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.

a novel

Dear family-

Mom asked me to tell her everything..."Tell me about everything. The people, the sights, your feelings, your new companion, the Korean language, the food. I want to hear it all!"

So here it goes!

it is so strange to sit here and email you while I can hear movies on the computer next to me and all these high school age boys are in here playing video games. and yelling. Shouldn't they be in school? maybe it is there lunch time? Sister Goines and I always laugh...in here doing our missionary email.

Speaking of Sister Goines...she is SO awesome. I feel like she was sent here to train me! I am amazed at her faith. She just wants to set all the goals! and reach them! we are talking to so many people. Still no investigators, but I am loving it here. 평택 ward is awesome. they feed us so good. plus I have about 12 pounds of kimchi in the fridge. good thing we both love it! everyday we eat our meals on the floor. today's lunch is a pretty good example...rice, kim (the seaweed stuff), mandu (like potstickers), and kimchi. because it is getting really cold, we usually fry our kimchi or make this kind of soup stuff. and lots of veggies...they are so cheap! mushrooms or pumkin-zuchinni things or cucumbers. and Koreans always have fruit for dessert. after lunch and dinner. so we have lots of bananas or oranges or apples. I love that.

and yes, it is cold here! I can only imagine how Rossy is feeling because I am freezing! yesterday it was raining. and I was wearing little black flats. and my feet were so wet. good thing for my Korean coat! and tights...I go through like a pair a week. seriously. we layer on every morning...tights. skirt. shirt. button down. cardigan. inside coat liner (with fur^^), outside shell thing. scarf. I maybe will die in the winter?

one thing that I love about Koreans is how they take care of us. Two little foreigners! just for example...I was waiting at a bus stop and asked this girl if it went to the high school by the apartments we were looking for. she said yes. and she was riding the same bus! so we talked to her, introduced the Book of Mormon. She wouldn't take it, but was really nice! so as we are riding the bus, we are looking for the apartments and almost missed our stop! but she gets up from her seat, taps me on the shoulder and says "this is your stop!" ah. thank you! that also happened while I was on exchanges with Sister Ward in 신갈. I am so grateful for these sweet sisters that I get to serve with! It is weird to be the one conducting exchanges rather than just going on them. I am so blessed to get to learn from so many sisters as their STL though! and, a little miracle for me on that exchange, I talked to their bishop for like 20 minutes! in Korean! of course, it was still a challenge and I didn't really understand some, but it was an awesome moment.

another time...also on the bus...I asked the bus driver if 반지 apartments was in his route. He said yes. But, the stop is the name of this high school. so we didn't know to get off. so he waits. and we still don't get off. so he says "this is the stop." and points out the apartments. thanks for really nice bus drivers out here!

because we travel ALL the time. seriously lots. subway and bus and once in a while taxi. and our lovely members drive us a lot. We had dinner as the Relief Society president's house. and they gave me a teapot. Koreans are the most giving people. she is a returned missionary also and so helpful. with less actives and she is helping us try to have the Relief Society act on Elder Ballard's talk...that if we each would pray and have one person to refer to the missionaries by Christmas, millions of people would be touched. and what a Christmas gift to Christ. We gave out Mormon.org cards on Sunday for them to give to friends and family. Next week we will give out a quote. because working through the members is the best way!  speaking of that talk, HOW is that going for EACH OF YOU? right? because you are the awesome family that you are, I'm sure you already are praying for a missionary opportunity. I know that Heavenly Father will help you. for this is His work.

Yesterday in our English Branch, Brother Moffet gave such a great talk on gratitude. He mentioned that "gratitude isn't the light at the end of the path, it is realizing that there is sunlight all along the path. LOTS of it!" and there is! I loved that. finding sunlight everyday. even in the winter.

so, the Korean people? I love them.

the sights? beautiful and new.

my feelings? I am so blessed and grateful and love the feeling of being a missionary.

my companion? awesome.

the language? difficult...but it is a gift everytime I experience the gift of tongues.

the food? delicious!

anyone coming into the Seoul South mission, get ready! we work hard. we love people. and it is the best thing ever. Best mission in the world! (we think so ^^)

I love you all. eat lots of turkey and stuffing. and PIE! all the missionaries in our mission are having thanksgiving with families from the base, so it will be YUM!

I know our Savior lives. He loves us. We have the most precious gift in the world. and we have to share it.

xoxo, Sister Bassett

birthday

Hello Everyone!

anyone who is reading this, I hope you know how much I LOVE you! seriously. Out here I am more grateful than ever for the wonderful people that blessed and shaped my life. and THANK YOU for the birthday love! Grandma Morrise, I love that sweater! I wore it last week :) thank you! it is so cute. and the scarf! you are so good at that! it is really really cold here, so I am grateful! and Grandma and grandpa Bassett! thank you for the sweet note. I am so grateful for your love and example. You are amazing! I look up to you both. ah. I just feel so blessed. and everyone who emailed. and for all your love.

this week. hello subway! just between Friday, Saturday and Sunday we were traveling for about 12 hours or so. it is awesome! we live so far from everyone. but... it's because we had Stake conference (SO GOOD) and a joint mission conference. Yeah! Seoul and Seoul South missions together! so I got to see my old MTC companion and all sorts of fun stuff. it was amazing. I have to go quick today because we have to travel (yay!) to get my companion's foreigner card today. But it was so good. It was at my old stake center, the same day as our stake conference, so a lot of my old ward members were there. it was So fun tosee them! and they were so happy. I guess they really did love me ;) But I love my new ward also. They are so good. and our english branch!

I just realized that we have to meet the senior couple in 10 minutes who is driving us today. so we have to go! Be missionaries! it is the best feeling ever.

xoxo, Sister Bassett

hello from 평택!‏

Hi! ah. we made it. yes. I am in the country! SO different from my last area. I mean...the subway station is outside! there are tractors! haha so awesome.

 

I said goodbye to so many members of Bongcheon ward this week. and cried so many tears. Especially saying goodbye to Sister Pak.  She is so lovely. Sister Morrise came to serve with us for one day, and she just assumed Sister Pak had been a member forever! so wonderful. We got to go out to lunch with her and her husband. I wouldn't trade my time sharing the gospel with her for anything.

 

we also went to dinner with an older couple in our ward. Their son was converted through meeting the missionaries at English class! he went on to serve a mission and moved to Provo for BYU. when his parents came to visit, seperately, they both got baptized! so they are converts of about 5 and 3 1/2 years. so...we went to this tofu restaurant and I (choked down) ate like 20 pounds of tofu. when we were walking back, she just held my hand and talked to me in Korean, saying that if people see us missionaries walking and talking with a Korean grandma, they will think we are a good church. so it is a really good idea :) love her!

 

I also tried real sushi. like a chunk of raw fish on top of rice with wasabi. it was pretty good! crazy spicey. i could breath really good afterward :)

 

my companion is wonderful. Sister Goines. she is from Fresno California. cool huh, mom! We had training in 송파 and then a THREE HOUR subway trip to 평택. we laughed so much. and lugged her huge suitcases. and had to transfer 3 times. and at one of the stations, I forgot about the huge stairwell, so we had to carry them down! that was an adventure.

 

and then we are here! we went to church 2 times yesterday...our english branch from the base and our Korean ward. Not gonna lie, understanding EVERYTHING at church was really weird. one of the families reminds me SO much of the Hemmings! the parents looke like Travis and Angela and they have two little girls about the same years apart as Ali and Rori. and the wife ACTS like Angela (so smiley and happy and loving...and an RM)! it is so funny. like watching their family 15 years ago! or Ali in like 7 years? our Korean ward. LOVE them already. they haven't had sister missionaries for 15 years, so they are really happy! and so are we! we are going to light this place on fire! so excited. My companion is awesome and just ready to work. I feel like we have really similar goals and vision, so it will be all sorts of wonderful. and I will start going on exchanges soon as sister training leader, so I'm getting ready for that! any advice? the wards are already taking care of us! we got like 10 pounds of kimchi at church yesterday. and had dinner at a family-from-the-base's house. meatloaf and mashed potatoes and icecream. it was heavenly. such a good birthday dinner.

 

speaking of that! best ever! thanks for all the love and birthday wishes.

 

because of the new area...we are emailing in a PC room. it is kinda...yeah. full of gamers? and people smoking? yep. Ross, I feel ya!

 

I just LOVE being a missionary! It feels so good. I love you all. I miss you. BUT I am praying for you all and so grateful for your support. Our Savior lives. I know it.

 

xoxo, Sister Bassett

leaves and letter man's jackets

Dear Family-

autumn has arrived! and I love it here just like I love it at home! but, good news! the leaves are HUGE. like bigger than my face. and they have walls just covered in vines, painting the streets red and yellow. it is beautiful. and all the students at Seoul National University are sporting their letter man's jackets. for stuff like 'math and statistics' or 'engineering' or 'music department.' it is kind of awesome. and it is cold! good thing for lots of scarves ^^

wow. this week was so GREAT! we had a rockin' Halloween party on Saturday night! seriously, it was good! kind of crazy and scattered, but everyone had a good time. We had lots of members there and so many of our English class students...some great fellowshipping went on! Sister Fudge and I made tons of little spiders and other decorations, games (cake walk and ring toss and the like), and then the ward did dinner. SUCCESS! Bishop gave his stamp of approval. The missionaries always have one, but they haven't done it with the ward. just with English class. It was really good to mix the two groups. and a wonderful note to leave Bongcheon on. because....

I am getting TRANSFERRED! so sad! I have loved these past 6 months (can you believe how the time has flown?) in this area. I have grown so much. It was in this area that I learned to love kimchi and ride the bus and navigate the subway. I learned to laugh at myself more, to love others more, and to rely on the Savior more. I truly LOVE my ward. SO MANY tears! yesterday at church I just cried and cried as I sat next to Sister Pak. and her adorable son and husband, who, by the way, came to the Halloween party and comes to church like every week! AND they both went to Gospel Principles yesterday! yes! I love them so. 봉천 has become home.

I am leaving for Pyeong Tek. to be a trainer. It will be an adventure! because guess what? I am training AND opening the area for sisters AND being sister training leader. what?! yeah. lots of prayers! but I know how much God helps His missionaries, so it will be fine. more than fine! it will be a MIRACLE!

speaking of miracles, yesterday we taught a great lesson. the only one all week! we have this week sister in our ward who is mentally handicapped and her friend is as well. so we started teaching her friends yesterday. She wants to be baptized. We taught very simply, and that was the best part. She kept asking how to pray, so we taught her. "when do I need to pray?" "every morning, and night. and we pray before we eat." "ok. I will pray. every morning. every night. before I eat." she has a simple and childlike faith...just like we all should. We introduced the Book of Mormon and had to tell her again and again that she didn't need to read the whole thing. She is lovely! 

and a personal miracle for me was that I actually could explain things to her! I felt like I was saying the right thing. the language is still so frustrating to me...possibly the hardest thing! but I live for the tiny moments when I feel the Spirit working through me and I know in my heart that I am a successful missionary. My Korean is still so poor, but it is coming. slowly. the Lord is letting me study Korean and patience! ^^ 

for the whole month of October we only taught 7 lessons. and getting letters from my other missionary friends, who don't have enough time to teach all the lessons they have investigators for...so different here! I thought that a lot...why we are sent to where we are. and I still don't have a great answer, I know that we are servants of God, where HE needs us to be. and this month, Sister Fudge and I talked to more that 260 people! 260 children of God. and that is amazing to me.

I love you all so much! I am grateful everyday for you. Be examples of the believers! I know that our Savior lives and loves us. God is real. Heaven will be in our hearts if we allow it.

have a great week!

Love, Sister Bassett

one more week

Dearest Family-

I felt like I was in America last week emailing at President's house! we had a Sister's Conference, so we had to email there. Today I'm back home at Cafe Justin emailing on the borrowed computer. 

It is starting to get cold here. Gar and Ross...I got my awesome winter coat at a flea market near our house. It is so way too big on me! whatever. it's warm. and like 18 American dollars. The afternoons are beautiful. crisp air, just like fall should be! and the leaves are starting to change colors. 

We have fewer investigators than we would like (read We have zero investigators meeting at the moment) so we have been able to do a lot of street conversations! President has asked that we have "conversations" and not "contacts". It has been super good! And we've spent lots of time English flyer-ing. We just stand at the subway exit and pass out little papers for our English class. It always generates good conversations! and tons of people get to see two smiling foreigners. so that's awesome. I accidentally gave fliers to 2 other 외국인 (foreigners) this week! funny and awkward. especially when one looks at you, so confused, and says "thank you?" so i just laugh and say "oh...hi!" We are having a big Halloween party in our English class this Saturday which we are really excited about. Our whole ward is in on it! Our bishopric told us that the missionaries always have a Halloween party, but it has never been like a ward event. WHAT? how can we do it without them? seriously...our bishopric is the best. I will cry if I ever have to leave them! which might be soon. because transfers calls are this saturday. yikes. This little spot of the city is my home! anyway. so yay Halloween! it should be great.

in other news...we found TWO less-actives this week! and they BOTH said we could come again and visit! (fist pump) there are, sadly, so many lost members of the Church here. More than active members by a long shot. so we try our best to focus on a few. our ward is awesome about being friends with them.

I still love being a missionary! I feel like I am still such a young little missionary. but it is not the case! life moves by so quickly.

I love you all. I pray for you and think about your lives. I am grateful for your testimonies that have built mine. In a small way, each of you is sharing your light here in Korea because I took it with me.

xoxo, Sister Bassett

Sister’s Conference! SO fun!

Conference and Crosswalks

Dearest Family-

Hey! sorry about last week. 

So...Conference was so wonderful! we got to watch it all together as a zone. in English. So that was great! I loved how much putting God first was emphasized. It seemed like one talk after another was about the first great commandment of loving God with all our heart...with all we are. 

What have we even done lately...had some delicious Korean food with investigators and members. talked to tons of people to try and find new investigators. We do a lot of street contacting here. talking to people at crosswalks. on the subway. anywhere we are going. it is starting to be a lot of fun! crazy, I know, but it is! who would have thought that I could enjoy talking to random strangers so much? I have learned to talk about anything! their beautiful necklace or cute shoes, their little kids (and talking about my nieces and nephew), about learning Korean. and mostly about serving here as missionaries to teach about Jesus Christ. we don't knock doors very often, just lots of 'conversations' is what we call them. and it really gives my Korean a workout. 

There is still so much that I don't understand and can't say! a few days ago, we were talking to two old grandmas, who turned out to be Jehovah's Witnesses. I thought I understood their question, so I started answering. about where we were from and what we are doing....the usual. then she started giving me a really confused look. when she said her question again, I had totally misunderstood. and I still didn't know what she was talking about! so...we did an awkward laugh and started talking about something else. story of my life! so fun. it always gives Sister Fudge and I something to laugh about. about a week and a half ago, Sister Fudge and I were walking down the street and talking about what a GOOD day it had been! no lessons. no golden contacts. but we had talked to so many people. and it feels good! missionary good.

It is starting to get cold here! any sister coming to this mission, bring boots you can wear everyday in the winter! Mom, I got an awesome winter coat at this flea market for like $20. already worn, but whatever! i needed something really warm that I could wear everyday.

I love you all so much!

Sister Bassett