Yes, I said hello, because I am actually at President and Sister Gilbert's house using their computer waiting for a ride to the airport....yes, the airport....I have been called to transfer to the island. Jeju Island!!!! I can't believe it! It was a complete shock to me to receive the call. My companion who had been in our area was planning on moving to another area because that is where she had been trained, but Heavenly Father must have other plans! And let me tell you, it was not what I or anyone else was expecting! On Jeju Island, there is only 6 missionaries.....wow, this is going to be a brand new adventure! I am so excited! And I am so excited for my new companion....another Korean that just finished training. Haha....I have realized that that must be my calling in this mission, to follow up train all of the Korean sisters! What a special blessing! I learn so much from everyone of them! :)
This last week in Gimhae was a complete blast! Because Gimhae is being opened up to Elders and Sisters now, my companion and I had to move all weekend long to the new Sister's apartment. It was fun to get our apartment ready for the new Elders and get our new apartment ready with new furniture and appliances! Because of the tons of missionaries coming in, there is a lot of changes in Elders and Sisters areas, and a lot more houses being bought! SO FUN! More and more missionaries are coming!
I have to say that this last week would definitely be one to remember!!! So many miracles! All started last Monday, on our P-day, we met with one of our investigators that hadn't had time to meet with us for weeks, and only had time on Monday during our P-day. My first reaction was to think that it would just be a waste of time, because she had not been progressing and I had so many important things to do on P-day like renewing my alien card so that I could stay in the country. But, my companion and I decided to meet with her instead. And it was a great decision! We taught her about repentance and faith in Jesus Christ to be cleansed from sin. My companion had drawn pictures of a lamb for each member of the family and asked us all to draw symbols on our lamb of sins and mistakes that we have made in our lives that make us feel bad or shameful. As we drew the symbols, we were to think about these mistakes and how they made us feel. After drawing on our clean lambs, we looked at our pictures. We talked about our feelings about our lambs and our mistakes. Then, we asked each member of the family to say an individual prayer to Heavenly Father and tell Him our feelings and that we were sorry and to forgive us. The room was completely silent, as everyone's head was bowed in prayer. After the prayers were finished, we each shredded our lambs, because all of those mistakes and sins could be remembered no more! The mom was so moved by this activity, and her whole countenance had changed just from this one activity. She finally was able to see how through Christ's atonement we really can and are cleansed from all of our sins and mistakes, and through talking with our Heavenly Father, we can forget, just as He forgets, and have a clean slaight once again! This was the mom's very first prayer, and at the end of the lesson, she once again opened up and prayed for us. What a special feeling and experience to see this woman's life completely change!
We also met with our Grandma in the hospital. She is doing great, and we were able to get permission to have her be baptized once she lives the Word of Wisdom, and if she attends church just one time. Because she is a grandmother and has a hard time remembering the lesson, we would continue having to meet with her often to review the principles that we believe in. But she is still full of love and willing to learn, and preparing herself to receive the ordinances of baptism! What a faithful woman!
On Saturday night, we also saw a huge miracle! We called the man that came to our church the week before looking for the missionaries to invite him to church the next day. As we were talking with him, he asked us what we had done that day. We told him that we had met with a family that was a new member of our church. He asked how they became a new member of the church, and we explained that they were baptized. He asked us how he could be baptized and become a new member of our church! We were shocked! We told him to come to church on Sunday and that we would explain everything there! At church, we taught him the doctrine of christ and especially the special ordinance of baptism. We asked him if he still had interest in being baptized and becoming a member of our church. He said YES!!! We set up a date for March 9th! I wish that I could go to that baptism!!!! But I will be able to see the pictures!
At church, because it was my last Sunday, we had so many of our investigators come! We had three investigators come for Sacrament meeting, and two more come after the meeting to see me! I can't believe how close I became with all of these people, and especially the branch members in just six weeks! WOW! I feel like I have known them for months! Everyone in the branch seemed just as sad as I was that I would be leaving! It is amazing how much love you can have as a missionary. It seems like everyone that you meet you just love them with your whole heart! And I definitely felt love from these members too. I know that I will miss them all so much! Especially because they were always with us doing missionary work and teaching lessons with us! What great examples of how I want to serve even after my mission! I love them and will miss them so much!
Something that I learned more than anything this week was how the spirit works, and especially how I can teach how the spirit works to others. I was able to teach our Sirlankin investigators, our members' non-member husband, and also a branch member family this concept yesterday. I asked them how they would feel if they saw a man walking down the street with warn clothes and could tell that it was obvious that he had no job and no money. I asked them, if they gave this man some bread and milk, and this man started to cry and tell them that his family had nothing, how they would feel. They each gave different responses. Some said that they would feel proud because they did something good, others said that they would feel happy, others said that they would want to cry for this man because they loved him so much, others said that they would give thanks for the things that they were so abundantly blessed with. I told them that that was exactly how the spirit feels. That those feelings that we have as we help and love and serve others is how the spirit speaks and feels to each one of us individually. It is a different feeling for each person, just as the spirit is a different feeling for each individual person! We made a list of the feelings that were good and feelings that were bad, and were able to see that all the things that we do that make us feel these good feelings are from God, and all the opposite feelings are from Satan. That is how we can tell when something is of truth and of God, and when the Spirit is speaking to each one of us individually! Wow! It is so simple! All good is from God, and bad from Satan.
I know that this is true, and especially that we each feel the spirit of God each and everyday of our lives. As we make good choices, and serve and love others, we are able to follow God's way for us and recognize His hand in each of our lives!
I love this gospel and my testimony. I love this opportunity to serve for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ as His representative! I am so excited to go to another area, and love and give to more of God's precious children!
I love each one of you and am thankful for your prayers and love for me!
Sister Kersey
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