TRADITIONS OF THE FATHERS!!!

This week we had a pretty good week with our investigators. By the way, the coldest it was in Korea this week was 40 degrees! Spring is here!

First, we met with our English investigator of course! He is doing really well. We have come up with better ways to teach to his learning style and to help him to learn the Gospel. He is great. He loves us a lot and said that he would receive baptism after a little while. He is slowly progressing...but progressing nonetheless.

The Gwangju investigator was unable to meet last week but he is going to meet with us today! He likes us a lot though! He sent us a picture of his grandmother's house in Gwangju to show us where he was! The house actually had grass, so it was a little nicer! (Seeing grass...real grass...was interesting!)

Eric is doing so well. We don't know much about how his friends are doing, but he blesses the sacrament yesterday and is just such a light to everyone! He's so great!

We met the politician again and he had a friend there, so we were able to teach both of them which went pretty well. She was Catholic but understood our message very clearly. She lives in Taejeon, so we will probably refer her to the elders there.

We also met a new family (2 sons) that want to learn English. They are fine with us teaching about the Gospel so we will meet them once a week on Sundays to teach them english and to teach them the lessons. They don't have any particular Gospel interest, but with the Spirit that will hopefully change. It is exciting to have a potential family to help into the kingdom of God. I can see them being very successful and great members.

Hahaha....I had to laugh to myself a little bit about the Buddhist question because literally 50-60% of the people that we meet are Buddhist. Buddhist is a Chinese religion but Korea is basically an offshoot of China. Really, 70% of the Korean language comes from chinese characters. The religion of Korea before missionaries came in the late 1800s early 1900s was Buddhism. Many people say they are Buddhist "through tradition" and one person even told us that Buddhism was the basis of Korean culture. People here have heard about God and about churches, but they don't think about them at all, or know anything about them. Anyways, Buddhist people are normally set in the ways of the "traditions of their fathers" and so it is very difficult to find and teach Buddhists unless they have a pre-existing curiosity in God. Yep, just like the Nephites of old, I am trying to convince people of the false traditions of their fathers...but, that is why we have the Book of Mormon, which God clearly explains in Doctrine and Covenants: "And for this very ^apurpose are these ^bplates ^cpreserved, which contain these records—that the ^dpromises of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made to his ^epeople;  20 And that the ^aLamanites might come to the knowledge of their fathers, and that they might know the ^bpromises of the Lord, and that they may ^cbelieve the gospel and ^drely upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and be ^eglorified through faith in his name, and that through their repentance they might be saved. Amen."
I love you all so much. I really enjoyed your thoughts about charity. The thought that came to my mind was that through such letting go of ourselves, we become one. Charity is the pure love of Christ and was greatest made manifest in the Atonement which is the act which allows us to be one with Christ and God. (I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was ^acrucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will ^bbelieve on my name, that they may become the ^csons of God, even ^done in ^eme as I am ^fone in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one. D&C 35:4) (also Now let us Rejoice verse 2)

Thank you for everything! I love you all so much! I hope that you enjoy the pictures! Have a wonderful week!