What happened to the time??

Seriously the past year and a half has gone by so fast! I can't believe that this is the last email I will write as a full time missionary! As I look back on my mission, I now have a better perspective of what people meant when they said their mission was the best 18 months of their life. I definitely wouldn't say it has been the funnest or easiest 18 months... but I would say that it was the best time FOR my life. Words can't express how much God blessed me this past week. Everyday we had a full schedule with appointments almost every day. We were so busy and it was the best! Sunday we had a
primary program in church so there were no speakers except my final testimony because it's my last Sunday in this branch. I'm so sad. But the primary program was really great! Because there are only 2 primary kids in our branch, all four missionaries and 3 young single adults men helped with the program.
The primary president asked me if I would sing a duet with another member. I DON'T SING. and almost half of the song was a SOLO part of just ME singing! talk about waaayyy out of my comfort zone. haha. but as I think about it.... what have I done that's not out of my comfort zone here?? haha so I did it. It was a neat experience but I will probably never want to do it again! So scary! Also one of our investigators Sister Kimhaebin came to church on Sunday! She mostly came because it was my last week and wanted to support me but she said that she felt more love at our church than she has ever felt at the church she attends<3. yay love. She kept crying and giving me hugs and I was thinking how hard it is to leave these beautiful Korean people. I have come to love them so much. They are my people. They are family. This past week we were also able to meet our sweet Filipino less active named Aya. She is doing so well. She is so sweet and I will continue to keep in touch with her through facebook. On our last visit I decided to prepare her a small goodbye gift for her. I simply wrapped 3 ctr rings (one for her and one for each of her two kids), then I gave her a picture of us together and a goodbye letter. We visited her and at the end of our visit I was about to give her the gifts, but before I could take it out of my bag, Aya went into another room and pulled out a gift for me. It was HUGE (shoes,lotion,lipstick,body wash, and a few other things). I felt like my gift was so little....haha. All I can say it I have met the most generous people EVER on my mission. They give so much of what they have to others. Ah and I have just felt so much love from the members here. We just got back from a members house who invited us over for lunch on my last Pday. They fed us enough food to last us the next week. We were able to visit another sweet member yesterday and eat dinner with her and her family. At the end of our visit, she insisted on giving me a korean traditional dress called a hanbok that she wore on her WEDDING DAY. can you believe it? I knew it must be so special to her so I told her she should keep it but she wouldn't let me leave her house without it. She said that she can't wear it anymore so she wants to give it to me. I have never met such kind people! I really have felt so much love from so many people here and especially from my Father in Heaven. I have so much gratitude for Him for allowing me to serve as His servant for the past 18 months. This has been a time of great personal growth and development for me and I have been able to feel the spirit in more abundance than I ever have in my life. I have learned what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. and it's not easy. We have to work for that title every second of everyday and we often fall short and make mistakes but Christ is there to pick us up and push us to keep going. The trials I have faced on my mission have deepened my gratitude and Love for my Savior Jesus Christ. I LOVE HIM. I'm SOO GRATEFUL FOR WHAT HE DID FOR US. Because Christ was born, we can find true happiness. I'm incredibly happy that I was able to share His gospel with the people of Korea for the past 18 months<3.

This week we will have a mission Christmas meeting and I will be in Busan for most of the week so today is my last full day in my area... But President gave me permission to visit an old area later this week on Wednesday so I will be visiting Sister Parkjihyeon (an investigator I had in shinjung) and I'm SOO EXCITEDDD:D

I am so excited to see you all this friday!!!! woot woot!!! sorry if I smell like Kimchee:)

SEE YOU SOON<3 LOVE YOU!!!!!

Sister Hurley<3

​took these yesterday after my last Book of Mormon proselyting activity as a missionary:(

I'm sure going to miss these night of passing out as many BOM as we can in 2 hours!

No time...

So... Today we traveled far a way to go to an amusement park outside of our area... which left us with a very limited amount of time to email... SO SORRY!!! This last week I was able to learn all about gratitude and had the opportunity to give a talk about it at district meeting. One thing I learned is that we can choose to have a good day by seeing all the blessings and good things that God is putting into out lives. Read D&C 59: 7, 21.

I also realized how grateful I am for such loving family and friends who have supported me while I have been away. I love you guys so much!

Sister Hurley<3

Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving!

Two weeks ago at transfer meeting, a sister going home who I have served in the same district with for almost my whole mission (Sister Hill) said something I've been thinking about a lot recently. She said, " I know I fell short of the missionary that God wants me to be, but He's okay with it, because I tried" This was said by one of the greatest missionaries I have met in our mission. She worked hard and was faithful through her whole mission and gave everything she had to this work but even she felt inadequate. I know that I have always set high standards for myself. And I know that Heavenly Father has high standards for us too. But I also I have come to realize that even more important that reaching our high standards, is that we did our best. I know our missions mean more in the end when we know we gave everything we could.

Sister Yang and I fasted with the elders this past week for our area to be able to progress more and to be able to find new investigators. And we were able to see a miracle! One of our sweet members referred one of her 15 year old students and His mother to meet the missionaries. We were able to meet them this week and it was really special. We taught about the word gospel. what it is. and how it has blessed our lives. We shared Mosiah 4:15.
15 But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.

The spirit was so strong. The mother loved it so much that she made her son read it again just because she felt so good as He read it. She knew it was a truth. We are so grateful that we can be teaching this mother named Sister oohyun and her son. They have no religious background so they may progress slowly but I know they were able to feel the spirit and our love as we met them this past week. It made me think about the importance of loving people into the church. As people feel our love, They will be able to feel Gods' love and want to know why we are so happy. It's because of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we are so happy. I know that I grew up in the church but I never felt the gospel was forced upon me. I had parents who taught me the truth and helped me to go in the right direction but I always felt I had a choice whether to accept the gospel or not. But every time I went to church, I felt good. I felt the spirit. And especially when I tried to apply the things that I was learning at church into my life, I felt happier. I knew I was becoming better. For me, the choice was easy to accept the gospel because it made my life happier as I lived it. I know that anyone that strives to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ will become happier!:)

A cool thing that happened this week was when Sister Yang and I were coming back from district meeting, we were in another area called Gumi and because we had to wait a little while for our bus we started talking to people and we met a lady from North Korea! She explained that she escaped through china with her husband and came here 5 years ago. She spoke korean but had a different accent than the people I have met on my mission. She said that she has never seen a church in North Korea but that there is a little buddhism. We were able to bear our testimony with her that we know God lives and loves her. It seemed like it was the first time in her life that she had heard about God. How grateful I feel for the opportunity I have to share the gospel with so many people that have little to no religious background.

As we were weekly planning this past week we were talking about our investigator sister Parkhesun and Sister Yang and I felt so strongly that she will be baptized. It's something that she doesn't talk a lot about with us but we have been praying that her desire to be baptized will grow. So we visited her this past week and within the first 10 seconds of seeing her she brought up baptism and how she feels she needs to get baptized! She knows that she needs religion in her life. The problem is that she still has a lot of doubts. She likes our church the best out of other churches she has attended but she hasn't received a strong impression yet that our church is God's only true church. We fill strongly that She will get baptized but of course on the Lord's time and when she is ready:) We are excited to continue to work with her and help her overcome her doubts.

We also had the opportunity to visit a potential investigator who was in the hospital this past week. She was so happy to have visitors. She wanted to introduce us to everyone in the hospital because she worked at the same hospital for a year and a half so she knows almost everyone. It was awesome. she just walked around and introduced us and what we do to everyone she knew in the hospital. I think we were able to meet like 30 people!

I received a call from my past investigator Sister Parkjihyun from shinjung. (The one who teaches taekwondo). She sadly informed me that the sisters got taken out of Shinjung. There are no more sister missionaries there because there aren't enough sisters in our mission!:( I was so devastated to hear us because there are so many people that I love so much in Shinjung and want them to be able to meet the missionaries. :( hopefully they will get sisters again soon! She was calling to see if I was coming back to shinjung before I left Korea so that I could say bye to her family. I told her that I wasn't sure yet. (We are able to take one P-day our last transfer to go and visit one of our past areas but I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet.) She said if I don't, than she is going to come with her kids to Andong to say bye to me. I have just felt so much love from her. It was definitely a highlight of the week to be able to hear from her!

I will end with the funny moment of the week:

So in our mission, making planners is a really big thing. Missionaries love to get creative and try and make a really spiritual or fun planner for another missionary. So because this is my last transfer, The korean elder in my area Elder Lee decided it would be funny to make me an eternal marriage planner.... SO not funny because I'm not getting married for a while. haha but On the front there is a picture of a couple holding hands and on the back there is a picture of like wedding rings and big writing that says "Temple Marriage". So the funny story is that this last week at district meeting, we had just finished the meeting and were getting ready to leave when an american elder in my district who is still pretty new to korea saw my planner and wanted to look at it more in detail. When he flipped it over to the back side and read "eternal marriage" he said "합시다!" which in english means "let's do it!" It took me completely off guard so I started laughing a little bit and he finally realized what he said. He than says, "oh no! sorry! I meant to say like you need to get married in the temple!" It was just a really funny moment that he gave me permission to share. Hopefully it will give you a good laugh!:)

anyway, sorry for talking your ears off! I love you so much!!

Sister Hurley<3

Heyyyy

Yesterday we traveled to Busan for transfer meeting and it was so sad because I had to say goodbye to 2 of my companions! Sister Broyles and Sister Kang! The craziest part was when I realized that I'm next.....where did the time go? I'm starting the first week of my last transfer and I'm determined to make every minute count of the time I have left. I just want to soak it all in ya know? I LOVE THIS COUNTRY. I love it. I love it in a way that I can't express but can only feel. Everyone needs to come to Korea! alright? okay good.

OH BY THE WAY SISTER YANG AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER FOR MY LAST TRANSFER!!!! YIPPEEEE:)

Here is a few things that happened this week. We honestly didn't have a lot of time to teach people because we did a lot of service and had to do deep cleaning and go to Daegu (3 hours away) to pick up some invitations for a stake event that is coming up. BUT...... this is what happened...

I got an email from Sister Goyumin who informed me that she got a calling in the young womens in shinjeoung! I'm so happy for her! Also she is planning to come to Andong on November 30 (P-day) so that we can spend some last time together before I leave Korea. I'm so excited!!! I have been sooooo soooo blessed to be able to meet the people I have taught again later in my mission.

This last week we had the opportunity of helping a Less-active in our branch as she opened up a nursing home. we worked super hard to help prepare food and decorations and pass out programs. We spent almost the whole day on thursday trying to help as best we could. But the miracle of it all was when she came to church the following sunday for the first time in over 3 months! And she went up to bear her testimony about service. She said that as she watch us help her with her event she felt more inspired to serve those around her. I have felt so grateful for the opportunities I have had to serve others on my mission. It has taught me a lot about looking, forgetting myself, and trying to find those who need help.

We met a member this last week who is american and lives in our area but attends a branch in Daegu where they speak english.She is an english teacher! she really wants to learn korean so we had the opportunity to help her a little bit and share a message with her which was really great! She said that her relationship with God has grown as she has moved to Korea and has had to rely on Him more. I thought that was soo cool:) Her testimony is so strong and we are trying to help her share the gospel with those around her!

I'm excited for this coming week! As we did weekly planning we were able to set some appointments with people we haven't been able to meet for a while. It should be a great week! I hope you are all happy and healthy!

I love you!!!<3

Sister Hurley

Reflection

 Hey Ya'll!

This week has been a whole lot of reflection for me. I got asked a question by a sister in my district that has been on my mind all week. " Have you found the reason that you got called to Korea?" this is my answer...

well... it has changed my life. I know that one of the reasons was that I needed to really learn how to love. How to truly love everyone like Christ does. I needed to be humbled by learning a language that is still hard for me at times. I needed to meet certain people that were waiting to hear the gospel and be an instrument to bring it to them. but mostly i needed to learn how to truly rely on God. I needed to learn how to forget myself and to think of others. I needed to learn how to apply the atonement of Jesus Christ in my life by learning how to truly repent. I needed to learn how to overcome being a perfectionist and how to live with having weaknesses. I needed to learn about God's love for me. I needed to learn the importance of the sacrament so I could see how partaking of it worthily each week could change my life. i know that I could have only learned these things the way I needed to learn them by being called to this mission in Korea. I have learned so many things and I continue to learn everyday and I will continue to learn for the rest of my life but I'm grateful for the big things I have been able to learn as I am serving here as a missionary in Korea<3

Now for this week:

We had the opportunity to help 2 different families of less-actives in our area do farming this past week. For one we farmed a TON of apples. sooo many apples. we worked sooo hard but by the end there was still so many apples left. We were able to help a different family farm beans. i have farmed perssiman, apples, beans, peppers, rice, and peanuts. no big deal. If anyone needs help with farming when I get back.. call me up:)

We saw a miracle this week as we were at the store waiting for the elders recent convert to go eat dinner with them. A lady that worked at the store came up to us and told us that she used to meet the missionaries and that she would like to meet again! She told us her name and that we already have her number in our phone. hopefully we will be able to meet her this week!

A quote that I wanted to share with you all this week has to do with love and service: "Every unselfish act of kindness and service increases your spirituality. your continued spiritual growth and eternal progress and very much wrappped up in your relationships-in how you treat others. Isn't the measure of the level of your conversion how you treat others?" (mosiah 2:17)
I found it in the Book of Mormon manual... I don't remember who said it... but I really loved it and wanted to share!

We were blessed last thursday to have a packed schedule with 4 different appointments. Sadly our investigator Sister Kim told us she is going to Bangledesh for a tennis tournament:( She will do so good but we will surely miss meeting her for a couple weeks. Our other Investigator Sister Lee is moving back to Seoul because she was only in our area attending school. We are hoping we can refer her to the missionaries there. It was sad to say bye! We were able to meet Aya too which was really amazing. She opened up to us again and I feel we were inspired with the message we had to share with her. We really feel her faith is growing so much and it has been exciting. She feels that God is answering her prayers.

I had the opportunity to speak in church yesterday about receiving answers to prayer. I have such a strong testimony that God answers prayers It was the answer I received through prayer that helped me know that I was supposed to serve a mission. It was a really great church meeting because 3 less-actives that we hadn't seen in a while were able to come!

This weeks is transfer call week and Im praying I stay exactly where I am but we will see....:)

love you!

Sister Hurley

HALLOWEEN! 할로윈!

We had the opportunity of having a Zone meeting this past week and I was filled with the spirit as a missionary in my zone read 2 nephi 27:21:

21 Touch not the things which are sealed, for I will bring them forth in mine own due time; for I will show unto the children of men that I am able to do mine own work.

One of the greatest things I have gained on my mission is a testimony that this is truly God's work. Everything is according to God's plan and time in the mission field. This isn't our work, but as we do our best and work really hard, God will bless us. I have learned that as we show God that we want to do His work, He will let us be a part of this special work.

This last week consisted of Halloween preparation and Halloween english class and a Halloween party. We decided just two weeks ago that we were going to throw a halloween party so it was a little hectic trying to plan and put everything together for it but it turned out so awesome. Way better than I could have hoped for. We worked so hard to put it all together and invite everyone that we could. Every effort we put into it completely payed off on Saturday at the party. We were able to see so many miracles and it was a complete success. Before the party we had a halloween english class. We played halloween bingo and then did 2 different halloween word searches and gave out lots of candy. I think that everyone that came had a really fun time. Later in the evening at 4 we started out halloween party. Out investigator Gwondohee came with her friend, Out other investigator Parkheesun came with her 2 kids and her sister who is a less active and her kids, Derrik came, Aya came with her 2 kids, 2 random kids who saw our invitation for the party in the elevator of our building, and one of our members invited 6 of her students who were 13 who all got permission from their parents to come who all became potential investigators. We had about 10 of our church members who were able to make it. We had more investigators, less-actives, and potential investigators than members who came! haha. it was awesome! We planned all sorts of activities, (shoutout to my incredible mother who gave me most of the ideas) We had a photo booth where people could go inside a coffin and take a picture, we made creepy skeleton hands with popcorn, played pin the tail on the cat, guess how much candy is in the jar, toilet paper mummy races, and a few other activites as well. Our members also prepared a really good dinner! We were so happy about the turnout of people! yay Happy Halloween!!!

I had a really neat spiritual experience yesterday while I was at church. It was fast and testimony meeting and I was about to get up and bear my testimony about God and His love for each of us but I wanted to be reassured that this truth was real before I got up. so I said a sincere prayer to Heavenly father simply asking Him, " Do you really love me?" my answer came so strongly and immediately as I felt the spirit I imagined Heavenly Father saying "of course I love you! How could you think that I don't love you?" I felt like Heavenly Father was so sad that I would think that He didn't love me. tears began to fall down my cheeks. I know without a doubt that the truth that God loves us is real. It's not something that church leaders tell us to make us feel better but it's a truth. God truly does loves us with an infinite and eternal love despite our weaknesses and mistakes. This was an experience I hope I never ever forget.

Also this morning during personal study I was able to read Mark 14-16 and I was completely filled with the spirit. I was reminded that Christ truly is our Savior and that He lives. How grateful I feel to have a Savior who frees me from sin as I turn to Him. I know that the missionary work I am doing right now is the best thing I could do for my life.

As I look back on the past 17 months I can confidently say that I have never given up. I haven't been a perfect missionary but I have tried my best. I maybe haven't been able to reach the high standards that I set for myself but I know that God is proud of what I have done and what I am doing. I don't have a perfect knowledge of the gospel and I have so many weaknesses but I have tried to rely on God in all things and He has answered my prayers and has shown me miracles. My mission has been way far from what I expected but I trust that I have been given what I need the most to help me in my life. I will never regret the decision that I have made to serve a mission! Words can't express my gratitude for the opportunity I have to be a missionary. I have less than 7 weeks left and I will be so sad to leave this incredible country that I now call home.

I love you all so much!
The Church is True!!

Sister Hurley<3

Our English card that we hand out!

Bowling!

Preparing for Halloween!

I'm never going to eat dog.

What a great week! I've been reading the New testament recently and I can't help but be so grateful for my loving Savior Jesus Christ. This last week was full of a lot of personal spiritual uplifting experiences for me. One of them included having an interview with our mission president. President Barrow shared D&C 6:14 with me which was the scripture I read in the temple while deciding to go on a mission. I really felt that he was so inspired to share it with me and I was able to feel God's love so strongly. 

Also Sister Yang and I got put in charge of teaching primary this last week! It was so fun! we thought of some fun activities and mormon messages to watch. It was a good experience.

A funny/disturbing experience that happened this week:

For those of you that don't know, in Korea, there is something that is called dog soup. yes. it's actually dog in a soup. A lot of missionaries try it just so they can say they have tried it because it's something that you can't get in america. So this last week as we were farming with our member we were talking about dog soup and Elder Long and I both said we wanted to try it before we went home. Well... God heard us say this because 10 minutes later we were walking back to our members house but we got a little lost because we were in the middle of nowhere and we happened to run into a dog farm. Let's just say... I decided right then and there I am NEVER am going to eat dog. ever. And I'm going to give max the biggest hug ever when I get home... because I saw things that I hope none of you will ever have to see in your life. Please don't ever eat dog! They are pets not food!

I have so much more I want to tell you all but I guess you'll have to wait till next week because I spent most of my time figuring out my schedule for BYU so sorry!!

I hope you have a great week! oh and happy halloween!!!

Sister Hurley<3

My District. Last Transfer <3

We are eating duck! My new favorite kind of meat. not kidding. sooo delicious!

​helping Sister Kim pack, I'm going with her!

The senior missionaries in our mission came to Andong so we took them to get the most
 delicious food in our area called jim darg. They absolutely loved it, and we did too:)

​our investigators daughter drew a picture of me. looks just like me right?

And this is a picture of the elders investigator Derrik who lives right next to us.
 I look so short in this picture:(

eating spicy octopus while on exchange with sister Stratton in Sangin.
 the elders in Sangin. Eating octopus is so normal for me now.

andong family:)

the primary kids that we help teach. the boy in front is an investigator.

Farming <3

​anyone want some rice?

The elders working super hard.

Happy Birthday Elder Long!

The beautiful leaves are changing color!

made these scary halloween party invitations for our
 branch Halloween party this week!:) Happy Halloween!!

Hey Hey Hey

Hey everyone! I don't have a lot of time this week so I'm sorry! Just wanted to leave you with quote Sister Yang have been sharing with a lot of people recently because it's soo good!

"You are loved. You are dear to you Heavenly parents. The infinite and eternal creator of light and life know you! He is mindful of you. Yes, God loves you this very day and always. He is not waiting to love you until you have overcome your weaknesses and bad habits. He loves you today with a full understanding of your struggles. He is aware that you reach up to Him in heartfelt and hopeful prayer. He knows of the times you have held onto the fading light and believed- even in the midst of growing darkness. He knows of your sufferings. He knows of your remorse for the times you have fallen short or failed. And He still loves you. And God knows of your success; though they may seem small to you, He acknowledges and cherishes each one of them. He loves you for extending yourself to others. He loves you for reaching out and helping others bear their heavy burdens-even when you are struggling with your own. He knows everything about you. He sees you clearly- He knows you as you really are. And He loves you-today and always!" -President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I hope you all know that God loves you so much!

cool story of the week:

I called Sri Lanka. yes. you read that right. I CALLED SRI LANKA. It was awesome. Our awesome investigator who is amazing at tennis left to Sri Lanka this past week for a tennis tournament and before she left she needed some help making sure her hotel was all set up for when she arrived there. It needed to be in English so I was volunteered for the job. It was awesome! I had to ask all sorts of questions and make sure that someone would be there to pick her up from the airport. So that's the cool story of the week. There was actually a point where I accidentally started talking to the person in Sri Lanka in Korean...it was kinda funny. I'm so used to just talking to people in Korean. I'm going to be so weird when I get back... My English has become sooo bad. please don't judge:)

one more funny experience

-I was Looking in the cupboard of missionary supplies to see if there was anything in english that we could give the Philippine sister we are working with and thinking that all the books and pamphlets that I saw were in English because it was so familiar to me but it was in Korean...I thought we had all sorts of supplies! Soon after I realized they were all in korean...

the struggle is real. I love Korean:)

Hope you all have a great week!

Love, Sister Hurley<3

Miracles

Can I just start by saying that I absolutely love what I get to do everyday? Seriously how blessed I am that I can be serving as a disciple of Jesus Christ here in Korea. Missionary work is so difficult sometimes but I have been filled with so much joy as I serve the Lord. This week was full of so many miracles! Where do I even start?

Aya: So we have an investigator name OhJunghwa who works as an english teacher. And a few months ago as she was talking to another english teacher at work she mentioned that she was meeting the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and her co-worker said, "hey! I'm a member of that church, but I have been less-active for the past 7+ years since I moved to Korea" then our awesome investigator asked her if she would like to start meeting the missionaries and she said yes! Aya is from the Philippines and she moved to Korea about 7 years ago and married a korean and now has two young children. We have been trying to meet her for a while now but she has been so busy so we couldn't meet. But this last week we were finally able to meet! Can I just say that the moment I saw her I knew that she was someone that I needed to meet in this area? Aya has the most sweet and pure heart of anyone that I know. We were able to get to know here a little better and turns out that her mother and all her siblings are members but only 2 of her sibling are active members right now. The most incredible thing happened as we began to teach her about God's love for her. We taught her about living prophets and about general conference and how we can receive help for things that may be challenging in our lives. tears began to fill her eyes. She opened up and told us how ever since she moved to Korea, she has felt there is something missing in her heart. How our message brought so much hope to her and she feels that God is that thing that has been missing. She has felt so distanced from God for a long time and wants to change that. She has been attending a Presbyterian church with her mother in law a little bit but said that she doesn't ever feel anything at church so she doesn't like to go. She said that as we met she had felt happier than she has been in a long time. As we finished talking she asked us several times if we could bring her a BOM and Liahona and other things in english for her when we meet this coming week. She left all of her church materials in the Philippians. She wants to continuing meeting every week so she can learn of God and regain the testimony that she once had. a couple hours after our meeting she called to once again thank us for meeting her and bringing her the message that she needed. I can't express how extremely happy and blessed I feel to be able to meet this sweet child of God. I know that God prepared her to be able to meet us with a heart willing to accept the gospel again. I know without a doubt in my mind that as she accepts the gospel, her and her family will be blessed. she will find true joy and greater strength to resist temptation.

KimSuja: sister Kim is an older woman in our branch who has recently become less-active. This last week Sister Yang and I were able to meet her and share a message about general conference. We didn't set up an appointment but just stopped by and she welcomed us with so much love. She told us of some hard things that are happening in her life. As we shared our prepared message, tears filled her eyes. She expressed her gratitude for the missionaries. I know that it was revelation that we were supposed to meet her. I love lessons when you walk away feeling like you were able to really be a tool to help someone come closer to Christ. I felt so much love for her as we met.

We had the opportunity of meeting 2 people this last week who were past investigators. As we traveled to an area about 1 hour from the one we live in to meet one we ran into a man on the street who seemed to know us because he asked us what we were doing in Bonghwa(the name of the town) we told him that we were meeting an investigator and he said that he was a member of our church in the Andong branch! okay... I have been in this branch for the past 6 weeks and I have not once seen him so obviously he was a less-active! He seemed really happy to see us although he said recently he is building a farm so he hasn't had time for church. We have his number so hopefully we can try and meet him and his family sometime soon! Sister Yang and I both really felt that we were supposed to meet him. Maybe simple to remind him about God.

One of the old investigators we are meeting is named KimDahye. She is 18 years old (in Korea) She is like an incredible tennis player and is ranked in the top 6 best tennis players in Korea. How cool is that?? Her coach wants her to learn english because she travels to a lot of different countries for tennis tournaments. She has been busy with tennis for the past 2 months so she hasn't been able to meet but all of a sudden her coach called us and said she could meet again. We were so excited because her record shows that she had a lot of interest in the gospel. We were able to meet her and teach her english and share a message. She focused so well as we taught her. She is so sweet! We are excited to continue to work with her and build her faith in Christ. This week she will be headed to Sri-Lanka so her coach wants us to help her learn so phrases that she can say to reserve a hotel room. I love that as missionaries we can share the message of the gospel but that we can also look for opportunities around us to serve.

Also last night as we were sticker boarding and trying to give a Book of Mormon to literally everyone we saw, we met a really sweet lady named Kimhaybin. the moment I saw her I felt that she could be baptized. She talked to us about all the hard things that are going on in her life right now. she lives with her mother but it doesn't seem she receives a lot of love from her. We shared a message of hope and of God's loves with her and she was so grateful. We also gave her a Book of Mormon and she accepted it as so special. A few minutes after she left she texted us and thanked us for listening to her and expressed her excitement to meet again. How cool is that? As She was walking away one of the Elders who was with us said that he saw her in a white dress. He had know Idea that I had that same though but I feel like she will become a progressing investigator this week!

Seriously, Life is so happy:) Can I just say that I have the best job in the whole world? I am feeling so blessed to be able to be in the area I am with Sister Yang. I really feel as though Sister Yang and I will be lifetime friends. Together we are working so hard and being perfectly obedient. I know that this is why we have been able to see so many miracles in just the one short week that we have been together. We understand our purpose and are trying our best to fulfill that purpose.

Conference was amazing. If you haven't watched it. Do it. As I watched I felt recommitted to be a true disciple of Christ throughout my life. I know that the work I am doing here in Korea is God's work. It is true. I know it because the spirit testifies to me that is is true. I have leaned on God and His support throughout my mission and He has carried me when I didn't think I could go any further. I know that God loves me and you with a love that we can't comprehend. He wants us to turn to Him so he can shower out blessings upon us.

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Sister Hurley<3

This is Aya!! The sweet less-active we are working with!

Transfers!

HELLOOOOOO!

It sounds like general conference was so amazing as always and I'm so jealous that you all get you see it a week before me! I'm trying to prepare myself spiritually this week so that I can receive the guidance I personally need. I love that although we all have different questions and concerns, we can receive personal revelation through our lives as we watch general conference. What a blessing that is!

This last week was so amazing! I know I say that every week, but really! It was so great! And I am happier than I have ever been!

Last Tuesday we had the opportunity to run a 5k with the other missionaries in our mission. Our branch president and His wife really enjoy being healthy and exercise so this is the second 5k that we have been able to do. It was such a fun day. After the race we got to play basketball and volleyball (the best sports in the world) and I was loving every minute.

ALSO, On Thursday night I found out that my companion for this transfer would be sister Yanghanbit! I was able to go on an exchange with her a few weeks ago and get to know her a little bit. She is SOOOO sweet and I am so excited! She is from Chunan and has 3 younger sisters. We have already had so much fun together!! I am so excited for this coming transfer. I have been praying that my next companion would be perfectly obedient and love missionary work and let's just say, I know that God answers prayers!! We have already been able to see miracles in the one day we have spent together! We were able to make 2 appointments this week with 2 former investigators that the missionaries haven't been able to meet for a while because they both got too busy. I have a feeling that we will be companions for my last two transfers and I hope that it's true!

Sister Kim go transfer to... HOME:( She finished her mission and is headed back to Seoul. It has been such a fast transfer! Sister Kim has taught me so much about how to show love to others and how to have fun while doing missionary work. She really trys to make everyday a great day and make the best of any hard situation. I have been able to learn so much from her and was so grateful for the transfer we had to serve together! She is already planning her trip to come visit me in America once I get home so I will be looking forward to that!

A few things that happened this past week:

A week and a half ago in Korea there was a huge holiday called 추석 (choosuk) It is kind of like thanksgiving in America. Families gather together and feast and sometimes wear tradition Korean clothing and the grandparents give money to the grandchildren and they eat traditional korean food. It's so fun! So in honor of this holiday we decided to create a branch event this last Saturday to celebrate. It was a lot of fun! We play traditional Korean games, and had a gift exchange, and ate some really good food. Also our investigator Sister Parkhesun came with her two kids which made it even better!

Probably the coolest thing that happened this week was on Sunday. One of My best friends ever Sister Katie Brunson, who is serving her mission in Italy right now had an investigator come to Korea to attend an academy in order to learn Korean for 6 weeks and she was able to attend church we us on sunday!!! (that was like the longest sentence ever. sorry) She came 3 hours from Seould so that she could make it to church with us. Her name is Giulia. She is soooo sweet and it was such a miracle to be able to meet her. We decided to teach her and the elders investigator Derrick (who is american) in english for the last hour. It was a really neat experience and the spirit was strong as we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We also had the opportunity to meet a couple in our branch who has recently become less active because they are a little disappointed with the members in our branch. They feel that a lot of the talks that are given, don't focus on what's important and so it makes them not want to come to church. We were able to have a really spiritually filled lesson with them this past week about why attending church is important. The Sacrament. truly the reason that we must attend church every week is the sacrament. Something I have had to rely so much on on my mission. Despite not being able to understand most of the speakers talks during sacrament meeting, it is because of the sacrament that I am still able to have a personal spiritual experience at church. It is the time that we can reflect on our past week and see what we can do to do better and to be better. It is a time of healing and renewing. It is a time that we renew the covenants that we made at baptism and recommit to keep those covenants. We can truly have a spiritual experience at church every week if we remember the importance of the sacrament. I love it so much!

Also this last week our district meeting was focused on how to have a positive attitude while doing missionary work and I was asked to give a talk. How grateful I was for that opportunity because I was able to learn so much as I prepared. One of my favorite quotes that I found while preparing is:
"No matter our circumstances, no matter our challenges or trials, there is something in each day to embrace and cherish. There is something in each day that can bring gratitude and joy if only we will see and appreciate it." I love this quote by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I have come to learn on my mission that although we can't choose are circumstance, happiness IS a choice. we can choice how we react to the circumstances that we are in. As we learn to focus on the things that we have control over and don't worry about what we don't have control over, we will be more happy. As a missionary, we can't control if our investigators accept the gospel or not, but we can control how hard we work and how much love and service we give to those around us. I know God truly loves us so much and He wants us to be happy. If we aren't happy, than we don't truly understand the plan that God has provided for us. Sorry to go all preachy on you but I know that the gospel if Jesus Christ is truly central God's plan for us. And as we follow it, we will find true joy in our lives.

Sorry this email is kinda all over the place. basically, life is absolutely fantastic! We are working hard to help this incredible area. I'm praying I can finish my mission here because I love it so much.

I hope you are all healthy and happy! I love you!

Sister Hurley<3

Life is great!

Hey family so I have little to no time to email today because we had transfer meeting and I have to head back to my area now but I think I will have a little more time later this week to email... ahh this week was so incredible!! But the biggest change that happened is my companion went home and My new companion is name sister Yanghanbit! She is starting her 6th transfer and I am so excited!!! I feel we will be companions for the rest of my mission and I feel like it really be a really great 10 weeks of hard work. I already love her so much!

Also One of my best friends ever who is serving her mission in Italy right now (Sister Brunson)... one of her investigators is in korea on vacation right now and she came with my to church yesterday! It was such incredible day but I will tell you more about it when I have time!!

I love you all so much! Life is so great and I am sooo happy!!!:)

Hey!

Sorry I didn't have time to email last week and I don't have much time today as well as we will be going to Busan to stay the night because our mission will be running a 5k tomorrow! but I will try to update on what has been going on around here!

So much has happened and a lot is going on so I can't explain it all but this last week was full of a lot of service activities. We helped a member in our branch farm peanuts and we also helped a different member in our branch clean her nursing home. Both were really big projects that needed a lot of help. One thing that I have absolutely loved about being a missionary is that we always have time to serve:)

We had an adventure a couple weeks ago as we were trying to find a Recent converts house who we have never seen at church. She lives in a buddhist temple that is at the top of this huge hill. She lives in the temple because she cooks food for the monks everyday. We decided to just try and visit without making an appointment.We finally had made it to the top of the hill. As we quietly walked up to the building that she lives in, exausted and dripping sweat, she saw us, smiled and quickly came over to us. but she then became serious and immediatley started whispering about how we can't visit her today because the boss of the buddhist temple came and if he saw us, she could lose her job.She was so scared and we were even more. so we quickly left. This was one of those experiences that you look back and thing, woah, I'm really in korea. Our RC/LA lives in a buddhist temple! haha. hopefully we can try and set an appointment to be able to meet her again because we need to get her back to church!

Also a couple weeks ago we were able to find a new investigator who is 18 years old and wants to learn english so we started the family english program with her. She is currently attending a different christian church with some friends. She prayed with us in our first lesson which was really awesome:)

I only have 1 week left with sister Kim before she goes home and it's so sad! It has been a lot of fun being able to serve with her and I have been able to learn so much.

I want to end on a spiritual note. Recently I have been thinking so much about the atonement of Jesus Christ and how I can better apply it into my life. I have used the atonement of Jesus Christ so much on my mission and have received so many blessings and strength as I do. I have been trying harder to look back on my day and see what I could have done better and repent. As I do this, I have been able to feel more clean and worthy to be a representative of Christ. I know that it is through the atonement of Jesus Christ that we can become healed. I will be grateful everyday for My Savior Jesus Christ and for the opportunity I have to wear His name everyday. I encourage you all to try and sincerely repent everyday and to partake of the sacrament worthily. As you do, you will come to better understand the atonement of Jesus Christ and what is can mean to you personally.

I love you all so much!

Birthday shoutout to Jett! I hope you have a great day! I sent you a birthday card a few weeks ago and am hoping it will reach you in time!

Love, Sister Hurley

Put a BOM on the bookshelf and the train station :)

 found the house! okay..maybe not..

This is where our Recent convert/Less active lives!

our church is half of the 5th floor of that buidling

Train Station!

My companion is a model.

trying to fin La's house

met this random family while trying to find a LA so we decided to help them farm:)
 now I know how to farm garlic!

Make a wish!