안녕! It has been a beautiful week, and I am grateful to be able to share even just a few of our experiences and the miracles we have seen over the past few days. The cherry blossoms are out and absolutely beautiful, and the weather, although it has cooled down significantly over the past few days, is still wonderful, and we are just happy to be here.
Sunghwan we met this past Tuesday, and although he had not last week, he had prayed this week, and had great experiences to share and questions to ask. Mina wasn't able to make it this week, as her grandmother was in the hospital, but she should be back this week. As we were looking for a place at Kyeonghee Dae later on that day, articulated to us in Korean by a native Chinese speaker and rendering us very confused, we ran into him and he helped us figure out where we were headed. Mohammed, such a funny guy, suddenly called us and said that he wanted to meet with us right away for tea at his house, so we ran to grab a quick lunch, went to find him, and he said that we should go out to eat. We ended up walking for half an hour first as we talked, but were still (I at least, Elder Jones did quite well), very very full as we tried to eat our bibimbap. We met afterwards with Sangjo and discussed familes and their eternal significance and nature, and he enjoyed in particular grandma's picture with President Obama ^^ Lian dixiong we met in a very noisy college cafe, but we had a great discussion and really were able to feel the Spirit. He had great questions, and although he is now back in China, he said that he felt that part of his purpose in coming to Korea was for he and his friends to learn about this. Definitely felt God's help with the language as we spoke smoothly and remembered needed vocabulary. Ungsam also suddenly called us as we were finishing, but when we called back afterwards, he didn't answer, which meant that only half of our appointments that day were from people suddenly calling us (^^?)
On Wednesday, zone conference was great, and we left with some good goals and things to think about. We headed up to Jangui, close to us, to teach Xuebo, who will be baptized later this month, but he didn't show up soon enough before English class, so we weren't able to meet with him. We saw Paengwen on the street, though, so we brought him back to the church and talked about prayer for a while. As we were waiting in front of the Jangui church for Xuebo, a guy suddenly ran up to us and asked for our name card. We talked with him for a bit, and he came to English class an hour later, saying he'd bring his daughter later. Pretty cool.
On Thursday I went on an exchange with Elder Osborne, and we tried to not schedule a lot of appointments so we could have some street contacting time. We had a fun time, and met some incredible people. Before our appointment in the afternoon, we had a quick snack- I got a pomegranate waffle that is definitely worth mentioning. We went walking with Sangjo, and talked with him about bringing friends to our meetings. Dad, you mentioned that he may have some kind of social anxiety, and I think that was a really good insight. I'm not a psychologist, but when e'er we invite him to anything, the first question he always asks is how many people will be there. He served as a general in the Vietnam war, which could definitely have led to anxieties and such developing later on.
We had a quick dinner, "burgers" (not quite), and pomegranate juice that ended up being kiwi juice. I won't complain. We taught Zack, who came to church last Sunday, in the evening with the sisters, and it was a very sweet lesson. The Spirit was very strong, he accepted everything well as we talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he accepted a baptismal commitment for the 27th of this month. As we said a prayer of thanksgiving afterward with the sisters, it was a touching experience.
On Saturday we met in the morning with Mugi, a Chinese guy that takes the subway for an hour and a half to meet with us, quite a sacrifice. We went up to Kyeonghee University and ate Bap Beogeo next to beautiful flowers on a gorgeous day. We discussed the Book of Mormon for a while, and he had great, great questions. We are looking forward to continuing to meet with him. We met immediately afterwards at the church and went with some youth to the temple for a stake youth temple day, and were able to help out, which was a really cool experience and a bit nerve wracking in Korean. When we were leaving the temple, which we usually only go to once a transfer, so this was quite the exception, we did see the Augustine-Adams family, and again down in the subway. The odds are, frankly, impossible that we were both at the temple then. They came to church at Imun on Sunday and were a great help with our Chinese friends who came to church!
Saturday evening we met with Yimong, from Beijing, and he accepted a baptismal commitment for the fourth of May. We met with Seongjin that evening as well, whose mom opposes his participation, and asked to speak with his mother. We hope to be able to do so, despite his claims that she is a "scary woman."
On the Chinese scene, 3 Chinese nationals committed to baptism in the past week, and so many were at church yesterday (including the Augustine-Adams) that we needed to switch rooms with the Relief Society so that we could fit. Only three of them were able to make it to sacrament meeting, but it was good that they were there. I'm glad that things are advancing, but it does present somewhat of a dilemma for us. It is difficult to take care of Korean investigators at church while simultaneously making sure that everything runs smoothly for Chinese speakers who come. We have relied heavily on members, and our whole branch has been very supportive. There has not proved to be time for both Korean and Chinese language study in a day, so I have been studying as needed, and some days Chinese is needed in lieu of Korean. I do not want to neglect Korean, and have been thinking a lot about this, as most of our most progressing investigators have been Chinese in the past weeks. We're here to serve, I suppose, in whatever manner is asked of us.
On Sunday evening we ate at our branch mission leader's home with Sa Gae, which was a great experience. He is doing very well as he makes more friends and participates fully in activities. It has been incredible to see him change during this time in Imun. As we discussed Korean and English idioms, Elder Osborne threw a curveball with his accidental use of "cheater, cheater, pants on fire," which was fun for us and a bit confusing for those listening intently to idiomatic usages.
I've been loving reading more in the New Testament lately, and have particularly enjoyed much of Romans. We know that as we put our trust in God, He will help us through anything. Really!
All my love and prayers,
Elder South
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