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