November 16, 2014

Family and Friends!

So tomorrow is my personal official year mark in country! It was a year ago tomorrow (today I was on a plane all day and jumped ahead in time ;) It seems crazy that that was a year ago! Yet, I still feel like I have a mountain to climb when it comes to Korean, and bettering myself. But yes it just flies before. It's like the line from the best two years, "before you know it elder your going home!" So true. Thankfully though I still have time. 

Well this week was great. Our investigators kept their commitments!!!! So excited for that. They all read! That is such a huge miracle! Sadly there was one investigator we were not able to meet with. And then we had so many appointments with members, it was awesome! We met with one grandma who was upset because we couldn't come at 12, although we explained it was because our investigator lesson was at 12. She was so cute, she was upset because she wanted to feed us and then couldn't. So then she insisted (not so much forced-but as a missionary they are very similar :) ), she insisted we eat with her. So then we ate a full meal. we had eaten about 4 hours before that but it was okay. And it was worth it. She is so sweet and cute! 

It was a great week! filled with miracles and definitely lessons to learn. One being  Doctrine and Covenants 3:5 :). 

Love you all so much! Hope you are all doing well! Can't wait to hear from all of you :) 

Love Always,

Sister Tovar  

November 9, 2014

Family and Friends!!!

Hi! Another week has rolled... more like flown by... I love it! not that it is flying by but that I get to live it :).

So this past week was awesome for a couple of reasons. We has three member lessons!!! That is super awesome!! And we got to spend the day with Sister Morrise-the wife of my mission president. She is awesome!!! I love her, she got to do two lessons with us and that was fun. Then a different member was able to help us with a different lesson and she is awesome! She recognized the investigator needs friends and so she asked her for her phone number and asked if it was okay to contact her. She is going to and she wants to be her friend :). I love it this member is such an example of member missionary. 

My ward is awesome they are just incredible. Right now our apartment is filled with food, we have to freeze some of it so it doesn't go bad because we have so much. All of it was given from the members!!!! They are so awesome! Koreans have the biggest hearts! :) 

Sorry short email but short time. I love you all so much!! Stay safe and be happy!!!! You are all such a great example to me!!!! 

Love,

Sister Tovar 

November 2, 1014

Dear family and friends

 

I will sum up the week by saying it was a week of miracles!!

 

I will only talk about one though quickly. Today we are going to Youngdungpo to meet up with some other missionaries and go to a meat buffet.

 

So coming from kimpo I realized the importance of calling former investigators that had either dropped us or we had dropped them. So we called most of them. One of the people that we called her husband is a less active who had served a mission in california. When they got married she promised to get baptized but hasn't since. She stopped meeting with the missionaries early this year because she had a baby. But we called and they didn't answer, we called again and they didn't answer, we called a third time and no answer this time we also sent a text.

 

Well on Sunday this man pulls me aside and says hey you called my wife a few times this past week. I didn't know who he was andd was in a hurry so I told him we would be right back. We left and then on our way back the relief society 1st counselor stopped us and was elated and explained who they were. When both Sister Goodnough and I understood we were sooooooooooooo happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a huge miracel!!! We understood, went back and were beaming when we were talking to them. They said the only reason they had come out to church was because we had called. We will be meeting with her to start up the lessons again! What a true blessing and miracle! We may not always see the fruits of our labors right away or ever but they exist.

 

The other thing I learned is that sometimes Heavenly Father sends us the help we ask for and we are so prideful we turn it away. For example me with Korean at times I receive help but I feel discouraged or even upset because someone is correcting my Korean, but that morning I had asked for help. Well that was Him sending help but I was too prideful too notice. The other thing is that we should always be happy and grateful with what we have. In Sunday School they shared the story of Job and grateful in every circumstance by President Uchtord. I thought about the quote he uses, Job says naked I came out of my mothers womb naked I shall return. In other words Job realized what few of us do. Everything we have is Heavenly Fathers so why aren't we more grateful. When he takes something away it's not because we are doing something bad but maybe because we don't need it or just it's life. But we can still be grateful because nothing is ever just ours. I'm not sure that makes sense but maybe you can decipher it later.

 

I love you all so much!!!!! Keep working hard!

 

Love,

Sister Tovar

October 27, 2014

Family and friends!!! 

Okay so the week has been awesome!!!!! so much yet so little has happened lol. 

To start with last Monday we went to Kimpo to get my boots that I forgot :(, and we had an adventure at the foreigner office getting my foreigner card renewed. It was great! 

So the highlights of the week are:

The RELIEF SOCIETY ROCKS!!! We were invited to the presidency meeting. They wanted to know who we were working with and what we were doing, how they could help and they offered suggestions. It was incredible. I honestly loved every minute of it!!! If I could picture what president Monson has in mind by missionaries and members working together this week and that meeting would be the image for it. It was so awesome. 

Are mission president has challenged all of us to teach 10 lessons with investigators or just practice member lessons a week. So we discussed it with the Relief Society and they are such sweethearts they took that and ran with it. And on Sunday they made sure all 10 slots were filled and then some. So this week we should have more than 10 lessons :). I love our members!

Also, our investigator that blew us out of the water last week by having prayed every day since the last meeting blew us out of the water again this week. She not only read Ether 12 she feasted it on it. She told us about her favorite verses in the chapter why they were her favorites and then she related it to her life!!! The coolest thing ever. The spirit was so strong as she was talking. Sister Goodnough and I ended up teaching something completely different than what we had planned but it was so perfect. We were both on the same page the whole time because it wasn't being led by us but by the spirit!!!! The coolest feeling in the world. I loved it! Such an awesome lesson!

So far I think that is all I have to report lol but this week has already started off so great!!! I love you all so much and I wish all the best. Please keep me updated I love to hear about your lives :).

Love always,

Sister Tovar

P.S. We had an american family invite us over for Thanksgiving.... Heavenly Father is so aware of us, even the desire of a traditional thanksgiving dinner to remind me of home. He answered unspoken prayers with incredibly kind people. 

Love you all!!!

October 19, 2014

Family and friends!!!!

This week has been so good!! So I transfered to 분당 (bundang) on Wednesday :). This will probably be my last area in my mission unless president throws me a curve ball, which he might. Speaking of both, I know my return date home but I'm keep that locked in a safe in my mind until about a month or two before, no need to think about it until then.

So I got to give my talk this Sunday, not really a talk it's called an introduction but that doesn't make sense in English, just in Korean lol. So yeah I got to do that. So funny I honorfied myself, which you aren't supposed to, but then I also made them laugh but I don't remember how. And then the new Zone Leader who is in my ward gave his talk after me and he has been here 7 months, yet he put my Korean to shame... lol so sad it's okay though :). 

So in my new area we have two investigators right now and they are both progressing and awesome!!! One is the daughter of a less active but he mom doesn't want her to get baptized just due to peer pressure so we are just waiting for her mom to give her the go ahead on it. Then the other is awesome!!! I love her little boy! He was adorable!!!! He is 4 and so cute! And so obedient and kind and loving to his mom!!! And we thought she wasn't going to be a progressing investigator but..... turns out she prayed every day!!!! And she promised to come to church next month with her little boy! I'm so excited! It's an area of miracles. Although, while I was sitting in sacrament meeting I did have flashbacks to kimpo :( I missed it. I will forever have at least three homes in Korea. 

Oh and I was able to see shinpung people (that was my greenie area!) I got to see the relief society women because they were having stake conference where we were having a stake activity! I almost cried seeing all of them :( I love them so much!!! And just that they remembered me was the cutest thing in the world!!!!! 

So I think that is all for the week. On a more spiritual note Sister Goodnough and I have a goal to be more positive this week, so the attribute we choose to work on this transfer is Virtue :). Because Virtue is about keeping your thoughts pure, and we agree that that means pure from anything negative, unkind, angry, resentful, or just anything not Christlike. So we thought it would go hand in hand. We want to work on not only being kind outwardly but also inwardly, the thoughts no one else can hear but are there. So that is what we have chosen to work on.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!! Love you all!!!! To all my Return Missionary friends, you are never released as a missionary... remember how hard you tried and prayed for member lessons. They truly make a difference! And spread the word, maybe it will reach all the way to Korea :). 

Love you all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,

Sister Tovar :)