Families Are Forever

Well it was another great week of missionary work here in Korea. My cute companion hit her year mark of her mission so we celebrated by buying some of the best strawberry milkshakes I have ever had! Crazy to think that I will hit my year mark in just 5 short week. Transfers seem to go by faster and faster. I got permission to get on and email a little earlier today because we had a lunch appointment with a potential investigator!

Hearing about Grandma Hurley passing away this past week broke my heart and was so sad to hear.... but I feel so much peace that she is so much happier and free of pain now. My testimony of Eternal Families has grown so much on my mission especially through this experience as I have studied eternal families more in depth. I'm so grateful for the example grandma set in my life and for the strong faith she had. she will always be remembered for the good she did and the love she gave. How blessed we have been to have her in my life and to have known such an incredibly strong woman. Although she is physically gone from Earth at this time, I feel her closer to me than I ever have. I truly feel her strength and support pushing me to go forward in this work. I have an extra urge to give EVERYTHING that I am and have to this work so that I can make her happy and proud. Momma Hurley sent me this quote: "Those we love don't go away. They walk beside us everyday...unseen, unheard, but always near. still loved, still missed and very dear." I know that this is true. I'm so happy that she is reunited with her family and friends and is so much happier now. I know that death isn't the end and that she has a lot of good work she needs to do in Heaven.

My poor companion was sick for a couple of days this week but we still had a successful week of missionary work and we were able to see miracles! One happened about 5 minutes after we prayed that we would be able to find those prepared to hear the gospel. We were on our way to the church when we hear an older man maybe in his 50's looking at us and say "HELLO!" in english... the first thought we had was we could invite him to our english class but then he walked up to us, knew that we were missionaries, and told us that he had gone to hawaii a lot... and that he has a mormon friend there! He told us to give him our number because he wanted to meet! he made sure we received his number too. And then the next day HE CALLED and said "lets meet today at 2!" So we called the elders (cuz we can't meet him alone) and we met him at 2. He bought us some soda and then said "please speak. tell me about your church" haha so we all got really excited and began to teach him the restoration and talk about the Book of Mormon. and bear testimony. and if we ever stopped talking for a second he would say "continue! please keep talking". So we taught, and we testified and told Him what he needed to do to know it was true and he said "Well sound like I need to pray and read about this book!" after we closed the meeting with a prayer, we left him on the 14th floor of city hall (where we met) reading the Book of Mormon. Later when we passed the same building that day Sister Broyles and I hoped that he was still up there reading:) ALL DAY. This was probably the biggest miracle of the week! Not often do we get to experience things like this happen so when they do... it's kinda.. well.. the best. I know that this man was prepared to hear our message at that time. I'm so grateful God is leading us to find those prepared or in this case leading those prepared to us! haha

Sister Broyles and I had the spiritual message for english class this week and we decided to share a mormon message about "the most important things". We began by asking the class (about 15 people) what is important to them. Some said english, work, family, school, etc.. Then we asked them what is "MOST IMPORTANT" to them. happily most said family:) We watched a video about the most important things almost always include the people around us. President Monson said, "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." I love this quote so much! It is so important to show those around us that we love them. at the end of our message everyone started clapping... haha. we just kinda awkwardly didn't know what to do but we were happy that they enjoyed it haha.

Recently I have been studying the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon. I've been reading them alongside the book of mormon manual so I can understand them better. I read 2 Nephi 16. vs 9-12 that talks a little about Isaiah's mission. He was commissioned to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ even thought the people were "hard of hearing" and failed to "see" the truth of the gospel. He was advised that his preaching to a wayward people would generally not be received. Their hearts would "fatten" against the truth and their ears would be "heavy" not willing to accept the gospel as preached in clarity. In response the Isaiah's question of "how long" The Lord answered that the people should have the opportunity to accept the gospel until the land be utterly desolate (see Moroni 7:36) Sometimes on my mission... I feel like this. Many people we teach have closed hearts when we share our message. Despite the hard work we do everyday, it is often difficult to see the success of our labors. But I know that God has called me to serve here in Korea for a reason. He has shown me many tender mercies to help me push through each day! I know that my work doesn't go unnoticed by Him. I know I will forever be grateful for this missionary experience he has given me. My Personal testimony of the Book of Mormon and My Savior Jesus Christ has grown immensely. EVERYONE. READ THE BOOK OF MORMON EVERYDAY. It's true. it will change your life.

On another note.....

Funny Moments of the Week:

During English class, I was in charge of teaching the basic class (the lowest level) and a student randomly told me (in Korean) that my hair was pretty. So I decided that this was a good teaching opportunity:) I taught her how to say that in English by saying "Sister Hurley's hair is pretty" I wrote it on the board and then everyone in my class started saying it. I had them all practice saying it at the same time and it was so funny!! The other groups looked over and could hear them and thought it was funny that I was teaching that to them. People don't appreciate blonde hair in the states like they do in Korea. haha:)

Other funny moment of the week included crashing a 1 year olds birthday party! These are a HUGE deal in Korea.We didn't really know the family who was having the party because they were an old member of our branch who is now living in a different area so the missionaries didn't really feel invited to go but a member in our branch called us and said she wouldn't be able to go so she asked if we could drop her gift off at the party. So we took her gift to the restaurant called "the party" and gave them the gift and then started to leave but everyone started yelling at us "sit down and eat!" but it was a 45 dollar person buffet so we felt bad staying... we kept trying to tell them that we were okay...but they wouldn't let us leave... so.. well... a half hour later. I was really full.

That's about it! I love you all so much and hope you have the best week of your life!

Sister Hurley

Transfers!

First off birthday shoutout to Matthew, Whitney, and Christopher!! hope you had a great birthday and happy you received my lil gift. sounds like you celebrated your birthdays the right way by going to Asian star! yay Asia:)

Thursday night we waited anxiously to see if we would receive a call and...dun dun dun..... NO CALL!!! which means that Sister Broyles and I will be staying together for another transfer and i couldn't be more excited!  Besides training, we both have had a new companion every transfer on our missions so we are excited to be able to stick in the same are with the same companion for once:) we are excited to see what this transfer has in store!

Highlights of the week!

This past week we were able to have 3 member present lessons! and they were all with the same member. This member is so incredible and so excited about missionary work. sadly she lives in switzerland and is only here for a couple more weeks... (she has been here for a couple months now) but she wants to do all the missionary work that she can with us while she is here! it has been pretty fun working with her and she even introduced us to one of her friends so we were able to teach her this past week!

we got invited to eat with the american family that lives in our branch and they served us CHICKEN ENCHILLADAS! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT HAS BEEN SINCE IVE ATE CHICKEN ENCHILLADAS???? too long. and they gave us leftovers too so we at them for the next two days:) ahh. spoiled missionaries. We shared Luke 9:23-25 with them and had a really great discussion about what it means to lose yourself and what we can gain from following the Gospel of Jesus Christ. super fun being able to teach in ENGLISH!!

We met a long time investigator whom I had never taught before but sadly she came into the lesson trying to do everything she could to prove the BOM "had not good content" and that "it doesn't talk much about Christ or Heaven" It was so sad to watch her speak so badly about my most cherished beliefs. Sister Broyles and I did our best to bear testomny that we knew  the Book of Mormon was true and that she could know it too if she read it and prayed about it (which she hasn't done) We felt at the end that we needed to drop her because her heart is not yet open to hearing our message.

met a less-active this past week and then she CAME TO CHURCH! with her husband too (non-member) so that pretty much made our week! we are going to continue to work with her!

It has been a good week and I wish i had more time to tell you more! momma and daddy I just sent you a letter in the mail so keep a look out for that! I love you all so much! I know that this work is true. I Know that the Book of Mormon is God's word! Everyday my love for that book grows more and more! I know that God loves us so much and wants us to turn to Him for help and guidance in our everyday lives!

Have the best week of your life!

Love

Sister Hurley

연차 대회

This past week consisted of interviews with president, zone meeting, womens conference, general conference, finding new investigators, and seeing miracles so I'd say it was a spectactular week:)

But really. this week was soo good! I feel like I say that every week... maybe just cuz it's SO true! I love being a missionary. First off, I gotta give a shoutout to general conference which was one of the biggest highlights of the week! I am so grateful we have a living prophet that can lead and guide us today. This year as I went into conference with the questions I had written I decided to take notes a little differently than normal. Rather than writing down what the speaker says that I like, I decided to pay closer attention to what the spirit was telling me through my thoughts and feelings and write the things that come to mind down. What a life changing experience I had! I usually walk away from conference with a few favorite talks and a couple that were hard to get through but this time I could honestly say that I loved every single talk so much. As I listened to what the spirit was teaching me rather than the speaker himself, I received revelation for what I need to do personally. I felt so much gratitude during conference for the guidance and direction I received. I know that everyone can receive the same direction. I invite everyone to watch and rewatch conference! It's really the best and we are so blessed to have a living prophets and apostles called of God who receive revelation for what we need to be doing NOW.

Other highlights of the week include:

-Traveling to bangeojin ( my first area) to watch womens conference with some other sister missionaries. While there, I was able to meet up with a less-active and her kids that I had taught while I served there! How happy I was to be able to see her again<3 how blessed I am to live to close to my first area!!

-Heres a story you don't hear everyday:

met a lady on the street and had a conversation that went a little like this:

me: hi

lady: hi

me: recently the weather has been so cold right?

lady: yeah! *sees our nametags*

lady: oh are you missionaries? I attend a church but I'm looking for a new one. give me your card. I will call and we can meet sometime!

so yeah. that happened. all I had to do was say hi. I didn't know missionary work could be that easy.

-doing planks with the mission presidents wife while waiting for my companion in interviews

-having a member of our english class ask about our church and the book of mormon so we are now starting to meet her family twice a week and doing the family english program! (30 min english 30 min spiritual message) yay english class.

-making an appointment with Stacy for this coming week! (investiagtor from my first area who lives in my area now)

Funny moments of the week:

proselyting at a bus stop and having almost everyones attention at once (about 10 people)

Not so funny moments of the week:

All the phones in the mission stopped working from friday until now...like we can receive calls and texts but we can't text or call anyone! so it makes making appointments a little more challenging but it should be fixed soon hopefully!

quote of the week is from sister Broyles: "I'm glad I like you enough to let you give me a massage"
hahaha i'm glad she does too.

so yeah! It was a great week. this week is transfer calls and I'm not really sure how I feel about that. kind hoping things stay just how they are but i'm not in charge;) it will be interesting to see what happens! I love you all and hope you had a great week! oh and watch this video cuz it will make your day:

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-04-1010-he-lives-celebrate-easter-because-jesus-christ-lives?lang=eng

if that doesn't work...it's the "Because He Lives" video on lds.org! it's soo good. I Know Christ lives and that because of Him we can overcome any hardship of this life and find true happiness.

Love Sister Hurley

we weird.

We saw some protestors so we took a pic :)

A police bus..

A less active I taught in my first area and saw last week!

I'm with Sister Nelsen and Sister Kang!

face masks are a big thing in Korea!

Most Koreans have such perfect skin! No Acne! sooo jealous

fooood

Eating with a member

more food

Happy Easter!

HEYYYY!

I need to catch up on last week a little bit. Here are a couple highlights that I missed:

One day while walking to a bus stop and old man who loves americans stopped us on the street he insisted that we come to his home... we kindly rejected. but then he grabbed our hand and attempted to pull us towards him. we told him we had an appointment so we couldn't (which was true...) and so we continued to walk to the bus stop where he followed us and pulled out his flip phone and insisted we take a picture of ourselves for his phone. sister broyles took one of him rather than himself but he was so old he couldn't really tell the difference and he seemed pleased. the best part was when he started singing to us. really loud. and everyone was staring...I'm pretty sure he wasn't drunk...maybe just a little crazy. but eventually the man left and immediatly another man came over to us to make sure we knew that "not all koreans are like that and that there are a lot of good koreans in korea" haha

also this week I ran into the dog man from bangeojin who kissed sister Bonney's hand and wanted to buy us shoes! apparently he works in the area I am serving in now! he insisted I take he number and said I could "call him ANYTIME" but I'm just gonna refer him to the elders.

Other highlight included getting invited by the cutest elderly couple to eat dinner. When we shared the message Sister Broyles and I decided to try a new idea that we found in one of the books mom sent me. We started the message talking about missionary work and asking about their conversion story. they were both baptized in 1988 then the husband went inactive for like 8 years and then he became reactivated and became the branch president! such a cool story! But the cool part was when we did an activity with them where we had them write down all the nonmembers they knew. we gave them about 5 minutes and told them it wasn't a trap and they didn't need to give them all to us as referrals. After we had them write the lists we explained that not all of these people that they know are prepared to accept the gospel but that God knows who is prepared and who they can invite. so we knelt down together and I offered a prayer that they could be guided to know whom they can invite to hear the gospel. the spirit was so strong and I felt so much love for this sweet couple. at the end of the prayer. they looked at the list they had a made a plan for who they felt was ready and what they were going to do help introduce them to receive the gospel. It was a really cool experience. The spirit was SO STRONG.

Highlights of THIS week:

W got invited to a members house to eat lunch and I ate a silk worm larva...It's a BUG. but it's cooked. and most koreans don't even like it. but it's tradition... I wouldn't recommend it to anyone... but now I can say I ate a bug.

We had a branch easter party where sister Broyles and I were in charge of face painting kids faces and making crafts! The activity turned out really well!

Sunday was Easter and Sister Broyles and I were able to attend the english sunday school that our branch has which was incredible. Brother Priedman gave a lesson on the resurrection which went so well and I felt the spirit testify to me that it was real. I'm so grateful to Christ for all that he did that allows me to live the life that I have. It was so refreshing to hear a lesson in English:)

Also I fasted yesterday that we could find new investigators because our most progressing one has been in the hospital recently and we haven't been able to meet her:( but last night we were able to eat with a member an her family whose daughter and husband aren't members and we are now planning to meet them weekly to answer their questions and share a message. Her husband asked some really deep questions like "Didn't God create Satan?" We did our best to follow the spirit in answering his questions and testify of what we knew to be true. There is such a special spirit about this family and while I was there I felt they were missing one thing to connect them all together and that is the gospel. The mother (member) helped so much with our lesson as she shared experiences as to how God has answered her prayers<3

I ran into STACY this past week. an investigator I had in my first area! apparently she lives in the same area as me now... so I gave her our contact information and hopefully we can meet her soon! I'm just running into all sorts of people from my first area:) its SO fun!

That's about it for the week! Things are going well! Hope you all are having a great Easter season and hope you all enjoyed conference. I'm looking forward to watching it this weekend. It's like the super bowl for missionaries. Love you all so much!

Sister Hurley

our investigators dog... I think she likes me.

there is a place called burger mugger that we went to... and the hamburger I ate was
the best burger I have ever ate in my life. It could just be because
I haven't had a good hamburger in while...but I was in heaven. SOO GOOD.

Christopher, I found MELON SODA!! The greatest thing EVERRRRR.
but really. i'm in love.

Happy Easter!

We were in charge of crafts and face painting at the branch picnic!

Korean Food! One of my favorite meals.