August 28, 2017

Last p-day at lunch after walking around in the pouring rain!

The buffet we went to after zone conference

Our night at the branch presidents house.

Hey everyone!

This week has just been great! For one, I cut my hair for the first time in Korea. It was kind of horrifying, Koreans have no mercy with the scissors! It was dumping rain and we had been wandering aimlessly trying to find a barber shop that looked the less sketchy. When we finally got there, we walked in and were just dripping…haha the poor lady cutting our hair! Thanks to the rain and humidity, it’s safe to say the Kennedy fluff decided to take a turn for the worst. I don’t think I’ve ever seen people make a face like that ever before when they have been cutting my hair. She asked if I had a perm and who did it because they didn’t do a very good job. Thanks Mom!(for the record...my mom did not perm my hair) She kept making motions with her hand of my hair going out and saying don’t worry I’ll make you pretty…and then she just went at it! I think at that point I just gave up and closed my eyes.

We finally accomplished our goal of delivering cookies to all of the members this week! Thanks to Sister Oleson, I have no sense of direction! We felt like a spies the whole time trying to sneak into the buildings past the lock code, but hey somehow it all worked out great and we got into all of the buildings!

This week we were able to join a community group that one of the members of the bishopric works with and take bags of rice to cute little grandmas who live alone and have no income. They were so cute and so thankful. It was the best, and really makes you think about all you have to be thankful for when they were so thankful to get just a bag of rice. The group we were with was hilarious and explaining why we don’t drink coffee in Korean is sooo hard. They ended up pouring us cups of hot water instead. What is better than a cup of boiling water on a hot day?

We had Zone conference this week, it was such a cool zone conference! Part way through President assigned each team of Elders to a team of Sisters and said, go to another room and for the Elders to give the Sisters a blessing. I think it through everyone a little bit off, but it was the coolest experience ever! The Elders that gave us blessings were Elders we’re pretty good friends with, which just made it even cooler. The spirit in the room was unreal, every concern I’d had or have been thinking about was directly talked about in the blessing. I can’t even put into words the power that came through that experience!

Right now our mission is preparing for Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita to come speak so I’ve been studying a lot of his talks and just wanted to share a quote. He said, “We are ambitious for Christ when we serve faithfully, accept humbly, endure nobly, pray fervently, and partake worthily.” When we let Christ become the center of our lives and truly our focus, I know we can see miracles.

XOXO

Sister Stout

August 20, 2017

 Elder Jeong and the raw cut up fish we had for MCM.

An Elder in our Zone brought us Dr. Peppers. Which is funny because thats like one soda that is nonexistant in Korea!

Roller skating last week for p-day, which is sooo different than roller blading!

Chicken!

Our Saturday night that consisted of painting nails and conference talks!

Hey Dad this is for you! this is the fish we ate raw, the MCM leader pulled it up on his phone so I took a picture of it...pretending I loved it so much I wanted to eat it again later. When really I was thinking, woah I have to know what I'm eating!

Hey Everybody!!!

This week has been awesome! Sister Oleson and I are definitely finally getting in the swing of all things Pohang. Pohang is a little piece of Paradise, the members are super awesome and just the people here are all so nice. Not to mention a kids English class we teach that has two little boys from Africa in it that have completely stolen my heart! Pohang has one of the biggest outdoor markets, it’s seriously huge. The Elders told us if we ever get lost in it to just call them because they know their way around the market. A little concerning, but hey we have managed not getting lost yet! Pohang is super close to the ocean and so the outdoor market is full of hundreds of glass cases full of water and sea life. I’ve never seen more crabs and lobsters in my life! At our MCM Meetings, which we do Saturday mornings and have breakfast together, our Mission Leader pulled out this raw fish. He showed us the picture of the deep sea fish it was, and it was one of the strangest fish I’ve ever seen! I kept waiting for him to cook it….and waiting. Then he walked the plate of raw fish over to the table, sat it down. And the raw fish party began! I guess Pohang is going to help me get over my weakness of raw fish!

We’ve been getting dumped on this past week! Which turns doing studies outside, to during studies at convenient stores. But I think my favorite part about it is sitting there studying on this long table, next to all of the men coming in and out filling out their lottery tickets. Who knew people in Pohang would be so into the lottery?? I always wonder what they’re thinking when they sit down, pull out their lottery ticket, and then there’s just like a pamphlet with Jesus sitting their looking at them. It never fails to start an interesting conversation though!

As amazing as Pohang has been to us, our investigator pool has been dropping like flies and it’s had me thinking a lot about faith. We can have all the faith in the world but there are always two things that our faith can’t do, first, our faith can’t take away another person’s agency. And second, our faith can’t change Heavenly Father’s will.  Through the trial of our faith, as we look to the Lord and we rely on him and HIS will, that is when we truly can see miracles.

Sending lots of love!

Love Sister Stout

White Washing, Wood and Dog!

Laken's new district in Pohang

Our pancake party after walking for eeever in the rain!

 Our pieces of wood! 

 The family we're teaching in Uljin.

Hey everybody!

The white washing party in Pohang is real! Sister Oleson and I have made it a goal this week to heart attack all of the members doors and leave them cookies. It sounded like a great idea, until we realized how much we don't know this area or where anyone lives. But hey, we are really good at making cookies and hearts, now if we can just find a home for it all!

We have been over two areas, but the other one, Uljin, is closing. Which means we did all kinds of packing everything out of the houses there and the church. I don't think I've ever seen anything better than the Elders walking down the middle of the street in the pouring rain with a huge dresser on this tiny little wheel trying to get it to the garbage! It was pure gold!

 

Starting from nothing here in Pohang, we've been trying to find investigators and get to know the members and area. I think the best part of it all was one of the first mornings we were out proselyting and this man came up to us and handed us two pieces of bark, seriously wood. He told us we could eat it...so not sure what to do, 

we both just start nibbling on these pieces of wood. I look over and for the first time ever all of the rumors are settled, there was this huge freezer of butchered dog. I think my heart broke in one second.There was a picture of this cute fluffy dog on the outside, then inside just all of these dog body parts. We're standing in middle of this huge outdoor market, nibbling on wood, standing next to a huge chest of dog, and I'm just thinking oookay Heavenly Father, here we go! Pohang is definitely going to be quite the adventure!

This week I've been studying the talk, "My Peace I Leave with You" by Henry B. Eyring. This talk is just, woah. Solid gold. I've been studying the difference between peace from the worlds point of view and peace through Christ. The worlds view of peace is having no trials, being able to kick back and everything just sailing great. Where peace through Christ comes amidst our trials. Through Christ we can have peace, even while the storm is raging. We all still have our weaknesses, but because of Christ, we can recognize them, and over come them. Because if we can't see our weaknesses, how can we progress? As we lean to the Savior and keep the Holy Ghost as our defense, we can feel the Savior's love and peace amidst the trials we face. I know as we turn to Him and keep Him our center, we can find peace amongst the storm and trials we're faced with. 

Love,

Sister Stout

The Big 6 Months and White Washing...August 7, 2017

 The Young Women

Pohang District

The Hand Statue

Hey everybody!

This week has been so jam packed full of miracles, I can't even wrap my head around it. I headed off to Pohang where I spent the whole 5 days writing down as much information as I could get out of my companion, Sister Lee WonJi. I felt like I was back in High School when the teacher would let you use your notes for the first 10 minutes of the test, and you realize that you don't know anything without those notes! It was crazy, I learned so much in such a little amount of time. My companion, Sister Lee WonJi, was just the cutest thing ever, I feel so thankful to have had her for even a short amount of time.

So actually happened this week! My new companion is Sister Oleson, throwing it back to our MTC days! I'm super excited to be serving with her in Pohang! I already apologized to her for how much we'll be getting lost. I sent my cute Sister Lee WonJi home today, even after just 5 days it was sad!

I've never felt so much love for people in such a short amount of time. I never thought I could love the people I'm serving this much. It's had me thinking a lot about how much Christ loves each of us. It's amazing to think about how much He sacrificed for each of us, and I'm so thankful that I get to spend each day sharing it. 

I love you all!!

XOXO

Sister Stout