God loves us!

안녕하네요!! (Good morning!!)

It's always a good week when you're a missionary!

The Chinese Sister we just started to teach. I look super white in this picture.
The sad thing is, if you look at my watch tan, I've changed colors since coming to Korean. And I'm still super white.

This week while walking down the street, we got 전도'ed (evangelized) to by another church. They were giving out packages of crackers which turned out to be pretty yummy. But as we were waiting near them waiting for the crosswalk to change, an older lady was standing there and turned (95% of the time because I'm American) so we said that we were missionaries. She was also holding a bag of crackers but she was really interested and walked the whole way to the church with us and we gave her a tour of the church. She's interested in English so this week we're going to try to start the 30/30 program (30 minutes of English/30 minutes of Gospel).

The river park. Ansan is super green.

We met with our grandma investigator this past week and taught the Restoration. She didn't believe that you could see God and live because apparently the Bible teaches that. But 이수기s and I were both thinking of several times in the Bible when God appears to his prophets. We didn't share any of those though because she it was like she wanted to Bible Bash and that's not what we're here for. We bore testimony but it was kind of frustrating because the gospel is not something based solely on logic. So when we meet again, we're going to talk about the Holy Ghost.

P-Day Exercise Activity

We also got a new investigator this week! She really wants to learn English but recently she has also been thinking about going to church. We met and mostly HTBT'ed (figured out How to Begin Teaching). It was so interesting because she has never even heard of Jesus Christ before. But at the end, she prayed and it was so sweet! She's still not sure that God is her Heavenly Father but she is so open to learn and so ready!

I know that God loves every single one of us and He really is our father!

토블러 자매

Look what I found. We were gonna go in except we'd just had ice cream.

Transfer 2!

I finally reached my second transfer! (But I didn't get transferred.) And I've only been a missionary for 3 months already. Woot! Language learning.

Happiness is ice cream and Ghiradelli brownies.

She's also decided that Ghiradelli brownies are the best!

This week I've done a ton of English 전도. We met a woman from Sri Lanka and a man from Panama whose parents are Chinese and he's trying to get Korean citizenship. So that's cool. I was going to try out my Spanish but whenever I try to speak Spanish, Korean words slip in or I use Korean sentence structure. So we just talked in English.

We couldn't get a clear, serious picture. Here's to pure joy and good friends.
All the missionaries I was in the MTC with.

Photo from another missionary

This week at district meeting, our zone leader was there on exchanges and they started the district meeting in Korean without thinking about it. Usually we have district meeting in English because me and another Elder are both greenies. But they got 45 minutes into the meeting before realizing that I might not understand what was going on. Except I'd understood everything so I can definitely see improvements in my understanding of Korean!

Sis Turner told us we weren't allowed to buy NeNe Chicken everyday. It's the BEST!

This week I finished the Book of Mormon again and it's still true! :) I did something different with my marking though, and I've been underlining things that relate to different aspects of a missionary purpose and highlighting where it talks about Light or Testimony since those two things are so related. And what I've learned is that the scriptures are so, so full of light! They really are God's word and will uplift you every single time you read them. I especially like Moroni 7:19:

 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.

Love you all!

Sister Tobler

Ice cream for a pick-me-up. I eat more ice cream here than I did at home. :)

부활절 (Easter!)

This week was great! We had the opportunity to do exchanges this week, which was an awesome learning experience! My zone is one of the smallest (missionary wise) so our STL's are actually in another zone. Because it was 2 hours to their apartment, we ended up having all four of us squish into our apartment and do missionary work in 안산 for a day. We went to visit a less active (LA) member and as we walked out of the apartment, it started to rain. I was so excited that we were going to have to be real missionaries trudging through the rain but it was actually quite pleasant with the cherry blossoms and the member lived a lot closer than we thought.

At Yeouido’s Hangang Park

This week was also the first time I noticed my Utah accent. During English class, someone mentioned the word hanger and all of the students were so confused how it was spelled because the other Elder from Utah and I didn't really pronounce the g. Whoops.

I found a giant swing! :)

After English class, we started doing a YSA type of activity thing but also as a way to invite investigators/potential investigators/anyone to come meet members/LA's/other investigators. While doing that, 2 students walked into our church and found some pamphlets. They came upstairs and they were really interested in our church! We got to tell them a little bit about why we're serving missions, invited them to our FHE type activity, and got their phone numbers! They seem pretty prepared.

Tulips

For Easter, we went stickerboarding with a question that said "Who is Jesus to You?" With answers like Savior, teacher, God's son, a good man, and prophet. Unfortunately, most people wouldn't even put a sticker on. But I overheard a few moms explaining to their kids who Jesus is. Hopefully our board prompted some good discussions even though we didn't get to talk to anyone.

My companion had me do the progress record last week and then she fixed it.
This week's was much better.

On that note, I know that Jesus is my Savior and that He died for each of us. But, He also lives for each of us and should be what motivates us each and every day.

Love you all!

토블러 자매

Cherry blossoms! Actually popcorn popping on the apricot tree. ;)

A Week of Conferences!

This week has been great! Because of a time difference and translation, we got to watch conference yesterday. So in preparation for conference, we got to have fast Sunday, zone conference, and a special conference with a teacher from BYU. Man did I feel prepared to hear the prophet's words.

The bishopric bought a Polaroid for us to take pictures with investigators because they have a book of investigators. But we couldn't figure out how to work it and it took a couple of white pictures. So the elders showed us how and then we got to use it with our investigators. The picture on the right is me, 송유진 (our investigator) 고유정 (an RC) and 이수기(my companion).

My first mission zone.

This week we got a new investigator! We met a grandma our very first day here at English class and she asked if she could call us everyday to practice English. So everyday for 10 minutes, I talk to her in English. Because of that, she said she wanted to learn about our church! So we're going to start doing the 30/30 program with her except she can't read things that are small so we're enlarging the pamphlets in English. English and Religion time. Aren't we sneaky. She is so prepared though. She told us the other day that she really wants to learn English so that she can tell other people about Jesus. Who does that besides Mormon missionaries?

(A little taste of home--cake mix cookies.)

We met with 고유정s(the RC) again. She is the best fellowshipper ever. We had a picnic with her and another investigator and talked about the Book of Mormon. Our investigator really knows the gospel but she doesn't feel it yet. So we're hoping to help her really feel the spirit this week and realize why it will help her. Right before the picnic, our investigator texted us that she couldn't come because she was sick. Nooo! But my companion said "We tried to have the picnic on Wednesday and then we couldn't and it ended up being bad weather so Heavenly Father wants us to have it today. Let's pray" So we did and then she came! Miracles!

Zone Confernce

Conference was so good! I really liked how it was focused on the Plan of Salvation and Christ, because that's what it's all about. Sometimes we can get sidetracked with all the other things the church does, but it always comes back to Christ and why we're here.

Love you all!

Sister Tobler

My collection ;)

I love you! Jesus loves you! Make good choices!

There's not a whole lot to report on this week. I spoke Korean and we tried to teach people about Jesus!

We got our new area map this week! It's too big for all of our walls. It's great though, because hopefully we'll be able to figure out where we're going now. We also made a new stickerboard entirely about English,  because that's what most people are interested in. We haven't tried it out yet to see if the response is different, but we'll probably try that out tonight.

We consistently meet with one of the recent converts (RC) and she's awesome! Right after she was baptized, the sisters were taken out of this area so she hasn't had most of the lessons after baptism. So we teach her weekly so that we can make sure those get done but it's also good practice for my Korean.

The Elders officially 소개'd their investigator to us so we met with her. We're not sure how to help her though because she is still struggling to see why there needs to be one church if every church worships the same God.

We got together with the Sisters in our area for a 전도 활동 (proselyting activity). Proselyting is super hard here, especially for Sisters. So it was good to get a little pep talk so we can focus on that! We traded companions for that and it was interesting to see how people respond differently when you're two foreigners vs. a foreigner and a Korean. They were definitely more open to talk with us.

Yesterday in Gospel Principles, we were talking about the 2nd coming and the RC asked, "How can I prepare for the 2nd coming?" It struck me because we all know the 2nd coming is coming. We know the signs. But are we preparing? Are we willing to ask that question with the intention of doing what we need to do to prepare? This week as I've read the scriptures, I've thought what can I learn that will help me today? And it makes the scriptures so much more relatable. They really are for us today even though they were written hundreds of years ago.

I love you! Jesus loves you! Make good choices!

Sister Tobler

"자매님! There's two tribes over here!"

Korea is so good!

I feel like I can follow most gospel conversations now. Everyday conversations are a little harder. Mostly I just nod and laugh when everyone else does.

My language flash cards. The white ones are just since I got to Korea.

This week we went to lunch with a member and she is so awesome! Because we're whitewashing, we're still figuring out who's in the ward. She served a mission at Temple Square and her last transfer was companions with her sister. How cool is that?

Our investigator that was a referral from the Elders prayed! She texts us everyday to practice her English and texted us that she had prayed and felt good! I still think she's more interested in English but it's a good sign. The grandma that we also teach at English and she calls us everyday to practice her English said she would take a pamphlet in English about our church! But when I brought the pamphlet, she said it was too small for her to read. So we figured out how to make it bigger on the copier. We'll see how that goes next time.

We got to go sticker boarding with our zone this past week and all the people here are so busy. I just think if they knew how important our message was, they'd stop and listen.

Our stickerboard and some pamphlets

We met a nice grandma on the subway and my companion started talking about the Plan of Salvation. She was so excited that she could see her husband again! We almost got her phone number and then someone next to her pulled out tissues with her church's ad on them. Lame. So we left her with a pamphlet. She hasn't called though.

Some Korean Food: Rice burger, Korean pancake (not for breakfast),
Spam sushi and "yummy stuff" 

This week's title comes from my companion. Last night, while opening the cheese, the bag ripped all the way and cheese flew everywhere. She looked at me and said, "It's like the scattering of the ten tribes"  #youknowyoureamissionarywhen... Then later she found more cheese. Hence, "자매님! (Sister!) There's two tribes over here!"

This week I've been studying patience and one verse that really stuck out to me was Alma 31:31 which defines patience as "comforting your soul in Christ" Super awesome.

Patience is definitely key in missionary work.

Love you all!

Sister Tobler

P.S. I sent pictures for last week's blog so that's been updated. :) Just scroll on down for those.

Korea!

I don't even know where to start! I'm in Korea at this very moment! It's great!

Clockwise from top left: meal on plane, first view of Korea,
last view of my mountains, Elder Sayen sleeping

We're in the 안산 (Ansan) area which is part of the Seoul South Stake. My companion is 이수기 자매님 (LeeSooJee or Sister Lee Sugi)! I'm the first person she's ever trained. She says her English isn't very good but pretty much she's fluent.

My trainer and my Mission President and his wife, President and Sister Turner

Our area hasn't had Sisters in 6 months. And out of the Elders, only one has been here before. The other Elder was in the MTC with me. So pretty much we're whitewashing.

Our very first day here, before we went to our apartment, we went to English class. We get to teach that twice a week and there's a nice grandma there that is a potential investigator. She calls me everyday so she can practice English. Her children live in Florida and Germany so she really wants to learn English to use when she visits them.

Our apartment!

A huge problem here in Korea is that people are often converted to the missionaries instead of the gospel. So when the Sisters left 6 months ago, a lot of the RC's are now less active. Or, they're only interested in learning English.

The Elders just referred 안다혜 자매님 to us and we taught her yesterday. She's sweet but we don't think she has a ton of gospel interest, just English.

Another problem here is that everyone is busy. If you try to talk to someone on the street, you need to stop in their path and follow them while talking. So, that's fun. We went stickerboarding near a subway exit and it was the same sort of thing. You have to walk right up to them and follow them with the sticker.

A member gave us a cake. My birthday! I'm just a little baby missionary recently born into the field

The other day, we went to the church to make some copies and the Elders were teaching a lesson in the church. As we walked past, they stuck their heads out and asked us to come meet the people they were teaching. Afterward, they told us that they had been trying to refer them to us right when we showed up and the dad was kind of hesitant but then we were there! So we'll probably end up teaching them. Miracles!

I'm a true Korean now with my Korean slippers.

That's about all I got right now... I probably missed so much. I love all your emails!

Spiritual thought: Don't just rely on other people's testimonies or do things because you like the foreigner. Figure it out for yourself! We have so many records of people who did that.

사랑해요!!

Sister Tobler

Sorry that there are no new pictures this week. I'll send them next week.

(Stickerboarding: Hold a sitckerboard and ask people if they want to put a sticker on. Our board says "What do you want to learn about?" with answers like English, Jesus Christ, Life's purpose, and The Importance of Families. After they put a sticker on, we try to talk to them about it but they frequently just walk away.)