9/27/2010

Dear Family,

Well it has been quite a crazy week. And I mean really crazy. I don't have much time but I will do my best to explain.
Last monday was not pday, wednesday was. but we still got to email because on wednsday all the email places would be closed because of the holiday. We did lots of good missionary work and had a good day.
Tuesday was the first day of the korean thanksgiving and we had a special missionary training meeting. It was really good. we learned about using time effectively, faith and learned more about baptism. The Assistants gave everyone a promise that if they used the new training they could get a baptismal date within the next week. It was really powerful and I felt the spirit really strong. Later that night we went out contacting and shared the family proclamation. No one was really interested but we talked to lots of people.
Wednesday was the holiday and it was pday. My companioon got to call her family. I was just a little jealous. At the same time my comp was talking with her family the senior couple missionaries were talking to their kids on the phone and I was studying Korean : ( But its ok. Christmas I will get to call. For the holiday all the missionaries in the surrounding zones got together and we played soccer! It was soooo fun. I did pretty well didn't score any goals but i stole the ball alot and made some good passes. I realized I really miss soccer. We did the same thing wednesday night with saring the proclamation. People didn't mind talking with us about family : )
Thursday I was soooo sore! LOL but luckily we had planning meeting and then we organized our area book and member book and then we did a little contacting and some calling.
Friday we went street boarding with the elders in our district. Before we had even finished setting up the boards we had scheduled two return appointments. It was a real miracle. We talked to lots of people and gave away a few book of mormons.
Saturday was english class. Our investigator KimYoungRay had come back from his month long trip to America last week so we were really excited to talk to him. He has been an investigator for three years. He hasn't been able to be baptized because his wife really hates the church. Well here is the exciting part. After english class we met with Brother Kim and our bishop and our ward leader and we set a baptismal date fopr next saturday!!! This guy has been waiting for over three years to be baptized. It is kind of sad how it has come about, I think he got divorced. He wanted so badley to keep his family together. He is sad but also this is a very happy time. The ward mission leader talked about how the ward is really a family and when you are baptized you become a part of that family. I think it was really good. And so the APs promise was fulfilled. We worked hard even though it was a holiday and got a baptismal date.
Sunday we had the baptismal interview with our district leader and he is good to go. Tonight is transfer calls. I am a little worried I will get transfered. I really like Sister Kim a lot and I love mokdong. It is the only area I've ever known. And I love all my investigators. I really want to see them all get baptized. But I guess if someone else can get it done I'm ok with that. As long as they get baptized. I love this work so much. This has been a great week. I really feel like a missionary. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Through the Book of Mormon I have come to know my savior Jesus Christ. Have fun with conference. we don't get to see it till the next week. I love you!!!!!!!

-Sister Kincheloe

Sorry i havent been posting a lot. This one is from 9-6-10

Dear Family,

Pretty Much this has been one of the craziest weeks of the mission. Satan is trying to ruin my life.

It started out well. Typical pday. It took forever to email because only one computer at the community center was working. Tuesday was ok I think. We had our mission coordination meeting with our ward mission leader. Then on wednesday we decided that our house was no longer suitable to live in. I didn't say anything last week about it because I thought it wouldn't be a big deal. But now it is. Last week it rained a ton and trashed our roof (we live on the top floor of a villa(old crappy apartment)). Mold grew out of nowhere and covered the ceiling and then there was this wierd orange mold in our study room. I cleaned it on Tuesday and night and by the next afternoon it was completely grown back. Freaky. So we called our misssion president and after some contemplating told us to move in with the Sister missionaries in An-yong which is a lovely hour and a half away by subway and bus. So we took what we needed for a few days and wednesday night made our way over to An-yong. It was kind of exciting at first because the other SIster missionaries are super fun. Sister Belen is from Saint George and she was in mokdong before I came so we know all the same people. Sister Kim-Guy-Young (?) is actually from Seoul and she is serving a 6 week mission because we were short one sister this transfer and she volunteered to help. She actually got her mission call this week to the Korea DaeJeong Mission! Yeah! How cool is that to get your mission call while you are serving a mission?

So living with them is really fun but the communiting has really taken a toll on us. Being a missionary is tiring enough. Sunday we fell asleep in church.. oops. After that we decided we should try and find another option. Plus we were losing valuble time in our area. So the members offered for us to live with them, but that really is no good. Missionary life is just so different it would be a big burden on any family and family life would be a big burden for missionaries to deal with. So the next option was move in with the senior couple missionaries in our district ; ) The Jordins are the best. You probably don't remember but they were in the MTC with me for about a week. they are Sister Leishman's great aunt and uncle or cousin or soemthing. They have been in my district this whole time. It is like having a grandma and grandpa looking after me. They are so sweet. they have an extra bedroom and bathroom and a really nice apartment and it about 40 or so mins closer. We talked to them today at the temple (oh I went to the temple today that is why I am writing today and not yesterday) and they said we could stay with them. So we are staying in An-yong one more night and then tomorrow morning we will go to Shindorim to live with the Jordins. President Lee, my mission president said it would probably be for 2 weeks or so, which is pretty much the rest of the transfer. Hopefull our hous will be fixed by then (or we will just move to a new apartment in mokdong). Either way I hope I am still in Mokdong and I don't get transfered. We have this one investigator, Jeong Meong Won who is getting really close to baptism. If she will just come to church! Ah! Getting the investigator to church is the key. Because if they don't come to church then they can't get baptized.

Sister Kim is doing well. She is just the cutest little Korean in the whole world. She gets hot and tired easily but I always try and cheer her up. She gave me a Korean name - Kim Cha Roc. Kim is like the most popular family name in Korea and Cha Roc means green. I don't think any ones name is really kim cha roc but it is possible.

All this moving around stuff bothers me because it is taking away my focus and my strength.

I'm grateful I didn't die from the mold though. It was pretty gross. Mold grows fast here becuase of the humidity.

I'm glad you all got to go to the beach. I do love the beach. We have been having Typhoon season. Lots of thunder and lightening. It is pretty cool. Korean Thanksgiving is coming up so that chould be fun.

I'm really trying to become more Christ like. It is hard because Christ is well, you know perfect. But that is my goal and I'm sticking to it. I have a long way to go that is for sure. On the cover of the Liahona there are two Senior Missionaries from Korea. I don't know them. But yea Korea and yea Senior Missionaries.

Do you use Preach my Gosepl every family home evening? I think it would be a great thing to do.. Preach My Gospel was written by prophets and apostles which makes it pretty much Scripture. I love PMG! I wish I would have studied it before my mission. I know this gospel is true. We aren't just some other church. This is the Lord's Kingdom. This is eternal truth. This is everyone's future, not just members. Sometimes I think just how extremely lucky I am to have the gospel. I know it isn't luck reallly but I don't know how I got to be so blessed to have the knowledge that I have. Thank you for all your love and support!!!!! You're the best family the girl could have!

Sister Emily Kincheloe

Dear Family,

Hello! It was great to get your emails. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Thanks for wanting to know more about me and whats going on here. Sometimes in your letters I feel like you don't care. But then I feel bad because the boys never complained but then again I am a girl and I am just a little bit more needy than the boys. So I guess I don't feel too bad. Thank you for the Card. I got it at Zone conference as well as a letter from my MTC Teacher Brother Erickson.

My Companion Sister Kim and I are doing well. We taught some good lessons this week. No baptismal dates yet. But things are looking up. We are teaching this mother of two and we just picked up the daughter yesterday. She is 9 and her mom wants her to know more about God and Jesus. They go to another church and it seems to me like her kids know alot about the bible but of course it is babylon church teachings of the bible so there are some things we have to set straight. It is so so so refreshing to see a mother more worried about her children's relationship with God than their score on a test or the prestige of their hawgwon or academy. She is so great. The family is going to get baptised I just know it. We had stake conference this weel. It was great... i think. I didn't really understand very much but when they refrenced a scripture I was able to look it up and write doen my thoughts and feelings about the scripture. We were going to have an investigator come with us but he decided to hang out with his friend the night before so he was too tired to make the 9am meeting. It is so sad too becuase he has been doing so well with the Word of Wisdom. We had a great zone conference this week on finding and key indicators. We have standards we need to hit every week and so far we haven't hit the standards. It is a little depressng but the zone conference lifted my spirits and I am committed to diligentlly working to hit the standards this week. My companion is too. That is important becuase we need to work in unity. We got a bunch of new Elders in the mission this week. It is so wierd that is my 3rd transfer and that there are people newer than me. I feel like I should know Korean by now but I don't. But whatever. I can still invite others to come unto Christ. That is my purpose and that is what I am going to do.

I was so excited ti hear about all the missionaries from our ward and stake. That is the kind of news I like to hear. Also tell me more about the missionary work going on in the ward. I love you so much family. You arethe best. I put up the family picture mom sent me on the wall in my apartment. I love looking at your smiling faces every day. Keep up the good work. Hopefull by next week I will be able to tell you about a baptismal date.

I know this church is true. I am a servant of the living God.

Love Sister Kincheloe

ps.s don't send beef jerky in the package because it won't make it through customs : ) You're the best!

picture

Me and Elder Ryu

The good and the not so good.

My Not So Favorite Things About Missionary Work

-When Investigators punk - meaning they cancel just before the appointment or they just don't show up

-Time - there is never enough time to teach all we want to teach

-When people don't keep committments - especially when they don't read the Book of Mormon. My favorite is when we meet and they didn't read and then they ask a question that is answered by what they should have read. The Book of Mormon is the key to everything. But no matter how many times we tell them. They still don't seem to understand.

-When I'm contacting and someone tells me they go to church or they only read the bible. Hello! This is Korea, everyone goes to church and only reads the bible but I still need to talk to you so please don't walk fast because I'm just going to walk faster because I still need to share my message.

-When people walk fast and don't listen to my message.

-When poeple say, "oh you poor thing, missionary work is so hard, isn't?" or "It is so hot. You must be so hot. It is so hard that you have to be outside in the heat all day and be hot" - yes it is hot. thank you for bringing it up. But really, missionary work is supposed to be hard. I knew that before I came. I am happy to be working hard and I am even happy to be hot. Don't feel bad for me just refer your friends to the missionaries : )

My Favorite Things about Missionary work : )

-Everything! even the not so favorite things turn into favorite things.

-When investigators punk we have a back plan that results in finding new investigators and building relationships with members.

-When we don't have enough time it is because we are focusing on the investigator's needs and helping them understand the doctrine and not just shoving it down their throats.

-When they didn't read - well actually I just really hate that. But I do love reading with them and helping them understand the scriptures.

-When they walk fast I just get a little more exercise.

-When people complain for me I guess it just means I don't have to.

-I love being with my companion.

-I love teaching the restored gospel!!!!!

I know this church is the Lord's Kingdom on the earth. Christ lives and he loves all of God's children. Thank you for all your love and support. Now go read the Book of Mormon!

Love Sister Kincheloe

Miracle!

Dear Family,

Not much time. Sorry. Today we had a sisters luncheon. I got to see my MTC companion Sister Leishmen and all the other Sister Missionaries in the mission. They are all so wonderful. I feel like we are all family. I went on exchanges this week. Thursday I spent the day in Hong-je with Sister moffett who was in the district under me in the mtc. So this is her first transfer. Two people who can't speak Korean together doing missionary work for a whole day - it was awesome! we had so much fun and were actually somewhat successful. We had two appointments scheduled but tehy backed out. So we taught a few members and did alot of contacting.

Yesterday in Mokdong ward we had a miracle. A random high school boy walked into gospel principles class and then after sacrament meeting we taught him and gave him a baptismal date. It was so amazing. Also it was the day all the youth came back from EFY so they all bore their testimonies. Best fast and testimony meeting ever. I loved it! We are still working hard. loving every moment. It was so good to see all the sisters today. Elders just can't relate to sisters so we need that time to share our feeling, lol. It is so fun. I know this is the Lord's work. I'm so grateful to be apart of it. I loved the pictures. Thank you kelly for that marvelous drawiing. I look at it and I laugh everytime. I will keep it forever. And thanks for trying to write in Korean. Not too shabby. Keep helping the missionaries : )

Love Sister Kincheloe

Letter From A Missionary

Dear Family,

So there is this Korean dessert called pot-bing-soo. It is soo delicious. Lots of Korean foods are delicious. In the summer time in Korea everyone eats Ginseng Chicken. Its like a chicken soup - with a whole chicken. It is supposed to be really healthy for you in the summer. (What I don't understand is why it has to be eaten while in boiling water. Its so hot). I've had it like 3 times. It is pretty good. Also I can honestly say I like kimchi! i'm not faking it anymore! yea! Also I'm getting used to spicy food. Also I realized I like kiwi. So ya, food is good.. it's grrreat!

So its monsoon season in Korea. I'm kinda wet. But I'm still happy.

So there is this investigator, named kim-young-wha. She is in her 50s. She has a daughter and a son ( who is my same age). The daughter is just finishing up grad school and her son is in the army (all men must serve in the army for 2years). She is a difficult one. She is pretty good at english so it is hard when we are teaching her the gospel because she just wants to speak in english with me but we are supposed to teach in Korean. The other week i found a good opportunity to serve her. Her daughter, had her final thesis paper due so she asked me to proofread it for her. I did and thier hearts melted. Since then she has really opened up to us. It is a slow process. I think she is scared or something. But last week when i talked with her about reading the Book of Mormon she said she could see in my eyes that she needed to read the Book of Mormon. She better read it too or else we have to drop her. Which would be really sad because I like her so much. But there are thousands of prepared people out there who are ready for the gosepl now. My companion and i get along so well. She is like a Korean version of me. A little o-sec-hey-o (awkward). We laugh all day. Our washing machine broke this week and our wonderful Bishop and his wife took care of it so fast. We had someone over to fix it the next day. I only got us lost a few times this week : ) Luckly Sister Kim is starting to learn the area so she doesn't have to realy on me so much. We had combined district meeting this week. It was super awesome. We recieved some helpful training on listening and asking inspired questions. In preach my gospel it says who just have to lesten with love and the spirit will guide you what to say. it doesn't neccesarily say listen and understand what they are saying - just listen with love. I'm really going to put that into practice this week. I love this work. I know the church is true. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I love you all!

-Sister Kincheloe

2nd Transfer Week 1

Dear Family,

What a great week. Tuesday was the combined mission conference! Yeah! The Seaoul West and Seoul Mission is completely mixed together now. At the conference we had live transfer calls so everyone found out their new companion. Pretty much every Seoul West Missionary has a Seoul companion and now we are the New Seoul Mission. President Lee talked alot about unity and focusing on the future. He is so great. He speaks in korean so I has to use a little translator. Everyone else switched companions on Thursday, but because Sister Lee was going to be a trainer and moving to a new area I swtiched that day a few hours after the conference. My new companion is Sister 깁지은(Sister Kim. Can you see the Korean characters? if not I'll just write them in English). She is Korean and from MaSan, which is near Busan in the Southern part of the country. She has been here for about 8 months and I am her 3rd companion. Her last area was in Incheon Stake. It was her greenie area so this is only her second area. It has been a fun week getting to know each other. She is so great. She has been very patient with me and my lack of korean skills, missionary skills, and knowledge about the area. But so far we have gotten everywhere we need to go ok. She is really funny. We laugh all the time. Sister Kim isn't as good at english as Sister Lee so my Korean has really improved. Our conversations are really funny. I'll speak in English and then she'll answer me in Korean and then i'll look really confused and then she tries to say it in English and then i try to answer back in Korean or just smile and nod and pretend I understood (that happens alot for both of us)

It was soooo good to see Sister Leishman at the Mission Conference. We hugged, laughed, and even cried a little bit. Missionary work is hard so it was good to have a friend who could relate to exactly what I was feeling and going through. She is doing well. Her companion is Sister Petersen who will be going home in a few weeks but first they are both going to Busan because she is adopted and wants to visit her real family who are Korean.... ya, i don't know. But Sister Lieshman is going with her so that will be fun.

I also got to see Elders Parkllan and Mortensen who were in my MTC district, as well as 4 sisters who were in my older district at the MTC. It was fun to be reunited.

The MokDong area is still going strong. We had a baptism on the 3rd and we had a baptismal date for later this month but sadly we are having problems with family opposition : ( The girls mom is really opposed to her getting baptised. She is a freshmen in college so we don't really need parental permission but it would make everything alot better for the invesigator - Lee-Sun-Geoung. She is such a sweet wonderful girl. We are meeting with her later today so hopefully we can get things figured out. I love you all i know the church is true and I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Keep up the good missionary work in Modesto!

-Sister Kincheloe

Pictures

-Baptism of Kim-Hee-Jung