korea

i've been back from korea now for about 2 and a half years. wow. some days i can't believe it; it feels like just yesterday i was there. other days it feels like it was all a dream and sometimes i forget that i can speak this obscure language.
it's more rare now than it used to be, but this week someone i hadn't seen in a while said, "i don't think i ever asked you, but how was your mission?"
and i feel like i get this sparkle in my eyes when i answer, "it was the best. amazing."

what did i do in south korea for 18 months? i completely changed. i learned about a different side of the world, a different history, a different people, way of life, and culture. i learned a different language, a different set of grammar rules, a different set of manners and respect. i learned of religions, of different points of view, of tolerance, and how to love absolutely every type of person. i learned to live with people i liked, live with people i didn't like as much, and take care of money and things. i learned to not be offended, to be open minded, and to be kind. i learned about patience, how real homesickness can be, how important family is, and how not important some things in my life were. i learned to live without calling home, without the internet, without friends, without music, without movies, and entertainment. and i learned all of that while preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

above all, i learned who Christ was, who He was to the world, and who He is to me personally. i learned that He lives. He loves every single person who lives and has ever lived and will ever live with a perfect love. He died for us, lived for us, and gave us the way back to him. He taught by example and words and deeds how we should live our lives. i learned about repentance. it truly can turn the darkest soul into the lightest of souls. about forgiveness and charity and love. i learned about how much God loves us. about His plan for us and how he is there for us. God truly listened to all of my prayers, even the sloppy ones in korean that hardly conveyed what i felt. He hears my prayers now, as a 24 year old working here in Provo. He loves families. i truly learned that families can be together forever. Eternity. A never ending unit. i learned about my importance as a woman on this earth, about my role, and how i play a part in his plan.

and i learned all of this on those streets in korea. going door to door, person to person, teaching them about the truths that i know. i was rejected, spit upon, pushed, sworn at, yelled at, laughed at, persecuted, reviled. but i was also loved, hugged, appreciated, thanked, received tears of joy, smiles, and friendship.

i cannot even imagine my life without the experience i had as a missionary for my church. i change in SO many ways. i can't imagine a life without my mission. and sometimes i look at people who reject the opportunity to go and serve and it hurts my heart. i'm sure they can learn these things another way. but to me, it would be the hard way.

some people think our church is evil. that we are not Christians. that we don't believe in Christ. that we're a cult. there is nothing that makes me more sad. I love Jesus Christ with all that I have. I owe him all that I am. our church is only good. it teaches us to love everyone, to trust in God and Christ, to listen to the Holy Ghost, to pray, to believe in truth, to repent, to forgive, to not drink, smoke, have sex before marriage, and to marry someone for eternity and raise a family. there is nothing evil in that.

i think about korea every day. and to me, korea is all of those things that i learned.