chasing the postman

So for comedy. This past week we were trying to find the house of an investigator who had just moved. So the Korean address system sucks!!! Like even Koreans don't know what the general address is of the house two blocks away. So we stopped to ask this lady, and she is trying to help us, and then here comes the postman on his scooter. She stops and asks him and he says, "That is not where you live." So she explains that she is trying to help us. 

Well he looks at us and gets concerned. He asks if we speak Korean and we say a little. So he looks at the lady and tells her to tell us to follow him. Which we understood but anyways... :) Haha! So off he goes driving and not slow. So down the street goes the postman with one oh wait there goes another two foreigner girls running after him. Like straight up booking it!!! This little old lady stopped and was hysterically laughing on the side of the road watching us. Good news - we made it and even had five minutes to spare. :) Hahaha. And then at that lesson it was super awkward because the lady kept trying to pretty much set me up with her son (I found out from my companion after). During the lesson she asked me in English, "What kind of man do you like?" I was like what!! Did that really just happen!!! Her son is 28 and was really nice but the whole thing was so weird!!!

Last night we were able to watch the worldwide missionary training conference. So good!!! I loved it!!! I really hope the ward members in our areas listened and help the work along. We need all the help we can get. It can be really hard. I also encourage you all to do everything you can to help the work along. It really is so much harder without the help of the members and there is so much we can all do. As far as technology being used more in the mission. We will be receiving information on that at our zone meetings in a week and half. So it will be interesting to see how it is implemented in our mission. I will let you know when we find out more.

Other than that the work is moving along great!! Time is flying by so quick!!! I can't even believe it!!! I think I mentioned that our mission president is planning on sending my transfer of sisters home early in August for school, which super freaks me out because that is barely a year away!! So insane!!!

Well I love you all so much!! I pray for you all often!!

Love you much!!!

Sister Cheney

bearing burdens with ease!

So the train ride to my new area was so gorgeous! We have to go into the boo this transfer in a couple of weeks and I am so excited to take that train again! :)

So this past week we had an awesome miracle! We didn't know what to do one day so I suggested knocking doors, which we like never do because it never brings like any success. But I suggested we pray about which direction to go. Then we went in this apartment building and climbed all five flights of stairs to knock doors, and this one lady happened to be at her door and we waved and got her attention. Okay let's be real, we bowed not waved, but she came and opened the door, listened to our whole message, took a Book of Mormon and gave us her info. She was so interested! I am so excited to follow up with her!

So we live in another area than our own with another pair of sisters and the best part is that we will live closer to their church than the elders that serve in our ward live to ours. Its pretty hilarious! But also convenient because there is no room in our apartment so we store our luggage at their chuch. :) Haha. And their bishop is taking us all and the elders to a Buddhist temple next week for pday! It is either the world's oldest or Korea's oldest Buddhist temple so I am pretty stoked!! 

So in my area we have the most amazing people!! We teach a lady named Ly Plaza. She is from the Philippines  She is amazing! She works in a textile factory and lives off of practically nothing so she can send money home to support her family. She has three daughters and hasn't seen them in awhile. We teach her 30 minutes about gospel doctrine and than 30 minutes we teach her Korean because she wants to be able to participate more in church. She is amazing! And so humble! She lives in the smallest little room and lives so humbly! She works all night and gets one hour of sleep and than comes to church! Faithfully!! She is amazing! After meeting her I almost cried! Why do I complain about such little petty things? What I had to go through last transfer is so small compared to what she has to deal with on a daily basis. She is amazing!

So our baptism. So the girl's name is 추지민. Well she said she got her parents' permission but the next day she wanted to push back her date to October. Well after talking to her she decided that she is just going to push it back to July 28. The last Sunday of the transfer. I think it is a blessing because it gives us more time to teach her, but I am also afraid that she doesn't have her parents' permission and will keep coming up with excuses. I am also afraid that she isn't fully converted to the gospel. I don't want her to fall inactive in a few months as new missionaries come in. We aren't here just to get baptisms. We are here to get people to the celestial kingdom.

In the scriptures I was reading the end of Mosiah and the start of Alma this week. So good! But I love in Mosiah 24:12-16, especially 15 and 16. I love these scriptures because it doesn't say he removed their burdens or made life perfect but He made it possible for them to bear up their burdens and not only that but it says "with ease." The Lord doesn't take away trials or change or life all the time. Sometimes he gives us the great privilege to grow and helps us to be able to manage the burdens "with ease." What a blessing it is that the Lord loves us that much!

These pictures are my old ward. 

Except for Elder Mitchell is missing and another random 

elder on the far left is added. The only American elder in 

the picture is Elder Sanders who got transferred to my new district. 

 The Zone 추진민

The sisters in my house: Sister Choi from Korea,
 then my companion,
 then Sister Campbell, who is from my MTC group, 
and me :)

transfer to daeju

So I got transferred. I am serving in an area up by Daeju. There is only one area more north in the mission than me. It is super hot! Like everyone says the water you bring in flows right out you in sweat and to always keep a water bottle with me, or I will die.

So my new companion is from South Carolina, and the best part??! She is only on her fourth transfer. Only two ahead of me and is American and studied Spanish in college, not Korean...so combined we have four transfers of experience... :) Bahahahha! Just a little reminder that the church is true and that the president recieves special revelation when assigning new companion, because no one in their right mind would do that. Haha. Pretty sure we are the "youngest" combined companionship in the whole mish. We rock! :) It’s gonna be an adventure and really help me learn so much.

This past week I passed my 100 day mark. Crazy! I am almost down to only 14 months left. Time is really flying by and it’s freaking me out! I can’t believe I have already finished one transfer. I know the time goes even quicker so I am nervous and ready to get out and do as much work as possible!!! We are scheduled to have a baptism this Sunday! Woot woot! But the girl is under 18 and we need to get the parents’ permission, so fingers crossed. We meet with them tomorrow hopefully.

Elder Sanders the old office elder is in my district now and is my zone leader so I am excited to have him here now so I know someone else. I also live in a house with another companionship. It is cramped! But it is also fun. They are working on buying us a house in our area (we have to travel an hour everyday to get to our area and than an hour back) but last month they had to buy five new apartments so they have to budget :) Haha. Their goal is to get us next month. :) Haha.

Well I love you all and hope all is well! I’ll talk to you all next week! Much love!

Love,

Sister Cheney

a letter from her companion

Hi Cheney Family!

I am Sister Yokum, Sister Cheney's last companion. She was transfered this week and possibly will not have a lot of time to write if she has time at all. I told her I would write you and let you know so you weren't freaked out :)

She is moving to an area called Jungri in the Daegu area, which is where the military base is. We have heard rumors of extreme heat there, but less humidity and less rain. Her new traner is Sister Freeman, who is amazing. I talked with Sister Freeman a lot today, and it sounds like Sister Cheney will get back-to-back weird nerd trainers who are obsessed with science. :) Poor kid. We like to tell her she will have to bring the fun into the companionship. She sure did with ours! I can tell you, these last few hours since she has been transfered have been quiet and awkward without her. I love her so much.

I just wanted to tell you what a blessing she has been to me in the mission field. I have never met someone work so hard and trust in the Lord so much. When she talks she just eminates the light of Christ. She inspires and uplifts the people around her. She is patient and selfless, and I am often the recipient of such kindness. She has been the rock for me these last six weeks. I dont know how I would have endured this without her. It was crazy, to say the least, but I always felt like we could do it together.

Thank you for sharing such an amazing woman with us. She has changed my mission experience greatly, and I am forever grateful to her for that. I can tell what an amazing family must have raised her. When she talks about you all, her countenance radiates. It is clear to us all how much love and support you have for each other. Thank you for letting us have her for 18 months. I wish I could have been her companion the entire time. Many missionaries say it is hard to be connected to a person for so long but it is easy to be stuck with Sister Cheney. She makes everything fun, exciting and memorable. We shared some amazing memories and some pretty scary ones but they have all served to strenghten us and our love for the Lord.

I hope you have the chance to email with her this week. If not, she says she loves you, this is crazy, and she doesn't know how she is going to handle it (which we all know means she will handle it wonderfully like none of us could). She wanted me to tell you Happy Father's Day, and if she isnt here to say it herself, one day maybe the second week of our mission we were walking along the streets, and she said she would want to marry a man just like her father. I think that is one of the sweetest things a daughter can say about her father.

Happy Father's Day, Happy Sunday, and thank you for all your prayers and fasts on our behalf. She shared many of her letters with me and they always strengthened us.

Love,

Sister Hannah Yokum

soloing sister

We went to the Sand Festival today and I got to see Sister Scott!!! It was so cool!! Pics coming next week :) Haha. And I have taken a bazillion photos but I had an elder taking a photo of me and my companions and of course, bless his little 18 year old heart....he deleted my whole memory...really? Like what is my luck?! It killed me!!! so you might be getting a memory chip in the mail in a few weeks that apparently you can do a picture recovery program for. So just be prepared. :)

In other news. So super funny story. My native companion admitted to President and Sister Gilbert that she doesn't wake up on time (bless her hear,t we try to get her up but she just keeps sleeping, makes it hard to stay obedient sometimes). So they found out that she wasn't and also that she wasn't working out. So then this past week we got a call at 6:31 from Sister Gilbert, the president's wife, that she was going walking and was wondering if we wanted to join her. Well you can't say no! So we frantically got dressed and went wandering Korean with the presidents wife. It was actually pretty cool.

Another funny moment? So you know how I'm not a singer? Ya, well I got volunteered to sing a solo this past Sunday!! Oh man! So we sang Come Thou Fount with the office elders and APs, and one part they wanted a solo, so guess what? I got volunteered! So I sang part of a verse and than was joined by Elder Mitchell, one of the APs, and then everyone else joined in. It was comical! But hey I survived, and you learn quick that you can't say no to anything here...food, being left alone for a week, singing a solo in sacrament. 

Also, an update: Sister Yokum or I will probably be getting transferred next week. It is the end of the transfer next Monday. Crazy! So we find out on Thursday.

As far as the work goes, we teach five English classes a week, and with two areas, we don't have much time to really just do much general work, so it's still hard. But we are teaching a 30/30 lesson (30 minutes English, 30 minutes Korean) to a Lady Bach Song Sook. She is amazing and the best mom!! She has an eight-year-old son who has a mental disability so she is moving to the US/Canada for health care for him. Everything she does is for him and I know the Gospel will help her so much! We are just trying to get her to realize what we have to offer. She is the most amazing mom!! and has such a desire to learn English to help her son. I really hope she realize what we have. 

the Lord provides a way + that awkward moment when...

So let me just say that things are doing a lot better now! I love this work so freaking much! 

So Sister Yokum and I were alone for a week before we got a new trainer. She is native Korean! Holla! But her English is pretty bad... :) Hahahaha. She has been out for two more transfers than us. AKA She just finished being trained. :) So we are her first trainees :) 

My favorite quote this week is from Sister Gilbert, the president's wife. An elder in one of our wards had to go home because he is also sick. His companion was at the mission home, and he started talking about us and saying that we were doing good. And then Sister Gilbert said "Oh yeah, I forgot about our trainees training each other down there!" Pretty much we are just the talk of the mission and our lives are kinda hilarious!!! My companion is sending my dad a pic of us with our new companion so you can at least see that {when the editor gets it! ha ha!}. Expect picture overload this next week. {Editor's note: Momma sent her a new camera! :) }

Every day is a new adventure and this past week has been full of them, as well as full of so many struggles, but there is no way that I can deny that we have a father in heaven who knows us and has prepared the way for me. This church is true and I can't deny it. The Lord is hastening His work and Satan is too. We have to be stronger now than ever to stay true to what we know. The Lord provides a way and does not leave us behind! He looks down on us and walks with us the whole way. I can testify that He has literally had to carry me this past week through so many things. 

More stories about the work we are doing are coming next time! :) Sorry this is short and quick!


........................


That awkward moment when...

...the elder translating sacrament meeting says that the lady who is talking said, "Today I am going to talk about making love..." Let's just say it took all my effort to not fall on the floor laughing!! The Brysons, the office couple, were trying so hard not to lose it too! Then in that same talk he said that "a whale came up to the beach and ate a child." Don't worry, we confirmed that night at dinner with the elders at the Brysons that it was a wave that took a child and not a whale. 

Also, they saved they child.