December 2014 Gwang-Ju

Gwang Ju  Dec 2014

TIME AND CHOICES

Hey mother and family!!!

This past week we had the missionary Christmas party as well as the fun experience with the threesome!!! We continue to meet with our investigators and help them to experience the love that God has for them and for all of His children.

Afron is doing well. He got better, but through a series of unfortunate events he was unable to meet us this week. On the good side, it is the end of his semester and so he should have more time to meet with us, and he will hopefully do really well with the people in our ward.

The member referral is also finishing up school this week and then will be able to come to church and continue to learn about God. He will be a good person to teach.

The high school student is going college searching this next week, but the next week agreed to go to church.

last, we have the investigator that attends another church that we met rather recently. He has women interest as well as gospel interest and so it is a little bit tricky to discern his true motives. He really wants to get the Gift of the Holy Ghost, but at the same time he also wants to date all of the single adults... in consultation with the single adults, they tell me that he has a social problem, but that he does have genuine interest in the Gospel. He says that the thing that he wants most is a happy family. We will continue working with him. He told us that he wanted to convert and get baptized, and so we are working to help him prepare for making that kind of a commitment to God. 

The new old man investigator is old and it has snowed a lot here, so we may potentially get to see him on Friday.

Things are going well in the threesome. We talk to more people, have more faith, more prayers, etc. It is great! 

This past week we were able to have a lesson with a Less-active member and we talked about stewardship. We told him what Elder Christofferson mentioned in his talk "Reflections on a Consecrated Life" which goes something like this: the two things that we have stewardship over in this life are time and choices. Everything else that we do comes as a result of those two things. He then made the comment that that is true because what job you choose determines your schedule for your entire life. That is a pretty profound statement: everything comes out of time and choices. Our choices define the quality of the results of our time. And so those are the two things that are most important to regulate, and if regulated well will produce whatever result that this life has to offer.  I know that the Holy Spirit is real and that through the Holy Spirit we can know of things that we cannot see. I know that through the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ the eternal unit of the family can be complete in a state of incomparable happiness.

Love you all,

Elder William Strahl

NEVER, EVER, WANT IT TO END.....

Hey!

This week went by really well. I will just go over the investigators that we were able to meet with and what is going on with our other investigators.

Our friend who started to meet with us that we met on the street and is coming to English class, is really starting to get a social conversion, which is part of the battle. He is great and as we do lessons with him, he is the only investigator that I have ever taught that was able to figure out on his own some of the thought provoking questions that we ask them. I am convinced that he knows it from his heart (and from the pre-earth life) and will do well as he continues to mingle with the people here and learn about the church.

Afron got a cold this last week and so he wasn't able to meet :( that was very sad, but I am sure that he is doing well, and we are looking forward to meeting him this next week.

This transfer things are a little bit different. I am staying in the same area, but I am getting 2 new companions (at the same time). So we are going to be in a threesome....it will be interesting. My current companion is going way up north...

We also met with one of our high school students who is doing really well. He told us that he told his parents that he was learning about church and his parents told him that once the school break starts he needs to go to church every week (probably because he sleeps in all the time!!!!) He said that he will be able to come at the start of January. He learned the Plan of Salvation really well, and had good questions about the doctrine. He reminds me of my investigator in 공주 Gongju that is doing really well as an active member. I have high hopes for him :)

We also were able to meet with a new old man investigator that we met some time ago on the street. He called off of a slip and we took him to the Christmas devotional (first Presidency one). He seemed to enjoy it, but at the same time we had a North Korean investigator come to the church and meet with some other missionaries at church. The North Korean was going on about some crazy religion, but he accepted a Book of Mormon. I haven't actually met with him as of yet, but it seems like it will be interesting. 

Let's see, all of our other investigators were either busy with tests, or their schedule did not match up with ours. 

This past week was really good in a lot of ways. Our member told us that his friend really wants to come to church, but because of school and other things, he is busy. We are excited for the school vacation because that means that we can teach the high school aged kids.

I am glad that everything went well in Minnesota, Alabama, and Idaho :) Keep up all of the good work in all that you do!

I love you all and hope the best for everything that you do!

This past week the sisters in my group went home (2 left from this ward) and that is quite the shock. Time goes by soooo fast on a mission. The lesson comes from a very wise person named Dallin H. Oaks. He talks about good, better, and best. So true. There are so many good things to do in our lives! But, there are better good things and there are the best good things to do with our time. And so, if we want to use our time to its greatest potential, then we will prioritize! Identify first the good, better, best, and then give up the good and the better for the best. And, we will be happiest!

I love you all so much and am so thankful for the opportunity that I have to be a missionary. I never ever ever want it to end :) ever.

love you!

Elder William Strahl

AN INVESTIGATOR'S VIEWPOINT OF THE BOOK OF MORMON

Hey!!!

. Glad that everything has been going well back in Minnesota!!! Seems cold! It has gotten a lot colder here in Korea, but it is still normally above freezing (although because of the high humidity it feels super cold).

Reid in the choir!!! That is exciting! When is he going to get his mission call??? You have to let me know when!!! Christian is so lucky to get to see grandma and grandpa so much. In Korea the Confucianism background is very strong (they literally bow to their parents and ancestors at various stages of the culture). Anyways, I have of course felt and realized the grandness of the aged. I really miss them.

Afron is doing well, we met with him and taught the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity. He drinks with his friends, so he will have to work to overcome that. I love that when we taught him the Word of Wisdom, he said "Everyone knows that these things are bad for you, but they do them anyways". He knows, it will just take time to help him to find strength through the Atonement to overcome and progress. He is great. He can start coming to church in January! He seems a little knocked down at the Word of Wisdom, but through prayer and scripture study he will be able to overcome!

Haha. In Korean "한드폰을 잃었던 구도자 함께 만날 수 있었나요?", (your question) is literally translated: phone lost investigator with were able to meet?  SO...yes!!! You are getting the backwardness of Korean!!!  we were not able to meet with him. He is in testing period (in Korea the test is at the end of December, so the whole month is "testing period", where parents take their kids phones away and limit the time that they go out) So he will be able to meet on Saturday, but Sunday is impossible. 

The bus investigator stopped answering his phone :(. Maybe later he will answer and come...

The high school student had to go to look at colleges and was not able to meet this weekend. But we ran into him again on the street, and he seems to be doing pretty well. He wakes up really late. I called him at 2:30pm on Saturday and he had just woken up...crazy!!! I agree that there are second shift people, but I also think that everyone can become a 1st shift person :) Like the old days. (any generation before 1960...) 

The basketball investigator was not able to meet (testing period), and so hopefully this week he will be able to meet, even if once. Thanks for the tip! We will try to help be accepted by members and feel accepted and loved by God!

The Pakistani Investigator is ok. He lost his job and hates Korea. He wants to go to America. We taught him the plan of Salvation. And he liked to think about where we came from before we were born. He said he will come to church next week, but we don't know how much he really is thinking about changing. (korean lesson 101#2. In Korean you can honorify people (that you are talking about) as well as honorify through the tense at the end, the person that you are speaking to. It is always rude to honorify yourself, and so when you speak, you always have to be conscious about who you are speak about and who you are speaking to...there are 4 different levels of respect, with three that are commonly used. (The fourth is specifically to a king (or to God when praying)) 

Nathan's twin is not musical... but is great nonetheless. He couldn't come to English this week, but will come next week. 

We also met another person on the street this week who recently moved to the area and who already attends a church but had been praying (sort of...kind of thinking as well) a chance to meet a western friend. Well, we met and then we met a few more times, he came to English and made some friends and has more time to meet, and so we are excited to help him to make the journey to come unto Christ! He is 25. 

We also went back to the house of a person that we met a little while ago while knocking doors who accepted a book of Mormon. We visited and it turns out that he is pretty lonely because he has three kids that don't really visit him a whole lot. He works at a factory, doing hard labor. We asked him about church and he hated the caste system in Korean churches where if you attend for a certain amount of years you become a "deacon" or a "elder". He also doesn't like the competition fostered by publicly displaying the amount (yes to the dime) of money paid in offerings...He loves his wife soooo much and she died three years ago. He said that his happiest memory was marrying her and his saddest, was at her death. He has already read about a third of the Book of mormon. He says that it is basically the Bible summarized into a shorter, more clear way. He said that the parts that are boring put him to sleep :) and the parts that are good he believes to be right.

I love you so much. This past week we had a 70 come and speak to us (Elder Aoyiagi) in Japanese, which was translated to Korean, and then to English for the missionaries who are newer. It was sooooo goood. He told us the priorities of saints from the prophet:

1. Personal relationship with God.

2. Spirituality of Family.

3. Building up the Church.  

And then applied them to us as missionaries.

It was super great.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!!!

Elder William Strahl

CAPTAINS OF A BOAT

Hello Mother and Family!!!

This past week we were able to meet some new people and work with our current investigators. Lately we have been really blessed by the Lord in His work.

Afron! He told us that after we taught him the plan of salvation he couldn't stop thinking about it and said that "he is really thinking of getting baptized" after he get less busy. He has 8 close friends that he has talked to about us and brought one of them to the lesson with us. He had us teach the Plan of Salvation over again for his friend as well! Before, he was telling his friend about the "stars, moon, and sun" (in Korean it is directly "star's kingdom, moon's kingdom, sun's kingdom). We are excited to continue to teach him as well as his friends who will hopefully catch the interest that he has. He is great! 

Our member referral got his phone taken away at school, so our member was trying to communicate with him through facebook and things were not working out so well...so he unfortunately was not able to come to church this week. But, he will hopefully be able to meet this Saturday and Sunday. 

Our bus investigator said that he would come to church...and he punked (which is actually a Korean word for not showing up...(of course coming from English)!) We will get him to come next week. He has potential if he will come :)

We were able to meet a high school student this week that we met on the street. He really wants to know if God is real or not. He decided that it would be good if he went to church, and so he decided to meet with us. He is great! He is a very pure and a very good young man. His problem is that he gets up on Sundays at 3 or 4pm. He said that even with alarms and phone calls, nothing will get him up. So, that is what the spirit is for! We met him for the first time and he understood and accepted things very well!

The basketball investigators (there's three) mostly do not have interest (2 of them), but one of them is really prepared. He is in a sticky relationship with his dad and he gets angry all of the time. So, he likes to meet with us and he feels the spirit and that there is something here to help him. He has attended his own church for three years without any of his family member's support. He accepted a baptismal invitation and so as meet more with him and help him he will be able to overcome his anger and come to Christ. 

The Pakistan investigator was busy this week, but he loves us. He is great! He always says "that's ok, that's ok" but he is a foreigner and so he only knows the lowest form of Korean which is for close friends and kids. It's great :) my companion and I laugh about it a lot :) 

The department store investigator had his rest day, but was too busy to meet, but promised to meet this week. He is great, but needs to meet. 

We also met another investigator who I met while playing soccer with the young men last Saturday. He lives by us and works in the downtown area. He doesn't really have or ever has had a religion. His view is that religion is a scheme for money and fame. We told him a little bit about our church. The best part was that when we first met him he told us that he only had 10 minutes...and then he stayed for 30 minutes. He is great and is getting introduced to the wonderful light of the Gospel!

We are also meeting the father of one of the sister's English investigators. He is interesting. He doesn't really have a religion, and likes beer and women. So, there is some way to go, but that is what the Gospel is for!!!

We also met a person that the sisters met on the Street and are working (slowly) with him. He doesn't believe in God, but is great. He is pretty much Nathan Egan turned into Korean form (which makes me smile so much all the time because I LOVE Nathan Egan)!!! 

The Lord has been very bountiful in His blessings to us!

There is a cool Korean adage or saying: If there are many captains of a boat, the boat will go towards a mountain. In other words, there has to be clear direction, or we will not accomplish our purpose. The boat can be compared to almost anything. The best, though, is the family. The captains are anything and everything that affects the direction of our family. That is internet, tv, friends, school, etc... All of those things are pulling families in certain directions. But, there is one thing that will show how to take those things and point them in the direction that will get us to sea. That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the Living Prophet. We have a purpose, but if we do not follow correct direction, we are boats steering towards a mountain. I love you all sooo much!

Thanks for the emails and the support!

The mission is the best in so many ways!

Have a good week! 

(ps, the cafe I am in is playing the 12 days of Christmas (all in English)) :)

ASTONISHED!!!!

Hey mom and family!!!

Sounds like the family is doing well! I am just going to say that I am jealous of Reid being so close to Charlotte. Maybe I will transfer to Idaho when I get back (haha, just kidding...). Glad that Christian is gearing up well for his finals and Rachel is writing poetry that is...very interesting, but very well formed! That's a good way for her to express herself...!!! I am glad that dad looked out for his co-worker and had a safe border crossing. I keep forgetting about the American-Mexican border because of the South Korea-North Korea border...way to go mom!!!! Sharing the Gospel! Remember, that conversions start with those simple conversations. Showing genuine interest and love goes farther than most things.

This past week went by well.

We met our investigator named Afron (when he was in America he liked Zach Effron (Efron?) (have I already said this...?) and so he calls himself Afron, because he didn't know how to correctly spell it...:)) and he accepted an invitation to be baptized. He said that it would take time, but we are confident that if he reads the Book of Mormon, prays, gets interaction with members and continues to meet, he will be prepared for baptism more quickly. He is great. He says that he has been wanting to come to church but he teaches students at that time. The big school vacation in Korea is in a few weeks, so I am hoping that after that time he will be able to come to church and other activities.

We didn't have a former lesson with the investigator referred by our member, but he did come to Stake Conference. We talked with the member and set a goal for baptizing him by Christmas :). He is super prepared. 

The investigator who works at the department store will have time this time to meet. We dropped by his work place to see him and caught him at lunch time and were able to talk with him for a little bit. He is doing well and misses the church. 

The bus investigator was busy for this week as well, but he definitely has interest and we will work to get him to church. 

Hahaha. Kimchee making. It wasn't really the kimchee making, but he is 16yearsold and his family was going somewhere to do it and they wanted him to come along. 

The Pakistani investigator was busy this week, but really likes us and is excited for the next time that we meet him. :)

This week we had a lesson with the basketball investigators and they took it soooo much better than I thought. They really paid attention and at the end, we could tell that they had felt the spirit. 

President Sherry shared an example in sacrament meeting that stuck with me for a really long time. He said that the conversion experience (I would say conversion as a member, and later conversion as a new member) is like an hour glass. The bottom is normal, but the top is off and extends forever; infinitely. Well we start as the grains of sand that are moving around in the bottom. At this point, we go according to our own will. And no matter how big the area seems down there, eventually we run into glass. There's always a limit. Then something happens and we start to learn and follow the Gospel. At that point we realize all of the commandments that we need to be keeping, as well as the changes that we need to make. That is the middle part of the hour glass. It feels cramped and restricting, there is absolutely no freedom, only commandments and rules. However, as we continue to obey, and the Holy Ghost expands our hearts, we are able to make it to the upper chamber. The upper chamber is of course, without limit. Endless forever. Also, from the infinite freedom of the top, looking back on the constricting part of the Gospel, we realize how brief of a moment it really was.

This morning I read Alma chapter 20, and a word popped out to me. This is when Ammon is accompanying King Lamoni to release his brothers in another land. They are traveling and they meet King Lamoni's father. After the exchange, the scriptures describe the reaction of the king's father. It mentions: 

26 And when he saw that Ammon had no desire to destroy him,and when he also saw the great love he had for his son Lamoni, he was astonished exceedingly, and said: Because this is all that thou hast desired, that I would release thy brethren, and suffer that my son Lamoni should retain his kingdom, behold, I will grant unto you that my son may retain his kingdom from this time and forever; and I will govern him no more—

 27 And I will also grant unto thee that thy brethren may be cast out of prison, and thou and thy brethren may come unto me, in my kingdom; for I shall greatly desire to see thee. For the king was greatly astonished at the words which he had spoken, and also at the words which had been spoken by his son Lamoni, therefore he was desirous to learn them.

From this passage we see that the missionary work of Ammon was accomplished through his love for King Lamoni and his desires concerning his father. The word astonished to me shows that King Lamoni's father recognized something different about Ammon, and about his feelings towards his son. Ammon was living the principles of the gospel. Through living the gospel he was able to cause this "astonishment" in King Lamoni's father, which led King Lamoni's father to desire to learn his words. 

We are all in some degree like Ammon. We have the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we interact with others on a daily basis. If we are living all of the principles of the Gospel and doing everything that we know that we should be doing, then we will naturally seem a little bit different to others. They won't exactly be able to describe what it is, but something will simply stick out to them. They will feel drawn to the influence and wonder about what it is that is different, just as King Lamoni's father. That is when they begin to investigate the gospel. In my life as well, there have been people who have astonished me and led me to a deeper commitment to the Gospel. I know that as you live the principles of the gospel, you will be able to exert this influence on those around you and act as a tool in the Lord's hands. 

I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Be thankful for everything! I love you!

Elder William Strahl

BUSY PEOPLE IN KOREA!!!

Hey!!!

Sounds like the family is doing well. I appreciated the subtle hint that Reid will leave for his mission before I get back. Get him out! Some place in the world is waiting for the Younger Elder Strahl :). Yeah, the "honeymoon is over - new job is hard" I laughed at that one with my companion. If there's anything that gets you after the honeymoon, it is the companion relations on your mission...:) haha. Oh yeah, there actually is Thanksgiving in America! Eat twice the turkey for me! 

This past week was fairly good.

The member referral didn't come to church, or an appointment that we had scheduled on Saturday because of Kim Jong, or Kim-chee making. :(

The hard to reach investigator is busy as ever...he is basically dropped.

The Utah investigator was busy with school and work, and so was not able to meet this week. :( but we talked to the Young single adult leader in our ward and have plans to help him.

The army investigator had a special event last week and this week, and so was not able to meet... :( 

People in Korea are busy...unfortunately.

The Canadian Gentlemen came back from his trip, but hasn't responded. 

We met two more investigators this past Thursday. They came and played basketball with us and a member, and then we had a really good lesson with a member afterwards. We will see how much interest they have. They really just came to play basketball. But that's how it begins...

We have one more person that we met on a bus who said that he has been to many churches and never gotten faith. 

He says that he has gone to  "cult" churches, "false" churches, and "real" churches (which are the three categories in Korea) and so he is willing to come (our church is in the "cult" category). He is planning on coming to Family Home Evening tonight.

We also met a man from Pakistan that is living by himself. We had the opportunity to introduce Jesus Christ to him.  We will see how things go.

We are working hard, and trusting the Lord, and working harder, and trusting the Lord more.

I know that the Gospel is true! Remember Zion! I love you all sooo very much!!!

GWANG-JU - SECOND TOUR PICTURES!!!

LOOK AT THE BALL!!!!

Hey mother and family!!!

Halloween sounds like quite the party! Our Halloween party went really well, we received 45 referrals between two wards, which is a good number. My companion and I had two potential investigators that showed up as well as one of the less actives that we are working with.

This week went by fast, but well. This transfer passed by so quickly, and will be over after this next week. The calls came today and we will be staying the same (which is a good thing). 

This week we met a referral from a youth who is really prepared to receive the gospel. He said that he wants to repent. Haha. Not much more prepared than that. So, we met with him on Saturday, and he came to church on Sunday where we taught him and another of the member's friends the first lesson. He is great. The member is awesome as well. The Lord works through many different ways to bring his children to Him.

This week also we had a little miracle that may turn into something. We met someone who had (just a week earlier) gotten home from a 2 year stay...in Utah with a Mormon family. He said that he had a very positive view of our church and with the values that we have. However, lately he has been busy because he is graduating this year (in English) and so we are still contacting him to meet. But, he has a lot of potential/

We also have the chance to meet a Korean who recently got back from the army, but before the army was faced with the decision to be baptized and not go to church for two years, or to wait, so he waited. And so we will meet him today, and hopefully everything will go really well!!!

The North Korean is still contacting but seems a little non-committed at the moment. We will continue to work with him and help him.

We also have our English investigator who is going to Canada who quit his job, and just wants to study in preparation for his departure to Canada. He didn't come to church this week, but we think that he will have more time to meet now that he doesn't have a job. He is still great.

Also, on Sunday I had a really really good chat with the son of the family who were baptized in my first area. He came to the baptismal service of our ward yesterday, and really enjoyed it. His sister got back from her mission and they are planning to work on English and the Gospel for some time and so thing are looking good for them. I think he just has a really bad Word of Wisdom problem. He is so wonderful though, I love that family sooooo much.

This week went by really well, and this next week we will work to make the most of all these opportunities that the Lord has provided for us!

I am very excited for the upcoming transfer and those to follow!!!

1 Nephi 16 is a great chapter. Everytime. This time the thing that stood out to me was the Lord's response to Lehi after he humbled himself and asked the Lord for directions. The Lord's response was "Look at the ball". In other words "do what you are supposed to be doing" and "use what you have". I feel like in our own lives we all have our individual liahonas. For missionaries it is preach my gospel, for people it is the scriptures (there's identity and purpose again...). A lot of time we may expect something new or some miraculous revelation to solve our problems. However, a lot of the time, God says, "Look at the ball". Nephi reads the ball, and it tells him to go to the top of a mountain. The Lord could have told Lehi exactly which mountain to send Nephi up, but instead He wanted Lehi and Nephi to learn to use the resources that they had. There is another lesson. Looking at the future (with the boat, etc) Nephi and Lehi needed to learn to rely and read on the ball. That is often the case with us. We need to learn to use our scriptures and the other tools that the Lord gives us. Lastly, climbing to the top of a mountain is not easy. The Lord is going to require us to work. And, when we go to the tops of mountains, at that point, through the help of the Lord and our own ability, commitment, and effort, :) our desires are realized. 

I know this church is true and the end of all activity in the church is being happiest = making a family happy at home. I know that is true. 

I love you all so very much!!!

Have a wonderful week!!1

William Strahl (the Elder Version)  

EQUATION FOR SUCCESS

Hello mother and family!!!!

Sounds like a good week!!!

I am glad that the Spanish branch seems to be doing well. It is almost as big as some wards in Korea (Gong Ju).  Seems like Melissa and Rachel are doing well and enduring the whole high school thing well. Mission week sounds interesting. Good experience for the kids to share the Gospel to their friends. (In Korea talking to people on the street, the #1 reason that people start to attend church (if they weren't born into it) was through a friend referring them).We had a youth in our ward start bringing a friend to church and she will be getting baptized next week. We had a soccer activity this past Saturday, and the youth referred two more of their friends. Youth power!!!

Our new investigator said that he would meet today, so we are excited to work with him.

We met our English Australian Canada bound investigator and basically recommitted him to taking the lessons. He came to church again and has a belief in God, but does not yet realize the message of the restoration, etc. We are excited to work with him and help him to get adapted to church. We are trying to set him up with the Korean ward that is in the city he going to in Canada. 

The Halloween party will be fun, and a great opportunity for referring people and bringing investigators and members together. 

I love you all soooo much!!!

Have a wonderful week!!

I love you.! 

Spiritual message to ponder:

Understanding Identity (Your Potential, Your Privilege) and Commitment to Purpose (Aesop's turtle and hair) = fulfillment of Potential.

SINGLENESS OF MIND

Hello mother and family!!!

This week went by fast, as usual, with lots of work and some new people!

We were not able to meet the new investigator, but we will meet him this week and hopefully he will keep his commitments and work towards the waters of baptism.

Our worldly investigator came to church. That's a little bit of improvement, but he needs to retake the lessons. We had a talk with him and he has stopped praying and thinks that all churches are the same...and so we will try to meet with him and get him to have a personal testimony. He goes to Canada (he got his visa) in December and so we are hoping to help him join the church before he goes so that he will have a big support system when he goes to Canada. He is still great and he says that the reason that he comes to church is because he believes. That is the start that will hopefully propel into his conversion experience.

Our other investigators continue to be busy now and so we are very diligently looking for ways to find people to teach. We are having a Halloween party (there's no Halloween in Korea) at the church and so we are hoping to get referrals through that method.

We met a new investigator this week who called off of an English advertisement wanting to learn free English. Turns out that he spent time in Canada, and so he is almost fluent in English and really just wants to practice keeping his English up. So, we met with him, and he told us that he attended a Presbyterian church in Canada and that since he has gotten back to Korea he has not had the opportunity to attend church. So, we met with him and invited him to read the book of Mormon and to pray, and so hopefully he will do so and come to know Christ more and convert.

This past week I read the sermon on the mount. I liked the verse talking about how the eye is the light of the body and if the eye is single then the whole body is filled with light.

The eye is part of the body. However, if single, then the whole body is filled with light. When I ran track Tyler always would tell me that if I was in a competitive race "Run for place and the time will take care of itself.". Running for place was a small part to focus on that would affect the whole. In like manner, our eye (or our desires and especially motivations) will affect the whole body, or our entire lives. The hardest part is obtaining "singleness" which in my mind went to a refracted light ray vs. a concentrated bright ray. We have to work to focus our desires and our motivations singly to, as the Joseph Smith translation puts it, "to the glory of God". Anyways, through that our whole lives will be filled with light, in other words, we will build upon the rock of Jesus Christ, whereon if men build, they cannot fall. I know that Jesus Christ has been resurrected and lives today. He stands at the head of His church. I know that the Book of Mormon has a power in it that reaches much beyond words of ink on a page. I know that the church restored by Joseph Smith is true and the original church that teaches the fulness of the Gospel as had in previous dispensations.

I love you all so much!!!

Have a wonderful week this week!

I hope you have a wonderful fall season!!!

PERSONAL REVELATION!

Hey mother and Family!!!

This week went by very well! Yes, we were able to see General Conference which was absolutely wonderful. I am so glad that we have the opportunity to hear the words of the living prophets every 6 months! 

This week was fairly empty. Our old man investigator starting to have a personal problem, and so he couldn't meet with us, our other investigators were busy with work and other things, but, we were able to meet a new investigator... He is very prepared.  We asked him if he was happy and he said that he was not. We talked to him about what our message could do for him and he told us that he really wanted to change. So, we begin again to work with him and help him to come to Christ and change his life. He is a great kid with tons of potential in life!

This week we also had great work with members. We visited a member last night and helped him to work toward referring someone to the missionaries. The members here all have great faith. They all know that they need to and when we come over and talk to them we get to hear about their concerns, but eventually the always give in to the spirit and decide to work towards a date. I am so happy for the opportunity that we have to help the members of the area fulfill their missionary responsibilities as well as working to find and help others that we meet on the street, etc.

From conference I really liked all of the talks. There were some great overall themes, but one that really was prevalent was "earning a testimony" through personal revelation. It is true that revelation and a testimony are gifts from God, but they come in response to the agency that we exercise. I know that the honest seeker of truth will come to know the truth if he/she asks God the source of all truth in the name of Jesus Christ if something is true or not with faith in Jesus Christ, real intent, and a sincere heart. I know that God hears and answers my prayers and all of yours. Listen to the words of the prophets, especially Elder Scott's. He was very bold and very simple. There are things that need to get out of our lives and things that we NEED in our lives. Through the whisperings of the Holy Spirit we can know how to improve our prayers, our scripture study, our family home evenings, and our temple attendance. The members here are members because they do those things. If they don't then they went less active a long time ago. It is so clear. I know that through prayer, scripture study, family home evening, and regularly attending the temple that we will be spiritually fortified in a spiritually insensitive society. I hope that you have a wonderful week! Don't forget to apply the things we learn at General Conference, otherwise we are the hearers of the word and not the doers! I love you sooooo very much!

YOUR POTENTIAL, YOUR PRIVILEGE

Hello Mother and family!!!

 

I am very excited for General Conference!!! Glad that Dad is getting use out of the Big Van! There is a family in the ward where I serve that have a Korean "big van" but it is no match to our big van. He calls it a truck as well :)

 

This past week went by quickly as usual. We were very busy in the work of the Lord. Right now we are working on finding people to teach. This week we found three people. Two of them called off of English fliers and the other one we met on the street. The first one is a kid who is getting back from the 2 year required military service next week. He had a break and so he came to English class as well as to an activity that we had on Saturday at the church. He is looking for a part time job (weekends) so we will see how far he goes in the religious aspect of things.

The second guy is an old guy who is quite peculiar. He married a wife from China and is now just living by himself and wants to learn English. He wants to marry a foreign wife. He doesn't quite understand the difference between churches (he invited us to come to church with him...so we will teach him the Great Apostasy tomorrow) and so we will help him to read the Book of Mormon and hopefully come to a knowledge of the truth.

The third guy we met on the street and invited him to the activity that we had on Saturday. He came with us and really seemed to enjoy it. After the activity we had a lesson with a member and it ended up that they worked at the same place! He seemed to enjoy it, so hopefully he will have potential as well.

 

The Family was really busy...and the man in the world was also busy, but he promised to come to church next week. There is also an important back story with him. I met the missionary that was here before me and the missionary told me that the first time that they met the missionary told him kind of jokingly to pray for a hard life so that he could believe in God. In the closing prayer, he did, jokingly, and then his dad died, he tore a few ligaments in his knee, got in a car crash, and now has insomnia. He is not very happy. But, he definitely believes in God now. We just have to help him realize that he needs to follow Jesus Christ all the way to commit to give up alcohol and be baptized. He is a great guy, and we are really hopeful for him to come to Christ!

 

This past week we watched the Mormon message "your potential, your privilege" in English class to help with hearing and get the gospel in. In this Mormon message a man gets on a boat, because he wants to save money, he doesn't participate in any of the activities, or get food, etc., he sees all the places that he wants to, but in the end he learns that all of the activities on the boat and the food were all part of the ticket price.

The lesson that I learned is that we must understand our identity in order to fulfill our potential. If we do not understand our identity then we do not understand the privileges we have, nor the potential that we have. Thus, it is very important to understand who we really are in respect to God and His Plan. Right now, I am a missionary, later a father, etc., as we understand who we are and what privileges our identity entails we will be able to fulfill our potential. Like Christ. He understand His identity clearly and was able to fulfill His potential as the Savior of all mankind!

 

I love you all so much and challenge you to find your identity, and then live up to it!

Have a wonderful week!!! I love you all!

FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT AND AVOIDING REPENTANCE

Hey mother  and family!!!

 

This week was great!

We met with the dry cleaning man and he referred us a church man of a church that is in Korea called Sinchunji. Anyways, they believe that their founder loosed revelations and that the second coming has already come, and there's some place on earth that people don't die...anyways, this Sinchunji church is extremely aggressive and very stealthy. In fact, member will tell you that they are members of the Presbyterian church when they first meet you, they also use buildings that have Presbyterian church on the outside. Anyways we met with him and taught him the first few lessons, but he decided not to read the Book of Mormon, and so he was dropped pretty quickly. What I learned from that experience is that knowledge is not one of the fruits of the spirit as stated in Galatians 5. Yes, it is necessary, but spiritual conversion is through the spirit which is a very small part knowledge and a ver large part peace, love, etc.

 

We actually referred the Cambodians that we were teaching to the other missionaries in our district because they are whitewashing (coming to the area both new with no investigators). They were not able to come to church yesterday, but they will hopefully be able to come out in the future!

 

The investigator at the wedding hall seems that he doesn't want to meet anymore... :(

 

Our investigator in the world hasn't come to church for a few weeks, but he is going to come out to the family home evening that we have at the church tonight.

 

The family that we are teaching is really busy right now, and so we haven't had a whole lot of time to meet with them. They are going to be the focus of this next transfer. They have such a potential to live the gospel and to support each other in this wonderful way of living. It really is a privilege to teach a family like them.

 

The son who is taking lessons is about 28ish I think. I met him on Sunday and he has promised to continue to come to church in the future. In fact, he apologized to me for giving so many excuses and not meeting with us or coming out to church. He was so happy and so radiant to be at church, and I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to visit and to work with that family. They are so wonderful, each person in that family has such a special spirit!

 

Yep, Korean Kids are the cutest!!! They are the best.

 

This week at church the famous comedian gave a talk. It was really good.

It started with the statement. "The topic that I have been asked to speak on is repentance. Now, I am going to speak about a way avoid repentance"...at this point I'm not sure what I was thinking but it was probably of conglomerate of "am I understanding his Korean right, there's no way to avoid repenting after you've sinned!" and that is when he said that if you want to avoid repenting, you just have to avoid evil. He then spoke about avoiding evil and avoiding the even the appearance of all evil. I realized how true it really is. If you don't want to repent, If you don't want to experience the negative consequences of sin, then don't sin!!! Easier to say than to do, but the principle is so true.

 

I love you all so much!!!!

Thank you for all your prayers and emails and everything!!!

Keep up all of the great work in Alabama, Idaho, Minnesota, wherever you are!!

 

William Strahl