spicy noodles.

                                         jjam bblong….yum!

Dearest family-

mom. This week, I found the stash of maple pecan sea salt  KIND bar goodness that I had been saving. and then I ate them all in like two days. it was delicious.

It was another wonderful week here in Dap-dong! I can't believe that I skyped you all just last week. So much has happend since last p-day! we finished out the day by going to Costco and eating pizza and chicken bakes. yum.

We are trying to figure out our area...which has been quite the project. The first obstacle is that we don't actually live in our area. It takes about 30 or 40 minute bus ride to get into Dap-dong area. Secondly, the address system in Korea has changed, but now they are really pushing for everyone to follow it. We only have the member's addresses with the OLD system, but our map uses the NEW system. does it make sense? ya, a little confusing. Thirdly...our map is in three different books. SOOOOOOOOO it is a little difficult. Anyway. We tried to visit several less-actives on Tuesday. and it took 4 hours to find one house and make a VERY WORTH IT visit to Sister Wang. It was the coolest. We finally find her door, a little yellow-painted metal deal, tucked behind some bigger buildings. We start knocking...and knocking...and calling her name. no answer. maybe she cound't hear us? and just then, her son walks out! who is also inactive! yessssss. he lets us in and we got to talk with his mom. She feels really guilty about her family not being active in the church, but I think she still believes. We didn't stay long, just long enough to tell her that she could be "in" the church again and how much we would love to see her there. She has such a tough life...her husband has been in the hospital because he drank too much and almost died. Her sons are also inactive and the youngest one, my same age!, is making some pretty poor choices. We sang a hymn together, said a prayer, and made a note to visit her weekly as much as we can.

on the way home, we saw this dry-cleaning shop full of grandmas. They started speaking to us in English ("Hello!" "I love you!" that kind of stuff). nothing like a bunch of Korean grandma's to make you feel good about yourself ^^

we had a LESSON! on Wednesday. it was kind of crazy, but that's ok. A few weeks ago this woman called the elders to let them know she was coming to our church. and she did. Apparently, she had met some elders and loved how happy and clean they were. We met her and her son outside the subway station. She just chatted the whole time, took us to McDonalds, and sent us upstairs (the fast food places here often have two levels). With her son. That was awkward. to add to the awkwardness, there were SO many high school students that he knew there, and he was super embarrassed. he pulled his hat down as far as it would go trying to hide from them. What? its not cool to be seen at McDonalds with your mom and two sister missionaries?! It turns out that she has no gospel interest, but she really wants her son to be with the missionaries and learn from our examples. (he doesn't want to go to college...hates to study...just wants to hang out with his friends all the time...ya know. high school boy ^^) She kept telling him to look at us and be like us. The best part was, she kept calling us 누나 nu-na, which means older sister. I love that about Korean culture! it was such a funny meeting.

Food of the week.........짬뽕!!! jjam bbong. it is this really spicy seafood soup. I was kind of proud of myself for eating the whole entire giant huge bowl. there where crabs, just cut in half and you suck out the meat. and shrimp. and clams. and octopus. and muscles. and noodles. and veggies. it was actually delicious! and they were really impressed with Sister Nebeker's eating skills. what a good greenie!

Due to our...um...lack of investigators (yay opening!) we made it a goal to visit every Relief Society Sister in our ward. Just like Sister Goines and I did in Pyeong-taek area. and it has been going really good! my favorite visit this week was on Friday. We called this elderly sister to ask if we could drop by in about 10 minutes. She didn't sound too happy about that. But, when we arrived, she really just felt bad that she had nothing to feed us. Ah. So adorable. She gave orange juice instead. So, of course, we told her that we were so full and the juice was perfect. I secretly hoped she couldn't hear my stomach growling! They were the cutest couple...so full of faith. and they just loved each other. The husband is a little hard to understand because of his stuttering, but by the end of the visit, I could understand him. which was neat. He talked to me a lot about how special and sacred my missionary time is...about how much of a sacrifice it is, how it can be really difficult sometimes. But it is the time of the most growth and feeling the Spirit. it is the happiest time. I just about cried. I am so grateful for this sacred time and cannot believe that it will have to end. I am grateful for little reminders of how much it means to me.

oh yeah! we had TWO lessons this week! the second sister is really interested in the gospel, even though her husband hates it. She is a former investigator that the elders called and then gave to us. She is so sweet and seems genuine in her desire. plus, she loves us. we are excited to meet with her again!

I love you all! the work is moving forward here. I am so grateful to be a part of it. The Lord is leading this work. I know it!

xoxo, Sister Bassett

Mother's Day...a novel for mommy!

Dear Family-

 

It was SO FUN to skype today! I love seeing your faces and hearing your voices. Garret asked if that was what I expected, and YES. it was exactly what I expected! just like being at home in Breena's house. The kids are adorable, the sisters look beautiful, and Lan and Garret are handsome as always. (I couldn't see Rossy, but I assume he looked great too ^^) I love you all so much and am grateful for each of you. I am especially grateful that we are an eternal family...together forever.

 

Mom, I will try and write about this week as many things as I can remember! maybe it will be boring>>>? but it's special just for you!

 

before we begin...a few things about my new area/house.

-we live so high up, the 30th floor, that my ears pop when I ride the elevator.

-Lan, I know how it must have felt to walk up all those stairs in your hotel at the DECA conference...because last week I had this bright idea that we could RUN up and down the stairs for our workout a few times a week. Sister Nebeker and Sister Blickenstaff loved that idea. sooo, every other day we run down 30 flights, run outside for a little bit, then run UP 30 flights. my legs are dying by the end. (and by run up 30 flights, I really run 10 flights, walk 15, and then run 5 ^^) good idea, sister bassett!

-we don't live in our area, so we have to ride a bus for 40 minutes into our area and back home everyday. worse than going to Weber ;)

-our appartment complex had "elections" this week for...something. anyway. they were out advertising the canidates every night when we come home. and they love us. they hand us SO many fliers and tell us to vote for them.

 

This week was GREAT! as always :)

 

for p-day last week we went to China town with a member of Ka-jeong ward, the other sisters we live with, and a bunch of elders. It was so fun! It was also Children's day, so there were so many kids. I know that I say it all the time, but I LOVE the kids here! they are adorable. a bunch of little hipsters. They have mother's day and father's day, like we do, but they also have childrens day!@ it was so cute to see all the kids walking around with toys and treats. We walked around and ate delicious icecream in a cone that tasted like captin cruch. it was lovely. then we rode back to our area to proselyte. (we've been doing that a ton lately). In our area, there are serveral places with rows of strings and yellow ribbons tied to them. does that make sense? i will send a picture. It is in rememberance of the ferry accident. Sister Nebeker and I read through a few and just wanted to cry! People have written messages on the stips of yellow ribbon...things like "I know you will all be together in paradise" or "I pray for a miracle", just simple messages of apology and hope. I love the sense of community that they feel in Korea. that is just one example of many.

 

on Wednesday was my ONE YEAR in country mark!?! can you believe it? I hardly can! I was thinking about that as I started the day...contemplating what I have learned and experinced during the past 12 months in this blessed land. I have loved my time here so much! I had a neat experince that day to talk to a woman at the subway station about the Book of Mormon. I explained why we believe it...talking about the direction and perspective it gives my life, as well as how it testifies of the Savior. She asked why those people weren't in the Bible...so I talked about Lehi and Jeremiah, how he left and came to the Americas. ya know. She listen well, we talked for a few more minutes, and then my subway came. She wouldn't take the Book of Mormon, but she did take our card. hopefully she will call someday. BUT after I was done explaining, I thought about how just ONE YEAR ago I was brought to this country-the airport is even in my area!-and I couldn't speak at all. I could hardly say hello, we are missionaries, let along talk about prophets and doctrine. WOW! my Korean is far from fluent, but I have learned so much. and learning this language has taught me SO MUCH MORE that new words and grammer. Sister Nebeker and I also went to Baskin Robbins to celebrate! thanks mom, for passing your love of icecream on to me! ^^ it was raining, but we ran there anyway.

 

Thursday was Zone Meeting! I love that. I love being with other missionaires. I love the trainings and the studying and the many opportunities we are given each day to learn from each other. (we also found the "piano stairs" on the way there. In one of the subway stations, the stairs are painted like a piano. and when you walk up them, they light up and play the notes of a piano!) THEN, on the way home that night, we saw Jessica at the bus stop (did I tell you about her? our first saturday here, we are just out talking to people on our way to english class and we met her. We talked for a minute, she is Buddhist, and strongly said that she doesn't believe as we do. But, when she found out we were going to english class, she asked if she could come with us. SURE!!! so we walked there together. she stayed and really liked it, then she took us out to dinner after. we ate SO MUCH. then...she made us drink the kim-chi juice at the end. yum....) so we saw Jessica. She said that she couldn't come to class anymore. She is going to pay a teacher. sad........ I got the feeling that perhaps she had read/heard something negative about our church.

 

The next day was weekly planning. Everytime we have weekly planning, I am surprised at the date! time flies when you're having fun! then we went out to work. As we were walking on our way to visit a less-active sister we were saying hello to everybody. and one girl stopped us after we had passed and asked "hey...do you still teach english?" "yes!" "could we meet sometime and you can teach me?" "sure!!!" yeah. that would be a definite yes! hopefully we can meet with her this week. it was awesome. Plus, that less-active was the nicest. She wasn't home, but she called us back later and said  we can do a practice teaching lesson next week. Nice! we were so happy.

 

Before English class on Saturday evening, our ward had a big "spring cleaning" day. Because our ward is the stake center and we have stake conference next week, they wanted it to look really nice. So we came in our p-day clothes ready to go! it was great. we got to be outside for a little while and do yard work! I never thought I would miss weeding... then we had a ward BBQ! I wish I could explain it... it's not hamburgers and hot dogs with chips. no no. it is meat and lettuce wraps, noodles, rice, kim-chi, dumplings, veggies...so much deliciousness. and you don't grab a plate and sit down. everyone stands around the table, filled with food, with their little bowl of rice. as you eat, you just take what you want and eat from the plates. I love it. (again...their sense of family and community. loves!)

 

Sunday was lovely as always. I am already loving our Dap-dong ward members. They are the best! one of my favorite things about Korean members is the conversion stories. Nearly everyone that is old enough to have a family is a converts. They are so strong. It really is a testimony to the power of the gospel and Christ's atonement.

 

ALSO! last week Sister Pak emailed me!!! ah! it was the best. She moved to Bali, crazy right?, for work so I haven't talked with her since I left bong-cheon area. She is doing so good! I feel like I have gotten a taste of what the joy will feel like in God's kingdom with those we have helped in their journey to conversion. it is amazing to me. i just love her.

 

I love you all! as I continue reading the scriptures, studying Jesus the Christ, going out and doing missionary work all day, my gratitude for the Savior increases. I know He lives. I know that God is our Father. I am so thankful to be here and be a missionary! I know that as we each strive to help other's come unto Christ, our joy will be GREAT.

 

have a wonderful week!

 

xoxo, Sister Bassett

Sister Nebeker and Sister Bassett...spreading the LOVE!

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