COVENANTS AND PRIESTHOOD

Hey Momma, and family!!!

Sounds like quite the wonderful week!

This week we had a great week.

Our swimming investigator was able to come to a young men's activity (Ping Pong) which was really good for him. He had a great time, although he didn't come to church the next day (we will help him). The English investigator is...well stubborn. He now going to decide whether he will be baptized in November...but he's great as ever. 

Our Chinese investigator was only able to meet on Monday, but there wasn't a teaching opportunity, but he is really sincere!

Yesterday we were able to teach another person that we met in an apartment, and Eric brought one of his friends to church who we were able to help teach as well. He is doing so well...I am so happy for him!

This past week Korea was absolutely great, and it seems that our family was great as well! I love all of you soo much!

 The other day we knocked into another missionary of another church. He knew English fluently, so after we basically taught him the first lesson he then told us the flaws in our church through English. He then let us ask him questions about his belief, etc. It was such a great opportunity to talk to someone that actually knew a little about what they were talking about. He had read and understood the Bible very well, so it was very interesting to see where there belief different. (He was part of a non-denominational sect) The clearest difference was two-fold: covenants and priesthood. Remember the sacredness of these two very important things. God is a God of order through the Priesthood and we receive the highest of all blessings through the Priesthood as we make and keep covenants. 

These are the most important things. And yes mother, I cannot be a more happy son who had parents who showed me such a great example!!!

PRIORITIES AND CHRIST-LIKE ATTRIBUTES

Dear mother and family!!!

This week was great!!! I am so happy to hear that all of the graduations went well and that everyone is doing well in Oregon. I can't believe that Rachel Egan will be home in two weeks, but time blurs so much. Today I spent some time with one of my favorite two Elders Elder Paskett and Elder Ward. Elder Paskett and I lived together for the first 3 transfers (4 months roughly) of my time in Korea. He has one transfer left now and this is Elder Ward's last transfer. Time goes by relentlessly, never slowing or stopping, but always flowing. Thank you on your thought on priorities. It's so true. Especially with time. As Elder Christofferson spoke in a General conference, this life is a stewardship of time and choices. So, our priorities determine how much time we spend doing what choice when. They are so important in missionary work and in life. In Track Tyler would always tell me that if I got into a competitive race that if I ran for place, the time would take care of itself. It is such a true principle. When we focus on the most important things a lot of times other things fall into place.

The Sri Lankan investigators had to work this Sunday, so they were sleeping when we visited. It seems it may be a little difficult to help them because they are going to church every week by the order of their boss and the pastor calls them every week to ensure they come. They also have no transportation (although they could ride a bus) and they translate the sermons into the Sri Lankan's native language so they can understand (Catholic church). But, we will teach them a little more and see if they will come:) Yeah, the culture is really different here. It is super ancient and at the same time super modern (because it has developed so much in the last 30 years) you can see it in the cities as well as in the behavior. 

Our swimming investigator is doing well. He is excited about church, but wasn't able to come this Sunday. He is a fine young man and will make a great contribution to the church here.

The English investigator had a family member die and hasn't been to church now for three weeks and it SHOWS. He is so hard to teach these days, but of course, always teaching us patience. 

The Jehovah's witness investigator had another emergency trip in a nearby city so he was unable to meet. We will hopefully be able to meet him this week on Wednesday (that's the plan...)

We found a new Chinese investigator who is amazing. He has lived in Korea for 4 years and so we can communicate with him. He feels a lot of anger in his life and wants to change. He said that he really wants to change. This is music to any missionary's ears. So, we will hopefully be meeting him three times a week and teaching him the Gospel of Jesus Christ to help him change through the Atonement of Jesus Christ! He really wants it, so we will help him!

This week was really good. Every week is really good. I want to share a group of verses that I think you will all like, all highlighting a different Christlike attribute/other.

Humility Mosiah 4:11-12 Gratitude Alma 37:37 Patience Alma 34:41 Weaknesses Jacob 4:7 Love Moroni 7:45 Hope Moroni 7:41

I love you all so much!!! You are the best!!!

TURNING TO CHRIST

WOW. A lot happened...haha! (And you have been all over the place)!

 I got an email from the Shottons! They said that John was called to the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar mission! I am so excited for him! He will do great!

This week we had a very good week with investigators. 

We met with our English investigator and he is his regular stubborn, but also stubbornly solid self. He's great and has taught me patience almost every day for the past 7 months. 

We met with our swimming investigator and he has decided to join the church! He will be preparing to be baptized around July 20th. We met with a member and they clicked immediately, and he really had a desire to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. His parents do not have a religion, and so this may be the beginning of an entire family coming into the church (hopefully!!!) He stayed after church for a bit on Sunday and met all of the ward members and the young men's president (etc...there are only like 5-10 leaders, let alone adult males in the ward).  He is so wonderful and prepared. I am so happy for the opportunity that we have had to work with him. 

We were not able to meet with the Jehovah's witness, but we will hopefully be able to meet with him this week. His wife was a little ill.

We also met with some other people that the Lord led us to. We were able to meet in the home of a family who knows one of the members. It was a fairly good visit, although they are really not that interested in the Gospel. It was a great opportunity to introduce our message! They said that they would read the Book of Mormon as sort of a "wisdom book" and so there is still hope for them to come to Christ.

We also were able to meet 3 new Sri Lankan investigators. We went to an apartment complex and we here a "Hello!" We look up and there's someone on the fourth floor up who is waving to us (he's definitely not Korean). His friends come to see us and we asked to come and visit. They said that we could, so we taught them the first lesson. One of the Sri Lankans, as we bore testimony said "I feel it, I feel that it is true". They work really hard (7am-9pm) every day and their boss has them go to church in Taejeon (bosses here do that to there employees: make them go to a certain church...) but, with a testimony of the Book of Mormon and a lot closer church, hopefully we can help them. Unfortunately I don't think the Book Of Mormon has been printed in their language (Sinhalese). The lds.org website doesn't have their language, but they know a little English and a little Korean (so we would teach in Korean, then translate to English and then they would discuss it in Sinhalese...quite the experience) 

I am so happy for all of the great things that are happening in our family! So wonderful. 

One thing that I want to share comes from what Elder Christofferson shared with us. In the question and answer section a missionary asked how he could better prepare for trials. Elder Christofferson responded that trials will come, sooner or later, and the difference between those who victor and those who don't is where you turn. He used the verse in Alma 62 But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility. <-- that one!

He said that trials will come regardless, but that during those trials, who we turn to will make the biggest outcome in the result. He said that eventually we will face a trial that we cannot overcome on our own, no matter how much we rely on ourselves. He then outlined in his life his example of such a trial. He explained that the Lord required him to patiently pray and turn to God every single day and make ends meet one day at a time, watching as God helped him conquer his situation piece by piece bit by bit at a time. I know that this is a true principle. Who we turn to in times of both abundance and destitution determines the result. I know that as we turn to Christ, He will help us and deliver us from our trials, but it may a period of days, months, years, before we see His full arm revealed. Turn to Christ. Mosiah 7:33. I know that this work is true. God answers the prayers of the faithful and helps us to accomplish His work! I love you all so much! Continue to enjoy the graduation tour!!! 

PLANNING AND ORDER

Hello mother and family!!!

This past week quite a bit happened. We taught investigators, met an Apostle...yeah, a pretty big week.

 This week we had a traveling AP stay with us for a few days. He was going home in two weeks and so it was great to have his company, wisdom, and insight as we did missionary work. 

We continued to teach our English investigator who consistently insists on 11/29 as his baptismal date. He is so ready, but wants to wait. I am just glad that he understands that baptism is a promise with God and takes that seriously. I am confident that he can stay in the church and that he will be baptized in November. He is solid and really enjoys church.

We also met with our Jehovah's Witness investigator and I used some of the scriptures that you pointed out. He continues to learn and to consider and to ponder the message of the Restoration. He will hopefully soon realize the truth of the message and commit to start coming to church.

We met with our elderly friend that we started to teach again. We taught him about prayer (which he hasn't said out loud before). He really seems to want to change and believe but that means that he has to give up drinking and smoking, which he likes quite a lot. His wife is much to enthusiastic about baptism and reminds him that she has absolutely know gospel knowledge and so it is not the learning that is important, but joining the family. He really doesn't like her insistence which has been incessant for the last 30 years...but, he really does believe that the church is true and that it is great, and so if he has desires we and God will work with him to help him become more committed to Jesus Christ.

We weren't able to meet with our ping-pong investigator or our restaurant friend. The Gwangju investigator continues to be busy.

We met with the 28 year old and had a really good message with Ether 12:27. Hopefully we will be able to get some sparks flowing in his life.

Well, this week we got to have a meeting with Elder Christofferson of the 12, Elder Maynes of the Presidency of the 70 and Elder Whiting of the Area Presidency. It was a great meeting. As an entire mission, we all sang many hymns to prepare for their arrival. Then, Sister and Elder Maynes spoke, and then Sister and Elder Christofferson spoke. Elder Christofferson opened up the meeting to a general question and answer session, free for anyone to ask anything. It was a great experience and we learned a lot.

Elder Christofferson also spoke at a general meeting for the members on Saturday night where he told the people of Korea that the promise in the Book of Mormon that those who kept the commandments who prosper in the land applied to the land of Korea as well. We also had a special stake conference on Sunday where Elder and Sister Maynes presided and spoke. 

This week there has been a lot on my mind about a lot of things. It has now been a full year since I entered the MTC and I have exactly that amount of time left on my mission. I have learned a lot about planning on my mission. Planning is how we organize time. The way that I think about it is through bricks. Right now, our time is out there in scattered bricks. However, as we plan, we take those bricks of time and we arrange them into something more useful and more productive. Elder Christofferson said in a General Conference that this life is a stewardship of time and choices. Through those two gifts, all other results come. We can plan our time to use it effectively, and we can plan our choices (which we will make and which we will not make). Through doing so, we, in effect, organize the result of our time and choices, which is our character. So, planning is key in becoming who we want to be. The mission is a prototype of life. The same principles apply. I have so much time on my mission and we all have so much time in our lives. We know about how much time we have, but we can never be certain. But, one thing is for sure, that if we plan then we will accomplish our desires, and become who we want to be. To me there are several definitions for the word discipline. But, one that I like is "Doing what we need to do when we need to do it because we planned it that way". God is a God of order, and He created the Plan of Salvation to accomplish His purposes. We can do and become who we want to become by planning. I know that is true. 

I love you all so much and hope that every thing is going absolutely wonderful!!!! You are the best!!

CATCHING THE BUS!

Dear mother and family!!!

Thank you for the update! Sounds like everything is going wonderful in Arizona, Minnesota, and Oregon! Things are going well in Korea as well! Wow, what an opportunity for Reid! I am so happy that he is able to sing with and meet the seventy! I am so happy and proud of him for his great talent! I am really glad that things are going well in the Spanish branch. Sounds like dad is really enjoying his calling, and it is wonderful that his mission language is still helping him 30 years after his mission. The Lord knows our lives and what we will do and who we will be better than anyone else. I am glad that Charlotte is done with the end of beginning and that she will now be able to start her career. She will do absolutely great wherever she goes. Hopefully Reid can get up to 12'6 in the sectionals meet and make on to the next round. It's great that he was able to vault 12'! Christian is emailing me, so I know all about his success! He is so great. He's what? 22 these days. I am not going to lie, that actually feels really young to me because of the change in age in Korea. Here I am 21 and my companion (who is 19) is also 21. So, it's a little different and age is a little distorted, but anyways, the point is that he's a (more) mature adult who can take care of himself. Haha, summer break. We are bracing here for the brutal summer of Korea as the temperatures are hitting in the 80s consistently and the humidity is about 70%...but it's inexpressible how much it is worth it!

This week we had a good week with our investigators. Oh! We got transfer calls. I am staying another transfer in 공주 with Elder Peterson! That means that I will get to spend a total of over 7 months here! Such a blessing and an opportunity! I love the people here and all of our investigators.

SO....the Jehovah's witness investigator continued to exchange ideas with us. He is such a good person at his core, and so we are trying to help him realize the importance of continuing revelation and understanding that the Bible is not closed. Any ideas???

The Gwangju investigator was really really busy this week and so he was not able to meet; however, from our member who has KaKao talk with him, we hear that he should be finished with his club activity this week, so we are very excited for the opportunity that we will have to meet with him again.

The 28 year old is struggling a little bit. He said the last time that we met with him that he is more concerned with meeting us as friends than meeting us for religion...which always gets you right to the heart. But, we will continue to try to help him through our friendship to make changes and taste the wonderful fruit that the Gospel brings. He is a really hard one.

Our swimmer investigator came to church this week for about 40 minutes (he had a prior appointment). They are all doing well and we are excited to work hard here in Gong Ju this next transfer!

Well, this week was great. Something very simple hit me pretty hard. A simple example of faith. Someone who is walking towards a bus stop sees a bus. They run to catch the bus. They act on an unseen hope. The receive the power to accomplish their hope. The question then remains...how many of us can see the bus in our lives. Because if we are not, then we are living below our potential, which is waiting for the bus. Alma calls this (as well as many Book of Mormon Prophets) the eye of faith (Alma 5, Ether 12, Alma 32, etc) , which eye's clarity is hope. The clearer the eye of faith the greater the ability we have to act, and the greater power we receive to accomplish what we can see. See the fruit of the Gospel and nourish it to clarity!

PLANTING SEEDS

Hello Mother and all!!!

It was so wonderful to be able to talk to all of you! I am so happy that you are doing very well in Minnesota. Korea is absolutely wonderful!

This past week our investigators were well. Our English investigator committed to be baptized, in November! Which is a ways away, but he feels that he needs more time in order to make sure that he will follow God and commit to church. The great thing is that he understands that the commitment to baptism is a lifelong commitment.

Our Gwangju investigator was unable to meet, but we did meet with our younger swimmer friend. We were able to teach him the second lesson. He is doing well and if he gets a friend in the church he should be well. After him, our Jehovah's Witness friend meets with us once a week. He is still very excited to search the Book of Mormon and the Bible and look for the truth. I really enjoy meeting with him. He is wonderful! He has said that he is not in a position to change very quickly (which is never expected) but hopefully he will be able to experience the spirit and slowly come to know the truth. He is a great person! Our 28 year old friend has gotten a little slack in his commitments, and so we will have to recommit him to living the Gospel. 

We also had the chance of meeting many very wonderful people these past few days! I absolutely love the opportunity that I have to help people to come unto Christ!

This past week I read Alma 32 again and I realized many things that I have never read before. Particularly I recognized two significant events in the chapter that lead to the eventual cultivation of the fruit. The first thing that we must do is give room for the seed. And the second thing that we must do is nurture it until it gets root in our hearts. Both of the stages are very important in our conversion and others, however most of the time we only emphasize giving the seed room. Remember that both of these motions happen inside of the heart and work to change the hearts of those who plant the seeds. Where you plant the seed as well the amount of effort given to the seed influence the result of the seed!

I love you all so much! It was so good to talk to you! Have a wonderful week!

WEIGHTIER MATTERS

Hello Mother and all!

This past week went by very well! Elder Peterson and I worked hard and felt the Lord's love and guidance in His great work.

We met a really great guy the other day. He is a Jehovah's Witness believer who said that he was looking for truth. We had a bus ride home with him and he was incredibly interested to hear about the Book of Mormon. We taught pretty much the entire first lesson on the street. He accepted a Book of Mormon and asked me where the most profound parts of the Book were, allowed me to mark them for him and then said that he would read them. We have an appointment with him today, which will be exciting to see how he has done since we have last met.

Our other investigators are doing well. We finally got our English investigator a baptismal date for November which is honestly no sooner that I would have guessed. He is great. He comes to church every Sunday and loves the members, but needs a lot of time to understand and to grow his testimony which is a budling right now.

We got to meet with the ping-pong swimmer this week and had a great lesson with him about the Plan of Salvation. If we continue to meet with him, I know that he will be able to make friends in the church and hopefully believe. I can see him serving a mission someday!

Our Gwangju investigator went back to Gwangju for the holidays. The past two days were children's day and Buddha's birthday so everyone was off school and work and returned to their hometomes. He went back to Gwangju and so was not able to meet, but we still remind him to read the Book of Mormon and to pray :) I am excited for him because of how well he understands the Gospel. He now just needs to experiment on the word!

Our internet investigator has stopped answering phone calls/texts, so we may not be meeting with him anymore. This is unfortunate, but his choice.

This past week was really great. The weather was a little bit rainy at some parts, but now is nice and springy (not to hot, not to cold, with sun and flowers).

This week I have thought a lot about the amount of weight that we place on things. Someone once said that "An event only has as much significance as you place it". Thus, we really can decide how much an event or something else means to us. In terms of coming closer to God, our covenants are what bind us to Him. So, naturally, if we remember and treasure the sacredness of our commitments then we will be much more inclined to keep them. One of the prophets once said that you can measure a person's conversion by the way that they treat the Sabbath Day. The Sabbath Day is usually the first thing that goes as people stray away. The world places no signficance on the Sabbath Day, contrasted to a Disciple of Jesus Christ who realizes the significance of church attendance, particularly partaking of the sacrament, and keeping the spirit of the Lord for the rest of the Lord's day. In short, we choose what we place significance on, and through doing so we dictate our lives. So think about what you do and you can easily find where you place your significance. Then, you can see where you should rightly appropriate your efforts and work towards it. Instead of chopping of leaves (the action) go for the root (the motivation). That is one thing that I learned this week. I know that this work is the Lord's work and that He loves all His children. I know that the prayer of faith will be answered. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that he restored this church under the direction of Christ Himself. I know that anyone who sincerely wants to know these truths can. I love you all so much, and hope that everything is going absolutely wonderful in Minnesota! I love you so much!!!

INVESTIGATOR NAMES

Thank you for your inspirational words. We had the opportunity to watch the Character of Christ in the MTC. It is a super great talk. I agree, the need to turn outward is greater than the need to turn inward. Thank you!

[Mom's note here:  We always refer to the people Will is teaching by a brief description of how they met, or where they are from.  I had to chuckle as I read our correspondence about these various wonderful people.]

Haha, I had to laugh when you mentioned the investigators through these interesting descriptions...! What made it better was that I had to stop and think for awhile until I realized who exactly the "internet" investigator was. Haha. Yeah, very shrouded, but I thought it would be easier than talking about 최용민 형재님 in their Korean names...

Our investigators are doing well. The internet investigator was not able to come to church, but we were able to contact him and will hopefully soon be able to meet with him. We were able to meet with the Gwangju investigator who is doing so well. We really focused on helping him to gain a witness of the Book of Mormon and he seemed very committed to reading and praying. He wasn't able to come to church yesterday because he likes to sleep in, so we will work with that for this next week. He is really great though!

The family is going to be dropped because they haven't been able to meet for 3 weeks. The boy that Eric mentioned is a swimmer and plays pingpong. He is a great kid and hopefully will be able to progress well in the Gospel. It was so great to be able to teach that Sunday with Eric! Also, the 28 year old is doing well. He isn't really working toward much right now in his life; he is mainly going with the flow and staying stagnant and complacent with where he is. He is great though and we love him very much. We have some ideas to help stimulate some desire for God and other things. We are excited!

Things in Korea are going well! Missionary work is the best and Elder Peterson is as great as ever! I love you so much!

The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that is true. There is truth within its pages that will guide the seeking soul to Christ and through Christ to eternal families. My companion this week made an interesting comment that selfishness blinds the souls of man. I can't help but think of Elder Bednar's talk and how selfishness really does narrow the vision that we have to things that only benefit us. Selfishness is satisfactory in the moment, selflessness is satisfactory in the eternities. Selfishness reflects on the self, selflessness lets go of the self. Selfishness is the root of all evil, selflessness is the root of all good. The more that we give, the more that we receive, but only if we give without the intention of receiving. I know that that is true. I love you so much and am greatful that I have the opportunity here in Korea to serve the Lord and His people. You are all the best!!! I love you so much!