Three-Quarters of the Way!

 Wow, it's been a while since I've posted.

Today marks 18 months since we dropped Jaden off at the MTC.

It's hard to believe he's three-quarters of the way through his mission!

Jaden didn't send any photos of Christmas, but it was sure nice to talk to him 

on Christmas Eve.  It would have been Christmas Day for him,
 and he and his companion had a full schedule of going and singing at some nursing homes

and doing other acts of service.  He sounded great on the phone!

He sent us some wonderful gifts. I got a beautiful scarf with Korean characters,

and Chris and Caleb each got a tie with Korean characters as well.

Jaden will have to translate when he gets home.

He sent his sisters each a fan with primary songs written in Korean on them.

It was so special, and he put a lot of thought as to what fan to send to each of them.
Alexa also got to talk to Jaden's companion from New Zealand.
She's obsessed with The Hobbit and Lord of the Ring's, and Jaden told her that his
companion had been to the Shire, so Alexa squealed and wanted to talk to him.
I think it made her day!  Here is a picture of Jaden with his companion:

 

For New Year's, member's of the ward gathered and ate Rice Cake soup.

Jaden says it's very similar to Chicken Noodle soup.

Doesn't look too bad, but then again, I made some Korean pastries the other night

that I thought sounded good, and they were horrible!

Here are pictures of the soup and some of the members enjoying it:

 

Jaden has had some very sacred experiences and has witnessed tender mercies.

While attending the temple a couple of weeks ago,

Jaden ran into Brother Soh who he taught in his last area, Wonju.

He was very close to Brother Soh, and I hoped that Jaden would get to baptize him.

He was transferred before that happened, but Brother Soh was baptized at the beginning

of January.  Jaden never thought he'd see him again,
 so I know it was a great experience for him.

Here is a picture of them together:

Another miracle happened for Jaden last Sunday.  I'll share a part of his letter to me:

  "I actually had a cool experience in Sacrament meeting yesterday. Brother Daro is Cambodian, and he can't speak Korean. So, I was asked to translate Sacrament meeting for him. I tried translating before for another brother, but it was really hard. Its also always hard to focus for the whole hour because after the first talk, the speakers normally use bigger words or speak too fast, etc. BUT, yesterday I was able to translate the whole hour. Not perfectly, I left a lot of blanks, but I was able to help Brother Daro out. It was really cool because I know that Heavenly Father was helping me out by helping me focus on speakers who talked about simple topics that I know about."

The language has not always been easy for Jaden, especially understanding it while others are speaking, but I have a testimony of the gift of tongues
and of the interpretation of tongues.

I know that as these missionaries are obedient and are striving to do the Lord's will,

He will bless them with the gifts that they need when they need them.

So grateful for the gifts of the Spirit!