Off to work--June 8, 2015

Dearest all,

I love you and hope that all goes well. We are doing a 100-hour week of missionary work this week, which means, among other things, no time for email! So just checking in, and I'll let you know how it goes next week. We're already having a blast.

All love~

Elder South

"You can see God."--June 1, 2015

Good day to family and beloved friends. We've had a great week- the weeks seem so short, but as we look back each week we see so many instances of the Lord's hand in the work. We are trying to do everything we can to give the Lord our all, and to continue to rely on ourselves less and Him more even though we have been serving now for a while. We do a lot of recitations, but they don't do any good unless we can take them and put them in our heart, and let them change who we are. We're trying to focus on letting everything get into us, on letting a mission change who we are. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve here and with Elder Perry. Investigators are progressing well and the work is moving forward.  Where did May go? It's June, and it happened quick. It's a pretty busy time, that's for sure, with lots of meetings and trainings, but a very rewarding time to be here as a missionary and to be working with President and Sister Christensen especially.

I don't remember if I explained last week already, but someone called my number and said that she wanted to learn English, so without another thought I just referred her number to the sisters and didn't think about it again until last Sunday, when she and her son came to church. We have been meeting the son regularly, and he is progressing very well. We had dinner at a member's house with him this past Monday, shabu shabu {Wikipedia says: a Japanese dish featuring thinly sliced beef boiled in water. The term is anonomatopœia, derived from the sound emitted when the ingredients are stirred in the cooking pot"} and met him several times this week. We drove up to Dobong with him, his little brother, and his mom on Saturday to attend a baptismal service, and it was a great experience for everyone. He had a fun time, is interested in baptism, and his mom made very good friends in a very short time with the sister missionaries up there, so we're excited to continue meeting with them. As we finished meeting with him one night, the moon was out and the clouds were swirling over Seoul, and he looked over the city and said, "You can see God."

Last week was Buddha's birthday, which is a huge holiday here, and we happen to live a couple kilometers away from the biggest Buddhist temple in Korea, so we went and had a fine time seeing the sights and admiring the lanterns and the sights. We met a very nice woman who lived previously in Salt Lake and she explained much of the tradition behind the day and the associated customs.

We met a Brother Nam on the street about three months back at city hall in our area, and set an appointment, but couldn't go because something came up. His phone number was wrong, or something, and so we have been out of contact, but as I was on exchanges this week we ran into him again and had a sit down lesson with him over mango smoothies. He only comes to our area about once a month, and lives an hour and a half away in Incheon, so it was really nothing short of a miracle to establish contact again and get him meeting missionaries. That same night we met another large Chinese tourist group, and we just started talking with two of the members on the outskirts of the group, but everyone as they were waiting to catch their bus started to trickle over until we were preaching to the crowd again. If only it was this much fun for Koreans that we spoke their language (kind of).

Brother Sin we met again this week, and he is just so prepared for the Gospel. He says that he understands the doctrine and his head feels much clearer everytime he reads the Book of Mormon. He's ready to be baptized, but we're referring him up to Sanggye since he lives up there, and the wonderful ward will welcome him with open arms.

As the weather warms there are a whole lot of foreigners in our area, since our areas includes all the biggest tourist sites. in any given week we talk with people from France, Vietnam, Germany, Russia, Punjabi, UAE, America, the Netherlands, Cambodia, and usually many more, so we just need to throw any fear we would ever have about talking with someone out the window and go for it.

One of our former investigators we met this week, and he referred two more people who we have started meeting in a traditional Korean house turned gallery. One of these new friends is a tea connoisseur, and because he has some experience with our church, he knew our restrictions concerning tea. He prepared for us a special 20-year old flower root tea blend in traditional clay pots over zelkova wood in a very fun quaint little gallery. As you might imagine for such a blend, the tea tasted somewhere between dirt and tree bark, but we were grateful for the experience.

I have been studying expressions to stress emphasis and degree this week, and I had a dream this week that I was studying the grammar book I usually use, and one of the grammar forms was a form that attached to the verb stem and expressed the meaning that you would be willing to give blood in order to accomplish this verb. It sounds kind of weird, but the huge variety of Korean expressions and idiomatic forms made it very believable, and it was weird to wake up to. 이상하기가 이를 데가 없었네 ㅋㅋ

This week I bought an avocado in a convenience store for $2.50, and it was worth every penny.

We stopped in this week at a huge press center to try to talk with them about getting an editorial in the paper about my time in Seoul, and it was quite a different experience as we entered the world of the white collar. We made some allies at the reception desk, but were dismissed without a second thought by the editor on the 11th floor who told his secretary to show us out without a word. If that's not how it went, I would think that something was wrong in the world of press, so we kept trying, and made a break in on the third floor. We're in email contact, and hopefully we can get something in. It will take a miracle, but God is a God of miracles.

We had a combined mission conference with Seoul South this week just south of the river, and President Maynes addressed us. There was some mixup between the missions as to what time it started, so there was some confusion, and we ended up having to make some quick last minute set ups in a building that we had never worked in before without the other assistants, but all's well that end's well, I guess. President Maynes talked about goals. He shared how when he was younger it was his goal to make 50 free throws in a row before his mother called him in for the night. He made it to the 40s a couple of times, and the 30s more, and the 20s a lot, but never 50. In spite of that, he was a much better player than he would have been otherwise. We're also here to do big things, and that starts with desires, goals, and plans built against those goals.

My favorite song from this past week is "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus."

I'm trying to be like Jesus;
I'm following in his ways.
I'm trying to love as he did, in all that I do and say.
At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,
But I try to listen as the still small voice whispers,

"Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught."


I'm trying to love my neighbor;
I'm learning to serve my friends.
I watch for the day of gladness when Jesus will come again.
I try to remember the lessons he taught.
Then the Holy Spirit enters into my thoughts, saying:

"Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught."


"And it came to pass that in this year there was one Samuel, a Lamanite, came into the land... and began to preach unto the people. And it came to pass that he did preach, many days, repentance unto the people... and he said unto them: Behold, I, Samuel... do speak the words of the Lord which he doth put into my heart."

All my love until later. Congratulations, dearest grandmother, on retirement. Maybe condolences are more appropriate, I don't know, I sure know that you have touched the lives of a lot of people for the better.

Best,

Elder South

Should Americans be eating more lotus roots?--May 24, 2015

{Note: Sam is still working on the mission office and now is a time of big transition: his only mission president to date, President Christensen, will be leaving June 30 and the new president, President Sonksen, will be starting July 1. Sam is the consistent factor during the transition, and that is some of what he is talking about.} 

Good afternoon to family and friends- I hope that all goes well. Congratulations on finishing up the school year, and best wishes for an enjoyable and productive summer. We've been having a great time and are just so grateful to be serving here. It's a crazy crazy transfer, as you can imagine, trying to set up conferences and interviews and transfers and everything so that President and Sister Sonksen will have a smooth transition and so that President Christensen can do all that he needs to before he goes home. A favorite joke in the office right now if we can't figure something out is "Just let Elder South deal with it when we leave." Funny for everyone else.

Today is a huge holiday in Korea, the day when Buddha came, so everyone has work off. We're going to try to visit a temple downtown, and on account of our meeting this morning and a lesson this evening we are short on time so I will be more brief today.

We went on exchanges to Dongdaemun this week where we split up with different missionaries. It's always a little bit weird to go work where I was when I first came to Korea, to see that everything is the same but how different I am. It was a great exchange- exchanges are always just jam packed with miracles, and we had some really cool experiences. A guy on the street invited us to eat with him and we taught a lesson, and we taught a lesson with a local member who taught the first lesson probably better than I've ever heard it- I learned a lot! Some older people we met didn't want to talk at first but I learned a new trick- talking about how it doesn't make sense that we don't eat lotus root and garlic stalks in America really makes people over 75 years old open up to you. We exchanged back to our normal companionships and had a great dinner and lesson with Brother Yun and his son from Sanggye. We visited a former investigator and had a good lesson as we ate tomatoes with honey. I proselyted to a student on the bus, and as I started talking his face was strangely similar to a startled rabbit who looks up and sees a diving peregrine falcon 10 feet away. We were yelled at and hugged. A guy gave me a rose. I have once again discovered the wonder of corn silk tea- ohk soosoosoo yum tea. Apparently if someone deflects a comment that they are good at something, you can tell them to "get off the mountain." Wonder and discoveries every day, both in and out.

A sister called me last week, and she and her son came to church yesterday. He is very interested, and we are meeting him again tonight. We had 12 week follow up training for new missionaries and for this group talked a lot about adjusting to a loving life here, making it our home. We ran into some big Chinese groups, and had the opportunity to just sit there and preach like in the days of old to the groups for a few minutes out on the street, which may have been an odd sight for passing Koreans on the way home. Both groups had great questions, but both ended up out of hand in massive selfie photo shoots. Elder Perry still hasn't recovered from the girls grabbing him, it seems. We met a Russian guy that had an excellent command of the English word "no."

We had the opportunity this week to go to Kangneung on exchanges.  I love Seoul, but it was refreshing and a treat to visit another part of Korea's beauty. We saw rice paddies with white cranes stalking, old farmers working all day, lots of fun and lots of miracles. It was a quintessential far Eastern experience as we walked through a path surrounded by rice paddies with white egrets and 4 different kinds of cranes stalking, with old farmers bent over working all day. We stopped an older man with more miles on him than the scooter he was riding, if that's possible, and it was a treat to see him puttering away through the paddies with a Book of Mormon strapped to his bike.  We got a chance to go to the seashore to proselyte, and ate dinner there as well. The water was so clear and it was just beautiful and natural. We saw lots of drying squid, and there were fishermen catching fish using a casting net called a tumang. It was really cool to talk with them, and to see them catch fish in that way- it of course drew our minds immediately to those missionaries so long ago called on the shores of another sea. We didn't have a camera, but we asked a few people to take a picture of us and send it to us, which one kind soul did- see below with Elder Ney, with whom I came to Korea.

Elders South and Ney by the Sea

Every day is an adventure. We meet so many types of people, and see so much good in people. The light of Christ shines in so many of the people of Korea whatever their religious beliefs or situations are. I finished Alma this past week again, and was thinking about just how incredible of a leader and a disciple Moroni is. My goal this week has just been to be like him in his adamant faithfulness and firm resolve to put God first.

Below is a poem I jotted down on the way back from Taebaek a few weeks ago but never shared. I don't know, but it may not be quite the same in Google Translate.

{editor's note: it's definitely not the same in Google Translate it seems. But here's the best I can do.

Besides bustle of the city far miracle

Some villages hidden deep in the heart of the mountains chyeojyeo spread.

The flag of rags flapping away yo, rural miso aging yiyo,

The birds were declared a sublime calm.

Hayo clean air, clear water Look at these,

God is the fortress of pure creation.

Egret governs the rolling distance brooklet.

Like stars in the dark night only

The hillsides covered conifers and forsythia and cherry trees 

which bloom beautifully and only alone.

The heart open and the sky as changchanghan

Arirang is a sign that seemed to hang over the valley humming.

The vines in the mist beside us in jinaganeunde under mysterious cauldron

SpongeBob SquarePants just as a passing thought to the next mangswae spirit.

The purity in the creation of life hadeora flexible dissipation.

Tongue in order that you can maintain back while entangled our lives

You are missing the nature of the US?

We are who we are in search for what has itna?

They knew the deceased 身 土 不二

人, 山, 心, 日光

It was not the two of two

Do all things, all things in His'll

Gangwon

A few frustrations--May 17, 2015

{Editor's note: Sam has done his best to write very positive emails. The last few weeks, a few frustrations have been seeping in primarily related to public perception of the LDS church. Korea is the only really Christian country in Asia, primarily Presbyterian, but with a strong perception of the Mormons as a dangerous cult and lots of false rumors. I think this is what he is responding to.}

Warm greetings to all. I hope that all are healthy and well as school ends. Good luck for those finishing. I hope that AP tests and finals went well, and that those teaching will end the semester exhausted but happy. Congratulations to grandma {Sara Hacken} on her retirement party- as Lisa said, what a legacy that she has left, and just helped so many people, but always seemed to have time for us when we needed it.

The work progresses through trial and fire. It never gets easy, but it's always good. I've seen in the last months that there are people and forces who will stop at nothing to stop this work, and they make things hard for missionaries, but I've also seen that this work can't be stopped, and that the day of miracles hasn't ceased, and that people continue to search for and find the truth in spite of everything against them. I know that those actively fighting against the work will eventually be held responsible, but it's sad when people looking for the truth get caught in the fire and are closed before they hear the message. There's a light, though, and a spirit that comes from testimony that can't be quenched and can't be hidden, and consistently touches hearts and breaks down walls of misunderstanding.

We had a very interesting talk with President Christensen today after staff meeting about press and perceptions of missionaries on Korea. There's so many positive experiences that it's hard to think of others, but over the past few weeks especially I've been astounded at how preconceived notions just shut people off from opening their hearts. We've talked with a few people where it's going well, and a stranger will just come up and whisper something in their ear, and they completely close off, like we were carriers of some deadly disease. But when people yell, or spit, or scowl, or put their eyes down, that's when you know it's true, that's when you can feel it. What a privilege it is to share in just some small part of what the prophets of old faced. Said Elder Richard Scott {a prominent church leader}:

"I wouldn’t change any of it, even if I could, because there are those golden moments of success that make all of the hardships worthwhile. Such rewards come when the Spirit touches a heart for eternal good because someone like you was there. To share truth in difficult circumstances is to treasure it more. When you push against the boundaries of experience into the twilight of the unknown, the Lord will strengthen you . . . It will not be easy. But when was anything really worthwhile easy?"

I have found great comfort too in Doctrine and Covenants 109, knowing that the Lord's purposes will come to pass, and it cannot be otherwise, and all that we can do is all that we can do. I know I've shared it before, but:

"And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them;
And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfil that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days.
We ask thee, Holy Father, to establish the people that shall worship, and honorably hold a name and standing in this thy house, to all generations and for eternity;
That no weapon formed against them shall prosper; that he who diggeth a pit for them shall fall into the same himself;
That no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name shall be put in this house . . .
For thou knowest, O Lord, that thy servants have been innocent before thee in bearing record of thy name, for which they have suffered these things . . .
Break it off, O Lord; break it off from the necks of thy servants, by thy power, that we may rise up in the midst of this generation and do thy work.
 . . .Thy word must be fulfilled. Help thy servants to say, with thy grace assisting them: Thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours.
 Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the nations of the earth; have mercy upon the rulers of our land;
That their hearts may be softened when thy servants shall go out from thy house, O Jehovah, to bear testimony of thy name; that their prejudices may give way before the truth, and thy people may obtain favor in the sight of all;
That all the ends of the earth may know that we, thy servants, have heard thy voice, and that thou hast sent us;
Remember all thy church, O Lord, with all their families, and all their immediate connections, with all their sick and afflicted ones, with all the poor and meek of the earth; that the kingdom, which thou hast set up without hands, may become a great mountain and fill the whole earth;
That thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;
And be adorned as a bride for that day when thou shalt unveil the heavens, and cause the mountains to flow down at thy presence, and the valleys to be exalted, the rough places made smooth; that thy glory may fill the earth;
That when the trump shall sound for the dead, we shall be caught up in the cloud to meet thee, that we may ever be with the Lord..."

We've been working very closely this week with our two most progressing Chinese investigators, Rick and Ting. They are returning to China until September fairly soon, and Rick went to the Philippines this week. We're battling time, struggles with the word of wisdom {health code, probably smoking}, and language differences, but things are going well. Ting doesn't feel quite ready, but they both want to be baptized, and if they can just want it badly enough, they can overcome everything that they are struggling with. All we can do is pray and support them, and wait for the hand of the Lord to be revealed. They are both just wonderful, and both so miraculous in their having found God in their lives. Three investigators were at church on Sunday, including Ting, and things are looking good for all of them.

Every week is full of miracles, and in such a limited setting I am sad not to be able to share more of them, but someday as we watch the dying rays of sun come through our window we can settle down to conversation and admire how much the Lord blesses us. He can accomplish His own work, that is something that I have come to realize.

We are getting along well and having a great time every day. It's a busy busy time with it being President Christensen's last transfer, but it will be a lot of fun. We're going out to Kangneung tonight, 3 hours-ish by bus, for exchanges, and it will be good to escape the heat that is coming all too fast and just be out there and working.

All love,

E South

In which Sam doesn't get married but does meet the US ambassador--May 10, 2015

Hello, and especially a big thanks to many wonderful mothers in my life. May the roses burst forth into softly perfumed shouts of praise when you walk by and the drifting clouds bring back memories of the best of times of motherhood- it's not an easy job, that's for sure.

I will be brief this week but will just share several fun stories from this past week. Congratulations too to Caleb on Princeton- it turns a new page in our family, and I'm looking forward to visiting. We've had a great week, and have had wonderful weather. We went to Seoul Forest on Children's day as a zone and had a good time. The next day I had a sunburn right around the borders of my shirt that looked pretty funny, but it went away quickly. Some other elders weren't so lucky: "Elder Huckvale's bad, he's like a baby pig pink." We have had some pretty late nights as transfer calls were this week, but those are done and transfers will be this Wednesday.

We brought our suits to wear after we got back from Seoul Forest as we went to a lesson, but as we were changing in a hair shop after the owner's friend tried to set us up for marriage here in Korea (longer story)  I realized that I didn't have my tie with me. I was running around proselyting for the first 30 minutes or so after P-day ended without a tie until I found a place in the subway station to pick one up.

President and Sister Christensen were in Japan this week for three days, so more burdens fell on us this week than normal. The first night that they were gone some elders {elsewhere in the mission} got back an hour and a half past when we're supposed to as missionaries, but it ended up being all right.

We met several people this week that had terrible stereotypes against the church, and some we were able to talk with, and some not. It's hard because you know it's not their fault, it's just what they've been taught. I'm trying to get an article into a newspaper talking about my time here and what I've learned and just talk about trying to do what we can to help, but we'll see if that goes through. One person with whom we talked had some interesting comments:

"몰몬교 이단이라고 해요-"

"I heard that your church was a cult."

How'd you hear that?

"교회에서 가르쳐 주시더라고요."

"They teach it at our church."

We had great gorgonzola spaghetti with a new investigator at Hongdae, a fun cultural part of Seoul. On Friday, I saw a foreigner and asked if I could introduce myself. He said sure, and we chatted for a while. It turns out that he was Mark, I don't remember his last name, the American ambassador to Korea, still with bandages but looking well {Mark Lippert was slashed by a knife-wielding, pro-North Korean attacker in March}. He was very nice, and was fun to talk by a palace in his Stanford jacket. I was a little flustered at first by who he was and by how much he knew about us, but we had a great chat, and it turns out that he knows President Christensen. He was surrounded by three bodyguards. He saw me looking at them, and said "These are my friends." Countless people tell us that they're busy everyday, but if the American ambassador has time to stop and talk with us, I know that {other} people can- we just need to be more interesting than whatever else they're doing.

We met with brother Kim and Sister Maeng from Sanggye that night over dinner. they are doing very, very well, holding callings in the church well, going to church institute classes, and sounding like members. We really felt the Spirit as we talked, and they shared some really cool stories that I hadn't hear before, like how alcohol and coffee, which had been hard to give up before he was baptized, just had no appeal after Brother Kim was baptized. Meeting with them just helped me to realize how worthwhile this work is, and how valuable the message that we are sharing is.

With abbreviated stories but infinite love,

Elder South

"Good luck, Father. My name is Moosepark."--April 26, 2015

Lots of eating oatmeal in the car this week. We've had a busy few days, but everything is passed for now until mission leadership conference (MLC) next week. Tuesday was President Christensen's birthday, and we were able to attend the temple. We got there early, and our zones lined up along the hill and sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" as President drove up. It was a great experience on a beautiful morning, and it was great to be able to go to the temple. The weather has jumped from 60 degrees to 80, but it's still beautiful beautiful, with flowers all over the place. There's just lots of nice little touches like big planters at Gwanghwamun, and pink bell flowers at the station next to the church.

It was really a privilege to be with President Ringwood {the church leader assigned to that area of the world}. We got to be there with him all three days for mission tour, and each day was radically different. He is a very impressive man, and showed a depth and an understanding of the Gospel that made me want to change how I study and the role the Gospel plays in my life so that I can have the understanding that he does one day. One thing he mentioned that I thought was neat is to have the goal of hearing the voice of the Lord saying to him individually, "Well done, [Sam], thou good and faithful servant."

We got to meet with him with President Christensen for a meeting after the third day, and it was just cool to sit down with him and learn. It was impressive what he taught, but to me what was more impressive was how he taught, following the Spirit, and heavily influenced by his personal study that morning. It was really cool to work with him this week, and now I'll have to work on applying what he taught us and seeing how we can raise the vision of the mission.

We had a chance on Preparation day this past week to go up to Namsan Tower, and it was a beautiful day, very clear and lined with flowers. We also went to "Ashley's," an impressive American buffet with great mango and dragonfruit salad.

I have made it a point every day of my time in Korea so far to have one street contact every day, no matter how busy we are or what we are doing. The vast majority of days it is not a problem to have many more than that, but especially in the office when we're planning for events or transfers or something it gets harder. One day this week after mission tour, we had to clean up, drive home, and work furiously on a movie that we were showing the next day. We took a quick break, said a prayer, and ran out to find someone. We ran down and found, in our very limited time, just two wonderfully open people, both of whom gave us their contact information, and one of whom we are meeting this week. He said he had a lot of questions, and it's incredible to realize how as people open up, the answers to their questions really are found in the sphere of the Gospel. Tender mercies were a theme this week, with just lots of little miracles, just ridiculous things, that let us know that God is in charge. One student that was baptized when I was in Imun that I haven't been able to be in touch with for a long while, and who had stopped going to church, rode by on his bike as we were street contacting in Dongdaemun after mission conference, and we are in touch. An older man rejected us and our message, but after we talked more took us out for dinner, brought us to meet his 5 friends, and took a Book of Mormon to give to his friend after we left. A family missed the bus and ended up being interested in talking to us. Two Chinese investigators were referred to us, and will be baptized in a couple of weeks.

Somewhat sacrilegiously, Elder Ahn always called chicken tenders "chicken tender mercies."

We sang "Families can be Together Forever" in sacrament meeting, and did the second verse in Korean sign language for the deaf branch that attends with us. It was really cool! I'm not very good at sign language. Fortunately, if we meet any more deaf people on the street, I will be able to say "given us a plan," "marry in the temple," and "family."

We had some great proselyting time the last few days this week, and met some fun people (see subject line). Also of noteworthy quotes is someone from Vietnam who wasn't as interested in talking, and said simply, "Finish time."

We went to the Lusvardi family's home again, with two Chinese investigators. They are just incredible: so good at making people feel comfortable, so humble, so strong. It was just what the investigators needed. We're going again today with the two investigators to Insa Dong for preparation day, followed by a lesson.

We're going to Taebaek again this week! It should be warmer this time.

All of my love and prayers. You are all doing wonderful things.

Elder South~

Playing cello with the Piano Guys--April 19, 2015

Sam with Piano Guys cellist Stephen Sharp Nelson

Good evening to loved family and friends. I hope that all goes well wherever you may be, and that the sorrows and cares of life are being made light through Christ. I have been just busy out of my mind recently, and I will just write briefly tonight {he says}, but I am grateful very much for loving support and prayers as we do everything we can to waste and wear out our lives for the Lord. I'm starting to figure out that life will be kind of hard. There's a lot of things to do and a lot of people to serve, and a responsibility to be better every day means that you can't stay inside, that you can't build up a safe wall around yourself, but you always need to be going out and serving and doing more than you think you can, doing more and more good every day. I'm grateful to be able to able to be learning a little bit of that now, because it's not going to get any easier when college or work or family comes. The Piano Guys {which include the pianist John Schmidt and cellist Stephen Sharp Nelson; see them at https://www.youtube.com/user/ThePianoGuys} were here for a fireside last night. Brother Nelson that a mission is a wonderful opportunity because it's like a charity scrimmage- you just go out and try to serve and love as much as you can, practicing everyday- what better way is there to learn to love than trying to do everything you can to serve every day, especially among such wonderful people?

I appreciated some very timely advice from mom and dad this week, who reminded once again the importance of differentiating between urgent and important work, and not letting essential projects give way to chaff along the way. In addition, counsel from the Bhagavad Gita: we have a right to our labor, but not to the fruits of our labor. We see no results until after the trial of our faith. We'll continue to do the best that we can always, and hope that it does some good sometime.

Demonstrations are still going on in Gwanghwamun, and it took us two and a half hours to get home from the church this last Saturday, just nuts. We went on two exchanges this week, and had a lot of fun experiences, including teaching and giving baptismal dates to three students from China. Lots of miracles every day. I'm also starting to realize that being in the office is different from the missionary work that I have been doing, and every opportunity to get out, especially during a busy time, is a blessing. The weather continues to fluctuate, but is generally very nice.

Sam playing Brother Nelson's Marcello

I don't know if I mentioned last week that The Piano Guys would be coming for a fireside this past Sunday, but come they did, and performed remarkably. I have long looked up to them, especially Stephen Sharp Nelson, not just as incredible musical innovators and performers, but just as good men who live what they believe, and that came apparent more than ever last night, as they rushed from the airport straight to our church building to bear testimonies and favor us with some incredible pieces of music. They were with us until late, and then had to go to another dinner appointment and get to their hotel in preparation for their concert tonight here in Korea. I was up on the stand, translating for Paul Anderson {the producer and videographer}, and got to interact with and talk with them all a lot. Stephen Sharp Nelson told me the story behind his cello that he had with him, and let me play it afterwards as they were eating. Just a really cool experience, and a lot of what they said will stick with me. These are men that have followed their passion, and have found joy and success in bringing their abilities before the Lord and watching Him magnify them. I saw so many people that I knew, it was like a mission reunion. In addition to missionaries, recent converts and less actives were there from almost every area that I've served in, as well as members that I haven't seen in a very long time. Carly, that we met on exchanges in Imun, was there and had a great time, and is meeting with the Imun sisters every week.

Sam with Elder Choi after jeondo, "street
contacting." Their hair is all wet
because of the humidity

Mission tour with President Ringwood is this week, and there is so much to do. I'm working now on making three videos that need to be done by then, and in addition to other preparation and such, the fun never stops. Next week will be a welcome chance to do actual missionary work {get out of the office and talk to people}, if we make it through. Many of my friends will be in finals and tests now as well- good luck. Many thanks for your love and prayers, and all of my love always.

E South