Cause I'm Happy~

I've been thinking about my mission a lot lately. It really does come up in any conversation. But I'll write about that later. 

This week, I wanted to talk about how we view our lives and how that can affect us. My mission changed my way of viewing life! Let me summarize this in just two words: 

THINK POSITIVELY

It's as simple as that. Do you want to be happier? Do you want to find success on your mission (another topic for later)? Do you want to radiate the light of Christ about you as a missionary?

Then you must start to first see the good in this world 

I had a time on my mission where (emotionally) I hit rock bottom. I got so depressed and just felt hopeless. I would work as hard as I could everyday -- and I'm thankful that this rock bottom didn't affect that -- but every time I was out and about I would think, " What's the point? They're not interested and we're just setting ourselves up for failure and rejection." Our investigators were gone for the winter break, so we had no one to teach. It seemed like no one was interested in the gospel. It was the holiday season and so that just adding more to my sadness, too.

Talk about pessimistic. 

My mission president could tell I was struggling. My companion was brand new and so she didn't know how to help me. All I could do was just mope in my sorrows.

Until one day, after weeks of my mission President reminding me to be happy and the Lord telling me through prayer that I am being successful, I somehow began pulling myself out of the hole that I had dug for myself. I'm not sure how it happened, to be honest. I think it really was a tender mercy of the Lord that got me out of the hole. 

I felt the Lord's hand pull me up and out. 

That was a turning point for me. I began to think more positively and kept telling myself that I could do this. A day full of rejection was a good day because that meant I talked to all of God's children. A day full of "failure" meant a successful good day because I fulfilled my purpose as a missionary to "invite others to come unto Christ." If an investigator didn't want to learn or read or get baptized, I kept my head up high because I was doing my part in reaching out in love. 

Optimism helps you move forward.

Now don't get me wrong. Remember, optimism does not equal indifference. Nor does it mean you cannot be sad. Optimism is more like the opposite of discouragement. If your investigator doesn't want to get baptized and quits coming to church, be sad! You should be sad if you truly love them! But that does not mean you quit. You keep moving forward as a missionary, and you keep your faith that there are prepared people out there. 

After I climbed out of that pessimistic hold of mine, I felt like I became a different kind of missionary. One who was more motivated and driven to do the Lord's work. (I was also on the downhill of my mission, so maybe that's why too ha) Nothing changed, people still rejected us, people didn't come to church, etc. But my view of everything changed. And the Lord was with me. That was all I needed. 

Even now, after my mission, I still fight that kind of pessimism in my life. It impacted me forever. No, I was not and am not diagnosed with depression. It wasn't that bad. But the power of prayer (again, a different topic) continues to give me an optimistic view of life. Find the good in every situation. I definitely see the difference this has made me now; my mom once asked me if optimism is the only thing I learned on my mission because I bring it up so much haha! 

The Lord, the gospel, life, is all about goodness. God wants us to be happy and we can be no matter what. Whether it's receiving optimism through prayer or just seeing the good always, that gives you strength as a missionary and as a person!!

I invite each of you to make a conscious effort to be happier and smile more. :)   

I Learned That....

I'm finally getting around to what I learned on my mission. I'm going to try and do this as much as I can. I'm hoping that I can keep this up for quite a while. I also really hope that somehow this will spread on the internet and be one of those blogs that people look at before their missions. We shall see :) 

Also, my numbering of my lessons is not the order of importance or anything like that. It's just random!

So, lesson #1. It's tough to say. I learned so much that I'm not sure what I should start off with....

Ok, I've got it. January 15 is a very important day for me. Especially January 15, 2013. Two years ago (TODAY), I received my mission call to be a missionary for the California Oakland/San Francisco Mission, in addition to serving at the Oakland Temple Visitors' Center. I was called to English speaking, and I was to report on May 29. I still remember that day, two years ago. It was such a happy day. And my mission was just so much happier. 

So lesson #1 is that significant memories will always last forever. 

Especially from your mission. There were many times where I didn't have time to write in my journal. I was so worried about forgetting everything, especially because my memory stinks. But lo and behold, I feel like you never forget anything that happened during your mission. And thank goodness for that! Every day I cherished so much. It meant so much to me to be able to wear the name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on my chest, and represent our Lord Jesus Christ! 

I think about my mission everyday. Not a moment goes by that something can be related to my mission. I keep saying that it changed me life forever. And it has! And I'm glad for that. I'm also super grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with the gift of remembrance when it comes to my mission. I sincerely believe that if you are doing the Lord's errand then He will never let you forget it because such precious blessings always come from that service! 

So there it is everyone. My first lesson I'd say is trust in the Lord. Write in your journal as much as you can on your mission! Stick things in for memories, and record your thoughts and feelings of everything everyday, if you can. But if you happen to miss a couple of days (or weeks...) don't sweat it. Heavenly Father will always help you remember the memories that you create. Because the mission is so sweet and wonderful! The work of salvation is real and satisfying!!!! :) 

I'm baaaaaaack!!

I just got back from the most amazing experience of my life!!!!!

I just finished my church mission in the Bay Area of California. 

As you can see in my previous posts, I received a mission call from my church. 

What church do you say?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!!

Where did I go?

California Oakland/San Francisco Mission, in addition to serving at the Visitors' Center

Ah. I loved my mission. It was so great. 

I'd go back in a heartbeat. 

I've been home for 2 weeks now, and yet I feel like it's been longer than that!!

As I've been thinking about my mission every. single. day. 

I've been wondering what could help me remember and apply what I learned. 

And so I decided to jump on the blogging bandwagon of sharing what I learned on my mission, here on the internet. 

So I will start doing that maybe once a week or so? 

Hopefully I can keep this goal up! :) 

My name is Yunnie. 

I am a recently returned missionary for my church. 

I love the Bay Area more than anything. 

I am so grateful for this time to continue becoming a better person. 

I love the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

And I'm a Mormon. :) 

(And I'm now ready for my youtube video hahaha)

The Final Countdown!!!

I had my farewell today; and I leave in 10 days. WHAT?!

How did this sneak up on me so fast?! I'm already down to 10 days?! I feel like there's so much to do still, and hardly any time now!! In 5 minutes, I'm going to be officially in the single digits. *_*

First off, I'm super stoked. Scared out of my mind, but excited to experience this. I've never been away from home in this kind of manner yet, so this is going to be quite the new adventure! My family has also always had the experiences of life through my older sister first, but she is married and so I'm the first (and last) missionary in our family! I don't like being the guinea pig (all the more reason why I'm glad my sister is the older one)!!!

I also had my farewell today (except, in one minute it'll be midnight, so technically yesterday). That was weird, in a good way. It just never seemed like the day I would be hosting a farewell would come. And yet here we are; it's come and gone. And I'm so glad it went the way it did. I think I gave a pretty good talk, but that's always up for judgment to the audience. Then we had lunch at our house and it was quite the success. So. Much. Food. And almost all of it was gone!! Apparently my dad counted how many people came and there were over 50! I feel so loved :')

I was really grateful for everyone that was there, and all the support and love they've given me all these years. I'm also really grateful for the friends that took the effort to come to my farewell, especially my friends who live in Provo. That's not a short drive, and so it was so good to see them, and it made me so happy. I've truly been blessed with such great friends who are strong in the Gospel and uplift me to be better. 

I'm grateful for the home ward and all the people who are in it. This ward is seriously so great. I'm going to miss the people here. It's funny, I've realized there are quite a bit of people in this ward who have known me since I was really little. Those people have been a wonderful blessing in my life as well. 

I'm so glad my talk is over though!! Won't have to worry about that for a while :) 

It's now the final wind down of life, as I now transition from normal person to a missionary of the Lord. 

I'll post back again soon (I hope)!! In the words of my sista, Party Rock. 

Getting Really Nervous for What I'm About To Do.....

And by "really nervous", I mean seriously super nervous. 
Maybe it's more anxious? It's times and emotions like these that I can never pinpoint what adjective I want to describe how I feel.

It's currently 1:16 and I should be sleeping. I've been lying in bed sleeping and (figuratively) dying in bed the past two days with what felt like every sickness imaginable (migraine, sore throat, no voice, upset stomach, etc.). So I should take advantage of the first day of recovery and go to bed early again, but I can't seem to do that right now when there's a ton of thoughts going through my head...

As I have mentioned before, I have been called to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the California Oakland/San Francisco Mission (aka the Bay Area woo!). I will also be serving in the Oakland Temple Visitors' Center. I leave in 55 days (woo!). It's crazy how fast time is going by, both in a good way and bad way. Good - I'll be leaving on my mission soon and I can't wait to be out there. Bad - finals are coming up...where did this semester go?!

Anyhow, tonight has been a night full of emotions for me, regarding the mission. It all began when I decided to begin watching the videos the Church tells you to watch, prior to entering the Missionary Training Center (MTC). The only things I've really heard about these videos are that they're pretty emotional and that it'll make you feel like you need to step up your game by like 10,000%. I've only watched the first one so far but oh dear...talk about emotion. It truly is full of the spirit; reckon, it's a little cheesy, but the power within in on preparing and planning is so strong. My first thought after watching that video was, "Am I going to be ready for these kind of situations?" I know the mission is going to be hard, but....just watching the first video of these sets has already made me realize just how much harder it's going to be when I'm actually out there.
The second thought I had with that video was being able to feel promptings from the Spirit while teaching investigators. The missionaries in the video were so good at teaching! I really hope that I'll know just what to say and help bring others to the Gospel. Even more nerve-wracking, right?

Then the night got more interesting, and it's really ironic how this night played out.
So I love the show "The Big Bang Theory". I love being able to understand all the physics and math jokes; nerds rule! So after I finished the missionary video and pondered for a bit, I decided that I should do my hair and then go to bed (as I usually do). I also decided that watching an episode or two of "The Big Bang Theory" while doing my hair was a good idea. This is where the first interesting part of the night comes in: Sheldon's mother comes into town for the weekend, who is a huge Christian religious woman. She revolves everything around God and her church. Anyway, in the episode, Sheldon's mother and his friends are at a church and she suggests they all take a turn praying to God. She goes, then Penny, then Leonard, Howard reluctantly follows (he's Jewish), and Raj then finally goes (who's Hindu). The way they pray was so ....casual. And kind of disrespectful. I know they're doing it for humor and all, but still....I didn't appreciate it. I wish shows and movies would keep religion out; humor can be found in other ways. I just wanted to jump into the show and say, "Hey, let me teach how to really pray and tell you about my faith". 

Last part of this interesting night. Afterwards, I check good ol' Facebook.....where all the drama and movements happen (but don't really affect anything). So long story short, apparently there's a new website run by some members in the Church, calling for women to hold the Priesthood. It's like when those people tried to get women to wear pants to church. Seriously people? I'm not going to get into this issue specifically right now because that'll be a whole different post, held for tomorrow. I saw this through a post from a local news facebook page and so the comments following the post were about this issue. Of course, some people were then bashing on our religion and questioning things, etc.
This got me thinking even more....am I really ready to be a missionary? Me, a girl only 20 years of age, going to one of the most liberal areas of the country. A girl who has been called to one of the most dangerous places in the nation as well. A girl who is still learning about the Gospel herself and still growing her testimony. 

Am I ready to face these people in person, rather than through words on the Internet? Am I going to be ready to have the patience to try and teach them the true Gospel and have them be open-minded and have a soft heart? Am I ready to go through a lot of angry people, as I serve in such a liberal area? Will there be people willing to hear our message and be inviting? Am I just bracing myself for 18 months full of doors slammed in my face? 

I don't know why the Lord has called me to serve in the Oakland/San Francisco mission, but I do know that that's where He wants me. I don't know for what exact purpose I'm being called there, but I do know that what I'm preparing myself to do is the right thing. I may not feel ready now, I may not feel ready the night before I report for my mission, but I know that the Lord will guide me each day to do what I need to do for Him. 

With this super crazy world that's full of contradictions, arguments, hatred, and drama, preaching the Gospel is going to be ever so much harder. But to preach the Gospel to that world in 55 days is what I'm going to do. With all my heart and might, I will put all that I have into serving my Lord to bring others just that same happiness and joy I have experienced through His wonderful Plan of Salvation.

I hope that I will be able to answer questions people throw at men. To anyone who may come across this and read it - please, if you have questions, assumptions, rumors, or anything about our church, please ask the missionaries or the members to make sure you know the truth. 
My prayer is to be able to do the Lord's work as best as I can when I report to the MTC. Alone I am nothing; with the rest of the missionaries, I am something. My prayer is for people to be open-minded. 

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am a normal person, just like anyone else. And this is the life of me. 

Called to Serve!!!!

What better way to start to blogging new year than to announce something that's super important in my life, and something that will bless me with the best experience ever!!!!

I have been called to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!! I have been called to serve in the California Oakland/San Francisco English speaking mission! As well as preaching the Gospel to the people of California, I will also be serving in the Oakland Temple Visitors' Center. I report to the Provo MTC on May 29, and I can't wait!!

The picture shows my mission area!!! As you can see, it's right along the bay area pretty much. Super awesome. I've never been to this area of California, so it's going to be a new experience! I've also only heard good things about the area and the people. :)

I'm so so excited to serve a mission, and I can't wait to go out there and spread the Gospel! It has blessed me all my life in so many aspects, and I want others to have that same happiness and joy eternally. Heavenly Father loves me so much, and I want other people to know that He loves them just as much and wants them to return to Him. This truly is the one and only Gospel; this is Christ's church. 

If you have any questions about life, please, contact the LDS missionaries. They can help you. With an open mind and open heart, read the Book of Mormon and then pray to God, asking Him if what it contains is true. I promise you that you will gain an assurance that it is true doctrine. 

I love this church, and I hope that I will be a great missionary! I know these will be the best 18 months of my life. :) 

Happy New Years Everyone!! (Yes, I know I'm late)

My new years resolution is to blog more than 7 times this year; 2012 was really rough on the blog....

Spreading the Gospel...One Soul at a Time!

I had the coolest experience happen to me last night. Who knew having something start out so awkward and weird turn into a missionary experience and a chance to share the Gospel!! My friends and I got to do that very thing last night.


So we were sitting around, drinking hot chocolate and talking, when one of my friends asked if we had ever heard of chatroulette. Some of us and some hadn't so we explained what it was and we got a computer and got on the site. Now that site has a bunch of weird pervs. Luckily we didn't get any because we didn't have a camera on the laptop we were using so they would just skip us. But then one guy got connected to us and he actually looked normal! So we started chatting with him and he asked where we were from and we told him Utah. It lead to us telling him about our religion and we told him to check our mormon.org and watch a video or read a profile. He seemed interested and started asking what else we believed in. Luckily, we had two of our guy friends with us (who are RM's) and they got excited about this missionary experience and started chatting with him. He told us he had gone to a catholic school since 6th grade and that he had never thought of "mormonism" but he said it sounded interested.
We kept talking to him and told him our beliefs without trying to overload him. So in the end, what did we end up doing? We told him we could send missionaries to him of course! We told him to look for the "missionary request" link in the top right and he could fill out his address on the site and have missionaries come to him. And he did it. What?! Could this possibly be a future member who will learn the Gospel and become baptized?! And he has a pretty serious girlfriend too (they're both 20). Is it possible he could bring the Gospel to her after and she get baptized as well?! It was SUCH a cool feeling! This is definitely what missionaries must feel!! We felt so cool that we got to have this missionary moment!


I really hope he meets with some missionaries and has the chance to learn about our church! That would be so cool. And I hope I can serve a mission myself one day so that I can have that wonderful feeling with me all the time! I want to be able to experience being able to share my testimony of this Gospel all the time. I know this church is true and that God does still speak to us through a living prophet today. I know that we still have living apostles on this earth just like in Christ's time. Death is not the end, and I know that in the Millennium we can all be resurrected. We can be perfected through Christ if we repent and follow His teachings. God loves us and wants us to return to him, for we are all children of God. I know that The Book of Mormon is a true book that was written by prophets of old. Joseph Smith truly did translate it from the gold plates and he risked his life so many times for the coming forth of the true church. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and did receive revelations from God; and that still exists today! I know that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I am proud to tell everyone that! 


Check out mormon.org to see what we believe in and hear other people's testimonies of this Gospel. Some of the world may see us as something like a "cult" or not a real religion, but we're normal people! We're just the same as other people. And we have missionaries all over  the world, they're there to answer questions!! I invite you to learn about our religion and see what it's like.

....and I am a Mormon

This past weekend, our church had the wonderful opportunity to listen to our prophet and general authorities speak about different Gospel matters. It was our 181st semiannual conference, and I just loved every single moment of it!


The first thing I want to mention from General Conference that I thought was very interesting was how we call ourselves. Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that the word "Mormons" is acceptable only when it is referring to just the members of the church. We shouldn't call our church the "Mormon church". We are the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! The name of our church explains what we believe in a general easy sense. He said that we lose the confusion when we use the full name of the church. 
This brings up a wonderful website that our church has created. It's www.mormon.org and it allows members of our church to create their own profile and explain about why they're part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I think it's a great way for anyone investigating our church to see what it's about in the words of other people. I highly suggest anyone to go there and read some. It shows all the people who have testimonies of the truthfulness of this Gospel! 


I also really liked Elder Tad R. Callister's talk about the Book of Mormon and how it has no middle ground. I agree with Elder Callister and tell you all that this book is so true. It truly claims the word of God in every verse and every page. It acts as a support to the Bible and what it teaches. Together they bring us to one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. You haven't studied our religion until you've studied the Book of Mormon! As you read, study, and ponder this book, I promise you that the Spirit of the Holy Ghost will come upon you; you will feel a peace inside you and you will feel closer to God. I know through studying and praying about the Book of Mormon that it contains true doctrine and is the word of God. 
I also invite anyone to read the talks from our General Conference via the internet (you can find them on lds.org) or purchasing the November 2011 Ensign, which will come out closer to the end of October. You will come to find that the words the general authorities teach are divine inspirations from God!! 


All in all, I do know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church. Through trials and tribulations in my life, and through prayer, I have come closer to Christ and I have felt His hand bless my life in ways that I know no one else could do. He has blessed me with such a wonderful family, excellent education, and the best of friends that uplift me. Joseph Smith was a true prophet who restored this church on this Earth. Without a doubt this wonderful Gospel must be spread throughout the world so that others may feel the happiness and joy it brings to one's life. Come unto Christ. I promise you that this Gospel will bless you in so many ways. I know that God lives. He loves us, and wants the best of us. I'm proud to be a Mormon; I'm proud to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I invite you all to come unto Christ and feel His love surround you! You will be blessed!