For the Win

Transfer calls are in and.....

the Gongju Jameh Foursome will live to see another transfer! YAYAY. Gongju Foursome for the win.

In other news...I think it's almost springtime! No, but really, while my companion and I were walking to email today we saw little, tiny flowers growing among the usual dead leaves and garbage that litter the sidewalk. There may be life in this city yet! I've never been so excited for spring.

And you know what spring means?

GENERAL CONFERENCE. Only...53 more days! Or something like that. It's actually slightly concerning just how obsessed I've become with General Conference talks. I read them all.the.time. When I wake up and am supposed to be taking a shower, before I go to bed while I'm supposed to be writing in my journal...I may have an addiction. But they're so good. Last October's Conference especially. If you haven't re-read Conference yet, I implore you to stop reading this lame and confusing email and instead go read the words of our apostles and prophet. Like, now. Nothing I say will ever be as good.   

There's really not too much to say about this week. It actually wasn't that great--no appointments, unprogressing investigators, guilt and shame at my inability to talk to strangers and my ever-growing rice face. But luckily, I email you all right after I look through the wave of love and encouragement that comes through your emails and that always has a way of cheering me right up. I usually say this at the end, but I'll say it again now--I love you!

And even though the majority of this week was a little lack-luster, I've been trying really hard lately to appreciate the small miracles and happy moments that I experience each day. I saw one yesterday when KiniKini and I discovered just how much more wonderful the "Let It Go" song becomes when you sing it in a crappy Australian accent. I saw another this morning when KimSuHyun spontaneously hugged me, squealing with joy because we were staying another transfer in Gongju. I see them every day, in the kindness that my sweet companion shows me as we labor together in two different areas, going back and forth between our two cities like confused nomads.

I saw an especially incredible miracle yesterday when I sat down to practice teaching the first lesson to my companion. It started out like any other role-play--a little stilted and awkward, me frequently stopping to ask her for a word I wanted to use or a suggestion on how I can explain things better. But then I got to the part where I needed to recite the First Vision and even though I knew that she wasn't a real investigator and this wasn't a real lesson, just my companion helping me practice, as I recited the words of the prophet Joseph Smith, I had this overwhelming spiritual confirmation that these words were true. And it didn't matter that they were in Korean. It didn't matter that  people, then and today, reject his words as a lie. I know that they are true. I know Joseph Smith was prophet. He humbly asked to know the truth and he saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that through the power of God and with the guidance of the Angel Moroni, he obtained and translated the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon is true. It is the word of God and the people and prophets who compiled and painstakingly recorded its words were real people. They lived and they died in order to preserve the record of their people and the words of the Savior and I am so grateful to them for their words and their sacrifice. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and I dare anyone to tell me it's false without first sincerely reading and praying about it. I love this book as I love the Old and New Testaments and it is a privilege for me to study the words of the scriptures every day of my mission.

I love this gospel. I love my Heavenly Father. I love my Savior.

And one day, someday soon, all the bad days won't matter and all the disappointing weeks will be a long-forgotten memory because I know that this is the work of God. And I am honored to be a part of it.

Sister Arvanitas.