Sunday, October 27, 2013

Several Updates

Hi All -  I am SO sorry for the long delay… shortly after my last update on this blog my husband got a new job that moved us out of state.  We had less than a week to pack up a house, find a new house, get all my work transferred with us and try to get everything unloaded off the haul before BJ started his new job.  With that being said I wont overwhelm everyone with such a long long update, I will break these down into months and hopefully I will be all caught up within the next few weeks.

Whit has ALMOST hit her 6 month mark!
June 9th 2013

EVERYONE!! HI :)
I'm almost hitting my 6 months...what the heck right?
I know it's crazy.
Listen I don't have time for an email this week...oops I'm sorry!
I love you.
I need you all to do me a favor...
Dad, mom, zoey, bj, brady, mark, skyler- I want you to record yourself on 6-12-13 and talk about what it's been like having me gone for six months. I want to make a video of all this when I get home, so for now will you all make a video?
It doesn't matter how long or short it is. You can say whatever you want. And I'm going to record myself too. I'm not exactly sure what I'll say, but it doesn't matter. Even if you just say, wow it's been six months...cool see ya in a year. Just anything. You can talk about the letters I send home, our communication, why you miss me, just whatever.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do this.
When I get home I want to make a video and on 12-12-13 I want you to do the same thing. make a video etc. then when I get home it will be just a short video like 5-10 minutes of my mission. And then I can have it forever and my kids can watch it and it'll be the cutest thing ever.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO IT.
And then compile them all together. I don't care where you save em or who saves them. zoey- on a file or disk and so when I come home I CAN make a video.
Okay that's all
thanks
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH
My week was just missionary work. Nothing too exciting.
I sure love the gospel more than anything.
I love you all and miss you too.
xo
whit jean hun 자매

When I read what Whit wrote and asked of us I thought, "no big deal I can record myself…" but when that day actually came I attempted the recording a few times and I just sat there with tears streaming down my face because I miss her, because I am proud of her, because I worry about her, because she is doing exactly what she wants to be doing and because I love her.  When I finally decided "this is it, this is recording I am going with", all I was going to say once I hit record went out the window.  I couldn't remember what I was going to say and I knew I couldn't keep "attempting" to record something so when Whit gets home she is going to watch my recording and neither one of us are going to understand a single thing I said to her.  Gotta love girls and their emotions!! :<

June 16th 2013
DAD!!!! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!
I miss you so much, and I hope that you have a great day. I hate that I'm not with you...but soon enough (less than a year ;) )!
Also dad, I talked to the asia area doctor yesterday his name is Clair Elison...he went to Bear River. He is about 20 years older than you. But he said he knew Lyle Hunsaker...who drowned..? and a Ralph Gardner? I tried to see if he knew any of us Hunsakers but he's so much older than you so it didn't really work. He grew up in Snowville. Anyway, I told him I'd ask you if you knew him. And he's in Japan, but he'll be in Korea next week so I can let him know if you know him, or if any of those names sound familiar?

So my week this week...was definitely hard on me. But so good because it was full of learning!

Sorry about my letter last week. It wasn't really a letter. And none of you responded...so I'm assuming that you all did what I asked??!

Monday we just had a fine pday full of shopping and we went to visit some members and give them a calendar that I made (so they can read the BOM everyday) but none of them were home so that wasn't fun. Ah! And while we were street contacting I said hello to his girl, she had a little boy with her and I thought, "She needs to know she can live with her baby boy forever." So I approached her and said hi I'm a missionary, so I wanted to say hi to you. And the minute I said missionary she got all weird and didn't wanna talk. She pretended she didn't understand us (as we were speaking Korean), and we asked her if she was Korean, and she said no. So my companion, who is Korean mind you, asked her where she was from. And she just shrugged her shoulders  and we all just stood there because it was UNBELIEVABLY AWKWARD, and she just walked away! That was the first time that ever happened to me. I mean the girl is clearly Korean, you can't hide the way you look...hahaha it was funny.

Tuesday we visited TONS of people. A sweet Sister Kim in the hospital. I think I wrote home about her already, but we visited her again in the hospital. She fell and broke her hip, but is recovering. We visited a member, taught a lesson to our investigators, and visited a less active/inactive member. Then we street contacted the rest of our night. SUPER LONG DAY, feeling like a missionary. Still just lost in this strange country, lost at the language. But I have my trusty companion who is so good to me and helps me so much!

Wednesday was a weird humid/rainy day- so not so good to street contact. A member in our ward called and asked if we could come help her move her book shelves and organize them. So we did and after she taught me how to cook a Korean omelet (Bj, it's way good :) you'd love it). And after that long day of traveling to our district meeting in the rain, and just not feeling like a successful missionary- this sweet member calls us and asks us to help her. I can't believe how much that helped me feel like I am needed. I love feeling needed, especially as a missionary. And where I sometimes I feel like I'm not doing much help because of the language barrier, I realized I could help her and I didn't need to speak Korean to move her book shelves. 

Thursday we were invited over to a less active members house for dinner, and I loved it!!! Their daughter is around my age, and my comp actually met her at BYU Hawaii so they are friends, which makes me an automatic friend ;) and this girl transferred to BYU and she is now going to grad school there, starting in august. She's a genius! And I love that she speaks english to me :) so I think I realized I love people more when they try to speak english to me. And I can flip that back to them, I'm sure Koreans love me more when I try to speak to them in Korean. Actually I know they love it.

Friday was rough. We had our 3 hour planning session and my comp hasn't been feeling well lately and I had some weird rash on the side of my calves and feet. So we called mission pres, and since he's a doctor, he knew exactly what we needed. So we went to the pharmacy and just played doctor all day and made message cards. Which by the way I make the cutest korean message cards. they are just cute designs and I decorate them with gel pens and write a scripture on it. They're cute, and members love them. Anyway good news, my comp is feeling better and my rash went away.

Saturday we had our english class, and also taught another investigator and her daughter. And one of our members son's & wife attend byu hawaii and they were in town visiting so i met them and they are both returned missionaries and they served in my comps ward, so she knew both of them (such a small world) and the girl was so kind and sympathized with me. She said she knows Korean is one of the hardest (if not the hardest) grammer forms to learn. and she had american comps who struggled and she just thanked me for being here in Korea and trying to serve and trying to learn the language, even though it seems impossible. She was an answer to my prayers, I'll always love and appreciate her.

Sunday, was Sunday :)

Overall...I'm doing okay. We have 5 progressing investigators and they are all so kind. They all have english interest. So my comp is determined to convince me that if I wasn't here- they wouldn't be meeting with us. She thinks because I'm American they are meeting with us. So we hope that we can provide ways for them to feel the spirit and that the spirit can carry the message into their hearts...so far, so good :)

Being a missionary is intense. It truly is a marvelous work and wonder that I'm apart of.
I'm grateful I know that I'm loved by our Heavenly Father.
I'm grateful I know he loves ALL his children, and I get to be the one to tell Koreans :)
I love all of you, more than words.

With all my love,
xo
Whit Jean 清货目 磊概 


These are the types of emails that I love to get from Whitley - they are short yet full of feelings.  Don't get me wrong I love to see how she is doing, how her area is, how her companion is etc but I LOVE knowing she is still strong and still knows she made the best choice she could make for herself at that point in her life.  

I love you. I am happy. I am grateful I chose to come on a mission. Leaving you and loved ones behind wasn't and still isn't easy, but I know I will never regret this decision to serve my Heavenly Father. Come hell or high water...I'm OK, because I trust God. ♡


June 23rd 2013  -  One Year Left!!
Hi :) 
All is well here in Wonju! :) We had transfer calls last week, and to our surprise, Sister Gu and I are staying here together one more transfer (as far as we know ;) )!

Moment of Truth:
 Alright so this moment of truth, I hope it benefits you and ya'll be able to understand what I'm trying to say. Sooo....I had some crazy turn of events happen to me the last several weeks. I was struggling...bad. In every way possible, it seemed! So as I read Eishelle and Danielles emails to their families I think, "They are so real in their emails!" And in the beginning I was real, I told ya'll the good, the bad, and the ugly. But I noticed that was only making all of you worry about me even more. So I changed my mind. I decided to only focus on the good. Which I think benefited all of you and in turn helped me. But I felt like I wasn't being "real". So this is me being "real"...
 I am human...I struggle. Life here in Korea isn't all hearts and rainbows. I've experienced heartaches, even I couldn't believe. I've experienced thunder storms, literally and figuratively. I've experienced tears of sorrow and tears of ultimate joy! I know that we all have our good and bad days. And many people have asked me, "Do you regret coming on a mission?" and many are shocked when I give them my answer, "Absolutely not!"
 So what I'm trying to say is, even though I struggle..I am in God's hands. He is watching over me. I feel his love every single day. I've discovered it is only through the power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that I am able to withstand, and survive. I have come to know that through my tears and the heartaches, I can be (and am) healed through the atonement. Sometimes at night, when I'm saying my prayers, I say all blessings I have in my life: Family, Friends, Companions, Investigators, The Gospel, His Love, His mercy, and everything else you can imagine...and yet I still can't fully express my gratitude- BUT because of the wonderful gift of the atonement, I am understood. I am forever indebted to Jesus Christ. He died for me, so that I would never ever have to feel alone.

:)

Phew! Now that I got that off my chest :)...I just want all of you to know that I am grateful that I am a missionary. Sometimes I wonder why I got called all the way over here to Korea...(I'm still figuring that one out) but the reason, be not known unto me, I know God knows. I know he sees into eternity, when I sometimes struggle to see one more day. 

This week we had almost all of our investigators cancel on us :/ these are the heartaches I referred to in my moment of truth. I got rejected a couple times on the street, but then there was those 2 girls, who were so unbelievably nice and who wanted to meet with us- and it made all the hurt worth it ;)

 I still can't grasp all that I am learning. Sometimes I find myself in awe, because I'm in Korea! I'm grateful I've experienced all these tender mercies from the Lord. I know this mission is changing me into the Saint that God wants me to be!

 I love all of you more than I can say :)
Thank you for always being there for me.

With all my love,
Whit Jean 清货目 荤概


June 30th 2013  -  Miracles still Exist
We are teaching a mother and daughter. I love them so much. So much in
fact, I pondered FOREVER, trying to figure out how I was going to get
them to church. Inviting them just wasn't enough. So this is my story:

I tell my comp. Sister Gu, "Listen, we just need to go to her house
and pick her up!" So that's exactly what we did. Sunday morning we
travel for about a half hour, get to their apartment building and ring
the door bell at 8:45am. No one answers. Knock on the door, still
nothing. So I ring the bell again, and her husband asks who it is, and
opens the door. To his surprise he sees me! and immediately invites us
in.

He calls for his wife and she stumbles out of her bedroom in her pjs!
And her daughter follows her. And at this point I'm thinkin,
"Oops...literally I just woke you up huh?! Well....since you're up
will you come to church?!" That's what I think, and then I realized I
didn't practice what I should say in Korean...so since we're teaching
her 30mins english and 30 mins gospel, and I know that she understands
a little bit of english mixed with korean...I made the sentence work
and I said church is from 10-1 will you come? And then there is some
confusion and conversation in Korean that I don't understand, and then
I'm confused....but we leave with their agreement to come to church!

So we're at church and it's 10:15am...and they haven't showed up :/ I
try to stay positive. I repeat in my mind, "they'll come. They said
they would come. They're coming". We wait and wait and wait. I look
like this helpless puppy who looks out with window, and no one walks
by. So in the mean time of all this let me give you some more back
ground. Remember how there is like 15 members total in our branch here
in Wonju? Yeah, me too. SO...there is ONLY ONE primary kid that comes,
and he isn't there. So I ask where he and his family is, and they tell
me that the husband isn't coming because he had to work- so the wife
and 2 kids are taking the bus and will be late. When I hear that I
think, shoot! Because when we went to our investigators house to
invite her to church that morning, she lives by this woman and 2 kids
who are having to ride the bus. And while we were there, I thought "
We should go get sister hum and help her and her kids and husband get
ready for church." but then I immediately dismiss the thought and
instead think, "I'll just be getting in the way". So I never brought
it up to my comp or anything.

So now we're at church right, and I hear that sister hum and the 2
kids will be late, and now I'm thinking, "I should have went with my
first good thought of going there this morning and helping her get
ready, and then she wouldn't be late." So as I realize all this I am
now realizing that my thoughts/ideas can be good. Since I've come to
Korea, in the beginning, every idea I had was shut down with the
excuse of, "This is Korea, and things don't work that way." So I
realized I had stopped thinking of ideas.

K, so now it's 10:40am...and they still aren't at church. So I think,
"lets go meet them at the bus stop", so I tell my comp and she follows
me. We walk there and I look at my watch and I say, we'll wait until
11am. We also call them and no one answers. At this point I can feel
myself slowly losing hope. But I'm trying to hang on. I know that I
had this idea, it felt good to go to their house, they said they would
come, I prayed to heavenly father and I asked for his help. I say out
loud, "We are finding your lost sheep, help us!" A few buses go by
and, nothing :(.

About 5 minutes before 11am...Sister Gu says, "They came! and Husband
came too!" I turn around and I just feel my heart swell in my ears,
they came!!

We run across the road to meet them, and I just start tearing up. They
came to church!!!

Now this may seem like not that big of a deal to all of you at home,
but to anyone who has served a mission, or who is serving a mission
knows, that there is no greater joy when investigators keep their
commitments and come to church!! :)

Moral of this story/experience is two fold. One- I learned that I need
to trust the thoughts I have. I need to follow the
promptings/thoughts, even if they "might not work here in korea" I
need to at least put them on the table. And two- never ever EVER, give
up and lose hope! I know that God is real. I know that he played a
huge role in getting them to church!

This experience has forever changed me. If I want something, and it is
good, and I ask for God's help....he will give it unto me. I love
being a missionary- and this was my joy this week! Miracles cease,
only when faith ceases! May we always remember and be mindful of God,
because he is always remembering and thinking of us <3

With all my love,
Whitley Jean 헌새커 자매



July 7th 2013  -  7 months down
Hiiii :)
I have replied to every one in my email that sent me a letter this
week....and I still don't know what to write all of you for my update
this week.

This week was just regular. Nothing super duper exciting. I'm
frustrated with the one investigator I wrote about last week. The
miracle, remember? Yeah, she doesn't understand why she needs the
gospel, and that falls back on me and my companion- I guess we aren't
teaching her clearly? Or applying it to her very well? I dunno. I
thought she was solid. I thought she would be coming to church this
week too, but she didn't come :( WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE TO HAVE THEIR
AGENCY?! Just let me decide for you, come to church!! Haha :)

Okay I'm kidding, kind of ;) it is SUPER frustrating for us
missionaries when our investigators don't come to church. And when
they don't progress. I get more frustrated when I feel like we've
explained it, and they still don't understand...or they pretend to
understand but then don't keep the commitments.

SOOOO I am learning. I am learning how to be a missionary. I'm
learning how to be a person. How to have charity, for charity never
faitheth right? ;) (Moroni 7)

So 7-12-13 happy anniversary to zo and bj whooo-woo! 11 years baby.
and for me and my 7 months. I wrote to myself on my calendar "Happy 7
months babe!" Hahahha, I'm weird I know. But, for real it's something
for me to celebrate. Its been a long hard 7 months, but it's been the
greatest learning experience of my life.

This coming sunday I have to give a talk...in Korean. Remember how I
don't speak Korean...? Yeah, me too! :/ slightly panicking about this
one. I wrote home and told you when I had to give a talk in the mtc in
korean....man that was rough. And I've talked in my ward/branch
whenever we transfer in or out of the area...but that can be just a
short intro of yourself and your testimony. Which is still hard, but
not a full on 15 minute talk! Hahaha. Ugh man. Where is my faith
guys?! It'll all be fine. I'm sure you're all thinking that too. And I
know it will. But I just need to panic about it for a second.

So I realized I haven't sent pictures lately. and then I realized I
haven't taken pictures lately. What the heck, right? Yeah I'll work on
that.

Today isn't really our pday. but we still get to email today (cause if
we didn't mom's would be trippin, and our President knows that) so
tomorrow is our pday this week because it's our temple day! :)yay! I
love the Temple. there is no better place in the world to be than in
the house of the Lord <3 So tonight we will ride a bus to Seoul and
sleep at the Temple, again ;) and then have Temple day, and our pday.
I plan to go shopping in Seoul.

If you remember my first area in the mission was right in the heart of
Seoul. I could do all the shopping/sight seeing that I wanted. and now
that I'm clear out here in wonju....we don't have that chance, so I'm
live it up! :)

Yesterday, we finally got to see the world wide leadership training.
It was INCREDIBLE. If you haven't watched it, go online and watch it.
Guys. You need to be the Lords missionaries. Please help out all the
missionaries in your area. Not just feed them dinners (although that
is appreciated). Missionaries can buy and make their own food though.
Don't feed them food, feed them investigators! And if you're
thinking, well I don't know anyone who wants the gospel, guess
what>?...neither do us missionaries. SO....be a missionary and open
your mouth! Share the gospel every single chance you get, and I
promise you the Lord will bless you :)

I feel like I had something else to say....hmmm.
I can't remember.
Well, I guess just know that I'm doing great here in Wonju. Sweating
like crazy. No one can avoid the heat...and it's rough. Humidity
sucks, I emailed aunt nancy and told her that. It's probably language
a missionary shouldn't use, but honestly that's how I feel. I'm always
sticky and gross. And I just smile when I feel the sweat dripping down
forehead, and back. My companion always just says, 'yeah! we'll lose
our weight!' Haha- Koreans are obsessed with being skinny and losing
weight.

I know this gospel is true. I know that without a shadow of a doubt
that God knows and loves all his children. I know that God knows what
is best for us. He is all knowing- everlasting to everlasting (Moroni
7...guess what I read for personal study today ;) haha) I know that
being a missionary is an honored responsibility. I know I'm on the
Lords time, and I know that I am doing the Lords work.

I hope ya'll have fun at the family reunion this weekend! Wish I could
be there with you. Know that I am always loving, thinking, and praying
for you.
With all my love,
Whit


I will try to get back on a few more times this week to make sure everyone gets up to date.  I don't recall any pictures being sent with any of the above emails but I will be sure to upload all the pictures to Facebook and tag Whit in them.