This week went
by very quickly, but went by very well. This week we had a lot of
training because, as I mentioned, Korea shuts down for 3 days during the
Korean Thanksgiving. When we talked to people in-between going and
coming to the church, most of them were from other places, mostly from
Seoul. There were still some very good opportunities to share the
Gospel!
For the Thanksgiving day, (our P-day) we decided to
hike up a mountain and look out over Gwang Ju (the same one as before).
It was a beautiful day and it was great to do our personal and
companionship studies on top of the mountain. So peaceful and just
beautiful. We came down and then had a Zone activity at the church which
was fun, and then went to Bishop's house to eat dinner. The dinner that
we had was the absolutely most amazing food that I have yet had while
staying in Korea. So good!
Training was basically repetition, repetition,
repetition. We spent 4 hours a day working on teaching the lessons in
roleplays, discussing how to improve our teaching, and working on other
teaching skills. It was a drilling of teaching, but I learned so much!
It was great also to have interviews with President Shin and to be able
to spend a lot of time with him and learn from him.
The mission is starting a new program that will make
the missionaries stretch, which is great. We talked about it and how we
would accomplish it and now it is happening. It is very exciting and
very different from the "old mission" as missionaries now call it. The
"old mission" was a mission based on talking to as many people as
possible, and finding investigators through missionary efforts and
teaching, etc. However, the new mission is focused on member missionary
work (big surprise...member missionary work is amazing). We now are
focusing more on receiving referrals than on talking to lots of random
people. This is great! The only investigator that I have seen really
progress and really accept and believe the lessons is also the only
investigator that we have received as a member referral. It is
definitely inspired and I am excited to work towards the standards of
the program.
I had a really great experience this past week
with the Spirit. I was talking to a person on the bus as we were
traveling home one day from contacting a former investigator. He was
from Pusan, but was in Gwang Ju, his home town, for the holidays. We
started talking and I asked him about what he was doing in school, what
his plans for the holidays were, etc. He asked me why I was learning
Korean, and I told him that I was learning Korean to share that which
has made me happiest. Then I told him that I was a missionary for the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I told him that we teach
about Jesus Christ and that we teach people how to find more happiness
in life. He told me that he was Christian and that he attended two
different churches-one in Pusan and one in Gwang Ju (depending on where
he was living). I asked him why he attended his particular churches and
he told me that he went to his church because of his friends in college.
He said that he was happy. (In the back of my mind the line from PMG
surfaced that says that concerns are often more social than
doctrinal...a good reminder) I then asked him what he thought about
Jesus Christ. He responded that Christ was a good person. Then, kind of
bashfully, he said that to be honest, he didn't really know that much
about Jesus Christ, except that He was a good person. So, then I simply
said, You should learn more about Jesus Christ. Then I bore my testimony
simply, saying, I know that Jesus Christ is my Redeemer. I know that He
loves me. Whether I am at school, in the United States, or here in
Korea, I can always feel the love that Jesus Christ has for me. Well, he
then looked at me with a little bit of a change in his countenance and
said "I can feel it". This took me a little aback, but then I responded
with "You're feeling a good feeling aren't you?" He told me he was. I
then clearly stated "this feeling is the Holy Ghost. Through this
feeling God can guide us and lead us". I then asked him if he always
wanted to feel this good feeling. He responded with a "of course...why
are you asking" sort of remark, and then I explained to him that when I
go to church every Sunday,
I feel this same feeling. I told him that we teach people how to always
feel this good feeling. Well, then his bus stop came, so I told him
that when he goes back to Pusan he should look up our Church and go. He
left, and will hopefully look up the church and find greater happiness
than he could think possible. To have this experience reminded me of the
power of the Holy Ghost it was a great experience and I hope to be able
to have many more similar experiences in the future.
I cannot explain how much happiness I receive
in being able to tell people that God either exists or He doesn't. I
know that He exists and we can teach you how to come to know for
yourself that He exists. I cannot express the happiness that I get when I
can share the love of Heavenly Father, as a representative of Jesus
Christ, with His faithful members of the church who are trying so hard
to find people to bring into the fold. It is a wonderful work of
unparalleled truth.
This week goes back to normal, so there will be more
opportunities to teach the investigators that we have. I am excited to
teach them with the new training that we have received and to help them
progress.
The point has been made very clear in our mission
that the members do not help the missionaries, but that the missionaries
help the members. Yesterday a member of the Stake Presidency asked our
ward how many missionaries it had. Someone responded with "6". That
answer was refuted with "100". It is true. He then asked how many
"teaching-assistants" (he even said that part in English) the ward had.
Then came the correct answer of "6". As a missionary, I have seen so
clearly the power that members have in missionary work. The members that
help also receive great blessings, I have seen that as well.
Here's a little inspiration for member missionary
work. It is the example of Nephi. When considering referring people that
you know for the missionaries to teach, remember Nephi's struggle to
get the plates. At first he received the commandment (as members have)
and immediately committed to obey, even though he did not really know
how or why. Then he went and evaluated the situation, which turned out
to seem a little bit hopeless (at least in the eyes of Laman and Lemuel
who did not know very many things concerning God). But Nephi perseveres.
Through another attempt that very well could have been prompted by the
Spirit, Nephi yet again fails. At this point, I think many people would
turn back. They would say the Lord commanded, the situation is hopeless,
I worked hard, seemed to get some inspiration and it didn't work out.
However, Nephi persists because of the original commandment. He knows
there will be a way and that he will just have to search until he finds
it. Then comes verse 6 in chapter 4 which states he was led by the
spirit without a knowledge of what he would do. Sometimes we don't know
what to do except to keep pressing forward. Then as he acts without
knowledge, step by step, he comes to realize how the Lord has delivered
Laban into his hands, receives further instruction from the Lord and
then obtains the record that blesses tons of people. That is the power
of obedience, of faith, of perseverance, of diligence. For member
referrals the same applies. If at first you don't succeed, try, try
again. You may not be working to obtain brass plates, but the people
that you help with then help others, their ancestors, their descendents,
their friends and neighbors, which will have, as did Nephi's effort, an
impact on many more people than a single individual or family.
Time is now at an end. I love you all so much, it
sounds like things are going so very well in United States. I hope that
you have a great and wonderful time.
William
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