36 photos instead of an e-mail...

"i sent you so many pictures! and a picture is worth a thousand words, right?”

Me with Sister Gwak at the temple.

CHERRY Blossoms!  Every where in the spring!

Our English class. We teach all those cute kids and it is the best.

Dinner with the Bishop. He is the nicest guy and I absolutely adore his wife. It was the fanciest restaurant. Lots of raw fish (it was yum!) and side dishes and soup. Delicious. We just piled into his car and drove. And drove. Finally I asked him “where are we going?”  “To the mountains”…and it was. This beautiful restaurant in the middle of the mountains! 

Welcom Sister Nebeker! Isn’t she adorable? She is so much fun.

And the sun setting over the river.

LOVES FROM SISTER BASSETT

begin again.

Dearest family~

Every six weeks, on Saturday, our transfer calls come. And the week before (especially the day of) my heart pounds and my mind thinks about what the next transfer holds. Well, this time it came on Friday!!! Just as we were finishing up planning...just a normal night...President calls and tells us that it is TRANSFER CALLS night! what?! I whip out a pen and my planner (to write things down. as STL, we are told about where all of our sisters are going, who is coming, etc. so I can't remember it all!) and turn on speaker phone. First off, Sister Kwak is staying with Sister Kang. And I am leaving! Heading out to 답동 dab-dong to open/train again. And I am so happy and excited to begin again...to start over and try one more time to open and train and be the missionary I know I can and should be. I am so happy to start her mission (and end mine...) with a bang. Every morning is a new beginning, but something about moving areas renews my resolve to work harder and be better...to serve with full purpose of heart. I just want to be a missionary that other sisters and elders, that you, and that especially the Lord can rely on. (plus, I found out last night that we will be living with 가정 ka-jeong  sisters and I was even more happy! four sister house!) So 답동, here we come!

I love you all. I know the Savior lives, this is His work. God is in the details of our lives...just like He directs where to send one 21 year old girl every 6 weeks. 

xoxo, Sister Bassett

happy Easter

Dear Family-

I hope that everyone had a beautiful Easter! I am so grateful for the two I have had as a missionary...one in the MTC and one here. Us four missionaries got to sing "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul" in sacrament meeting. But, when I woke up on Sunday, my voice was almost gone. oh no! I prayed so hard that it would come back and I could sing well. Or that the members would still be able to feel the Spirit despite that. and they did. We had several members come and thank us. We sang to the tune by Rob Garner, but used the Korean words out of the hymn book. I have loved the chances to sing on my mission...because I struggle to say exactly what I want in Korean, I know that I can turn to music. I can bear my testimony, pure and simple.

we had interviews with President Morrise this week. How I love President! He is such a wonderful man. As we were talking in our interview, he talked to me about how I need to focus LESS on the things I can't do or don't have, and look more for what I CAN accomplish, the good that IS happening. I think that we as humans (and me especially) have a tendency to do that... to let our shortcomings hold us back from the potential that we have. We let our weaknesses fill our sight and have no room to look forward with faith. "Happy, but not satisfied" is the saying in our mission. The "not satisfied" part should give us encouragement, not discouragement. Because we are becoming better everyday. And as my oh so wise older brother said to me just today, we can't change by ourselves. Jesus Christ has promised that, through the power of His atonement, we can do ALL things. and He will strengthen us. I know that He lives. He is our Strength.

I love you all! We all have another week to try again. start over. To look forward with faith and focus on all the good we can do.

xoxo, Sister Bassett

heritage of hope

Dear Family-

Wasn't this General Conference just the best? After one of the sessions, one of the Elder's investigators (he is from Vietnam, so speaks english, but not fluently) asked me what they talked about in the session. I started to talk about what different messages had been shared, but he stopped me. No, he said, what was the main idea? Service was the first word that came to mind. Then, following Christ. Service falls under the second category, of following Christ, because if we truly follow Him and are becoming like Him, then we will be serving others. As we all take the time to study conference again in the coming months, I hope that we can find ways to meaningfully serve others. I have felt it over and over...countless times on my mission...the love and peace we can enjoy by serving others. Even when they don't want it :) we can only offer. I loved Elder Eyring's talk about our heritage of hope. We have been given that, and now have the opportunity to share it with others (living and dead). I know that as we serve, especially those in our own family, we can add to the heritage that we have been blessed with. I am so grateful to mom and dad, grandma and grandpa Bassett, grandma and grandpa Morrise, siblings, cherished friends, and countless others who have given me a heritage of hope, the blessings of the gospel. Like dad says, we stand on the shoulders of others so that we can reach higher.

This week, we have spent a lot of time offering that hope to people through closed, metal doors. They rarely open, and we have never been inside. But, Sister Kwak and I are convinced that if we keep it up...knocking and knocking and knocking...we will find someone someday who has been searching out their heavenly heritage and just couldn't find it.

I am grateful for the blessings of the gospel in our lives. Let’s all go out and share it this week! whether it be with family who already enjoy being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, those who need help again enjoying blessings of it, friends who are not yet members, the beautiful children in your homes (Ally and Breena)... It is such a wonderful gift, a priceless heritage.

I love you! xoxo, Sister Bassett

registering...

Dear Family- 

I have no time to write. Just wanted to say that I love you! you are in my prayers and in my heart. We had another great missionary week. It is the happiest thing I have ever done. Even when there are tears. I love being here. I love being a missionary. I know that this is true...every time I get to testify of it, I feel it even stronger. Christ is our Savior. God lives, He loves us, and He is listening to our prayers. I know it. 

have a great week!

xoxo, Sister Bassett

Plans.

Dear Family-

 

This week. I loved it. Two experiences I had strengthened my testimony and deepened my understanding of the Plan of Salvation.

 

first, TEMPLE. we watched the new video and I just CRIED. it was also the first session I have gone to in Korean, and that was amazing. We had headsets, but I only put it in one ear. And I really tried to understand the Korean. and I was surprised how much I got! I mean, it helped that I have heard it so many times. But it was beautiful! I cannot describe it...I just FELT God's love. That plan was made for YOU and ME and each of us. God has provided us a Savior. He has made a way for us to return to Him. He absolutely desires to have each of us home again.

 

second, we taught the Plan of Salvation to the less active sister that we are redoing the discussions with. It just FEELS RIGHT. eveytime I testify and teach of the Plan of Happiness, the truth of it is confirmed to my own heart. Her nonmember friend was also there. It is an amazing privilege and blessing to tell other people that they are children of God.

 

I gave a talk in church on Sunday about that...God's love for each of us. It is real. If we will search for it, His love will never be hard to find.

 

xoxo, Sister Bassett

hello, Sister Kwak!‏

Dear family--

You guessed it! Transfer week! My new companion is Korean...Sister Kwak...and she is super awesome. I just love her already! She is a lot quieter than me, but I think we will get along. She is learning English and just got thrown into to the fire with this area! We transferred on Wednesday and she has already been to dinner with two American families, Church, Korean class, and English class. Ah! She is a trooper. We both can understand where the other is at because language is a frustration for both of us now! I speak so much Korean with her, though. So that is awesome. And it will really help me! We made a goal to do every other day...english korean english korean... to help both of us. I am excited to see what we can do together here. It will be great!

This letter will be short, but I just wanted to share something I learned this week from my reading in Jesus the Christ. It is a wonderful book. This morning I was reading about Christ healing a woman on the Sabbath. The leaders of the synagog (of course) accuse Him of breaking the Sabbath. And the Savior patiently and perfectly shows His love for this woman. If animals are to be let out of their stalls on Sunday, shouldn't a "daughter of Abraham...be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?" Later, Elder Talmage writes that "whatever her ailment, whether wholly physical or in part mental and spiritual, she was FREED FROM HER BONDS." I love that though. No matter what is binding us down, be it physical sickness, sin and mistakes of the past, or trial and sadness, we can be freed through the atonement of Jesus Christ. Mom, I loved you letter this week, the He is our Advocate. He is there to lift us up and help us reach higher. He will always be there to release us from our sins, heal our wounds, and become like He is. 

This transfer is one of the many chances I have on my mission, and in life, to START AGAIN. to remember that faith is pointed towards the future.

I love you all! you make my day with your emails. go forward with FAITH! 

xoxo, Sister Bassett