In which Sam reports getting glasses...

24 February 2014

Pink Pants or Bust!

A beautiful day to all! It has been quite a week to remember, from going to the temple, getting glasses {editor--we have no idea}, interviews with President Christensen {the mission president in charge of 200+ missionaries}, the return of Chinese members, and random bus depots in northern Seoul under massive time crunches, but, speaking of, we're going hiking today at Dobongsan, a pretty famous hike, with one of our Chinese investigators, and are headed out really soon. I will mention that we had the privilege of attending two baptismal services yesterday. Bill, or Chunheng, a Chinese national returning on Tuesday, was baptized and confirmed. We were able to speak with him for a bit, and he really is incredible. I was lucky to have to opportunity to confer the Gift of the Holy Ghost upon him in Chinese, and I was really, really nervous all day. I just don't speak enough to be able to do that. It ended up being a very special experience for both of us, and, without going to much into it, certainly an experience that I will remember and that confirms the tender mercies of the Lord. That evening, Paengwon, another Chinese national, was baptized. We have had the privilege of teaching him with the sisters {women missionaries} over the last month and a half or so, and he is also so, so wonderful. So happy, so full of questions and hope, and always in his bright pink clothes. It went beautifully, and we will be able to continue teaching him.

 

All my love and prayers! Have a beautiful week.

 

^^

Elder South

Speed skating along

Each week seems to go by more and more quickly, every day not having nearly enough hours to do that which we feel we need to, and each week too we are happier and more excited as the weather warms our bodies and the Gospel our hearts. I can hardly believe how the time has skated by, and, as always, feel honored but inadequate to this sacred calling of representing the Lord Jesus Christ in Korea.

This must be Elder Jones on the left. We're not sure why
we bothered to buy Sam clothes before he left, since
he seems to have picked up plenty of stuff there. The
shirt is funny. The pants seem...unusual.

Elder Jones {Sam's new companion} is wonderful. He is self-driven, studies diligently, and works hard. He is happy, full of questions, and improves in his proselyting and language skills daily. He has taught several lessons largely on his own, and astounds me every time. We are getting along well, and seek to continue to find our respective strengths so that we may be more united and effective as a companionship. We ran literally just about everywhere this week. Time crunch after time crunch has left Elder Jones panting and probably wondering about my sanity, but he continues to smile, and just keeps going. We go hard in Imun, as the adage goes. I need to take care, though, considering he could easily shake me like a rag doll and toss me out our third story window if I don't take a step back once in a while (see attached picture). Training is a lot of fun~ it allows me to have a new start, of sorts, and be the absolute best missionary that I can be as I try to set an example. We've had a great time, and will continue to have a lot of fun. Definitely a challenge, but not one that I would trade for anything.

Brother Sang Jo is as perplexing as ever. He commits and accepts doctrine without reservation, yet remains unwilling to come to church. There is clearly some sort of fundamental disconnect going on, and we continue to strive to find that. He desires to be baptized, but will not take this vital step. Church attendance, as per the mission focus for the past month, has been occupying much of our thoughts concerning Sang Jo and other investigators. We are trying to explain church more fully and invite more directly, but need to continue refining and inviting.

Ung Sam really took large steps at progression this week. He is demonstrating a sincere desire to know about the Gospel, and wants his family to meet with us as well. We will see if we can win his wife over to our cause, as she, at least thus far, has not been entirely supportive. Sung Il, a recent convert, has continued to attend church, and has opened up to us a bit more. He continues to grow and to learn, and the scriptures have really been helping him to do so.

Paeng Won, a wonderful Chinese investigator, continues to progress. Although originally scheduled for baptism yesterday, he will hopefully receive the ordinance this week or the next. He is the brightest, most cheerful guy I've met out here, and is always complete with pink scarf, shirt, pants, and bike. Just love him.

We met several new Chinese nationals this week with some real potential. Although small, Gospel Principles in Chinese has been going well, and we really strive to grow that and to do all that we can to share the Gospel with all of God's children here in Seoul.

I hear a lot concerning the Olympics, which is always an exciting time! How's Korea doing? Kim Hyu Na killing it? We went ice skating a couple months ago, and elementary school kids were skating laps around me even though I was about four times as tall as them. Sister Yejin, in our branch, received her mission call to California yesterday, which is really really exciting for her and the branch. We visited her home yesterday to talk with her dad, who does not oppose, but neither does he support the church. As we talked about a scripture in Third Nephi, we felt a large measure of the Spirit, and I think he did, too. They move to Daejeon on the 24th, but we will do all that we can for them until then.

I dislike email (싫어ㅎㅎ) in that I often feel that I misrepresent my experience out here. I love the people, the culture, the country, everything, and we have many great experiences, but really what a mission is is individuals. The one, and seeing them change through the Atonement of Christ. There are too many experiences to share, but that is really what is special to me and what matters. We can work, and teach, and call, but when that one person's eyes light up because they feel, that is why I am here.

All my love and best wishes. My family is across the world now, and I wish them, and all, all the best. Be safe, happy, and warm. Be the cause of peace and joy wherever you are.

Off to the temple tomorrow. All my love,

Elder South

Fish With No Heads On the Go

Good afternoon at the end of another beautiful week. Isn't it always! We have continued to see and strive for the hand of the Lord in this work this week, and it has been rewarding.

With limited time, I will briefly outline the past week. Last Monday we visited a large palace in Gwanghwamun, in central Seoul. It was bitterly cold, but breathtaking for a different reason. Countless courtyards, structures, and statues were very, very cool, even after enjoying the Forbidden City a couple of years ago. On a whim I grabbed a Chinese copy of the Book of Mormon before we left, but should have brought dozens. I gave it away before we went in the gate, and probably more than half of the visitors were Chinese nationals stopping through Seoul and seeing how their imperial palaces compare, I suppose.

That night, Sangjo gave us another massive bag of yellow corvina fish, pre beheaded, that we ended up passing on to a sister in our ward {the local congregation}, as it might be a while before we'll get rid of the other bag in the freezer. Tuesday and Wednesday were sad days as everyone prepared for transfers, dividing our district and preparing for new friends and more hard work next transfer. Thursday was transfer day! It's been a solid couple of transfers with Elder Grimshaw, and I'll miss working with him! 

After some training, I received my new companion, Elder Jones! He is from Sandy, Utah, and is wonderful! He came ready to jump right into things, and has put up with my at times a-little-too-on-the-go attitude without complaint, even when we had to go on unexpected exchanges with the zone leaders {missionaries who lead the local area of Seoul} or dash madly but with attempted dignity between subway stations. I'm very impressed with his Korean coming out of the MTC {missionary training center in Utah}, and he'll surpass where I'm at in no time at all {umm, the editor doesn't believe that}. His meticulous and careful character is a valuable contrast to my aforementioned haste, and our planning in particular has therein improved.  I hope that we can grow and learn as we serve together in the coming weeks! He has taken some Chinese, and offered a great testimony of the Book of Mormon during our first lesson Thursday night, to Paengwen from China. With Sister Deng in our district, we hope to really pick things up. I really feel that this is part of why I am here, and although I am inexperienced, weak in the language, and young, I do have this dream, and the desire to make it happen. Our first Gospel principles class in Chinese was this past Sunday, and it went well- we hope to be able to continue and grow that into something more. Muye, from a town of two thousand in northeastern China, enjoyed church, in spite of me not being able to understand or translate a bit, really, not a bit, of our branch president's talk on the Old Testament, and a mangled Japanese to Korean to Chinese talk by a visiting member. Perhaps the bibimbap after church made up for that.

Anyways, It's been a great few days, and we look forward to the future with hope and smiles. This is definitely a new chapter, and we will do everything we can to make ourselves instruments in the Lord's hands.

Much love,

Elder South 

Lunar New Year 설날

안녕ㅇㅇ~~ ^^

Hoping all goes well! Transfer calls were this week {when some missionaries are moved around in their assignments}, so I'll begin with those. Elder Grimshaw will be going to Nokbeon, in northwest Seoul, and he'll be great! It has been a fun couple of transfers, growing together in the Lord. Sister Kang is also headed out, which is sad- I've been in her district since day one, and knew her at the MTC as well. She's also the only Korean in our district, and as such will be a great loss for the branch. Sister Deng is transferring into Imun from Dongdaemun, and hopefully we'll be able to really propel Chinese organization forward. We usually teach together twice a week or so, but if we start focusing on that, we have big hopes. I'll be staying in Imun and training a newly-arriving missionary, and since Sister Kang is leaving, we would love to have another Korean in the district, although I am sure that it will be both enjoyable and challenging regardless of what happens.

설날 was this past week, the lunar New Year, and it was quite a party. The New Year's celebration, along with a thanksgiving-ish holiday, 추석, are the biggest in Korea, and the streets were essentially deserted for the three days of celebration, with everyone at home with family. We had a great mission conference, and were able to visit a few different homes of our branch members, always accompanied by lots of 떡국, the traditional Korean New Year's food, which makes you a year older when you eat it. Thus, in Korea, everyone becomes a year older at the New Year rather than their birthday. Ages are counted a bit differently as well here, so I am actually twenty-two in Korean age. It was a fun holiday for all, but now is followed by the return to school and work that is always hard after a holiday.

We had a great experience this week with Kevin, who has enjoyed meeting with us in the past, but has never been excited to keep commitments or necessarily act on what we have to say. Last week we met with him, and he said that because he didn't make it into a dance company in Korea, he would be returning to Australia to finish up school, and he was quite disappointed. We discussed trusting in the Lord, and how the morrow would work out if we focused on obeying the Lord today, and he said that he would begin to pray every day. As we met him this week, on the day of his departure, he was very excited to tell us that he had been praying every night, and that he had surprisingly been called in that day by a company, and had been told that he had made it in. He was really excited, and said that although he had always tried to be a good person, it wasn't until recently that he was really always trying to have God play a role in his life, and he knew now that God was watching over him. He will return to Korea in about a month, and faces more tough decisions moving forward: the dance crew that wants him to work for them wants him to undergo plastic surgery, which is ubiquitous among Korean idols, but is not something that he wants to do, so he will continue to pray, and we will stay in touch.

As we were out working without much success this past week on a very rainy day, Brother Ungsam called, and said that he really wanted to come take a look at our church. As we took him around, he told us that he really wants his whole family to meet with us, and wants to learn why we believe what we believe and take time out of our lives to talk about it. He loved the church, and has faith in God, but doesn't know exactly where to place it. We hope that his family will be interested in this glad message as well.

Sister Sin, who I have talked a bit about the past couple weeks, came to church yesterday and offered a beautiful testimony, expressing thanks and trust in the Lord. Unfortunately, she will be moving to the Daejeon area later on this month, and she will certainly be missed.

It has been wonderful to work with Elder Grimshaw, and he will certainly be missed. We have both grown in the Lord during this time, and he will do great work in Nokbeon. We are both very excited for what the next transfer brings, and will continue to grow and work this week and in the weeks to come!

In Matthew 11, Christ talks of the peace that can come from relying upon Him and keeping His words:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

I have talked a lot about peace previously, but there is just such a profound sense of belonging and purpose that comes through Christ. As I was reading Isaiah this week, he speaks of peace being as a river, which sentiment I have always loved, but I was thinking this week that it was kind of a strange simile, as rivers can swiftly roar, bend, and flow. I think, though, that true peace is maybe the same way. Peace is not sitting still or being idle, but a state of action, where you are at peace because you know that what you are doing swiftly and with purpose is for the right reasons, and you are continually progressing towards Christ by looking ahead, and carving a path for those behind you who may see you as an example.

Anyway, may all go well this week. All my love,

Elder South

Melanie {Sam's research mentor at Yale} emailed this week and said that she submitted our article to {the journal} Evolution. I got an email from them, so now we're waiting for a preliminary lookover and then hopefully reviews, so we'll keep our fingers crossed! #poisonfrogs4lyf