Christmas and Miracles!

Well... as a missionary, I'm learning the importance of goal setting. Last week I made a goal to write more meaningful journal entries. So because of that and the fact that when I called my family they requested more stories, I'm going to have lots of stories in this week's email. 

Last Monday we didn't have any lessons scheduled but we were desperate to teach a lesson. So we planned to teach a lesson. We put it in our goals and role played it during studies. It wasn't P-day, so we had time to visit less active members and proselyte. When we went to visit our less actives, one was home! We were able to teach her and her non-member husband a lesson. It was neat to see when you act in faith, God does prepare a way for you to teach a lesson!

On Tuesday we had a Christmas conference with all the missionaries in our zone! It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot to help me be a better missionary. What I liked most about it was our nativity. For the nativity, two missionaries read the Nativity story (one in Korean and one is English.)  In between sections we sang Christmas hymns that went along with the story. It was super neat!  I could feel the spirit so strong. That moment is what made this past week feel the most like Christmas. 

There were a lot of other things that happened this week. We went to the temple and I got to call my family!  We also had a zone proselyting activity on Christmas Day! We were running late to the activity (sister missionary problems.) We ended up talking to this girl who was super sweet! She really enjoyed church and we started talking to her about the Bible, that lead to the Book of Mormon. We ended up giving her a Book of Mormon as a Christmas gift. She was super excited about it, and said it was her first Christmas gift this year. It just goes to show that God knows everything and He is even aware of sister missionaries running late. 

I hope that is an acceptable amount of stories for you. This was the best Christmas in Korea ever!! I'm so grateful to be a missionary! 

Happy New Years!!!

Love, Sister Mustain

 

Christmas Eve at the Temple

Christmas Day

 

 

Merry Christmas!!!!

I'm the luckiest missionary ever! I get to spend this Christmas season sharing the gospel. Yes, we don't have investigators. And yes, people reject our message. However, I know as long as I'm trying my best the Lord will help me accomplish His work. 

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak in Sacrament meeting. Not too hard, right? I was asked to speak on missionary work. In preparation for my talk I studied missionary work and the blessing that come from it. With this week being Christmas, I want to take the time to share with you my testimony of missionary work and the Savior.

As I share the gospel with others, my testimony of Christ grows. I feel so much love for the people and as I love others, I feel God's love for me. I have learned through prayer and acting on our prayers we can help others enjoy the blessings of the gospel. Through missionary work I've gained a deeper understanding of my Savior's love and His atonement. Like Christ, we are helping our brothers and sisters come unto him. It is hard to watch people reject the most precious gift you have, but it is an incredible feeling to watch people embrace it. I know God loves us and he is our Heavenly Father. He loves us no matter what we do. I know because He loves us, he wants us to share the gospel. The good news! I know this gospel is true and I would give all I have for it.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas time. Remember the symbol of Christ and the hope He gives (2 Nephi 26:24). 

Love,

Sister Mustain


Sister Mustain and Sister Holbrook



Zone Conference

Obedience

Wow! That's all I have to say about this past week. We went from many investigators to close to none in a week. Our investigator who came to church last week dropped us because she is afraid to move forward. That was hard and the rest of our investigators either can't meet or won't answer our calls. 

However, there are still a lot of good things that happened this week. We met two women on the street, got their number and schedule a time to meet with them.  We also had more people come to our English class which is good, because our class is super small. It also made it more fun!

So despite all the difficulties, it was a good week and I'm so blessed for it! One thing I learned was the importance of obedience. President Thomas S. Monson said, "The knowledge which we seek, the answers for which we yearn, and the strength which we desire today to meet challenges of a complex and changing world can be ours when we willingly obey the Lord's commandments."

What an amazing promise! This week I tried to be more obedient in doing the little things like being to bed by exactly 10:30, starting studies on time and writing in my journal. Through doing this, I had the strength I needed to get through each day. Even though things got hard, I made it through this past week stronger.  

Obedience truly does bring blessings! 

Have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Mustain

Just Keep Praying, Keep Working, and Move Forward

Last week I was a little discouraged because none of our investigators have been progressing. I've been praying and working hard for them. By not progressing I mean they haven't been keeping commitments, like coming to church or reading the scriptures.

This transfer we have been teaching a family, a mother and her two kids. She has a daughter who is 12 and a son who is about 9 or 10. We decide to bring a member to our lesson and teach them about keeping the Sabbath day holy. The sister we are teaching has been scared to go to church and so she hasn't been coming. So we taught her about keeping the Sabbath day holy and it went really well. The member was able to explain somethings that were hard for us to explain and they were able to become friends. We also found out that her son had read the entire Book of Mormon story book we had given them the week before. It was a really good lesson and the spirit was there. 

And then...they came to church on Sunday! I felt so happy for her and her children for making the choice to be at church on Sunday. I know that it wasn't me or my companion who brought them to church. It was her choice and I'm so happy for her! She said that it was a special experience to hear members bare their testimonies.  The ward also was very welcoming of them. It was an amazing experience!

This week marks the start of a new transfer and I'll be staying with Sister Holbrook. I can already feel that big things are going to happen this transfer and I look forward to it.  This week was amazing and it proved  God answers our prayers in his timing. We have been praying for our investigators to come to church all transfer, and it took a full transfer for those prayers to be answered, but they were answered. 

Another experience I had with prayer was yesterday. We had two conflicting appointments. We decided to pray to know which one we needed to go to more. We immediately got an answer and acted on it. 

From this I learned sometimes we get answers quickly and sometimes answers take time, however God eventually answers all our prayers. So when we get frustrated because we aren't getting an answer we need to take a step back, keep praying, keep working, and move forward. I know this is true. I know that God loves us more that we can ever imagine. 

Love,

Sister Mustain

Practice Makes Perfect!

Well...It's been 10 months since I started my mission! That is as crazy as this past week has been. We had interviews, exchanges, Thanksgiving, and we found out that we are moving to a new house three days before we needed to move. So things have been crazy here.

This week I went on exchanges with Sister Jeong (정). It was a lot of fun! She taught me how to be more effective at planning and the importance of practice. Being a missionary requires lots of practice. Practicing our lessons and talking to people on the street. From all I've learned, practice makes perfect. If I don't practice what I'm teaching in both English and Korean, then I won't succeed. Yes, the spirit can help, but the spirit only helps me to become better than my effort. If I put forth a little effort, then I can get a little help. If I put forth my best effort, then I get a ton of help. So practice, practice, practice! 

I'm so grateful for the time we have to practice. On Sunday we did a practice lesson with a recently returned missionary in our ward. From doing this I learned how I can be better. I'm so glad for this gospel. It teaches me to work hard and to be the best I can be. I know it is true! And I know that without it, I'd be lost. 

Well, I'm sorry this is so short, but I'll have a lot more to tell you next week. I hope you have a wonderful week!!! 

Love,
Sister Mustain❤

 

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!!

This past week was a blessing! I was able to go to the temple! The temple is amazing and when I'm there I feel my Heavenly Father's love for me. While there I was able to see my MTC companion Sister Sewell! It was great to see her!

We also had plenty of time to proselyte.  We went street boarding with our district. Street boarding is where we have a board with questions written on it and we give people a sticker. Then we ask them to place a sticker under the question they have. It was cool! And my companion was way into it. It was nice to do something different for a change. 

We have these two boys that we have been teaching that have baptismal dates. If they didn't come to church on Sunday they would need new baptismal dates. So yesterday before sacrament meeting, we walked over to their house to bring them to church. We didn't get them to come, but we found out they haven't been coming to church because they have to watch their little brother while their mom works. So all we have to do is figure that out and mom said they would go next week!

This week was crazy! I learned how much people matter. As I went about my missionary work, I felt so much love for the people around. I know that God loves each of us personally. I was reading a talk by President Monson this morning and he said, "…your Heavenly Father loves you—each of you. That love never changes." I know that is true! I hope you have a great week!!! 

Love,

Sister Mustain

Temple Day!