Monday, July 31, 2017

Getting Transferred! July 30, 2017


Saying good bye to the ward pictures!


Shoutout to Dayanara is you're reading this!

Our boat ride last P-day to the island again!

 Saying good bye to Georgia yesterday, she took us out to this bakery and bought so many breads and pastries



Hey everybody!!

I really don't even know exactly where to start with this week because so much happened. Thanks to the hottest summer Korea has ever had we have gotten to see all kinds of cool poisonous jelly fish that are coming close to the coast of Korea because of global warming. (Or at least that's what we're told.) Mixed with some killer humidity and our recent convert told me I looked like Emma Watson, not the cute red carpet version, but the Harry Potter version! 

So we were out walking around this week and as 9 was getting closer we decided to quick grab a bus home. When we got to the stop a bus was coming and I was thinking yes this totally goes home! We jump on the bus, not a worry in my mind, until the bus starts to go into the far left lane, headed for the tunnel that takes us to Changwon. There was no going back, we were off! When we finally got to Changwon, we grabbed the first bus heading back to Jinhae, which was so jam packed with people. I still had no idea how I didn't remember that bus went to Changwon, I knew that! Then it all became clear when I hear my name and turn around, there is our investigator that we hadn't been able to get a hold of for weeks! We were able to talk with her the whole bus ride home and sent up an appointment. It was awesome! All of these little things adding up help me never forget how the Lord really does lead this whole work. It is the coolest thing to be part of. 

This week we had two big ward parties this week. We got to help put on a Primary party and then a Sister in our ward came home from her mission there was a big party at her house. I'd been missing sitting around the fire during the summer with everybody, and it was almost the same thing, but with the ward! We ate, played games and people preformed songs. It was the best night. 

The next morning we are sitting doing our planning before heading out the door to church and get a phone call from the APs. With all of the random transferring and two area business we've had going on, it wasn't the weirdest thing. The weird part was he said, Can I talk to Sister Stout? They never ask to talk to me! Anyways, he says, Sister Stout we are thankful for all of your hard work and service in Jinhae, but you have been reassigned. It's not even transfer weekend! Just random out of the blue!! I think my jaw hit the floor. He said say good bye to everyone you need to today and then we will see you at the Mission Home tomorrow. I still can't believe it! I am being transferred to 포항 (Pohang) which is on the other side of the mission, along the East Coast of Korea. I guess a Sister there is going home early, and I'm going to be her companion's new companion for the next week until transfers...which is when my new companion will be going home and I will be the lead of the area. Essentially I have 5 days to learn all about a new area, it'll be an adventure! So we spent Sunday squeezing in visiting all of our investigators quick before I left and wrapping things up. 

With everything that has happened this week it has had me thinking a lot about how thankful I am to have served here and the people I've been able to meet. The Lord's hand truly is in every part of the work and of our lives. He leads it all and is there all along, even when we don't recognize it.
Love you all!
Love, 
Sister Stout

Monday, July 24, 2017

Happy 24th of July!




Pre Ice Skating Stretches!


Ice Skating!

How many Sisters can you fit into an elevator?

PakBooJa's cat, it's turning evil!

Bracing the heat with all the Grandmas!


This has been another good week, but there can never be a bad week when you start it off with going ice skating! There is nothing like ice skating for P-day in this weather! It's like we can finally fit inside of our freezer.

We had a super awesome service project this week. We went to a special needs home and cleaned, it broke my heart. I don't think those bathrooms had every been cleaned, we spent 2 hours scrubbing 2 bathrooms. The things we found in those bathrooms, ewww, but so worth helping out these cute kids. It was so sad to see the circumstances they'd been left it.

We also spent a lot of time in Milyang. Milyang is so beautiful, it doesn't get more country than there. The branch has 9 members, one who is from North Korea, so that's cool. The whole area is just fields and mountains, I swear there are more wild cats their than people. While we were there we planned a youth activity, which couldn't be done without water balloons. It was so much fun with everybody! The area that the church is in is really sketchy, I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to put it there, but we did the activity outside in this little alley way. It was so sketchy, yet so awesome! The next day at church, oh this cute little branch, everyone talks like every other week. We did a musical number in church and even with our iffy tune they loved it! Seriously the cutest little branch, I really hope I get to serve there again later on. There may not be a lot of people, but the love in that branch is amazing. It's cool to see how Christ's love never changes no matter where you are. 
Love everyone!! 
XOXO
Love, 
Sister Stout


Hi Brother and Sister Stout.  We met your sweet daughter today at the Jinhae Ward in Pusan.  She was happy and very happy and very helpful translating the primary lessons to my girls.  The Koreans said her Korean is very good.  She is in a very loving Ward family.  My husband served in this Ward 20 years ago.  We are Matt and Holly Mathison from Dallas Texas.  You would be so proud of your daughter.  She is working hard.  We hope our girls will serve as faithfully with a happy heart.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Pottery and Prepared People! July 17, 2017


A sign we helped make for a girl in our ward who just got home from her mission

The pottery place in the mountains

Bedtime!

Hottest day of the summer!

All of our travel time back and forth on the bus!

Waiting for the Elders to finish a lesson with the man's daughter

My cute Milyang district!


Hey everyone!!

This week was so cool. Sunday, Bishop comes up to us and says that this man called him and wants to come to church. He came to church, started taking lessons and is soaking everything in like a sponge. It is SO COOL. He has a cute little daughter we take care of while the Elders teach him. It has been so cool to see how prepared and ready he is for the gospel. I can't wait to see where it goes!

I don't think I'll ever get over how adorable our investigators are either, they just get better and better. Our investigator, Georgia, has been worried that I'm going to transfer soon like Sister Brady, so she decided she wanted to take me to do everything we've talked about doing. She called us this week and said she made us a pottery appointment and would pick us up in 20 minutes. Thankfully we had no appointments and off we went! She drove us up to this Pottery Museum. It's up in the mountains in this valley that has nothing, I've never seen so much open land in Korea! The whole area is protected because it's where they made pottery a loooong time ago. People dig up old pottery there all of the time. In this museum you can walk around and see all the pottery and then take a pottery class. So we went and made pots up in the mountains where ancient Koreans made pots! It was the funnest thing ever. 

Besides the heat stroke, everything is moving right along in Korea! This week it got so hot that President told us all to stay inside during the afternoon. Nothing better than showering all day long, bring the heat and the miracles!
Sending Love!!
XOXO

Monday, July 10, 2017

Plot Twist and Rain...July 9, 2017

Sister PakSoYoung and I went to lunch for P-day last week.

We got trapped by all the rain in a little tunnel without our umbrellas after an appointment.


Zone Conference, we're all in the same zone! I don't know who thought that was a good idea, but I'm pumped!

Our threesome attempting to throw another bed in our room! 





Hey hey!!

This week has been even more crazy than last week! It has been dumping buckets of rain! Thank goodness, Korea is in middle of a huge drought right now. Thanks to the lack of rain, it's supposed to be an unusually hot summer!

We got a phone call Friday night right before bed from the APs saying we were getting a new assignment. We needed to be at the Mission home the next day by 11 to pick up our new companion and would be over two areas. Definitely through us off guard! We are now in a threesome and over two areas that are 2 and a half hours apart! No idea how we're going to swing this, but it's going to be awesome. Our new companions name is Sister Cordero and she's awesome! Who knew thats where this transfer would take us! 

The best part of our week was our investigator got another answer to her prayers! Everytime she shows up with this glow on her face and is getting closer and closer. It's amazing how much prayer can change your life. She always says how she can't believe she's never done this before. She is becoming like my Korean mom, she buys me bread, texts me to make sure I'm home safe, she's just the greatest! She has the light of Christ in her so brightly and I'm so excited to see where it takes her!
Love everybody!!
Love, Sister Stout

Monday, July 3, 2017

The Good Old Switch A Roos! July 2, 2017

Hey hey everybody!

So this week brought a lot of news: A new transfer, a new companion, a new investigator, a new mission President and humidity like never before! I'm super excited to see what all of the changes will bring! With all the changes this week I was feeling a little overwhelmed with my lack of Korean skills and trying to figure out how to get into the groove of things. We were visiting a members house and because my new companion is Korean, woooah she just flew through our spiritual message and I sat there thinking.....okay soooo I have no idea what to say. The member looked at me and with the English he did know said, "Thank you for coming to Korea. We need you." It was a dagger straight to the heart. It's helped remind me of the angels the Lord puts in our lives and that they're all around us. That man had no idea how I felt or what I was thinking, but Heavenly Father did. I'm so thankful to know that there is always someone watching out for each of us.
I love you all!
XOXO
Love, Sister Stout

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Last Night in the Nursery...Monday June 26, 2017

This is from when we had dinner at the Thompsons with Elder Sam Yiou and his mom.
Featuring Brother Thompson's photo bomb!

This is some of the ladies in the ward on Sister Brady's last Sunday in Jinhae!

The Stake President had a big dinner at his house for Sister Brady's last day!






Hello Hello!

Training is officially complete, do I feel trained? Nope, but that's okay! That also sent meant my cute trainer, Sister Brady, left me this morning. I don't think I've been that sad since I left for my mission. She's going to serve on Jeju, which is an island by Japan, which means I probably won't see her before she goes home. With that being explained, yes of course there were tears! I'll be staying in Jinhae with my new companion, Sister 박소영. My lack of Korean skills isn't ready for this, but it's going to be quite the adventure! She knows a little bit of English, and our grandma flip phone has a translator, it may become my best friend this transfer! 

This week we had a new family show up to our English class! When they walked in, none of us knew who they were, and we were all super surprised. People don't just show up to our English class unless we talk to them! The lady told us when she was in middle school, like 30 years ago, she met with the Sister missionaries. When she got into High School she stopped meeting with them because she was too busy, but remembered how much she loved meeting. She also remembered our free English program and wanted her little girls to be exposed to more English. She remembered the name of our church (which is a miracle in itself) and searched it to find when and where our English class was. After this, Sister Brady and I talked a lot about positive touches. There are so many things in our life we don't understand or feel like we aren't making a difference, BUT you never know the path the Lord has laid out. After a while, all of these positive touches add up and make a huge impact on someones life. It's definitely made me want to be a better person all of the time, so that I can always be ready to leave the touches the Lord wants us to. You never know what it can do!
Love you guys!!
Love,
Sister Stout



Hey there was a cool story I thought you would want to hear I forgot to tell you! I thought mom would like it. There is this man that owns a car shop kindof by our house so we walk past it all of the time. When we walk by we always say hi to him. The other day he called us over and invited us inside for some orange juice. We sat down with him and this other lady that worked there and they told us all about their family and stuff like that. They also asked us about missionary work. The lady asked how old I was and when I told her she about lost it. She kept asking me if I wanted to see my mom! And saying how I was a baby and my mom needed me! It was really cute. In Korea people odn't really move out of their parents house or get married until they're in the 30s, so for me to be alone in Korea was crazy to her! When we left she ran in the other room and grabbed this huge box of a brandnew 20 peice tupperware set and gave it to us! How sweet is that? They also invited us to come over for dinner some time! It was super cool! I thought it would make mom feel good!
Anyways Love you! Have fun in yellowstone!