A few frustrations--May 17, 2015

{Editor's note: Sam has done his best to write very positive emails. The last few weeks, a few frustrations have been seeping in primarily related to public perception of the LDS church. Korea is the only really Christian country in Asia, primarily Presbyterian, but with a strong perception of the Mormons as a dangerous cult and lots of false rumors. I think this is what he is responding to.}

Warm greetings to all. I hope that all are healthy and well as school ends. Good luck for those finishing. I hope that AP tests and finals went well, and that those teaching will end the semester exhausted but happy. Congratulations to grandma {Sara Hacken} on her retirement party- as Lisa said, what a legacy that she has left, and just helped so many people, but always seemed to have time for us when we needed it.

The work progresses through trial and fire. It never gets easy, but it's always good. I've seen in the last months that there are people and forces who will stop at nothing to stop this work, and they make things hard for missionaries, but I've also seen that this work can't be stopped, and that the day of miracles hasn't ceased, and that people continue to search for and find the truth in spite of everything against them. I know that those actively fighting against the work will eventually be held responsible, but it's sad when people looking for the truth get caught in the fire and are closed before they hear the message. There's a light, though, and a spirit that comes from testimony that can't be quenched and can't be hidden, and consistently touches hearts and breaks down walls of misunderstanding.

We had a very interesting talk with President Christensen today after staff meeting about press and perceptions of missionaries on Korea. There's so many positive experiences that it's hard to think of others, but over the past few weeks especially I've been astounded at how preconceived notions just shut people off from opening their hearts. We've talked with a few people where it's going well, and a stranger will just come up and whisper something in their ear, and they completely close off, like we were carriers of some deadly disease. But when people yell, or spit, or scowl, or put their eyes down, that's when you know it's true, that's when you can feel it. What a privilege it is to share in just some small part of what the prophets of old faced. Said Elder Richard Scott {a prominent church leader}:

"I wouldn’t change any of it, even if I could, because there are those golden moments of success that make all of the hardships worthwhile. Such rewards come when the Spirit touches a heart for eternal good because someone like you was there. To share truth in difficult circumstances is to treasure it more. When you push against the boundaries of experience into the twilight of the unknown, the Lord will strengthen you . . . It will not be easy. But when was anything really worthwhile easy?"

I have found great comfort too in Doctrine and Covenants 109, knowing that the Lord's purposes will come to pass, and it cannot be otherwise, and all that we can do is all that we can do. I know I've shared it before, but:

"And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them;
And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfil that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days.
We ask thee, Holy Father, to establish the people that shall worship, and honorably hold a name and standing in this thy house, to all generations and for eternity;
That no weapon formed against them shall prosper; that he who diggeth a pit for them shall fall into the same himself;
That no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name shall be put in this house . . .
For thou knowest, O Lord, that thy servants have been innocent before thee in bearing record of thy name, for which they have suffered these things . . .
Break it off, O Lord; break it off from the necks of thy servants, by thy power, that we may rise up in the midst of this generation and do thy work.
 . . .Thy word must be fulfilled. Help thy servants to say, with thy grace assisting them: Thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours.
 Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the nations of the earth; have mercy upon the rulers of our land;
That their hearts may be softened when thy servants shall go out from thy house, O Jehovah, to bear testimony of thy name; that their prejudices may give way before the truth, and thy people may obtain favor in the sight of all;
That all the ends of the earth may know that we, thy servants, have heard thy voice, and that thou hast sent us;
Remember all thy church, O Lord, with all their families, and all their immediate connections, with all their sick and afflicted ones, with all the poor and meek of the earth; that the kingdom, which thou hast set up without hands, may become a great mountain and fill the whole earth;
That thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;
And be adorned as a bride for that day when thou shalt unveil the heavens, and cause the mountains to flow down at thy presence, and the valleys to be exalted, the rough places made smooth; that thy glory may fill the earth;
That when the trump shall sound for the dead, we shall be caught up in the cloud to meet thee, that we may ever be with the Lord..."

We've been working very closely this week with our two most progressing Chinese investigators, Rick and Ting. They are returning to China until September fairly soon, and Rick went to the Philippines this week. We're battling time, struggles with the word of wisdom {health code, probably smoking}, and language differences, but things are going well. Ting doesn't feel quite ready, but they both want to be baptized, and if they can just want it badly enough, they can overcome everything that they are struggling with. All we can do is pray and support them, and wait for the hand of the Lord to be revealed. They are both just wonderful, and both so miraculous in their having found God in their lives. Three investigators were at church on Sunday, including Ting, and things are looking good for all of them.

Every week is full of miracles, and in such a limited setting I am sad not to be able to share more of them, but someday as we watch the dying rays of sun come through our window we can settle down to conversation and admire how much the Lord blesses us. He can accomplish His own work, that is something that I have come to realize.

We are getting along well and having a great time every day. It's a busy busy time with it being President Christensen's last transfer, but it will be a lot of fun. We're going out to Kangneung tonight, 3 hours-ish by bus, for exchanges, and it will be good to escape the heat that is coming all too fast and just be out there and working.

All love,

E South

In which Sam doesn't get married but does meet the US ambassador--May 10, 2015

Hello, and especially a big thanks to many wonderful mothers in my life. May the roses burst forth into softly perfumed shouts of praise when you walk by and the drifting clouds bring back memories of the best of times of motherhood- it's not an easy job, that's for sure.

I will be brief this week but will just share several fun stories from this past week. Congratulations too to Caleb on Princeton- it turns a new page in our family, and I'm looking forward to visiting. We've had a great week, and have had wonderful weather. We went to Seoul Forest on Children's day as a zone and had a good time. The next day I had a sunburn right around the borders of my shirt that looked pretty funny, but it went away quickly. Some other elders weren't so lucky: "Elder Huckvale's bad, he's like a baby pig pink." We have had some pretty late nights as transfer calls were this week, but those are done and transfers will be this Wednesday.

We brought our suits to wear after we got back from Seoul Forest as we went to a lesson, but as we were changing in a hair shop after the owner's friend tried to set us up for marriage here in Korea (longer story)  I realized that I didn't have my tie with me. I was running around proselyting for the first 30 minutes or so after P-day ended without a tie until I found a place in the subway station to pick one up.

President and Sister Christensen were in Japan this week for three days, so more burdens fell on us this week than normal. The first night that they were gone some elders {elsewhere in the mission} got back an hour and a half past when we're supposed to as missionaries, but it ended up being all right.

We met several people this week that had terrible stereotypes against the church, and some we were able to talk with, and some not. It's hard because you know it's not their fault, it's just what they've been taught. I'm trying to get an article into a newspaper talking about my time here and what I've learned and just talk about trying to do what we can to help, but we'll see if that goes through. One person with whom we talked had some interesting comments:

"몰몬교 이단이라고 해요-"

"I heard that your church was a cult."

How'd you hear that?

"교회에서 가르쳐 주시더라고요."

"They teach it at our church."

We had great gorgonzola spaghetti with a new investigator at Hongdae, a fun cultural part of Seoul. On Friday, I saw a foreigner and asked if I could introduce myself. He said sure, and we chatted for a while. It turns out that he was Mark, I don't remember his last name, the American ambassador to Korea, still with bandages but looking well {Mark Lippert was slashed by a knife-wielding, pro-North Korean attacker in March}. He was very nice, and was fun to talk by a palace in his Stanford jacket. I was a little flustered at first by who he was and by how much he knew about us, but we had a great chat, and it turns out that he knows President Christensen. He was surrounded by three bodyguards. He saw me looking at them, and said "These are my friends." Countless people tell us that they're busy everyday, but if the American ambassador has time to stop and talk with us, I know that {other} people can- we just need to be more interesting than whatever else they're doing.

We met with brother Kim and Sister Maeng from Sanggye that night over dinner. they are doing very, very well, holding callings in the church well, going to church institute classes, and sounding like members. We really felt the Spirit as we talked, and they shared some really cool stories that I hadn't hear before, like how alcohol and coffee, which had been hard to give up before he was baptized, just had no appeal after Brother Kim was baptized. Meeting with them just helped me to realize how worthwhile this work is, and how valuable the message that we are sharing is.

With abbreviated stories but infinite love,

Elder South

"Good luck, Father. My name is Moosepark."--April 26, 2015

Lots of eating oatmeal in the car this week. We've had a busy few days, but everything is passed for now until mission leadership conference (MLC) next week. Tuesday was President Christensen's birthday, and we were able to attend the temple. We got there early, and our zones lined up along the hill and sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" as President drove up. It was a great experience on a beautiful morning, and it was great to be able to go to the temple. The weather has jumped from 60 degrees to 80, but it's still beautiful beautiful, with flowers all over the place. There's just lots of nice little touches like big planters at Gwanghwamun, and pink bell flowers at the station next to the church.

It was really a privilege to be with President Ringwood {the church leader assigned to that area of the world}. We got to be there with him all three days for mission tour, and each day was radically different. He is a very impressive man, and showed a depth and an understanding of the Gospel that made me want to change how I study and the role the Gospel plays in my life so that I can have the understanding that he does one day. One thing he mentioned that I thought was neat is to have the goal of hearing the voice of the Lord saying to him individually, "Well done, [Sam], thou good and faithful servant."

We got to meet with him with President Christensen for a meeting after the third day, and it was just cool to sit down with him and learn. It was impressive what he taught, but to me what was more impressive was how he taught, following the Spirit, and heavily influenced by his personal study that morning. It was really cool to work with him this week, and now I'll have to work on applying what he taught us and seeing how we can raise the vision of the mission.

We had a chance on Preparation day this past week to go up to Namsan Tower, and it was a beautiful day, very clear and lined with flowers. We also went to "Ashley's," an impressive American buffet with great mango and dragonfruit salad.

I have made it a point every day of my time in Korea so far to have one street contact every day, no matter how busy we are or what we are doing. The vast majority of days it is not a problem to have many more than that, but especially in the office when we're planning for events or transfers or something it gets harder. One day this week after mission tour, we had to clean up, drive home, and work furiously on a movie that we were showing the next day. We took a quick break, said a prayer, and ran out to find someone. We ran down and found, in our very limited time, just two wonderfully open people, both of whom gave us their contact information, and one of whom we are meeting this week. He said he had a lot of questions, and it's incredible to realize how as people open up, the answers to their questions really are found in the sphere of the Gospel. Tender mercies were a theme this week, with just lots of little miracles, just ridiculous things, that let us know that God is in charge. One student that was baptized when I was in Imun that I haven't been able to be in touch with for a long while, and who had stopped going to church, rode by on his bike as we were street contacting in Dongdaemun after mission conference, and we are in touch. An older man rejected us and our message, but after we talked more took us out for dinner, brought us to meet his 5 friends, and took a Book of Mormon to give to his friend after we left. A family missed the bus and ended up being interested in talking to us. Two Chinese investigators were referred to us, and will be baptized in a couple of weeks.

Somewhat sacrilegiously, Elder Ahn always called chicken tenders "chicken tender mercies."

We sang "Families can be Together Forever" in sacrament meeting, and did the second verse in Korean sign language for the deaf branch that attends with us. It was really cool! I'm not very good at sign language. Fortunately, if we meet any more deaf people on the street, I will be able to say "given us a plan," "marry in the temple," and "family."

We had some great proselyting time the last few days this week, and met some fun people (see subject line). Also of noteworthy quotes is someone from Vietnam who wasn't as interested in talking, and said simply, "Finish time."

We went to the Lusvardi family's home again, with two Chinese investigators. They are just incredible: so good at making people feel comfortable, so humble, so strong. It was just what the investigators needed. We're going again today with the two investigators to Insa Dong for preparation day, followed by a lesson.

We're going to Taebaek again this week! It should be warmer this time.

All of my love and prayers. You are all doing wonderful things.

Elder South~