White Christmas in Seoul --December 28, 2014

Editor's note: Sam turns 21 today (which was yesterday in Korea). His letter for the week tried to say quite a lot in a short amount of time and is a bit confusing, so we've edited it a bit. The summary is something like this: he's still working as a "Zone Leader" with responsibilities for about 36 missionaries. They've been working a lot with Brother Kim, who escaped about 5 years ago from North Korea and has been seeking God for a long time. Brother Kim was baptized into the church this week on Christmas Day, a "White Christmas" on account of wearing all white for the baptism. I'm not sure whether Brother Kim's wife is already a member of the church. From our {parents'} perspective this seems to be the most meaningful relationship that Sam has developed thus far on his mission. We did get a chance to speak to Sam via phone on our Christmas Day, and he sounds settled and very mature and happy. He said that he thinks he'll be leaving Sangye soon but not sure where he will be transferred to. 

Good day to all! The Christmas spirit has not quite made way for the long winter quite yet, and today's warmer weather gives me hope that maybe it never will! Let's keep the light and warmth for as long as we can- it never has to leave. <3 It seems that the weather, which has warmed up over here a bit, may have dropped elsewhere {back in the states}, so be safe and have a joyous new year.

It has been an incredible week, an incredible month. The zone is doing well, and I have been so blessed to serve around great missionaries and members and see so many miracles. This past week was very memorable, and we saw lots of these miracles. It makes us want to be better, to be worthy of all these!

We met three Chinese citizens separately in a lesson setting this week {by this I think he means not just greeting on the street, rather actually sitting down and teaching them about God. I assume this is three separate lessons with three separate people}. One we will continue to meet with, and hopefully as the winter break ends in a couple months and others return from China, we will be able to meet the others too. We ate squid and soup and had a great time. One we saw later in the week as well as we were caroling in our area along with one of his friends that expressed interest in staying in contact with us.

"Praise to his mem'ry, he died as a martyr, honored and blest be his ever great name!" {A Mormon hymn about founder Joseph Smith}

Yesterday was Joseph Smith's birthday, and we had several great appointments. One guy we met was close with the missionaries about 5 or 10 years ago but stopped investigating the church after the missionary he first met went home. He is now married with a wonderful family, and I hope that we can continue to meet. Another guy we met, a policeman, is good friends with someone that Elder Killpack {Sam's companion, who was in a different area of Seoul before} knew from his first area- God works in mysterious ways. We had a feeling last week to go to the church a different way than we normally do. We did, and the guy we met going that way instead accepted a baptismal date this week, has come to a couple activities, and loved church yesterday.

Wednesday we finished all of the lessons with Brother Kim, and had a meeting with our ward mission leader. We went to pick up a cello for me to use on Thursday at the Christmas Day baptism service, and the sister who was giving it to us was waiting at the bus stop with a cello and a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. Wow!

Elder South and Elder Killpack with
Brother and Sister Kim at Brother Kim's baptism

Thursday morning came around, and we were a little bit nervous- you always are before a baptismal service, and we exercised, opened presents (thank you! <3) , studied, read Luke 2, bought a cake, and went to the church to clean and prepare for the baptismal service. We practiced our song, with cello, violin, and piano, a hastily written arrangement of "Arirang" {Korean national song} and "Angels We Have Heard on High." The practice went great, and then we ran down for the service. It was probably the most powerful baptismal service I have attended, with the Spirit of God strongly manifest as Brother Kim made this important choice on such a special day. Brother Kim and his wife bore powerful, powerful testimonies, as did President Christensen {the mission president}, our ward mission leader, and our bishop. Brother Kim's wife said that she didn't want to prepare any thoughts because she just wanted to say how she felt, and she, and all of us, just felt so much joy. The time came for our musical number, and it was atrocious. Just horrible. The part with Arirang, which I was just playing from memory, having figured out that morning, was not remembered well, and during the chorus of the second verse of Angels We Have Heard on High, the sheet music fell off the stand and was put back lovingly, relatively quickly, and upside down. In spite of that, though, there was a lot of love from the ward, and you just live and move on. Of all the things that can go poorly at a baptismal service, the musical number is certainly the one to pick.

That night we went to our bishop's house with several recent converts for dinner. It was wonderful, with duck and blueberry cheese and kimchi, and we all tried to share something as a gift to Jesus. Once again, Brother Kim gave a powerful testimony.He works in life insurance, but he said that when all else fails, baptism and following God's commandments is the real life insurance. He said that when he was being baptized, he felt so clean and happy, and he wanted to just stay in the water, but I yanked him out too quickly.^^

We always as missionaries look for the reason that we have for coming to where we are and how we can fill that potential. There is still a lot to do in Korea, but many experiences have led me to feel that a big part of me coming here and serving here was to let me be strengthened by witnessing this miracle.

It was a beautiful Christmas.

We went up to Donducheon the following day to conduct a baptismal interview {for other missionaries teaching there}, and the man we interviewed is so prepared and embracing the Gospel with admirable fervor. It is a huge blessing to be able to witness so many miracles throughout the zone and to be able to meet these people. We were able to attend his baptismal service as well, and it was a neat experience. Afterwards, as this baptism was in the English branch, there were delicious refreshments including pudding pie with raspberries. Wow.

Then we went again to Brother Kim's house for lunch and a lesson, and ate a whole, whole lot. We were very, very full, it was a pleasure to see them, and we went to visit a less active member in the area. We were welcomed in and sat down to eat a pot of ddeokbokki. We died.

There is of course so much more to say. I wish all of you a wonderful continuation of the holiday season. Be warm and enjoy this time with family. I love all of you and am so grateful for the many miracles that we see. So many. We're off now to ice skate as a district {6 or 8 missionaries in the same area} on our preparation day {the one day each week for writing, laundry, and something fun if there is time}. Today is 21 years for me, that's old. Really old. I can only hope that I am changing for the better. We have a perfect example of someone to emulate, as long as we are willing to be humble and accept His guidance.

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/christlike-attributes?lang=eng

I also got a lot of comfort out of reading in the Doctrine and Covenants this week:

"Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my friends . . ., your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power.  Therefore, follow me, and listen to the counsel which I shall give unto you. Behold, and lo, I have much people in this place, in the regions round about; and an effectual door shall be opened in the regions round about in this eastern land. Therefore, I, the Lord, have suffered you to come unto this place; for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls. Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say. 
 But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever thing ye declare in my name, in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things.  And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say."

All of my love and prayers always,

Elder South

What a Special Time It Is -- December 21, 2014

A beautiful day to all. What a special time it is! There's a whole lot to say and wish and all, but more than anything else, it's a privilege to have this time to remember Christ's life- His birth, His life, His sacrifice, and His resurrection and living guidance:

"For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people." Alma 7

There's a lot to be grateful for, and I'm happy to be out there telling about it. We show the "He is the Gift" video (www.mormon.org/kor/성탄절) in many lessons and on the street, and people respond very well to it, until the portable dvd player dies. Christmas is celebrated a little bit differently over here, but the idea of spending time with those that you love is largely the same. I miss all of you but there's nowhere I'd rather be than here in Seoul. <3

This week, as every week, we've seen more miracles than we deserve and through hard times and miraculous sequences of events grown closer to our Savior. There was some very, very heavy, wet snow early in the week that dropped. A day later, the temperature did too, and all week we've had an inch of very, very solid and slick ice covering everything. We spent a lot of hours this week at the church pounding and chipping away at ice, but after a Christmas party and church the next day there are no broken tailbones, so I guess that we succeeded.

On Monday we had a very interesting lesson, one of two this week, where the Spirit was very strong but the person with whom we're meeting talks themselves out of it right in front of us. ("Why am I meeting here? I haven't given anyone my phone number in twenty years? Why do I have to keep meeting? Is it cause they're foreigners? No...") We met this guy on the street a couple of weeks ago and the next week without us calling or meeting he just stopped smoking one day because he felt like he should and hasn't gone back. Really crazy.

On Tuesday we had a zone Christmas conference, which we're doing this year in lieu of a mission conference. We were worried about organization, but it went smoothly and the food arrived and the musical numbers went well- it was a great conference. President and Sister Christensen respectively both gave wonderful talks about light and the similarities of the Spirit to ultraviolet radiation and tuning in. I was edified and encouraged. We also watched a fun church movie about a sister missionary in Austria with a beautiful rendition of 

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,

Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht
Lieb' aus deinem göttlichen Mund,
Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund'.

Christ, in deiner Geburt!
Christ, in deiner Geburt!

It's definitely pretty cold, but we're trying to never let the weather or personal discomfort influence what we do, but what will be the most effective. If the key to success in any endeavor is personal commitment to a cause, we'll do all we can to give our all. That being said, when it gets dark and cold, not a lot of people want to be outside, and among those who are, not everyone is super open to having a life changing talk. There are many that we've found who listen, though, and we've seen an extraordinary number of people recently who just come straight into the church from the street and have a sit down lesson. One person this week wanted to sing carols so he went and got his french horn and we came and sang and talked. Music really carries the power that is in Christmas.

On Thursday we met a less active who took an immediate liking to us and invited us into his restaurant '똥 돼지' for some kimchi stew. We hope to be able to continue meeting with him and sharing all of our love. We had a miraculous experience with another less active member's family this week as well. We were street contacting in an area that we rarely go because we were looking for someone's house (Next to impossible here- you'd think that house numbers should be in order and stay consistent along a street? Guess again) and we talked someone about to cruise away on his bike at a crosswalk. He was kind, but not super interested, although we found out that his wife was baptized some years ago but after they moved here had stopped coming to church. We told him where the church was and he wouldn't give his phone number. He rode away, leaving us feeling a little bummed, but we were stunned as he came to church with his wife the following day in a suit and staying for the first two hours. They had a good experience, and we should be able to continue meeting with them.

The Christmas party was a great success, and our version of "O Holy Night" worked out much better than we could have hoped. I'm pretty sure that angels were there, because having me on the higher soprano part is never a good idea.

I wish that I could record or write down the experiences we have every day as we street contact with everyone. This is how we spend a lot of our time, and we have fascinating experiences every day. Some people listen more than others, for sure- we had a day this week where we set 15 return appointments, followed the next day by setting only one all day. Regardless of whether or not people listen, though, we talk and testify until people run away or we feel we've done all we can to make our message clear.

Two baptisms were planned for Christmas, but it looks like one of those won't work out. Kim Duhyeon, perhaps my favorite person in this world, will be baptized, and we are so, so excited for him. Please pray for him!

I love you and know that miracles surely happen today as much as they always have.

"And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

Have a wonderful, wonderful Christmas and may your hearts be warm and full of peace.

In love,

Elder South

http://www.mormonchannel.org/christmas-videos?v=3936670647001

Persimmons in our bags and a pear in my hat -- December 14, 2014

A beautiful if somewhat gray day to all. <3 It was snowing again heavily this morning, but, as per the usual, stopped quickly to make way for the "devil wind," by Elder Killpack's appellation. Daniel emailed today with some questions as to Korea's climate, the answers to which I might as well paste below. In short, the climate isn't wildly different from what I experienced growing up in the states:

[The climate is similar in some ways to Utah with intensely hot summers and bitterly cold winters. The summers are very humid, but the winter is a bit drier. The hardest part of the winter doesn't come with the snow, which isn't overly heavy in Seoul, but the bitter wind that blows off the mountains (the same wind that sweeps across Russia and Eastern Asia). Fall and spring are temperate (everybody's favorite seasons).

Seoul is surrounded by mountains, which was good when it was an ancient city for defense, but less so now. Development naturally follows the paths that the mountains allow, and further development is going either upwards in apartment buildings, or outwards, past the mountains, in Kyeong-gi Do (the area around Seoul).

Seoul has many parks and open spaces, and the people seem to use them much, much more than Americans. Many elderly people walk, exercise, or hike every day, or at least on the weekends. because it is such a big emphasis, especially among the older generation, the demographic near the mountains at least in Northeastern Seoul seems to be a bit older. So, although the mountains naturally impede development, they also make the neighboring areas desirable places to live because of their proximity to places of recreation.]

We meet everyday people in their 70s and 80s going to or coming from their daily hike, rain, snow, or what have you. Many start at 5 or 5:30 in the morning.

We had some fun experiences this week, only a small part of which, of course, I can begin to get across. We went to visit a less active member last preparation day because he is a barber, and what we didn't know is that he is also a talker. We had at most an hour because we had to head up early to Yangju, up North, to do a baptismal interview, and after an hour of chatter while Elder Killpack was getting his haircut, we tried to leave, but stayed another 40 minutes sharing a 5 minute message and eating never ending rounds of squid and leek pancake and trying to stomach mushroom tea, which tasted like a bitter swamp. 딸라서, I'll be dropping by another barber shop today.

This photos of Korean squid pancakes (Buchimgae, 부침개) 

is from an online blog, which says they are very popular 

on a rainy day among Koreans. "The other day 

my husband told me he wished it rained all the time 

so that he can eat this Buchimgae all the time."

One of the American sisters in our zone's grandfather lives in our area (he's Korean), and we taught him together this past week. He put out heaps of fruit and waited until we ate it all (we had to hide some persimmons in our bags and a pear in my hat), and after we were stuffed from that and fish spam and noodles and rice and kimchi, he ordered more noodles and tangsuyuk for all of us. It was extremely painful, praying to be able to finish noodles. Elder Killpack got up in the middle and just went to stand in the bathroom to try to get stretched out. Anyway, it went well, and he came to church on Sunday, along with four other people with a baptismal date and a couple others, so that was exciting! A pretty crazy Sunday, but that's what we like. We hope to be able to continue meeting him- he's one of those that goes hiking every morning at 5.

We have a Christmas conference tomorrow as a zone, for which we're excited. It is such a pleasure to be working as a missionary at this time. I felt more than I ever have before angels walking alongside this week.

"Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come.

Wherefore, be not weary in well doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

 Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days."

Miss you all, but enjoy this time and happy holidays full of laughter and life and light. We're doing all we can to give our heart and a willing mind.

Lots of love,

Elder South

Where miracles consist of pig's feet and full suitcases -- December 7, 2014

Good afternoon! I write today on a beautifully clear day grateful for all that we've been able to experience this week. It is unfortunate in some ways that the weather is so clear today on preparation day rather than on the frosty days we've had this week, where people would rather be in cozying up by the whatever is used instead of fires in apartments instead of outside talking with us.

It's been a bit chilly! We've had some days filled with lots of hours of street contacting, but when you think about all that He is and all that he has done for us, how easy it is to go out into the cold!

We're seeing lots of miracles, from finding less active members on the street and being able to go eat lunch with them and people just coming into the church with us from the street to discuss and accepting things very well to random people inviting us into a restaurant to discuss with them over a dinner of pigfeet. Three more people committed to be baptized this week, Brother Kim is progressing very well and is excited to be baptized on Christmas, and we're seeing an explosion of miracles throughout the zone.

Earlier in the week we had a wonderful MLC {mission leadership council} meeting, contrasted with all of the ensuing chaos of planning zone training the following day. President Christensen showed Pentatonix's new "Mary, Did You Know-" turns out he's a fan too. On the way back we saw a crazy miracle: we had met someone six days earlier and had not been able to invite him to act on anything because he had to get off the subway suddenly. As we were getting on the train, I had a very full suitcase and a couple of boxes, and wasn't able to make it on the same train as Elder Killpack because a massive group of people getting off ran into the path as I turned the corner. Elder Killpack got off a couple of stations later, we met up, and as the doors closed someone came in the same train, the same car as us, in a completely different part of Seoul than where we had met him before- the guy we had met the week before.

We went to help someone in our ward move a few things around at his apartment this past week. It was probably the nicest apartment I've seen here, and we went out for probably the best meat I've had in Korea, and just talked. His wife passed away from cancer a couple of months ago, and it is hard. There is hope, and truth, and assurance, but still it is hard, especially at this time. There is a lot to be grateful for in the family and friends that surround us.

On Friday we had the opportunity to go to the temple to accompany a recent convert from Sindang who was going for the first time, which was a very special experience. On the way back we met a fun guy visiting from Hong Kong ("Sorry man, I don't speak Korean.") 

{Sam has a habit of randomly throwing out comments like that, "he only spoke French" or "only spoke Chinese" or "English." It seems that speaking 4 languages has been a bit of a benefit for his work in Seoul} 

We had the opportunity to meet investigators several times this week with members of the ward, which is always so powerful. In spite of a very talkative young woman {presumably, a current member} talking for about an hour and a half this week about the length of cat hair and everything else, there is a special spirit present.

I wish I could express more fully and adequately that which we have the opportunity to experience here! "...And I cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people." Know, though, that I love you all and pray for you. We're happy and healthy and seeing miracles.

!

http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529

그분 덕분에 "Thanks to Him" -- November 30, 2014

Good afternoon and happy December to all on a beautifully snowy and blustery day. Except for one week a couple weeks ago we have been blessed with weather much warmer than we could have hoped for with Korea's reputation, and it seems that we'll be dropping fast in the coming weeks.

It's been a miraculous week, and we are so grateful to be here. Miracles just pop out of nowhere, and we're just grateful. We're not perfect missionaries or people by any means, but when we do all we can to give all of us to Him- desires, will, all, things happen that couldn't happen if we were doing this on our own.

We had some fun meetings this week with investigators new and previous, and two new friends committed to be baptized for next February. We met two Chinese nationals, a taekwondo teacher from South Africa who came and sat down at the church with us as we met him on the street, and a previous investigator as we made our way to visit a less-active member.

It's been a busy week with transfers {missionaries moving to their new assignments}, but everyone is settled in for the most part and excited to work hard. It's shaping up to be a big month this month. It's crazy on this end how fast time flies- last December was yesterday, and it feels like I went to the MTC just last week.

We went up to the American base for Thanksgiving on Friday, and had a great meal. We had to get out of there pretty fast due to an appointment, which is probably a good thing, because there was a lot of very delicious pie and salted dark-chocolate dipped mandarin slices. We are very grateful to those who helped out and invited us, especially the military branch up there. It must be hard to be away from family, but they accepted us like their own, and we are grateful. We had fun getting to know them a bit, ate very well, and met a very fun family from the Congo, wherein the wife spoke only French.

That evening we met a family, which is the first time as a missionary that I have taught an entire family. This father recently returned from getting his Ph.D. in the states, and had heard a lot about the church from colleagues there. We're meeting them every Friday for English and to teach as best as we can with three young girls running around. They are wonderful, and have a very good feeling around them- I'm excited for them.

On Saturday we went to Brother Kim's home for a meal and a lesson, and it went very well. We also met him at church and later Sunday evening at another member's home, and he is just doing so well. He accepted the Word of Wisdom {the Mormon dietary code, most notable for no coffee, tea, or alcohol} without hesitation, which he had questioned before, and he is earnestly preparing to be baptized on Christmas Day. Other recent converts are doing very well and continue to come out every week to church. We had a combined meeting the third hour of church yesterday which went 25 minutes over time as a member from another ward {local congregation} explained the ins and outs of building maintenance and showed some frankly fairly boring videos. Twenty minutes after church was supposed to end and we were discussing soap dispensing techniques and the pros and cons of LED lighting; our investigators were getting a little bit bored, but they did very well.

We've been talking as a companionship about the connection between conscience and the Spirit, and how we need to trust our consciences more as we seek to educate them. Elder Klebingat in general Conference talked about keeping a constant remission of sins as we go about every day, and how we would feel if we had a personal interview with Christ right at this moment. It's easier to make the right choices when you think about the Creator of worlds and the cosmos under His hands.

We're small, but we're doing the best that we can. I love you and wish you happy holidays and all the best as school starts again. Always my prayers.

Elder South

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng

It's better than it sounds, and too many Americans -- November 23, 2014

Good day to all. I am happy today to hear your tidings and your preparations for the holidays. There sure is a lot to be thankful for, isn't there? Everything, I think. It's been an incredible week. The weather warmed up again after a frosty last week, and we were out in just suit jackets for much of the week (and Elder Killpack's trusty earmuffs, of course). It sounds like it's a different story in the states; enjoy and be safe!

There's been lots in the past week that has made more clear to me, I think, my purpose for being here, with regards to personal growth and specific chances to grow, develop, and help others.

There have been frustrations as well. We saw an unusually large number of punked appointments over the course of the week, and met many people in various settings, none of whom ended up becoming future investigators. We met with one older Korean man who spoke better French than English, with whom we ate a whole chicken in water and ginseng roots. It's better than it sounds. Our conversation at the church, though, didn't get very far. It's unfortunate, we always want more people to see what a blessing this can be, but we do our best, and we invite everyone, and that's all that we can do.

We went to the temple on Tuesday, which was a great experience. It always is. That night we had samgyeopsal with a potential investigator, which was maybe the fourth or fifth time in the past week. Consequences- 소화불량 ㅋㅋ {I looked it up: indigestion}. There was also some radish soup in pickled radish juice with some ice in it, which was my first time, although it came up again several times this week. It turns out a lot of Koreans don't like it either.^^ Later that night, someone invited us in to his store to stand on a very odd machine that shakes you for ten minutes- the ten minute miracle. Apparently Jessica Alba uses it? So says he.

On Wednesday we met someone that called us off of a business card and asked if we could show him how to get Mormon Tabernacle Choir music, since he really liked it. We went and had lunch with him, and hopefully Motab will be in his playlist along with trot hiking music. Thursday was more punked appointments, and samgyeopsal with a less active member. Brother Kwon, in high school, reset his baptismal date for January as well.

We conducted a baptismal interview on Friday {Zone leaders have responsibility for conducting the final interview for people being taught by other missionaries in their zone} , and did a lot of street contacting. I wish we could record our interactions. So fun, so funny, many are so similar. On Saturday we went up to Dongducheon to do another baptismal interview, and went on the army base. Just nuts. I can't take being up there for very long. So many foreigners. The military couple there bought us angus burgers, which were very American, and lasted us the rest of the day and beyond. We got back for the end of a baptismal service in Sanggye {Sam's home area}, wherein there were three people baptized. So exciting! transfer calls were that night as well, although President Christensen let us know earlier at the service.ㅎㅎ I'll be staying with Elder Killpack in Sanggye, although there are a lot of changes happening in the zone. We will miss those missionaries that are headed out, and look forward to an enjoyable and hardworking next transfer. We're doing everything we can to thrust in the sickle. Sister White, with whom I've been the last four transfers, is headed back home, and she will definitely be missed in the zone. Elder Ahn is headed to Sindang to work as the new financial elder {overseeing all the financial affairs of the mission. Sam really liked Elder Ahn, so sad to see him go!}, since the financial couple is leaving and they haven't been able to find a replacement. (Any volunteers?)

Sunday was very full and very exciting. We met with Ryowon, The son of Brother Yun, who was baptized when I was with Elder Ahn, and he committed to be baptized on Christmas. We also had a powerful lesson during the third hour of church with Brother Kim, and his wife, Sister Maeng, a recent convert. We have been thinking and praying a lot concerning Brother Kim, and meeting and teaching with him has been quite an involved process that has taken everything that we have as far as working with the ward, Korean ability, and persistence, and yesterday was a very rewarding experience. It was one of the strongest manifestations of the Spirit that I have felt as of yet during my time here, and Brother Kim committed to baptism on Christmas day as well. There is still a lot to do and teach and everything, but please keep him in your prayers as we work together for that. Other miracles dotted the week, including miraculously finding less active members and running into long-lost investigators along the way, and we're grateful for the little things.

Last week the zone as a whole got an average of 141 contacts per companionship, the mission standard being 140. It's the first time I've ever seen a zone at the average, and we expected miracles. Friends in the Phillipines and Latin America {where people are much more receptive to learning new things and where rates of growth in the church are so much higher} will laugh, but our zone as a whole ended up with 5 baptisms this weekend, only 2 of which were planned a week ago, which is the most in one weekend our zone has seen at one time for quite a while, although our records only go back two years. There is power in working hard and working together. It's a great time to be here and to be a missionary, and the work is rolling forward. We're just grateful to be a part, however small it seems our part is.

I love you all. Happy birthday this week, dad. Happy Thanksgiving. Our zone gets to go up to the military base for Thanksgiving this Friday, but no one else does, so don't tell the other zones.

All of my love and prayers! Come be a missionary, it's the best life there is.

Elder South

It did get cold pretty quick -- November 16, 2014

Good day to all from 쌀쌀해진 Korea. I love you all and hope that all goes well.

We are doing well. We are happy and healthy and loving every day. There are tough times and tough things, but other times would have no meaning without them. We've had a very fun week, with several exchanges {with other missonaries}, and I feel that every day as we give our all we are growing and learning and stretching.

As we did exchanges particularly with the assistants {assistants to the president, the top two missionary leaders who work with the senior, experienced adult mission president} this week we discussed working hard and seeing the big picture and trying to instill that desire, certainly in ourselves, but in others as well, missionaries and others alike, and it was enlightening as we discussed that we can work hard, and we can make people work hard, but the biggest thing that we can do, the biggest change that we can make, is to help ourselves and others realize why we work hard. We don't work hard because we send in stats at the end of the week or because our district leader tells us to, we work hard because we are accountable individually to God for what we can do, and we want to give our selves and all of our selves to Him to spread that with which He has blessed us with. And as we go to God, we realize that what He wants us to do and what we can do through him is on a bigger scale than we could ever imagine on our own.

It's a beautiful world! "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Beautiful leaves still greet us every time we go outside and from our window every day, but it did get pretty cold pretty quick.

We have fun experiences and stories every day. As we were taking the subway this week I saw a foreigner across who looked like he did not want to be disturbed. When you don't feel like talking, that's when you open your mouth.

"Hello!"

"Ah, come on, man, seriously? Why can't you just leave us alone? Why do you gotta do this?"

It turns out he was from Minnesota- probably misses home. We talked about happiness a little bit, and he said

"Other people are happy too, okay? Just, go. . . *breath* It's cool that you're speaking Korean, though, I like that."

As we talked with another investigator over lunch, we were talking about his sister's job, and how he didn't have a job yet. I tried to ask what the age gap was with an expression commonly used for the purpose, but it literally means "What's the difference?" He looked at me like I had no idea what was going on in the world for a moment, then said "She makes money, and I don't."

We had dinner (thick baconㅋㅋ) this past Saturday at the lady's house that we met when we were doing calligraphy. It was fantastic, even if we almost perished from overeating, and we met her entire family and a friend, and were able to share about the plan of salvation. We are hoping to have a chance to go back again soon.

We work hard. We do everything we can. We're tired, and sometimes, it is easy to get frustrated because I just want to see more people's lives being changed by this message. As I was feeling this way earlier this week, not that we're not making a difference, but wondering if it really will matter, I came across the following passage in Third Nephi {from the Book of Mormon}:

"Ye have said: It is vain to serve God, and what doth it profit that we have kept his ordinances and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts?

 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard; and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."

He knows and He cares about each of us. I love this time, which is going so, so fast, and am so grateful to be here. This is the right place.

All my love from Seoul~

Chew some pine needles, won't ya -- November 9, 2014

Good afternoon to all! It's been a great week, with lots of just fun things. Everyday is so rewarding. Happy birthday again to Caleb! As we street contacted on his birthday we saw some really fun miracles and met some very, very fun people. An 88 year old grandmother with the most adorable smile I've ever seen, someone who was chewing pine needles for his joints who stuffed some in Elder Killpack's mouth with bandaged fingers, and someone who invited us into his children's bouncy house to talk for an hour.

{Editor's note: the next paragraph, and many of Sam's more recent letters, refer to his work as a "Zone Leader" for other missionaries. So he spends a lot of time training with other leaders, and training other missionaries in turn.}

The first half of the week was just nuts. MLC {mission leadership conference} on Monday, interviews for another district on Tuesday, and zone training on Wednesday meant no lessons {with interested people they are teaching}, a lot of travel, and some high pressure situations. We made it out okay, though, and ended up learning a lot and having a lot of fun. The focus for our mission this month is the revelation through the Holy Spirit, and as we have focused on this and tried to help our investigators understand the principles more thoroughly it has been a miracle filled week, and one that has had many personally meaningful moments wherein I can really feel God's love.

Some service project, with the Mormon "helping hands" vests

We met with three students recently who are doing a report on the church for a group at Kyunghee University. It was a fun interview, and hopefully will help some to see us in a better light. That's all we can do, hope that every day, we can help some people and help them to feel God's love, and eventually, as everyone does all they can, perceptions and tides will start to change.

The sunung is this week, the massive, stressful, ridiculously difficult test for seniors in high school, having a very large bearing on their future opportunities. Please pray for the stressing children and worried parents, they sure will be.

I love you all and hope and pray that all goes well. Enjoy the crisp weather and the still-beautiful leaves. We're having the time of our lives and working as hard as we can. I am tired every night, and it feels good. I want to have nothing left at the end of every day.*

http://www.mormonchannel.org/bible-videos?v=3830056917001

^What I want to be saying after every day and mission and life~ "Therefore, that we should wase and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness,"

*#teamclearwater *#gobigorgohome

All my love from beautiful Korea,

Elder South