As I did a poor job last week, I will attempt to explain a bit better just the basics of where I am and who I am with. I am serving in Dongdaemun, which is a little bit east, but still solidly in Seoul. I'm not sure where it is in relation to everything, to be honest, but it is wonderful- I am just loving it. Seoul is a really fun city, and sharing what means so much to me is incredibly rewarding. Our house has seven people, so us and two other companionships, but it's plenty big. We sleep on what is called a yo, or a folding pad, so that saves a lot of space.
Early this week, I was speaking with an older gentleman who has spent time at Stanford and taught at NYU. I draw attention to the word speaking, because my comprehension was nothing to be proud of. After a while, he spoke the following to me in English, probably sensing my poor Korean, concerning his take on Yale grads:
"All Yale graduates are mafia. I was invited to the Clintons' inauguration party, and I went, and there were ten parties, and almost all of the people were Yale grads. That's how I know Yale graduates are mafia."
A fun experience, and an interesting commentary on the relative meritocracy vs. who-you-know of political systems? I don't know.
We had a siksa, or a meal appointment, with a ward member this week, whereat we had delicious kimchi, meat, onions, rice, and pepper paste lettuce wraps, and washed them down with not quite as delicious naengmyeon--cold noodles. Bibimpap, mixed rice and vegetables, has fast become my favorite food here, and kimbap places--cheap little restaurants--are a common stop. After general conference yesterday, some ward members made a massive bowl of bibimbap that I don't think I could have fit my arms around, although, somewhat regretfully, I refrained from trying.
Someone asked me this week what my miracle was that day, and I really liked that way of thinking. It certainly has been a week of miracles. Particularly powerful to me has been the astounding number of Chinese people that we have met, and their receptivity to the message. We met over a dozen people from China this week on the street, and many of them are meeting us later. Some of them speak only Chinese, so I will be working out of my Chinese Preach My Gospel this week, while simultaneously attempting to work on the Korean pass-off program. I love Korean, but I love Chinese as well, and it is more familiar and friendly to me at this point. I am blessed to have this opportunity.
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| Street contacting means hanging out at the shops! |
I still know very little Korea, but I am certainly progressing at a much faster rate than in the MTC. Part of that is that we opened a new area and had no investigators, so we have been talking with everyone that we can, and doing lots of street contacting.
We have four solid investigators now, with a few more who will meet us after midterms this week. It is very rewarding to see the results of hard work and miracles, and my trainer is a huge blessing.
We are working as hard as we can. We're beat each night, but we want no regrets- when I get on that plane home, I don't want to have wasted a minute of the Lord's time.
One focus this week has been teaching with more power as a missionary. One scripture that has helped me has been section 4 of the Doctrine and Covenants, where we learn that we need to serve the Lord with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. How to do so, though, has been on my mind. Mosiah 4:27 helped me, saying that "it is expedient that [you] might be diligent, that thereby [you] might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order." This diligence, then, is maybe trust, desire, and a willingness to consecrate myself fully to the Lord: my thoughts, my desires, my energy, and my talents. That is ultimately our goal, I suppose. In Mosiah 7:33, it talks about how "if we will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put [our] trust in Him, and serve [Him] with all diligence of mind," we will be blessed and free.
I also studied Abinadi's story this week in Mosiah, and he is absolutely incredible. His declaration under extreme duress was "I will not recall my words . . . for they are true . . . O God, receive my soul." I know that I have mentioned this hymn several times previously, but his absolute commitment to God under such persecution reminded me of "Nearer, my God, to Thee," and how in all of our afflictions, opposition, and trials, we should never forget the Lord our God, and His Son who died for us.
We just saw General Conference this past weekend due to time differences, and it was amazing, as I hope it was for you. I wrote out some questions beforehand, and one of the speakers at the beginning of his talk asked one of them with one word variant, and went on to answer it, we was very cool. Conference was a very spiritually enlightening experience, and I was struck particularly by President Eyring's talk during the Sunday morning session. That whole session, though, was in the words of my companion, "unreal," and the arrangement of "O, Divine Redeemer" was breathtaking. Let us all ask the Lord to "hear my cry, hear my cry, receive me Lord in Thy mercy. Come and save me, O Lord. Help me, my Savior."
Much love, kimchi, and smiles,
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