Things in Korea this past week were wonderful, busy, and hot. According to one of the members of our ward, the hottest part of all of Asia is Korea
right now--especially the part where I am serving. So, I get to enjoy
the heat a little bit more, and then it will start to cool off in
another week. Honestly, it hasn't bothered me really at all. I don't
mind it one bit.
Korean is getting better and
better with each passing week that we have. I am able to understand more
and more with every single week that passes by, and I am able to speak
more every day. The challenge now is being able to express what I feel
through the language which is a really hard thing to do. But, with time
and with experience, I know that I will be able to do it.
This past week our investigators did ok. We actually
met two new investigators who seem to have a lot of potential, so that
is really exciting. One of them we found on the old records who had
previously met missionaries, and the other one we found on the
street--through a miraculous way. Oh, so there a HUGE push for
missionary work in our mission right now. To give you a taste, the
mission president set a goal for every ward to have 10 baptisms a month
for the next 6 months. Previous to this announcement, the expectation
was 17 for the entire mission. So, we go to work, and the Lord will
provide when we have done all that we can do.
To the great story! Yesterday we had a wonderful
finding experience. My companion and I were deciding which member to
visit to develop Jong so that we could build a relationship with the
members and we decided on this one guy that apparently had never talked
to the missionaries until the week that all the greenies came. My
companion talked to him at church and their conversation drifted to
spaghetti. After we decided to go see him, we thought that we would
bring him some food (which really builds relationships in Korea).
When we went to look in the cupboard, it just so happened that one of
the missionaries in our apartment had gotten some boxed spaghetti and
tomato paste from his mother and had not cooked it yet. It was perfect!
We planned the two members that we were going to visit and then left to
start the day. The first member was the Patriarch of the Stake, the
Chook boke saw neem. Recently the Stake president has told us to do more
kopjoggy, or sudden visits to members, so we called when we got to his
apartment, and he was not there. So, we decided to knock some of the
apartments around him and then go back for dinner. After dinner we left
to go a little bit out of our area to the north (a 30 minute ish bus
ride). When we arrived we spent about 15 mintues until we found the
second member's house. We were super excited to talk to him and to give
him the spaghetti that we had for him. When we got to his home, he
wasn't there. He didn't have a phone, and there was no way to know where
he went, or when he would be coming back. So, it was what it was. We
decided that we were up there for some reason so we decided to go find
some apartments to knock before we made the trek home. As we were going
back we ran into a man who had incredible interest and faith. We talked
to him for a solid hour about our church and about how it could help him
with his drinking problem (he was a little tipsy when we talked to
him). He said he would attend the churchee (when they try to speak in
English that is how they say church--haha!) and that he would find out
more about the Book of Mormon (in Korean it is
Mormon Gyong). Anyways, he arranged to meet with us again. I have never
yet met someone who has had such real intent and needed the gospel in
his life at this time than this person. We have very high hopes for him,
and will call him today to confirm that appointment. We traveled back
on the bus, and realized that all those disappointments throughout the
day were really God's way of leading us to the one. It reminds me of the
wonderful words of the song Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd. I love
the words to that hymn. If you want a desire to do missionary work read
the words to that hymn.
Korea is a little different
than America. Here we are leading the pioneering of the LatterDay Saint
Church in many areas. People have never heard of our church. We are
introducing our message to them and most just say that they have never
heard of it (probably 80-90%). It is a great opportunity to help others
have what I have found to be the greatest and most rewarding pattern of
life and constituent firmness established by the truths contained
therein. Things in Korea are changing a lot. You
can see the difference in the generations and in the younger culture.
Remember that having a living prophet and the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles provides a source of constancy in a world of change.
Let's see. Sunday
was a sad day because the couple that we met with did not attend
church. That was really sad. However, we continue to have very high
hopes for them, and the Lord does also. I have felt incredible peace and
assurances in their restaurant while we have been teaching them. They
are in God's hands and His plans for them will eventually lead them back
to Him. I am trying to find our role in HIs plan for them in order to
help them most. They really are the most wonderful people though. Truly
amazing.
For those in Corvallis, I just heard at lunch from
another elder about Eric Sung, where he's at and how he's doing. He goes
to some school that is apparently...amazing. At least when the other
members heard that he attended, they were intimidated by him. He's 16 or
17 now and comes out to church whenever he receives special permission
from his school to go. I am super excited when I will hopefully have the
opportunity to serve in his area and to get to know him more (I hope to
learn more Korean before then). So yep, he's doing well!
Oh, so on Thursday
we had a ward picnic, which was...amazing. We went down to the coast
and first had a wonderful experience digging for clams, which was super
cool--an apparently super valuable. In one hour of time, we dug about
$40 worth. That's a pretty good rate. We then went to the beach where it
was about 90 F out and just absolutely gorgeous. I imagine almost like a
Pacific Island sort of beach. There were tree covered mountain
islands...one of the families took a lot of pictures, and so those will
come soon. It was great. I looked across the Ocean, and I think I saw
the United States! (haha....over Japan and Hawaii...and over 3000 miles
of ocean)
The man on the moped called us back once and we are
still trying to contact him to set up an appointment with him. We will
see what happens. The old man that we are teaching understood us (after a
lot of prayer and help from God) and we were able to get him a little
bit excited about church. He left on a trip though for pretty much the
rest of the month, so we told him to read the Book of Mormon on the road
and to ponder its meaning and to pray a lot. We call him to check up on
him.
As for kind of weird stuff that I have done, this week
(actually today), we literally took Octopi, cooked them and then just
ate them. Tasted like squishy jello (texture wise) fish. It was
interesting. Yep, oh, and we talked to one person on the street about
this one church in Korea that supposedly
infiltrates other churches and then leads them away to their church. He
decided that since there were so many Christian churches in Korea
and theiy are all pretty crazy, that he would be Bulkyo (Buddhist) so
that he could be "religious" without actually attending a church. We
oftentimes get very strange looks from people around who have not seen
that many foreigners around. At home one day we put banana pancake
batter in the rice cooker and make banana bread for breakfast the next
morning. Great times.
Thought for this week is the the Lord is in control.
Period. You can do all that you can do, but if you don't have His help,
you will not succeed, at least not in the long run, and never in the
eternal run. I have learned that very apparently during my mission so
far. You do as much as you can do, and then the Lord will supply His
help in order to make up for what you cannot do. Everything good that
happens to us is a tender mercy of the Lord. The other day I found a
coin on the road at a bus stop. That made it so I had exactly the fair
required (the rest of my bills were too high to use at all). Little
things like that help a lot. There was a day where I was getting a
little bit down because of the language, and every single time that I
started to get into a negative mode, the Lord would send someone and
they would buy us something to drink. Little things like that which help
me and others. The tender mercies of the Lord are everywhere.
So, if you want something to change in your life,
especially concering yourself, then do everything you can to improve it,
and when all is said and done, rely on the Lord to help make up the
difference. That is key and will help you all the time in your lives.
I am so excited (I don't think you know how excited)
for you in MInnesota! Keep up enjoying everything there is. Have a great
week. I will update you with things (and hopefully have picnic pictures
soon to send to you). Have a wonderful week.
Elder Strahl
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