More Baseball!

I got to play baseball with the brothers of the ward again this week! It was seriously the funnest thing. And I was of course in a dress again. I started throwing with one of the elders, and we were in the middle of this park. Within 5 minutes of throwing with him, a ton of Koreans were turned around watching me. Some middle school boys kept trying to compliment me in English. "Good! You good!" It is definitely quite the sight to see a foreign girl playing baseball in a dress in the middle of a park in Korea. But I think I found my new missionary tool haha. ;) I also played catch with one of the members of the bishopric and the ward mission leader. Me, Elder Eads (the really really tall one in my district pictures), the second counselor, and the ward mission leader made a giant square and threw as fast as we could to each other... kind of a race. It was seriously the funnest thing ever! I wanted to keep playing forever. :)

I also got to speak in church yesterday. Luckily my Korean companion could help me translate everything clearly. I translated all that I could and she helped me translate the rest. I spoke on building a bridge of faith. I actually really enjoyed speaking in Korean. It is kind of fun. :)

This weekend, the missionaries of Ansan will be putting on a small musical for a ward activity. I am not sure exactly how it is going to work, but if I can video it I will. I am super excited. Our district leader, Elder Barton, is a theater major so he is going to help put it all together. But we want to show the ward what all missionaries do. We will just be singing and acting it out. It should be super fun. :)

So I have been thinking a lot about the youth in the church, especially in Korea. I still feel like I am  part of the young woman program, not a missionary. (I mean I totally feel like a missionary, I just don't feel old enough). ;) I was in young womans just over a year ago after all. But I have been specifically thinking about the less active youth of the church. In the ward I am serving in currently, there are only about 4 active young women, and 1 active young man. There are quite a few primary kids. But there are a ton of less active young men and women. Their parents are strong in the gospel and come to church, but they refuse to come. They are totally cold to the missionaries when they see us. One woman in our ward yesterday bore her testimony in Relief Society and told us about her daughter who, like many youth in this ward, fell away from the church. She expressed her feelings on the matter, saying she felt like she had "lost my daughter." She expressed how she felt a longing for her daughter to be strong in the gospel, but felt like she was too far gone to bring her back.

So many youth in the church, when they hit the age of puberty, decide to go the opposite way despite what they have been taught growing up. They don't want anything to do with the gospel, the scriptures, or the missionaries. They focus only on friends and themselves. I am so shocked at how many of the youth in Korea have taken this route. More of them have taken this route than the other more preferred route, staying strong in the church. I want so badly to know how to help bring them back, but when missionaries try to talk to them they straight up ignore us and refuse to even interact with us.

So why do they choose to go this way? Why do they choose to totally shun the church? I have learned that Satan's power is stronger than we realize. The world looks very appetizing at age 14 when everyone you see around you is part of it. When the only people who are not engulfed in the ways of the world are your parents and your family, you want to be accepted by those outside of your family. You want to be like everyone else, you want to fit in. You want to be absorbed in a life of texting, earphones, friends, and doing things that Heavenly Father would not want you to do. But is the world truly happy? I can promise, the people of the world are not truly happy. I have seen it here more than anything else. Everyone is engulfed in the ways of the world, but no one is happy. The only way we can be happy is by living the gospel.

I have found true happiness in living the gospel. This time on my mission has been probably the happiest time of my life. When we do as God would have us do, He will shower us with blessings  and happiness that we cannot even imagine. I am so thankful that I chose to live the gospel at a young age. I don't know what I would do without it in my life. I know that this gospel is the only way that we can feel true happiness. God loves us and He wants us to be happy. He just asks that we follow Him.

Love, Sister Maughan

It's A Mask World

So there is this new trend in South Korea. Everyone has been wearing hospital masks. At first, I just figured there was dust in the air so people were wearing masks because of that. Koreans say that there is a lot of dust blown here from China and it is bad to breathe in. So they wear masks. But this last week, the amount of people wearing masks skyrocketed within about two days. Then schools began to close. More hospital masks. Less people out. We didn't really know what was going on until this lady wearing a mask at the bus stop sat next to us and started telling us about 매리스 (which is supposed to be Konglish for MERS I think). She sounded pretty freaked out about it. So yes, MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome) is in Korea. Our mission has told us what precautions to take, though none of them are anything really new. Wash hands, don't touch your face, just be careful etc. It's all stuff I already do. We can wear masks if we want, but it is our choice. I did buy a mask just in case. Plus I wanted to join in the new trend. ;) But if any of you have heard anything about MERS in Korea, just know that I am safe and so are all the other missionaries. If it gets bad, our mission president will know what to do. :)

So this week, the elders had a baptism! We got to attend the baptism yesterday after church. The spirit was so strong. They baptized this man who is actually Chinese but lives in Korea. After he passed his baptismal interview last week, he was seriously glowing. Ever since then, you could see a light within him.  Elder Barton, our district leader, performed the baptism. There is just a certain spirit that is present when someone takes the step to receive baptism. Heaven feels closer. God's love and approval is almost tangible in the room. The spirit literally surrounds you from every angle. I wish I could say I remember my baptism better. I do remember being dressed in all white, my hair in two braids because I was worried about it coming up out of the water. I can remember sitting on the bench waiting for my turn to go into the water. I can remember sitting on the chair, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I can remember the white baptismal blanket I received, the scripture set I got from Grandma and Grandpa Stucki which is currently with me on my mission, the beautiful white dress I changed into after I was baptized. I have never felt cleaner. :) The brother who was baptized yesterday will actually go back to China next week. And the church is very very small in China... if it even exists at all. He will have to be very strong and do all he can to keep his testimony strong. I am so thankful that I grew up in a place where the church exists and is so strong. The members are strong, the wards are strong, and the spirit is strong. It will be a challenge for this brother to keep his testimony in China, but if he continues to pray and study the Book of Mormon, God will help him stay strong.

So lately, we have been focusing on sharing the church's beliefs on families more on the street. I have been reading Elder L. Tom Perry's last talk before he passed away from last conference. He talks about how most religions believe that families are essential and an important part of this life. But he also points out how our beliefs are different as well. "For time and all eternity" is a much stronger bond than "till death do us part." And we know how to make eternity a possibility. Bearing testimony about family has become one of my favorite things to do. The longer I am away from my family, the more my testimony of eternal families grows. Sometimes its hard to think that I will be away from my family for 11 more months. But then I remember that I have all of eternity with them. 18 months is just a tiny amount of time to sacrifice. And the time is honestly flying. I reached my 7 month mark last week. But I am so thankful for the knowledge that my family is eternal. I am so thankful that we were sealed in the Logan temple when I was 15 years old. I will always remember the feeling of the temple, and the moment we stepped into the sealing room. Brady looked up at me and said, "Daysha, I feel like I am floating." What a perfect way to describe the temple's spirit from a child's perspective. I was dressed in all white for the second time in my life. I can't imagine not knowing that my family could be eternal. I am so thankful for the opportunity to help other families become eternal families. I know that only through this gospel can we become eternal families. And even if our families are not all members, I trust God's plan. He wants us to be happy. After this life, we may not understand exactly what is going to happen. But I know that God loves us more than we could ever imagine. His plan will not fail. We will be happy after this life.  We just have to trust Heavenly Father's plan and do our best to make good decisions while we are on the earth. His plan is perfect.

I love you all and hope you are safe and healthy! :) I pray for you daily. Miss you!

Love, Sister Maughan

I Still Got It

I still got it... jokes I never really had it. Or did I? You are probably wondering what I am talking about. Don't worry, I am about to explain. :) On Saturday, the elders and all the brothers of the ward joined up for a soccer game. We invited everyone in our English class to come as well. One of our friends from English class, this really cute and fun girl who is my age, wanted to come watch them play with us. So we watched the brothers and elders play soccer for a little while with her. Super, super fun! :) After the game, one of the brothers of the ward got out a baseball bat and mitt. My eyes lit up, "I want to play!" I said in Korean. This particular brother served his mission in the USA, so he speaks perfect English. He replied in English, "Really?!" So I said yes. He said, "Are you serious?" So I of course, said yes. I picked up the bat and asked one of the elders to toss the ball to me. I line drove the ball into the chain link fence. Then I hit another one into the fence. Then another one (this one got stuck in the fence). The next thing I knew, all the brothers of the ward were watching the foreign sister missionary playing baseball in a dress, shock all over their faces. One of the members of the bishopric said he wants to play a game with me sometime. I sure hope it happens... I didn't expect to miss softball so much. The next day during church, one of the elders told me that after I left the soccer games, all the brothers were talking about me playing baseball, totally surprised and shocked. It basically made my entire week. ;)

I had a little experience with the gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation of tongues this last week! :) Yesterday we were teaching a recent convert in our ward. During the lesson she started crying. This sister is not a cryer so I knew either something was wrong... or she was really feeling the spirit. I started praying my heart out to understand what she was saying, to understand her needs. Before I knew it, I understood what was going on. She was struggling with her testimony, but she wanted so badly to have a strong one. The spirit told me to tell her a little life experience of mine. I began to tell her the story of the first time I read the Book of Mormon. It was 2009 and I was only 14 years old. It was kind of confusing, but I wanted to know it was true. After I read it completely through, I got a small piece of paper and wrote a simple testimony of the Book of Mormon on it, and slipped it in the binding of my scriptures. Every year since then, I have updated my testimony, adding to it on another slip of paper which I then slip into the binding of my scriptures. Luckily, I had my English scriptures with me while I taught her, so I pulled each slip of paper out from the binding. I showed her the first slip of paper from 2009 with only a few lines of testimony on it and compared it to the slip of paper from 2014 which was a full piece of paper completely filled from top to bottom. I then explained that gaining a testimony doesn't happen all at once. It takes time, and little by little we learn more and gain more knowledge and understanding of the gospel. We just have to keep trying, keep praying, and keep trusting that God will answer our questions. She thanked me for sharing this experience. The spirit definitely testified while we were in that lesson. And the spirit was the mediator. Though my Korean is limited, the spirit told me what her needs were, and what she needed to hear. It then provided a way for me to tell my story. My Korean was clear and simple enough for her to understand, and the spirit testified to her. I am so thankful for the Holy Ghost.

On Thursday, we had a combined mission conference with the Seoul Mission. President Ringwood, (area 70 I think) spoke to the missionaries about seeing ourselves as God sees us. As missionaries, we are so focused on telling everyone else that God loves them, that they can return to live with Him, that they are God's children.... but sometimes we forget that we are God's children too. We are hard on ourselves. We doubt ourselves. We look into the mirror and see ourselves as weak and inadequate. But that is not how God sees us. God called us here, and He will give us the strength to fulfill His plan in this mission. We are not weak or inadequate, though we may feel like it. When the prophet called us, he did not doubt our abilities. When God called us, He did not doubt our abilities. So why then do we doubt our abilities? We forget to see ourselves how God sees us. He sees us as beloved, strong, able sons and daughters of His army, sent forth to proclaim His gospel. I have been trying harder to focus on seeing myself how He sees me, because it is so important to remember who called me here. If the Lord trusts me, and I trust the Lord, how can I fail?

I hope you all have a great week! Happy Summer! :) Love you and miss you always!

Love, Sister Maughan

안녕하세요!

안녕하세요! Hello everyone! This week was such a good week. There were so many "I am so glad I am a missionary"  moments, and it made me love being here even more. So on Saturday, we were invited to a celebration for a 1 year old baby in our ward. In Korea, a baby's 1st birthday is a huge deal. Almost like a wedding. So they had the party at this huge party house which was also a giant buffet. The mother and father of the baby wore their traditional Korean clothes. They showed us a video of the baby's first year of life, and gave us more food than we could possibly handle. It was quite the adventure. As part of the traditional celebration, the baby has to pick up 1 of 6 objects that will predict what they will be in life. Before the baby picks, everyone puts their guesses in a box. One of the elders, Elder Eads, guessed that the baby would pick the object that means he will become an entertainer. Well, Elder Eads was right. The baby picked up the object that said he will become an entertainer. So because Elder Eads guessed right, he got a prize. They gave him a gift wrapped box of ginger root tea. It was super cool to be part of the celebration though. I love seeing and being a part of Korean culture. :)

Yesterday, we had an experience that made me laugh harder than I have in a while. So I wanted to know how warm it would be outside, so I opened the window and stuck my head out. When I looked outside, a group of Korean boys probably about Brady's age were standing across the lot playing games. When they saw me stick my head out, they all turned and looked at me. "Foreigner!" they yelled and pointed at me. I always laugh when this happens, because it happens a lot. I pretended that I didn't see them, and that I had no idea what they said. I then shut the glass and walked inside. As I walked back and forth inside our house, I saw the boys still looking in the window, clearly shocked to see a foreigner. So I had an idea. I ran into our study room and wrote the Korean word for "hello" (안녕하세요) on a piece of paper in bold letters. I then taped it up inside the window, and went to another window so that I could see their reaction. They all began tapping each other on the shoulders and pointing at the window. They were obviously completely stunned. They proceeded to point in shock for a while, when one got his phone out to take a picture. He wanted a good picture, so he stuck his phone through the fence that is in front of our house, trying to be sneaky. The rest of the boys snuck behind a car and got their phones out too, trying to get pictures without being seen. I wish I could explain how funny it was to see this, but I seriously could not stop laughing. I am sure that they all went home and said, "Mom, you'll never guess what happened to us today."

So one lesson that I have learned this week is how important it is too remember to look back at the progress we have already made. Yesterday they asked me to say the closing prayer in Relief Society. This ward remembers me when I first got to country, able to only speak a tiny tiny bit of Korean. Most of the Relief Society sisters have not heard me pray in Korean since January or February. When they asked me to say the closing prayer I of course agreed. As soon as I finished my prayer and said "Amen" all of the sisters turned to me and started freaking out at my Korean. "You're Korean is so good!" "When did you learn all of that?" I have to admit, I was probably bright red from blushing, but oh so appreciative that they noticed my progress.

Sometimes we forget to see how far we have come. But when we remember, we can truly see the progress we have made. Korean isn't exactly easy, and I often find myself frustrated that I am not better at it than I am. I see younger missionaries who absorb things so quickly, and I wonder why it takes me so long to remember one word. But then I remember where I started. I remember being able to understand nothing. I can talk to people on the streets now. I can bear my testimony effectively and actually teach principles by myself in Korean. While my every day conversation vocabulary may be lacking, God has given me what I need to be a missionary. I know that God gives us the language in the amounts that we need to fulfill His plan. Sometimes I wish I could speak more effectively, but I just have to look at how far I have come, and remember that everything is in God's timing. I study every day, I work hard to do my part. He will do the rest. :)

Well that is about it for today. Happy Birthday Buddha. (It's the big Guy's birthday today so there are decorations all over Korea, and we are visiting some Buddhist temples later). :)

Love you all! :)

Love, Sister Maughan

SO BUSY!

This last week was so busy that I seriously cannot think of a name for it. But it was super good, too. :) Because we are so busy, time is legitimately flying! I feel like just yesterday I was skyping home and emailing again. But it has been a week and here I am! :)

So we met with a former investigator this week, and holy cow I adore her. She is mostly English interest, so we are teaching her English for 30 minutes, and the gospel for 30 minutes. That is our mission's English program. She has taught herself English almost entirely. Her English is pretty good, especially considering she only teaches herself. She has heard some bad things about our church, as seemingly every one in Korea has, and told us she doesn't really have much gospel interest, but is willing to listen to our message. So, we taught her for the first time on Tuesday. She told me that she wants to learn English because her daughters know English but her husband doesn't, so she thinks it would be funny to be able to talk about her husband with her daughters, in front of her husband without him understanding. So funny. ;) She is an artist and travels all around the world to display her art, which is another reason she wants to learn English. She makes a ton of money from her art. She is not afraid to be herself, either. She perms her hair and cuts it short because she loves African American hair, and she wants it. She is hilarious, too. Oh I seriously love her. When we taught her the gospel though, she seemed to have more interest than she told us. She had a lot of questions and seemed to want to understand. Though for right now, she is only an English investigator, I think she has the potential to become a gospel investigator as well. :) Miracles are just happening all over the place! :)

Also, we got to got to Seoul this week to see the BYU wind symphony orchestra. We had special permission to leave the mission and go to the Seoul mission to see it. We brought a potential investigator with us, this super cute girl that comes to our English class. It was so good! :) And I got to see my MTC district elders and sisters from the Seoul mission... we were such good friends at the MTC and it was so hard to say goodbye four months ago. Seeing them was a super pleasant surprise! :)

So today I was reading an article called "Palmyra" in the June 2015 Liahona. If you haven't read it yet... I super highly suggest it. Maybe it was just because I needed to read it today, but it was powerful. This article is about Joseph Smith's life leading up to the First Vision. And let me just say, it was all but easy. He was persecuted from the time he was young. The author of the article, Matthew S. Holland (president of Utah Valley University) said a very powerful thing at the end, and I want to share it with you. This talk was given to missionaries at the MTC, but I think it can apply to all of us. Sorry, it is kind of long. ;)

"So, if now or on some future day, you look around and see that other perhaps less devoted acquaintances are succeeding in their jobs when you just lost yours; if major illness puts you on your back just at the moment critical tasks of service seem to come calling; if a call to a prominent position goes to someone else; if a missionary companion seems to learn the language faster; if well-meaning efforts still somehow lead to disaster with a fellow ward member, a neighbor, or an investigator; if news from home brings word of financial setback or mortal tragedy you can do nothing about; or if, day after day, you simply feel like a bland and beaten back-ground player in a gospel drama that really seems made for the happiness of others, just know this: many such things were the lot of Joseph Smith himself at the very moment he was being led to the stage of the single most transcendent thing to happen on the earth since the events of Golgotha and the Garden Tomb nearly 2,000 years earlier."

...Trials are going to happen. They happen to all of us. They happened to Joseph Smith. They happened to Jesus Christ. They will happen to our friends and to our family. Sometimes there is seriously nothing we can do but endure. But that is exactly what Joseph Smith did. Despite the sicknesses he had as a kid, the constant moving as he was growing up and lack of financial stability, the hardships he endured, the devil himself trying to stop him in the Sacred Grove just before he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ... he endured. It was not easy, and I am sure he would not want to go back and endure those trials again. But, I am also sure that he appreciates those trials. I am sure that if he had the chance to go back and take away those trials in his life, he probably would not take them away. He learned and grew from them, and they sculpted him into the incredible latter-day prophet he was.

And this is how God sculpts us as well.

저는 우리의 어려움을 통해 우리가 하나님에게서  힘을 받을 수 있다 는 것을 알고있습니다.  I know that through our challenges we can receive strength from God.

Love you all and I hope your week is incredible! :)

Love, Sister Maughan :)

My Solo Career!

So I sung a solo for a baptism this last week... but as fast as my solo career began it abruptly ended. I am not a singer. I sing for fun when I drive and I sing when I wash dishes but I am not meant to sing in front of people. I definitely learned that lesson this week. ;) A little girl in our ward was baptized this last Saturday, and the missionaries were in charge of the special musical number. The elders for whatever reason, thought that I could sing well. Ha ha. This is a lie. So Sister Jeong played the piano, and for one of the verses I had to sing a solo. We sung "I Feel My Savior's Love" in Korean. We practiced it quite a few times before, and while I am not the best singer ever, I felt like it would be okay. I might not have a beautiful voice, but I could hit the notes smoothly and reading Korean is pretty easy. So I agreed to do the solo. Right before we went up to sing, I could feel myself getting nervous. I just brushed off the nervousness and told myself that every time I did piano solos, I got nervous before too, but they turned out okay. Ha ha... singing doesn't quite work the same way. The thing is, when you are nervous to play the piano, as soon as you touch the keys, you focus on the music and tune everyone out. When you sing, it shows in your voice within the first note.  So, my first note was off and shaky, and as soon as I began I knew it would be rough. "Butchered it," I thought as I failed the first note. I could feel my face turn bright red, and my voice continued to shake as I sung. "Well, now they know I am nervous," I thought as my face became hot. As I sang my last note, I jumped for joy inside. I definitely sounded horrible. ...But I survived the solo and I can now look back and laugh at my failed solo. And I learned that I am not a singer, so that is a good thing to know. :)

Transfer calls were this week. I am staying in 안산 for 6 more weeks! I am pretty sure this will be my last transfer here though.

So we have seen so many miracles lately! Last Monday, we were at the church fixing our sticker board with the elders, when suddenly this man and lady just walked into the church. They had heard that we teach English one-on-one and were interested. So we sat them down and discussed the program with them (30 minutes English 30 minutes gospel) and they might become investigators here soon. Then a lady at English class expressed interest in why we don't have a cross on our church. The conversation turned into questions about the Plan of Salvation. We gave her a pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation and told her to call us if she wants to know more. She will continue to come to English class, so I think she has potential to turn into an investigator as well. :)
Also, we met with a 15 year old girl to talk about our English program too. Her English interest brought her to us, but when we told her we would be teaching her the gospel for 30 minutes too, she seemed interested in hearing more. English is truly blessing us!

I know that the Lord is preparing hearts all over the place. :)

My time is running out fast today, but I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to Skype home today! Seeing the family was so good! 40 minutes to Skype didn't seem long enough... but I know that the Lord gives us that time as a gift, and we must appreciate what we have. :)

I have been studying Christlike Attributes in Preach My Gospel this week. I was studying Charity and Love, when I had a thought that brought the spirit to testify in my heart. If we love Christ, we love God's children. If we love God's children, we want to serve them. If we love Christ, we want to obey Him. So basically, if we truly become followers and true lovers of Christ... how can we mess up? If we truly love Him, we will love God's children, and we will want to obey every commandment. What we do in our lives is an expression of our love (or lack of love) to Christ. We have agency, we can choose how much love we choose to show. But I know that when we choose to love others and show that love to others, we can also feel Christ's love for them, and Christ's love for us. Service and love brings a joy that can be felt in no other way. When we have genuine charity, our desire to do good grows. Also, "..charity suffereth long..." What does this mean? I learned that this means that no matter what others do to us, we must sacrifice and put any contention we may feel away. We must do as Christ would. We cannot retaliate or be angry back, we just have to move on and continue loving them. It is not always easy to love everyone. People are human, they make mistakes, they say things we don't want to hear... But we can suffer long, and we will be blessed when we show love and charity. When we try to follow Christ, we cannot fail.

I wish I could write more, as always. My thoughts are always kind of scattered when I write home every week. Filtering is hard ha-ha. ;)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!!! I love you so much and miss you like crazy. I don't know what I would do without you, and it was so good to see your face today (and of course everyone else's too). :)

I love all of you and miss you as always! :)

Love, Sister Maughan

6 MONTHS!

I don't know how it happened... but I have been on my mission for 6 months as of tomorrow. I don't feel like it has been 6 months, but it has! 12 months left! :)

So this week, Ansan had this crazy street festival. People from all over the world came to do performances and acts... there was SO MANY PEOPLE at the festival. So we took advantage of the thousands of people, and we decided to English sticker board. Sticker boarding is when we have a large board that asks a question on it. We give people stickers as they walk by and ask them to put a sticker on the board, answering our question. So we had a board that said "Why do you want to learn English?" The answers were things like "because of school tests" "because my mom is making me" "because of work" "because English is fun". Two of the elders held the board, two of the elders gave out stickers with me and Sister Jeong. We ended up handing out around 1000 stickers, which means that we talked to 1000 people in 2 days. It was SO FUN! In the process of talking to people, we handed out a TON of English flyers for our free English class. We teach free English every Wednesday. People in Korea really want to learn English, so it is easy to find people who are willing to come to a free English class. And when you give them a sticker to stick on a board, and a chance to talk to white foreigners who speak Korean, they get really excited. :) We also got to laugh quite a bit at the elders because middle school Korean girls find American men really attractive. So they asked the elders if they would take pictures with them. The elders ended up taking probably 30 pictures with Korean middle school girls. So funny. :) The cool thing was, while we were at the festival, we got to catch glimpses of traditional Korean dances and performances. We are missionaries so we couldn't watch any of them, but we talked to people and got to see some of the Korean traditional dances as we talked to people. It was a once in a life time experience, and it was SO COOL.

We also had zone conference this week. As a zone, we hiked a mountain with President and Sister Morrise, and we received training's on the way up. There were a couple of places we stopped at in the mountains, and while we stopped there Sister Morrise and President Morrise, or the APs would train us. It was super fun. :) I also got a lot of prayers answered through zone conference. One sister in particular made a comment that will forever change me. I appreciated her comment so much that after zone conference I couldn't help but thank her for helping me open my eyes and see things the way she did. She is actually a greenie right now, so she hasn't been in Korea long. But her testimony... it was incredible. So what exactly did she say?

We were talking about trials on the mission. She said something along the lines of, "We are meant to walk as Jesus walked right? We are supposed to follow His example. Well, He suffered in Gethsemane. He was spit on, beat up, rejected.... Are we not supposed to have trials too? Are we not supposed to experience our own Gethsemane? If we truly want to follow Him, we must experience trials too."

How true is this comment? When she said it, the spirit filled the room so strongly. Are we not supposed to experience our own Gethsemane? If  we didn't experience trials, we wouldn't entirely be following Christ. Because we experience trials, it shows that we are following Christ. We are walking in His footsteps. We might not experience the pain and suffering He did. We won't experience anything close to it.  But, because we are following Him, we will experience some pain and we will suffer sometimes. Trials make us grow. They make us stronger. Without them, we wouldn't progress. If we want to follow Christ, we will experience trials. But that is part of God's plan, and through our trials we become even stronger followers of Christ.

사랑해요! I love you all! Can't wait to talk to the family next Sunday!

Love, Sister Maughan