Straight to Sokcho Baby

It's only been a few days since my last email but a lot has happened!

-박선재 was baptized!! It was a great service, even though the entire YSA showed up after he said he didn't want more than 10 people there haha 

-exchange at the 한강 on valentines day

교대김밥 (best 식당)

So yeah I'm getting transferred to 속초 (sokcho) this Thursday. 속초 is a lot more countryside and it will be a way different experience than the city! I've had 속초 on my bucket list of places I wanted to serve since the beginning, and when transfers got closer and I started telling everybody how I was most surely getting transferred to 속초 (i had no idea). I also predicted I would go there during our transfer predictions.

Everyone else in my district also guessed i'd go there just cause of how much I said it haha. And sure enough when transfer news came my wish came true  I'm super sad to be leaving the YSA and all the people I've become close with but I will for sure be returning one day. Also when I told everyone in the ward that I was getting transferred to 속초 they all apologized for my loss which made me a little nervous... not sure what that means but I'm still hyped.

I would like to bare my testimony on the importance of going to the temple! I recently had the opportunity to go to the temple here and it was an amazing experience, in which I was able to have a lot of questions answered. So I'd like to invite you all to visit the temple as soon as you get a chance, and also prepare questions you'd like to have answered in advance. Going to the temple with is an act of faith and I think there's close to nothing better you can do to show your faith than to attend frequently.

"Spending more time in the temple builds faith. And your service and worship in the temple will help you to think celestial. The temple is a place of revelation. There you are shown how to progress toward a celestial life. There you are drawn closer to the Savior and given greater access to His power. There you are guided in solving the problems in your life, even your most perplexing problems." (Russel M Nelson - "Think Celestial!" October 2023)

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선재 was baptized!!

exchange at the 한강 on valentines day

교대김밥 (best 식당)

Six Months

Highlights: 

- went to the temple today

- english club with the gang

- pig feet^^

- 그냥 재미로

I don't have a ton of time (I say that every week) but actually this time so it will be short 

This week we visited a different religion, 예수 사랑 교회 (Jesus love church) cause someone we met invited us. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Everyone was pretty welcoming though and there was some fun music as well. Since we were so open to visiting their church the lady we met said she'd like to know more about the Book of Mormon as well, so we'll see where that leads!

We also have a baptism this Sunday! It's for 박선재 and we've been planning everything for it this week so pray that it all goes well! 

Okay I've run out of time so I have to go but next week my p day will be on Monday so I'll write a longer email (I probably won't)

좋은 하루 보내세요 ~~

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Back to 2

Transfers are this week and our trio is coming to an end which is sad, cause it was a fun couple weeks.  I'm going back to the YSA with my original companion and my other comp is going back to his ward and getting a new comp. We're also going back to 6 people in our apartment, although we may get evicted soon, cause we accidentally pressed some emergency button or something when we were fixing our fridge, so the security guy came up to see what was the deal and then he saw all our beds and asked how many people live here. I'm pretty sure we're not allowed to have 6 haha so we'll see

Other than that I'm excited to stay in YSA. We started a monthly Futsal activity which we had on Saturday and it was awesome. Among our teaching friends, I think there are three that could be potentially on date to be baptized this transfer, so I can't wait to keep meeting with them

Highlights: 

-more snow

-well I can't think of any other things right now, oh well

-oh yeah, felt a little rebellious and stayed up til 10:40 on new years eve 

Helaman 5:10  "And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins" 

This verse sticks out to me because the Lord came not to redeem us in our sins, but to redeem us from our sins. Jesus Christ came and Atoned for all the sins of the world. But that doesn't He has redeemed us in our sins. He has redeemed us from our sins, and so we need work on our behalf to apply His Atonement in our lives. He will not redeem us in our sins, because why would He redeem us in sin just so we can continue in sin? Redeeming us from sin means we are redeemed as we grow apart from sin

좋은 한 주 보내시길 바랍니다~~

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새해복 많이 받으세요

Highlights:

- ate lunch with a 100-year-old lady who tried to give us a bunch of cash in an envelope (we snuck it back into her purse before she left)

- had a Christmas party with the mission 

- more nature! (a feather)

- Christmas and stuff

- ate some kimchi and listened to some k pop

We invited 2 people, (Tom from Croatia, and 박선재 from Korea) to be baptized this week, and they both accepted! Neither of them have a date quite yet and we think it will be a little slower of a conversion with both of them but we are excited to see what happens 

Spiritual Thought: 

Helaman 3:35 

Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.

One of the best ways we can wax stronger in our faith is by showing our effort to God by prayer and fasting. I know that constant prayer and fasting will bring us closer to God and pure and sanctify our hearts

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I Found My Friend

I'm writing this email from a subway system at 9:34 pm on Christmas Eve on my way back to 강남 (yes we are supposed to be home at 9:00, but we accidentally went the wrong way for like 30 minutes). But as I was riding the subway, I read a story from a friend’s email that stood out to me, and I wanted to share it. It goes like this: 

 A young man, just before Ieaving on his mission, stood in sacrament meeting and bore, in essence, the following testimony.

Brothers and Sisters, as you know during the past few weeks I have been awaiting my mission call. During the time that I was waiting, I had a dream. I knew it was not an ordinary dream. I dreamed I was in the Pre-existence and was awaiting my call to come to Earth. I was filled with the same excitement and anticipation that I had before I received my mission call. In my dream, I was talking to a friend, a dear friend, and I felt a special closeness to him, even though I've never met him in this life. 

As we talked a messenger came and gave me a letter. I knew it was my call to come to Earth. In great excitement my friend and I opened the letter. I gave it to him to read aloud to me. The letter said:

"You have been called to Earth in a special land. You will be born into the true church, and you will have the Priesthood of God in your home. You will be born in a land of plenty-- a land of freedom. You will go to Earth in the United States of America." 

My friend and I rejoiced as we read my call, and while we rejoiced, the messenger returned. This time he had a letter for my friend. We knew it was his call to Earth. My friend gave me the letter to read aloud. The letter said:

 "You have been called to go to Earth in circumstances of poverty and strife. You will not be raised in the true church. Many hardships will affect your life. Your land will be fraught with political and social difficulties which will hinder the work of the Lord. You will be born in Costa Rica."

 We wept, my friend and I, as we read his call. And my friend looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "When we are down on Earth, you in your choice land, and me in Costa Rica, my friend, please come and find me." 

About a year after this sacrament meeting, the bishop of the ward received a letter from this missionary in Costa Rica. The letter had one sheet of paper in it, and on that sheet, written in inch high letters were four words.

"I FOUND MY FRIEND"

This story really stood out to me. I've never thought about friendships I may have had before this life, or even considered the idea that there could be people out there who asked me before this life to come and find them. Neither have I had any dreams like that. But if there is someone who is waiting for me, I want to find them. Immediately I was struck with motivation, and turned to the person next to me on the subway. It was an old man around maybe 65 or 70. I looked down at my hands at the Book of Mormon I was holding (we always carry one just in case). It took me like a full 2 minutes to build up the courage to talk to him but finally I did (it's hard cause nobody wants to talk on the subway).

First, I said hello, and then asked if he has any special plans for Christmas. He said he would be going to church. I said I'm a missionary, and I teach about Jesus Christ. I showed him the Book of Mormon and offered it to him as a Christmas gift. He said he didn't need it. I said it's my favorite book and it's very important. He said he didn't need it again. I said I know it can bless our lives. He turned to his wife and asked her if they need the book. She waved her arm, signaling no as her response. Then they got off, and I offered it to the guy one more time before he left, but he didn't take it. So yeah I didn't give out the Book of Mormon. But what if I hadn't tried? He could have asked me to find him before this life and I never would have known. So my new goal going forward is to talk to everyone I can to increase my chances of finding the people I need to teach. And also praying to ask God to guide me to those people

Okay moving on to actual stuff. It's 11 pm now so this is not gonna be long ~

Highlights:

- Lots of studying, teaching, and planning 

- had some Christmas parties

- handed out some free hot chocolate and Book of Mormons 

-played with the wildlife (so much nature here in Seoul)

K that's it 

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Wars and Rumors of Wars

First of all, sorry I didn't write last week, I can't actually remember why but it's been busy so. I'll make a longer email today though.

There hasn't actually been wars here, or rumors of wars either really, but something that happened last week was the president here enacted "martial law," and then decided not to actually do that and canceled it like 6 hours later. What is martial law you ask? I don't actually know so look it up I guess. But we weren't allowed to leave the house for a day and the word on the street was that apparently we could be shipped out of Korea at any time. There were also some rumors of wars going around the mission, but you know how fast things spread around here (pretty fast).

Other than that, some new things:

- I'm in a trio now with Elder Velazquez and Elder Grant 

- we are double covering for the YSA and 강남 1st ward

- we met a 100-year-old lady on the street (she gave us yogurt and candy)

- had a great Christmas party with a concert in the chapel (check photos for vids)

- Visited the temple

- ate some great food 

Anyway, on to our teaching friends:

- we have 5 teaching friends right now, one of which I believe could be ready for baptism soon! Another one has accepted baptism but is not on date yet and I think he still will need a while to learn some more before we look for a date. The rest are prob gonna take a bit but hopefully as we continue to teach them we will start to get somewhere! 

Spiritual Thought:

Alma 37:6 "Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise" 

I think it's important to remember from this verse especially the part that says by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. I've seen from my experience as a missionary already that learning anything takes time. And so I think the best way to learn how to feel the spirit and have a relationship with our Heavenly Father is to work at it every day. And I think my experiences in the Book of Mormon every day have helped me the most with that. I know that if we read the Book of Mormon we will receive guidance from it, because it is the word of God. So read the Book of Mormon this week! 

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