Christmas as a missionary!

Elder Chizzy spent his first Christmas in Seoul and he's doing great. He said he enjoyed caroling in the subway stations with his zone, decorating a ward Christmas tree with some kids in the ward, eating a Christmas Eve dinner at a Korean grill (kind of like Golden Corral only you grill your own food) and having a party with the rest of the missionaries with his mission President and wife. He is happy, cold, grateful for heated floors and warm quilts and hand warmers and learning more and more Korean every day. When we talked to him on the phone he told us the first vision in Korean and we were all blown away by how great he sounds. We miss him, we are proud of him and the struggles and accomplishments he is having as a missionary. He is growing so much and loves his mission so far! He would love letters!!! We are excitedly awaiting his SD card which he says has over 500 pictures on it....he said he sent it last week and I can't wait to see his face!!!


"Well first off, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! THANK GOODNESS WE AREN'T ALL DEAD!! Haha that whole end of the world thing came and went didn't it?? HAha pretty funny stuff. Anyways, Talking to you guys was so good and it made me so happy. It wasn't long enough but at the same time, it made it so I didn't miss you guys to much and that made it so I could focus on the work still which was good:) Haha but I do miss you guys tons and I am grateful we got to talk! It made me so happy. Anyways, it sounds like this last week has been crazy busy like normal! Haha I miss being around the craziness but oh well... I am glad everyone had such a good week. It sounds like it was so much fun and just being around family is an amazing blessing. That is one thing that I really came to feel during Christmas was even though I did some of the things we always do, and I was around people I wanted to be around and was where I was supposed to be, there was one thing missing and that was you guys! I came to realize that those traditions would be absolutely nothing without the family and I am so grateful for our family and for the traditions we have. They are so much fun and everything but, it is the time we spend together that really is so much fun! 

Well this week, we got back to work which was a relief! And we were able to meet a lot of cool people which was good. Actually on thursday,  we knocked on this door and this lady actually let us in. She lived in NEw York for 15 years and spoke good English and she believed a lot of things we believed. The great thing was that she is just searching for truth and not judging by just the church name or whatever. What a great situation! She took a Book of Mormon and said she would read it and I felt the spirit as a testified to her about the truthfulness of it. It was a really good experience! We also had a great sunday which was really good .) On Saturday, I  had president interviews with President Christensen which was awesome! He is such a good man and I respect him a ton.  He definitely is called of God and I am so glad he is my Mission President. That day, I was also able to pass off with the A.P's which was awesome. I memorized D&C 4 in Korean and the Korean A.P said it was awesome. So that made me really happy. Now all I need to do is teach him and I will be certified basically to be a trainer and stuff. Pretty cool. I have worked hard on that so it was good to finish that and get it off my back so I can work on some other things!

Anyways, now I will answer some questions you had::) Me and Elder Hatch are doing great. We are nothing alike and he doesn't like sports and we don't have the same personalities, but we get along and he is great. He helps me a lot and I have learned a ton from him which is really good. I was blessed with a great trainer. Transfers are in two weeks. One of us will be transfered and I will have a new companion more than likely. I want to stay in 개봉 but I will do whatever the mission President asks for sure:) Change will be good and it will push me to work hard! Whatever happens it will be for the best. Koreans celebrate the Lunar New year. It is called 설날(Solar) And it is the second biggest holiday in Korea next to their thanksgiving. Everything shuts down and we can't do missionary work for a bit and we just study and what not! So they party hard then:) Haha pretty funny! They like to party for sure. Answering your other questions, this mission is so much different than what I thought a mission would be. We contact all the time and we don't teach that much which is really hard sometimes. But at the same time, it has given me the opportunity to really rely on my Savior and learn so much about myself and about the gospel. It has been a great blessing! The work is hard but very rewarding, fun, and it is just changing me and I can feel it which is awesome! I am definitely grateful for the blessings of being on a mission. I know me being out here will also bless you guys so much and I am grateful for those blessings as well:) 
Well I gotta go soon but I really hope you have a great week. Sounds like it has been crazy at home... But what is new right? Haha I hope Eisley is doing ok. Like you said, she does have a plan. All of us do and Heavenly Father knows our weaknesses and our strengths and he tests both of them.  I was reading in the  War chapters this morning and I think it is in Ch 50 that Moroni is strengthening the weak cities in the region. When he did that, the lamanites could not even fight back. So just let the Lord strengthen those weaknesses and trust him. "