellas! i gave my last one to a soaking wet high school girl :)

XOXO, Sister Bassett

Sister Arthur       Sister Fudge               ME!

A Week In The Life Of...

Dearest Family!

It seems like the most common question I get from all of you is "what is it like in Seoul?" So I'll try and tell you! A picture is worth a thousand words, so there will be lots of pictures this week! 

 ok. So the work here is hard. and kinda slow. We pick up almost all of our investigators from English class, so it is difficult because they just wanna learn English. All but one of our investigators has been found that way. BUT I started calling on the phone this week, and we have 2 return appointments from people that I called! Cool huh? not so cool is when I accidentally called a restaurant. I couldn't understand her, so I started to just introduce our message. And that got her real confused. I gave the phone to Sister Arthur. While she was talking, I told Elder Jenson the name of the 'potential investigator' that I had called and he said, "oh yeah...I love those noodles." "What, Elder Jenson?" "yeah. that's those noodles with the black bean sauce." I started laughing SO hard. Sister Arthur asks what in the world is going on, and the whole situation gets fixed with a few sorrys. haha so funny! #hangookproblems

WE HAVE A BAPTISMAL DATE! It is really exciting to have one of those around here. Do you remember Sandy? We gave her a date last Monday and she accepted. So cool. We have seen her just once since then, but we have another lesson tonight. She is nervous to make such a big commitment because she feels she doesn't know enough. She says she doesn't want to be a liar and say she knows more than she does. But she has a great desire to know and learn and believe. We have seen such a change in her. I can feel that she is happier....she seems more free. And the more she realizes that change has come from the gospel, the better. SO, that's our investigator! Pray for her! 

Also, our other one of our other investigators, Angelina, said she would get baptized...when she meets her husband. She wants to marry a Mormon because they love their families so much. Not exactly how it works. but ok. We're trying to help her understand that LDS families need TWO faithful people. But she is so sweet! She has a trip planned to come to America next October and wants to visit us ^^

Also, this week we had TRANSFER CALLS! because we are getting new missionaries from the MTC, we had a 3 week transfer. I am staying with Sister Arthur in our area, but we are getting another greenie! She has been out 3 weeks. Tri-panionship, here we come! so awesome. I was in the MTC with her for a little, so I know her. She is great. Can't wait to pick her up on Thursday! And since I have 3 more weeks of training, we will have 2 greenies. all foreigners. It will be great!

Ok. these paragraphs will be random. just stuff I think about during the week and want to tell you.

 Every day in Korea the old harmonies (grandmas) love us. they think we are so beautiful and can't get over that there are 2 foreigners wandering the streets. so they pat our arms and grab our faces. and say "pretty!" and sometimes they randomly give us this drink-able yogurt stuff that everyone here loves.

There is this super awesome Sister in our ward (originally from China. She is teaching us Mandrin, Garret. yes!) who was baptized last July. She is so sweet. we helped her move the a few weeks ago...did I write about that? So we are just walking around by the subway station and I hear someone calling "Sister!" so I turn around and there she is. Her adorable, chubby baby is on her back and she has huge shopping bags. So of course we took the bags and walked her home. So great to just be in the right place at the right time! She was so happy to see us.

In honor of the 4th of July, I wore red, white, and blue for like 4 days. 

I met President Morrise! haha it was so fun. and people kept telling me all day how much I looked like him. He reminds me of Garret so much!

I show Ross' graduation announcement to everyone. I'm so proud to be his big sister! he is so handsome! Also, Ross...ya know TJ Maynard? no idea how to spell his last name. Another officer? his like best friend, Cole Nixon, is serving in Bongcheon ward with me. go Warriors!

Lanny boy! I can't believe you can drive so soon. I love you! have fun at soccer camp. don't score too many goals ;) You are awesome!

monsoon season started. RAIN everyday. so much. my shoes are always soaking. 

I went to Costco today. Sorry that I took out money...I had to buy a membership and stuff. I bought ancient grains cereal. and chips with chia seeds in them. my companion thinks i'm awesome ;)

I love you all so much! Sometime I just want to scream and wonder "Heavenly Father, why did you call me here? I could be more effective in English!" but you know what? HE called me here, and who am I to question God? I am learning so much here and love it more everyday. I just laugh all the time. and so does Sister Arthur. we are doing better and better everyday. I am SO grateful to be a missionary. And deep down to my heart, I am happier than I have ever been. I love your emails. I can feel your support. I rely on your love and prayers. THANK YOU! I was trying to tell someone what Dad is like the other day, and I honestly coudn't find the words to say how amazing and wonderful he is. I feel like that about our whole family. I am the luckiest!

Ross, good luck on your talk!

All my love, 

Sister Bassett

 Sister Arthur and Elder Jenson…going over contacts.

 This is how we dry our clothes!! Sometimes it takes DAYS with the humidity.

Me cooking zucchini, tomatoes and rice! Yum!

Suh Yong Park

Dearest Family~

I got a Korean name! 박 서 영. Suh Yong Park. It means sparkly/bright eyes. Cute huh? A friend in my ward gave it to me!

Smiling is my favorite. Really though. It makes me so much happier...even when it's so hot and discouraging, a little laughter goes a long way! and talking to people on the street is getting easier! WOW! We gave Books of Mormon to 3 students the other day. And I almost gave one away all on my own! it was awkward. after explaining the Book of Mormon a little bit, I said "this book is a gift. we want to give you one. is that ok?" apparently it wasn't ok. because she didn't take it.

English class is one of my favorite things. I always throw in random Korean words while I am teaching and my students think it is hilarious. 

We are really struggling in the teaching department. Two of our investigators dropped this week. And the other one has been meeting for about 10 or 11 weeks and isn't progressing at all. Finding is a hard think! I guess I knew that, but I didn't expect it to be like this. We street contact a lot. Any advice to make that better? Missionary work is awesome, though! I am grateful for reminders of that. This week, one came at a Zone meeting. We were singing "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and I couldn't help but sit there and smile like crazy. I AM CHRISTIAN! and I AM A SOLDIER! I signed up the join the Lord's army and I am here to fight! I thought of all the force for good that was sitting in that room...the base notes super loud and us few Sisters. It. was. awesome. I am grateful for a loving God who always will remind me of my purpose. 

We did have one great lesson though. with Sister Park/Pak. and her husband. they came to a dinner at a member's house. The members are both RM's and have a daughter about the same age as Sister Park's son. It was great! We talked about studying the scriptures as a family. (it made me so thankful for all the night Mom and Pops spent reading with us...sacred family time to learn about our Savior.) We are really hoping for her husband to start taking the lessons as well. Send some prayers his way! His name is Brother Kim. They are a beautiful family!

I love you, family! I have the best family ever!

xoxo, Sister Bassett

Last Transfer

                                                                                                                                

Dearest Family-

It's official! I am serving in the Korea, Seoul South mission! so crazy. So I'll be "meeting" the new mission President soon with my Zone... Hi Uncle Marshall! I guess I should get used to President and Sister Morrise. Their missionaries are praying for them already! I am so sad to see some of our Elders go to the Seoul Mission. we will miss them! And my MTC district is all split up. oh transfers!

Last p-day we went to the Seoul Tower. It was so neat! You can see almost all of Seoul. and they do something their kind-of like the love-lock bridge in Paris. There are SO many locks signifying people's love. and 'couple benches' (i'll send a picture. so funny.) We are running out of days to cross the river so everyone is trying to see everything they want before the split.

Sister Pak (I think I talked about her last week?) brought her husband to church this week! So good. The Elders are really trying to build a relationship with him. We are just hoping and praying that we will get to teach them as a family. She is wonderful. She loves what she has seen of the gospel, just wants time to really think about it before accepting a baptismal date.

and Sunny. two hour lesson with her on Saturday. AWESOME. She has 'real intent' if I have ever seen it! She is very concerned about doing what God wants, but is worried that she won't know for sure if her answer is from God, or just her own feelings. She completely understands the importance of the Book of Mormon, which none of our investigators really do. After we talked about Joseph Smith, she said "so that's why we read the Book of Mormon. To know if he was a prophet." YES! Because if that book is true, than Joseph was a prophet and THIS is God's true church. Se is very strong in her church, so we are praying for her to feel the difference...see that we are offering her MORE LIGHT. she is great. love her.

also...reach out to less-actives! We have so many in our ward. Whether they have had their feelings hurt or have some how lost their faith, they need to be loved back to activity in the church. We had dinner with a couple in our ward this week, the husband is active but the wife is not. We were sharing favorite scriptures and when she read hers (the 13 Article of Faith) she just cried! She knows what she should be seeking, but she just isn't. We are trying to love her back to church ^^

so this week... I had cold soup. they have that lots now that it is getting so hot,. also, it has pears in it. and aloe vera? pretty sure that's in it too. I walked all the way to Seoul National University. It is FOREVER long. I saw a lady pushing a stroller...totally normal. except that there was a big, fat cat in it. true story. 

on Sunday we went on splits with 2 girls that are here on a study abroad through BYU. They are leaving next week so they spent a day with us. So fun! Sister Ellis, who I was with, as her call to Seoul and will come in September. Sister Hirst will put her papers in in August. YAY for missionaries!

A few weeks ago Garret sent me a letter that said something along the lines of "in God's eyes, we are all investigators-trying to figure out life as best we can." I have thought about that a lot. We are all on a journey to Christ. Bronte ( um...Sister Baird) told it to me like this: "as missionaries, we are just inviting people to walk the path with us. We are saying 'hey, I'm heading towards God and trying to follow the Savior. I'm not perfect, but I know they way. Come with us.' That's all." and it's true. We should be inviting people by our examples everyday. President Uchtdorf said to "find your way on this journey home and be an inspiration to fellow travelers." May we all do that a little better this week. Whether our fellow travelers are our children or family, friends or neighbors, or people we ride the subway with, we should be an inspiration.

I love you all!

Sister Bassett

One Month

Dear Family~

The weather here is almost as bi-polar as Utah! SO HOT most days, but then cold in the morning and rainy and then hot. that's why I got the new short sleeved shirt, mom :)

I knocked doors for the first time this week. No one actually opens the door, they just yell (or through the speakers that everyone has) "who is it?" and we answer. and tell a little about our message. and ask if we can leave a card. or they pretend they aren't home. or they do answer the door, and quickly shut it. so fun!

I also had a Korean snow cone! You know how much I love snow cones...they are just a little different here. it is shaved ice with this like syrup-y stuff, black/red beans (they put them in everything!), canned fruit, and this little squares of jello looking stuff that is super chewy. so yummy! and so good on hot days.

I feel like every week is so crazy, but then when I try and sit down to write about it, I have nothing to say! Last Monday we went to the King's palace. SO BEAUTIFUL! there were all these young students there having a scavenger hunt and asking to take pictures with us...foreigners! So exciting!

of all the lessons we had this week (like...3...I loved the letter you sent from Curtis that they had found 12 new investigators. We currently have like 3 or 4 investigators, and we are doing pretty good!) I just wanted to talk about Sister Pak's. if you wanna keep her and her family in your prayers, that would be great! her aunt is a member and she LOVES that family. now that she has a son, she wanted a religion for her family also. her cousin encouraged her to visit our church, and she has come for 3 weeks. She says that her aunt's family is so nice and loving, so she wants that for her son. Her husband isn't interested...yet. She is so open and loves learning about the gospel. And her son reminds me of Taven...he is crazy and always running around! 

ok...life in Korea. I don't know what to tell ya! I feel like I have just lived here forever. My apartment/villa is like as big as my room+the log cabin room with the hallway. maybe. It is great. Koreans are all about fitting as much as they can into a little spot. SO we have our shower, toilet, and washer conveniently in one room! haha so fun.

last week at the Mission Activity, there were two quotes that I keep thinking about. one was that "good things keep on coming...as long as I let them." and they do! new light and love and experiences fill in for any thing that is lost. I am trying to remember that here. When investigators drop or a recent convert isn't coming to church, it is SO HARD! and although we have to keep working with them, because we never know when they will repent and return, we've also gotta remember that good things keep coming. we will find more investigators. people will come to church. we already know what team is going to win. and Elder Holland's quote that "victory is everything! we need a voice for good. a voice for God."

sorry that this letter is so unorganized. I have a lot of thoughts in my head and never enough time to put them how I want!

I love you all and pray for you everyday! especially dad and his new job. and Ross preparing for a mission. ok... just for all of you!

Love, Sister Bassett

Big Eyes

Family!

Ross! I am so glad that you got to go through the temple! How was it? do you feel so old? I can hardly believe it! And I can't wait to go with you sometime! Still crossing my fingers to see you at the temple here in Seoul!

Speaking of Seoul...I am currently in the Seoul South mission! I am about 30 minutes south of the river. So, unless I get transferred during my 12 week training, which isn't likely, I will be in Uncle Marshall's mission. kinda crazy!

This week was so busy! I love it that way, though. It is easy to feel like a missionary when you are running up all the hills in 봉천 because you are almost late for curfew! it is so great. I expect to have some really good calves when I get home. 

Sandy is done with the 6 week program, but wants to keep meeting! We are having our first all gospel lesson tonight. and we are going to try and get her to commit to a baptismal date. so pray for us! she talked about how the chapel is like getting away from real life...her fortress. We can find that EVERY DAY! In the scriptures, prayer, church, and especially the temple. I got to go to the Seoul temple on Tuesday. and it was beautiful. they do English sessions three mornings a week, so we went to that. can I just say how much I love the temple! I always feel like a beloved daughter when I am in the celestial room. My MTC companion and I sat together in the celestial room...I was so glad to see her! There is something comforting and empowering about the temple...I am worth something. Ross (and everyone else...) go as much as you can!

We slept over with the other Sisters (Saunders and Park) in our Zone so that we wouldn't have to travel so far to the mission activity. And the mission activity was so great! We had a spiritual meeting to begin, then we went to this huge park and played games and went to the zoo. FUN! Crazy statistics from the meeting: in 2 transfers, there will be 62 missionaries available to train 58 new missionaries. I am counted in the 62 available!!! WHAT? yeah. that is real life here in Korea! it was so good to be 'out' of the city for a day. 

I know you wanted to hear about my day to day life, but I"ve just gotta tell you about Sunny. She is a new investigator we started teaching this week. At first, she didn't want to do the 6 week program because she didn't want to hear about the gospel. But she really wanted private English, so she started. We were just talking (in english...) about ourselves and she asked us how we joined our faith. Then I talked about how I left in the middle of University to come on a mission. She asked why, and I said that this gospel makes me so HAPPY and so I wanted to share it. She was so impressed with us...not getting paid, just serving. When I was talking about serving a mission, I mentioned the Book of Mormon, so we got talking about that. she was SO surprised that we believe Christ visited the Americas. She loves the Bible, so we said that they support each other. that led to a little about Joseph Smith. and then Sister Arthur wants giving a little overview of what we would be teaching in the lessons. When she got to the Plan of Salvation, Sunny looked at us and said "you really have answers to those questions?!" she goes to church and reads the Bible, but wishes that the good feeling would last longer. I just KNOW that this gospel is what she is looking for. I pray that she will open her heart and mind and see that for herself. WE HAVE THE ANSWERS! we know the most glorious truths ever. And it should make us happy! So we should be sharing it!

Sharing the gospel goes for all of you, too! I am a HUGE believer in members at lessons. they make all the difference. please read the quotes on page 12 and 13 of Preach My Gospel about missionary work... MOM, DAD, GARRET, MIKE, ALAN and ANYONE else reading this, your mission IS NOT over! every member is a missionary! So do what you can where you can. 

On Saturday night we had dinner with Scott's family...me, Sister Arthur, and our zone leaders. We have the BEST zone leaders ever. they are wonderful and great and AUNT GLENDA, I hope you tell them about this letter too ;)  It was so crazy...I felt like I was in America! The chicken divan was JUST like momma makes it! and Melody is getting so old. She will be taller than me soon!

Mom- we haven't taught the bus stop woman. Yet. also, I found some buckwheat pasta here. i'll let you know how it tastes.

ok. life in Seoul. normal missionary schedule. our area has TONS of hills. and random little tiny shops everywhere. We ride the subway and buses. Funny story about the subway, people sell things there. just walk around. I can't remember if I told you about the crazy guy yelling that I would have salvation if I bought his toothbrushes. I didn't. 

we teach English class 2 times a week. and I LOVE it. after class on wednesday, Thompson comes up to me and says "Sister Bassett... you have very big eyes. I think maybe I should envy you?" (imagine what they would say about Rachel Saunders...) haha, so funny!

I love raddish kimchi. half the time I love it, sometimes, I really don't. the food here is so good! I'm getting used to spicy.

All my love,

Sister Bassett