Covering a few weeks

I know its been a while since the blog has been updated.  Now that Whit is out teaching the Gospel it gets a little more challenging to share the emails (if you remember a post or two back she asked that I not share the experiences thru the blog/internet but she welcomed us to share the experiences with others when we talk to them.)  From here on out it looks as though I will be summarizing her emails home but I will also copy and paste as much of the email as I can.  I like to copy and paste directly from Whitley's emails - I think it make the updates more real and when you can read her words.  When I read the emails I can definitely picture her in action, I can hear her voice in my head telling me the story using her own verbiage. I love the ways she describes things.  :)

March 24, 2013 -  One Month in Korea, already!
Whit is limited to 1 hour on the internet, she reads her emails, writes family and tries to respond to other emails/letters AND she has to report to her Mission President so she doesn't always have a lot of time to include everything she wants in her emails.  Here is a little from the emails she sent home

korea is very chilly, the Siberian winds are freezing! but i'm told i'll want them when it comes summer. right now all i can say is that i cant wait to sweat my guts out. speaking of guts i ate pig guts. kinda gross. but it was fine. 

I love you all so much. Know that the lord is watching over me.

I didn't have time to read all of your letters mom, i'm sorry.

but i love you so much. whenever i miss you lots, i wear your perfume, which is everday :) 

k seriously i got to go,

until next time,

whit jean xo

March 31st - April Fools Day (it was April 1st for Whitley)
Hi Family! April fools doesn't exist in Korea..! And I was thinking of something I could say to punk ya'll, but everything I could think of was too evil. Haha, so I got nothin. But happy April fools anyway ;)  

Okay so I've completed one month in korea, werid huh. I haven't read any of your emails yet. I just got online and thought it would be best to write you an email cause last week my email was lame! Sorry about that.
Okay so. This past month has been rough. All of you might think, oh whit is having the time of her life cause she's finally in Korea doing missionary work like she's wanted for years, la la la. Don't get me wrong, I'm having a great experience here. BUT it's been hard. So hard in fact that I wanted to come home. I just didn't see how I could stay. And this is my dream. So serve a mission, you all know I've wanted to do it for so long. And I knew that, so I couldn't figure out why I wanted out. I knew that my perspective needed to change. So on my calendar I kept track every single day of the things that made me happy! (mom the temple calendar you gave me is the one I'm using) Anyway, every single night after planning and as we are preparing for bed I would think about my day and reflect on things that made me happy. My whole calendar is so colorful! Maybe I'll send a pic if I have time. I just wanted to share just a few things that made me happy, and to let all of you see that it truly is the small and simple things that bring the most joy!  So on 3.4.2013 I went t the Military Base here in Korea! On 3.9.13 ---- she had a great conversation with someone she was teaching ----  3.12.13 a lady who isn't a member at class (English class) told me I looked Russian (by the way EVERYONE thinks I am Russian.  I have no idea why haha it's weird.  No one thinks I look like an American)  3.14.13 one of the nicest ladies in the ward made me and my companiion winter hats!  3.20.13 Elder Aoyagi of the area 70, I think? or just the 70 came and spoke to us!  3.29.13 this this random korean girl probably 12 ran up to me and spoke english! it was so funny to see her and her friends just marvel at what I said to them as we talked about their school and about missionary work!  3.25.13  I went ice skating! and it was the first time being in Korea that I got to wear pants. Holy moly, I felt like a new woman (whatever that means). Haha I really felt like I could fly. Actually my companion said that to me when we walked out of our apartment. It was so funny and so true.

I wish I had more time to tell you about every single day and every encounter I have with Koreans. One lady we were talking to on the street just couldn't get over the way I looked. She kept saying I was so beautiful and that I looked like a doll. Probably a russian doll ;) haha! So message this week, times are hard. Are they ever easy? And that's when I realized that I need to be happy. A mission (and life in general) isn't easy, so you might as well just be happy!

I love all of you guys and I missed you like crazy on this easter sunday! But the Lord as made it clear that I need to be here. I think of you all soooo much. so so so much. and I am more than blessed. I don't know why I was born into such an amazing family with amazing friends, but I am forever grateful.

I hope you are all doing well and always seeking Christ.

With all of my love,

whitley jean xo

April 7, 2013 - Week 18!
Hi everyone :) I hope you've all had a great week. I miss you more and more as the weeks go by. Can you believe I'm already on week 18?! It kind of seems like a lot to me. I hope all of you enjoyed conference. I didn't get to watch it yet. They will be translating it this week and we get to watch it on Saturday and Sunday, and luckily they are playing it in english too! So I don't have to sit there for 10 hours and not understand what is going on. I hope it was amazing for all of you. Mom, I loved the insight you shared from Elder Hollands talk. You might be worried about North Korea but don't be. I told you the army here is great and I know that they are protecting me. Not only that though...I know that if anything were going to happen that the Lord will warn us and he watches out for his missionaries. They aren't going to let anything happen to us missionaries. 

So I haven't really thought about what I would write home this week. Uh, I have a confession...remember that place I told you about, Paris Baguette? and they play country music and just american music? Well I was there the other day and I may have been listening to a song that was playing. It sounded like Tim Mcgraw..and possibly my girl tswift? but I don't know for sure, is there a new song out by him? Hi, I'm a missionary and this isn't important. I shouldn't even care, or ask, but here I am doing it anyway. Haha  (I'm so glad to see she is a still normal, hahah!)

In the rest of Whit's letter she talks about the investigators that she is not only is she out sharing the Gospel with but she is also teaching some of them English.  

* Whitley has sent pictures home but for whatever reason the format on her pictures has changed which doesn't allow me to upload the pictures to the blog.  I will upload the pictures to Whit's Mission photo album on my Facebook page but will be sure to tag her in the photo's so everyone can see.  If you still cannot see the pictures please leave a comment on this post and I will see what I can do.