Your missionary

Hi,

My name is Janet Lightheart. I am from Medford Oregon. My husband, Ken and I are visiting Korea. Ken served his mission in Seoul about 25 years ago. I have a son serving a mission in Mexico right now and my daughter will leave on her mission to Gilbert Arizona next month. I know how great it is to hear about your missionary.

We attended the branch in Ulsan today and got to meet your sons and daughters. They all look great. I always love seeing missionaries wherever I go. They are happy and it’s great to see them show their love and associate with the Korean saints. We had a lunch after church with the branch. It was also great to see their happy welcoming faces as we entered the branch.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Janet Lightheart

Week 6!! Still a week of Miracles

Hello Family and Friends!!!!

Time is zipping by!

So we have one more week and Ohjeeyoon will be baptized!! Sorry I would put the korean name but I am using a different computer. It is harder to type. We had a lesson on sunday about baptism, the holy ghost, the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. It went SUPER well. Her dad went to the hospital suddenly last week and is super sick, instead of turning away from the Lord she turned to the Lord. She prayed super hard the whole time. She is so ready and prepared to be baptized. We are super excited for her and can’t wait! She is absolutely amazing. And she got engaged!!! She is super excited about that as well. Her boyfriend was super kind and helpful to her and her father especially when he was really sick. He is catholic but I think eventually his heart will soften to the gospel. ^^

This last sunday we met a brother by the name of Brother Roman. He served a mission in 1978-1980. Eventually in his mission the peak they reached per month for baptisms was 350 or so. Give or take a few. What? Isn’t that insane? it was a huge spike. He said that if they felt the spirit then they were baptized. They were not under any rules or regulations for baptism so you could just get baptised if you felt good about their message. He was really inspiring and gave us a lot of advice. A lot of it we are starting to implement. We are using the Book of Mormon more which is drawing more people.

Today we went to kyongju. It is soooo coool! It is a famous city that we will for sure go to when we come back! There are Buddhist temples there and it is absolutely beautiful there. I will send pictures next week. Sorry I can’t this week. This computer is super old and we usually go to a Samsung store to send emails. It is soo amazing and beautiful. I can’t wait to send you pictures.

We have recieved a lot of contacts this week, which is super awesome!!! We are so happy and hopefully we will get more. We are working hard and hastening the work as much as possible. The Lord has watched over and has blessed us a ton this week!!! He has been everywhere with us and we can feel his angels surrounding us. I love being a missionary! It is seriously the best thing in the whole wide world!

Wow, can you believe it is my birthday soon?? In 2 days…April 2nd here I come! Wow, I can’t believe I will be the BIG 22. AAAHHH! So crazy. I don’t feel it though because everyone around me is younger. I feel like I am one of them. hahaha.

Here is the address. Sorry I haven’t sent it! This is our mission office address. I am not allowed to send my real address over email becuase of protection things. But this is where all mail goes.

Dongrae Post Office P.O. Box 73. Busan 607-600

I will be able to get mail from my district leader or when we have meetings. So, you all can send me anything and everything you want ahhah.

I am sooo excited for General Conferance in two weeks. Remember to have questions or concerns, etc and bring it to Conference. They will be answers.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!! It is so great being a missionary. I love it and cannot wait for what is next. Everday is an amazing and awesome day in the service of the Lord. He is always there for us and is ever so mindful of us. This gospel is true and the Book of Mormon is true. I know it with all my heart.

Love, Sister Orme

week 4 – “We need to grab those hands that hang hopelessly down”

Hello Everyone!!!

This week has been fantastic! We are seeing the blessings that come from being exactly obedient. My companion and I decided we needed to work on being 100% obedient and it has created sooooo many miracles. We gained a new investigator, we have recieved a a lot of referrals, we have 3 new members for our English class, we are teaching with more power and with the spirit, 김윤애 kimyooneh our less active is drinking less coffee, and we have a for sure baptism on april 6th. It has made us completely exhausted by the end of the day though. Which is fantastic!!!! We are working hard and trying to be what the Lord wants us to be.

1. Some of the sisters from our zone and I eating at a restaurant last pday

2. We made french toast for fhe! in a bowl like thing. We didn’t have a pan. This is a hilarious picture of my companion. Her face kills me. It is sooo funny!

3. We made this whiteboard, and we are soo proud of it hahaha

So, korea is still amazing and I love it! There are a few things that are interesting that we would never see in America. But i love it! There are sometimes tables with pig heads and feet, there is a lot of hanging meat, and fish everywhere! I love it! I love being in a completely different place. It makes everyday an adventure and soooo much fun!

On sunday we had an awesome 고기 (meat) party and our recent converts country home (natalia and her husband). It was a blast being able to spend time with the members and get to know them. We ate sooooo much meat! And we took a lot of oils to compensate it all and we feel a lot better. The korean bbq is sooooo good!

1. Delicious rice. Made out of a traditional pot for the meat party.

2. Grandpa Kang! He is seriously the cutest old man ever!

3. Me and Natalia

Me and my companion are reading Jesus the Christ. It is sooooooooo good and amzing! I really suggest reading it because you gain a lot of insight from it. It is amazing!!!! We are becoming obsessed with it.

I will leave a spiritual message. I was reading in the gospel principles book and it was on sacrifice. I wrote this quote in my planner…”People have always been tried and tested to see if they will put the things of God first in their lives”.

 

1. Picture of the surrounding area at the country home.

2. Eating delicious food.

3. what we ate. sooooo good! chicken with sweet potato.

A lot of people don’t realize that God gives us trials so he can test us and see what we will do with them. We are tested on our reaction to what is lotted to us in this life. It is amazing that God blesses us more abundantly as we trudge through and come out better. Trials are for our benefit! There is no way better for us to learn then to go through trials. Heavenly Father is seriously the best!!! I love him and he loves us in return. This is what we are sharing. Our work with the less actives is bringing people back and lifting them up becuase they are hopelessly lost. I love this work and I am so grateful for what Heavenly Father is helping us do. This is His work, and we are his vessels. We need to keep the spirit of Christ within us. We can be powerful tools in his hands. BE THAT TOOL!!!!!

love, sister orme

Week 3 in Korea

Hello Family and Friends!

So, this week it rained alot so we were not able to do the Book of Mormon activity that we wanted to do. No one was outside. We are going to do it this week though so we will keep you up to date. ^^ Another group did and they were able to give tons of copies as well! Soo amazing!

This week we have been working on a lot of less active work. THERE ARE SOOOOO MANY! We organized and clean the records and got to know more about them. Which is fantastic! We have started calling them and instead of asking them to come to church we ask how they are doing and if there is anthing we can do for them. The feedback has been super positive! We only had one person tell us to not call them back but that is ok. We are really getting everything ready to visit and take care of the less actives. We are so excited!

1 and 2 Our bathroom/shower they are one and the same.

3 Our kitchen and Sister Benbrook

Sister Benbrook and I were looking through our family history. It is soo amazing! We have a lot of work done. Someone has put in info for as early as the year 35!!!! Isn’t that crazy?? Please go to familysearch.org it is sooo amazing!

4 our beds we call them a “yo”

5 our desks

6 our extra room

So, we have a new recent convert and her name is Natalia. She is Russian!!! Which is super cool! She and I talk a lot together about Russia. She speaks English, Korean, Italian, and German. She is amazing! She is super knowledgable and super excited to learn more. She is married and has one son.

7 mmmm fish!

8 me next to the fish

9 a part of busan!

Our investigator 오지윤 (Ohjeeyoon) will be baptized April 6th! We moved her baptism date because we felt strongly to make it later.

Our branch is so wonderful and they work sooo hard. It is so much fun getting to know them.

10 this is what personal and companionship study looks like after it all. haha

11 look who i found in a liahona! (Floyd & Karen Brown from our ward!) haha

12 view of the city

Today we had a zone pday. It was really fun! We ate together and shopped a little. Then we played basketball, kicked a little ball around, had a ping pong tournament and played monopoly deal (The orme bros favorite! haha)

The weather is soooo beautiful now and it is warm. Today we are not wearing our coats at all!! I love it!

So, Derek wanted me to explain the sticker thing. I don’t know why but Koreans LOVE stickers and putting stickers on things. So, this board is what will first attract them. It is going to be amazing when we do it!!!

I love you all! The gospel is true!!!!!! I will write more next week.

Love, Sister Orme

Week of Miracles (Week 2 in Korea!)

Hello Family and Friends!!

I LOVE KOREA!!!!! Every day I am so happy and grateful to be here. I still can’t believe and I just love it sooooo much already and I haven’t even been here 2 weeks yet! I love it, I love it, I love it! Missionary work is so fantastic and brings so much joy to me and my companion. we get soooo excited because the Lord has helped us and guided us. He has helped us with so man opportunities to do service and to guide people. He is the greatest! I feel his love everyday! I feel the love for these people everyday. They are so cute and are just the greatest. They are sooo kind!

I love Korea!

The koreans make cabbage be their greenery during the winter.

Fun pictures from the beach.

So, the first few days here in Korea we received alot of training and kind of just getting to know our mission rules and standards. We had a wonderful  전도 activity (Proselyting). It was a blast!!! Everyone was freaking out about my hair and my korean. We would be with a different companion every 20 minutes. President and Sister Gilbert were watching us to see how we got along. My companions were really surprised about my Korean, which I was surprised about. I am just glad that I can preach the gospel and say what I want. My teachers,  이 자매님 (Sister Lee) and Sagers 자매님 (Sister Sagers), prepared us soooo well! Also, Heavenly Father is always on our side! Which helps a ton! Then of course, we got to meet our real companion, which is Sister Benbrook. I already mentioned that but I do gotta say. I LOVE HER SOOOO MUCH! We are so meant to be together and we know why. We are both going to make so many changes here in 신정 Shinjong (this is our area) and the city we are in is 울산 Ulsan. It is soo great! I am so happy to be here. The members are so wonderful and they work so hard to help friends come to church, and less actives to become reactiviated. They are amazing!!!

We have a cute little 30 year old Korean girl that will be baptized this month on the 23rd! Her name is 오지윤 (Ohjiyoon). She is the greatest! Her brother is going to BYU-Provo and he is LDS. He has been encouraging her to join the church, which is fantastic! We are so happy and excited for her. She is so eager and wanting to learn more about our church. She wants to get baptized soooo bad!

Last pday we found some beautiful korean dishes in a ditch. They were absolutely nasty but we couldn’t resist the temptation of taking them and cleaning them up. I will be sharing pictures. It sounds ridiculous but it was a blast!!! We will have such good memories about them when we come back. Haha. We passed by it and I said it as a joke that we should take the dishes and clean them up. Then Sister Benbrook said we should totally do it and then I agreed. So, that is how things happened. I can’t believe we did but it was soooo much fun! hahaha. Afterwards, we went to a beautiful beach! It was gorgeous! I will send pictures. We went with our investigator and we had to hand her off to some other sister missionaries because they are whitewashing her area. It was sad to hand her off but we can’t teach her anymore because she is not in our area. The new sisters bonded really well with her and we are so happy about that. She is making sooo much progress!

Us picking up the bowls from a ditch.

The beautiful beach we visited.

This last week we got a really random, but not of course, call from a less active. She hasn’t been coming to church for a while so we were really happy to hear from her. She said she had a really bad day and needed a message from us. We were happy to do it. I felt really inspired to share a sentence from PMG and then also Joshua 1:9. I am so happy we shared those things because that is exactly what she needed to hear. The paragraph in the PMG talks about repentence and being able to feel peace. It also mentions that no matter what the Lord is with us but we have to do what he wants us to do to receive blessings. She needed that really bad. I love Heavenly Father and what he does to make us his hands. We are so blessed! We set up to meet with her but she got terribly sick. We will be meeting with her soon.

We have another investigator and her son, 황태숙 (Hwangtaysook) and her son we call him Jordan, and they have progressed just in the last two times we have met! They have been meeting with the missionaries since December and they are progressing more then ever. Jordan prays by himself occasionally and he loves learning about Jesus. He has sooo many questions. He is only 9 years old and speaks English super well. We are teaching his mom as well and she speaks well too. She prays all the time and reads the Book of Mormon. Jordan reads the little BofM story book. They are so great! We are super excited about them.

This last week, we met with a less active sister 김윤애 (kimyooneh). She is trying to stop drinking coffee. We met with her tuesday and challenged her to not drink any coffee at all from now on and also fast with us on saturday. We texted her 3 times a day to give her encouragement so she would be able to resist the temptation. We even were going to take her coffee away but her husband drinks it. We believe in her and know she can do it. She speaks English super well as well. Oh, BTW So many people speak English here! It is crazy. She hasn’t contacted us since so we don’t know what is going on but we pray for her daily. She is going to do it! We believe it! We meet her on tuesday so we will be able to catch up with her.

This last friday we had a Mission Tour. It was sooooooooooooo amazing!!!!!!! Elder and Sister Ringwood came and spoke to us. Everything they said was exactly what Sister Benbrook and I needed. We have a ton of Less actives in this area and we are trying to figure out what we can do about that. Our Branch is basically a ward but because there are so many less actives, it isn’t one yet. They only need a few more people to get a new building, be an official ward, and also become a stake. We are working so hard and know that Heavenly Father is blessing us so much.

So, last week most of our appointments dropped. Which was sad but not. We were able to get so many records organized, calls to the ward members, and figuring out who the lest actives are. Heavenly Father is giving us this time to find the less actives. We don’t have a lot of investigators anymore but we know exactly why. We are not bringing more people into the gospel at this moment but we are reviving the area. We were both sent here to do this work because Heavenly Father trusts the both of us to do. We  are excited and we are so grateful for the time that we have so we can meet less actives. Please pray for us to have success with the less actives. We are going to change this place and Heavenly Father knows we can do it! The Ringwoods taught us so much and we are so excited to apply it in our work. We are expecting miracles and they are going to happen! We believe it with every fiber of our being!

Last night, some sisters called us from another area with very, very exciting news. They tested out this idea that Sister Benbrook had a little bit ago. They had a sticker board with questions from the soul (they labeled it Questions of the heart because it is hard to describe soul in korean). People would put stickers where they had questions, then they would have to fill out a questionarre. Some of the questions were like, if you had an opportunity to figure your question now would you want to hear it, and stuff like that. Then we would use the Bof M to answer those questions right then and there. Guess how many BofMs they gave out in about 2 hours?…………………………..they gave out 46 BofMs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! isn’t that absolutely amazing?????? The sticker board is what first attracts them. One thing you got to know about Koreans is that they love using stickers and it works. We are going to do this as well. We are so pumped and cannot wait to do it. Please pray for us as well for success. We know it will work and we will plant seeds in peoples hearts and will bring many more into the gospel. Seriously, Heavenly Father is blessing us soooooooooooooooooooooooo much!

I am so grateful for this gospel and I know Heavenly Father is providing a way for us to expound and move forward his work. We see miracles all the time. Many have been small but huge in our eyes. Heavenly Father knows what we are capable of. With him nothing is impossble!! Nothing! I have seen first hand, everyday even. I love the gospel. I love being a MISSIONARY! I know this is what I am supposed to be doing and I know this is exactly where I am supposed to be. We have a lot of work ahead of us but it isn’t daunting at all. There is always a way and Heavenly Father is going to provide it. I’m speaking to all missionaries in the field or member missionaries: NEVER EVER lose your faith or hope. Heavenly Father is always there for us! We can DO ANYTHING if we trust in him. Trust in yourself and trust that Heavenly Father is going to use you. Take that extra mile. Do and Follow. You will bless so many lives! I believe in all of you and I am praying for you all.

Also, the Ringwoods and our mission are really working for ward missionary work. It works and it is something that needs to be pushed. Every member is a missionary. We are commanded to share the gospel. Heavenly Father will bless us so much if we just put our foot out and the door and find those less actives or share the gospel with people we know. You will be blessed. Help the missionaries out as well, they need your help and can help you so much with your missionary work.

You are all fantastic! You are all amazing and doing such a wonderful job!

LOVE YOU ALL!

Love, Orme자매
Sister Orme

Hello From Korea

Hello Everyone!!

I just got to say I love Korea! It is seriously the greatest thing! I am so happy to be here. I am sorry but I don’t have much time to write. Today was super busy. I am actually allowed to email for 2 hours! But we couldn’t today.

So, our first week has been amazing! We are SOOOOO BUSY! We have so many investigators which is awesome. We are also planning on having 6 baptisms this transfer! I will let you know how it goes. Next week I promise I will write more about exactly what I did for these past few days.

I am in Ulsan right now (울산) and my trainer is Sister Benbrook. We are both working hard and loving it here. I am so happy to be a missionary. It is the greatest!

I am sooo sorry but I really have to go. I took too much time reading all of the emails and I have to email my branch president.

I will just say this…. Sister Benbrook and I are making things happen and we are working hard. I love missionary work and could not imagine myself anywhere else. I am so happy. I love the people already. Everyone tells me I am so beautiful and that I speak amazing Korean (even when I say hello hahahah). I am so happy that we had so much practice with our Korean in the MTC. It has really helped with everything. A lot of people are speaking to us, and you were all right, because of my hair and because we are both Americans. It opens doors. Heavenly Father has also blessed us with being able to contact many people and to have sooooooo many investigators. We have no time for anything but them.

Today we had a ton of fun! We went with an investigator to a beautiful beach and ate delicious food. It is sooo healthy here. I love it! It makes me feel soooo good! We also had many adventures today. Next week I will be better and write everything that has happened. I have to go. LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Love, Orme 자매

Sister Orme’s safe arrival

Dear Brother and Sister Orme,

Recently Sister Gilbert and I had the choice opportunity of meeting your daughter at the airport and welcoming her to Busan.  Even though her flight had been lengthy and she had little chance to sleep, she was still cheerful and smiling.

We have been anticipating her arrival and it was wonderful to finally meet her.  We spent two days together and had an opportunity to visit privately together in the Mission Home.  We also enjoyed a very spiritual training period where Sister Orme expressed her desire to serve the Savior and the Korean people.

Sister Orme was also able to meet her new companion who is an outstanding missionary and an excellent trainer.  We know that they will grow together in service and love as they teach investigators and members in their new area.

Missionary work in the Busan Mission is new and exciting, and our missionaries find great rewards in serving the Lord here.  Sister Orme will learn much about herself, our Savior Jesus Christ and His gospel as she serves with all her heart, might, mind and strength in the Lord’s work.  She will come to understand her role as a disciple of Christ. (3Ne. 5:13)

We are grateful for her willingness and her worthiness to serve.  We thank you for preparing her and for sharing her with the Korea Busan Mission.  We know that her devoted efforts will richly bless the lives of your family.

We thank you for your support and ask you to write regular encouraging letters and send faith promoting experiences to her . We know that as Sister Orme works with all her heart, might, mind and strength she will have a most amazing missionary experience.  We know  you will experience the miracle that is missionary work through your daughter’s fine and diligent efforts.

Packages from home are always welcome and most products will arrive safely and not incur any customs fees.  Please do not send beef jerky, it would be confiscated, and it is available here for purchase at Costco.  We have also found that sending packages by international mail is generally preferable to using international courier services such as FedEx or DHL.  Courier packages come to the street address of the mission home and there are times when no one is available to sign for them.  Courier packages are also much more likely to be subjected to greater customs scrutiny, delay, storage fees, etc.  US International Priority Mail is fast and provides several fixed-price boxes that do not have specific weight restrictions.  We check with our post office every day, so if you use the post office box address below, your package will be picked up immediately and delivered quickly and safely:

Sister (First Name and Last Name)
Korea Busan Mission
Dongnae PO Box 73
Busan-si
Busan-gwangyeoksi
South Korea

Sister Gilbert and I are honored to stand beside these tremendous young men and women in this sacred calling. Thank you again for your sacrifice and service.  We pray that the Lord will continue to bless you and your family and keep you ever in His watchful care.

Faithfully yours,
Lynn A. Gilbert
Korea Busan Mission President