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

 

STAYING IN GWANG JU

Hello mother and family!!!

 

This week went by really fast, and I cannot believe that the fall season is already beginning!

This week some good things happened.

 

We met a new investigator who has a really good personality, and so we are hoping to be able to meet with him and help him to come to Christ and to the Church. We met with him once and it went really well, but since then he hasn't had any time. hopefully he will be able to meet with us this week! He is 20 years old and he works at a wedding hall (American age is probably 19).

We also made the acquaintance of a dry cleaning man who is trying to refer his son to us. He invited us to lunch tomorrow, so hopefully then we can make a legit attempt. Before he had us go into the store where his son was working and talk to him about church. Apparently his son went to the army, attended church for awhile, but then came back and stopped attending church. Well, we went into the store (because in Korea you can do that kind of stuff without...tension) and we talked to him, and he said he was attending church right now. Oh so the father also told us that when we went that we couldn't tell him that his father sent us...which made it a little bit mysterious because we knew his name and where he worked...anyways, it was a little bit awkward, but tomorrow we are eating lunch with them, so hopefully something will come out of it :)

 

Our investigator in the world took another step in. He got a girlfriend who has a son and hasn't had time to meet and was too busy to come to church yesterday. He is going to take time, but he definitely has the blossoming beginning of a testimony. We will continue to help him and work with him to help him to come to Christ!

 

Of the 4 Cambodians that we have met, 3 of them we referred to a set of missionaries who were whitewashing with no investigators...and all 3 were given baptismal dates! They are really happy at church and it is great to see them. The last Cambodian came to church for the 3rd time, and met the other Cambodians. His English and Korean are not as good, and so it is really hard to teach him; however, he really likes church.

 

The Lee Family was too busy to meet, but hopefully they can meet this week!

 

Other good news is that the daughter of restaurant owners in my first area came home and her brother is now taking the lessons!!!

 

This transfer is staying the same. we are in the same area with same companion :) that is good^^

 

This past week I thought a lot about repentance and opportunity. Opportunities are extremely precious because they are perishable. There is a time factor that limits the availability of an opportunity (thus it is an opportunity...). This life is a opportunity restrained by the duration that we live here. Throughout life there are many different opportunities that face us at all different times. However, thinking about this I realized that the greatest opportunity given to mankind is the Atonement. We always have the choice to use the incomparable opportunity given to us by our Savior Jesus Christ. The opportunity of the Atonement is a blessing that can come to us each day, if we so choose. Every single day we have the opportunity to repent. To change ourselves a little bit, and become better, more Christ-like Saints. Just one weakness or shortcoming at a time. If we really use the Atonement every single day, then we will show the Savior how much His sacrifice means to us. (During the day we really have infinite opportunities, but only the most important ones to us get used).  I invite you to just spend 10 minutes at the end of a day, reflect on what you could have done better that day, and then ask the Lord for strength through the Atonement to overcome that particular part at night and also in the morning. I know that if you do, you will feel the power of the Atonement and the joy that it brings more in your life. I know this work is God's work on the earth and that the scriptures are true. I love you all so much!!!

 

Love you lots!!!

LUNCH WITH A CELEBRITY

Hey Mom and Family!!!

Sorry about last week's short email again. There was a miscommunication (how could that possibly happen in a 2nd Language) and we had to leave pretty early. So this week, hopefully I can be a little more detailed and elaborate :)

 

Sounds like Reid is doing well and will have a great time at BYU Idaho. It is such a new experience to leave the family and to room with people your own age. And then another new experience to get lots of companions who are all very different and who all contribute different strengths and weaknesses to the companionship. I am so excited for him! He will do great! Yep, the church world is pretty small. One example, at BYU when I auditted a Korean class, I met someone there who turned out to be Nathan's sister's husband's brother. If that was weird enough, when I was coming to Korea one of the Korean's coming with us talked about her sister getting married. When she showed the picture of who she was getting married to...it was him...! That is so cool that you were able to make a connection in Idaho back to good ol' Oregon. The fire doesn't seem to really be that big--which is good, but I think I know just about where that is...which is really sad. I think it adds some scenery to the run... jk.

 

These past few weeks things have been a little crazy in Korea, in case you haven't noticed. A lot of our investigators have dropped, but we still have some that are going strong.

Our worldly friend entered an English speech contest that the stake organized and had, and he spoke about how he had come to church and believe in God. It was basically his testimony which was really really good for him to share. On the other hand, in the morning we talked to him again about baptism and he told us that alcohol is "his friend". He is trying to reduce, but it seems that it will be a fairly long road to complete victory. He is really great. He got sick and couldn't come to church yesterday, but he will definitely come in the future. He also got a new girlfriend who has a son (luckily he knows enough about the law of chastity already) and so he has gotten a little bit more busy. We will help him continually

 

We also were able to meet the family that already seems like family. We ate dinner with them (ok...I have to tell you this story. So, after the speech contest, there was a little snack meal that we had (it was like a small luncheon) and Robert Holly, the really famous actor in Korea, wanted to take all of the missionaries out for dinner. So, we all go to a buffet with him...which is the first time that I have ever been in public with someone nationaly famous. It was really interesting. People pointed and stared, and took pictures, it was a really different experience. But, it was great. So then, after all that we go to the appointment...which was a dinner appointment...haha. And they prepared a lot of food...so I went home with, if you translate directly to english, "my stomach emerging".) Anyways, we had a great time with the family, and as the dad gave us a ride home we talked to him about church. They had already been once, and so I asked him about their thoughts about church and they said that they had felt recently that they needed to join a church. That is when they met missionaries. Well, they went to church once and they felt that it was kind of weird. There was no pastor, and so they felt that there was no order. This is the second family that has responded in this way. So, we talked to Robert Holly about how to resolve it (he was a former bishop...) and we hope to help them realize all of the blessings of the church.

 

Besides those two investigators, the rest of our investigators have dropped their interest, or are not ready to be taught yet, so we have gone back to working hard in finding. We have found some people lately. One of them (the one on the bus) lost his phone in Seoul...and so it's hard to get a hold of him. But we keep working and trying to find the elect that will listen to His voice and recognize us as messengers of the Lord.

 

Thank you for all of the spiritual messages that you send! They are all really great! This week we had a lesson in Priesthood about keeping the Commandments (wouldn't be surprised if it the same lesson in America). Anyways, we learned that the most important thing to do is to take the commandment that you aren't faithful to all the way and then to work on it a little bit at a time. That is good advice. Just one at a time over a period of time and then commandments become a habit of obedience! One of the questions of the lesson is how do show our love through obeying the commandments? Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said that one of the crowning characteristics of love is loyalty. The degree of our love of a person (think about spouse) depends on the loyalty that we have toward the person (not only, just crowning). I hope that we all look at the commandments that we are maybe not keeping all the way, and out of our love for Christ, we show Him that we are faithful to Him and to His teachings. I know that if you do, you will become happier. I have seen that in my own life and in the lives of others. God is our Father. He loves us. Because He loves us, He sent His Son Jesus Christ. If we follow Jesus Christ, we will be happy. The Book of Mormon teaches plainly how to follow Jesus Christ. I know that is true! I hope that you have a wonderful week this week and that everything goes well for every member of our family!!!

 

I love you so much! Have a wonderful week!

KOREAN THANKSGIVING!!!

Hey!!!! So today is the holiday! We found a cafe that is open and so we were able to email :)

today we a member family invite us over for games and for dinner...so things will great! 

Thank you for the message! It was very well timed :) I am glad to hear that the Korea map is up in the house. That makes me smile inside. I have Melissa and Rachel's hands up in my apartment...haha .Sis. Naatjes transferred into the ward the transfer after I did. 

These past few weeks have kind of been "put off" until after the holiday. I will explain. Everyone in Korea goes back to the town of their family ancestors during the holidays, and so it is really hard to get people to church during that time, but our investigator who was handicapped came, and so did our cambodian friend, who amazing found a member that can speak Cambodian! It was great! 

We have been able to meet a lot of people recently who have said that they have been wanting to know about a church. Hopefully, next week we will have a few more people who will be able to come. 

The families all stopped really having a interest. We are still contacting them...for a chance of interest.

This week our investigator who is in the world told us that he totally quit smoking and that he tried to quit drinking, but his friends pressured him and so he still drinks. 

Other than that, a lot of our investigators dropped, and the holiday was a little tough for meeting people. 

I love you all so much!!! Thank you for all your prayers!!

 Thank you for the poem!!!

SHORT UPDATE

Sounds like everything is going really well!

Next week is Korean Thanksgiving and so the email privileges may be limited on that day; so next week, if there is no email, that is why (korea shuts down for three days).

 

This week the karate investigator didn't answer his phone...but we will keep it up with him, he has a lot of potential

The bus man from Seoul called us to tell us that he couldn't come this sunday but to call him again next sunday.

We met another man on the street and visited him. He hasn't been to church in awhile and wants to go back. He is planning to come after Korean thanksgiving.

We had a Cambodian couple come to a great activity and another cambodian come to church the next day!

 

 

I am so glad that you are happy! All is well here in Korea, except the fact that my brother is going to college. Time is weird.

 

Hope that everyone has a really good start to the new school year!!!

 

I love you all so very much!

Have a wonderful week!!!

(Christian and Charlotte picked the same week to email me...) sorry that it's a little short.

LOVE you so very much!!!

Elder Strahl

MTC FOR LIFE

Wow! Sounds like quite the fun back there in Minnesota. Holy Smokes I cannot believe that school is already starting there...that is amazing!!! The summer has gone by soooo fast. Here it has been unusually rainy and cool...which I am glad for :)

This week was pretty ridiculous. So much happened this week that was very interesting and good and bad...etc.

First off, we went to visit the English investigators and had a good talk to them about church. They seemed to think that our church was unfamiliar and that Korean people really didn't want our church. They came for two weeks, and apparently they really don't like testimony meetings and people sharing personal experiences in sacrament meeting. Anyways, long story short, they won't be coming back for a little bit. They are a wonderful family, but they don't see church as a pattern of living...which is true of most people. So, we will continue to visit them because their daughters still have some potential for joining the church, but if they continue to be engrained in their opinions then it will be time to move on. :(

Next, our karate teaching investigator was really busy all week, and said on Friday, "See you on Sunday" and then didn't show up! That was a bit of a bummer, so we are continuing to try and contact him and meet to help him to come to church. We also didn't have a chance to see his daughter or son, but I am hopeful for them because he has many questions.

On the flip side, we invited our crutches hospital bound investigator to a church activity on Saturday (volleyball, which he couldn't do) and then we ate dinner together. Anyways, he loved it there, we had a lesson with him, and then he came to church the next day. His problem is the world. He came to the activity after an 8 hour drinking night...and had to go out for smoke breaks...but he likes church. We were driving home from one of the activities (he gives us a ride to save time and money) and we talked to him about baptism. He said "yeah, next month I'll do it", but his concern was a lot of people there because he is shy. So we told him that it would be the whole ward there, just part, and then he said "ok, let's do it next week". I laughed and told him that he needed to be prepared. But, his excitement is definitely there. He needs to stop drinking and smoking...which is going to be quite the decision for him. In Korea if you don't drink then you don't have friends...unless they don't drink either. When we told him he said that it was a hard decision: church or friends. We helped him understand that it was not a decision that he had to make right then, but that as he studied and met with us, little by little he would be able to give up everything and join the church. We also had family home evening at the church that night, which he attended with us, and it was great. He had a really good time and when he dropped us off at the end of the night, he said that he had a very happy day. I agree, a day without a hangover is a happy day :) He's great and we are really excited for him as he continues to pursue his desire to feel the peace of God which surpasseth all understanding. His name is Cruz (he went to Australia for some time and chose that English name).

We also had the opportunity of meeting somebody on a bus who had recently moved from Seoul. He said that he had been looking for a church and knew that he would need to go to church, and then we got on the bus, sat next to him, and talked to him. He thought that was a sign from God. So, we continued to talk and got his contact information and then he left. He wasn't able to come to church yesterday, but he said that he would come to church next week. He's 30 and not married and really looks like a great guy, and so we are excited for him to come to church and learn about the Gospel!

The other family was unable to meet with us. They have been busy recently and so there has been no time... but, they are great and we will hopefully be able to see them next week!

This week I was reading Jacob 5 with a Less active who we are helping to read, understand the scriptures, and keep the word of wisdom. An interesting thing to note in Jacob chapter 5 is that the master of the vineyard says that the end is near in verse 29; however the entire chapter is 77 verses (or something like that). Looking at that in proportion to time, the "end is coming" even before the half way point. That is the message of urgency that the Lord communicates through His prophets in every single dispensation. The phrase "the day of the Lord is at hand" is very common and conveys this same idea. The take home message is that we need to act now! Do what we need to do now! Because there isn't much time, certainly not as much as we think or expected (that's the story of the mission)

Also, this week in English class we watched a Mormon message in English and helped the people of the class to hear and understand what is being said. The one that we are watching is Men hearts shall fail them, by Elder Nelson. He says something in that movie that is very important. He says that people's hearts fail them because they forget two things. They forget their identity and their purpose. If we know our identity and our purpose, then we will be able to act now (above) and be prepared for struggles when they come. 

I can't explain how much I love the mission. It is the greatest experience EVER. One of the people in our district talked about how the mission is the MTC for life...and it truly is. I am so excited everyday to learn what the Lord wants me to learn and to strive to be who the Lord wants me to be. I hope that you also will take time to ponder your own identity and purpose. And then strive, just one day and one act at a time, to live up to the identity and purpose that each of us have.

I love you all so much!!! 

SIDDA'S BAPTISM

Hey mother and family!!!!

This past week was great!

Sidda was baptized and he really enjoyed the whole experience. The baptism was in English, as well as the confirmation, and pretty much the whole program! My companion got to come back from 대전 to baptize him, and things went really well. I am so happy for him and his new start as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, He is Chinese and so may be able to help his Chinese friends and family come to accept the blessing that the Gospel brings (that was the message our Bishop told him).

Aside from that there was some not so great news. With Sidda preparing to be baptized and having to learn in English, our other investigator just came to church, and then started wearing a suit. He got a ride from the members and he seemed to be golden. And then yesterday we talked to him about baptism, and it came out that he complete wrong motivations for coming to church. So, we will meet with him a little bit outside of church and see if we can help him get the right motivations, otherwise he will be dropped for sure.

The English family surprised us in two ways (one good, and one bad) this week. When we went to English class they ended up riding the exact same bus that we did. So, I had a 30 minute conversation with the mother about the church, baptism, and the positive effect that the church has had on me. She seemed to listen well. When we went to English class, there was no adult male, so we suggested to do it with the sisters, but the family rejected. And so then we ended up teaching them the 1st Lesson while they were waiting for the dad to come pick them up. They really liked the first lesson, and that was good. At one point during the lesson, the mother told the daughters to pay attention so that later they could get baptized. Then she added, even if I don't get baptized...so we have to work with the mother and the father. The Mother is a little odd, but the Father is a spiritual giant. He is going to be really busy the next few weeks and so they may not be able to meet...or come to church, which is not fun. But, there is a lot of potential for the 4 of them to come together in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

The other family we were able to meet the day of transfers (I have a new companion, Elder Dubois, but we are still in Gwangju.) The father (only) met with us and had SO MANY questions about life, death and so many other things. We were happy to talk with him about them and to help him to understand a little bit more about God and His plan for us. He couldn't come to church on Sunday because of his older sister or something coming, which was sad, but we will hopefully meet him a few times this week. He's great!

The Vietnamese people turned out to be from Thailand. And he (just one this time) didn't even know where we were going when he came with us...we used a Korean-Thai book to communicate with him...and it was interesting. He was great, though. He studied electrical engineering in Thailand, graduated and came here. His wife is still in Thailand. He doesn't have any children. We will see what happens. Gospel library is available in his language...and so we will help him with that as well.

The Rwandan investigators...disappeared. Sadly. Sadly disappeared. We will continue to try to get contact...

This past week I have reflected a lot about motivations. Motivations reflect our desires which are at the base of our thoughts, actions, and habits. It is the flare of agency that guides our time and our choices, and this God-given life we all have. There is also the famous you reap what you sow. If that is the case then the very base seed of our agency, our motivations determines in the long run what we will really reap. The longer that we sow right motivations the more pure and clean we become, and the longer we entertain and encourage the bad motivations the more twisted and unhappy we become. In the long run, though, we will reap what we sow. So sow good motivations and you will reap good character... always, because as Paul writes in Galatians "God will not be mocked..." then you reap what you sow.

I love you all so much!!! Remember that if you sow missionary seeds you will reap missionary opportunities and experiences!!!

Elder Will with Korean Italians

Elder Will and Siddha

ZONE PICTURE 8/2014

TENDER MERCIES

Hey mother and family! 

 Thanks for the update!  Yes, time flies. Way too fast. It's been over a full year since I came to Korea! So fast. 

I am glad to hear that everyone is doing well.

Well, we have a lot going on here, which is absolutely wonderful!  We had 8 investigators come to church yesterday, and one that will be baptized next week from China named Sidda. He is full of faith and wants to follow Jesus Christ. He is amazing. I am excited for next week!

The English family didn't show up to English, but came to church...! And also to a Family home evening that we had later that night! They are doing really well and really like the church. We are really excited for them to join the church as a family.

The investigator we met the first week I was here on the street came to church for the third time in a row. The Elders quorum president gives him a ride to and from church, and after the meeting he said "let's teach him and baptize him". He hasn't had time outside of Sunday and hasn't wanted to leave Priesthood or Gospel Principles so we haven't had much time to teach him, but that will change. We are excited for him. He came dressed up in a dress shirt and tie all on his own last week (his third week in a row attending church).

The family that we met last week, the father and the son, were able to come for all of church except sacrament meeting (which is last here). Apparently the father had many questions about the church in Elder's quorum, and the Elder's quorum president offered his house and his help whenever we had a lesson with him. He also came to the Family home evening at the church and got into a 45 minute conversation with a member about the church and it was great. He also got to joke around with Robert Holly, the famous actor in Korea, so that was fun as well. They are doing very well.

We visited the other family that we are teaching the other day, and they seem to be doing well, they just need a jump start. I had to laugh. We showed them the church website, specifically the For the Strength of Youth and the standards therein. We asked if they had any interests, and of course in Korea, the first was education, and then after that we asked the dad what his interest was, and immediately the wife said "the role of the Father in the family" haha. They are such a wonderful family who are pretty much lds anyways, they just need a little help realizing how much it can really bless their family. They are great!

One of our investigators turned out to be a less active member....! He was baptized in 1994 as a college student when he met missionaries there. He is meeting us to do a business deal...with his English academy...so we will focus on trying to help his family, who are not members, to be able to come to church and gain the blessings of church. He is a tricky one. But, we will work with him to help him and his family come to Christ.

We also met with one of our investigators who will be going to the army soon. He is really great, but hasn't really seen the need for religion. So, we are preparing him well to seek God when things get tough in the army. (All Korean males have a mandatory 2 years in the military) He's great though, and I know that he will get baptized some time. He referred his cousin the other day. He knows it's true, he's just a little caught up in himself.

Our Rwanda investigators are still MIA...

Constantine dropped us. He is part of the Russian/Ukraine/Uzbekistan part of our area. They really like activities, but when it comes to church and other things...they seem to avoid us a little bit. Met with him once and then he got "busy". He came to the family home evening but was still going to be too busy to meet... lame

Our crutches, ACL because of (that's Korean grammar, sorry) bed-set investigator is not very well. He wants to come to church, but his back has started to pain him too much to come. He said that he will be able to come in about two weeks. We still text him.

The Less active family that we visited has come out to church as a family every week since we visited them! They are doing well and we are anticipating the baptism of the wife shortly. They have the cutest daughters.

We also met a Nepali gentleman who is interested in the brotherhood. Haha. He calls us brother, and it makes us smile inside. He is great! He can meet on weekends, like most other foreigners...which will be great! 

We also had some Vietnamese people want to come to church. But, they came to the bus stop half an hour late and so we were not there to help them get to the church. They are not to great at English or Korean, but kept saying "I want to go" it killed me to tell them that we would have to do next week, especially because the one that we invited had brought friends, but that was the way that it had to be. They are great as well. Just a little hard to communicate with. 

Today is transfer day. I don't know what is happening yet. We think that I will stay and that Elder Butterfield is moving on, but we don't know for sure. Anyways, the Lord has blessed us with many investigators who are very interested, which has been really exciting for us!

This week I was reading Romans and Corinthians. In Corinthians Chapter 3 Paul makes the deep statement that "I planted, and Apollos watered, but God gave the increase". Also in Chapter 12 Paul talks about the members of the church being as a body. It is so true. This is the Lord's work. We work, we plant, and we water, but only God can give the increase. In another place Paul talks about how we receive everything that we are given in this life. Our talents...everything. That has helped me to see the work in a more united and a better perspective. I have learned in this area that God really does give the increase, because God has opened up many opportunities to us. It is not through our merits but through God's grace that we are able to do this work (1 Corinthians 15 beginning). 

I know this is the work of God among His Children. God is our Heavenly Father. He loves us. Out of love He sent His son Jesus Christ. If we follow Jesus Christ we can be happy. The Book of Mormon shows us how we can follow Jesus Christ.

I promise you that if you read the Book of Mormon every day your life will improve. I have seen that in my life. The Book of Mormon is a gift from God to us that helps us to recognize the restoration of the church and priesthood authority which will let us be happiest in this life. I know that is true. 

Have a wonderful week! I love you so much!!!!

SORE MUSCLES AND NEW CONTACTS

Wow!

Holy Smokes, this last week was really crazy. During the week, all of our appointments dropped, but then on the weekend we had some great surprises. This week we got quite a few people together to play basketball with us at the church. Long story, but in the end we ended up meeting someone who introduced us to his friends who introduced us to his friends and were able to make some good contacts through basketball (which Koreans also love). That was pretty insane, and I am really sore...:)

We also had the English family come to church on Sunday for the first time since I have been here! They were so well behaved and in sacrament meeting (besides one odd person who got up and started throat singing) the testimony meeting went really well. The Youth here (including Eric) went to a Youth camp this past weekend that was apparently really great! All of the kids had a really great time. Our other investigator came and sat by my companion who said that when one of the youth started crying in her testimony he started to freak out a little bit, but then calmed down and continued. 

Then on Sunday night we met two people who are absolutely wonderful. They are taking us to dinner tonight and they are so excited to join the church and get all of their friends to do the same! So grateful for this opportunity.

We also met a new Ukrainian investigator named Constantine. He is 17 and really wonderful. I am so excited to work with him in the future.

The rest of our investigators, due to various circumstances were not able to meet, most of them are traveling, but they are all doing well.

The Lord is amazing! I love the idea from Elder Hales of Waiting on the Lord. (great talk!) If we do everything in our power then we can wait on the Lord for the Lord to work His work and His glory. We watched that happen in our own lives today!

This week D&C 123:17 was the theme. Again, God did not fail. I love you all so very very much!!!