Heeyo!

Last District Picture

Our last District P-day we went to an escape room!

Saying Goodbye to Rosalinda!

Saying goodbye to Sister Oleson....MTC all over again!

English Camp this week!

Saying Goodbye to my favorite little girl in the branch!

Hello everybody!!

Well another transfer came and went and I got shipped off to 대신/괴정. (I don't know how to spell that in English..I'll figure it out maybe later.) This is the first time I've ever served in bigger city, I mean I've never even been in an area with a Subway, so this will be interesting! Leaving Gyeongju was the worst, I just hate goodbyes in general and I'm bad at them. It was really just a disaster all around. This new transfer also marks the first time on my mission, besides like a couple weeks, that I won't be able to call Sister Oleson whenever I want to. So that sucks a lot. I feel like I'm leaving to go to the MTC all over again. BUT it's going to a great new transfer! I'm excited to see all the miracles coming. My new companion's name is Sister 주은수. She just finished training and is adorable! 

This past week we spent every day in Pohang, except Saturday. New record! Our dear District Leader I've served with the past three transfers, Elder Schupp, went back home to Germany today. (Another darn goodbye, definitely my least favorite part about missionary work.) So it was fun to be able to spend time a lot of time all together this week. In Pohang we had an English Camp we helped out with. Woah, they planned good. It was super awesome. Lots of kids came and it turned out great. I got a weeee bit sick and was loosing my voice, so I sounded stupid trying to talk loud enough to keep the kids attention, and sounded like a dying horse by the end of the day! But, it was totally worth it.

This week it feels like we just spent running, a lot of good byes, and off to a new transfer. New starts and change are always necessary and good in the end, but dang it. Sometimes they hurt! 

I'm running low on time because of transfers, but it you have time this week, we studied the talk "The Reason for Our Hope" by President Packer (October 2014 General Conference) in Sunday School this week and it was so powerful. Give it a read.

Be safe, sending love.

xoxo

Love,

Sister Stout

Hey hey again.... February 25, 2018

Hey hey again.

This week was like the best week of my mission, and also probably the worst. Haha it's funny how those always seem to go together. We had one investigator we've been meeting with since I got here shoot downhill, but hey our other investigators progressed so much this week. Annnnd so we're going to focus on that!

Highlights of this week. We started the week renting Tandem bikes for P-day with the Elders. Talk about being connected as a companionship We spent the whole day riding around and exploring our area. We found some cool things, almost hit some people, and got all kinds of weird looks. I guess its not very often you see two Americans riding a bright yellow two seater bike down the road.

We got to go on exchanges twice this week, THE best. On one of the exchanges we were talking about movies late one night and the Korean sister i was with said one of her favorite American movies is, "The Fart in our Stars." Ah Yes, to each his own

We had some super awesome appointments with investigators and members this week. We had one appointment with our investigator and a member who came and as we were sharing our message our investigator shared her testimony on the power of the Book of Mormon and prayer. She shared how the first time she met us was the first time she ever had prayed and how it was changing her life. This girl is seriously amazing. Her love for the Book of Mormon inspires me. Her testimony is on fire and she's growing so much! 

We had an interesting Sunday, but the coolest miracle. We have an investigator we met the other week whose younger and we haven't really been able to meet meet her, shes always so busy with school she only has time to come to church on Sunday. Definitely not complaining. Anyways, she's gotten really tight with the young woman and leaders in the branch, like she literally doesn't even need us, these branch members are amazing! She came running up to us before Young Women's and said, hey will you teach me how to pray? I'm the closing prayer. It was the first time she had ever prayed! Then after church she had all these questions about church vocab she didn't understand and baptism. Super neat. The power of member missionary work is intense.

Transfer calls are coming this week. We finally get good at living here as two super white Americans, and it could be over. I mean when we cross the street now, cars actually stop! Not ready if I'm ready to leave Gyeongju but here we go.

Last I just wanted to share a quote I read this week. It's from Elder Holland's October 2013 General Conference talk, "Like a Broken Bessie." It said, "...remember the Saviors own anguished example: if the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and be strong, trusting in happier days ahead." Things don't always end how we think, or go as we expect, but I learned a lot this week that in the end, it always goes as the Lord plans. Sometimes that is the worst pill to swallow, it seems unfair, or hard to understand, but the Lord knows each of our hearts and needs. I know He knows and is looking out for each of you. 

Sending love♡

Love,

Sister Stout 

Happy Chinese New Year!

Heey! 

Happy Chinese New Year everybody! We kicked off the week going with our district to a Meerkat cafe. Confusion aside, not a place where you eat them, but you can buy drinks and sit and play with them. It's a magical thing, there are friendly Meerkats, Raccoons, those small Kangaroos that may as well be called Kangaroos because that's what everyone calls them anyways...obviously it was a great day. 

Anyways, Chinese New Year!! is huge here, way bigger than Christmas. (sad) Big holidays normally mean no one on the streets, which is true, but in my area it means there are a million foreigners. I've never seen more foreigners in Korea than I have this week! They always say the only scary thing about Korea are the foreigners, which after this week, I fully agree. Everyone was out of town for the most part this week, so we weren't able to meet with very many people, but we took that time to heart attack all of the members front doors. Along the way we met a lot of really cool people, just all around was a good time!

A cool miracle form this week! On Sunday we were sitting with one of our investigators, Sacrament ended, and there is this lady sitting in the back of the room that I've never seen before. We go up and start talking to her, turns out she started investigating the church like 10 years ago and used to come to church all the time. She had a baptismal service and right before it started, her husband called and said if she went through with it to not come home. She still loves the church and knows it's true. It's so amazing how much some people have to sacrifice for the church, when I feel like I've just always had it. I feel like that is a lesson I'm never going to stop learning.

Sending love!

xoxo

Love,

Sister Stout

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