Heey...still me

Exchanges!

Soo we had a meeting in a city like an hour away this week. Took a wrong bus, and were going to be late, so we ended up having to take a forever long taxi ride there. I should really learn directions.

 

And Baskin Robins 31 days!

Hello loves

So this week was cool, I hit my year mark which was insane! Celebrated with Baskin Robbins ice cream, aka it couldn't have gotten better. I seriously can't wrap my head around the fact it's been a year. I never thought time on a mission could go so fast. Other exciting news, at our STL meeting this week they announced that in a few weeks we are officially becoming a Facebook mission!  The Lord is definitely pushing His work forward and I'm pumped to be part of it!

This last week has been super funny. I forgot what it's like to walk the streets here with another American as white as me, especially someone like Sister Monson. Our lives are a joke. So there is this big road that goes through the city we cross everyday, but there's a part of it without a light. I don't really know how to explain it very well. Essentially it's a four lane road, it has a cross walk, but no light to tell us to cross, you just go for it. Whenever we would cross it before Sister Oh would just say, "I am a car." ....and just go for it, then I would follow her like a scared puppy who didn't want to get hit by a car. So this week Sister Monson and I walk up to this cross walk.....I look at her and say, "I'm scared of cars." And she's like, I got this. So she starts walking into the road and puts her hand up like the little kids do, and this car in the next lane just steps on the gas and Sister Monson jumps back into me! Apparently if you're not actually Korean it doesn't matter if you're a pedestrian. Ha darn all these Americans!

We had the coolest miracle this week. Exchange miracles are awesome, plus Sister 조희수 is just awesome. During exchanges they went English sticker boarding. We pretty much just stand there with a board and get people to stick stickers on it and it has English questions. We talk to people, advertise English class, all the good stuff. Anywho Saturday night after exchanges we were calling contacts of people they had met and this girl had watched the video about Christ on the pass along cars they gave her and loved it. She kept talking about how well made it was and this special feeling she felt when she watched it. Then she asked us how soon we could meet and we said...hmm Church in the morning at 10? The next morning there she came with her friend too! They stayed, loved it, and asked if they could come every week. It was such a cool miracle, I think it took Sister Monson and I a second to pick our jaws up off the floor. 

Just want to leave you all with something I've been thinking about this week. I got asked to give a talk on anger (Yes for real!) in District Meeting and it's gotten me thinking about how much everything we do is a decision we choose. There's a talk by Gordon B. Hinckley called Slow to Anger and if you have time, you should totally give it a read. Anyways, it talks a lot about how we may not always control our circumstances or other people's choices, but we can decide how we will react and how we will let it affect us. It all comes down to our choice and how we are going to let it affect us, whether that's for good or bad. I love this gospel that I get to share everyday and watching it touch peoples' lives. I love this beautiful place I get to serve, the people I get to serve, my family and I love Sister Oleson! (Haha)

Sending lots of love♡

Love,

Sister Stout

Welcome to 경주!

Last District Meeting!

It's so cold that all of the water in the toilets at the church froze! 

 The coldest day in Korea after we got punked and were making our painful walk home!

                                     Our investigator 이시은

Yummy!!!

A dog we saw with a purple tail! Oooh Korea.

Hello everybody! It's me again.

This week was just kindof funny. I got my new companion, Sister Monson. She's a doll. Every member that she has met so far at first like freezes, and says..."Like President Monson?"  And then the longer they look at her, it's followed by, "Oh my gosh you looked like him too!" It's hilarious. We haven't successfully gone to bed this week before 12 yet because we can't stop talking and laughing. I literally feel like I'm a new beehive back at Girls Camp and can't close my mouth! And the craziest thing is, we were talking and I mentioned something about Burley, and she stopped walking. Looked at me and said that her Mom grew up and Burley and that's where all of her family on her mom's side lives. Whaaat? I think the phrase it's a small world is over used, but woah it definitely applies!

This past week was the coldest week that Korea has had in over 6 years! It definitely felt like it. There was specifically one day that was the coldest Korea has had for forever (The humidity and wind goes to the bone!) I just have to tell this story, it's too funny and pathetic not to! So that day we had a lunch apppointment at one of our Less Actives/Recent Converts house with the Relief Society Presidency. (big deal!) We're super tight with this lady, except...she always likes to punk us! She's a little special needs and I think she feels a lot of love knowing we come over to her house. I don't know. Anywho. It's all set and we leave the house and make the 30 minute walk in the freezing cold to her house. Knock, and she doesn't open the door. Hahaha but we can totally hear her in there telling her dog to be quiet so that we don't hear here. We call her, reject. Again, reject. I call the Relief Society President and apparently the morning of she sent a text to all of them canceling...except us! And there we stand in the freezing cold. Poor Sister Monson...Welcome to 경주!!...? Hahaha good first day!

That same day we went on a wild goose chase to find this Less Actives house. I can't address in America, let alone in Korea, but after walking up every street we foound it! Later, my ears hurt so bad and were super itchy. I kindof just ignored it and then later we were at our MCM Leaders house and somehow got talking about the beginning stages of frostbite. Hahaha yes. I got frostbitten. Stupid. And our MCM leader is like my Korean Dad and gave me the talk about why we wear a hat...hahaha. 

We had the coolest appointment, I think of my mission, this week. We are teaching this girl right now, 이시은, and she's seriously so prepared. Before we met her she had never prayed before or even heard of the word baptism. It was cute, when she was saying the closing prayer she said the word baptism wrong because she seriously couldn't remember what this new foriegn word was! She is soaking in the Book of Mormon like a sponge and just takes every verse to heart. She asks us to send her texts of scriptures randomly during the day and then she'll screenshot it and put it as her background. (SO CUTE) We taught her about Baptism this week and she just lit up and told us how she believed everything we have been teaching her. 

Watching Christ's love and light touch her life the last couple weeks has been incredible. It truly has the power to change lives. 

Sending love!

Love,

Sister Stout

Transfers!

 Packing all of Sister Oh's stuff was, holy cow, she has a lot of stuff, so much work! We put her boxes on her penny board and Elder Lee rode it to the Post Office.

Transfers!

Saying goodbye to Sister Oh, and Hello to Sister Monson! She is the other girl standing next to me!

 We went bowling with the youth this week. There seriously the coolest about brought friends and everything.

Hey everybody!!

Today has been one of those crazy transfer days, aka I have no time! Sorry. But hey, this week was fantastic. I'm staying in Gyeongju, and Sister Oh left to Jeju! Somehow, Sister Oh seemed to pack up the whole house and off she went! I always teased her that she had a lot of stuff, but didn't realize how much until we had to pack it all up! Good times. My new companion is Sister Monson, she is actually who Sister Oh is replacing on Jeju, we played the switcharoo game! I'm really excited for this transfer!!

This week has just been so busy! Last weeks of the transfer are always the best! Some highlights, we went bowling with the youth and they're literally angels and invited friends. It was the best! They're everyone's goals. 

Weird story of the week. We were at our service activity this week and I was stirring the soup and all of a sudden I look down and I stirred up a fish head! Eyes and everything!! I think it gave me a heart attack. Except then they explained it's healthier that way and the soup sucks in nutrients from the fish head. Beeecause everyone wants nutrients from fish eyes. Yum, I had to gag the soup down just knowing the fish head had been swimming in it!

There is so much to share and such little time, but I just want to share a quote I shared in my talk on Sunday that I've been thinking about a lot lately. It's from Conference 2017, I don't know why, but I can't remember who from right now, but "Being happy doesn't mean to slap a plastic smile on your face no matter what is going on. But it does mean keeping the laws of God and building and lifting others." 

I send my love!

Love,

Sister Stout

Happy Birthday!I

Literally eating rocks with the cutest Korean girl ever!

Happy 20th Birthday Laken!!

These are rocks that they eat....they taste just like you would imagine!

I GET teased as being the area mom...so they decorated the computer room for my bday and got me a yoga mat! 

Surprise party for Laken!

Lunch with the youth. And the most white people ever seen in a restaurant! Zone P-day!

The Olympic Torch coming through!

Hello everybody!

Sorry, last week was just kindof insane and I ran out of time to send a big email, but today is the redemption round!

This week started off with our zone pday! So much fun, but i think I enjoy them more when I dont have to help plan them. Haha. However, it went great. Somehow we managed to 22 missionaries all over town without losing anyone or missing any buses. (a miracle in itself!) We went to one of the biggest Buddhist temples in South Korea, its huuuge.  We were super worried about how it would turn out, but everything went smooth and i think we broke the record for the most korean speaking white people on one bus! 

Tuesday we had exchanges with our 호계 (hogye) sisters. I went there and was able to spend the day with Sister Stott, it was like throwing it back to the MTC. 24 hours wasn't enough to catch up on everything thats happened over the last 10 months. (We've never gotten to serve close together!) Plus our birthdays are on the same day so we took each other out to a fancy dinner. No better way to celebrate our birth week than together.♡ The heavens were celebrating too because it snowed!!! The Zone of the mission we are in is known for never ever getting snow, so it was a magical day!

Wednesday we unexchanged, and then exchanged with our 신정 sisters. I got to go there and spend the day with Sister 황수경. That was the only way we could get schedules figured out and its safe to say I was dead after. I got a solid 6 hours of sleep between the two nights combined...but have no regrets, it was so great! They're both such adorable missionaries that I love so so much.

Friday, hehe.  Like the weirdest but also best day ever. We had interviews in the morning with President and got to see our district. I stinking love these people. We were waiting for President to be ready in one of the rooms, then all the lights turned off and they were singing happy birthday with a cake. They're literally too much. Nothing is better than starting a day with interviews and cake with the District and President!

Then the day went a little weird. We were visiting a less active lady in the ward whose from Russia, Gulmira. We visit her every week and have gotten really close, i guess as close as you can with such a huge language barrier. So we're all talking studying Korean, and she pulls out this bag of rocks...for us to eat! We literally all sat on the floor in her living room and ate rocks. Her father in law sent them and apparently theyre special (except they didn't look special, they looked like she picked them up outside!) and full of calcium. Surprisingly, they aren't as hard as you would think, except they tasted pretty nasty..well how you wpuld except a rock to taste if you decided to eat it. BUT my advice would be to stick to not eating rocks! 

Then that night jumped to the biggest miracle and most prepared person I've ever taught on my mission. We met this sweet lady named, 이시은, sticker boarding a couple weeks ago, we met with her last week, then again Friday night. We taught her English, and then she ended the English study early because she said she had all these burning questions about the Restoration pamphlet we had given her. As we taught her the Restoration, the spirit was so strong and she was so excited and in love with everything we said. When we taught her about the first vision she couldn't stop smiling and kept saying how amazing it was and how she couldn't get rid of her goose bumps. Then I dont think it couldve gotten better after she asked if she could please buy a Book of Mormon no matter the price. We were all in tears. I cant even put the power of that lesson in words.

And Saturday was my birthday!! Literally I got so spoiled, it was the best day. Sister Oh made me my favorite Korean food for breakfast (And if you knew Oh you would know how insane that was, this cute girl is a 100% microwave and ramen person! Hahaha) and decorated the house in cut out ducks...she kills me, it was awesome! Later we met up with the young women and they took us out to lunch. They both got me cute little presents and wrote me cute love notes. They came back to the church with us to help us prepare for English class. As English class ended, everyone started singing and in came out MCM leader with a cake. Seriously I have so much love for these people♡ He came with us to visit some less active member and then took us out to a super fancy meat buffet. Then we spent the rest of the night talking to missionaries that called to sing happy birthday and eating ice cream. I got soo spoiled, i couldn't be more blessed than to be able to serve with all of these amazing people. 

In Sunday school this week a quote from conference was shared and i wanted to share it with all of you. 

"Being happy doesnt mean to slap a plastic smile on your face no matter what is going on. But it does mean keeping the laws of His and building and lifting others."

With all the different types of people I've been able to meet, one thing I've learned the most is the truth of this quote. There truly is no way to find true happiness without the gospel. People who don't have it, or choose not to embrace it, truly never can find that eternal peace and comfort amongst life and trials. And on the other side, watching people let Christ touch their life and let Him change them. He has the power to change and bring is eternal happiness richer than we can imagine.

So hey, if there's someone you know whose needing that extra unconditional love and direction, well, you know what theyre in need of. Dont over think it, just share it with them♡

Love the gospel. Live the gospel. Share the gospel.

I love you all! Thanks for all the birthday wishes♡