Some say I got a lot of Seoul : DON'T TAKE SHORTCUTS- Here's Why

Learning Korean

Well .... ya. it is ridiculous...... returned missionaries especially sisters still aren't comfortable in the language. There are 11 difference forms of respect alone which makes it difficult........ and different words to show respect. R E S P E C T wanna know what it means to me? an additional 1000 hours to learn my mission language........ hahahaha jk it is great I love learning Korean. I just wish I were farther than I am.... patience was never my virtue of choice........

Learning the Hard Way....

Soooooo
This one time we were trying to heart attack a members house. We took quite the bus ride to get there and the bus didn't even drop us off anywhere close to the members house like my companion remembered... After we heart attacked the member we were sure there was another bus stop that wasn't a 20 min walk and we wanted to get home on time. CAUSE OBEDIENCE brings blessing but EXACT obedience brings MIRACLES! (SO TRUE) anyways, we then got lost in the apartment complex maze....Those that know me know how directionally challenged I am... and my companion bless her heart is worse than me hahaha ..... :/ (she just looked over and said amen haha so its true) Anyway we finally find the bus stop but it isn't our bus!!! So we see another one that is in the direction we need to go and when we get there there is AGAIN no bus coming for us! We at this point are pretty nervous... it is dark there aren't any people around or taxis or anything really... kinda country minus the apartment complex.... haha Anyway.... We are officially lost and officially late and officially pleading in prayer. I had this thought that there was a convent store not too far back so we went there and in my less than awesome Korean tried to convey the dilemma. This lady over heard and offered to give us a ride to the bus stop. This woman was an angel. God must have softened her heart to help to random Americans with horrible Korean who don't know the area get to the correct bus stop. She was great. Let's just say we got home late as a result, but as fast as we could manage and called president. Cause if you mess up you should be accountable, and explained what happened. We also mentioned we learned not to take shortcuts. We have a great mission president. He laughed and said he hoped we learned our lesson and asked if he could use the story as an example in a training... haha so DON'T TAKE SHORTCUTS. :)

You might gasp at the thought haha, but Really though. Shortcuts get us no where fast.... literally.... and metaphorically. You get out what you put in. Same with missions and studying and horseback riding. (cause everything can be related to riding a horse - President Uchdorf has planes I have horses haha). You also can't shortcut relationships. With my horse you really have to build a relationship in order to get the best result. Ya you can make the horse do what you want... most of the time. but without a relationship it won't go as smoothly and it certainly won't be a blue ribbon. To build that relationship you need to be consistent. Not nice only once, consistent in how you work how you direct and spending time when yo uarent just asking something of them. It is the same with building member relationships. jong! :)

Possibly one of the coolest experiences on my mission happened the other day. We were having a conversation with one of our friends, we were talking about faith and what comes from faith. Why should we care about the gospel? what is the point of planting the seed of faith? The Fruit of that seed was the main point of our discussion. When we have faith and work to grow it we are blessed with the fruits of the Holy Ghost. When we are worthy to feel the Holy Ghost we feel peace, happiness, and are able to receive guidance. and Deen Deen which is Korean for (a powerful force strengthening you from behind). I really like that one. It is so true. She then asked how do we recognize this Spirit?

That is the hardest question for anyone to answer. The process is different for everyone. Because we are all different people it will teach and work with us differently. However, it always draws us closer to God and Christ. We read a scripture together and after that I was prompted by that same Holy Spirit to ask her what she was feeling, She said peace. We explained that peace was the Holy Ghost confirming the truth of the scripture. :) We also helped her identify other times in her life she felt the Spirit. Helping others draw closer to Christ is the best part of missionary work :)

Let's all listen a little more to that sweet peace that comes from the Holy Ghost in our lives.

Love,

Sister Shaver