It has been a week of many blessings as we seek to serve with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength! This work is just, simply, fun. It is hard work, of course, but the relationships that we have been able to develop with people, and just the pleasure of talking to as many people as we can about that which we care so much about, is an absolute pleasure. No matter what the thermometer may read, every day the weather is perfect, the food is wonderful, and we have no excuses. As we work and trust, things just have been working out in ways that we cannot see how they will beforehand, before the trial of our faith. Not always is every issue solved, of course, but the hand of the Lord is easily apparent in people picking up their phone and scheduling an appointment, coming to church, being willing to talk with us, and even being able to understand and be understood. We have found people who want to learn more in ways that we never would expect, and I know that those are direct blessings from the Lord.
Another more temporal blessing that I experienced this week was 호떡 (hoddeok), which I have been waiting to eat until the weather gets a bit colder. It is essentially a pancake/scone type thing with caramelized sugar and sometimes nuts in the middle. Resplendent.
As were were unable to locate cellos on time for the conference this week, we will not be playing now, but it sounds as if we will play at Christmas just for our mission. In other news, I saw another shirt this week that read, in vintage font, "Paris, Sweden." I will do all I can to acquire such an item. Although there is certainly some funny English that goes around at times, people are extremely fashion conscious here, which has been a lot of fun. We have several people that we have been meeting with that study fashion design, and there are a couple schools around our area that specialize in such.
R and D, two of our Chinese friends, met with us on Tuesday this week. It has been a challenge to teach them, certainly, both because of the language and also because they really have no base at all to draw from concerning religion, but so rewarding as well. We have relied on scripture verses and pictures to help teach, and have had to teach very simply, which is good practice for me, as I have a hard time boiling things down to the essence and explain them as I would to a child. We talked about prayer, and why it is important, and at the end of the lesson, R offered a beautiful prayer, her first one ever. It really brought the Spirit, and as she prayed, she expressed gratitude for God's love and for her learning more about Him. She said about the church that she "liked it there," and that she wanted to know more. Unfortunately, she and her friends are all returning to China on Thursday this week, after having finished their semester. I will be really sad to see them go. They have progressed so much in so little time, and will not have a chance to learn more or receive baptism when they return. I can only hope that they will continue to pray and to remember, and that one day, they will be able to receive that which they desire.
It was Brother B's birthday this past Wednesday, so we met with him in the morning. He leaves for military service in about two weeks, and we are really working with him to keep his desire for baptism strong, so that he, if he does so desire, will be able to be baptized before he leaves. He did commit to living the word of wisdom, which was a big step for him.
We we able to meet, too, with M early this week. A member, N, taught with us, and she is so strong. As we talked about the Restoration, and she bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon, it was real, meaningful, and powerful. It was a privilege to be in that lesson with her and M, who is so wonderful and so desirous to learn more concerning the Gospel. This morning, however, we received a text from him expressing sincere apology, saying that his parents oppose him coming to church and that he won't be able to anymore. We, of course, were devastated, and hope to visit his parents soon to speak with them and show them that we are normal people with good values.
Many people in Korea see the church as 이단 (idan), or a cult, and are not willing to listen to what we have to say because all they can see is this idea. It happened before, with Brother N. There are lots of untruths on Naver, Korea's main internet search engine, concerning our church, and it makes it very difficult at times for people to accept our message or talk with us. I was talking with someone the other day for a while, and as he left, he began to write down his number, and halfway through asked what book I was carrying. As soon as he saw "Mormon," he dropped the pen, turned around, and walked away without a word, because of that reputation. There are those who are willing to listen, though, and I really hope that M will be able to keep coming to church.
IS is a professor in his thirties who is incredibly smart and learned all of his English from CNN broadcasts, so he speaks on a sophisticated level and uses hilarious and often misused idioms when he talks and writes. We talked with him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ this week, and he agree to be baptized in December, which will be a great thing for him. He will be a great support for the ward, and will benefit so much from the Gospel.
JS is a 20 year old studying fashion design in our area, and is the boyfriend of one of the members of our branch. We met him yesterday for the first time (for me, anyway, he's come to church twice before), and taught him during the third hour. We were able to teach with a couple of members, and as they testified and his understanding grew, the Spirit was again present in force. He committed to baptism on the 14th of December, and we will continue to teach him.
The biggest news of this past weeks is transfers. A trainer and a trainee are rarely split up halfway through training, but not much is normal about our mission right now, and I was surprised when President Christensen called and said that will now be serving in Imun, the area adjacent to Dongdaemun, with Elder Grimshaw, who has been in my house. He is only one transfer older than me, so we will be incredibly young, but we will work diligently, use all of our resources, and obey, trust and pray all the time, because we can't do this on our own.
I am super excited to be in Imun: it is a fun area, the branch is wonderful, if small, and we will work hard. I need to go for today, but I will speak more concerning Imun next week. Many thanks for your love and support.
With love,
Elder South
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